Spice Rack Re-do

We received a spice rack from our wedding registry. I have liked it for years, but only used a fourth of the spices in the rack. I thought it was time to change that. So, I dumped all the unused spices and washed all the jars. Then I re-filled up the empties with our many spices in our huge spice box.

I love that I now have all the spices I actually use next to the stove. Small improvement, but a great one.

Now I just need to find a better way to label them, this is sorta tacky.


I saw on another blog where she spray painted the lids with chalkboard paint and labeled with a chalk pen. I love the idea, but cannot find chalkboard spray paint in our teeny town!

Trying to make progress

My efforts around the house came to a halt. Joe graduated academy and then nothing happened. While renovating is much more fun, we are making do with what we have.

This morning I decided to clean up the "backyard". It's in quotes because there really isn't a back or front yard, just where we've fenced in for the pups.

This is the bird house/feeder Joe made for me using scraps he found in the garage. Talk about inventive! Also, sweet because he was seriously listening to me when I mentioned in passing that it'd be nice to have a feeder since we have so many pretty birds. Love.

It's not perfect. I'm not terribly fond of the paint color, but it's all I had on hand.

But I love it because he made it. For me.

Doors Opening

The very boring, light blocking OLD door. My wonderful new door.

Bedroom # 2

I finished this in June, but here's the photos!

I'm posting these because I'm about to change the spare bedroom again. We got a new bed (previously posted) so we are switching out bed sets. Once I work it out I'll take pictures!

Master Bedroom Update

We have been working hard on the house. Joe is becoming great with electrical work. To date he has removed two ceiling fans, installed one ceiling fan, changed three ceiling lights although I give him credit for four since I changed my mind and he had to remove and install one twice. (opps) While he gets all credit for electrical work, I get credit for the other stuff.

I have painted another room. I’m doing a happy dance, this is the largest room in the house and it’s almost done. I just need to clean up the corner where two different colors meet. I picked Valspar’s Polished Silver as our lighter color and Stone Mason as the darker accent wall. It definitely has a blue base to it, which is exactly what I wanted. We are now the proud owners of a king size bed, which is so so nice. The thing is so tall that I feel like a little girl crawling up into it. Here are some pictures of what we were working with before and now. This is seriously my new favorite place in the whole house. If I could get my DVR up in the room, I might not ever leave!

Little Kitchen revamp

While I was working on something else, hubby said he was bored and wanted to knock one of our mini projects off our list. So we did.

We ripped out the long counter in the kitchen and I love it. New flooring has moved up on my list though.

The hubs has requested that I start a blog devoted to just our house. I wasn't sure but have agreed. If he doesn’t think that crazy couple adventures should include our home reno then I suppose I’ll go along with it in hopes that he’ll blog too. Maybe? Yeah right. I dream.

Now I am stuck with what to name the new blog and should it still be on blogspot or wordpress or some other unknown [to me at this time] hosting website. A few friends use wordpress and I definitely like the ability they have to personalize their blogs. I’m certainly too cheap to be buying a domain .. that is unless they are cheaper than I imagine. Who knows. But really, my free blog currently does the job of recording our stories and really you may be surprised to hear how many times I ask Joe “Can we reuse that?” Really I’m just thrifty, cheap, whatever you want to call it I’m a girl trying to make it happen on ONE INCOME.

Renovating our house should give me more blog material and I am hopeful that I will blog more than I have in the past year. I am even considering bringing the laptop with me to work to blog on my lunch break since our internet is less than friendly at home. I cannot load ANY pictures at home, I’ve tried many times. Still thinking that one through.

Any suggestions from the few people still out there? We have gone from Our Adventures Overseas to Crazy Couple Adventures. Would the next logical blog be Crazy Couple House? Or just Crazy House? Doesn’t that sound a bit too much like an insane asylum? Should I go in a different direction entirely? Ugly House? Cute little old run down house? Gosh that’s boring. I’m just not sure. I know from reading younghouselove.com that we can’t go with anything resembling “This Old House” which um, hello is so appropriate for our little place.

I follow quite a few blogs through my Google reader; perhaps I need to go to each actual website to view the different options out there and to get some ideas. Ugh, but that sounds time consuming. Especially with uber-slow internet.

After a quick Google search, these are the top 31 (oh my gosh, there are 31!)

1. WordPress (http://wordpress.com) - this one is number one for one main reason, it does not have ads on your blog
2. Blogger/BlogSpot (http://blogger.com) – this is one of the most commonly used blogs, it is user friendly.
3. LiveJournal (http://livejournal.com) - this is a great tool for writers.
4. Vox (http://vox.com) - a personal blogging service.
5. BlogSome (blogsome.com) - fastest growing blog host.
6. Xanga (www.xanga.com) – community centric.
7. Facebook (www.myspace.com) - community centric, many options
8. Myspace (www.myspace.com) - community centric, many options
9. Insane Journal (InsaneJournal.com) –same software as LiveJournal
10. Journal Fen (JournalFen.net) – same platform as LiveJournal
11. BlogABond (Blogabond.com) – A site dedicated to travel blogs with map integration and more.
12. Blog Cheese (BlogCheese.com) – A video blogging website. Nothing to do with cheese.
13. Busy Thumbs (BusyThumbs.com)- A blog site specifically for your text messages and camera phone images.
14. FreeVlog (Freevlog) – Designed for video blogging and completely free.
15. Trippert (Trippert.com) – Create and share blogs of your travels.
16. Word Count Journal (http://www.wordcountjournal.com) – A new blogging format that is also part challenge.
17. Blogetery (Blogetery.com) – Offers multiple templates, anti-spam, free sub-domain and more.
18. EduBlogs (Edublogs.com) – WordPress powered blogging for educators and students alike.
19. Blog (Blog.com) – Offers free blog hosting with unlimited bandwidth for their free package, more benefits for paid members.
20. Blogr (Blogr.com) – Allows you to blog, host photos & videos, and podcasts.
21. Blogster (Blogster.com) – Offers free image hosting in addition to free blogs.
22. Bravenet (Bravenet.com) – Free blog hosting with RSS feeds and more.
23. ClearBlogs (ClearBlogs.com) – Free blog hosting and offers templates, friends only posts, IP-Banning and more.
24. Multiply (Multiply.com) – Mixes blogging and social networking, with photo galleries and more.
25. Netcipia (Netcipia.com) – Free blog and wiki for private or public display with 2GB of storage.
26. Open Diary (Open Diary.com) – Offers unlimited storage and posts.
27. ShoutPost (ShoutPost.com) – A platform for creating blogs with a focus on generating traffic.
28. Soul Cast (SoulCast.com) – Anonymous blogging.
29. Tumblr (Tumblr.com) – A blog platform with a focus on allowing media-rich posts.
30. Weebly (Weebly.com) – Allows you to create a site and blog, free hosting and change designs on the fly.
31. ZoomShare (Zoomshare.com) – Free blog hosting with 250MB of free storage

I can’t say knowing the top 31 helps me any, I might actually be more confused.

My Birthday = Bathroom Time

As we get older, we change. It’s inevitable.

Birthdays used to be so exciting, I couldn’t wait for them and the anticipation was almost too much. Now when I have a birthday coming, I don’t dread it but I’m not nearly as thrilled as I was when I was a kid.

My birthday was in September.

As my friends and co-workers were asking me what exciting birthday events happened over the weekend I replied completely serious and quite excitedly “we tiled our bathroom”. My god how my priorities have changed. As a kid I focused on toys, games and play time; as a teenager it was still games but the athletic type, boys, clothes, makeup and hair and now I’m getting all excited about tiling my master bathroom. Hmm.

One co-worker actually stated, well you sure are getting older when that’s what excites you. I suppose that’s true. Eight years ago I would have scoffed at the fun of tiling a bathroom, but now I can’t wait to show you my brag pictures!

I will soon have a fully functioning master bathroom again, meaning I will NOT have to go down some fairly steep stairs to go to the restroom in the middle of the night. Which by the way wakes the dogs up, then they want to go to the restroom as well. It has become a whole event making those trips to the restroom terrible. What should be a quick, don’t wake up all the way ‘thing’ turns into an actual event of dodging stepping on dogs when opening bedroom door, attempting to not fall down steep stairs, remove two baby gates, open blinds, open slider door, rush dogs outside, then run back to the restroom and then do it all in reverse and plop in bed and try to fall back to sleep.





It’s a really good thing I adore my pets so much, because it hasn’t been very restful in this crazy couple’s house.

So yes, I am very excited that we will have two fully working bathrooms again. And hey the hubs got me flowers for our anniversary and my birthday so it wasn’t all about tiling.

Spoiled Paint

Not to mean that I spoil my paint, although I did try to treat it fairly. Making sure it wasn’t too hot or cold. Much to my shock, the five gallon bucket of paint that I had been using for the past month or so, went bad. Can paint truly spoil? Oh let me tell you, it sure can. I made the mistake of painting a wall, okay it was actually three walls in my laundry room with this spoiled paint (thanks a lot face mask for masking the icky smell). Let me just say, it looked beautiful. I edged like a pro; the color was looking sharp against the crisp white trim. It was just SO stinky. My best comparison would be spoiled milk.

From the little I could find online, hello Google, there were mold spores in my paint. Wha?? That meant I just willingly put mold on my wall. Oh. No. Research telling me the only way to truly fix the problem, other than ripping out the walls, was to primer the walls with oil-based primer. Have you ever been around oil based paints? It’s not a pleasant experience, they are nearly toxic. I got another mask, hoping this one would be safer for my lungs and got to painting. My laundry room is a lovely shade of white and it doesn’t smell! Now I need to get some paint mixed up to paint the remainder of my walls. I have the laundry room and stairwell left in the tan color, then on to the master bedroom. The master will not be tan. I haven’t decided, but I’m thinking the same green I did in the spare bedroom. I am hoping to work on the spare bedroom soon. Turn it into an office/bedroom since it’s just me and the hubs and we only have two bedrooms, we need this room to do double duty!

5

This day five years ago Joe and I decided to spend the rest of our lives together. It's unbelievable to me that it's been five years. What a crazy five it's been. I couldn't imagine having spent it with anyone else. Love you butthead.

Pictures and proof to come

I promise!

After an extremely embarrassing moment of locking my keys in the car, I was graced with a visitor. One who had seen the house when we were moving in, aka (f)ugly. She gave me the encouragement I needed, pointing out the drastic differences that I have made. I guess I'd forgotten all the work I had already done to the house.

I'm on a different (Joe's) computer and all my pictures are on mine, but I am motivated to prove to you the work I've done. And now that our Internet has improved a tad I may be able to load said pictures without sitting in the McDonald's parking lot!

One to go

Well, Joe started the Police Academy mid August. We knew it would be difficult with him working nights and going to school during the day. We didn't count on him being so exhausted that he could barely function. The man that is usually able to survive on a few hours of sleep just couldn't manage. Joe is a full time student now and we are down to one income. Oh boy.

Here's hoping the next few months go well!!

Spoiled

I have some seriously spoiled paint. Not to mean that I spoil my paint, although I did try to treat it fairly. Making sure it wasn’t too hot or cold. The five gallon bucket of paint that I had been using for the past month or so, went bad.

Can paint truly spoil? Oh let me tell you, it sure can. I made the mistake
of painting a wall, okay it was actually three walls in my laundry room with
this spoiled paint (thanks a lot face mask for protecting my nose and lungs from the icky smell). Let me just say, it looked beautiful. I edged like a pro; the color was looking sharp against the crisp white trim. It was just SO stinky. My best comparison would be some seriously nasty spoiled milk.

From the little I could find online, hello Google, there were mold spores in my paint. Wha?? That meant I just put mold on my wall. Oh. No. Research telling me the only way to truly fix the problem, was to primer the walls with oil-based primer. Have you ever been around oil based paints? It’s not a pleasant experience, they are nearly toxic. I got another mask, hoping this one would be safer for my lungs and got to painting. My laundry room is a lovely shade of white and it doesn’t smell! Now I need to get some paint mixed up to paint the remainder of my walls. I have the laundry room and stairwell still left to do in our tan color, then on to the master bedroom. The master will not be tan. I haven’t decided, but I’m thinking the same green I did in the spare bedroom. I am hoping to work on the spare bedroom soon. Turn it into an office/bedroom since it’s just me and the hubs and we only have two bedrooms, we need this
room to do double duty!

Small changes

We have been doing work on the house. While that fact seems obvious to us, it might not be to everyone else. Small changes still make us happy. I read on

http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/05/easy-upgrade-super-toilet/

about an easy toilet upgrade. I had been hating on our toilets since we moved in, even after changing out the seats (come on, eww) and scrubbing them like crazy I was still thinking of purchasing replacements. They are not efficient. Who wants to keep anything that is wasting water? Not I.

I miss many many things about living in Italy, but I think the one that surprised me the most was that I miss the constant desire to do good for the earth. I was disappointed when we moved to SouthEast Texas to find that recylcing isn't a priority. Even worse it's really inconvenient. Our toilets in Italy were mounted to the wall and used gravity to help flush. No I didn't mount our toilet to the wall. What I did incorporate is much more simple. A two button flusher. One uses very little water while the other uses the tank. I love it. We now have it in both bathrooms and I am much more at ease knowing we are wasting a little less.

**I do apologize to anyone who prefers to not call their toilet a toilet. Does commode make you happier?

May need to quit

I cannot believe it's been over a month since my last blog post. We had some guests come at the end of June and I haven't felt compelled to search for a new Internet spot at the house. You see the Internet situation is just getting worse!

We have made a little more progress on the house. Joe has ripped apart the upstairs bathroom while I am tackling the cabinets of the downstairs bathroom. I've only gotten one coat of paint on them so far but pictures will come .. eventually. I would like to switch out the lighting in there first, because well it's just ugly.

Bedroom #2

Here is a little before and after fun.

This is the bedroom exactly as we saw it when we first viewed the house.

I hated the blue walls and wallpaper instantly.

Here are my changes

Some new curtains, new furniture arrangement and some new color.

I think I like it!

Hood Family Farm

Joe has taken it upon himself to add to our 'family'. Here are the new additions. One of the anniversaries is wood and another metal, I might be making Joe a sign stating "Hood Farm". Hopefully the additions will stop. I'm begging them to stop lol

Our Guinea's

Let's catch up a little

Would you believe me if I said I've been so busy with trying to work on the house that I haven't had time to blog, let alone take pictures? Well it's true. Coupled with our terrible Internet connection, I'm having a hard time of this.

So let me fill you in on what I've been up to. One night I saw this:

VERY curious cats

Do you see it in the trash pile?

The biggest mouse I've ever seen!
I mean really, aren't mice supposed to be little?

Here is everyone enjoying some sun outside while I try to clear the yard.

Rowdy, otherwise known as Kitty

D.O.G

Honey

Cali

Gella was being fussy and didn't want to be outside *(it was really hot and I don't blame her) so no picture of her this time.

My plan is to take some pictures soon of the rooms I have completed for a little before and after action.

Time for a tour

We have been living here for over a month and I think it's time for a tour, even if it's still messy.

Master bedroom

Spare bedroom

Kitchen

Living room (not our couch)
Driveway
The house (Wating for the realtor & Joe peeking inside)