A little of this and a little of that!

The day started off early with a little tiling. Although I really think the subway tile is going to look great, it's a much longer and tedious process than I thought!

We then headed out to the Applewood Golf Course in Golden for Cody Shafer's Six Days fundraiser. Thank goodness we had Clint and Ray on our team because I haven't played golf in years and Bryce, well, he's just a beginner! He did hit some random stellar shots though :)

After playing 18 holes of golf, we were exhausted and the plans for tiling the rest of the shower went right out the door. However, Ryan had finished all the drywall texturing so we figured just priming the walls would suffice for the night so we could put the real paint on later. Little did we remember, the primer we have in the garage smells worse than anything in the entire world. We stunk up the entire house so badly that our poor roommates were not very happy with us. Oops. At least it's done and hopefully the smell will clear out soon.

Remodel Updates

Yes, the downstairs does look like a tornado came through, but it's only temporary so it's okay!

We have all been hard at work the last couple days. I have been painting like a mad woman...notice the orange kitchenette, purple wall leading to the bathroom and the mint wall in between (see below)...Bryce has been cutting cement board and learning a lot about how hard it is to work with, and Hamity has been drywalling away.

We're finally making progress and the next steps will be much more visible. Tomorrow we will be tiling the shower walls, painting and hopefully getting a head start on the laying the slate on the floor.

While the boys are finishing their work, I have been busy cleaning, tidying up and vacuuming so that we can finally begin to walk around again. From what you can see, whatcha think of the new colors?

The Madness Begins...again

Yep, that's right...we're at it again with house remodels. This time it's the basement bathroom! Our primary concern was that the tub was set on a 6 inch platform to make routing the drain easier. Unfortunately this meant you had to duck down to take a shower. Although this project was initiated solely by me, Bryce and Ryan offered (kind of not by choice) to help out :)

Day 1 began with a very late demo of everything in the bathroom. We were definitely successful with ripping out the tile and drywall, however, after disconnecting the water from the vanity and tub, we had a few water issues. Let's just say we didn't have water in the house from 7pm Wednesday night until 5pm on Thursday!!! It's okay Bryce, that's what plumbers are for :)

We finally got the tub out, but it was well after midnight and a good 3hr ordeal.

Our good friend Bob Bieterman, who also plumbed the kitchenette, came over and fixed all the disaster of a plumbing that was there before.

Bob and his team also jack hammered out a drain in the concrete then set and installed the new tub. It's going to be soooo much nicer! Even though no one except me wanted to dive into this project, it's actually a really good thing we did...we're finding an abundance of poor construction that could have led to much bigger problems down the road!

First attempt...

So as most of you know, cooking is not my forte, nor do I really enjoy it. However, with lots of extra time on my hands these days, I'm giving it a whirl. Per the nutritionist, it would be really beneficial to start cooking in a cast iron pan as your food truly can absorb a lot of the iron directly from the pan...never knew that. I have also started stocking the fridge with tons of fresh veggies and meats that I'm hoping will be the staple in my diet. Last night's dinner was really simple. Cut up some chicken, broccoli, carrots, green peppers and garlic and saute it all in the pan. Add a bit of salt and pepper and some ginger and voila. Serve with some brown rice, soy sauce and spinach. Definitely took a good 45min to prepare, but at least it's better than frozen pizza, right?!?!

One year older!

Yesterday was a great 26th Birthday! I spent the morning drinking coffee with Bryce and Tingle, then on a total whim, decided to clean out my closet. After some fun shopping on Saturday, I needed to make room for my new clothes and get rid of the old. I know it sounds silly, but it was a big feeling of accomplishment and that's a sensation I haven't had in a while!

After all the organizing, we packed up a lunch and jumped on the dirt bikes to ride up in the mountains since it was 100* in Boulder. No, we didn't go tear it up as it was hard enough for me to ride on straight dirt roads...

We found a nice trail off Switzerland to stop, relax and have lunch. I'm pretty sure there isn't a much better way to spend your birthday than with your favorite person, a gorgeous mountain view and a homemade lunch :)

Pretty nice, huh?

Later that evening, we had a bunch of people come over for a chill BBQ. It's so fun to finally be able to have people over to our 95% finished place! As always, there were lots of good laughs and great stories to share. James got a little carried away with my sunglass collection :)

A first...

Today I visited my first nutritionist:

Julie Kora, M.S., R.D.

It was a great initial meeting and I truly believe that I will be able to implement lots of new and healthy eating habits over the next few months. Stay tuned for some good tips and healthy cooking ideas.

A start...

Although my attempt at the 10am Gentle Yoga class yesterday was nothing more than a total disaster, at least I tried. To me, there really isn't anything that is more devastating than sitting in a room with people at minimum 50yrs older than you and watching them perform the most basic yoga stretches while you cannot. My body is so stiff and sore from hardly moving the last 6 weeks and I still cannot shift my equilibrium without getting crazy head rushes. Needless to say, I left early and wasn't very happy about it. I'm going to keep trying every Tuesday and Thursday until I can get through it. And no, I will NOT push it. If I can't do it, I can't do it. However, I won't if I can unless I keep trying.

For Real?!?

Just when I start thinking that our house is really coming together and feels so great, someone has to scream that they just saw a freakin' mouse run across my office. I didn't believe it but Patrick set traps all over the house with peanut butter on them and caught one the other day. GROSS. They're still set up but I hope to God there was just the one...wishful thinking, I know!

My dad's new toy

No, it's not orange...but it's not another scooter either! Bryce and I are both super excited that my dad just purchased his first motorcycle. I'm sure there will be many stories to follow :)

Project 1 Complete

This is how it all began...cut out some carpet, rip out the trim, clean up, lay some thinset and tile, then grout away.

Then we added some cabinets, a mini fridge, a counter and a few accessories.

Then, it was time for the stuff we can't do ourselves...We hired our wonderful friend Ryan Hamity to do all the electrical and under the cabinet lighting and Bob Bieterman to do all the plumbing/drain work as well as install a disposal under the sink.

And tada...after installing a sink, adding some cabinet hardware and purchasing a hotplate and microwave, we are 99% done with a sweet little kitchenette for our renters in the basement! A fresh coat of paint and an over the sink dish rack is all that's left. Stay tuned for more remodels! I've become an HGTV addict and have more ideas than you could ever imagine :)

Needles and Supplements

Unfortunately things have not gotten any better and the Epstein Barr Virus has gotten the best of me :( After a brief doc appt on Monday, I got the sad news that I'm probably going to be feeling like this for another 3-4 months and not doing any training in the meantime. Do I want to breakdown, cry my eyes out and punch a hole in the wall? Yes. Do I feel as though the past 2 years have been more unfair than anything in the entire world? Yes. Is there anything I can do about it? No. I didn't bring this on myself and I can't let it ruin my life so I'm just gonna have to accept it and try everything I can to make it okay.

I am one of those people who doesn't believe in ancient philosophies, Chinese medicine, etc. However, my awesome neighbor practices that stuff right out of her house and offered to work on me for a great deal. Couldn't hurt, right? I wasn't so in to the whole yin thing but the acupuncture was kinda cool. However, it's a bit weird laying on a table for 30min with needles sticking out of you everywhere...I kinda felt like Pinhead from Hellrazor :)

Not as if the session wasn't enough, I came home with a freakin' pharmacy of herbal supplements to take. Seriously, 6 pills of who knows what/a slug of the most potent echinachea on the planet which tastes like absolute crap/a glass of water with apple cider vinegar and honey = yuck - all of those things 3 times a day?!?! This stuff better work!!!

Oh My God, we have water in the fridge!

After finding out the 'solenoid valve' in the back of the fridge was cracked, it was clear that Bryce wasn't crazy when he spent 2 full days behind the fridge this winter failing to hook the thing up without it leaking.

After a $75 valve purchase, a cold chai tea and a few minutes behind the fridge, Bryce finally got the water hooked up and leak free. Everyone in the house is so grateful for the cold water and plethora of ice that dispenses from the refrigerator door. Thanks hunny :)

Food cures everything, right?

Especially when it's Mark Shenk's homemade Matzoh Ball Soup and Laura Tingle's Peanut Butter Cookies with a Reese's Cup in the middle....mmmmmmmm...just what I need to compliment my lovely life on the couch!

My brother is a rockstar and Tony is a retard

Hip hip hooray for Jerry!!! That's right, he completed his first multisport event this past Sunday at the Snow Valley XTERRA in Running Springs, California. Although I wasn't there to watch him, I was told he looked absolutely fantastic, not to mention, smokin' fast :) He was 4th in his age group and within the top half of the finishers. Not too shabby for a first timer, huh? I couldn't be more proud and so excited to have gotten him hooked on the best sport on this planet!

Then we go to Tony. He came over to show Bryce and I his new 4x4 FJ Cruiser last night and thought he was all cool by parking on my curb and lawn. After chatting inside for a few minutes, he went back out to his car and discovered parking like that wasn't so cool as he got a parking violation and a boot on his car. $70 later he was free to go but now hates our HOA just as much as we do. Those buttheads really are asking for a huge pile of shit in their mailboxes...watch out!