New dining table

My husband is truly a gifted guy. When I told him I wanted a table where we could have friends and family over without having to piece multiple folding tables together to all sit comfortably. And as I stood in our very large dining room I said, "we need a table to fit this space!"

Well now we have one.

Fred started bringing home some pine lumber each day after work one week. Then he spent a very long time thinking, and drawing and measuring. And then boom! I think he put this table together is about six hours. It took longer to stain it then to build it. Once he had the design in his head it all just came together.



Fred plans to build matching benches for the other side of the table, originally we thought we wanted chairs along with the benches. But, we love the benches so we're going with those instead.

Kitchen Re-model

Part of what we love about our new home is the open floor-plan, primarily the way the living room, kitchen and family (dining) room all flow together.

Below is the kitchen when we bought the house. We loved the oak cabinets and didn't want to change them. The rest of the kitchen was pretty much a blank slate so we could have done anything to it. The cabinets and counter (although filthy) were in good shape, so although one day we'd like to replace the counter top- its fine for now.


This is the kitchen half-way though the home remodeling and, as you can tell, it was the dumping grounds for all of our materials- and when you have two to six men working in your house all at the same time....well...this is what happens lol!

This is the kitchen today. Instead of tiling the backsplash in the kitchen we opted for aluminum pressed panels. These are very easy to work with but can be expensive for a large area. But since we had a small area it worked fine and to save on cost we went with a stock color- Copper. We also painted the remaining walls the same as the hallway and door wall area. Tawny Birch from Behr in eggshell.

Part of our loan agreement when we bought the home included the purchasing of all new appliances. So were acquired Maytag appliances in black. The fridge has french-doors and a freezer on the bottom, along with the ice/water dispenser. The microwave is your typical microwave...nothing fancy (although one day I would love to get a convection microwave). The previous owners had an electric range, but we really prefer gas, so hubby ran a gas line for the new stove. And we bought the "Quiet Series 300" dishwasher, and aside from the new washer and dryer, it is my favorite new appliance. We also bought an oak island from Home Depot with a butcher-block top and stained it to match the cabinets.

Details...below are closer photos of the backsplash we installed, as well as the island when we bought it and the new sink and faucet we installed. I love the sink, extra deep black granite composite- much quieter then the old aluminum sink that was originally there. And when your living room is only steps away a deep sink and quiet dishwasher really make a difference.

Living Room Complete!

I keep forgetting to post about our home updates! We have completed most of the rooms in the house, with the exception of some decor and finishing touchings.

Here is the living room when we bought the house. The previous owners had used door and window casing as moulding- not really sure why. And the walls were disgusting- yellow and baby blue sponge paint- ick! We also hated the track lighting in the living room, but the blind were nice so we kept those and washed (the crap out of) them.

The living room after being painted and cleaned. We use Behr paint in eggshell for the walls. I wanted to go for a warm, open, bright look. So, we went with 'Crips Autumn Leaf" for our contrast wall and 'Warm Gold' for the other two walls. We removed the door casing from the ceiling and placed it around the doors and windows in the rest of the house. We also removed and re-stained all of the mouldings to a darker color- Dark Walnut from MinWax.

To decorate the living room we purchased, with the help of my mother a coffee colored sectional from Gardner White. We scored this rug at Big Lots for $50 - love that! We transported the ceiling fan, lamp and wall decor on the yellow wall from our master bedroom in the condo and acquired the 42' flatscreen when we bought a new bed. Along with the fireplace (also bought by my mother) and bookshelves from Wal Mart ($17) - the room is complete.

We will add crown moulding eventually and would like to get a matching chair to complete the room.

Day 4 & 5 - Pure Cardio & Plyometric Circuit

Day 4- Ok, so- I'm actually beginning to notice an improvement already!!! I made it almost all the way through the warm- up without stopping! (and let me assure you the warm-up is brutal). Fred- however, stopped completely after the warm up and I believe his words were- "F*ck this- I'm done!" lol. Well I pushed all the way through (the hardest of the week according to the demon instructor).

Day 5- To finish out the week, we went back to the Plyometric circuit from day one. Plyo- basically means jump training. I thought I'd be all smart and eat a big breakfast to fuel up for the workout...bad idea. I made it through... but not without, well...I believe you can guess...Fred finished out the week strong...I informed him we'll also be going for a walk later : )

Week one is complete- I am incredibly exhausted and sore- but so proud of myself. I really do love working out (crazy I know)- I just hope I can keep it up. Its difficult to workout and look around at all the laundry that needs to be done and kitchen that needs to be cleaned...not to mention all the renovations we are still doing on the house. But, when it comes right down to it- that all can wait. No one will die if the laundry doesn't get folded or some dishes pile up in the sink.

Putting myself first comes with its share of guilt especially when it comes to my Dad. But, guilt is useless and I deserve as much as he (or anyone else) does. I refuse to sacrifice my health or my happiness anymore. I need to be clear about my choices in life and my boundaries. Who I spend time with, what I expose myself to and how much I do for others- is a choice. I refuse to let myself be a victim to guilt anymore. I will do the very best I can, while taking care of myself first...and if what I'm doing is not good enough for someone else...well now I guess that's their problem.

The only person I need to answer to, is myself.

Tomorrow- rest day : )

Insanity- Day 2 & 3- Power and Recovery

Day Two- Power (resistence) = some more craziness!!! I started this day off with a 1.2 mile walk at 6am and did my Insanity workout after I got home from work. For today's torture not only are you jumping around until you want to puke but now the guy is telling you to squat as far down as you can...and then catapult yourself into the air as high as you can...seriously!?!?
Well, we were VERY sore during this workout from day one- but we did the best we could. I actually collapsed onto the floor and Fred about tripped over me. But...we finished!!!

Day Three- Cardio Recovery. Well when I woke up this morning and went to step towards the door I almost fell flat on my face...my calves would not budge!!! So, for the remainder of the day every single time I went to walk- I had to stretch my calves first LOL!
Today was the "recovery" day...ahem...I don't think this guy knows what recovery means. Basically, it was 33 minutes of yoga, balance moves and about 70 squats and lunges...with pulses of 16 every 16...yeah, ouch! I also got up early this morning and did Ab Ripper X (P90X). I'm finding that while Insanity is an amazing cardio and full body workout- I don't think it hits the abs all that well- so I thought I'd ad some more in.

Tomorrow- Pure Cardio....yay : (

Insanity- Day 1- Plyo Circuit

Ok- during this workout I wanted to throw up twice...almost passed out once and I am pretty sure I won't be able to walk tomorrow. But, I am proud of myself. And Fred did awesome!

Hardest part for me- my left calf (the leg with the clot) locked up after the warm-up...yup after the warm-up (which is, in and of itself, a workout)- so it was hard for me to do the jumping moves- I had to take most moves down to a lower intensity. But I kicked ass in the abs and could keep up pretty well on the drills.

Hardest part for Fred- the suicide drills (yup, you read that right). Basically jumping down and back into a push-up position, doing 4 speed push-ups, 8 mountain climbers and then jumping back up...just to do it all over again as fast as you can without a break...but he kicked ass in endurance and needed fewer rests than I did.

Day two- resistance circuit...and maybe some ibuprofen.

T minus 24 hours...

Who knew? Who really would ever think that I would have so much in common with Jillian Michaels? Really- its kinda freaky. Only child, parents divorced at age 12- sought solice in food until her 5'2" frame ballooned to 175 pounds. Also, sought solice in older men and fake IDs (sorry mom). Eventually, Jillian found her way to martial arts and the pounds started to fall...her physical body is a manifestation of her emotional well-being. Ok, so- did she read my diary or something?

Not only is she loud-mouthed and stubborn- she does it hard, really hard, all the way...or its not good enough...and she expects the same stead-fast determination from everyone else. I'm sorry Fred, I really am...

So- tomorrow the Insanity begins. Not Jillian Michaels insanity- dare I say, it seems way worse. A commitment to the hardest workout ever put on DVD and the beginning of the hardest, most effective diet.
First, of all let me say- just watching the DVD made me want to throw up. No exaggeration- I was nauseated and had to stop the DVD. I looked over at Fred and his exact words were, "I think we've got ourselves in over our heads here."

Well- we're going for it- 60 days- hopefully my next post won't be from a hospital bed : )