Monday, January 13, 2014

2013 Year in Review

So much happens in the course of a year.  I love to throw together a list of some of the major events that occurred so I can look back and remember them.  It feels like a REALLY long time ago that I ran in the Charleston Half Marathon and it was still less than a year ago.  Of course, we did lots of other stuff in 2013, but here are some of the highlights.....

January 2013
Made some resolutions... more on how things went in a later post
Completed the Charleston Half Marathon with a personal best time!
Spent lots of time visiting my niece in the NICU

February 2013
Hosted a Supper Club Super Bowl Party!
Celebrated my niece coming home from the NICU
Celebrated Ryan's 29th Birthday
Got together with friends to start Nooks & Grannies book club
Found some lovely fabric for re-decorating our den

March 2013
Ran in my first 10K - Get To the Green St. Patty's Day Run
Discovered Thursday night jazz at Hunter Gatherer

April 2013
Spent a long weekend at the beach!
Trained & ran in the Heart & Sole 5-miler
"Ran for Boston"
Celebrated my sister & niece at a belated baby shower
Helped with my JWC's Annual Yard Sale
Played Ultimate Frisbee for the first time (my team was awesome!)

May 2013
Served as a guest speaker for a group of nurses state convention
Spent Memorial Day Weekend at the Beach!

June 2013  
Quit Monthly Menu Planning
Began serving as the President for JWC of Lake Murray
Attended Brandon & Mary Kathryn's wedding!
Went Kayaking with friends... got inspired & bought our own kayaks!
It started raining... and it rained and it rained and it rained.  Longest streak of rainy days in history.

July 2013
Celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday & my niece's Baptism
Ryan started a new job... I went on vacation to the beach
I completed my PHI Pilates Instructor Certification
Hosted Nooks & Grannies book club at my house!

August 2013
Went on a weekend trip to Greenville
Started training for Georgetown Half Marathon
Taught my first Pilates class
Talked about and decided to put our house up for-sale-by-owner....
Were completely shocked when it was under contract in a quick 2 weeks
Packed liked crazy & searched for a new home

September 2013
Quit training for Georgetown Half (too busy moving!)
CLOSED on the Sale of our first home
Shopped and shopped and shopped for a new home
Moved in with my parents
Put a contract on our new home!

October 2013
Completed lots of inspections & paperwork for our new house
CLOSED on the purchase of our new home
Helped to host a baby shower for my college roommate Elizabeth
Attended Heather & Jeff's Wedding

November 2013
Ryan started another new job... a much better fit!
Moved into our new home!
Celebrated 10 years together (we started dating in November 2003)
Made a big long list of things "to-do" for our house & got started working

December 2013
Volunteered at our JWC 2nd Annual Tour of Homes
Celebrated our 4th Anniversary
Celebrated Christmas & New Years with family & friends
Celebrated my 29th Birthday

Sunday, January 12, 2014

House Progress!

Wow.  It's been more than a month since I posted here... So much has happened in that time period, below are some things that I've gotten to "scratch" off the list!  It is definitely nice to see all the things we've completed in writing since some days it feels like progress is slow-going!  Looking forward to more exciting updates in the coming weeks & months!


Whole Downstairs

-          Blinds/Shutters .... I couldn't stand the mini blinds any longer!  They were so dusty from the floor re-finishing and I had originally planned to wait until we painted all the trim to replace them.  However, they were SO nasty that I went ahead and ordered 2-inch faux wood blinds and we installed them all over the downstairs.  Even though they don't currently match the color of the trim, they block out the sun much better and look WAY better than the minis.  (For anyone who is wondering, we still haven't replaced the blue minis in the stairwell... those are a real gem and will likely be in place until we finish all our downstairs updates.)

Dining Room
-          Window Treatments.... Went shopping with my mom and sister last weekend and found fabric for dining room draperies that coordinates with the fabric I'm going to use in the living room for cornice boards.  Since you walk from one room to the other, I wanted it all to have a good flow!  Also the fabric and the cost of making draperies was amazing at Interior Resolutions of Richburg.  If you're in SC or NC, you should totally check them out.  
-          Buffet Lamps...Christmas gift!


Breakfast Nook/Butler’s Pantry
-          Find/Purchase Table  Chairs... Found the COOLEST reclaimed wood kitchen table at Nadeau, and paired it with metal cafe chairs from amazon.  Looks AWESOME with our dark wood chandelier.  Definitely a more modern look than my usual style, but I'm loving it.  

-          Repair Plaster, Prime & Paint Walls
-          Prime/Paint Trim
-          Sand, Prime & Paint Cabinetry
-          Purchase & Replace cabinet knobs

Kitchen.... Aside from finishing the paint on the walls & trim, the first phase of our kitchen re-do is almost done!  Check out this before & after!  


-          Repair Plaster, Prime & Paint Walls
-          Prime & Paint Trim
-       Install Range Hood
-          Sand & Paint Cabinetry
-          Purchase & Replace cabinet knobs

Laundry Room
- Replace busted pipe from freezing weather.... Here's something we had to add to our list... but luckily our laundry room is on the back porch, so there was no water damage to the inside of the house!

First Floor Bathroom/Linen Closet

-          Frost glass brick window.... Hooray, I can no longer see my neighbors while I shower!

Outside

-          Leaf blower! Christmas Gift!