House progress...

This year is off to a great and busy start for us!
We closed on our home on 12/28 and haven't stopped since. We've primed, painted, spackled, sanded, trimmed, pumped...the list goes on and on and I've never wanted to work up a sweat like I have wanted to for this house.

The sheep are down in the winter range and we have plenty of water for them so we haven't had to make daily trips down to the range to haul water. This is great because it allows J to stay at the ranch and help out on the house. :)

We worked on getting this house for what feels like a year, but in reality it was about 6 months. Still a very long time to feel "on your toes".

J and I knew we wanted a few things in a home:
1. His and her sinks
2. A balcony
3. Land
4. Two full baths

While our new home doesn't have the his/her sinks, it does have PLENTY of room for them.
2400 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths and a very open floor plan. It also has a Utility Room that is bigger than our current kitchen! I can't wait to make that space my own.

Going into this I had high (and what I've learned now to be unrealistic) hopes when it came to getting everything on my list completed.

A few things we needed/need to get done before moving in include refinishing the hardwood floors, refinishing the cabinets and painting. (There are others like pumping the septic tank and changing toilets and valves, but you know I am not helping with those things so they aren't on MY list.)

Let me share with you a few of our adventures so far....



TO DO #1: Refinish Hardwood Floors - DONE!
This was a huge job and we happened to get it done in one weekend. Did I mention this was a HUGE job?! We couldn't have done it without our awesome brother-in-law. He brought his tools, put our butts to work and now we can cross that off the To Do list. Have I mentioned the ENTIRE house is hardwood floor?! Awesome? Yes. Not so awesome, when you are on your hands and knees sanding.

While sanding, we were grateful for any help we could get:


Bruises on my knees and a few fights later, the floors are done.
Here is a peek at the living room before the floors were done to give you and idea of the vast amount of hardwood flooring. I will be posted after pics soon!

TO DO #2: Refinish Cabinets - Done? Yeah, right.
Can I first show you a picture of the kitchen? (previous owners liked aqua.)

I have high hopes for this kitchen.

You might be thinking, "Wow! That's a lot of cabinets." Yep, you are right, it is.

We sanded for three damn days only to find out we need to sand more. We sanded more and then started staining.

I thought we were home free when we started staining. Um, wrong. Staining is hard and there is a certain technique (we've learned) when working with older wood. We stained for about two days. Names were called, things were said, a white flag was thrown.

After several discussions, we gave in and called a handyman with staining experience. J feels like we are giving up, but that is not how I see it at all. We have to look at these cabinets every day for the rest of our lives and I would rather them be done right the first time then have to go back and re-do them! Lawd knows, I won't be sanding like this ever again. I think we are just being honest with ourselves, saving money in the long run and probably saving our marriage. ;)

Our handyman is going to work alongside J on the staining for one day to help move us along and show him a few tricks.

Stay tuned!