Basement Remodel: COMPLETE!

It's been four and a half months in the making, but our basement project is finally finished!!!  We started one April evening when Michael got a wild hair and decided to tear down the wall we'd wanted gone since day one.  That, and the motivation by purchasing a sectional that was way too big for the current space.  We now have one big, awesome room!  Matching the carpet from where the wall came out was tricky, as we didn't have any remnant left from the original.  We used Complete Carpet Care, and they matched it as perfectly as anyone could without knowing the brand or store where it was purchased.  I was very happy!  After getting estimates from several local painters (I hate painting, hiring this out is worth every penny!) we decided to go with Certa Pro Painters, based on their great reviews and reasonable estimate.  I was very happy with how it turned out.  After Michael removed the wall himself, our friends at Wissing Contractors finished out the ceiling, wall and duct work, and placed doors on the space that was built for an old projection TV for us. Now it looks like a built in cabinet, and provides us with much needed storage space. Below I've document the transformation from two small rooms, into one large room!

Bar before....

....bar after!

Basement still two rooms before (before we moved in)...

.....after!

Before...

......After!

We've placed doors on the open space built for a TV.  Now tons of storage.

Before painting (but after the wall came down/doors)....

....After!

Now we need a bigger tv.... 

In progress 

In progress

In progress

It's been slow going for me because this took almost five months to complete, but we're so happy with our new space.  Still have some odds and ends to hang on the wall, but for now I'll consider this checked off the list!!!

Remember the guy that talked REALLY fast in the Micro Machines commercials?

 ....well that's how this post is going to be.

WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON YOU ASK?   Hmmmm, lots 'o stuff.  We took an amazing trip to Ireland in March to visit my bestie Jenn in her new home of Dublin, we're remodeling the basement, it's Spring so we're landscaping our behinds off, I deactivated my Facebook account...and oh, I got am amazing new job at a Fortune 50 company.  We've been insanely busy, so I've neglected my bloggin'.

Super duper cliff notes.  Ireland.  Eight days in the most beautiful country I've had the pleasure to visit.  The people were amazing, the scenery was unmatched, and we had sunny weather the entire week!   We saw Grafton Street, Trinity College, The Book of Kells, Temple Bar, The Guinnes Brewery, Kilmainham Gaol, Jameson Distillery, St. Michan's Crypt (whoa, touched a crusader!!!), Brazenhead, Cliffs of Moher, Dromoland Castle, Bunratty Castle, attended a Medieval Banquet, rented a "mid-sized" car (lost in translation?) drove across the entire country.....and that's all I can remember for now.  So amazing.

Guinness Storehouse

Jenn, Kevin and Michael in Temple Bar area.

Michael and I at The Brazenhead - oldest bar in Ireland!  1198.

One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  Cliffs of Moher.

Piggyback ride from Jenn at Cliffs of Moher

Jenn and I getting romantic.

Inside St. Michan's Tomb

Our "mid-sized" car we took cross country.

Dromoland Castle

Dromoland Castle facade

Medieval Castle Banquet

St. Paddy's in Dublin!

A bunch of 'Merican's

Dromoland School of Falconry Graduates

Grafton Street

The basement is well underway, and we've got the wall down. We are essentially turning two rooms into one big room.  Still need to rewire, rearrange, paint everything tan with white trim, and close in the original TV cabinet.  Ugh....okay we're not even halfway there yet!  We got a gigantic new sectional that we clearly didn't take the time to measure, so it's expediting the process.

Um...this sectional doesn't fit in our basement.

Let's take this sucker out.

Getting there...

Cleaning up the mess, with help from Tucker B.

Need to rewire, rearrange, paint.... it's livable for now. 

Springtime landscaping...best said in pictures.  Black mulch is the new hotness.

Facebook was doing nothing but raise my blood pressure and make me sort of hate people I didn't know I hated. Hate is a strong word... dislike.  So I got rid of it!!!  Therapeutic, rid of the crazy.  Although, it's great to see some people's true colors behind the safety of their computer screens.

I was contacted by a recruiter out of the blue and was lucky enough to be hired by Humana.  I am a Digital Project Manager and will be starting my fifth week there tomorrow.  So far it's amazing, and I work with such fun and positive people!!!  I'm adapting to the HUGE corporate culture quite well, and had no idea how huge of a company it is.  I've made some great friends there so far, and am really happy I made the decision I did.

I hope to start blogging more, especially since I kissed Facebook goodbye!  Not sure if anyone even reads this anymore, but it's sort of therapeutic for me to keep this up, either way.  Sort of like a live journal that's fun to go back and read years later.

Eggcellent.

Look at that smile...proud BGE owner

After what seemed like years, but was most likely weeks or months of Michael pining for a Big Green Egg, we now actually have one.  What is a Big Green Egg you ask?  Well, it's a grill of sorts, made of ceramic and shaped like...you guess it, a big green egg.   I was skeptical.  We already have a grill!  Why do we need this thing?  It looks funny and it's crazy expensive!  After having kebabs, buffalo wings, burgers, and most recently home made pizza made on this thing, I'm sold.  Amazing!  You may even say we're eggstatic to have one.  Okay okay, too far.   I do enjoy their marketing as they list their Eggcessories and have Eggtoberfest every year.

Cook -cook- cookin' away!

Kebabs!

Bobby Flay is always using one when we watch his show, so if he's endorsing this product without being paid to use it, it's gotta be legit.  If you're in the market for a new grill we can't recommend this enough.  I can't speak for the grilling experience, but I can speak for the eating experience.  Good stuff.

And now... gratuitous pet photos!

Rigby in a pink bow.  This lasted < 30 seconds.

The "Catirondaks".  Our version of The Thundercats

Patrolin' this yard for squirrels is hard work!

Landscaping Project: Complete!

 After a year of working on things off and on, I think we're finally confident that the landscaping project is complete!  Sure, there are more things we want to accomplish in years to come...but for now we're on official hiatus of doing any more for quite a while.  Our backyard oasis is ready to be enjoyed...it's come a long way from the jungle it was on move in day!  After ripping out hedges, weeds as tall as me, and lots of blood sweat and tears, we can sit back, relax, and enjoy.  Here are some before and afters to see the dramatic difference!

Here you see the grossness that was move-in day:

And here you see current day fruits of our labor!

Holy overgrowth!

Ahhh...but those bricks were HEAVY.

Weeds as tall as me!

Now beautiful backyard oasis!

Koi pond was a hot mess...

Now it's gorgeous!

Front walkway, barely walkable!

Ahh, much better.  Again though, I can't stress enough that those bricks were HEAVY.

Some new seating for the other part of the deck

This project has been Pete and Rigby approved!

All 7 of our fishy's swimming around with their new water plants.