We're Moving!

Not out of our house! This blog is moving over to www.janelletubbs.com/at5053. Make sure to update your bookmarks and come check us out. This will be the last post here on blogspot. Thanks!!!

Clean Closet.

I've been working in our larger closet this week. On Monday, I patched some of the rough spots on the north and west walls (Why? Because the dressers are really hard to move out of there.). 

Then Tuesday, I started painting by trimming around the woodwork. I had a gallon of gray before the gray (yes, that's a Jersey Shore reference) that I used it in the living room before I repainted it a new better gray that was less blue.

Wednesday, I rolled 2 walls and half the ceiling.

Friday, Josh helped me move the taller dresser out of the room and the larger one over to the side of the room I had already painted.

Yesterday I started patching the south and east walls. This was more intense.

There were some cracks in the plaster, so I cut them wider and filled them back in with drywall spackle. There was also a water damaged spot above the window. Apparently we didn't have flashing around the base of our chimney. We have some now, thanks to the mason that rebuilt our chimney last fall. Saturday night, I applied another coat, so it could dry overnight.

Then, this morning, I was determined to finish this and get our closet back to normal. I sanded the spackle down smooth, washed the walls and painted. Here you can really see the difference. Pretty good for my first time I think!

And the final shot, with everything back in place. I'm glad I was able to use that paint, and now I'm getting closer to checking one more item off the project list.

Getting Caulk-y

Yesterday, Josh spend some quality time in the kitchen working on the caulking. It's part of my Winter Projects List (here), and it's been bothering us for awhile.

We got gray-colored caulk to match the grout from the Tile Shop. It looks grainy, just like the grout and it worked wonderfully in the corners where it was difficult to get the grout in the small gap. We also used it to seal the space between the back splash and the counter-top.

The problem was that the caulk cracked in the space between the back splash and the counter-top. I think it was because the wood pulled to much moisture out of it. We decided to rip out the caulk and find a new solution.

With a caulk removing tool we purchased during our Big Weekend two weeks ago when Menards was closing, Josh ripped out the bulk of the old caulk. Then, I came through with a chisel to remove what was left and Josh sanded the residue away. We're not sure what we'll do to seal it, but at least we have it cleaned up and ready to go!

Sledding

Ryan Sledding from jvtubbs on Vimeo.

This was Ryan going down the hill. Only he and Christine were able to make it to the hill with us, but it was a BLAST. Then we warmed up at our house with spicy hot chocolate, while others trickled in.

Haircut.

 

Click the picture to see the before.

London, England

is where we're headed on vacation!

We're so excited to finally plan a big trip! I booked our flight and hotel today for the week before Easter. Since we're novice international explorers, we decided for our first time it would be best if there wasn't a language barrier. We also chose London because there are so many things to keep us busy. The only excursion we'll plan is to Stonehenge, otherwise we'll just get a travel card (good for buses and the tube) and do our own exploring. We don't like being tied down by structured groups, and only seeing the tourist sights. I'm glad we only have to wait 8 weeks!

Let us know if you have any advice in the comments!

Photo from London Met

Big Weekend

We spent Friday night clearing out Lucy's room (the other bedroom that she stays in during the day) and repairing cracks in there and the bathroom.

Then Saturday we went up to the Golden Valley Menards. Everyday on my way to work their flashing sign has been "Store Closing, Everything __% off". I told Josh about it and we decided to check it out. Saturday was the first day of 40% off everything in the store. Everything was pretty picked over, but we managed to pick up bug repellant, seam roller, wallpaper adhesive activator and knife for wallpapering (when I get around to it in my office), more Restor-a-Finish for the woodwork, and a Handy Paint Pail. 

We also snagged almost all the new gutter supplies that we need at 50% off! It was interesting trying to fit 16' long pieces in our car and driving home. Josh was super excited about these...our gutters have huge rusty hole in them.

That's the Handy Paint Pail. It's pretty handy.

Then Saturday afternoon we painted Lucy's room a light teal color and the bathroom a minty color. Doing pretty good on the list huh?

2010 Photobook

One more thing I can check off the ol' list. Each year, Josh and I have been compiling our favorite photographs of the year into books. Our First one from 2007 was a collection from the wedding. 2008 and 2009 were mostly California adventures and this last year was a lot of house projects.

We have tons of pictures but we narrow them down to fit in about 30 pages, and everything gets labeled. It's nice to flip through and see some of the highlights from each year.

Privacy Please!

Saturday, I drove down to Clarks Grove to learn to sew. Shelby was home for the weekend and has a machine that I could use. She showed me how to use it and I made these panels for our side door. I got the fabric from IKEA and we had some brackets attached to the woodwork by our french doors in back that we that we repurposed to hang them.

This is the look from the outside. We're glad to have some privacy. You can also see that new lock we installed, I don't think we ever took a final picture of that. Apparently the door used to be yellow (wish it still was!).

Winter Projects Update

We are on a roll with these projects. Josh usually takes the week between Christmas and the New Year off (use it or lose it by Dec 31), so during that time he got some things done around the house including a couple things off the list.

First, he was able to bring our closet light fixture into Michael's for repair. Left you can see it dangling on the day we moved in. I know right, six months to get that squared away. When the bulb finally burnt out, we knew we didn't have anymore excuses. Michael's is a great little shop on Xerxes and 50th that sells lamps and repairs both lamps and light fixtures. For $35 they rewired and soldered it back together, and we love keeping original details in our house!

Secondly, Josh got our doorbell in working order. The chime has been up for a while with wires attached down to the basement where our transformer is, but everything wasn't connected and our new button hadn't been installed. We were finally able to take the "please knock, doorbell not working" sign off our front door.

Then this weekend we started tackling two items off the list simultaneously—removing paint, and restoring the woodwork downstairs on the stairs. We are using Goof Off to remove unwanted paint and Restor-a-Finish in dark oak to bring it back to life.

We've only tackled the bottom step (I just wanted to try the Restor-a-Finish so bad!), so we have quite a ways to go (on the stairs alone), but we'll post updates as we go.

Items listed...

I got one more small thing crossed off my list! I just finished posting all my miscellaneous items on eBay including a lock and knob that I ordered for the side door before changing my mind on the finish, and a harness for Lucy that ended up not fitting. Here's hoping they sell so I can recoup my cash!

Winter Projects

Since we're on the theme of lists, this is what I'd love to be able to accomplish over the winter. I started this list before Christmas so I've gotten a few things crossed off already. It's quite ambitious, so it may spill into the summer, but here it goes:

Remove paint from lower level woodwork.

Restore lower level woodwork.

Refinish the glass cabinet we got out at the farm.

Finish scanning photos (no way this gets done over the winter).

Create our 2010 photo book. Done!

Strip paper in the office.

Wall paper the office.

Get a library card. Done!

Make grain sack (also from the farm) pillows.

Measure closets for organizers. Done!

Decide on a plan for the closets.

Strip woodwork upstairs.

Paint woodwork upstairs.

Paint walls upstairs. Started.

Strip papers in closets.

Wallpaper downstairs coat closet.

Finish installing the doorbell. Done!

Repair the light in our closet. Done!

Organize all my fonts.

Redo kitchen caulk. Started.

List items on eBay. Done!

Phew! That will keep us pretty busy for awhile. Look forward to some posts as we finish them.