Winter White

I don't really like winter, except for the holidays, but I'm having a slight change of heart with last night's/today's snow. It's just so pretty!
Now if only I had a snow day.

Family Time

Andrew and I had family in town this weekend and had a great time. Noel, Hillary (eight months pregnant - what a trooper!) and Quinn drove down from Hiawatha on Friday afternoon and arrived in time for dinner and a quick house tour.

Noel and Andrew widened the doorway between our family room and living room on Saturday. It made a huge difference, and we owe Noel big time! We are just about done with the finishing touches so stay tuned for pictures.

Hillary, Quinn and I went to Babies R Us on Saturday morning and then to Exploration Place, a hands-on, interactive play and learning center for kids. We spent a lot of time in the tots area, where Quinn just loved the water feature.
We all watched the K-State basketball game together on Saturday afternoon, had dinner, colored with markers, drew on the chalkboard, watched a movie and Quinn and Franklin decided to be friends. :) Can't believe he let her lay this close without licking her face non-stop!
Speaking of being friends, Quinn and Andrew are now buddies, too! They made a fire in the fireplace together, read books, and he got her donuts for breakfast on Sunday morning. What a guy.

Can't wait to visit them again in Hiawatha! Next time, baby #2 may be here. So exciting. :)

The Heart of Our Home

We are so close to finishing our first "major" home reno project!

Our kitchen is nicely updated and came with all stainless steel appliances, but it is a galley-style kitchen, long and narrow. I really hated it when I first came to look at the house. Andrew (always the voice of reason in our relationship) convinced me it was worth a second look, and of course he was right. Blah.

I digress.

We actually ended up having really great storage, considering the size. All of our bottom shelving units have pull-out drawers, and it's proved to be very functional for the two of us. However, our food storage was really lacking.

We decided to add a pantry cabinet to a blank wall by our fridge where the previous owner had a huge hutch/china cabinet piece.

So, after much debate, we ordered a 30" wide, 12" deep double-door piece from a local lumber company, and two weeks later the cabinet arrives! Yay! Andrew's dad came down last Friday to help with the installation, and thank goodness...I think he spared us a lot of yelling and dirty looks. And, Andrew was really excited he was able to spend his birthday installing the cabinet (no sarcasm in that sentence).

We still have to putty the screw holes in the molding and add handles to the upper cabinet doors, but otherwise, it's food pantry ready. So, without further ado, before and afters and never-before-seen Moore kitchen photos. :)

Two views, pre-pantry cabinet:


Pantry installed!
I'm so happy with the addition. I have no idea how they ended up installing it. I know they tried at least three different ways, used a bazillion different tools, bought a new tool and took over a day to complete. I'm just glad it's in! And, so glad I was able to help. With my excellent supervision skills. And, I also stained the crown molding. Ha.

Here's a few more detailed pics of the entire kitchen...err, both sides of the kitchen.
I feel like this was one of those projects that doesn't make a huge difference aesthetically, but functionally, it really adds a lot to our kitchen.

Next up, widening the doorway between our family room and living room, and the beginning of our fireplace upgrade!

The Results Are In

Last Tuesday evening, Andrew and I attended the Annual Rockwood Home Owners Association meeting. We were by far the youngest people there; I'm sure Gramps down the street was wondering what these kids were doing at his meeting.

Anyways, long story short, I volunteered to fill an open position on our neighborhood board. Instead of Ali Moore, Wife Extraordinare, you can now refer to me as Ali Moore, Rockwood Homes Marketing and Communications.

Yes, I am 24 going on 45.

And no, no one ever actually referred to me as Wife Extraordinare, especially not Andrew today as apparently I didn't make his birthday cake correctly. All he asked for was a double-layer homemade chocolate cake. Which I did last year. Except this year, I didn't have enough cocoa to make frosting so he got a homemade chocolate cake with chocolate chips and a sprinkle of powder sugar on top. And, I was tired since we had just gotten back from Manhattan after a night of acting like we were 21 again. Sorry, hubs, I did not go to the store to get more cocoa for your frosting. Better luck next year. Just kidding, I am sure I will fulfill your cake request sooner than later. Only if I have time between my strenuous Rockwood board schedule. :)

Throw Me a Bone

When our friend Tyler stopped by on Saturday to watch the game with us, he brought Franklin a new bone. Instant best friends.

Franklin has been gnawing on that thing for days now. He really loves it, and I do too because it keeps him entertained for hours at a time. However, today, he seems to have decided it's not safe in the house and really wants to go outside to hide it. He is acting just like the dog from the Traveler's Insurance commercial. I just won't let him take his bone outside though because last time he did that, it was left out for days and days. It was rained on and soggy, and Franklin ate the entire thing at once and gave himself diarhhea. Not making that mistake again!

So, after whining at the back door for half an hour he decided to hide his bone inside the house instead. I could hear him walking from room to room for a while and then nothing. All of a sudden, Franklin is barking from our guest room.

I find him on the bed without his bone. Turns out he tried to hide it under the pillows, but it dropped to the floor behind the headboard. And, Franklin won't jump down from anything higher than a step for some reason so he was in quite the predicament.

He is not supposed to be on that bed (hello, white comforter), but how can I say no to this face?

Finished!

Well, we did not get my shoe closet done in one weekend. There were just too many distractions. We got a great start on Friday evening - went to Lowe's for supplies, and I even got the first coat of paint on the walls before I went to bed. But, then Saturday rolled around, we cleaned house, gave Frank a bath, watched the KSU/OSU game (no comment there), etc. So little progress. And, I always underestimate the amount of time it takes for paint to dry.

However, after days of nagging, Andrew and I finally closed the door on this one, pun intended.

Here's the step by step process.

#1 - Remove current shelving
#2 - Paint walls (Safari Beige from Valspar)
#3 - Paint supporting boards
Step #4 - Add in painted shelves...starting to come together...
Step #5 - Add in shoe organizers and shoes! So pretty now. :)
A closer view...
And, Andrew even got his very own shelf. :)

Let's review where we were at before...
So much better now!
We also finished up a couple of other lingering projects. I hinted at a new piggy bank last week. I saw this done on Better Homes and Gardens and thought it was so cute. Mason jars are really charming and have so many great uses. I had Andrew make a slot in the metal seal on top of the jar, and woila! Instant piggy bank. Much more fun than the random glass we were putting our loose change in before.
I also received engagement pictures of my Aunt Jan and Uncle Tommy, plus my Mama and Papa (mom's parents) to add to our family wall of wedded bliss.
I love a happy ending. Or just a ending. I don't deal well with unfinished business!

Break's Over

Andrew and I have taken a major break from home improvement since we completed our to-do list before Thanksgiving. However, now I'm getting a major DIY itch again. The thing is, we did all of our easy, less expensive projects last year. So 2010 is going to require a bit more planning and moolah. Which is fine because I'm so excited to get started, and these projects are going to make a major difference in our home. We're going to ease back into DIY home improvement this weekend and then really jump in next week when our pantry cabinets arrive!

We technically started last weekend when we finally got our garage cleaned out and organized. At least as organized as it can be because it's technically part of Andrew's man territory and therefore he gets final say. Maybe you don't know the extent of Andrew's organization skills.

Let me illustrate - his senior year of college when he lived in a house with five other guys, Andrew didn't use a dresser to keep his clothes organized. Not because he didn't have one...because he doesn't like drawers. Instead he created two piles on a futon - one for dirty clothes and one for clean. When the dirty clothes pile got bigger than the clean clothes pile, he did laundry. And by doing laundry I mean putting as many items of clothing into the washer at once (no need for color separation!), move them to the drier and then thrww them back into his clean clothes pile. No folding necessary. Right. So, getting Andrew to put things in cabinets, on hooks, etc in his garage was a major win. Someday we'll work towards organizing the cabinets. Slow down, Ali...

So, this weekend's list:

1. Clean house
2. Give Franklin a bath
3. Watch K-State beat OSU
4. Complete cute piggy bank project
5. Finesse shoe closet

Yep, I have my very own shoe closet. I feel like such a grown up.

And, it currently looks like this:



Messy and blah.

We haven't really discussed official plans for the small makeover, but I'd like to paint the walls and shelves. Andrew is going to add dowels so my shoes set nicer. I think I'd also like to add a shoe organizer for the back of the door to hold my sandals/flip flops. We'll see how ambitious we actually get. Andrew has asked if he can maybe have a shelf in the shoe closet once we're done...we'll see. The verdict is still out.

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend to everyone!