~~ They're leaving the nest, sew it's time for a trip - or two - or three...~~ D~'s bag ~9/22 ~~

[gopherdame]

Have you thought about just raising the G picture a couple inches? I don't think you need anything else there, it's kind of neat by itself. Also great idea about taking off the 2 words. It's all coming together so nicely. Finally was able to get some yard work done after all the rain. Hope you can get a walk in.

 

[Clio]

Congrats to V. for getting into art school.
I think the G side looks good the way it is. The media console looks really good and I think the wall looks good without anything else on it but then there isn't much on my walls.
I just got home from dropping my car off at my daughter's and getting her jeep. At least my car gets to go to Disney Word. We had Chick-Fil-A for dinner before I left to go home.
We managed to get free dining for the week we're going to be at Disney. We were lucky to get the resort and section we wanted. My daughter had already made most of the adrs. I think there is still one or two we have to figure out.
Have a good weekend.
Liz

 

[amytech]

Congrats to V for getting into art school already! That is super-exciting and she can go into her last year of high school knowing where she is heading if she chooses that school. My son is graduating next week with his undergrad degree and heading to art school for his masters in the fall and I am with you on how exciting it is!

I actually love the media center like it is But I like open space too so take that into consideration

 

[Iamthequeen]

Congratulations to V!!!That is awesome news for her!

 

[DMGeurts]

Congratulations to V getting accepted into art school.

The walls in your living room looks great. I still don't think you need anything on the walls where the media console is.

How great that you are done with the living room now and ready to move to the kitchen. I can't wait to see what you do with the kitchen.


Today Ulf is changing the tires on my car. Today Tromsø official don't have any snow on the ground. But people still have some snow in their gardens because they have used their garden as a depot when clearing the snow from their driveway. On 29th April 1997 Tromsø got it's snow record of 94,5 inch or 240 cm. On the same date this year (today) we got a heat record for April today with 60.8ºF. I don't like the heat so I'm already starting to look forward to fall. I really should emigrate to Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen during the summer. They have a summer temperature I like with a average of 50ºF. I like that temperature much better

A geocaching friends asked if Ulf and I wanted to come with them to find a geocache this weekend. The cache is located not far from here, but it's very tricky to get to the cache because it's under the pier. So we are going to try and get it when it's ebb. It's always more fun to geocache when we are more people. These geocaching friends we are geocaching with this weekend is the same friends we are going to St.Petersburg, Russia to geocache in late June early July. Last year we went with them to Harstad ( a town 5 hours drive from Tromsø) for a weekend and geocached there. We had so much fun. So before Christmas our friends said that they had so much fun that they would love to go with us on a new geocaching trip this summer. So we ended up going to Russia this summer.

On Wednesday next week Ulf and I are going to Helsinki, Finland to meet a lot of other geocaching friends. I'm really looking forward to the trip. When I'm back from that trip on Monday 9th May the garage is supposed to start to customize my new car.

Thanks Lillian... For now, I plan to keep that wall empty... I may add something to it later, but I don't think it's bad now - and I really like the overall feel and coziness of the room as it is.

Ugh... The kitchen... Always a pain to deal with... Sigh... I'll talk more about it below.

Hahaha about moving... You dislike the heat and I dislike the cold. I am afraid we will always live on opposite sides of the planet, my friend.

Good luck finding and getting to the geocache! And be safe too - it sounds a little scary to get to.

All of these trips sound so exciting! I know you will have a great time! Not long now for your car!

Congratulations to V -- that's wonderful! What an accomplishment!

I think I'm with you....the G side could use something to add a bit more height to balance out the other side...

I love how the room is coming together!

Thank you - I am so proud of her!

I still think that - but the overwhelming majority thinks otherwise... So, I am going to leave it as is for now, then I will add to it when we are done with the kitchen if I still feel like it needs something there. I am totally OK leaving it - it's just a little off. Surprisingly, it's not bothering me as badly as I thought it would.

THanks - I am beyond thrilled with it! Just wait until you hear about our kitchen plans below... It never ends.... LOL

CONGRATULATIONS TO V
Just a quick update, the fire is fully contained but unfortunately it has destroy 2,028 acres. I am thankful that no one was hurt and that no one lost their home.

Hope you get the kitchen area done this weekend.

Thank you - We are so proud of her!

I am so happy to hear that the fire is contained... It's sad that it destroyed so much, but I agree - very fortunate that no one was hurt and no home were lost.

Well... If won't. Sigh... I"ll talk about it below though.

My issue with adding anything to the G side will make it too close to the ceiling. That would bother me more than it not being symmetrical like my brain thinks things should be. The console side...I have to think about that. I don't know about putting something on the walls as much as putting tall skinny objects (think palm trees, lol) on either side. Or maybe tall lamp tables and put your tall lamps on them to balance it out. Maybe paint the lamps to stand out more. Look at me...I am so not a decorator, lol so you may just want to ignore me!

Well, if I put anything on the G side - it will be above the frame, and I am talking less than 5" tall - including the space between the frame and the decal... So, adding something on the G side would make it only as close to the ceiling as the other side. Make sense? As of now - I am leaving it, because it isn't too terrible... I"ll see how I feel about it once we are done with the kitchen.

Hehehe... I am soooo NOT a decorator either... Many people have told me that my lamps look strange (which I still don't understand) - but I love them, so phooey - they stay. LOL I honestly love everything about them - except for the color - which I plan to change one day this week. But anyways... for now - I am leaving the wall empty... I may add something to it later, but I want to finish the kitchen first. Thanks for giving me your opinion... If you have any ideas - please let me know.

This is fantastic! Congratulations to V! She must be so happy to have gotten an acceptance this early!:

I LOVE how the wall turned out. It really looks great. I especially like the ribbon you used to hang the girls and the puppies silhouettes. very cool pattern!:

Thanks - we are so proud of her! She is absolutely elated!

Thanks - I am sooo happy with how all of it turned out - it's just so comfy and homey in there... There definitely isn't much I plan to change or add.

Congrats to V!!! She is an amazing artist. How exciting!!! Does she have Disney aspirations? With talent like that I'm sure there is something for her there. Good luck with the weekend projects. We're getting landscape rocks delivered for our flower beds outside. It is supposed to be in the 90's this weekend. My poor hubby

Thanks - we are so very proud of her! She does have Disney aspirations... but Disney is VERY competitive, so we are trying to keep her somewhat on the ground floor with her dreams, with out squashing them... If that makes sense? We want her to "go for it" - but we also want her prepared for disappointment and to have a back up plan in place.

Thanks - exciting about your projects.... Yikes!!! That will be a lot of back breaking work! At some point - we need to have rock delivered too... Thanks for the reminder. LOL

Congratulations to V for getting in to art school!

Your living room is coming along nicely.

Thanks - we are so very proud of her!

Thank you - we've been working hard and are pretty much done in there... We have to add shelves to the media console yet and we still have to do our touch up paint... I think we are waiting on doing that though until we are done in the kitchen? Not sure?

Congratulations to V!!!! What a great accomplishment ! I think your walls turned out great, I love them!!!!

Thank you - we are so very proud ofher!

Thank you - it's coming along nicely... Hopefully we can get the kitchen to live up to it. For all of these years - I've really disliked this house a lot... But wow - to come home and to really love it, it's a totally new experience for me. It's amazing what a little paint/carpet/trim can do for a house!

Have you thought about just raising the G picture a couple inches? I don't think you need anything else there, it's kind of neat by itself. Also great idea about taking off the 2 words. It's all coming together so nicely. Finally was able to get some yard work done after all the rain. Hope you can get a walk in.

I want to... But Josh won't move anything now... He has a thing with hanging everything with anchors - and we'd have to totally patch the walls again... Sigh. I've asked him to use a less permanent way until I decide exactly where things should go - but he doesn't. Soooo... This means I must improvise. Sigh.

Yes - Suzi does have some great ideas - I never would have thought of taking off "There is"... For that matter - if I wanted to... I could almost add it back in, if I can get it to fit there right as "There's"... But I kind of like it the way it is.

Yay - I know - I've been working on the yard a little bit in between everything... All of my neighbor's yards look fabulous - and then there's me... LOL I keep telling them that we are getting to the yard - but I am not sure they believe me. LOL At least I weeded the flower beds the other day... So it doesn't look too terrible out there. I don't think? LOL

I hope you are having a nice weekend!

Congrats to V. for getting into art school.
I think the G side looks good the way it is. The media console looks really good and I think the wall looks good without anything else on it but then there isn't much on my walls.
I just got home from dropping my car off at my daughter's and getting her jeep. At least my car gets to go to Disney Word. We had Chick-Fil-A for dinner before I left to go home.
We managed to get free dining for the week we're going to be at Disney. We were lucky to get the resort and section we wanted. My daughter had already made most of the adrs. I think there is still one or two we have to figure out.
Have a good weekend.
Liz

Thanks - we are so very proud of her!

Thank you... I plan to leave everything in the living room as is until we are done with the kitchen - then I may (or may not) go back in there and move things around a little bit... We'll see... I am happy with how it is right now, so I may just leave it.

Heehehehe.... That's how I feel about my bags... I don't get to go very often - but I love that I almost always have a bag in a park somewhere.

Wahoo!!! Congrats!!! That is awesome news!!!! All of it! So excited for you!

Congrats to V for getting into art school already! That is super-exciting and she can go into her last year of high school knowing where she is heading if she chooses that school. My son is graduating next week with his undergrad degree and heading to art school for his masters in the fall and I am with you on how exciting it is!

I actually love the media center like it is But I like open space too so take that into consideration

Thanks! We are so proud of her! Yes - I am pretty sure she will choose that school... She is very decisive about her plans right now.

Exciting! Congratulations to him!!! You must be so proud!

Congratulations to V!!!: That is awesome news for her!

Thanks! We are so proud of her!!! We can't wait to see where she goes with this!

***************************************************************************************

OK all - prepare yourself for big updates today!

I'll start with the boring stuff...

So, we are on to working on the kitchen. I am very disappointed with a lot with this room... But I am trying hard to work with what we have, in the VERY small budget that we have available to finish this off.

Josh and I dropped V off at her class yesterday morning - then we headed off to a local building outlet... We had every intention of purchasing a butcher block counter top for our kitchen - they had received a shipment of a lot of them... To our surprise - even at "outlet" prices - they were about $500 more than our total remaining budget for this room. The disappointment was REAL. We know we can't do cabinets, but I was so hoping to do counter tops - I think it would make a HUGE difference in this room. We wandered around the outlet for a while - trying to decide if we could pull it off, or not. In the end - we came to our senses and decided not to.

Then we headed to a few home improvement stores - and wasted our entire morning there... Trying to find other options for counter tops. The issue we have, is that our one counter is 12 feet long - which is VERY long... because of this - our "in stock" options are limited - and our budget doesn't allow for custom order. And I really want wood. So, then we came to the decision that Josh could make his own "butcher block"... I did some pinterest searching, and came up with some decent options that I actually really liked a lot. We are going more for the look of the 2nd one.

We priced this option out - and we can do it for about $300 for all of our countertops... Which isn't too bad - that includes all supplies and it's a pretty high esimate - it's very likely we'd be able to do it for closer to $200. The only other expense, is that we would have to buy a new sink... New sinks are not cheap.

We left the home improvement store yesterday with nothing for our counter tops... We just really want to think it over more. Again - this is an expense we didn't intend on doing, so we really want to think about if it's something we want to do now... At some point - we want to purchase new cabinets, at one time - we had plans drawn up to completely gut and remodel this area along with an addition - but I just don't know if that will ever happen? But -I honestly think, with new counter tops - I could actually learn to like my current kitchen cupboards a lot - as we all know, there is NO WAY you can purchase vintage quality these days. So, I've been doing a lot of research on vintage kitchens and painting cabinets - and in my mind, I am actually starting to visualize something pretty cool with what we have existing - so I may just run with it? But again - that does include the new wood counter tops... So, I really need to think on it some more.

However - we did leave the home improvement store with some other wood. As you all know - Josh purchased all of the trim for our windows years ago... But he did not purchase trim for our doors... We have 4 doors in our kitchen that need to be trimmed to match (some of them already have trim on them...) - I found a photo on Pinterest (of course) of trim that I loved, I showed it to him and he actually liked it and agreed to do it. My only issue here is that now I am going for more of a farmhouse look (which we DO live in an old farm house) - and our living room is a bit more modern/formal... Hopefully the two looks don't clash too much.

We are planning to paint this trim white... And our doors are cheap wood - that can't be painted... So, I also have a feeling that we will be looking at 2 new doors in the very near future - because there is NO way I can do wood doors with white trim - I don't think. It just seems odd to me.

Since we spent most of the day yesterday at the home improvement store - this means we really did NO work on the house. This makes me very anxious - as we have sooo little time to get all of this done in the first place... Plus adding on the possible counter tops - I am in a bit of a frenzy - as I am sure you can imagine.

Sooo... Here's my existing list for the kitchen area...

^ Trim out the existing doors/windows with the new trim.
* Finish the bit of drywall patching that needs to be completed around the new-ish closet.
* Paint the walls
* Fix the floor where SC ate it. Grrrr... Still sooo annoyed about this.
* Rip out old counter tops
* Build and install new counter tops
* Paint the cabinet for the coffee nook.
* Figure out some way to hide the microwave.
* Fix 2 cupboard doors that don't close due to warping.
* Possible new ceiling fan or light fixture.
* Find/purchase new sink

I am not sure this list is complete - I will probably add to it...

Now - on to my BIG Disney trip ADR update!!!!

It's May 1st and as promised, I can now share my ADRs that I've been working on for the whole month of April.

So, here they are - in no particular order...

* Magic Kingdom... As usual - we have a few ADRs here... We have a PPO Crystal Palace - I am still hoping to snag one that's a bit earlier than the one we have... We also have a lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern - Freedom Pasta... Mmmmmm....

* Epcot... V doesn't know about this one - and I am not sure that we are keeping it yet? But I was able to grab a nice lunch at one of our favorites - which we haven't done in a few trips... Garden Grill... Gotta love the characters here!

* Hollywood Studios... This was a difficult one... V desperately wants Lunch with an Imagineer - but with the very limited spots available, and very limited days they offer it - it's impossible for someone not staying on property. I am still trying to find it - but she is totally OK with the back up plan too... Which I DO have... Any guesses??? LOL We are pretty predictable, actually. 50's Prime time... One of our long standing favorites.

* Animal Kingdom... Again - we are predictable... We have a PPO ADR at Tusker House... Always a favorite - and there is nothing better than walking through an empty AK in the morning.

MNSSHP... We've done MNSSHP in the past - twice actually, once in 2003 and once in 2008... We've always planned our MNSSHP days with a morning off the day of... So, I took this opportunity to plan a late breakfast at 'Ohana... Since we are staying at SoG for this trip - this works out perfectly, as V can sleep in quite late - and it takes us less than 10 minutes to get there from our resort.

Days off... It should come as no surprise... We have 2 days off... and on both of these days, I have late breakfasts at The Wave booked. I have NO idea what we will be doing for the remainder of those days - I will leave that up to V and what she wants to wander around and do - Unlike Allison's trip with Cirque planned for her one day off... Both of these days are true days off for us. We are hoping it is warm enough on this trip to get some time in at the pool.

Universal Studios... Well, we don't have any ADRs booked for Universal again... But I am planning to eat both meals in the HP area... One meal will be at The Leaky Cauldrin in Diagon Alley... and the other meal will be at 3 broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Of course - there will be much more snacking than necessary - to include, but not limited to - all forms of butter beer... And some Lavendar & Clotted Cream ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour. This trip, I also hope to try the pumpkin juice - I missed it on the last trip, and I am a bit sad about it.

Travel days... Since I don't have our airfare yet - I have not booked any ADRs for our travel days - typically, we don't anyways... We usually wing these days - and to be honest, staying at SoG - this leaves any of the Monorail Resort quick service locations easy enough to get to... I suspect, on our arrival day, we will find ourselves at Captain Cooks though.

Also, as an added note... Some of you may (or may not) know that SoG's Evergreens restaurant has been going through an extensive remodel - it was totally closed when we were there in January. When we stayed at SoG in 2008, we ate many meals at Evergreens - they were a full bar/restaurant... Serving burgers/fries/pizzas - they had a full grill and menu. It wasn't long after that, they closed the grill - and just had grab n' go sandwiches - and the other restaurants at SoG did not receive the most stellar reviews. Which led me to completely ditching SoG and staying at Disney resorts for several trips. But with 2 trips to pay for within a year - I didn't have much of a choice and I had to take advantage of the affordable SoG again - on this last trip - I remembered how much I truly LOVED SoG - and even with out any restaurant availability there - it was still an amazing resort. So much so - that I don't think I will ever stay on Disney property again. Well, last week - Evergreens opened again... And from what I can tell - no official confirmations yet (I am working on getting that) - it looks to me that they brought back the full bar and grill. Fingers crossed. If that's the case... V and I will likely have a meal or two here on our days off.

So - there's your big update everyone! Again, my apologies... I never post our ADR plans until the month after I make them - this is for our safety because of an incident that happened several trips ago. So, I sincerely appreciate your understanding about this... By doing it this way - it still allows me to share and plan my trips with you all.

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! Prayers and Pixie Dust to all!

D~

 

[Terkina]

Looks like you have a lot of work ahead with the kitchen. But it will look so great when you're done

Sounds like you have a lot of fun things planned for V's Disney trip.


Geocaching under the pier went well. No one fell into the water and I had a great time with friends

 

[gopherdame]

Your trip is getting closer. It's always nice to get your ADR's done. We always stay off site when we go now. We are older and spend many days off and couldn't spend them in a room without driving each other crazy. Once we stayed in a house with its own pool I don't think we could ever go back to a room, even at a Disney resort. We are going back in Feb. for 3 weeks and I've started looking for a house again. It's so much fun to plan and get that done and then I can relax. It's amazing to me how fast they book, especially for the winter months. Your kitchen plans for the countertop are amazing and you are so lucky Josh can do that. Are you thinking a farmhouse sink? The lamps are starting to grow on me after seeing them lit up. Maybe try it without the big candlesticks. I actually liked your version better with the pictures before you changed it. I understand about not wanting to put in more wall anchors and having to patch as I am terrible about patching holes. Maybe you could try one of those 3M removable hooks and that way you could see if you liked it. How great Victoria got accepted and just the fact that she knows what she wants to do with her life. My boys took college classes in high school so when they went to college they were already sophomores and were pushed to pick a major. Neither one had a good idea of what they wanted to do. It's my daughter's birthday today so we are going to Pizza Ranch for lunch. The grandkids got to pick and that's one of their favorite places. Hope you can get a lot done today.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hi Dee - I have been MIA this past week. We have a big family trip coming up June 4th and I was working to get everything pinned down before the general public could book fastpasses at 30 days. We are now 32 days out and all fastpasses are secured except for one Peter Pan fastpass for one person. I'm hoping we can get that settled soon. The trip has four separate family/friend groups with four resort reservations at POR. Our daughter, son-in-law and 6 year old grandson are overlapping with our trip for two days, Saturday and Sunday. They will spend the first part of their trip at another resort. Our son-in-law can only take a small dose of family. My sister and her friend will be arriving on Friday and DH and I will be arriving with our son and two grandsons, age 12 and 10, on Saturday. We are super excited to have free dining for the first time ever. It was the only reason we could take our son and grandsons. The hardest part of the planning task was to get our son to choose his fastpasses and customize their Magic Bands before they shipped. He finally did it this week, which is why we have been so busy this week planning this trip out. He is feeling very overwhelmed with the whole thing. So I gave him some suggestions and have it all worked out now.

We have dinner ADR's at 'Ohana and Cape May which we are really looking forward to. Cape May is an old family favorite. They've never eaten at 'Ohana but I think 'Ohana will be perfect for our noodle loving/meat eating grandsons. And the fact that the two meals will be free is even better. We also have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, dinner at Boatwrights and breakfast at Tusker House. So I will be crunching numbers at each meal to see which one is the better bargain for free dining. I actually love working out the best deal. We also planned our days so that we aren't all together all the time. We are really looking forward to our trip.

Your living room looks great. I love the new location for your curio cabinet. I think it overwhelmed the room in its former location, but now it fits right in. I have to sympathize with you over the kitchen remodel. We need to remodel our kitchen but it is hard to decide what to do.

I love your plans for your October trip. It will be interesting to see what Victoria decides to do on your free days. That is great that Evergreen will be open for your trip. It is so convenient to eat in your resort, especially if the weather turns bad and you don't want to go out.

I hope you have a great weekend. We are having cold and rainy weather, so it is hard to get out to enjoy the gorgeous spring flowers. So we have been shopping for Disney instead, .

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Wow! It sounds like you have a lot of great plans for your kitchen!

I love all the ADRs you and V are doing! It's always such a great feeling when those are picked out!

 

[jandlinz]

Just catching up. The room looks great. Yippee for ADR's! I hope you can get the lunch with the imagineer.

 

[KathyM2]

Great update!!! You sure have a lot going on with the house...AND Disney planning lol. Both are equally exciting! I love that you have low priced options for the counters that will still look amazing...that would so NOT be an option for us mere mortals with no handy skillz lol. Your ADR list looks fantastic!! I'm very jealous of your O'hana and also trying out the HP restaurants at Universal and copious amounts of Butterbeer.

 

[Iamthequeen]

For your countertops - my brother remodeled his kitchen years ago and used tongue & groove wood flooring for the kitchen counters. With several coats of polyurethane, they will last for a long time. Just an idea...

Things here have been in a whirlwind. I'm not sure if I told you that my youngest dd, Shannon moved home when she finished school in Chicago? Anyway, she has been serving/bartending in Baltimore since then, and trying to get her music licensing business started - with a little success. Two weeks ago she went to NYC for the Tribeca Film Festival and one of her friends told her about a music licensing company that was hiring for an entry level position to start right away. She interviewed on Thursday and offered her the job on Monday - to start tomorrow! She was scrambling to find a place to stay and luckily she has some friends who need a temporary roommate. She packed up some things and left today. I will miss her and her little dog too, but she will be home this weekend for a race. Then again the following weekend so we can head to Chicago for her graduation. I'm hoping to see Mo, but we will see how everyone's schedule works out.

 

[DMGeurts]

Looks like you have a lot of work ahead with the kitchen. But it will look so great when you're done :
Sounds like you have a lot of fun things planned for V's Disney trip.


Geocaching under the pier went well. No one fell into the water and I had a great time with friends

Yes - there is a LOT of work in the kitchen... Well, there wasn't, and now there is. LOL I sure hope we can get it all done in time... As we still have dreams of redoing the floors in the bathroom and taking out the carpet on the stairs - with possibly refinishing them.

I am very excited for V's trip!

Happy to hear that! I am glad you had a great time and everyone was safe!

Your trip is getting closer. It's always nice to get your ADR's done. We always stay off site when we go now. We are older and spend many days off and couldn't spend them in a room without driving each other crazy. Once we stayed in a house with its own pool I don't think we could ever go back to a room, even at a Disney resort. We are going back in Feb. for 3 weeks and I've started looking for a house again. It's so much fun to plan and get that done and then I can relax. It's amazing to me how fast they book, especially for the winter months. Your kitchen plans for the countertop are amazing and you are so lucky Josh can do that. Are you thinking a farmhouse sink? The lamps are starting to grow on me after seeing them lit up. Maybe try it without the big candlesticks. I actually liked your version better with the pictures before you changed it. I understand about not wanting to put in more wall anchors and having to patch as I am terrible about patching holes. Maybe you could try one of those 3M removable hooks and that way you could see if you liked it. How great Victoria got accepted and just the fact that she knows what she wants to do with her life. My boys took college classes in high school so when they went to college they were already sophomores and were pushed to pick a major. Neither one had a good idea of what they wanted to do. It's my daughter's birthday today so we are going to Pizza Ranch for lunch. The grandkids got to pick and that's one of their favorite places. Hope you can get a lot done today.

Hehehehe... I think Josh and I would go nuts in a room together too - so I understand. I would love to stay in a house down there - I would love to have the room, but for us, it's just so much easier to be right there - and considering that I don't drive anywhere strange - that kind of rules out the house option. LOL But I am glad it works out so well for you and you enjoy it.

Thanks - I am pretty excited about it. I am very lucky that Josh can do the things he does - he's quite talented. When we redid our siding and windows - we invested in some pretty hefty tools, we knew that renting them wasn't an option, because that project would take us a long time... So, on top of talent, we are fortunate that Josh has the tools to do projects like this too. I have dreams of doing a farmhouse sink, but they are sooooo expensive right now - two years ago, I probably could have gotten them for a steal, but now they start at $800 - and that is so far out of our budget. I'll talk about it below - but I did find a porcelain sink on Craigslist yesterday - which I will restore. It's not technically a "farmhouse" sink - but it's the same sink I had in every farmhouse I've ever lived in (except for this one) - so it's pretty nostalgic to me. I am very excited about it, actually!

The console will get a lot of rearranging coming up... I am keeping the lamps there, for sure - but Josh has been working on the shelving for it over the weekend - it's not done yet, but all of our electronics will be put in the shelves, so the top of the console will be for decorating purposes only.

I know - Allison is always the one I predicted to know what she wants to do - as she is my planner... V - I kind of expected to be more relaxed about choosing what she wants to do... I am a little surprised that it's going the opposite way. LOL

That is very impressive about your boys! What did they end up choosing for a major then?

I hope your dd had a great birthday and you enjoyed your time out with family!

Hi Dee - I have been MIA this past week. We have a big family trip coming up June 4th and I was working to get everything pinned down before the general public could book fastpasses at 30 days. We are now 32 days out and all fastpasses are secured except for one Peter Pan fastpass for one person. I'm hoping we can get that settled soon. The trip has four separate family/friend groups with four resort reservations at POR. Our daughter, son-in-law and 6 year old grandson are overlapping with our trip for two days, Saturday and Sunday. They will spend the first part of their trip at another resort. Our son-in-law can only take a small dose of family. My sister and her friend will be arriving on Friday and DH and I will be arriving with our son and two grandsons, age 12 and 10, on Saturday. We are super excited to have free dining for the first time ever. It was the only reason we could take our son and grandsons. The hardest part of the planning task was to get our son to choose his fastpasses and customize their Magic Bands before they shipped. He finally did it this week, which is why we have been so busy this week planning this trip out. He is feeling very overwhelmed with the whole thing. So I gave him some suggestions and have it all worked out now.

We have dinner ADR's at 'Ohana and Cape May which we are really looking forward to. Cape May is an old family favorite. They've never eaten at 'Ohana but I think 'Ohana will be perfect for our noodle loving/meat eating grandsons. And the fact that the two meals will be free is even better. We also have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, dinner at Boatwrights and breakfast at Tusker House. So I will be crunching numbers at each meal to see which one is the better bargain for free dining. I actually love working out the best deal. We also planned our days so that we aren't all together all the time. We are really looking forward to our trip.

Your living room looks great. I love the new location for your curio cabinet. I think it overwhelmed the room in its former location, but now it fits right in. I have to sympathize with you over the kitchen remodel. We need to remodel our kitchen but it is hard to decide what to do.

I love your plans for your October trip. It will be interesting to see what Victoria decides to do on your free days. That is great that Evergreen will be open for your trip. It is so convenient to eat in your resort, especially if the weather turns bad and you don't want to go out.

I hope you have a great weekend. We are having cold and rainy weather, so it is hard to get out to enjoy the gorgeous spring flowers. So we have been shopping for Disney instead, .

Your upcoming trip sounds a little confusing to me - LOL - but it sounds like it will be a lot of fun to have so much family there with you!!! They are lucky they have you to push them to get everything done on time... I guess that's where we are ahead of the game - we know how important it is to get this stuff done.

It's so awesome that you were able to get FD! And I love all of the meals you have planned. We have only done Cape May once - and while we loved it - I am not the best crab cracker in the world. LOL So, we just skip that one.

Thanks - I totally agree... The curio looks soooo much better and so much less "out of place" now than it did then. Our whole entire living room is just set up so much better now. I still don't love that the sofa blocks so much of the bay window - but I do love the arrangement and how much better it flows - so it's going to stay this way - probably forever.

Yes - I am excited to see what she wants to do on her days off... I am sure we will do DTD and maybe some resort hopping... I am SURE FQ will be in there for Santo's beignets! :

Hehehe... Shopping for Disney isn't a bad thing. I hope you had a nice weekend anyways. Thanks for checking in!

Wow! It sounds like you have a lot of great plans for your kitchen!

I love all the ADRs you and V are doing! It's always such a great feeling when those are picked out!

Yes - and they are getting greater and greater by the moment - LOL - much to Josh's annoyance. LOL I keep getting bigger and better plans...

Thanks - we are doing a few different ones... I am excited to take her to The Wave... Allison still talks about that one. I love eating at Disney - although, at the end of the trip - I am always so miserable. LOL

Just catching up. The room looks great. Yippee for ADR's! I hope you can get the lunch with the imagineer.

Thanks - I love how it's all coming together... And I finally have a vision for the kitchen - so I am feeling pretty confident and excited about that now too... Now hopefully it looks as good as my brain thinks it will. LOL

I hope so too - but I am honestly not too disappointed in not getting it - financially anyways... At almost $200 for a meal for 2 people... That cuts huge into our budget. I'll keep looking, but I think wee are OK as we are too.

Great update!!! You sure have a lot going on with the house...AND Disney planning lol. Both are equally exciting! I love that you have low priced options for the counters that will still look amazing...that would so NOT be an option for us mere mortals with no handy skillz lol. Your ADR list looks fantastic!! I'm very jealous of your O'hana and also trying out the HP restaurants at Universal and copious amounts of Butterbeer.

Thanks! Yes - there is a LOT going on everywhere in our lives at the moment. It's hard to stop and breathe. But it's fun and it's needed to be done for a LONG time - so it's kind of exciting too!

Well, I sure hope they will look amazing - LOL We will see... Josh is a pretty talented wood worker - so that makes life easier... but it's still sometimes a challenge working with an old house... Nothing is ever straight, level or square - and making it appear that way is often times a struggle. But I am pretty excited about the plan for the kitchen - if it turns out like I want it to - that is. LOL

Thanks... I am happy I was able to get everything we wanted... I still need an earlier time for Crystal Palace - but we will live with what we have if necessary - it just cuts into some of the best part time.

For your countertops - my brother remodeled his kitchen years ago and used tongue & groove wood flooring for the kitchen counters. With several coats of polyurethane, they will last for a long time. Just an idea...

Things here have been in a whirlwind. I'm not sure if I told you that my youngest dd, Shannon moved home when she finished school in Chicago? Anyway, she has been serving/bartending in Baltimore since then, and trying to get her music licensing business started - with a little success. Two weeks ago she went to NYC for the Tribeca Film Festival and one of her friends told her about a music licensing company that was hiring for an entry level position to start right away. She interviewed on Thursday and offered her the job on Monday - to start tomorrow! She was scrambling to find a place to stay and luckily she has some friends who need a temporary roommate. She packed up some things and left today. I will miss her and her little dog too, but she will be home this weekend for a race. Then again the following weekend so we can head to Chicago for her graduation. I'm hoping to see Mo, but we will see how everyone's schedule works out.

That is really good to know Tess... I am a little concerned for the durability of this... But at the same time - I don't want it to look like a bowling alley floor or a bar either - ya know? LOL I really want the rustic and authentic look... It should be fun to do - and hopefully it turns out like I want it to.

Your life sounds as crazy as mine - LOL.... I know you were very much looking forward to Shannon being home, but how exciting that she was able to find a job so quickly! Congratulations to her! She should be able to come home a little more frequently now though? Since she will be closer...

I hope you are able to make things work out so you can see Mo... Miss you all terribly - especially this time of year!

****************************************************************************************

Sooo... More kitchen updates for you all...

I let Josh sleep in yesterday morning - I was being a nice wife.

While he was sleeping in - I ran to the home improvement store and purchased the remainder of the wood we needed to finish the door frames.

I also emailed a few people from Craigslist about some sinks they had for sale.

When I got home, Josh was up... and I'd received one reply on one of the sinks. Not wanting to take Josh away from his work on the house - I called BFF to see if she wanted to run with me... Internet safety and all.... Thankfully she was able to take a couple of hours out of her Sunday to do that with me.

So, I drove back up the way I came... grabbed bff and then drove to the opposite side of the metro. I was so excited to get there and to find out, not only did the guy have the sink, but he also saved the chrome frame and all of the clips. This is so awesome - as I was worried that I would have to try to hunt all of that stuff down too - which could be much harder. I happily paid the guy his $35, bff and I loaded the beast up and off we went. Now - this is not a true "farmhouse" sink... I cannot afford that - they start at $600, and even the vintage ones go for a good chunk... but this is a vintage sink, and it is cast iron with porcelain - so I am thrilled. Now - I have to restore it... It was pretty rough yesterday, and this photo was taken after I'd cleaned it considerably already...

As much as I also want a new kitchen faucet - since I don't think ours "goes" with how the room will be when we are done - we will see, but I don't think it's in the budget at this time? I am going to try - but again, these things are adding up and since we are doing the new counters/backsplash, that is our extra expense... Plus - we do need new light fixtures too... So, I am pretty sure we will have to deal with the faucet we have for the time being. It's not old at all - we just replaced it last summer... Can't have everything right? LOL

Josh called and said I needed to stop at the home improvement store on my way home again... That was like death. Every person and their entire family was there - with 2 check outs open. If he didn't need the stuff - I would have left it there. But I waited.

Finally home - Josh had finished 2 doors plus the patio door while I was gone. He was working on the final 2 doors... They turned out very awesome! I am super happy with them. I've found some pictures on the internet of what wood doors look like with white trim - and it's not too terrible, so we will paint the trim white after all. Sadly - again - the popcorn ceilings are staying...

While Josh was working on his stuff - I was trying to stay out of his way. So, I put the first coat of paint on the little cabinet for my coffee nook. I also started cleaning the sink and getting it ready to restore. I am still not sure exactly how much I plan to restore it... Part of the charm is some of the imperfections.

So, that's about all we were able to get done there. I wish we would have gotten further this weekend... but we really did need yesterday to regroup and figure out our plan - so all is not wasted and I am actually excited about this room and the possible outcome.

I do believe - we will be working on the kitchen during the week, because I have a slight feeling that Josh will want to work on the counter top this weekend. We will see... We have a lot to get done before we can do counters.

Today... Well, my office is still cleaned out (miracle)... but it is a really gorgeous sunny morning out there - I might just go for a walk anyways?

Then I will be working all day upstairs... I have a LOT to get done today, plus I have to run to town later too.

Tomorrow - my dad has a Dr.s appointment - so I am planning to take the day off of work to go with him for that. He has some healthcare needs that really need to be addressed - his legs have started to get worse again in the last few weeks... So I need to make sure that this is taken care of immediately. I sometimes don't think his Drs. take his leg wounds seriously. Which is pretty sad.

So, that's about all for today. I hope you all have an amazing day!!! Prayers and Pixie Dust to all of you!

D~

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have only done Cape May once - and while we loved it - I am not the best crab cracker in the world. LOL So, we just skip that one.

I never eat the crab legs. They take too much work. I like the meat on the carving board.

I still don't love that the sofa blocks so much of the bay window - but I do love the arrangement and how much better it flows - so it's going to stay this way - probably forever.

Our couch sits in front of our big window like that. It is the only way it fits in the room.

It was pretty rough yesterday, and this photo was taken after I'd cleaned it considerably already...

Our sink looks exactly like that. That was some good bargain hunting. I hate stainless steel sinks.

 

[kittylady1972]

Wow, I just love the plans for your kitchen countertop and can't wait to see it all complete. That's something I think my husband could do as well. Maybe we will consider that when we decide to really overhaul our kitchen in the future!

ADR plans sound great. I think I'd love to spend some more time at Shades of Green one day. Since we never stayed there with the grill either, I'll await your report (saw your post in the SoG forum) to see what comes back on the food there. We just might do one night there in November before we check into our resort for Thanksgiving week.

Actually over the weekend we were discussing staying at Ft. Wilderness one day. It's one of the few Disney resorts we have yet to try out, and I mentioned to my husband the idea of staying at the campground and renting a 5th wheel for the week from a local company. That just seems like it would be a fun way to do Disney, but DH would only agree to that during fall, winter or early spring. I think it would be fun option for a future trip.

Can't wait to see more of your home improvements!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

How great you were able to get the sink for such a great price!

I hope your Dad feels better soon - sending good thoughts

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

You had a very productive weekend!!! I love the look of the wood countertops -- your kitchen is going to be fabulous. I hope all goes well with your Dad's appointment. I have three specialist medical appointments in the next two weeks...not fun.

Your ADRs sound great!

 

[Tinkercc]

The sink looks great. The counter tops are going to be so cool!! I would love to have wooden counter tops. You're so lucky Josh is so talented. Your saving a bundle with him doing all of the work! Good luck with your Dad's appt. Your ADR's look like it's going to be a great vacation. We just made out spring break 2017 reservations. I can't wait to do our ADR's. We too are going for a graduation trip. Our son is graduating HS in 2017. Have a great day!

 

[Terkina]

Sounds like you got a lot done during the weekend.

I'm so sorry to hear you dad's legs are getting worse. I'm crossing my fingers that he will get better soon.


I've started to prepare for the trip to Helsinki,Finland now. Tomorrow I will take Esmeralda (my cat) to my grandmothers house where she will stay while I'm in Helsinki. Then I will have to pack and get ready to go to the airport at 9 am on Wednesday.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Love how your kitchen is coming along!! You're making me really wish I was working on mine! We'll be married 10 years this June and we've only painted Jimmy's bedroom, our bathroom and the hallway. I have tons of frames laying around waiting to be hung. I really need to get on this. Good thing Jimmy makes his communion next school year. Having a party is just the excuse I need to get moving!!!

Love the ADRs you have picked! I have never done one before park opening, and I really want to try that this December. What is your favorite one if you had to pick only one?

We were able to get our Free Dining after all (woo hoo!!) so the next things I have to get ready for are June 1st when I can officially book our vow renewal and June 24th--ADR day!!