Basement Refinish

I happened to be thinking about the house we left behind almost six months ago (!) and I realized that I never posted about our basement refinish. We enjoyed the completed space for two of the seven years we lived there; not nearly long enough.

I think part of the reason I didn't post is because it never felt "finished." I meant to do so much more, but then two babies in a year and a half and a major move got in the way.

It was fascinating to watch the space transform from this:

To this:

To this:

For months, our counters were covered with tile and grout and paint and carpet samples. Troy and I surprisingly made a good decision making team despite our very different styles.

I had big plans to transform the open office space into something sleek and modern, where I could go to feel inspired to design. What actually happened was our black clunky desk got shoved into the corner and stayed that way for two years. However, I loved having a big closet to shelve our printer, kids' crafts, project supplies, etc. The closet wasn't in our original blueprint and I'm so happy we added it in as an afterthought.

One of the main reasons for the refinish was to add in some extra bedrooms. Our contractor was racing the clock to get it all finished by the time Crew was born. We literally moved Blake's bed downstairs and shuffled all of the sleeping arrangements two days before Crew's arrival.

I built Blake's headboard in our garage on one of the hottest days of the summer.

The string art map followed much later, shortly before we moved away.

We also added a guest room which all of the grandparents sorely miss now that we drastically cut our living space.

We added in a full bathroom as well. If we were to do it again, we would make some different styling decisions. We got to the point at the end where we just wanted it done and we didn't have time to hum and haw over every little decision. And now that we don't live there any more, I guess those little decisions don't matter one bit.

I have to admit, I'm getting a little torn up looking through all these photos of our old house. Every room has a hundred memories. I can picture Blake building machines in the open office area. I can see Nash jumping from the highest stair possible onto the beanbag. I can picture Crew tugging at the cords under the desk. I can see Troy relaxing on the guest room bed with his Kindle because it was the coolest room in the house. And I can picture Finn learning to roll over into the boxes as I packed it all up.

Don't get me wrong, we adore our new home and everything our new neighborhood has to offer. But we sure are missing that extra basement square footage.

A Tale of a Dryer

This isn't my typical blog-worthy material, but it consumed so much of my life this month that I felt the need to document.

When we moved to California, we expected to hook up our electric dryer on move-in day. The dryer was a trusty appliance that had dried hundreds of loads of laundry over the years. It coordinated with our washer and was still in mint condition.

We learned immediately that there was a gas-only hook-up in our new home. So, the frantic search began to replace our electric dryer. I wrote about my crazy late night purchase at a random storage unit back here.

Once Troy and I maneuvered the new-to-us (but actually very old) beast up the stairs (and dented and patched some walls in the process), it worked like a charm for several months.

But one day, a ghastly shrieking noise began each time the dryer was running. In the beginning, the shrill sound would only last for a few minutes at the beginning of a cycle. But gradually, the noise starting filling our entire house every minute the dryer was running.

It was so deafening that I couldn't do laundry while babies napped, which is pretty much always. And if our windows were open, our whole street got to enjoy the piercing sound right along with us.

I didn't want to buy another dryer that wouldn't match our washer, let alone move those babies around again. Troy and I decided we'd rather wait and buy a complete coordinating and upgraded set in the future.

So, I watched a few repair tutorials and determined that I could make that horrible sound go away. I was pretty confident I could fix the issue, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I ran into so many setbacks along the way and the entire process stretched out over the duration of about three weeks.

I started by tackling the drum roller which I learned was the most likely culprit of the sound. I ordered a replacement drum roller that fit our model and after a week, it finally arrived. I successfully disassembled the dryer and started the replacement. Of course, I needed a special snap ring plier tool which wasn't exactly in my toolbox. One trip to the hardware store later, I snapped the tiny snap ring off the axel, only to lose it in all of the dryer lint.

I spent two hours searching through the lint for the snap ring. I tilted the dryer in all directions, hoping it would fall out. My last resort was to vacuum up all the debris and search through the contents in the vacuum dustbin. And what do you know, in the very last bit of lint I pulled from the cylinder, the snap ring was found.

Once I replaced the drum roller, I re-weaved the belt and reassembled the entire appliance, only to find that the shrieking was still completely intact. I noticed that there were two drum rollers while I was in there, so I ordered another identical part, paid for more shipping, and waited another week for it to arrive.

The next time I unscrewed dozens of screws to access the dryer innards, I poked around some more to pinpoint where the squeaking was coming from. I replaced the other drum roller without any pieces flying around, but I could tell just from the friction of the drum on the wheels that the squeaking still was not eliminated.

I kicked myself for not thoroughly searching the first time because the sound was clearing coming from the worn out idler pulley. This time, I smartened up and found the replacement part on Amazon Prime so I would only have to wait two days for it to arrive and avoid shipping costs. I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier.

Since the wait was only two days this time, I didn't bother to put the dryer back together just to take it all apart again. Crew thoroughly enjoyed crawling through the "tunnel," or drum, while the dryer remained disassembled.

Who knew that I would become giddy with excitement when the new idler pulley arrived? I replaced the idler arm and wheel and sure enough, once the dryer was put back together, the shrieking stopped altogether.

I put a lot of work into an old dryer that I didn't even like or want in the first place. But once I set my mind to the task, nothing was going to stand in my way until that awful noise was gone. Troy calls me stubborn; I prefer to say determined. Either way, I now know more about the inside of a dryer than I ever cared to learn. And I'm confident that this old appliance still has a lot of life left in it.

Just Add It to the List

A couple of months ago, right after Troy was finally able to walk again and the worst months of pregnancy were behind me, we woke up to no power one morning.

Troy had to get to work but was unable to open the garage door with the power outage. His parents had spent the night after just returning from Hawaii, so he woke up his dad at 5:30am to help him open the door manually. His dad fell off the chair he was standing on and broke several toes in the process.

That was just the beginning. 

To make a long story short, our circuit breaker kept tripping and the problem was narrowed down to several issues with our air conditioning unit. Why it never tripped before in the six years we've lived in our house is still unknown. But what we did learn is that if we wanted to run our A/C this summer in the daily 100° heat, we would need to replace the circuit panel, compressor motor and a series of other parts. Not surprisingly, the compressor is the most expensive part to replace in an A/C unit.

In addition, the wire that ran to the circuit breaker was discovered to be the wrong amperage. Which meant that it was wired wrong in the first place and presented a serious fire hazard. It wouldn't have been an issue to swap out the wire a year ago, but 8 large holes had to be cut in our newly finished basement walls and ceiling for access to the wiring.

We're still in the process of having the patchworked pieces mudded, sanded and refinished again.

When the HVAC repairman came over to collect the deposit and I begrudgingly handed over the cash, he made the comment, "Well, they say these things usually come in threes." I had to laugh as I considered our growing list of unexpected challenges and expenses this year, which totaled much more than three. 

There wasn't much we could do about the timing of these repairs except add them to the list.

I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen

We've held off on making a lot of changes to our early 90's home because we've always thought we were just here temporarily. But fast forward five years, and we're still here. We decided it was time to start updating some rooms to look a little more 21st century (I started with the brass doorknobs back here).

Back in November, we had our friend who does custom cabinets come and give us an estimate on an entire kitchen remodel. Troy was gung-ho on the idea until he saw the dollar signs start adding up. We decided that the money would be put to better use finishing our basement. Adding two bedrooms and a bathroom would certainly raise the value of our home more than a kitchen remodel. And with our growing family, we could use the extra living space.

We settled on finishing the basement (more on that later) which I agreed made more sense and that was that.

But once the idea of updating our kitchen was planted, we didn't want to let it go altogether. So, we settled for plan B. Instead of a complete demolition including ripping out walls and adding custom cabinets and granite countertops, we decided to spruce up what we already had with some paint. Not only did we paint almost our entire main floor a dreamy shade of gray (Argos by Sherwin Williams), but my dream of a white kitchen finally came true.

Here is what it looked like before with our cabinets in all of their orange-y oak glory:

We started out thinking we would tackle this project ourselves. I'm not afraid of a little DIY, but I had heard too many nightmare stories about painting and sanding oak and it taking weeks to finish and the oak still showing through. Since I was also nine months pregnant when the ideas starting rolling, we decided to leave it to the pros. Our kitchen was out of commission for a week, but they did such a great job making sure the cabinet fronts were smooth and sprayed evenly.

I was literally hunting in the basement for the right type of screws for the painter to hang the hardware in between contractions. Crew was born a few hours later so the kitchen was finished in the nick of time.

A few things that I think really make a difference are the molding on the top of the cabinets and the subway tile backsplash. Both were super inexpensive and quick little additions to give the kitchen a more custom look.

The new appliances were a splurge but they make a huge difference as well. And I'm so happy to have a functioning ice maker! I craved crushed ice constantly during my last few months of pregnancy.

The kitchen always looks better (and smells divine) with some fresh lilacs from the tree right outside the kitchen window.

Eventually, we'd like to replace the countertops and sink, but our remodel funds are officially exhausted until I start working again after taking a good long maternity leave. I actually don't mind the laminate tops that much. At least they are gray and don't stick out like a sore thumb.

I love this reminder that I have hanging over our pantry to simplify. Oh how I need that reminder daily. I'm so glad that we decided to simplify the kitchen remodel project just enough to get a satisfying end result.

Next on the list: figuring out what to do with our dated oak banisters. And painting that dining room behind the kitchen. And adding wainscoting. And maybe new flooring. And trim. And actually decorating our newly finished basement. Okay, it never ends.

Gone With the Gold

Nesting is in full swing for me. The last few months of pregnancy are when I feel my best, funny enough. It doesn't quite make up for feeling debilitated the first four months, but I am appreciating the extra surge of energy.

The nesting hasn't transitioned over to any prep for the baby's room like it probably should, but I've been tackling a myriad of other projects.

I have despised the dated gold doorknobs throughout our house ever since we moved in five years ago. We've debated over and over about updating things like that because we are always unsure of how long we're going to be here.

But then another year will pass and we're still here. And we are still cringing at all of the early 90's gems that lie within our home.

So, when Troy gave me the green light to switch out the gold knobs and hinges a few weeks ago, I dropped everything and picked up my power tools pronto.

I replaced 17 doorknobs and 51 hinges. And with the replacement of one last light fixture in the master bedroom, I am happy to pronounce the gold officially gone. When I was finished, Troy asked, "Don't you wish you did this five years ago?" Ugh. It's amazing how much of a difference little upgrades can make.

Of course, while I was at it, I had to sand and paint our front door to cover up the lines from the old hardware. And since I had to paint anyway, I wasn't going to repaint the door white.

This is the only "before" picture I could find. Cute of Blake, not so cute of the white door and gold hardware.

Anything painted black just looks so much classier in my book.

We have big plans for some more updating and freshening up over the next few weeks. We're just praying that this baby stays inside while we live in a bit of chaos.

Never a Dull Moment

Scene: Our house. 10:12am. Sunday morning.

I knew we couldn't go more than a week before the next catastrophe hit our home.

The fact that it had been almost two weeks since the last malfunction should have been our first indicator that we were past due for the next problem.

It all started on Sunday morning while we were getting ready for church. The boys were in the bath tub when our Carbon Monoxide detector started blaring through the house. The only thing I knew about Carbon Monoxide was that it had been termed the "silent killer." I knew we had to get out...fast.

Troy called the fire department (thankfully he was still home) while I frantically pulled the boys out of the tub, grabbed their church clothes, and rushed outside.

I was still dressing them in our driveway when the fire engine arrived. The fully-suited firefighters brought their detectors inside and found traces of CO throughout our entire house.

There wasn't much they could do until the gas company arrived, so they were kind enough to give our boys a tour of the fire engine.

Blake ate that right up.

It was around that time when a lot of neighbors and those passing our house to go to church started asking what was going on. We created quite the spectacle.

Troy and I decided that it would be best for the boys and me to head to church since it was cold outside and we couldn't go back in the house. Thankfully, I was already dressed, and I swept up my undone hair with some pins I had in my purse.

That's when our good friends and neighbors started stepping in to help us. I called my friend and asked her if she could bring some extra snacks to church since I didn't have time to grab anything and there was no way the boys could make it through three hours of church with no sustenance.

Our story spread quickly and so many gracious families offered their homes and meals to us while we waited.

Troy stayed behind and sent me text messages to keep me updated while I wrestled the boys at church. It happened to be a frantic day because I was running around in preparation for the Primary Program that is next Sunday. In all of the chaos, I accidentally left my diaper bag in the chapel. Of course Nash needed to be changed after the chapel was filled with the next congregation, so another friend stepped in and lent me supplies.

In the end, the gas company ended up detecting a lot of sulfur that came from a car battery that Troy was charging overnight in the garage (my car battery having to be jump-started three times on Saturday is a whole other story). After airing out our house for several hours, we were able to go back in. It still overwhelmingly smelled like sulfur, but after contemplating the logistics of obtaining clothing and food and beds (and nie-nights), we were happy to have access at all.

I am so thankful for that Carbon Monoxide detector.

Snapshot in Words 2011

Our photos are full of celebrations, vacations, and family adventures. But the memories I find myself already sifting through the past to find are the ones that I didn't think to photograph. I don't ever want to forget the unique texture and tones that make up our family's life from one hour, day, or season to the next.

When our children all grow up and move away I want to remember how our family runs right now, what we do from day-to-day, what we like, and what we don't. What makes us tick. Sure, I write about thoughts and events here, but the day-to-day stuff, not so much.

So, last year, I started a new tradition of writing up a little "snapshot" of life in our family. A synopsis of life as we knew it. After going back through those snippets of information, I couldn't believe how many details have changed in one short year. (Last year's is here.)

Here's my 2011 snapshot of life as it is right now in our family:

Blake always wants to know what the plan for the day is. The first thing he asks me each morning is, "What are we going to do today?" On days when I haven't quite thought through our agenda in advance, he pesters me until I can come up with an concrete hour-by-hour plan. If the plan doesn't include some sort of outing away from home, Blake is utterly disappointed.

We have officially become a two-pizza family. Making homemade pizza is basically a weekly occurrence at our house, and one just isn't enough anymore. I'm already catching a glimpse of what it will be like to feed future teenage boys.

Preschool is in full swing for Blake. We have found our rhythm and it's working for us. He tells me every detail about school on the way home and I love it. I can't believe how much his handwriting has already improved in the first month of school.

I am shocked at how much I can get accomplished during the three hours Blake is at preschool. I love having Nash all to myself, even if he is being dragged from one errand to the next. One morning last week, we ran nine errands in total.

We finally jumped on the bandwagon and signed up for texting plans. I wasn't a fan of the impersonal communication at first, but I have to admit, we are full-fledged texters now. Sometimes it is just easier.

Blake's all-time favorite activity is to pile up all the couch cushions or bed pillows and turn them into some sort of pretend locomotive. He invites Troy and me to ride on his bus/car/train/airplane, buckles us in, and serves us snacks while we await our destination.

Troy is studying for the GMAT. Every time I catch him going over calculus formulas I am so grateful that it isn't me who is doing the studying. It is just not the season in my life right now for intense grammar and mathematics.

Nash is a serious screamer. The blood curdling variety. All day long. Sometimes we think that our ear drums are going to burst.

Blake loves to play on the computer. He can successfully turn it on, type in the password, open the internet, and navigate to Disney Jr. I think children these days are just born with innate technology chips in their brains.

One of my favorite things about Nashy is the sound he makes for a cat. He shakes his head back and forth and moans "meow" as if he is in agony. Sometimes I show him pictures of cats just so I can chuckle about his adorable expression.

Speaking of cats, we have a stray one that likes to hang out in our backyard. Troy and I used to plot ways to get rid of it, until some neighbors told us that he was probably a good mouser, and that's why we've never had a mouse in our house. I now have much more loving thoughts towards that ugly cat.

Blake and Nash's bath time always includes imaginary stories about two heros, Eblakeity and Enashity. They, along with their dog, Scraggamuffin, and their parrot, Rosy, save the day time and time again. The storyteller (me) is frequently challenged to come up with creative plots and opportunities for rescuing people in distress.

I started cutting the boys' hair myself. Sometimes it doesn't turn out quite even, but thankfully, it grows back out. It bothers me when hair starts to grow over their ears, so instead of taking both of them to a salon every 6 weeks, I now take matters into my own hands.

Troy is traveling less this year and we are thankful for that.

Blake has become fluent in a new language. It's called "Whinese."

We do our best to make it to church on time. Troy always has meetings before church, so I am usually frantically scurrying to get myself ready and the boys bathed and dressed in ironed shirts and ties. I set a goal every week to leave our house by 20 minutes to the hour (our church is less than a mile away), but without fail, we never seem to get out the door before 5 minutes to the hour. There is always a shoe that is too tight or a bathroom emergency or hold up on packing the right snacks.

We have a "warm fuzzy jar" that sits on our kitchen counter. Blake adds a fuzzy pom-pom ball to the jar whenever I catch him sharing, saying something kind, demonstrating independence, following directions, etc. He sure loves to please me, and I love to pick out his positive actions. About every three weeks, he fills up the jar with warm fuzzies and earns his idea of the ultimate reward; a redbox rental and candy from the gas station.

Nash has invented his own unique sign language. He uses signs frequently, just not the standard ones that we taught him. We have to go through a little sign language decoding session whenever we have sitter.

Blake rarely wears pants or underwear for the hours we are at home. It helps tremendously to allow him to be successful at potty training (and keeps me from ripping my hair out). But whenever the doorbell rings, I make a mad dash up the stairs for his underwear drawer, because no one really wants to see that.

I'm convinced that Nash is going to be potty trained before Blake. He is already showing interest. Sometimes I think I'd rather wait until he is six though.

Our house has become a major money pit. Just when I think one more thing couldn't possibly break down, it does. This year alone, we have had three flooding issues in our basement. A burst pipe, a sewage back-up, and a leaking dishwasher. Then there's the furnace that has broken down 4 separate times and the A/C compressor that had to be replaced. We have spent many nights either without heat or without air conditioning. We have been forced to replace the garbage disposal, garage door motor and belt, and dishwasher. And like every other summer, we have had sprinkler system repairs to deal with. That doesn't even include the myriad of issues our vehicles have visited the mechanic for. So, when the transmission went out on our lawn mower last week, it didn't even phase us.

Hide-and-seek is Blake's favorite game. Without fail, he copies every place that I previously hid in when it is his turn to hide. Then, he announces where he is hiding while I am searching, despite my efforts to teach him about the suspense element.

Some of my friends started a book club and I have cultivated a new found love for novels. The majority of the books sitting on my nightstand in the past were parenting books or how-to books. I have really enjoyed expanding my horizons. And I feel so refreshed after a night out socializing with book club friends.

Sometimes I cheat and read the last few pages of a book so that I don't have to completely put my life on hold to find out what happens (I did this for the third Hunger Games book). Troy can't believe that I skip ahead; he thinks that completely ruins the book. I've just never really been one for surprises. When I know what is going to happen in the end, I can finish the book at my own pace without staying up into all hours of the night because the suspense is killing me.

Troy gets really animated during college football games. It always makes me smile when I find that he has set six football games to record each Saturday. He gets through them quickly by fast forwarding through all of the commercials and time-outs.

Blake's naps have become few and far between. He naps maybe once or twice a week now, and I have a feeling that his last nap is not too far off into the future.

Speaking of "lasts," if you want to read a heartwrenching children's book about savoring the often-fleeting "lasts" (because parents so often focus on the milestones that make up childrens' "firsts"), check out Let Me Hold You Longer. I just cannot get through that book without tears welling up. The poignancy touches me deeply.

Blake and Nash are going to welcome their first cousin in March! We are thrilled for Troy's sister Tricia and her husband Jacob to enter into the world of parenting.

Life is good.

The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

The Joys of Homeownership:

Troy called me at 6am on the other morning to let me know that our basement flooded. A pipe broke and left us with over a foot of water in the lower section of our basement. The water was so high that a whole step was covered.

Luckily, the flooding was contained in an area that didn't contain much. Our flattened moving boxes and food storage were the only items in the lower basement portion. The food storage was in cans, so it was safe, but Troy did have to throw away our moving boxes. We were blessed to not lose anything of value.

Troy was able to work from home on the day of the flood so that he could pump the water out and take care of the mess. Of course it had to happen when Blake and I were away. First, we leave him, and then, the basement floods. Hopefully we can make it through the rest of the month with no more catastrophes.