My Dad and I hung four doors after spending countless times figuring out how to put on the door hinge the proper way. These are the before and after pictures. Mark's Dad and I selected these simple, bronze door knobs and hinges that really make the white door look crisp and clean.

Mark also finished our kitchen back splash and it looks AWESOME!!! We selected the tile at the tile store and he did the rest. I am very impressed with my fiance's tiling ability! The tile is pretty by itself but really pops next to the Windy Blue color we painted in the kitchen.

Design on a Dime

I saw on HD TV a way to transform old, gold pieces in your home into stylish, new bronze pieces stores now sell. Since Mark and I chose to use bronze in our home, we decided to buy bronze spray paint, as suggested on the TV show, and see what happened. My Dad worked on this project and, much to my surprise, the tip worked! The chandelier needed three more coats of spray (this picture is just after one spray) as did the light fixtures, but they turned out looking great. You would never suspect these were once gold! Thanks to my Dad, we saved about $350 by not having to buy a new chandelier, hallway, and closet fixtures.

It's Coming Together....

Sorry it has been almost 2 weeks since I last updated the blog. Work blocked me from updating my blog so now I have to do it on personal time - how dare they not allow me to do personal business there!

Our home is coming together! Over the past two weeks, our house has literally transformed from blah, dirty and outdated to lovely, somewhat clean, and updated. Mark's parents both came down with a terrible cold virus which kept them from "showing up to work" (haha, just kidding) but luckily my parents were generous to offer to come and help us. My brother, Drew, was in town visiting so he came too which was an added treat. Every bit of help allowed us to get where we are now so we are VERY grateful to every hand that helped us with this project.

My Mom worked on trimming out doorways, baseboards, and windows while my brother did a little bit of everything. His one major project was re-painting the guest room closet. It looks so clean now, thanks Drew!













My Dad was very helpful for he helped Mark with the 5 minute ceiling fan that took 2 hours to hang along with helping hang doors.

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!