Progress so far.......

A fuzzy picture of the back of the house. The other day, the snow was all the way up to the windows on the deck- melted fast I guess!

This is a shot of our driveway- it starts right where I am standing and goes all the way down to the end of the trees.
This is what it looks like if you are facing the back of the house and look to the left. That little blue box is our recycling bin buried in the snow.
And this is what it looks like if you face the back of the house and look to the right. Right now there is a little temporary fence for the dog to run around.
I am VERY proud of my work in the laundry room (and sore!!)! I scraped off all those gross tiles and adhesive. It was a tough project- but now the room is ready for Felix to paint and put up all new shelving. Then I will put down the new flooring.
Those black diamonds all over the floor are markings from the original floors that were down- I dont think I can get it off. It should be ok, I think the new tiles will lay right over it.
Not as much progress was done on the vinyl slate- it seems as though it is really cemented down there! Hopefully our contractor will have it up by next week.
Our new home, the construction zone.

Pretty, huh!

Well, we closed on the house last Tuesday December 18th. It was pretty painless, we signed a ton of papers, handed over a pretty check, and got the keys! Luckily the big noreaster that hit was BEFORE we bought the house, so the sellers plowed our long driveway for us so we could get to the house. There is a TON of snow everywhere. But that doesnt stop us!!! We have begun work on the house- we have a contractor helping us with our floors and the roof. We have been VERY lucky to find hardwood floors under most of our current gross flooring. Here are the results from day 1 of remodeling!

Guest room floor. Carpet is pulled up to find red vinyl tile that we are chipping away at. Underneath.... hardwood floors! Yeay!!!

1st floor dining room & in front of kitchen. Under this vinyl slate is hardwoods we are digging up!
Living room floor. This was the easiest room- just pulled up the carpet, and beautiful hardwood floors! (ok, I exaggerate- they are about 4 different finishes of wood and textures right now, but at least no vinyl to chip away at!) There is about 1 foot of vinyl that goes all the way down the room, looks like it might have been a patch of some sort- we have to do more research to see whats underneath.
This is our problem area. Where the living room ends and the kitchen area begins- floor is sinking a bit and there is weird patch work done on the floor. We have to fix that and put some more wood floor down. Then pull up the rest of the vinyl in the area and hope the wood floors are ok.
This little beauty is my own personal project. It is the laundry room floor. Those are nasty carpet tiles that I have been scraping up off the floor. And I think those stains are dog pee- it stinks! And if anyone knows the smell of dog pee.... its me!!! The lovely cat box and cleaners were left there by the old tenant. Along with her dirty (and filled) litter box in the basement. DI-O-SGUSTING

Cassel Wedding in Miami FL

This past weekend we went to FL for Felix's friends wedding in Miami. We actually flew into West Palm Beach to visit with my family on Friday night, then drove to Miami on Saturday morning and stayed at the Samson house before the wedding. The wedding was so nice, on the beach in Miami- meanwhile, a big nor'easter hit Boston so our Sunday evening flight back to Boston was cancelled. So, we just headed back to West Palm and I spent the next day shopping with my sister while Felix got some work done at my parents house.

Bowling

Felix was supposed to play in a fun little bowling game at work, so last weekend we went to the bowling alley with Kristy & Matt for a little practice game. My fond memories of bowling Friday nights when I was in high school did not hold true this time... it was quite boring!!!!! But I won our first game!! Go me!!!!!!

Oh how I love my love!

Felix surprised me this past weekend with a little get-a-way trip. Our apartment that we are renting has a small problem with the pipes in the winter, and sounds like a musical ensemble at night, making it a bit difficult to sleep. So, Felix arranged for us to stay at a hotel in Newport last Saturday night, and a lovely dinner at our favorite restaurant out there. It was also our "6 month wedding anniversary!!" I am a very lucky girl.

listen....... no pipes!!!!