~~~~~ Sew, the heat is… ON! ~~~~~ June 2019 ~~~~~ Update x4 6/30!!!!!!!!

Wow D~!

Your industriousness makes me tired. I wish I had a tenth of your energy! :worship:

Not that you asked for opinions, but I've always wanted to live in a RED house. Just sayin'. They make quite a statement.

Do you mind sharing where you got the artwork hanging above your grandparents' tribute? It would look great in my office. :love:

Have a great day!

Thanks - I really have NO energy, LOL... I have been so tired lately!

I do love red houses too! While we are doing all of this work - it kinda makes me regret the colors we chose for our house back in 2008... If I were to do it all over again, I would either do all white with black accents (typical farmhouse colors)... Or I'd do the tan we have now, but I'd do white accents. I am finding, as we are redoing things - it's very difficult to coordinate with the brown trim. :scratchin

You are gonna love this - but maybe not... I was at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, and they had summer stuff 90% off... I literally got that canvas for under $8! I don't think they have any left, but maybe... Other parts of the country may be on a different mark down schedule? I figured, for $8, it was almost "disposable" and I could hang it outside. We typically only put it up on days that we are home and using the space - otherwise - it lives in our deck box, where it fits perfectly. :)

You have a beautiful home Glad you were able to have fun reconnecting with your dad’s side of the family :)

Awwwh - thank you! :lovestruc

It was so fun seeing my extended family! I miss them all so much! I was very close to my Dad's side (actually my Mom's side too) growing up, and even though we do live fairly local to mostly everyone - we have not gathered in several years. We are hoping to make this a yearly thing. :)

Glad to see you back! Love your now and then pictures :-) Sometimes it's hard to realize our little ones are gone but life moves on. My grandsons are growing up too fast - wish I could slow them down! Your home looks lovely. You've totally transformed it. Older homes sure have more character than new ones. Having company over is a real motivator to get things done. I should invite people over more often! How great your Dad and family could reconnect. You must be so excited to be getting a garage! Especially living in the snowy North!

Kind of back - LOL... Trying to check in once in a while. ::yes::

I love doing them! It's fun to see the kids grow and life around them grow too! They do grow up too fast - I agree - I'd love to slow down time, or at least go back and tell myself to enjoy it more than I did. I guess, that's what grand kids are for, right? :lovestruc

Thank you - It's been a LOT of backbreaking work... We have a plan to be completely done with everything by the beginning of next summer. Which means, this fall, we will be finishing the back deck & restaining the front porch... This winter, we will be gutting and redoing our office, plus redoing all of the tile in our main downstairs bathroom. And in the spring - we will work on the basement. Then we will be DONE & will have touched every room in the house - until we decide to do it again - but at least, then we will know what we are up against. LOL

We are SO EXCITED to be getting a garage... We have been putting it off for too long. As I walk through the house - I keep mentally "ticking off" a list of items that will get stored in the garage... Most of our closets and basement will be empty, and it will be so nice!!! Plus to be able to park our cars inside in the winter & to have a place for Josh to keep his lawnmower and snow blower (that isn't a shed in the back yard) will be hugely helpful! ::yes::


Hi Dorine,

It is great to hear from you again. Josh must be exhausted with that kind of work schedule. Will he get back to something close to 40 hours a week soon?

I love the "then and now" for Victoria. That is so adorable. :)

Are you going to make your new garage big enough for two cars? It will be really nice to have a new one, especially when it snows. And a nice shiny, new garage won't have bugs and cobwebs and decades of old stuff. It will be nice to have a clean slate. :)

Today is my first day of retirement and tomorrow we are going to Disney World. I can't wrap my head around it yet. The training period for my replacement has been very stressful. I will miss my coworkers but not the work itself. I haven't had time or energy to think about my Disney trip, but luckily, I've had so much experience packing for a trip to WDW that I should be able to accomplish it just fine. This is the first time I have a full day to pack, too, instead of pulling the final pieces together after a full day at work. And the best part is that I won't have a week's worth of laundry waiting for me when I get home. I can so it today. ;)

Well - he officially finished OT yesterday... The hard stuff anyways. Today is his first day off in 21 days. ::yes:: He is back to "normal" hours tomorrow and only about 10 hours of OT per week for the remainder of fall. So, that's a little less exhausting.

Thank you! :lovestruc

Yes - it will be an "extra-large" 2 car garage (8 feet wider than normal), plus we are planning a small attic inside for storage... It will only have a "ship ladder" for access - but I am looking forward to storing a few things up there that we don't use often, but that I am not ready to part with yet... Like some of the girls' toys that I hung on to, to pass on one day. We don't want to put anything up there that we will need to get at often, but it will still be nice to have that dry storage. ::yes:: Then my upstairs linen closet can be used to actually store linens, rather than bins of toys. LOL Josh will also have room for a work bench on the back wall - so all of his tools which are stored in the basement and shed can all be put in one place. Plus... Josh also said there will be room for me to finally have a squat rack for my weight bar - so I can safely lift. I will also get a shelf to store all of my "porch decor"(which includes chair cushions and small rugs) - so that can move from the closet under the stairs. Ahhhh - I cannot wait! I honestly think that the only items left in the basement will be our Christmas decorations and then our pantry shelf can be used to store excess kitchen items - mostly seasonal stuff that I only use on holidays. Probably more info than you wanted? LOL

WOW Sue!!! Congratulations on your retirement!!! That came quickly! Wishing you a fantastic trip too!

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I hope you all are having a nice weekend! :)

D~
 
D~ The transformation of your house is amazing! Add that to your deck and you have quite the beautiful oasis.
 
Your garage sounds SO nice! Like an extension of your home. You will be in heaven will all that storage space plus getting to keep your vehicles inside. Very exciting!
 


Nice then and now picture of V.

Sounds great to get a garage again. No garage during winter is no fun.

How great that you got to have a family get together with your dad's side of the family.
 
We are on a very long drive home from Disney and I thought of your trip reports! I decided to check and I found this! Just read the whole thing! I've been following along for years but I've never asked....where does one find your custom bags!?!?
 



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