Before
After
Demo
Concrete countertop curing
Bathroom cabinet that my super-skilled husband MADE!
And more final pics of my new favorite room of the house!
Getting handles and pulls soon. They will match the faucet.
Yes, that box controls the heated floor. Yes, it’s programmable and is set to be warm when we wake up. Yes, it’s awesome.
And these are the cabinets that Rob built to be set into the walls maximizing storage. I just think he’s the most talented husband in the world!
TA-DAH!
I love The Flying Biscuit. We ate here a couple years when Rob and I came to Atlanta for Valentine’s Day. I bought the recipe book. Once again, it steals my heart.
The food is a perfect blend of comforting and interesting. For example:
Biscuits and gravy. Delicious. Simple. Familiar. Yet, the biscuits are lighter and fluffier, with a little sugar sprinkled into eggwhite brushed on top, giving them a little something extra – like a biscuit/scone. The gravy is made from turkey sausage and has familiar textures and flavors, yet special – there’s something more there in the spices. Yum.
I also love the chocolate bread pudding, made from their leftover signature biscuits – it’s dense, yet fluffy… light, yet rich… chocolate-y, yet creamy… I love the balance! And that something extra that makes it special!
I make the blueberry cobbler from their recipe book often. I love it. It’s fairly straightforward, except there’s a bit of cardamom in the biscuit topping, giving it that extra something. It’s familiar, but special…
Everything on their menu has that special quality of making your brain go, “oh, I’m familiar with this food, no big deal” and the mouth go, “whoa! this is new! I like it!”
LOVE.
The time here has been simply wonderful! There’s no remodeling to be done, no chaos in my kitchen and living room, and nothing at all that has to be done… not even blogging. It’s divine.
I have spent my days relaxing, walking, shopping, yoga-ing, and eating! Atlanta is awesome! There’s stuff to do and places to go and everything! And stores! Real stores! And the yoga instruction is great – I’m trying to absorb as much as I physically can!
Some highlights:
Ethiopian food on New Year’s Eve. It was yummy! Eating with one’s hands is really fun! The owner was so nice and gave me extra of the side dish I adored!
Shopping at real stores, and touching the fabric, not opening internet windows!
Eating at Nava and this WOW-beyond-words dessert. That cube is filled with chocolate mousse.
Eating at the Flying Biscuit. Atlanta does breakfast REALLY well! I mean, it’s amazing! This is my favorite breakfast place, but Chicken and Waffles is pretty good too… and Thumbs Up… and every other breakfast we’ve tried!
This amazing yarn store in Virginia Highlands! Everyone who came in was showing off what they’d made, or sitting at tables knitting and talking. It was delightful! I made a return trip just because it was such a fun place!
Aerial Yoga, done from hammocks hung from the ceiling. It didn’t seem difficult at first, but my muscles were DEFINITELY sore the next day!
Here’s some photos of fun things I saw while out. Enjoy.
Did you know this is how brussels sprouts grow?
We rented a texture gun for the walls and ceilings. Rob got a little adventure when he learned to hold both the top and bottom of the gun after it separated and spilled globby texture all over him and the plastic tarp.
Rob cleaned the texture gun in the shower because he just thought it’d be easier and much more pleasant than rinsing it with a hose outside in the snow and ice.
I spent my days alternating between painting cabinets, walls, and doors and sealing concrete.
We moved the cabinet Rob made into the bathroom, scraping the paint off the doorframe as it barely fit.
We woke up on the 23rd and basically had just a cabinet and tub in the bathroom. Thus begins the long day.
With icy rain the night before, the base closed so Rob was able to stay home. Yay!
We put the back on the cabinet, installed the drawers, installed the face frame, and attached the countertop.
We installed the floor heat thermostat (SO excited about heated floors!!), new switches, expanded the box to provide space for main light, fan, and fan light. We installed the light fixture, backsplashes, side cabinets, toilet cabinet, and sink and faucet.
Late that night, we began cutting and laying the pattern for the tile. I numbered them so (hopefully) it’d be easy to put them back where they fit and mostly it was. One tile was off and made it a little imperfect, but if I can get over it, visitors can too.
We found a surprise in our box of auction tile! Some of it is beige! We had more than enough, but will remember to look more closely at any tile we might buy at the next auction…
We installed the heated mat under the thinset for the tile and finished laying tile at 5am. Whew! When we woke up again, I traversed the bathroom without touching the floor (special yoga powers) and sealed the grout in the shower. I also installed this AMAZING shower and tub set (a SWEET auction deal!).
Rob doing attic electrical work.
We grouted the floor, hung the shower rod, installed drawer fronts, and tried to finish. We’re not quite done, but here’s a picture of the bathroom in an almost completed state!
Did you know that after a snow, people in South Dakota still go about their daily lives? Seriously. The world is covered in white and people are grocery shopping and going to work like it’s no big deal.
I kind of wondered why everyone shoveled their driveways and sidewalks the very first morning after a snow (I thought they were just really involved in neighborhood beautification)… did you know that if you don’t, the snow forms ice? and makes it twice as difficult to shovel later?
Rob’s battery died this morning and he exchanged it for a new one at the local Wal Mart. The guy there noted the “s” at the end of the serial number… did you know they sell batteries for southern and northern climates? Rob worked at a battery store in Texas and had no idea. Now Rob’s battery has a 800 crank capability, rather than the southern’s 600.
We’re learning fast.
Renovating a home means that any non-under-construction area becomes a staging area for the project. Plus, when it’s freezing in the garage, these are some of the scenes in our house this weekend. (Note: none of these were staged in any way, this is actually the chaos in which we live now).
We haven’t eaten on our dining room table for months.
The living room requires the grace of an ice dancer to navigate.
Dirty dishes sit next to the mortar stirrer and dish gloves stained with furniture stain on the kitchen counter.
Yes, that’s paint thinner. The health inspector would SO shut us down.
The drill rests next to our breakfast and further down some tile grout visits with the butter dish.
And the tile saw hangs out in the basement with the washer dryer. Wait, that looks kind of normal compared…
But, here is what we accomplished this weekend!
These all got their final coats of primer and polyurethane. The nightstands are ready for assembly and the cabinets are ready for paint.
Nightstands
It got a little sunny on Saturday, so we took the opportunity to polish the concrete countertop outside (it slings water so outside is the best option, but we have done it in the garage before).
Even though it was sunny, the water droplets quickly formed ice on our clothes and icicles dripped from the two-by-fours. Rob rushed inside after each polishing pad to thaw his hands and I changed the pads and managed the water. It was cold, but the countertop is beautiful!
And finally! We tiled the shower!!! And I LOVE it!! It will look SO good with the rest of the bathroom we have planned! I went with simple ceramic subway tiles and am so pleased! (that’s green tape around the edge to protect it from the wall mud).
Rob demonstrated greater skill with the trowel and I really enjoyed the tile saw – so we made a great team with me cutting tiles as Rob laid the mortar.
I also am a little proud of the awesome work here around the shower valve. Tiling a shower took a lot longer than we expected, but we feel very accomplished!
Today is planned to texture the ceiling and walls. Then, we can really get to work finishing the bathroom!
The military really helps me to live in the present. Enjoying each moment is a tough lesson for many to learn, but the military gives me plenty of opportunities to relish in the present.
Our plans have changed. Earlier, before we made Christmas plans, Rob’s boss told him his training dates. We made plans. Later, they found his name on some paperwork and he is to report first thing in the morning on December 27, smack dab in the middle of our planned Christmas vacation. Oh well.
Therefore, we fly to Atlanta on Christmas Day (cheapest tickets and least busy day to fly) and stay until mid-January.
Personally, I’m not very affected. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m callous. I’m of course sad to miss the opportunity to see people over Christmas, but as far as the holiday goes, I relish every time I get to see family and friends. It certainly doesn’t have to be tied to a certain time of year…
Instead, Rob and I get to celebrate Jesus’ birth together, uniting the two of us in deeper ways. And I’m overjoyed to be able to go to Atlanta and stay there while he trains! We’re renting an apartment and I plan on reading books, crocheting, cooking, shopping, and doing lots of yoga! I’m completely stoked about my vacation!
Mid-January, we come back to South Dakota (Rob only for a few days) and we’ll live in the present when it gets here.
In this busy holiday season my yoga instructor side strongly advises you to take a moment today and simply breathe, not thinking about all the things still to be done, but just 2-5 full breaths in the present.
