My Crazy Life

I know that I have been saying that I am almost done with my kitchen for a long time but now I can really say "I am almost done!" I came to the conclusion that I can't do it on my own anymore. My dad took his tools back since he started building the cabin. I still had to cut all of the baseboards but had no saw. I thought, Do I try to borrow a saw, buy a saw or just put the money towards someone doing it for me? I found one of my friends from high school on facebook and he has a tile business. He is doing the backsplash and also new tile in the bathroom. He told me that he had a brother-in-law that is a general contractor and could come finish the doors, paint them and also do the baseboards. SOLD! Everything is taking me ten times longer. I work full time and am with the kids when I am home. I try to get things done when they are asleep but only if I am lucky to get them both asleep at the same time. Mostly I am trying to paint right now. By the time I get the paint out plus all of my supplies and start painting one of them wakes up. I then have to clean everything up and wash the brushes before my 3 years old "helps" me paint. There is a certain moulding around the doors that I want but I had to special order it. It will come in this week and then they can install it. Woohoo! Then I am really done. I do have to do a good cleaning from all of the dust of remodeling. I can't wait until Adam quits his job in November then I will have more time to finish things.

Addison decided to start walking now. I knew that she knew how to walk but she just didn't want to. We would barely hold her by one finger and she would walk fine but when we let go she would just sit down. She still crawls a little bit but now when she falls she will pick herself back up and start walking again. She is kind of bow legged which is a little funny but hopefully it will straighten out the more she starts walking. I think it's her big thunder thighs.

Landon starts preschool tomorrow and he is so excited. He has been asking me everyday for a month if he is going to school yet. He will say things like, "Mom I will take a nap and then go to school okay?" Or he will run, get his backpack and say, "I go to school now okay!" On Sunday morning he even made Adam play school with him.

So I am thinking about going back to work in the ER. I love the babies but I miss the variety of the ER. I am also losing all of my skills. Since we don't use much medications for babies then I forget things. I used to know tons of medications, what they do, how they should be taken etc. Now when people ask me questions about meds I unfortunately say, "I don't know." I applied for a couple ERs so we will see! I have to get recertified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS). My class is this Thursday and next Thursday. I have to review all of the cardiac rhythms and medications to give when someone codes. It's a lot to remember and since I haven't done it in a long time I will need to study. This is one more thing I have to do on top of my crazy life.

I am trying to eat better and lose weight now. I gained about 30 pounds with this kitchen remodel. I wasn't able to cook anything with having no kitchen so I went out alot. I am also going to not drink soda anymore. I had my last soda today. I will let everyone know about my progress. If people know my goal then I am more likely to do it.

Check One More Thing Off My List

So I spent all day yesterday making the shelves for the pantry. I didn't have room in my garage to cut the big sheets of wood down so I had to do it in the hot sun on the driveway. Atleast there was a little breeze. I am so glad they are done. All I have to do is sand a little bit of the edges to make them smoother and to paint it which shouldn't take too long. Now that's one more thing to check off my list. Today I am going to work on putting in the doors. I guess I should atleast have a door on the bathroom since my mother-in-law is coming to visit this weekend. So all I have left is putting up and painting the doors, the moldings/baseboards and tiling the backsplash. I might price out how much it would cost to have someone do the backsplash because I just want this to be done. If it is not outrageous then I will just have them get it done. If it's a crazy price then I definately will be doing it myself. Below are some pictures of the shelves I built.

This Has Been Going On Too Long!

You know that you have been doing this kitchen remodel way too long when the guy at the home improvement store says, "Hey you cut your hair."

So here is the update. I got my refrigerator yesterday and I am so excited. My TV is coming tomorrow and they will install it on Friday. My goal for Saturday is to put the shelving into the pantry so I can start organizing things. Then it is onto the doors and baseboards for next week. Tiling the back splash and I'm done! So I am guessing about 2 weeks.
(Maybe less if I call in sick to work :) J/K)

4th of July

So we had a typical 4th of July except for working on the kitchen. In the morning we went to the pancake breakfast at the church. It was nice because we got to see some people that we haven't seen for a while. Oh how I miss our old ward. We had a lot of good friends there and it was so fun. After the breakfast we walked down to watch the parade. Nothing much to it. It was a typical parade but we were laughing saying it seems more like an advertisement parade then a celebration parade. We ended up leaving part way through because we were sitting in the sun and all the kids were getting too hot and grumpy.
After the parade Adam and Landon went swimming at grandma's house while I went back and finished putting the front door in. We also painted some of the baseboards so I could put them in the pantry. The next priority for me is to make the shelves in the pantry. I couldn't do that until the baseboards were in there because it would be awfully hard to reach under the shelves to put them in. Once the shelves are in I can organize the kitchen and just do the rest of the projects here and there. So what is still on my list?...paint and put in the doors, paint and put in the molding for around the doors, paint and put in the baseboards, finish installing the speakers, cover the seats on the kitchen table, make the curtains, and tile the backsplash. Then I am completely done. We are getting our new couch on Monday, our refrigerator on Tuesday and our TV installed on Friday. My dad came over on the 4th and finished installing my faucet, garbage disposal and dishwasher. Thanks Dad! Now we can actually make food in the kitchen and clean the dishes. YES! I thought this day would never come, a functioning kitchen. Check out my little model with our new dishwasher.

Almost Done!

I know I have been saying that for a while but when you work full time and have two kids it takes longer to get things done. The flooring got put in and it only took the guy a day. He was really good and a hard worker. My next door neighbor is a furniture refinisher so he restained my parents old table for me. I just got it back and will have to cover the seats with my red paisley fabric. I painted an accent wall red and started painting paisleys on it. I put my new front door in and it looks great. I did have a casualty though. I whacked my finger with the hammer. It hurt so bad. It is that kind of hurt where you just go, "ahhhh" and it is throbbing. It is so swollen now and it as purple as a grape. It seriously looks like someone just took a purple marker and colored my finger. Next step for me is to put the interior doors in. I am holding off on the pictures because I would like to show the reveal once everything is done. You will have to wait in anticipation. (unless you are the ones that stop by and see it in person)

Kitchen Update

So the granite was put in and that whole ordeal is over. I was so pleased with the service and Emerald Stone and Tile. They were great. I am putting new interior doors in for all of the bedrooms and bathroom. I still have to paint those and install them. I also got a new front door because the one there before made the entry look like a dungeon. The new one has a full glass panel that lets light in but the whole world can't see through to my living room and it has a swirled wrought iron design. I still have to do the flooring, paint the baseboards and molding for the doors and put shelving in my pantry. Then I am done! I was going to do the flooring myself because it is only laminate and everyone tells me how easy it is to put in. I just kept thinking "When do I have time!" I work full time and Adam works full time plus I am with the kids all day. I could probably do it but it would take me a week or two extra since I would only be able to work a couple hours here and there. I am so burnt out this kitchen remodel that I just want it done. I figured it's not worth it and I will just pay the extra money to have someone do it. I did some phone calls and everyone was way out of my budget. I thought forget it. I will just bear through another couple of weeks of chaos. I went to my house to get the mail and get ready for work when the penny saver came. I thought what the heck I will see if there is anyone who installs flooring. There was so I gave this guy a call. He was reasonably priced but I thought "Oh great I don't want to deal with another situation like the granite guy" I asked for some references and so he gave me a couple of names and numbers. I often wonder how people's references truely are. Are they real outside references or are they just giving me names of family members that will say they do a good job? Well I got a hold of 2 of the references and they seemed kind of caught off guard that I was calling them. So obviously they were random clients that he gave me. Both of them said that he does a really good job and that he always was there when he said he would be and that he called when he said he would call. I figured I would go with him and called him to ask when he could start. He said 8:30 in the morning. Yes! It's going to get done quicker than I thought. He said it will be done in 2 days so he will work all day Thursday and Friday. We can probably move back in by the weekend! YEAH!

Granite Moving Along

I tried to call the people that did my parents granite to see if they will cut a new piece for me but they kept saying they would give the person the message and call me back. They didn't call me at all. I guess they don't really need the business. Another nurse that I work with had some granite put in her bathroom so she refered me to Emerald Tile in Rocklin. They came out measured and gave me a quote. I said, "It's a deal!" because I just want it done. They picked up the piece on Friday and said they will install it on Tuesday morning. I can't wait. Then it is the flooring. We can move back in once the flooring is done because I can tile the backsplash and paint the baseboards when the kids are asleep. I am so frusterated because if all this stuff wouldn't have happened with the granite my kitchen would be done by now. It set me back about a month. Well I will post pictures when it is all in.

AHHHHHH!

Ahhhhhh! Is all I can say. So the granite piece is not salvageable. Towards the back of the break it wasn't a clean break. It basically shattered in the back. I guess if I wanted to spend hours putting all of the little pieces together then it will work, but it is just not worth it to me. My mom said that I should call the people that did their granite because they were really good. I will call tomorrow. I just want my life back! I don't ever see anyone anymore, my kids are off their schedule and therefore their sleeping is out of whack. I want to be able to just sleep without dust everywhere and have a meal at a kitchen table. There is one good thing. I was going to cover the brick on my fireplace with stone. I had to grind off the white paint so the mortar would stick. Well it revealed some nice brick that doesn't look too bad. Everyone says that I should keep it and I probably will. The good note is that it cuts down my time since I don't have to put the stone on the fireplace. I picked up my flooring today and so once this granite ordeal is over I can start installing that.

Don't Take Good Service For "Granite"

***Warning this post is long***

I am so close to finishing the kitchen I can taste it! I can't wait for it to be done. I sick of the chaos of not having a schedule and just having everyone else watch my kids while I work on the kitchen. I just finished painting everything but there are a couple of places where I need to touch up on the ceiling. I got the cabinets in and they look fantastic. I picked out the tile for my backsplash. The flooring has come in but I can't put it in until the stone is in on the fireplace.

So this is what it looks like so far. We put in the ovens and they look great. We still have to cut the notches out of the island granite for it to fit around the posts. The frige is my old frige but I put it the the spot just to see what it looked like. I am going to get a new stainless steel frige when the flooring is done.

So now I will tell you about my horrific experience with the granite. I bought the granite from this place close to my house because I was able to get a good deal. I needed the island edge finished and a opening cut out for the sink. They gave me a name of a guy who usually does it for them. I called him and he said no problem that he would pick up the pieces, finish them and then take them back to the graite place for me to pick up. I left the kitchen plans with all of the dimensions and the sink template with the people at the granite place. He picked them up finished them and then I met him at the granite place to pay him for the service. I paid him and then noticed that the sink opening was cut at the wrong place. I mentioned something to him and he said "Oh no it's right, you were planning on cutting one side so then it will be in the right place." I trusted that he knew what he was doing and then went home. I still kept thinking that it was wrong so I looked at my plans, calculated the inches on where the sink opening should be and concluded that it was majorly wrong. It was only supposed to be 15 inches from the right and it was about 30 inches. I then drove right back to the granite place and told them what happened. They called him and had him come back. He came right over and the first thing he said to me was, "I know where I messed up. I added the inches instead of subtracting. " He then said he would get another piece for me, cut it and get it back to me in two days. I was glad that I didn't have to argue with him that he messed up so I was just going to leave it at that. He then said, "For your troubles I will cut the piece to length and drop the granite off at your house." Well he didn't have it done in two days like he said. When we found the problem it was Saturday. He said he would pick it up on Monday and drop it off on Tuesday. I kept calling him and leaving messages but he never called me back. I then talked to him Wednesday afternoon and he said he hadn't even picked it up yet. He will pick it up on Thursday and drop it off on Friday. He then calls me on Friday and says that the sink template got thrown out and that he needs to pick up the sink and just cut it from the actually sink. He came over picked up the sink, double checked the cabinet measurements and said he would be back at 5:30 to drop it off. He then called me at 3:30, two hours before he was supposed to drop it off, and said I have another job I need to be at and I can't drop it off. I will take it back to the granite place and you can pick it up there. I said that was unacceptable and that I planned on him bringing it to my house. I then asked if he could bring it to be early Saturday morning. He then said no and that he was only doing this as a favor for me. I reminded him that it was his mistake that put me back a week on my kitchen and it was at his suggestion that he would bring it to my house. He said "Oh well I am going to drop it off at the granite place and you will have to figure out how to get it." Then ended the coversation. My dad only had Saturday to finish the granite and so we were planning on it being there. When Adam got home from work we made a plan. We would go to the granite place right when it opened and have some guys from the ward to help carry the massive island piece in the house. Adam made some phone calls and I have to give a shout out to the guys who came over at short notice. Thanks to Adam Laret, 4 missionaries, Bill Freeman, and Nathan Brady. We were glad that you guys were willing to help us out. Well we tried to put the piece in and found out the guy didn't cut it down like he said. He cut the right place for the sink but the faucet hole was off center by half of an inch. We had to take it off and put it down to cut it to size and to top it off the granite broke! AHHHHHH can this get any worse!

My dad said that he has fixed broken granite before and that you probably won't even know it happened. If not then I will have to buy another piece and pay for someone else to cut the opening for the sink. I am definately not going to that guy again!

Yeah Man, Sheet Rocks!

So we have put up the sheet rock and we will start texturing the walls on Monday. It's getting closer and I can't wait. This sickness has definately put us back on the project though. After the texturing I have to paint. I still need to figure out what colors I want to do. Adam says that he loves the autumn colors that I decorated with before but I am afraid that with the new cabinets my current burnt orange color might be too dark. I was thinking of just going with a neutral beige and then just accenting with fabrics but is that too boring for colorful me? My cabinets are a knotty alder that has a medium color stain and a dark glaze just in the creases plus my island is going to be black with sanded edges. I think I will go to the fabric store and get inspiration there. Suggestions anyone? I cut all of the holes for the in-wall and in-ceiling speakers and ran all of the wires for the surround sound. We are getting built in cabinets made to surround our fireplace and are also going to get a huge flat screen TV to mount above the fireplace. Let me tell you...Rock Band is going to be awesome on our TV and surround sound.

Am I Crazy!

So I thought today...Am I crazy for starting my kitchen remodel at this time in my life? Probably. I just switched from part-time to full-time at work, Adam is working full time, and I watch Melanie's kids 3 days a week for about 6 hours each day. I have been wanting this kitchen for so long that I thought I just needed to make the leap and do it.
There is light at the end of the tunnel though. The electrical is almost done. Most of the drywall is done then it needs texture and paint. The cabinet guy (President Pebbles for those of you who know him) came by today to do some final measurements. He said he would be able to install the cabinets in the second week of May. Then all we have to do is my granite counter tops and the flooring. We are probably about over half way done. I will have to have a "My Kitchen is Finally Done" party at my house. Who's up for it?

It's Comin' Along

Well here is the most recent update of my kitchen. I am excited for it to be done. We still have a lot of work though. The drywall is almost done. We have to finish an archway over the desk window. Move the dining table light, install the in ceiling speakers, install can lights, install the exhaust hood under the island and texture/paint the walls. The cabinets are supposed be done in mid May so we have a deadline to do all of this stuff.

New Kitchen Here We Come!

So I have been trying to save my money for the past 3 years for a new kitchen. I finally decided just to do it or it won't get done. My dad is helping me which is nice. I know that it would take much longer to do if it was only me. We did demolition on two walls to open it all up. The layout of my old kitchen was horrible. The refrigerator door would hit the wall every time you opened it, the space in between the cabinets were almost 6 feet. That was such wasted space and it felt like forever trying to move a pot of boiling water from the stove to the sink. I decided to move the refrigerator, get built in wall ovens, make an island, and move the dishwasher. I thought we were done with the walls when we brought them down but my dad suggested that it would look better with arches in them. Even though it was another thing to do on the kitchen I am glad he suggested it. I am posting some pictures to let everyone know how our progress is going.