I was going to post this yesterday, but my couple hour nap turned into going to bed for 14 hours -haha

Anyway, hope everyone had a great Easter weekend.  Gary and I had brunch at his parents house (with easter m&m’s as pictured to the right), then swung by the Hibernian to see some friends for an hour and then had linner at my parents’ with easter baskets of jelly beans, mini chocolate Easter bunnies, and some plant seeds that we will be planting next weekend 🙂

note: brunch = breakfast and lunch, and linner = lunch and dinner 😉

My friend Adrienne gave me this cute spoon rest and a matching mug that is all cow spots when she was in Raleigh back in January that I use every day for coffee and water, and I just snapped a quick pic to share since I get to see them every day 🙂

RIDGID 12in Sliding Compound Mit Saw |  RIDGID Mobile Miter Saw Stand
Model MS1290LZA                                              Model AC9944

With all of the new projects we are starting, Gary needed a new saw, which we purchased over the weekend on sale, and this one was perfect for what we need.  It has a lot of neat features, including a laser, which I thought was especially neat and then we also got two new blades at a special “2 fer”.  It’s still in the box at the moment but we will be using it a lot starting in the next several weeks 🙂 And we will be getting the base soon which is really cool for moving and working on . . .

Since the last time I posted the plans for remodeling our kitchen here, we’ve made slight changes based on a thought I had.  We’re moving the refridge to where the pantry is (popping out the wall as originally planned), keeping the new counter top plan, and putting the new pantry where the current refridge is.  It all fits, flows better with the use of the kitchen, and adds a little more cabinet space!

We’re doing most of the other home renovations first, and this one will be in several months, but definitely this year.  We can’t wait til it’s all done!  We’ll get back to doing our dinner parties and having friends and family over for dinner for ‘real time’ views of the ‘after’, and for those of you who aren’t able to, you can bet I’ll have photos here 🙂

New Plan:

Old Plan

For those of you who are moving, in the process of moving, or just need to store things, I love clear rubbermaid containers.   You can see what’s in them, and they are easy to label.

Yesterday, Gary and I spent 12 hours going through paperwork, stuff, etc and donated what we didn’t need, didn’t want to keep, or had no use for.  Old clothes, a table from Gary’s old appartment, a random light fixture . . . if we thought of someone that would want some things, we set it aside for you.

I already had some boxes that were labeled, and not all clear boxes are strong enough for things like books, so we also have Rubbermaid Roughneck containers.

All of this was for two reasons.  (1) we needed to clean out what we don’t need to keep and (2) we were making space for moving things out of the way for our home renovations.

Today, we are getting rid a big sectional green couch, also from Gary’s old apartment that is too big for our living room and doesn’t go with the style of our home, but it has served its purpose well.  Instead of moving it back and forth while renovating we’re donating it now instead of after we are done.  In 6 months(?), we’ll get a new couch.  Let me know if you hear of any sales 🙂

I love being with Gary, and I love being out with Gary. People are always asking us if we are newly weds . . . does it show how gushy we are about each other even after almost two years? Ask me again in 25 years, that’s how it should be . . . soul mate, life partner, whatever you call it – I have found mine.

Ok, enough of the mushy stuff . . .
We were at one of our fave Thai places Sawasdee, and they said “you’re such a cute couple” can we get your picture for our wall?

A picture of Us for your wall? Uh, Of Course! How cool is that?  and with a Polaroid!  I’ve been there a bunch of times with my friends and never got asked for our picture.  So now we are part of a “fan wall” we get to see every time we get Sawasdee Thai food 🙂

When Gary and I were in Boston seeing one of his cousins a year or so ago, I remembered her saying . . . “I check out Sue-Leigh’s blog and there is one or two posts and then blauooop, theres like 5 :)” which still makes me smile when I think about it . . . because it’s True!

So, I take a point and shoot with me almost everywhere . . . it just goes in my purse – it’s like my wallet – it belongs there. Taking it out of my purse is another story sometimes because I don’t want to go through the process of linking up for one photo (c’mon wireless transfer!).

Therefore . . . I just downloaded all of the images and have a lot to blog about . . . in addition to all the home renovations we are starting soon! Right now we are doing all the boring, not so fun prep-work though it is satisfying to get those things done even if you don’t see it directly.

So, please leave comments, I like hearing from you 🙂

❤

Last weekend I experimented with making an Ethiopian dish, which turned into more of an Indian dish, which was really good, but not the dish I was intending to make.  So I’ll look into other recipes.

One thing I love about cooking is all the spices and lovely fragrances they produce, and they were just so pretty I snapped a picture with my new point and shoot 🙂

Check back later, I made an amazing Thai dish called Drunken Noodles last night . . . I’ll post the recipe as soon as I write down all of the details.

It all started because I wanted the tv on the other side of the room.  Wires had to be re-wired with the help of our good friend Erich.

I can’t take all the credit for the WHOLE house remodeling  ideas . . . We decided to stay in this house a few years longer than originally planned  . . . Here’s how it went down . . .

It would be nice to brighten up the house . . .

Gary:  We should paint the chair railing, crown molding, and baseboards white in the living room, dining room and kitchen . . . the dark makes the house look so dated/old.

Sue-Leigh:  Well, if we are painting those, we should re-paint the room colours to some lighter shades

Gary:  If we are painting and moving furniture, I would like to get rid of the popcorn on the ceiling and paint the ceilings white before we paint the walls

Sue-Leigh:  Can we add those cabinets in the laundry room like we talked about a while ago?  and I’d like pedestal sinks in all the bathrooms

Gary:  If we are putting in pedestal sinks, now is the time to actually do the floors in the bathroom and the adjoining kitchen that we never got to do when we first moved in.

Sue-Leigh:  Can we replace the counters since they don’t look nice and every time I clean them, they still look dingy and the cabinets make the kitchen so dark . . .

Gary:  What if we used the breakfast nook and put in cabinets and a counter top

Sue-Leigh:  oooh!  can we put in a little sink? and is there anything we can do with the horrible deep and small pantry?

and so forthe . . . so we’re doing a lot of home renovations and eventually moving to the upstairs.  Painting, refreshing, moving, new vinyl siding, windows, and a new AC/heater.  A lot of work for us but it will be so great when we’re done!

We’re taking out the inset pantry and adding more useable and larger pantry space and actually being able to use the “breakfast nook”  taking the double windows out and putting in a window for above the counter.

Gary gave the dimensions to the knowledgeable cabinet guy at home depot and he put together a mock up of what we want to do.

We’re very excited!

Check back for before and after photos, and tips from experience if you decide to do some home rennovations of your own 🙂

St. Patty’s day fell on a week day, so I/we didn’t go out to celebrate.  On top of, Gary being in Boston for work yesterday and today, coming back later in the  evening and he was exhausted. 

I don’t know why or when, but a little tradition started, where every time he goes to a new state, he brings be back a small stuffed animal of small stature.  This bear was perfect for the St. Patty’s Day cheer, and still keeping with the theme of a little something from where he was . . . Boston 🙂