"Ryan Mullin, THE Washington State University..."

Okay, so you know how on Sunday Night Football the starters from each team introduce themselves by saying their name, position and former school? Unmm yeah, that's going to be Ryan. I can totally picture him as one of those big beefy linebackers with far too much facial hair, a mean lookin' mug and biceps that could move a truck. This kid is destined to be famous!

These pictures were taken two weeks ago, one week before Ryan decided that stage diving off the couch onto the corner of a table was a good idea. Six stitches above his eye later.....low and behold he discovers that the couch is actually an indoor trampoline! He bounces from the top, to the cushion, to the ottoman to the floor. ...This little guy doesn't ever stop, god bless my bro and sis-in law! I keep saying he's that kid who will break every bone twice and will never learn; such a boy! That said, he is the cutest, funniest 2 1/2 year old I know!

We had a great time watching him go from the monkey bars, to the swings, to the suspension bridge, to the fire pole - which he did in true fireman style (see the boots?!)

House Updates!

These past few weeks have been crazy to say the least! We moved everything into the basement and are currently staying with Kev's aunt and uncle who have graciously taken us in for a week or so while our floors are being refinished. Since beginning construction November 9th it's all gone pretty smoothly (knock on wood) and we're excited to start seeing it all come together!
So far we've had the wall taken down between the kitchen and office, had the new kitchen doorway widened, had the rough electrical, plumbing and framing completed, and are currently having the new hardwoods installed and refinished. Cabinets are being installed starting Friday - can't wait!

Here are a few pictures of the progress:

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!


Wall opened up

Wall gone and doorway widened

Expanding kitchen and shrinking hubby (he's lost about 30 lbs!)

New hardwoods before sanding and finish coats

Ready to be plastered!

More updates to come!

Happy Belated 30th!!!

Kevin and I flew to DC on October 16th to spend our dear friend Erin's 30th birthday with her and also to visit Carrie, Erik, Ben and Mike. We flew in Friday night and headed to The Reynolds then out to a local bar near their darling condo in Arlington, VA. We drank delicious Hoegarden's out of mason jars and laughed our asses off all night.
Saturday was crappy weather but we made the best of it and headed to the Spy Museum, super cool. Later, we met up with Coff's cousins and headed to quaint little Georgetown to Filomena's to celebrate the birthday girl. Hands down THE best Italian food ever!!! It was such a great weekend, a nice change of scenery for a few days!
Coff, I just want you to know how much you mean to me. You're truly one of the most wonderful friends anyone could have. I hope your year is filled with everything you could ever want and much, much more! (Hopefully that includes a visit out here soon!)

LOVE YOU!! XOXO

At The Bungalow celebrating!

Operation: Kitchen!!!

Wow, what a busy {crazy!} couple of months it has been!! The traveling and friends' visits have died down, but we're again right back in the throws of chaos!! For two years now, I've been bugging Kevin to take down the wall between our kitchen and workout room to open up the space and have a huge kitchen/eat-in dining area. It just makes a lot of sense... We'll be able to enjoy it, the resale of our house increases, etc... But for two years he's been telling me to politely, "take a hike!" :)

Well... (and I pat myself on the back as I type this) he caved - and has now admitted what a fabulous idea this was!! The past month or so has been a whirlwind of contractors, granite, cabinets and tile and today was "D Day!" Demoliton Day... We officially began our kitchen renovation!!!

Over the next 4-5 weeks, our kitchen will be transformed into the space that it was always meant to be. Somewhere where we can entertain friends and family and just be in a beautiful space where everyone gathers and feels at home. We can't wait for the everything to be installed and see it all come together. It's been a loooong time comin'!

As I said before, demolition started today. The "before" pictures were taken this weekend. Our contractor gave me a hammer this morning and said to take a few swings, which I obviously loved doing (see the smile on my face!) See ya ugly kitchen!!!) The plan was to take down a wall between the workout room and kitchen, making a 20 foot by 12 foot kitchen. As it stands, the view from our living room is two doors, one to each room. The new space will block off the WR door and widen the kitchen door. We're installing new cabinets, countertops, appliances, tile backsplash, hardwoods and a kick ass 5 1/2 foot island.

Here are the pictures - excuse the mess, we were packing :)


The Before - Kitchen

Another shot of the kitchen

Looking into the kitchen from the living room...wall on the left near the flowers is the one being removed

Workout room from the living room

Another shot of the workout room, wall with the painting is being removed

Oh yeah - watch out, mama's got a hammer!

See ya wall!

Workout room door framed and sheetrocked... kitchen door that has the plastic covering will be widened 18" to mirror our front entryway

View out to the back of the house/deck - these windows and slider will remain where they are

That area that juts out is the existing chimney - a 4-foot pantry will be built in next to it...
Here is the floor plan.....



Lots still to do - I'm currently in tile HELL! I can't decide what I want for the backsplash - the whole theme and color of the kitchen is dependent on it. This is a BIG decision and I'm definitely taking my time on it! Any suggestions on tile backsplash are welcome!

Stay tuned for more updates and pictures...