Wow, it's been awhile. I thought while I was lounging around the house I'd stop by and post something, that is if anyone still reads this blog since it's been four months since my last post! We haven't been too fantastically busy lately. And there is pretty much nothing too interesting to post about. However, we did put in a patio last month so I'll post a picture or two to show off our hard work. The house projects have slowed down a lot as we only have the bathroom and kitchen to finish. We did get new appliances in April, which was pretty exciting. For now we're just enjoying the summer weather and Forrest is staying busy with work. He was gone today on a walleye fishing tournament with work today and I'm staying pretty busy working 40hrs/week for free. I am looking forward to spending those 40hrs/week earning a paycheck soon! I wish I had some big exciting news to share but for now we're just enjoying the lack of drama and unnecessary excitement in our lives! Below are some before and after patio pictures.

What we've been up to lately...

Forrest has been working hard as always and is currently on a ski trip in Michigan with some of the men he works with. I have been working on my masters and since January have been in rotations to become eligible to sit for the RD exam. I started in long term care and have just finished a food service management rotation with a public school system. Soon I will be working in a dialysis center and then on to the University of Toledo Medical Center for acute care. I finish the first week of August and will graduate August 7th. I am really looking forward to finishing school and can't wait to start looking for jobs!

Our Brand New Half Bath

We finally finished our half bath today! It still needs a mirror and a few decor items but overall, it's done! Below are some pictures of the completed project and some more before pictures.

Before

After

More Bathroom Pictures

Here are the latest pictures from tonight's work on the bathroom.

Half bath sink
Ceiling & exhaust fan. It just needs a coat of white paint
New door frame Forrest created to match the old one.
Space where the toilet will fit against the wall and under cabinet lighting, only there is no cabinet.
Lighting in unfinished shelves
Right corner

Happy New Year & New Projects

It has been way too long since I last updated. Since Halloween, we have been back to NC for Thanksgiving and for Christmas. We returned back to Ohio on December 30th and have been working on another house project. I am really excited about this one. We are working on our half bath right now. We weren't planning on starting this project yet but while Forrest was reconnecting electricity back to the half bath and stairway (the lights haven't worked for awhile since we are redoing all of the electrical wires) we decided to just go ahead and work on the half bath. It is a small space....a really small space. It isn't even 4' x 4'! Having a space this size really creates a lot of challenges but it's been fun trying to create a space that seems larger than it actually is. Below are some pictures of what we started with and some of the room in progress. We are no where near completion but it has come a long way in the short week we've been working. We have ordered a recieved a space saving wall mount sink and a Kohler toilet that is the smallest from front to back on the market. Forrest even removed the studs on the wall to make a space for the toilet to sit back in for more room.

After we removed the false ceiling, we realized why there was a false ceiling in the first place. The exhaust fan that was once used over the stove runs through the half bath.

We found a cubby hold to the left of the fireplace and are now adding built in shelves for storage.
Drywall removed. We are also moving the toilet to the right wall and the sink on the front wall where the toilet was.

Future installments include wainscoting below the chair rail, under cabinet lighting in the built-in shelves and above the toilet, can lighting in the ceiling, and a large mirror. More pictures to come.

Halloween

This Halloween Mom and Glen were visiting. We also had our good friend Meredith come over with her little girl, Maggie. Below are some pictures from the evening.

Forrest, Meredith and Maggie in the front yard. Maggie was a hot dog :)

Dudley was a pumpkin but got cold and wedged himself in between the blankets on the porch.

Me and Mom

Dudley with his pumpkin costume and Maggie the hot dog

Amazing Date Afternoon/Night

I just wanted to quickly do a post on how sweet my husband is! This past week Forrest called me from work to ask me on a date for Saturday. After being excited all week long, Saturday finally made it here and we set out about 3pm for our adventure. First we went to MacQueen's Apple Orchard (pictures to come later). After tasting apple cider and picking up some Honey Crisp apples we headed to our next stop. We wound up at a pick your own pumpkin patch! They also had pansies, which haven't made an appearance here this year until very recently. We picked our own pumpkins, got a hay bail, and got two flats of pansies and violas. Then we grabbed a quick bite to eat and found ourselves at a drive in movie!!! I had never been to one before so I was super excited. We wound up seeing a double feature that included Couple's Retreat and Love Happens. Both cute movies. Any way, we got home super late but it was such a fun afternoon/evening of things I had been wanted to experience but hadn't yet. I have such a thoughtful husband! :)