Don't Give Up On Me!

Oh dear....I didn't realize that my last post was in October! Shame on me! I have been VERY busy though and this slow internet is a pain! So...here's a quick catch up and the pictures will follow more than likely after Christmas! :)
1. We finished building our garage (finished meaning usable so as to have snow and frost free vehicles). It is shingled and we froze our butts off installing the doors. Did you know that garage doors don't come pre-assembled...nope...they come with poor directions and millions of hinges and screws and such! We had TWO to assemble.
2. New windows and doors are in and are even prettier than I imagined...Slight disappointment with the doors as I wasn't told that they no longer make steel insulated and was sent fiberglass wrapped wood AND they are primed almond coloured...so now I HAVE to paint them. Sigh...but I am impressed with my glass choice and the beautiful handle sets that I picked out for them.
3. I am sleeping in my bedroom! That's right folks...for the past four months our bedroom was in the basement. We got busy and layed some hardwood! The hallway, master bedroom, and Claudia's room are done!
4. Now to tear apart the kitchen....my new kitchen is still in boxes sitting in my living room! How sad!
5. I am 98% ready for Christmas next week! All gifts are bought....Almost all gifts are wrapped...I have a couple of awkward ones to wrap yet and my gift to Nicole has yet to be completed (Had some technical difficulties...anyone need sewing machine parts?)
I am very sad that I have nowhere to set up our tree or to place decorations! No lights on the outside of our house...Bahhumbug! Hardly feels like Christmas is here...but next year I WILL go ALL out!!! Trust me...I will make up for it!
6. I did my baking a few weeks ago (thank you giant freezer)...Cream cookies, Chocolate Shortbread, Oreo Truffles, Peanut Butter Cups, Cinnamelts, and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. *We've been sampling here and there AND it's all tasty! shhhh...

CANDICE IS FAMOUS FOR...

MAKING HOLES IN HER HOUSE!....

Catch Up!

Seems like I've been procrastinating in the blogging department...so here's a couple of reasons why I'm too tired to blog!

Reason #1 ~ For my birthday we left the country! Yep...I discovered that they just recently opened an IHOP in Grand Forks and I HAD to celebrate my birthday there! Our friends Leah & Richard came along with Ike & myself and Laura. We had a great time eating our Rootie Tootie Fresh & Fruity Pancakes as well as some light shopping! For my birthday Ike bought me these beautiful flowers and I bought myself a sweater and a lovely necklace. Laura bought me some amazing candles from Bath & Body...and Leah had MADE me a gorgeous pottery bowl!

Reason #2 ~ It has been soooooo gorgeous outside....amazingly above temperature for this time of the year which is a HUGE blessing for us trying to get our garage built before the S*** flies! We also have the NICEST neighbours ever! They are all constantly offering us their assistance and tools! Below are pictures of our garage in progress...

Contractors still working on the concrete....Making a mess of my yard...

Ike wanted floor heat installed for when we can afford to buy a heater for it...Which it sounds like he's found a free one....woohoo.

Concrete poured and set...Now to start framing the walls.

It took Ike and I about 3 days of work to get all the walls framed.

Yesterday Ike's friend Dave and our neighbour Mark helped us put up the walls and anchor them in place!

It is starting to look like something!

Ike had to cut and tear off some of the stucco above where the trusses will go so that the flashing will sit flush with the wall and keep all moisture out of the garage....plus it'll be easier to install siding on that side of the house without the stucco. It was pretty hilarious when the boys discovered that it came off even easier by hooking up a strap to the truck and the other end to the wire in the stucco and givin'er. It made quick work of something that could've taken them hours. :) Boys!

Happy birthday to Me?

I know that today is my birthday BUT....we will be celebrating it tomorrow so I will share on a later date what I all did! However, in the spirit of birthdayness...I will share with you the marvellous cake I made for my mother's 50th birthday!

Everything you need to make a Tiramisu Cheesecake.

What's this?....You soak the lady fingers in Kahlua?

Delicate procedure...

Baking to perfection...cannot have any cracks in this special cheesecake!

Grand finale! My mom was impressed and that's all that matters...oh and the fact that it tasted WONDERFUL!!!!

*side note...I also made pumpkin soup for appetizer...and roast beef with potatoes, carrots, and gravy for main course. Mmm Mmm Mmm!

New Stuff Is EXCITING!!!

On Friday I ordered our new kitchen cabinets...wooo wooo six weeks away from wonderful chaos! Yes...we did change the style and went with a more workable 'L' shaped kitchen...I got EVERYTHING I wanted this way and less wasted space! Plus my kitchen/Dining area will feel much bigger! The cupboards are basically going to be this colour...Maple in Espresso. I have yet to choose a countertop but I'm thinking something in a lighter colour...and my double sink is a Granite composite in Champagne.

To the right of the fridge is my pantry with pull out drawers and to the left is a broom closet. Of course there's plenty of storage in the cupboards above.

I have many wonderful full extend drawers for all of my stuff. The "cabinet" on the left is a special make just for me! The appliance garage will hide my microwave! The upper cupboard to the left of the stove will have some tray dividers for my cookie sheets and pans. The lower cupboard to the right of the stove is actually a pull out spice rack...and there is a corner cupboard there but no lazy susan cause I hate them! My sink cabinet includes a tilt out tray to hide icky scrubbies. The far right upper cupboard (that you can't really see) is a corner unit with glass door to show off some of my nicer crystal.

Last week my special order chandelier for our bedroom came in and on saturday we went and picked it up...I also splurged and bought a fancy light switch for it! Fancy meaning it's a dimmer switch with a remote!!! The remote is important because then we won't argue over who has to go turn off the lights!

And....(Drumroll................) Yesterday....Ike went and picked up our gorgeous flooring! (Tropical Walnut) It's even better than I thought! I can't wait for it to be installed!!!!

Murderers!!

We are official tree murderers! Yep...show no mercy...hack them down like savage beasts and haul their carcasses away to the compost! I hated those pine trees anyhow and chokecherries have never really been my favorite either. Look how much cleaner it is and how much bigger our yard looks!(You may need to compare pictures with a past blog) All done by hand! Rrraaawrrr! :)

The concrete boys were hard at work prepping the yard for our garage floor. Today the piers were done...hopefully it won't be much longer for the rest of the concrete work!

Upgrades

Here's a bit of what we've been up to!

Bronco Brown....I LOVE it! It's like pumpkin pie! Soooo much nicer than the random combination of the original greenish and pinkish taupe colour.

Master bedroom got Phantom Mist on the accent wall (velvety black or very deep chocolate brown) and Heavy Cream on the rest. Will look great with our red paintings and new chandelier with red crystal droplets.

Claudia wanted purple and Roman Purple she got! Grandma painted a little surprise in her closet!

New light fixtures....They had this wonderful collection at Canadian Tire and some were on sale (even better)....Not only do they look wonderful in our house but they were made just for me as the collection was named "Candice"...How could I resist!? So we bought the dining room chandelier, two semi-flush matching for the front entrance and hallway, and a pendant matching for the side entrance....too awesome! Sooo much nicer than the rusty dusty lights she had with the missing glass shades and barely screwed on bases!

Without Further Ado...

Our new home! Needs some love but we can do it!



Lovely side yard where Ike will build us a 2 car garage. We also need to dig up a ton of stupid bushes planted in the middle of the yard!

Small deck in the back currently only accessible by walking around the house. We plan on installing a patio door where the dining room window is.

More beer dad?! Small outdated kitchen also will receive a much needed upgrade this winter!

I love my new fridge...I didn't realize how much fun having ice & water in the door could be!

Dining room...That was the old fridge which wasn't keeping anything cold (no wonder she wanted ours)! Don't worry we already dragged it outside.

Who was the first idiot to install carpet on walls? What a dumb idea....Stairway to our basement...Charlie enjoying the coolness down there.

Living room...as you can see we already attacked some of the house and ripped out old carpeting and various closet doors.

Hallway to the bathroom and bedrooms AND linen closet!

Beautiful pink main bathroom...ugh...needs updating too!

Master bedroom...Lots of space! Already ripped out flooring and mom and I re-painted it(not shown in these pictures).

Master 2 piece bath with yet another linen closet. :)

Ginormous closet!

Claudia's future bedroom....Can you see the ugliness? One wall is pink...one is lavender...

And one is green....thank goodness my mom and I attacked her room first!

Spare bedroom where Claudia is currently sleeping until we put new flooring in her room!

More pictures to come later...Hope this satisfies some of you!