A Very Special Anniversary

It was a year ago this weekend that Shane and I finally moved into our first home. We closed at the end of May and spent almost three weeks doing some must-needed renovations before we moved in, including:

• Ripping out the digusting berber carpet from the living room, and the even grosser kitchen tile, and replacing it with 20x20 porcelain tile.



• Ripping up the carpet from the bedrooms, revealing hardwoods that were in bad condition (i.e. paint smeared all in the master bedroom, a huge black stain in the office, and carpet pad glue in the guest room) and resulting in the refinishing of the hardwood floors.



• Clearing out some REALLY overgrown landscaping



• Tearing down layer after layer after layer of wallpaper in the hallway, skim coating it with plaster, and then realizing that it STILL wasn’t smooth. Enter Venetian Plaster.



• Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning…the people that lived there before were complete and utter slobs. For example, there was cat puke, FRESH mind you, on the carpet in the living room (which we simply covered with a paper towel), there was soda spilled all over the walls in the bedroom, and they apparently didn’t understand the concept of cleaning baseboards, and blinds that hadn’t been washed since the day they left the factory. It was gross.

But now, we have managed, over the course of a year and a lot of help from friends and family, to make this house our home.

Thanks to those who helped!

• Jim C. – “The Machine” – he was at the house before Shane and I even arrived after our closing to rip out carpet, clean up, and/or anything that needed to be done. He helped us clean up the yard, painted the office, and pretty much tried to renovate our entire house in the first weekend. We couldn’t have done it without you…Love you dad.
• Manny – “Paper Puller” – Manny took on the task of getting rid of the hallway wallpaper. After removing the first layer, he was surprised to find that there was even more paper underneath! He diligently worked, and I do not use this term lightly…Manny pulled paper like it was his JOB, until the task was complete. He then skim coated the entire hallway and sanded it to perfection. Unfortunately, our sheetrock is old and bowed and I still had to use a plaster finish to cover it up. I’m pretty sure that he wanted to slap me the first time he saw the post-plaster hallway…Thanks, Manny!
• Debbie – “The Cleaner” – If you know her, you know she did it and she did it well. Wiped down cabinets, inside and out (and she probably managed to clean the back of them somehow), cleaned bathrooms, washed windows, etc. etc. etc. Thanks, Deb! There is nothing better than a clean house!
• Wanda – “The Painter” – I somehow roped my mom into helping me paint almost every wall in the house. And she agreed to do the trim paint…sucka! She also helped Shane and I with our tile floor – speaking of…did we ever pay that back? Kidding…love you mom.
• Katie – “The Babysitter” – our dogs were weeks old, not potty trained, and were completely confused as to why they had to live in a crate. Thankfully, Katie was there to watch and play and love our pups while we were doing house stuff!
• Carlisle Brothers – “The Machine Part Deux and The Kinda Helper” – so my brother, Chris, was a huge help as well, as he still is when he helps us do yard work, clean out the gutters, sweep the roof (yes, I do ask him to do that). He is a lot like my dad in that he will work EXTREMELY hard to get the job done. That is a Carlisle trait, I do believe. His job was to take all the staples out of the wood floor from the carpet…ha! While he was performing this task, he convinced me that my house was haunted. Nice. Patrick, my other brother, is a little aloof at times, but still managed to contribute. He removed some staples…some…from the office floor. He’s such a wittle helper! Love you boys.

Well, that’s enough praise…we love you all and greatly appreciate all the help of those not mentioned! Stay tuned for some really juicy before and afters tomorrow! (yes, I’m committing to posting on a Saturday.)