From Lowes to Petco

I promised Kate a long time ago that when we had a home and once things got somewhat settled that we could bring a dog into our lives. She has always grown up with dogs while I have never had a pet in my life ( outside of fair goldfish and random minnows I caught in my friends creek). So when she asked me if now was the time for us to FINALLY get a dog, I broke down and said yes. True, we are newly and freshly in our first home and yes there are many projects on our list... but to be fair, there will always be a project on our list.. and I did make a promise.

We opted to get our first dog from "Adopt a Lab", an organization that rescues Labradors that have been left behind, many of which are at risk of being euthanized.
We went back and forth on whether we should get a puppy or a older, grown dog. When Bella came up available for adoption, we noted that she was supposedly 1 to 2 years old, not quite a puppy, and possibly, hopefully a little more grown. In the end, we wanted to be sure that we were able to leave the dog at home for an extended time while we work.
So, Bella arrived on a Saturday afternoon in this:

We were quite amazed the she along with 22 other dogs were in this little get up!

When Bella was finally brought to us, she was FULL of energy and quite confused, after the 17 hour long journey with all her dog palls.

We also quickly determined that she is not a full bred Labrador... but she is, in fact, a Mockadore... a dog that ACTS like a Labrador. We think that she is either a Lab / Beagle mix or a Beagadore, or a Lab / Pit mix or a Pitadore... at any rate, she is mostly Lab and she is all together a cutie!

Yet we have a very happy and somewhat tearful Kate.

Once in the car, she fell asleep and was sweetly ( and somewhat oddly ) quiet the whole trip home.

And here is the happy couple together, home at last.

Well, Bella has some learning to do. She is pretty good in the house. She sits when asked, she is quite lovable and playful, as a lab should be. She was crate trained with her foster parents, so we have a crate for her which she likes quite well. Outside she is VERY, VERY excited and interested to see, smell, and taste everything. She is quite strong on the leash as well.

In the end, we think that she will learn very quickly and become a very loving and fun member of the family. And who knows, she may end up helping out with painting some walls!

catching up with...

I've been told by friends and family that I've been slacking a bit on the blog works.
As they all know the best ways of guilting me into action, I've decided to place a few images up of the slight progress we have made.
I mentioned before about the small transition of switching the fold-down ironing board in the kitchen into a spice cabinet. Wife took on this task full force and did an excellent job. Previous to her rehab, TE and TC had removed the old ironing board, which was completly unuseable due to the proximity of the kitchen seating island.
After a quick trip to our home away from home, ie Lowes, Kate was armed and ready to complete the task.



Wife helping to guide EE to the home

EE Excited to see the spice cabinet

the new cabinet

original latch... we think

clean when closed... we still need to do a little sanding to certian exposed wood areas in the house... but that time will come.

from sandy feet to snow and sleet

One great thing about a trip to Mexico in the depth of February is the escape from the sometimes harsh Northeastern winter.

The bad part is the return to multiple feet of snow!

We are strongly considering a permanent move to southwesten coast of mexico; with its many palaps, avocados stuffed with shrimp, racilla and bogey-boarding. Yes, the temporary departure from the sub-feeezing temperatures to literal weather perfection was wonderful. But we did miss our new home, and have now retruened, trading flip-flops for grotex lined boots; sand pails for snow shovels; and yes it is a bit odd to have a sun-burn while speading salt over icey steps...

Below are a few shots from our lovely getaway. Be sure to check out the link to our friends who call Arroyo Seco home!

Our Casa for the trip
View of the entryway
Beach-Side view of the funky lil' shack

View from the lower porch out to the harbor

T.C. and Big M back from a morning fishing trip with the catch in hand


Ladies on whale / dolphin watch

Also a great spot to catch the nightly sunset show.. still no Green Flash



One of our favorite local "Gringo" restaurants... home of the Marta-Ritta!

All in all, a great vacation. We can't wait for a return visit!

... as the dust settles...

I apologize about the pause... we have been quite busy arranging and rearranging. Things are becoming a bit "normal" in the new place, though we often feel that we had more time to spend at home...

We had our first "guest test" over Super Bowl weekend with around 20 guests over to watch the game (and commercials, of course) which turned out to be a great evening.

We have also taken on small weekend projects like switch our old ironing board closet which was in our kitchen into a space closet ( pictures to come soon) and spray painting some lovely gold track light fixtures a more appropriate brushed steel color.

A few boxes still linger in odd rooms, but for the most part we are all moved in and loving the home!

Home Sweet Home - Spoiler Pictures

ok.. this post is a bit out of order, but to the friends and families who don't have the opportuntiy to swing by the new place in person, we wanted to post some "after" pictures of the three projects we took on during the week between closing and the move.



Master Bedroom.

• Stripped wallpaper
• Patched, primed and painted walls and ceiling
• Repaired window sill and base trim
• Removed purple carpet
• Had floors sanded and sealed
• Purchased our first bed room set ( which we LOVE ), yes we are grown up now

Before:



Empty room and new floors:



After!:


Yes, that's the same room. I apologize for the blurry quick pictures... still shaking with excitement. I will take some better pictures and post them soon.

Guest Bedroom

• Stripped wallpaper - the dreaded balls
  
• Patched, primed and painted walls

Before:
Empty room:




After:


Yes, that's the same room too! The color of the room is "Cake Stand Blue" and seems to shift hues during the day; the afternoon light during this time of the year makes the room look very blue, but all shades are very peaceful yet modern. We wanted to make a space where our guests could get away and feel like they were on a mini-retreat. We are planning on painting the trim a light, white color ( not true white )


China Cabinet:

• Patched, primed and painted walls

Before:
Yes.. that is green... an odd green at that.. not quite the best hue to go with the ultra red dining room walls

After:



The color we chose is Skeleten Key, which is a VERY light silver blue, matching the trim of the wedding china. Thanks to Momma Bear for organizing the china cabinet Perfectly!

So.. that's the mini spoiler.
Much thanks again to ALL of our families and freinds for all their help and support!
More to come!

Moving Day - Part one

It has arrived!
After a frantic week of boxing, organizing, taping, packing and plastic wrapping ( Sister wins for supplying us with plastic wrap) at our "old" apartment, and stripping, patching, priming and painting at our new home we have reached the fateful move date.
Our movers, who we had used in two previous moves, arrived at our apartment on a Saturday morning , faced with unloading a third floor apartment filled with at least 60 packed boxes, furniture and a piano ( on the first floor ).
Thanks to wifey to sequestering excellent boxes from her place of business!

Within 6 hours, the apartment was loaded in the truck, transported to the new home and unloaded!

They do an amazing job!




Not part of the moving crew - more part of the organization team Auntie and Remote swooped in and tackled an appropriately pink tagged kitchen


By the end of the day, the majority of the boxes were empty and broken down. A well deserved rest and meal in our new dining room was had by all!

Sorry about the chew shot wifey....

ReHab Part Three - No More Balls

With the Master Bedroom well underway, we ( and by "we" I mostly mean Sister) took on the task of ridding the future guest room of the youth sports wallpaper. It wasn't as high quality as the paper in the Master Bedroom; something more akin to contact paper unfortunately. The task was a hard one, but Sister, T.C. Wifey and I succeeded in the end.

The balls slowly disappear - with the help of some elbow grease, the help of the Zinsser PaperTiger and a little more elbow grease, progress was made.

We also learned that the walls in this back bedroom are NOT plaster, but drywall - leading us to believe that this portion of the house is an addition to the original home

In the end, the paper came down, and with a little patching and scrapping, the balls were no more.