Dining & Living Rooms

I never could find my computer cord, so I broke down and bought one today. So, now we have some before and after shots. Right now I only have before and after of the living room and dining room. Jordan is taking a nap down in the man cave, so once he wakes up I will take an after of that room. Then, once we get the house arranged and clean, i will provide furnished pictures of the rest, plus the grand revealing of the kitchen which is now 95% done. We have one more coat to go on the cabinet doors until we can reinstall. Those before and after pics are the most dramatic, so I cant wait to show those. Enjoy!

View of dining room from front hall, BEFORE

After painting

Furnished

View of right side of living room before. (notice the coors light making an appearance, much was consumed while painting, you can tell when you see the trim...)

Comparision shot during the painting. (more coors light buddies join us)

Furnished, but not quite set up all the way (coors have moved from cooler in this room to frig)

View from the front door looking onto the doors to the back porch. Current project: organizing the bookshelves

Another view from front door. Ellie & Spence make an appearance.

More to follow!

A pointless post

Because I still havent located my picture uploader thing, and because Cristin told me posts are just more enjoyable with pictures. I really cant argue with that. So once I do get my pictures uploaded I need to post some Bama game pics, house pics, and my 30hot ladies night pics with Chris Hastings last night. (although it was the worst meal Ive ever had at Hot n Hot. Not Chris' fault, I ordered the wrong things). My goal this weekend is to get those uploaded. However, this weekend if pretty full with all the unpacking left to do, my father-in-law's birthday, the Vulcan10k race I am running on saturday and cheering for BAMA! If anyone is gonna be in Bham during the game, let me know. Jordan is going to t-town with his boyfriends, so i'll be looking for people to play. Anyone is welcome to my house. It is a wreck, but open for friends!

Sunrise Drive

(not our neighborhood, but the only google pic i could find with sunrise...)

After a LONG day of moving, we are finally in our house. Not quite settled, but everything is here. Kimberly and I are still in the middle of our kitchen cabinet transformation, so my kitchen is full of boxes, paint, brushes, and plastic. Hopfully after unpacking this weekend i will find my cable to upload pics. Jordan and I are adapting great (despite way to many trips to wal-mart already), but our cats are having a more difficult time. Spence doesnt want to venture our from under our bed, and Ellie ventures but already wants to tackle the outdoors. Dealing with an old house has its interesting quirks like our dryer cable is "too new" for the house, so we had to buy a "pigtail" plug and rewire the newer dryer to work with an older outlet. After an hour of us fixing this, we now have a burning smell coming from the dryer...fantastic.

We also had great intentions of hanging our tv above the brick mantle, and went so far as to have our cable wired assuming that would work. Another no go. So, after much deliberation, furniture rearranging, and another call into charter, that might get fixed next week. Lastly, the previous owners of this house must have added the full bath downstairs in the finished basement after they put their furniture in because the walls are situated so that only one half of our sectional will fit through the entrance (with the doors off). So, we have half of a great sectional sitting in our basement and a really messed up wall as a result of forcing the other half into the room. Next idea: try to open the room's painted shut windows that, in 23 years, have never been opened, OR its back to craig's list for a sofa.

Speaking of, for all you sceptics and craig's list haters out there, the fridge looks fantastic and is running just fine. We went to mazers this morning and got a great deal on a stainless steel microwave to match. I really cant wait to post before and after pics of this kitchen. It is unreal! Ok, off to find my cable to upload pics. Happy Halloween!

Closed.

Finally, we did it. We bought a house! I wish I had more pictures to post of our humble abode, but i still havent found my connector thing. After the closing, at which we became experts on our signatures, we had a celebratory lunch at greystone before hitting the farmland to head down to Columbiana (shelby county seat) to file our homestead. We then had to head over to the home depot because Jordan's one stipulation with the house was that his "man cave" got a new ceiling fan. Next stop, Benjamin Moore, where the awesome Leslie helped us finalize our colors. 8 gallons of paint later, we finally headed to our new home to start transforming it with color. My sweet sister Kimberly and her husband Jeff came over to help and at around 11:30pm we had two empty pizza boxes, a celing fan installed and the first coat of paint on our living room walls. With only one room painted, it already looks drastically better. I cant wait for the finished product. Before and after pictures have been taken and will be posted once I locate that thing. Back to the house all day today.

Sizing up the Situation

As promised, the results of today's weigh in...(drum roll please)...... New weight: a GAIN of 2.5 lbs. WTF?!

I gave myself 10 good seconds to sulk, then I needed answers. Luckily one of the trainers at greystone is like Jillian from The Biggest Loser, and gave me some great insight. First, she reminds me (I should know this considering I was once an athlete) increased running builds muscle mass. I went from maybe 3-5 miles a week to 15-20. I think my leg muscles might want to break down and build back up, for their sake. Second  three weeks was a bit of an unrealistic goal to measure initial weigh loss, especially if I am increasing mileage. Third, increased burning of calories obviously increases the need to intake calories. It takes the body several week to adjust to the rapid fire burning of calories in this way. However, even though I might burn 600 cals during a run, doesnt mean i deserve milo's for dinner (that might have happened this weekend...)

Then came the best part. To help me understand this phenomenon even better, she used a historical reference (that always works with me). She said, bodies arnt aware of the generation or the decade. For all my body knows its 1848, and the increased exercise means i'm crossing the country by foot and wagon, hence the need to store fat for the upcoming winter. (light bulb going off) So, for the first few weeks after increased calorie loss, your body will adjust the only way it knows, by storing fat somewhere. It will continue to do this if i continue to hunt deer and antelope, and then devour them....I mean, if I continue to eat buffet style meals after running. So, the good eating habits must continue during the half marathon training.

For those that miss playing the Oregon Trail as much as I do, click here. your welcome.

Hannah Paige

I cant find the chord that allows me to upload pictures from my camera to my computer. I would imagine that its packed in a box somewhere since my house is covered in them. Since I wasn the only one packing, I'm not sure exactly what is where. I have some great pics from yesterday's homecoming festivities down in t-town for the Bama vs South Caroline game. We werent planning on going, but got an amazing invite at the 11th hour to sit in a skybox, so we changed our minds. Hopefully it wont take me a few weeks to post pictures. I might have to break into some boxes.

In other news, I have a new "fellow blogster" on my list. Hannah Paige Children's Wear, check it out on the right ------>. I understand that its a bit odd to follow this particular blog, since i have no children. However, a good friend of mine ownes the shop, and i think its really neat. Plus, i'll have kids one day, might as well know where to find a great deal! She's a consignment children's wear shop, but she also has new and nearly new outfits. Check it out, her store is in Irondale in between Garden Ridge and Southeastern Salvage.

In other news, tomorrow is the big weigh in day. 3 weeks of eating healthier and running. Jordan seems to think i have lost weight, and i would be shocked if i havnt. Mostly because im running alot. Today I did a long run of 7 miles, I cant believe it even made it. Shout out to Barnes, my running partner this week who has gotten me through these runs.

enough blogging, storm chasers premiers tonight!

T-minus one week

Until we are homeowners. Closing is next friday at 11am and everything so far is in good order. For some reason I am more nervous than excited. I will feel much better in one week when the keys are in my hand, and I can sit in my living room and say, its done. Really closing is the easy part, the hard part will be Jordan and I alone in a house trying to paint. We arn't fixer upers. I dont watch HGTV when i get bored. We can pretend, but I really should be scared about the two of us attempting to put color on walls. Speaking of color, here are some I am considering. I give you the color name because some really look nothing like the online sample:

coastal path, kitchen with black cabinetry, and eventually hallways upstairs and down

edgewood rocks, living room This and the coastal path look really different in person

fairview taupe for Jordan's man cave

newburyport blue, dining room

baja dunes, master bath. The master bedroom's color might be rustic taupe which is the this same color family, but I havent decided on that one enough to include a sample.

Its all pretty earthy, but I like the soothing nature of it all. Once we close we will go in and test these colors. Luckily, if they dont work, Benjamin moore is right around the corner...