Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek into some of what we have been up to this week...

The master bathroom! It used to be a kind of faux-finish of pea soup green... along with our avocado green counter, floor tiles, and stripe of avocado green tiles in the shower---too much 1970s green for me! The new color is very happy and bright and brings us much closer to the 21st century. :) Eventually, the door will be a new, white door, too. :)
p.s. Ignore the burned out light bulbs! We'll be putting a new light fixture in here, too, so I haven't worried about replacing them just yet. :)

Welcoming Mom. :)

A really fun pear we found at TJ Maxx. It's covered in artificial leaves. The girl at the check-out flipped out over it and showed the other cashiers because she liked it so much. :) It adds the perfect, fun, quirky, and green touch to our living room. :)

Soooo Excited!!

I just went to check the mail, and I as I flipped through the envelopes and magazines (yea, Real Simple!), I saw our utility bill.

Dun, dun, dunnnnnnn the moment of truth!

Our first bill that includes time with the new HVAC...

Has it made as much of a difference in efficiency as we hoped????
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YES!!!!

Even though this bill includes time we still had the old unit, even though we're at our hottest time of year, it's $100 cheaper than our summer bills last year!!!! It's cheaper than our monthly average!!!! I am so, so, so excited!

Thank you, Lord!! :)

Quick Update

We spent the last week split between our two families in SC and TN. We got to spend much-needed time with each of them, celebrate a baby shower, a birthday, Independence Day, catch up with friends before the move, see a beautiful park, wakeboard, and play with the kiddos. It was GREAT! I'll have pictures soon, but first I need to let you know about another perk of the new HVAC system (I'm sure you're groaning, so I'll try not to talk about it too much more).

This may be gross to some or just completely boring to others, but every time we have gone on vacation during the past 2 years we have lived in this house, we have come home to moldy, mildewy toilets. The bowl and underneath side of the side have been yucky every time. Now, it's not like "left food in the fridge for 2 months and it has its own head of hair" gross, but still, gross when you're used to keeping a clean house!

Since the new HVAC controls for humidity, I wondered if this would solve our vacation bathroom issues. IT DID!!! For the first time in over 2 years, we came home from vacation to toilets as sparkling white as the day we left them! So dorky to be excited about it, but we are very happy. :) And now I'm wondering if the new system might also help curb the mildew that pops up in our master shower within a week of scrubbing it.

So many perks to the new HVAC... who knew??? :)

Stay tuned for vacation pictures! And happy belated birthday to my WONDERFUL husband!!

Some Outside Shots

Here are some more recent pictures of the yard, and Samantha. :)

A flower that popped up last week out of nowhere! :) So bright and happy and PINK!



GRASS IS GROWING and filling in the bare spots! We are SO excited! Matt's vision for a GREEN backyard might actually come true!
Praise the Lord for cleaned up yard debris and especially for much needed rain!


The hanging planter I filled with clippings from the yard (fern, ivy, elephant ears, etc.).
Still going and still growing!


Sammy surveying her yard.


Samantha hunting for lizards among the logs and sticks (from a dead tree we took down). The sticks used to be a neat stack, but the stack was the FIRST place she would run when we let her out. In her attempts to wrangle a lizard, she has managed to completely dishevel Matt's hard work! But BOY does she love to hunt lizards. :) I think she would literally spend hours in that one spot if we let her. Only, it's made her slightly neurotic. Now, even if a stick moves because she paws it, she is *convinced* there is a lizard there and stands guard, pointing, just waiting to make her move. It's pretty cute to watch. :)

The Sound of Silence

When one of the HVAC guys was showing me how to use the new "user interface" (I'm sure they'd love that we're using their term), aka thermostat, he made a funny comment. He told me they actually received a call this week with a complaint from a customer.... she called to say her house was TOO COLD!! :) hehehe That seems almost unimaginable to us after 3 weeks of a limping along and probably overheating a/c, so we basically left it as warm as we could stand so the a/c would come on a little as possible. Anyway, they asked the customer what temperature she had her system set to, and she replied that it was at 78 and she *always* kept it at 78 before. They suggested she bump it up a few degrees to 79 or 80. She called back later in the week to tell them she had tried that and everything was perfect now. :)

Matt and I laughed when I shared the story with him, and then we came up with our own "complaint." It is WAY TOO quiet around here! It used to be that you'd hear the monstrous furnace start blowing and you'd hear the loud whirring of the condenser outside anytime the a/c was running (which was becoming more frequent and more prolonged as the system began to fail). The condenser is between our bedroom and the "man room" outside, and we could always hear it loud and clear when it started up and ran. You now stand in our bedroom and do not hear a single sound. You literally CANNOT hear it running. And not only that, but I'm sitting in the den and can only tell the a/c kicked in because I feel cold air coming from the vent above me--I did not hear the furnace kick in to blow the air. It is again, A-MAZ-ING.

So, we're considering calling and telling the contractor we still can't sleep at night. Only instead of waking up 3-4x a night hot and "glistening," we can't sleep because it's too quiet! :) hehehe

Of course, we're only kidding and it's really a lovely and welcome change. It's just shocking. Who would have thought we'd be so excited about an HVAC system? Does that mean we're really grown ups now?

Frigid in Florida....

...and feeling fine!

Today was the big HVAC day! Around 9:00 this morning, the HVAC people showed up to give our house a complete overhaul. It is A-MAZ-ING and we are loving it!

Matt worked from home for the day, since I am teaching summer institute this week. He was here for all the action, and they were just finishing up when I got home. Both men were exceedingly friendly, and our rep even stopped by to make sure everything was going okay. He'll be scheduling an appointment for the work to be inspected as well. We really couldn't be happier with their service and definitely will be recommending them to everyone we know here. :)

Now, for some pictures! :)

Our old condenser unit outside.

The new condenser unit outside.

The new furnace inside, including some new piping, a gas valve shut off (imagine that!), and they even sealed the bottom air return compartment of the closet.

The new thermostat, only because it's so sophisticated don't you know, they call it a "user interface." It can even adjust the humidity inside the house!

I obviously need to touch up the walls... the old thermostat was a horizontal rectangular shape, and I couldn't paint all the way behind it... and there are some finger smudge marks.

And lastly, for the first time in WEEKS, the fan is not on high.... it's not even on at all!!

Praise the Lord!

DONE!

I'm alive, I promise. Just recovering from the baby shower and the end of the school year! :)

And now, trying to determine with Matt which contractor to use to replace our HVAC. Right about now, I wish I had a "choose your own adventure" book. It would be entitled The Amazing Air Conditioner Adventure. On about page 10 or so, it would give you the option of contractor 1 (turn to page 11), who installs a brand with the lesser reputation but the 99 year condenser warranty, 2 years of free servicing 2x/year, and proclaims to pull permits and have the municipal building inspector come inspect the finished job; or contractor 2 (turn to page 25), who quotes you on a superly efficient unit with a better reputation and seems more professional and thorough. I would read ahead and see how each contractor panned out, and then go back and make the right decision.

But, there's not an HVAC choose your own adventure book. I believe we are about to choose our own adventure indeed, don't get me wrong. I just hope the adventure is one we're pleased with in the end! Does anybody have a "best contractor" detecting device we could borrow?

Hostessing

Tomorrow I am hosting a baby shower for a sweet friend who is due with a baby girl in August. This will be my first time really hosting a shower (I co-hosted a wedding shower for Matt & Ariana with Joy, but Joy did most of the prep as it was at her house). Whew! It's a lot of work, but I am pleased so far with how it's come together. Only 3 big boo-boos, and 2 of them were fixable. :)

What are the mistakes, you ask? Well, #1 A recipe I tried didn't work like it was supposed to, but instead of rolling it and then cutting swirly slices to bake, I just kinda plopped it all in the dish and baked it. It still smells delicious. :) #2 Publix forgot to put an "e" on the end of "welcome" as in "Welcome, Baby Katie," on the cake. I checked to make sure they spelled Katie right, but I didn't think to check the other words. Thankfully, my cashier looked to see what the cake said and noticed! Don't you just love Publix? :) They whipped up some pink icing and fixed it right up! #3 is the unfixable one. I was trying to make these as a favor for the guests (3 for each guest, and I was going to pipe a "K" on top of the "cupcake" for the baby's name). Well, I opened the fridge to put some bread away, and out came my cookie sheet of red velvet truffles. Only 18 out of over 50 survived (i.e. stayed on the cookie sheet, as opposed to the floor). I was pretty disappointed. :-( But you can't have it all, right? If I'd had time, I thought about finishing them off (they still needed the chocolate bark coating) and having one for each guest as birthday cakes, because one guest's birthday is tomorrow. But it's after midnight, and I'm EXHAUSTED! So, I'll finish them off for Matt later this week. :)

Lastly, I decided to take a trick from my mother, and I went ahead and set everything out for tomorrow (she does that for Thanksgiving or other really big, lots of people types of situations). Since it was all set up, I decided to take some pictures to show you!

The "cake toppers" that I made to match Baby Katie's nursery decor. I think I'll actually end up setting them right next to the cake, but all the same. :)

The cake (with an e at the end of Welcome :) )

In the foyer

On the coffee table in the den... may switch to living room. :) In fact, I probably will. :)
p.s. Don't mind the crazy pooch in the background.

Pitchers for orange juice and apple juice, a punch bowl for a punch I made, the coffee maker ready to go, and cups for all. :)

I even tried to set out serving utensils I think I'll need.

The food set up in the dining room. I tied a fork, spoon, and knife together in a pink napkin with a pink polka-dot bow. They're all in a basket, followed by plates, next will be a crockpot egg and cheese casserole, followed by the apple dumpling thing I had to dump instead of swirl, then a coffee cake, mini blueberry muffins, and mixed fruit. In the center 3 tiered platter I have cut up blueberry bagels and cinnamon/raisin swirl bagels and I made craisin scones. I also have strawberry and regular cream cheese and honey butter for that area.

The other side of the table.

So there you have it! I'm sure there will be more pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Gardening and such

Yesterday, two of these popped up in the back yard....

And this weekend I took various plants from the backyard and filled this hanging planter (its original vegetation all died while we were home for Ruthie's wedding)...

I took some elephant ears, some ivy, some fern, and the purple things. :) They all seem to be propagating quite well around the yard, so hopefully they'll make it and fill in my hanging basket, too!

Then I planted some things in the corner we cleared out. We decided the chain link isn't our favorite look now that we removed all the overgrowth. We're devising a plan.... but in the meantime, here's what we have in this little spot (we're taking it one spot at a time).

I'm not sure I have the greenest thumb ever. In fact, this sign I found on clearance at JoAnn's just about sums it up for me (and so it is hanging on the lanai now).

If I can't get anything to grow/stay alive, I guess I'll just stick to flowers like this (another JoAnn's clearance find).


:) But let's hope I can get some real things to stay perky!

Front Door Flowers

Today I had a coupon for Home Depot for "buy one hanging basket of flowers, get one free." While there, we decided to get a few more plants to spruce up the front door (especially with the baby shower next month). While I don't have pictures of the hanging baskets yet, here are the front door planters. These are also the ones I hope to switch out (the vessels themselves, not the flowers--I would transplant them all) to something more our "style." The grape clusters just aren't doing it for me. ;)

There is an end in sight!

When we first moved into our house, the yard was SO overgrown! We are finally at a point that the "clean up" efforts seem like they will come to a close. Sometimes I wondered if we'd ever get there! Here are some pictures of the progress we made this weekend. :)

plants we bought for one of the cleared spaces

Look at that! The debris piles are REALLY shrinking!

We took out really scraggly bushes on either side of the front door. I would like larger, not "grape cluster" planters for this area, and I waited all of last year for when they would go on clearance at the end of the season.... it's like it stays so warm here that never happened. So we might have to just bite the bullet and get some on sale (instead of on clearance).

A dead tree we cut down (with the kumquat tree in the foreground and palm to the right)

Some Virginia Creeper-like thing had climbed all the way up to these branches from the ground! I yanked it down--that stuff drives me CRAZY!

Blessing...

...needing 2 leaves added to the table to accommodate 8 people for dinner (one chair looks missing because I'm sitting on it at the computer)! Who'd have thought?

(sorry the left side of the photo is fuzzy)

a silver-plated pillar candle holder we got over Christmas in SC... Judi got a great price for us! :)
It needs to be polished, but still!!

It even has beading around the bottom like:
a) our china (as seen behind the candle holder)
b) our silverware (everyday and extra nice)
c) my engagement ring
d) my wedding bands :)

A Few Photos

Sammy peeking at me over the back of the couch. :)

The new cork board! We totally stole this idea from a family at church, but I love it! :) My old picture board is now just inside the laundry room so I can see the smiling faces of you family and friends whenever I am doing laundry. :) This new one is 3' x 4', we bought the K at Hobby Lobby and painted it black, and now we have pictures and fun mementos/announcements (Cai's baptism announcement, a baby shower invitation, our parking pass from Disney World, etc.).

The cool glass jar with my monogram from Mom and Dad. :)

Sammy resting. I know, we have a silly, silly dog. She's not falling--she actually plopped down this way (I thought Charis might like this one--she runs like a crazy woman, Sammy sleeps like a crazy dog)!

One of my favorites of the Jesse Tree ornaments (I just uploaded and posted the rest of the close ups on my craft blog Refrigerator Art)--Elizabeth and John the Baptist. :)

A Good One of Big Boy

Big Boy complete with tree skirt

"Family" apple ornament

Another ornament :)

A sleep pooch

O Christmas Tree 2007

Here are some photos of our house this Christmas with a surprise at the end! :)

nativity in the living room

ornaments on a shelf of the entertainment center

lambs on the entertainment center

snow village buildings (school, pet shop, and cabin) in the entryway
(Matt's mom gave me the school last year, and then we got the pet shop and cabin at after Christmas sales)

Matt putting lights on Big Boy

More sheep :)

Big Boy!! I still have an even more updated picture to post with the tree skirt around it and some close ups of ornaments :)
(Do you see the Christmas duck??)

Family apple ornaments that have since been added to the tree

The mantle (and Sammy on the couch)

mantle closer (ignore the liquid nails still on the mantle, please) :)

top of the computer armoire

placemats in the kitchen

Sign in the kitchen :)

Poem and painting by a student's mom (way back from my child dev. lab days)

Dining room

Dining room place setting

All the boxes when we got them down from the attic (how do we have so many after only 3 married Christmases??) :) Plus there are two more we keep in the house all year (candles I don't want to melt in the attic and linens I want to protect from the possibility of moths, etc.)

My little elf coming back down from the attic

My fall berry wreath now "framing" a snowman hotpad above the stove, and Christmas measuring cups/spoons to the right

gingerbread man napkin holder

Snowmen above the laundry room door


Here comes the surprise....
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fish #1!

fish #2!!

fish #3!!!