There is much rejoicing (on my part, at least) that my camera battery recharger has been found! Lots of credit to Justin, who told me to look in his orange bag a week or more ago (but I didn't believe that it could have possibly ended up in there).
I also anticipate rejoicing on the part of my many (ha!) readers, as the long dry spell of posts will be coming to an end. In addition to finding the camera cord, we just submitted an order for a laptop!! I will soon be able to write blog posts without feeling like I'm stealing away valuable educational time from the Dr.-to-be.
Now we can all go slaughter the fattened turkey to celebrate! There's lots to be thankful for (even without the new found technology).
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
I'm not dead...
...but my camera is :( I haven't been able to locate the battery charger since our honeymoon. I'm hoping that it wasn't on the nightstand in the hotel, and there's certainly enough stuff in transition for it to be hiding somewhere in the house!
So between lack of pictures, limited computer access, and lots of visitors and projects, the blog has clearly fallen by the wayside. But I'm ba-aack! (I know, you've heard that before).
In the "big things" department, there is no longer a bed in the kitchen, there is drywall in the extra bedroom, and we have a new furnace (complete with a programmable thermostat that looks like it's capable to communicate with the space station as well as with our heater).
In the "little things that seem like big things to Emily" department, see below:
Excuse the quality of the photos, they're both from my cell phone (given the aforementioned camera issue). Huge thanks to my parents who are responsible for a large portion of the completed work! There are some other big things underway...stay tuned (for a short time, I promise) to see more progress :)
So between lack of pictures, limited computer access, and lots of visitors and projects, the blog has clearly fallen by the wayside. But I'm ba-aack! (I know, you've heard that before).
In the "big things" department, there is no longer a bed in the kitchen, there is drywall in the extra bedroom, and we have a new furnace (complete with a programmable thermostat that looks like it's capable to communicate with the space station as well as with our heater).
In the "little things that seem like big things to Emily" department, see below:
Excuse the quality of the photos, they're both from my cell phone (given the aforementioned camera issue). Huge thanks to my parents who are responsible for a large portion of the completed work! There are some other big things underway...stay tuned (for a short time, I promise) to see more progress :)
Friday, October 29, 2010
Happy fall
Well, we're slowly starting to be settled into the house. We're slowly correcting the issue (due to moving in and having limited finished space) Justin described as a fear of walking from point A to point B in the dark. It was, in fact, pretty scary due to the clutter. We can successfully navigate the bedroom, and all of the clothing has a (temporary) home. I spent last Saturday putting together a dresser from Target and we have a stand-up clothing rack that serves its purpose to hang clothing - for the most part, except when it crashed down in the middle of Wednesday night.
So, there are minor setbacks to getting set up, but I can still see progress. I could even get my sewing machine out this week, so naturally I felt right at home.
We also have been enjoying the fall, including the nice two Indian Summer days. Wednesday evening I felt like quintessential Americans raking leaves (my neighborhood growing up didn't have big enough trees for substantial raking, so it was my first real autumn adventure).
And, believe it or not, this is something I actually saw in the leaf pile - no set up by me! (I did move it so I could photograph it without it getting swept into the bag, but I swear this is how it looked when I saw it on the pile).
Happy fall!
Oh, and good news, our furnace replacement is beginning next Wednesday. It's starting to get pretty chilly without it, so we're excited for that step! Additional construction projects and really moving in coming soon.
So, there are minor setbacks to getting set up, but I can still see progress. I could even get my sewing machine out this week, so naturally I felt right at home.
We also have been enjoying the fall, including the nice two Indian Summer days. Wednesday evening I felt like quintessential Americans raking leaves (my neighborhood growing up didn't have big enough trees for substantial raking, so it was my first real autumn adventure).
And, believe it or not, this is something I actually saw in the leaf pile - no set up by me! (I did move it so I could photograph it without it getting swept into the bag, but I swear this is how it looked when I saw it on the pile).
Happy fall!
Oh, and good news, our furnace replacement is beginning next Wednesday. It's starting to get pretty chilly without it, so we're excited for that step! Additional construction projects and really moving in coming soon.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Our biggest improvement yet
Now, our house is a home because there is a family within its walls.
I'm excited almost to the point of tears that I get to spend my first night ever in OUR HOUSE. No more drives across town! I just put our new sheets on our new bed...and, conveniently, the quilt I made for Justin for Christmas in '08 matches the brown paint of our temporary bedroom (the den). It was an exciting moment for me that even in our chaos (seriously, you should see the stuff everywhere) I could feel somewhat coordinated!
So, believe it or not, the best we can find for an old 1880 house isn't found at Home Depot, but at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church. This house needed (and still needs) primarily love - and we've got plenty of that to share. Thanks to all of our amazing friends and family who shared with us on 10.9.10.
<3
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Productive relaxation
Fun fact: it is possible to reach the end of a weekend and feel both well relaxed AND well accomplished. Typically, these two have been mutually exclusive for me (perhaps because most of the Ithaca accomplishments to date have included a manual labor component).
We enjoyed the weekend immensely (Justin particularly so because we finally timed it right to attend our favorite restaurant on all-you-can-eat crab leg night) and I've got 25 checkmarks on my wedding checklist (fewer than half of that number remain). In addition, the quarter rounds for the den are cut & painted, and the heat vents are looking MUCH better.
Ironically, this simple task (painting the vents) was one I was looking forward to for a long time. It's one of the things that embodies what I love about restoring this home - a little elbow grease can go a long way. In this case, it was mostly just finger grease that got these looking good. After scraping the crusty rust with a wire brush, I sprayed them with high-heat black spray paint and they're looking several decades younger.
This isn't the same vent in the "before" picture, but they all looked equally as bad. Notice the carpet to wood change, as well!
Those pictures are about all I've got to show for the weekend, but in other home-related news, we purchased a queen size bed on Saturday, so we will NOT have to return from the honeymoon to share a twin.
A good weekend all around! The best part - as I said - is that despite all of the progress, I'm not going back to work with sore muscles or utter exhaustion :)
We enjoyed the weekend immensely (Justin particularly so because we finally timed it right to attend our favorite restaurant on all-you-can-eat crab leg night) and I've got 25 checkmarks on my wedding checklist (fewer than half of that number remain). In addition, the quarter rounds for the den are cut & painted, and the heat vents are looking MUCH better.
Ironically, this simple task (painting the vents) was one I was looking forward to for a long time. It's one of the things that embodies what I love about restoring this home - a little elbow grease can go a long way. In this case, it was mostly just finger grease that got these looking good. After scraping the crusty rust with a wire brush, I sprayed them with high-heat black spray paint and they're looking several decades younger.
This isn't the same vent in the "before" picture, but they all looked equally as bad. Notice the carpet to wood change, as well!
Those pictures are about all I've got to show for the weekend, but in other home-related news, we purchased a queen size bed on Saturday, so we will NOT have to return from the honeymoon to share a twin.
A good weekend all around! The best part - as I said - is that despite all of the progress, I'm not going back to work with sore muscles or utter exhaustion :)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
And you thought I was slacking...
I know it's been quite a while since my last blog post. But rest assured, we haven't just been resting up here in Ithaca. In fact, there hasn't been much rest at all!
In between the daily life (you know, work, cooking, etc), and planning to host a major party for 250 people next weekend, we've managed to turn this:
Into this:
Sadly, at least on my computer screen, you can't tell the magnitude of the change from construction worker orange to rich, chocolate brown.
One thing you can see is the transformation of the wall sconces:
After all of the manual labor we've done so far, it was fun to do a less intense home related project today...shopping! I have learned that one key to successful purchasing is to clearly define what I'm looking for prior to the shopping trip. (This is true in all cases except for the major purchase of this house itself, in which we met maybe 1 of our 5 key criteria - but couldn't be happier!) So, I embarked upon a search for a rug that was approximately 30" by 80", had a brown and green pattern, didn't look too much like an Oriental rug, was dark enough in color to handle shoe traffic.
Enter stage left:
(Excuse the less-than-great picture)
Aside from protecting our now-gorgeous floors, the new rug unifies the living room and den. I hope to create a little home entrance area.
For those of you who are not yet familiar with our house lay-out, the den is immediately to your right as you come in the front door. I grew up in a house with a foyer, so it's a bit of an adjustment to come in the front door and *bam* you're in the living room. Down the line, we'll have coat hooks, etc to make this a more useful entranceway.
For the short-term, we have this weekend to turn the den into a temporary master bedroom. This involves purchasing a bed (I vetoed Justin's half-joking "let's share my twin bed" suggestion), hanging blinds/curtains, and finishing the last remaining renovation tasks (painting the baseboards and installing the quarter rounds where the floor meets the walls).
We're pretty proud of our first room and the checks on the to-do list that got us here!
Hopefully next time I can provide a more step-by-step view of our progress! I suspect that once I have my own working computer (and don't have to mooch off Justin's when he's not doing homework), I can increase my blog presence. In fact, I have dreams of a daily lunch-break post (don't get too attached to the idea yet!) The next few weeks may be a little slow though - the wedding's right around the corner!
(That's all that's left of Justin's 365-day countdown chain I made him last year for our negative one year anniversary). Single digit countdown starts tomorrow!
In between the daily life (you know, work, cooking, etc), and planning to host a major party for 250 people next weekend, we've managed to turn this:
Into this:
Sadly, at least on my computer screen, you can't tell the magnitude of the change from construction worker orange to rich, chocolate brown.
One thing you can see is the transformation of the wall sconces:
After all of the manual labor we've done so far, it was fun to do a less intense home related project today...shopping! I have learned that one key to successful purchasing is to clearly define what I'm looking for prior to the shopping trip. (This is true in all cases except for the major purchase of this house itself, in which we met maybe 1 of our 5 key criteria - but couldn't be happier!) So, I embarked upon a search for a rug that was approximately 30" by 80", had a brown and green pattern, didn't look too much like an Oriental rug, was dark enough in color to handle shoe traffic.
Enter stage left:
(Excuse the less-than-great picture)
Aside from protecting our now-gorgeous floors, the new rug unifies the living room and den. I hope to create a little home entrance area.
For those of you who are not yet familiar with our house lay-out, the den is immediately to your right as you come in the front door. I grew up in a house with a foyer, so it's a bit of an adjustment to come in the front door and *bam* you're in the living room. Down the line, we'll have coat hooks, etc to make this a more useful entranceway.
For the short-term, we have this weekend to turn the den into a temporary master bedroom. This involves purchasing a bed (I vetoed Justin's half-joking "let's share my twin bed" suggestion), hanging blinds/curtains, and finishing the last remaining renovation tasks (painting the baseboards and installing the quarter rounds where the floor meets the walls).
We're pretty proud of our first room and the checks on the to-do list that got us here!
Hopefully next time I can provide a more step-by-step view of our progress! I suspect that once I have my own working computer (and don't have to mooch off Justin's when he's not doing homework), I can increase my blog presence. In fact, I have dreams of a daily lunch-break post (don't get too attached to the idea yet!) The next few weeks may be a little slow though - the wedding's right around the corner!
(That's all that's left of Justin's 365-day countdown chain I made him last year for our negative one year anniversary). Single digit countdown starts tomorrow!
Monday, September 13, 2010
A marathon kind of weekend
We had a really great weekend up here in Ithaca. It was the kind of weekend that reminded me that this is really the life God planned for me to be living. I've told a lot of people that I never realized how unhappy I was at my job in Harrisburg until I left. Granted, it was the best experience I could have had for those 2 years to develop my professional confidence and prepare me for what I'm doing now...but it's such a wonderful feeling to be in the career I really am meant to be doing, to have the work-life balance I never had in Harrisburg, and to be able to enjoy a really cool place with a great guy by my side!!
Friday night, we kicked off the weekend at the Chem-E grad picnic. Despite it being chilly (who expects to wear 4 layers of long-sleeved shirts the second week in September??), we had a great time playing soccer with a mixed group of grad students, professors, and assorted kids.
Saturday, it was up bright and early for another Chem-E activity: the inaugural 2010 lab group bike ride. While I was skeptical about a 25+ mile bike ride, I ended up really enjoying it (and, miraculously, woke up Sunday still able to walk - and even without pain!). The weather was absolutely gorgeous - perfect temperature, beautiful sunshine. Justin's advisor mapped out a great route (minus a few tough hills!) that led through the beautiful NY countryside. I was pretty proud to have completed a marathon (albeit on a bicycle!)
Sunday, it was more marathons - a catch-up of Office episodes from last season (we've gotta be ready for the upcoming season premiere!) to relax, then grading homework for Justin and painting in the den for me. The whole space is primed and the trim has been painted. Ready for some ceiling paint tomorrow and color on Wednesday!
Today, I took a break from home renovation to enjoy another aspect of "Former Glory." Being the traditionalist that I am, I took a course from the Cooperative Extension on canning foods. I'm still game for canning the yield from our dreamed 2011 garden, but I may be wooed by the other (easier?) methods (such as freezing) that are covered in next week's class.
Pardon the lack of pictures from anything; didn't want to leave you hanging without a post! I'll now tiptoe out of the kitchen/office/bedroom so as to leave sleeping Justin to his peace. Good times ahead when we have more than one computer...more than one room...etc! But for now, I really can't complain. Life is good - and will only get better. 26 days 'til the wedding!
Friday night, we kicked off the weekend at the Chem-E grad picnic. Despite it being chilly (who expects to wear 4 layers of long-sleeved shirts the second week in September??), we had a great time playing soccer with a mixed group of grad students, professors, and assorted kids.
Saturday, it was up bright and early for another Chem-E activity: the inaugural 2010 lab group bike ride. While I was skeptical about a 25+ mile bike ride, I ended up really enjoying it (and, miraculously, woke up Sunday still able to walk - and even without pain!). The weather was absolutely gorgeous - perfect temperature, beautiful sunshine. Justin's advisor mapped out a great route (minus a few tough hills!) that led through the beautiful NY countryside. I was pretty proud to have completed a marathon (albeit on a bicycle!)
Sunday, it was more marathons - a catch-up of Office episodes from last season (we've gotta be ready for the upcoming season premiere!) to relax, then grading homework for Justin and painting in the den for me. The whole space is primed and the trim has been painted. Ready for some ceiling paint tomorrow and color on Wednesday!
Today, I took a break from home renovation to enjoy another aspect of "Former Glory." Being the traditionalist that I am, I took a course from the Cooperative Extension on canning foods. I'm still game for canning the yield from our dreamed 2011 garden, but I may be wooed by the other (easier?) methods (such as freezing) that are covered in next week's class.
Pardon the lack of pictures from anything; didn't want to leave you hanging without a post! I'll now tiptoe out of the kitchen/office/bedroom so as to leave sleeping Justin to his peace. Good times ahead when we have more than one computer...more than one room...etc! But for now, I really can't complain. Life is good - and will only get better. 26 days 'til the wedding!
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