before and after: our home a year later. (or part of it anyway)

Way back in October Kevin ripped out all the carpet on our main floor (3 rooms) and put in hardwood floors while the boys and I were away visiting family. (renovation post here)  
Now that we've been in the house for a little over a year now, I'm finally getting around to taking and posting "before" and "after" pictures of the front and family rooms.

It's been crazy and happy for me to see all that we've been able to do to make this home our own in this first year. (first home tour here) We always have a million DIY and renovation projects buzzing around in our heads, and now that we are blessed enough to own a home we are finally able to try some of them, it's something we've really learned to love doing together and something we both feel passionate about.
We had our second boy the morning after we moved into our house and it's been a crazy whirlwind ever since.

Anyway....if you're a sucker for renovation "before" and "after" projects like I am, here it *finally* is.

Front room:

BEFORE:

Front Room: 

AFTER:

Renovation, in the middle of it, really isn't pretty, it's messy, always more time consuming than you planned, stressful and crazy. And if you're in a similar life situation to us, timelines get d r a g g e d out. We didn't get our new baseboards in for a good month after the new floors were in.

But, with some planning and lots of deep breathing :) it can be SO worth it, monetarily of course, but it also brings a lot of satisfaction to see something from the planning/envisioning stages through reality adjustments and then to the final product.

Family Room:

BEFORE:

The home had these funky shades separating the front and family rooms that we hated, such a waste of space. So Kevin tore those out (the day I came home from the hospital with our second I think) and put in see-through shelves. Which we LOVE.

Family Room:

AFTER:

glass pieces: antique chemistry pieces Kevin found//vase: Pier 1 Imports

bird: West Elm//vase: Target//candle holder: H&M

We have some other changes in the works and in the planning phase. (most of them unplanned until recently, thank you 20 year old house...) 

I realized I never even did a full house tour when we moved in so I'll work on getting the undocumented spaces up on the blog too, for my record if nothing else. :) I love being able to look back at pictures of where we've been. 

when the cat's away...this mouse will play. (or DIY as may be the case)

So, while I was away with the boys visiting my family in Utah, Kevin tackled his biggest DIY project yet.

He replaced the carpet in three rooms with hardwood floors, and no he's never done anything remotely like that before. 

We'd been looking to replace the *very tired* carpet that seemed like it may be as old as our house (just shy of 20 years).
When the opportunity for me to get away coincided with a fantastic deal on hardwood we thought it might just be the perfect time. 
(That and the fact that the raised stones in front of our fireplace had been the cause of a few *very close calls* for major head injuries for Lee boy.)

Kevin is a trooper, not only did he have a business trip of his own for 1/3 of the time I'd be away, but he got a new and quite demanding assignment at work days after I left that required even longer than usual hours at the office.
Combine that with the surprises that always come when you DIY...and this flooring project became quite a handful.

Word to the wise: when padding for carpet is glued to the cement, factor in A LOT of time to get it all off.

Literally just in time, Kevin was able to finish laying the floor before he caught a plane to spend a day in Utah with us before helping me bring the boys home late one night only to turn around and leave again the next day on another business trip.  

(We're so glad to be home all together again.)

We still have to paint and put up the new baseboards and put finishing strips along all edges of the rooms but we're excited to have this project basically done. 


 (I'll be sure to add some true "before" and "after" pics when we are officially all put back together.)

* For those who are curious about this sort of thing; we decided on a .5" thick, 5" wide, strand-woven bamboo from Lumber Liquidators because of it's durability and hardness...and we liked the color:)
* It goes without saying that the price was right.  

feels like home.

*This is a post I recently added to my art blog. (michtmc.blogspot.com)

With two babies under 17 months I have spent more time than ever before within the walls of my own home.  Instead of the constant "cabin fever" I feared I'd experience,  I've been surprised by how often I can feel the beauty of it all.

Babies, I believe, are especially close to God. There is something sacred about an infant experiencing things for the first time, something sacred too about being the one that they rely completely on for life.  So much so that it can easy overwhelm my emotions and leave me feeling anxious and unsure of myself. 

But through the days, weeks, moments and hours that have followed our second son's birth I have often found strength, beyond my own certainly, to somehow call back the perspective that allows me to love and care when I have nothing left to give. 

What happens inside the walls of a home, as I learn and grow with my children, is truly spectacular. It is not, perhaps, the kind of spectacle the world today applauds. But in truth,  it is beautiful, it's sacred, it's unique, it is elating and miraculous. It's humbling and heart wrenching, light and tremendously heavy. It is so much and yet it can feel like I’m doing so little. It is emotional. 

As I was pacing our bedroom with my baby last night the words from a song in Les Miserables kept running into my thoughts,

“To love another person is to see the face of God.”

It has given me a little peek into the depth of God's greatness;

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,  that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

                                                                                                 -John 3:16 (emphasis added.) 

This painting was inspired by my focus on the joy and happiness that home, my home and my roles in it, has brought to me.

home for Easter weekend.

Because of Kevin's thesis work, family schedules and church responsibilities we had almost the whole Easter weekend to ourselves.  With the myriad of events leading up to and following Sister Ann's mission departure (and David's mission call) combined with the deadline for Kevin's thesis defense getting so close, we have not had a lot of personal family time.
 This past weekend ended up being just what we needed with beautiful weather and some scheduled family time away from daily tasks and thesis-es.
We decided spur of the moment to go out to eat together at a little local place called Casa Salza. (known for their creamy salsa) It was so FUN to get out together and enjoy each others' company away from all the distractions at home.

 We got to have a virtual chat with our dear friends (and cousins) Taryn and James to hear all their "moving to Texas" advice, which was very helpful but mostly I LOVED shnarning with them again. (sigh)
Kevin also made traditional Greek Easter cookies, Koulourakia. (He is 1/4 Greek, his Grandma is full Greek.) They are delicious with a little bit of chocolate milk.

We woke up Saturday morning to beautiful sunshine and decided to get right in the car and drive up the canyon to take advantage of the weather and go for a walk with Lee. It was so fun.  I even enjoyed the comments of the newly married couples we passed on our way back out of the canyon about baby+one on the way.

Sunday during our church services we sang a Hymn, "He is Risen" and though I've sung it a million times, it really struck me again what a miracle it is that Christ is risen and that with His resurrection comes the promise of our families not having to say goodbye when a loved one departs this earth, instead we can look forward to an eternal reunion with each other.  What a miracle and blessing to have such a selfless and perfect older brother in our Savior, Jesus Christ.
We drove up to have dinner at my mom and dad's with my mom's side of the family after church.  I actually was so glad my mom thought to get little Lee an Easter basket (we didn't) since he LOVED taking everything out of it, playing with it, putting it back in and repeating the process over and over. Overall it was really a wonderful weekend for our family and much needed to buoy up my recently very easily "blah" spirits.

Ice storms=postponed plans.

Lee and I were supposed to have a play date with my cousin (and college roommate) Ashley Anne and her daughter Clara Mae and my sis-in-law Alexis and her girls, Kami and Chloe. But....we got up this morning to an ice storm and after my sister did a 180 in her car on her way to work we decided we'd better stay home. (Too bad we realized After I'd already showered and gotten ready)
So, we're home today when we didn't think we would be. And it's been nice to have some unscheduled time to work on things and stay warm.
Lee is enjoying himself. :)