1 Mar, 2010
Thank god February is over!! To celebrate the end of February, and to take a break from our ever-growing list of home projects, we decided to check out the Udvar-Hazy extension of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. It was nice to get away and just tool around together looking at planes.
Thank god February is over!! To celebrate the end of February, and to take a break from our ever-growing list of home projects, we decided to check out the Udvar-Hazy extension of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. It was nice to get away and just tool around together looking at planes.
22 Feb, 2010
We've had a few visitors to our new house this past week. My dad was in DC for a meeting mid-week so he stayed the night w/ us. He really liked the house and was really impressed w/ the work we've done (and the contractors have done) so far. Mike's mom and his aunt came to visit us for a day trip this past weekend. They also are really pleased w/ the place. Its nice to begin to have people stop in. But visitors beware, we are still in the midst of project after project for many many more months to come.
We've had a few visitors to our new house this past week. My dad was in DC for a meeting mid-week so he stayed the night w/ us. He really liked the house and was really impressed w/ the work we've done (and the contractors have done) so far. Mike's mom and his aunt came to visit us for a day trip this past weekend. They also are really pleased w/ the place. Its nice to begin to have people stop in. But visitors beware, we are still in the midst of project after project for many many more months to come.
17 Feb, 2010
Mt. World Weather Building! Upon returning from a break, Janna, Katy, Kate, and I noticed that our work parking lot was finally cleared of most of the snow. The large construction equipment generated huge piles of snow. Of course, I couldn't resist the urge to climb one!
Mt. World Weather Building! Upon returning from a break, Janna, Katy, Kate, and I noticed that our work parking lot was finally cleared of most of the snow. The large construction equipment generated huge piles of snow. Of course, I couldn't resist the urge to climb one!
14 Feb, 2010
I could really go for a healthy dose of "normal" right about now. The snow has been ridiculous and is really messing w/ commerce and roads and work schedules. I've not been physically into work for a normal work day since Thursday the 4th! Its been a lot of working from home and forced days off, which normally would be embraced, but trust me, I've reached my limit.
After shoveling out from the second storm you can see that our piles are now taller than I am. This is the view we see while driving down our street -- a snow canyon! And this is how large the piles are out on the main streets -- they make for very poor visibility.
Since we've been cooped up in our house a lot we've been quite busy w/ home improvements.
I could really go for a healthy dose of "normal" right about now. The snow has been ridiculous and is really messing w/ commerce and roads and work schedules. I've not been physically into work for a normal work day since Thursday the 4th! Its been a lot of working from home and forced days off, which normally would be embraced, but trust me, I've reached my limit.
After shoveling out from the second storm you can see that our piles are now taller than I am. This is the view we see while driving down our street -- a snow canyon! And this is how large the piles are out on the main streets -- they make for very poor visibility.
Since we've been cooped up in our house a lot we've been quite busy w/ home improvements.
- The contractor finished the family room windows so now we finally have blinds for privacy
- Mike patched some moldy drywall beneath 2 living room windows. Then we painted a few accent walls in the living room a light brown.
- We removed the chair rails in the dining room and painted 2 opposing walls a slate blue.
- Our new front door was installed!
- Our new garage "mandoor" was installed!
6 Feb, 2010
After 29 hours of continuous snow the storm is finally over. We got out about 2/3 of the way through the snowfall to put a dent in the shoveling that lay before us. This is what we saw when we opened the garage door. It was all so pretty before we dug in. This was about the only bit of fun we had since the shoveling was dreadful. We had to take 3 and 4 and 5 swipes off the top before we even struck pavement. When all was said and done, many of our snow piles are as tall as I am (5'2"). Its hard to know exactly how much snow fell. Martyr flakes fell for hours before the ground was finally cold enough to allow subsequent snowflakes to accumulate. Also, our blizzard warning winds picked up and caused a fair bit of drifting. When I measured around the yard I got anywhere from 16" to 25". But the average puts us at 22".
After 29 hours of continuous snow the storm is finally over. We got out about 2/3 of the way through the snowfall to put a dent in the shoveling that lay before us. This is what we saw when we opened the garage door. It was all so pretty before we dug in. This was about the only bit of fun we had since the shoveling was dreadful. We had to take 3 and 4 and 5 swipes off the top before we even struck pavement. When all was said and done, many of our snow piles are as tall as I am (5'2"). Its hard to know exactly how much snow fell. Martyr flakes fell for hours before the ground was finally cold enough to allow subsequent snowflakes to accumulate. Also, our blizzard warning winds picked up and caused a fair bit of drifting. When I measured around the yard I got anywhere from 16" to 25". But the average puts us at 22".
4 Feb, 2010
SNOWMAGEDDON!
This is HPC's latest depiction of the probability of > 12" of snow.
And this is a portion of the text in the latest winter storm warning:
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM FRIDAY TO 10 PM EST SATURDAY.
ACCUMULATIONS...STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 18 TO 24 INCHES.
SNOWMAGEDDON!
This is HPC's latest depiction of the probability of > 12" of snow.
And this is a portion of the text in the latest winter storm warning:
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM FRIDAY TO 10 PM EST SATURDAY.
ACCUMULATIONS...STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 18 TO 24 INCHES.
1 Feb, 2010
Kathy, this one's for you! We installed knobs on all of our kitchen cabinets and drawers. After using the kitchen for a few weeks it was apparent that several features are unfinished, including knobs on the cabinetry. Thanks for the suggestion back in December!
We also have new windows! Hooray! The entire downstairs windows have been replaced. The bank (this was a foreclosed property) replaced all of the windows upstairs. So now we are all snug and sealed.
Kathy, this one's for you! We installed knobs on all of our kitchen cabinets and drawers. After using the kitchen for a few weeks it was apparent that several features are unfinished, including knobs on the cabinetry. Thanks for the suggestion back in December!
We also have new windows! Hooray! The entire downstairs windows have been replaced. The bank (this was a foreclosed property) replaced all of the windows upstairs. So now we are all snug and sealed.
16 Jan, 2010
As promised here are some more before and after pictures of our bathrooms. This is the upstairs hallway bathroom. It turns out the vanity space is 67", rather than the standard 60". So we have this awkward 7" gap b/t the vanity and the wall (that separates the sinks from the toilet and shower). To solve it, we're going to remove the wall altogether.
These are pictures of our master bathroom. Similar to the other bathroom, we were up against non-standard sizing for the vanity space. Rather than the standard 60" we were met w/ 59". Grrr! So we had to go w/ 2 24" vanities. We'll figure out how to address the 11" gap between them.
As for the shower, we have a new pan, new shower head, and new door (though you can't see all of that in this picture). While not our style, we kept the shower tile for now b/c it is in good shape.
As promised here are some more before and after pictures of our bathrooms. This is the upstairs hallway bathroom. It turns out the vanity space is 67", rather than the standard 60". So we have this awkward 7" gap b/t the vanity and the wall (that separates the sinks from the toilet and shower). To solve it, we're going to remove the wall altogether.
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These are pictures of our master bathroom. Similar to the other bathroom, we were up against non-standard sizing for the vanity space. Rather than the standard 60" we were met w/ 59". Grrr! So we had to go w/ 2 24" vanities. We'll figure out how to address the 11" gap between them.
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As for the shower, we have a new pan, new shower head, and new door (though you can't see all of that in this picture). While not our style, we kept the shower tile for now b/c it is in good shape.
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15 Jan, 2010
Moving day is nearly upon us! Since closing our contractor has been in the house doing quite a bit of work. There is quite a list of things that needed updating: bathrooms, family room, windows, exterior doors, etc ... To give you an idea of what we were up against, here is a before and after of the powder room.
Moving day is nearly upon us! Since closing our contractor has been in the house doing quite a bit of work. There is quite a list of things that needed updating: bathrooms, family room, windows, exterior doors, etc ... To give you an idea of what we were up against, here is a before and after of the powder room.
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30 Dec, 2009
Wow how time flies! One year ago today Mike and I rolled into the DC area ... homeless!
Wow how time flies! One year ago today Mike and I rolled into the DC area ... homeless!
28 Dec, 2009
Christmas was in OH this year. All siblings and their kids were represented except for Carey's clan -- we certainly missed them. With 4 kids b/t 6 and 3 years old, it was pretty exciting. As a result, pictures were very difficult to get. Mike and I tried our best and this one is probably the best we got. Poor Greg is blocked. Hopefully others got better pictures to share. Now that we have a house, there's a small buzz going around that next year Christmas will be at our place!
Christmas was in OH this year. All siblings and their kids were represented except for Carey's clan -- we certainly missed them. With 4 kids b/t 6 and 3 years old, it was pretty exciting. As a result, pictures were very difficult to get. Mike and I tried our best and this one is probably the best we got. Poor Greg is blocked. Hopefully others got better pictures to share. Now that we have a house, there's a small buzz going around that next year Christmas will be at our place!
20 Dec, 2009
4 of us at work (Me, Kate, Stacie, and Janna) agreed to do a Secret Santa gift exchange. We went out for happy hour at Cap City on Thursday to just cut loose and exchange gifts. I had picked Stacie and decided she needed a cookie monster t-shirt! Janna had picked me. Here's my loot, most notably the home owner's manual!
With a huge winter storm on the way, Friday afternoon Mike and I spent all of our time at the new place prepping the outside as best we could. We cleaned gutters, put fresh cut wood (from fallen tree limbs) into the shed, and raked and bagged 34 bags of leaves!
And then the snow fell ... and fell ... and fell! All told our area got anywhere b/t 15"-20". We went to the house halfway through the storm to put a dent into shoveling the driveway. We went back again this morning to finish the job. W/ 2 shovels and half as much snow, we did the job in under an hour. For more novelty, this is the view down the row where we live right now.
We would like to note where county tax revenue goes. This is Rte 3/301 in Prince George's County. And this is Rte 3/301 in Anne Arundel county. We will be moving from AA county into PG county.
Happy Wedding Anniversary to both my parents and Mike's!
Happy Birthday to Gregory!
4 of us at work (Me, Kate, Stacie, and Janna) agreed to do a Secret Santa gift exchange. We went out for happy hour at Cap City on Thursday to just cut loose and exchange gifts. I had picked Stacie and decided she needed a cookie monster t-shirt! Janna had picked me. Here's my loot, most notably the home owner's manual!
With a huge winter storm on the way, Friday afternoon Mike and I spent all of our time at the new place prepping the outside as best we could. We cleaned gutters, put fresh cut wood (from fallen tree limbs) into the shed, and raked and bagged 34 bags of leaves!
And then the snow fell ... and fell ... and fell! All told our area got anywhere b/t 15"-20". We went to the house halfway through the storm to put a dent into shoveling the driveway. We went back again this morning to finish the job. W/ 2 shovels and half as much snow, we did the job in under an hour. For more novelty, this is the view down the row where we live right now.
We would like to note where county tax revenue goes. This is Rte 3/301 in Prince George's County. And this is Rte 3/301 in Anne Arundel county. We will be moving from AA county into PG county.
Happy Wedding Anniversary to both my parents and Mike's!
Happy Birthday to Gregory!
15 Dec, 2009
 | Well holy crap! Mike and I honestly felt this day would never come. Mike and I are homeowners! I know in time we'll look back at this process and just pass it off w/ a few good laughs. But dear god, that has to have been one of the most arduous processes of all property transactions. What a nightmare. |
