Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Sad day... then something weird (but funny) happened

(Not sure if I mentioned it before but I'm an elementary school teacher.)
Is it completely pathetic that I completely lost it as the buses drove away today?  I had to say good-bye to my students for the last time this afternoon, and while I didn't cry in front of them, it only took about 30 seconds after the last bell for me to begin sobbing so uncontrollably that I called my mom.  Yea, she thought it was adorable... I'm not so sure lol.  But I did have a great class this year, and it was really sad to see them go.


So after that sad day, my co-teachers insisted we go to the local Mexican restaurant to chill out and discuss summer plans.  We had a great time socializing but our waitress totally discussed her child's scabies with us.  Ew!!!!!  Yes... that happened.  We'd been chilling out for over an hour, then our cute little waitress came over and whipped out a formal letter from her kid's daycare saying that there was a break-out of scabies.  Number one, gross.  Number two, we WERE eating.  Number three, why do we care?  Needless to say... it was hilarious... but SO nasty, so we left ASAP.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

This weekend we had no air conditioning...

So the plan for this weekend was to finish cleaning out the living room and den, work on removing the wallpaper in the bathrooms and kitchen, and wash the walls and windows so we can start painting soon.
But, we had no air conditioning and since we live in Georgia, the high of 95 degrees was unbearable even with our one oscillating fan.  We got started very early Saturday morning because movers came to move Marcus' sister's GIGANTIC wardrobe to her storage building.  They were done within the hour so Marcus focused on cleaning off the workbench in the garage, and I cleaned out the living room and dining room.  Without AC we didn't last until noon without having to get out of the heat.  It was like a sauna!  I have never sweated so much in my life.  We went to Lowe's for awhile, ate lunch, and tried to go back to work but didn't last more than 30 minutes before we had to go.  Sunday we slept in a little before heading out to the house.  Again, it wasn't more than three hours before we had to get out of there.  So now the plan is to get the AC fixed before we try to work on the house again.  Marcus may be meeting with someone in the morning...

We did check some things off the list though... 

We made definite decisions concerning our kitchen cabinets.  They were custom built for the house when it was built in the early 70s.  They're good quality and even the hardware looks good.  The only thing that needs to be fixed is the color.  So we're going to try out the new cabinet-kit from Rustoleum.  We'll paint the cabinets white, then use a stain to make them look antiqued.  Here's an example of the results one shade darker than ours: 
We decided to paint the inside of the cabinets with regular semi-gloss kitchen/bath paint in antique white to avoid wasting time or money on glazing the interior.

We also finished going through the boxes and items in the living room and dining room.  Next trip, we're going to have to get a U-Haul in order to move Marcus' grandmother's things to her house and storage building.  Then Marcus will begin working on the cabinets while my sister and I remove wallpaper and wash the walls... if we have air conditioning.     :)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

We're famous!

I was checking our wedding photographer's website and saw that our pictures were published on a popular wedding blog called "Brenda's Wedding Blog".  Check it out!


These are three of our favorites from the photo-session before the actual ceremony.  (We had a big reveal before the wedding because we knew it would be too dark for pictures afterward.)


Sunday, May 8, 2011

Graduation :)

So our first step is Marcus' graduation...  and it's happening this Saturday, May 14.  Needless to say, we are thrilled!
Next step: Renovate the house over the summer and get me a job!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Forgot to mention that we found a 6 ft long snake-skin!!!

After we spent the morning measuring every room in the house, Marcus went in the garage to shop-vac the area we had already started working on.  I was upstairs vacuuming when I heard him call for me.  When I got downstairs, I saw him holding what looked like a really long, limp rope.  Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a six foot long snake-skin from tip to tail.  It even had the eye part still attached.  It was really neat... and I can't wait to show it to my students.  But on the other hand... does that mean we should be watching out for a six-foot long snake?
Marcus took a picture of me holding it up:


(Yes, that's me in my grubby work clothes with a shocked look on my face because that snake's tail is touching the ground, and I am holding it over my head!!!)

Sunday, May 1, 2011

It's been awhile... here's what's new.

Wow... it's been so long since I last posted!  So much has happened!  We are enjoying every moment of our marriage so far... even working on the house. :)  Now I know I haven't shared much about the house yet, but after the wedding and a month of reprieve, we were down to business.  


First things first.  You must understand that Marcus' grandmother is simply amazing.  She has been through so much in her life and spends her retirement caring for Marcus' mother (who was hurt in a car accident) and helping us whenever she can.  She has hilarious stories to tell and mysterious secrets in her past.  I absolutely love her... for who she is and what she's done for us.  She gave us this house for a wedding present.  Yes, it's filled with furniture and trash but as we've been repeating to ourselves over and over "no rent, no mortgage".

Now picture one of those "hoarder-houses" in your head.  Picture bags and boxes of stuff from floor to ceiling in every nook and cranny of a 3bed/2 bath split-level home.  Now add the fact that no one has lived there for almost a decade.  That's what we had to prepare for...  We painstakingly went through every single box and bag, every drawer, every shelf, and every closet.  We found tons of newspapers, trash, and old mail.  But we also found so much vintage home decor... some of which you may see incorporated into our interior later! :)


Because there is not heating or A/C in the house yet, we waited to begin working until almost spring.  At the end of February, we hooked up a couple of portable heaters and got to work.  We explored the piles of memories from one bedroom to the next with Marcus' grandmother.  We found gift cards, a high school diploma, tons of pictures, an entire wardrobe from the 70s to the 90s, and even a diamond ring!  Needless to say, she kept that... but I almost said "finders keepers".  We also found a cache of antique keys that I plan on putting in a shadow-box near the front door.
  
Marcus' grandfather was a member of Merrill's Marauders in WWII.  Unfortunately, he passed away when Marcus was only two but due to the incredible story of the marauders, Marcus has always had an incredible respect and mysterious curiosity for Merrill's Marauders memorabilia.  We found his grandfather's army cap, several pins, some books, medals, and even a WWII era military-issue shovel.


By mid-March we were done cleaning out the 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and 2 linen closets upstairs.  By the end of March we were done with the kitchen and had begun exploring the living and dining room.  Now it's May 1st and we have finished emptying all of the upstairs rooms, the kitchen, hauled Marcus' sister's stuff out of the den, and completely demolished the trash-filled garage.  Well, I shouldn't say trash-filled... we did find quite a few antique kitchen items: 2 egg-beaters, a pair of enormous tongs to pick up an ice-block, tools, and a large, heavy ice scoop.  We also found an entire set of dishes that match our taste and a few random pieces of silver.  When we were emptying the den, we found the family silver... I was ecstatic about this and called/texted everyone I could think of to let them know it had been found.


We've also been spending a lot of time at our local Lowe's.  We've replaced some plumbing for temporary use, but ultimately almost everything will need to be replaced: the entire kitchen, all flooring, paint in every room, new vanities, fixtures, and toilets in each bathroom, as well as all the materials used so far when cleaning things out.  I've been overwhelmed up to this point... but now that we've finished cleaning out the house, it's time for my favorite part: redecorating!


 This is a picture of our backyard in full azalea bloom: