Mommy moments

Feeling like a Mother happened immediately. The day our son was born I knew I would love him forever. These first eight and a half weeks have been increasingly amazing and the love I feel for this boy is deeper and stronger than I ever felt possible: I could burst! Motherhood was a natural transition, definitely one that came with new responsibilities including diaper changes, nap schedules and feedings, but it was natural. Being a Mommy is different though, it’s a whole new level of love that I didn't think possible. 

God had a grand plan when he orchestrated the change a woman feels when she becomes a mother and I am so thankful for that. I think he gave us the ability to respond to our baby’s needs without batting an eye and at the perfect moments He rewards us with the "Mommy moments." Those moments, the few I’ve had so far, are the most precious gifts I’ve ever received.

The sweetness of having our son look me in the eyes for the first time, really noticing and reacting to me (for more than two seconds), with a smile across his perfect mouth made me feel like a Mommy through and through. I was communicating with my son and he was understanding. The first time he turned his head towards the sound of my voice I was amazed. I thank God every day for each little “Mommy moment!” 

I fall asleep every night looking forward to the next day with my boy. Each day is better than the last.

out with the old

For a while now, every time we would walk by the "Nest" display at any store Rob would express his intense interest in having this new thermostat for our home. I mean, yeah the thing looks a LOT better than the old yellowing one that we have on our crisp white wall in the hallway but who needs a thermostat that learns your patterns? Well we did I guess.

After receiving a generous gift to the Home Depot from one of my (Lindsey's) aunts as a housewarming gift, we went to the HD to buy some salt and a new snow shovel (without-a-huge-crack) to deal with the recently fallen snow. Well we weren't the only ones who thought to do the same thing that day; when we got there this past Sunday evening, there were no shovels left. So on our way out with only some puppy friendly ice melter, we passed by the Nest display once again. It didn't take long to weigh out that since we had the gift card (that would take care of practically half the cost), the updated look would give the hallway a quick pick-me-up, and not to mention the Nest would save us money on our energy bills - it was a good time to finally get the Nest. The nerd inside of Rob was pleased.

Sometimes when I look at something that is small but can do so many things, I get overwhelmed thinking that the task is going to be hard. Thankfully, I was totally wrong this time. Everything you need is in the well-designed package and it installs with no problem. You even check the compatibility with your system before you break the plastic seal on the package so there will be no problem returning the unit, very thoughtful Nest team, thanks!!

As you can see here the lovely unit that we had before was sparkly and shiny dull as can be. It may have been cool back in it's day but those days are long gone. The dingey color didn't help the poor thermostat one bit; honestly, it just didn't stand a chance of lasting too long in the house.

After shutting off the power to the hallway and the HVAC unit, Rob detached the wires. Ours were color coded which made life really easy. Once the old unit was down, it was just a jumble of curly wires sticking out of the wall. To attach the nest, you use two screws (provided) and the level that is built into the unit's base (we thought this was so clever!!). Once attached to the wall you insert the wires into the correct latches and away you go.

I wanted to give you a visual of how the wires pinched into the appropriate places. Obviously, the wires were bent to fit into the rectangular area, but we didn't take a picture of that step so here is just a representation. Forgive the quick edit!

Unfortunately for me and my paintbrush, the nest is much smaller than the thermostats of days gone by. When the old unit came down and the Nest went up we were left with paint drippings and holes and just a mish-mash of ugly wall (see the photo above). It would have been a short little project with some sanding and white paint etc. but just wasn't something that I had thought of prior to this install. Well, the Nest team must have known people like me wouldn't think ahead because as I was dipping my paintbrush to paint, Rob offered up a wall plate that comes with the Nest. PERFECT! A crisp white wall plate that actually made me like the Nest more than before.

All in all, I just have to say that I am most impressed with the quality of the unit itself as it has already started to learn our habits only five days after install and the thought that went into the packaging (seriously, a built in level, people!) It was also fun to finally have something that Rob had wanted since we were in the home buying process!

It's only been about a week but I would definitely recommend this product to anyone. It's so simple to set up and it feels a tad bit futuristic, making anyone feel cool! ha!

As always, we had our little helpers who just like to remind us that they are there and require mid-project "pet-me-please" breaks! ;)

Thanks for keeping up with us! Until next time, Lindsey and Rob (Oswin and Harlee too!!)

baseboards and caulking and tiling, oh my

Well we finally finished some projects that have been waiting in the wings; the end to two projects that honestly could have been finished weeks ago but it has been hard to get our butts in gear to finish. 

BUT WE FINALLY DID IT.

As you know, we put a walkway into an existing wall to create a dining room out of a bedroom right when we moved in. Doing this required us to take the baseboard moulding off the wall and well, it was never replaced. So now, almost two and a half months later, we replaced it. It's amazing how moulding can change a room (both living and dining room) and make it look complete! Project #1 COMPLETE!

The other project was completing the kitchen. We had replaced our cooktop and taken down the microwave which left an ugly un-tiled background for everyone to look at (for about a month and a half).

We looked around for tile to match the existing white but it's not just simple white tile, it's actually dimpled (you can tell in the picture above wherever the light hits the tile). This proved to be difficult to match, therefore, we just decided to get something that would "go" - it's ok in fashion, why not in your kitchen?

Since the space that needed to be covered was only about 34 inches by 6 inches we decided on a preset pattern that would match the existing tiles. The dark tile line of tile (as seen in photo above) is a forest-y green so we had to go with that family. We ended up with this seafoam, forest green, white and charcoal tile pattern.

We split each square into halves (6 inches high) and applied liquid nails to each individual tile (through the mesh on the back. 

We had to snap some of the tiles to make it fit better behind the cabinets: pliers and muscles were all it took to get the smaller tiles to break. Thankfully the breaks didn't have to be clean because they were only on the ends and were getting tucked away! 

Once everything fit properly, I was able to just start putting the tile up. We only ended up needing three sections, this was definitely an easy tile job. 

We had to add some random tiles and foam insulation so that the hood would seal properly. We didn't bother to grout these tiles since they would A) never be seen and B) were merely being used as placeholders.

After the tile was up and we let the adhesive set properly we mixed the grout and started sealing. We used grey grout since the existing tile was grouted in grey and we wanted to match as much as we could. We didn't even get close to using the half a bag (7lb bag) that we mixed even with the bathroom touch ups that we did - next time we'll know!

After about half an hour Rob sponged down the area to diminish any residue where there shouldn't be any. Once the wall was done it was all about the hood and therefore, I was tagged out of the renovation game - Rob and my Dad rewired, reinstalled and (thankfully) didn't even get electrocuted! ha!

The final step was to caulk around the new hood so that people - taller than myself - couldn't see the seam between the hood and the surrounding cabinet. 

In the end the tiling project ended up costing only about $30 and the only took about an hour (including waiting time)! I wouldn't call myself a pro or anything but it made me feel more comfortable for any future tiling endeavors! The guys might say that they will leave the electricity to the professionals from now on, but I think they did a great job! 

VOILA! 

Many thanks to Dad Brand for helping us with all our little projects!

p.s. the four dark dots on the tile in the "before" picture above were large sinkers and needed to be removed, leaving four large holes in the tile. I just added some caulk - as you can see in the after picture - and I am just waiting for it to completely set before removing the access! No more gaping holes in the nice tile! yay!

until next time, Lindsey

our cherry on top

Today you find us turning the corner into the final stretch of the "growing up" process. Our first mortgage, which you could call the "cherry on top" of our impending adulthood doesn't lend to the light sweetness that a cherry usually would, but instead we are experiencing a full on sugar high. We are a tad overwhelmed at the reality of becoming homeowners but more so we are beyond thrilled that we have been given this opportunity. As two (early) twenty-somethings we feel abundantly blessed to be taking this leap, no matter how much our sugar induced headaches might be splitting our brains.

It's pretty amazing how prayers are answered, even when they aren't your own (in this case my (Lindsey's) Dad). After two years of renting apartments we were looking into renting a house. Something closer to work for Rob, central for me, with a backyard for Oswin and always with central air. Size didn't matter too much, we just wanted our stuff to fit and after living in two apartments it's not like we had accumulated all that much. After looking at a couple houses and being disappointed that we had missed out on the rental opportunity, my dad called with the advice to "just look into buying, just see what you can actually do." Neither of us thought that buying was even a possibility, but with some advice and prayer and our awesome mortgage guy, Adam, we were able to get preapproved! We looked at nearly 20 homes and we "kissed a lot of frogs" as my dad would say (he's always good for some sound advice). Some of these houses had more problems than the last but there were a few good eggs in there. We were interested in three, two of which didn't work out from the start. We put in one offer on a Sunday and it was accepted on a Monday. Ultimately, it was a smooth experience but Rob would be the first person to tell you that I had my moments of disbelief that we wouldn't ever find anything (two weeks was all it took, folks).

Rob and I decided to document our first home experience. We know it won't all be pretty and we also know that some things will be better than we can now imagine, but we are taking it one day at a time and writing down the little things so we don't forget.

Little by little we will gather some before and after pictures, we will show you how we changed the house, where we found things that we love, give you some DIY ideas (I"DIY"AS as I like to call them), and share moments that we think should be unforgettable.

We close on the 12th - one more week - we'll have more to come soon.

Join us on our journey and please, oh please contact us and comment with questions! We would love to hear your stories too!