Helpful Friends & Family

We are very thankful for all the help we have received on our new home. This weekend was the start of the complete overhaul. Mark's friend Mike came in from Austin to give us the wonderful gift of laying our kitchen tile. He arrived Friday night and left late Sunday afternoon. He did a wonderful job. This is a gift that we will enjoy for years to come! Thank you, Mike!!!Linoleum Removed New Tile Floor!

We were also surprised to have the help of Gary, Mark's father's work partner. He volunteered his time and we accepted! He helped Mark's dad paint two rooms and did a fantastic job. Mark's dad finished up the detail work on both rooms. These are expert painters! It is amazing how paint can change a room!


Study Before Study After with Northern Pear Green


Guest Room Before


Gary painting Almond Paste







After a few helpful hints from Mike about tiling, Mark completed the crisp, white tile in our guest bathroom. It looks wonderful and I can't wait to see what the final room looks like. We have great plans for this room!


Bathroom with linoleum

Tiled!!!








Mark and Mike also put the finishing touches on the laundry room floor so that is now complete. Having tile in there will be great for messes. I began painting in there this weekend where I discovered painting ceilings is my least favorite job. Here is a before picture though the after picture will come later.









I had a great time working in the house this weekend. I have learned SO much since this is all new to me. Everything has been fun (minus ceilings) but my favorite job so far has been painting doors. Yet again, what a difference a coat of paint can make!
Here are all the doors lined up for painting and cleaning.
The last major thing we did was to sell the oh-so-creepy hot tub that came with the house. Both Mark and I felt sitting in a small pool of water, not knowing who had been in that water was just too odd for us. After almost two hours of Mark helping the guys load the spa, it was gone. Now we have money to purchase much-needed fans and lights.

Anthony and Sarah Jane also stopped by to see our house and tell us about their new home which is only 8 miles away in Plano. We are practically neighbors! Compared to their complete house, our house is a bit of a disaster. This is just a bit of what it looks like complete with the toilet in the living room....
It was a VERY busy, but very fun weekend. I told Mark last night as he worked away on the bathroom tile, "I can't wait to live in this house!"

Oh, the Dramatic Pause

I am in the middle of annual progress testing at work. The testing department has to individually administer a battery of fifteen tests to each child in the Lower School. It is one of my favorite times of year not only because it keeps me busy, but also because it involves filing, sorting, and scoring tests.

This afternoon I tested a very anxious little boy. He complained of severe stomach pains during the spelling portion and a headache during the number writing section. Part of his ailments were truthful while the other parts were not - his teacher had warned me and encouraged me to push him through it. When I asked him to write his numbers from one to one hundred, he nearly broke down. After telling me he could only count to 20 (and me saying that he needed to keep going), him saying this was too hard (and me giving encouragement), and him saying he could only count to 50 (and me saying I would let him finish the paper tomorrow morning with his teacher), I got a line that I could not help but smile at. This little boy said, "my parents don't make me write my numbers." I gave him a you-aren't-serious look and replied, "really? What do they say to you?" Immediately, he turned his head, looked to the wall, paused, huffed, and said,"my parents say 'son, you don't have to write your numbers if you don't want to, it's ok.'"

He looked at me and we both giggled a bit knowing this whole story was completely false. This little boy may hate academics but he sure is soaking up the teachings in drama class!

Popcorn-Free Ceilings

Our house is in full-on demolition mode. Mark and I hired a crew to remove the popcorn ceilings. They were there for two days and we are very pleased with the work they did. I think it makes the ceilings like taller while Mark felt it made the house look brand new. We agree it was money well spent! Although they did a decent job covering everything with plastic and blue tape, there is still a big mess that remains.

Both Mark and I are extremely grateful for all the time Mark's dad has spent at our house the past two days. He sat with the ceiling scrapers in addition to taking down wallpaper, adding trim to an exterior window, making trips to Home Depot, and replacing an exterior light all while we were at work. I don't know what we have done without his help thus far! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Worker Bees

We have already started renovations on our house - we didn't waste a minute! Mark's father agreed to help us on some big projects and we are so grateful for his time, patience, and expertise. I know nothing about home renovations so having the combination of Mark and his dad is a true gift.

Mark and his father ripped up all the linoleum in the kitchen and laundry room while I began to remove wallpaper in the kitchen. They also helped me with this task. It is time consuming but not too bad - a perfect job for me! We also tested out the paint colors we selected and love what we chose. I also cleaned out the dirty refrigerator and the interiors of all the kitchen cabinets. This is a picture of an unidentified object I found in the bottom kitchen cabinet. Your guess is as good as ours as to what this is?!?!?

We also met our next door neighbor who is very kind and very talkative (Mark and I each spent 40 minutes talking to him). He is the self-proclaimed "Watchdog" of the neighborhood along with the president of the HOA. We are thankful to have an involved neighbor though we are sure he will provide many a good story!

We are planning on changing/fixing/updating almost everything in this house. There is LOTS of work to be done but we have a plan and a budget so we are set to work!

Our First Home!

We closed on our very first home Friday afternoon. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. I did not sleep a wink Thursday night. Most people I spoke with said the signing of the papers was boring but I loved every minute of it. This is a picture of Mark and I handing the lady at the title company our down payment and closing cost check. I thought it may be hard to let go of it, but it wasn't at all - especially when I knew we were getting the keys to our new home in exchange!

After leaving the title company, Mark and I went to purchase tile for the laundry room, kitchen and guest bathroom. We figured we were on a spending spree so why not continue! We found some great tile that we both loved. After speaking with a rather kooky, but very helpful and nice employee (she told us she named her son after a vampire), she found out we had just closed on our home and decided to sneak in an extra discount for us. This ended up saving us a ton of money so we were both very grateful for her generosity and help! Home Depot was our next spot where we bought shelving for the garage.

After a wonderfully exciting day, we met some friends who just moved to Frisco as well for dinner and some outdoor games at their new home. It was a great Friday!

A Girl's Day

Yes, I realize it is 10:57pm (yes, pm) and I am never up this late, but I just returned home after having a great day. Actually, it was more like a terrific day. Since I am on Spring Break, I decided to test all my wedding day preparations so if any of my ideas needed tweaking, I would have plenty of time to work them out. Luckily, everything turned out just as planned, if not better.

I began the day with a tough workout with the trainer. She took me outdoors since the weather was so beautiful which was different but fun (luckily there was no sitting in grass involved). After showering, I raced to M.A.C. at the mall to get false lashes and my makeup done (I have always wanted to try fake lashes so I did!). I left feeling quite glamorous since I typically wear a very small amount of make-up. Then, I was off to get my wedding up-do which turned out better than I ever imagined! My mom and I then went to purchase my veil. The ladies at the shop suggested I come in full hair and make-up and to bring my dress too so we could get the whole picture with the veil - must say, it was a great idea! Seeing it all together really made me wish July 11 was tomorrow.

I loved my hair and makeup so much I decided to go out with it. I had made plans to meet my friends for dinner at Trulcuk's and then go to the Addison Improv to see Greg Behrendt (the guy who wrote He's Just Not That Into You). The show was so funny my face hurt from laughing so much, not to mention I love having dinner with my friends!

Although I am a bit sad the day is over, I must admit, washing my face and taking my super-hairsprayed hair down never felt so good! Back to a ponytail, flip flops, and a little make-up for me tomorrow!

Team Us

Mark and I are very close to being home owners - we close on our new home on Friday! We are both very excited and very anxious to start working on it. Throughout this entire process, I have been very thankful for Mark, but after yesterday, I realized we truly are the team I joke about (sometimes I say in jest, "go team us!").

Mark called to ask me to set up water, gas, and electric in our new home while he was in meetings at work all day. I love these kinds of jobs so I was happy to take care of calling, faxing, and filling out online applications along with figuring out my storage unit situation. Although this is a very short list in the grand scheme of things it has taken in order to buy this home (Mark has done most of them), together, I am certain that we can accomplish anything. And in a few days, we will have a house to prove it! As the old saying goes, two heads are always better than one!

The Closet of My Dreams

I love organization tools of any kind - calendars (my ultimate favorite), drawer organizers, kitchen containers, etc. but my organizational dream has always been to have one of those ultimate closet systems complete with areas designed to hang dresses and skirts and another section made just for sweaters and such. Mark made my dream come true yesterday at Expo's liquidation sale.

As we were cruising down the aisles admiring all sorts of home improvement type items, we happened upon the closet organization section. I told Mark that this is what I wished we could install in our new home and before I knew it, we were making decisions on which pieces we would buy (all part of my wedding gift from Mark). I was thrilled! This picture is just part of what our new closet will look like....I can't wait!!!

It was a bit of a race to see which pieces we could claim as our own since there were very few white options left and another customer and her husband were eye-balling the same things. Mark went to get a cart while I held the items (this would prove to be an important lesson that we should have kept in mind after our basket with cabinet knobs was stolen from us later that day...whew, discount shoppers can be mean!).

So, needless to say, I had an awesome day yesterday...partially because Mark is making my dream of having a very organized closet come true, but also because I had fun spending the day home improvement shopping with Mark. I sure do love my fiance!

The Pajama Game

I went to see "The Pajama Game" last night with some girl friends from work. I am so lucky to work with great women during the day that it is even better when I get to see them outside of school! None of us knew that this was an old Doris Day movie when we bought the tickets so we really didn't know what we were going to see.

The play was at the Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas. I had never been to that theater and it was beautiful - complete with gold-trimmed ceilings, chairs that allow you to feel every spring that is holding you up, and that old theater smell - we loved it!

The show was great but what made it even better were the two men sitting a row ahead of us. "The Pajama Game" had to have been his all time favorite musical based on the amount of clapping, grunting, and laughing he was doing throughout the show. We heard everything (and I mean everything) he said. By far the funniest comment he made was after one of the characters fell off a restaurant bench after indulging in a bit too much alcohol and he said (much louder than a whisper), "been there, honey!" All four of us could hardly contain our own laughter.

It was a wonderful evening and one that will be remembered for a long time to come!

Bugs and Cows

As a co-worker and I were walking down the hall with a five year old this morning, he told us about his allergies. He said he was tested awhile ago and the doctors discovered that the only thing he was not allergic to were bugs and cows. I couldn't leave this comment alone so I said, "wow! Those sure are interesting things to not be allergic to. When was the last time you ate a bug for a meal?" This little boy quickly replied, "oh, I don't eat bugs." Hmmm.....

Weekend Fun

I love the weekends, but then again, who doesn't, right? Mark and I usually lay pretty low on the weekends but this weekend we had lots to do! Friday night we had a movie date night and went to see "The Wrestler" which was very good (Mark loved the 80's music in the movie). Saturday night we met up with two of Mark's friends from work and their significant others. The plan was to have dinner at the Gaylord Texan and then go see a Le Freak but we saw the line for the concert and decided to go play pool instead. I had been to the Gaylord in Nashville plenty of times but never the one here. It had a Texas theme but was equally as entertaining. Sunday, Mark and I went to the All Garden Show in Arlington. As almost home owners we thought it would be fun to see what we could do to improve our home. We decided we could easily spend $30,000 on a new closet and outdoor things...assuming we had an unlimited budget, that is. Although I would like to say we purchased a new outdoor kitchen, we left instead with two bags of soup mix and some roasted nuts (all delicious). The rest of the afternoon we watched four movies, made a cheese and cracker tray for lunch (I was quite impressed with it) and had soup for dinner. Overall a great weekend!