Kitchen Remodel, Part Deux

A lot has been accomplished since November.  It's amazing what can be done in four days.  Yes, four days.  Due to scheduling issues and a thing called Thanksgiving, renovation work was put on hold.  How aggravating that was.  Oh well, right?  We're rollin' like thunder now, people!

The wall between the existing kitchen and dining room was removed and a B.A.B. (big a$$ beam) was installed in its place, much like the one installed when we removed the other wall between the dining room and the family room.  However, this time we had the beam recessed into the attic. 

Electrical was revised to reflect the moving of double ovens, cooktop and fridge to different walls.  Additional outlets were added as the THREE that were in the kitchen were not only insufficient but practically unusable due to their location.

Recessed lighting was added as well.  As long as we were going to the trouble of installing new lighting systems, we'd bypass the retarded CFL fixtures required by code and go LED (which exceeds code).  They weren't cheap but what WILL be in this kitchen remodel?!  Plus we'll be using like .2 watts for the next 30 years, haa!

I installed new insulation and what a welcome aspect that was after living without any in the kitchen where the attic was also exposed allowing the air and Lindsay's squirrels into the Manor.  This was an easy task.  Stuff and staple!  Stuff and staple!

We had our homies who did the ceiling over again to sheet rock and texture the walls and ceilings.  Man they're fast!

There's the update!  Stay tuned because we're ready to rock this kitchen from here on out!  

Still to come: 

prime/paint

cabinets

countertop

flooring

So much to do before Bajeda arrives!

33 weeks pregnant

 

Not sure why my eyes look nearly closed in this picture- must have been early in the morning :)

Here is Mom and Baby at 33 weeks (This is nearly 2 weeks old, and I need to upload a more current picture).  John and I are taking our birthing courses and I just got the 'ok' from my doctor to take a leave of absence from both my jobs- weird to think I really don't have to be anywhere!  Trouble is I am going to have to get disciplined and set my own "work schedule" to get things ready around the house for baby's arrival.  Hopefully motivation comes like... NOW!

Meanwhile, we are thinking about baby names, fine-tuning items on our registries, and... trying to make the best of a very cold house from the kitchen remodel...  At least we have our LOVE to keep us warm!

We can't wait for baby to get here!

Kitchen Delivery!

Absolutely nothing has changed since Part 1 of the kitchen remodel, frustratingly enough.  However, we purchased the IKEA cabinets last night and they arrived this afternoon.  Oh how exciting it is to see our new kitchen amongst a pile of 178 packaged goods!  I'd be more excited if I was able to put them together and begin installation.  So much to do before that process begins...

Don't the words "Lidingo" and "Akurum" make ya wanna go na nuh na nuh?!!!!!

Meanwhile, this is our kitchen right now - 

Note the Nesquik which has been a vital part of our existence lately.

Kitchen Remodel, Part I

As if we didn't have enough going on (like preparing for the arrival of our kid in January) we have started the kitchen remodel.  If you had the opportunity to meet our old kitchen, you would know why.  It was a special little beast, previously remodeled in 1986 according to the newspaper I found stuffed in the wall behind the drywall.  :-)  This is something we felt needed to be done prior to Bajeda and sibs because when would we ever have another chance to be without a kitchen for an extended period of time?  Additionally, who wants to constantly try and keep the little rascals out of the demolition area?  Blek.  Not fun and not me!

So here we are - pushing it to the verrryy lasstttt minuteeeeee...

Here's the beginning of THIS adventure -

Our lovely 1986 kitchen.

...and so it begins...

The original drive-thru window...

Moral of the story, don't be alarmed if we show up at your doorstep for a bite to eat.

Just sayin'...

Savings at Safeway

This was another delightful trip to Safeway!  Thanks to the 6 x 11 card o'coupons we received in the mail advertising ways to create inexpensive meals.  The coupons were for free Safeway branded items.  For the most part, I ain't too picky when it comes to brand names (...I did say for the most part)!  There were some pretty good items on there (ie. marinade, salad dressing, salsa, $3.50 4lb bag of chicken chichis, etc.). The only catch was that I had to spend a minimum of $10.  Since I already had my coups out for various other items and on the hunt for the $2.49 Best Foods, that was not an issue.

I must pause to mention that I happened to notice that Safeway had their own brand of cooking sprays.  Once upon a time, Trader Joe's had this baking spray that had flour in it.  It was terrific but like a handful of items from the past like my beloved flake salt and lysine, it has disappeared never to return!  Needless to say, when I spied a similar canned substance of a Safeway Select nature, I was all over it, especially at $2 a can.  Definitely worth a shot (or a spray)!

Back to my delightful coupon experience, it's not the most fabulous coupon raid I've had but I think that getting all of these items for $18.39 made for a very nice visit!  Here's to free tortillas and salsa (and a bunch of other free shiz!)!!!

$18.39 for all this shiz!!!

P.S.  Remember when Lucky ("the low price leader") used to be in this neck of the hood and "3 was a crowd"?  Those were the days because 3 is DEFINITELY not a crowd at THIS Safeway!  Apparently it takes about six on four different registers...

29 weeks pregnant photo

Baby Turner is certainly growing!  I gained quite a few baby pounds at my last check up- but I am still right on track for weight gain.  Makes me grateful I hardly gained anything in the first three months, because I seem to be making up for it in the third trimester :)  Cutting back on the chocolate milk isn't going to be easy!

 

My hair has grown like crazy.  I think John likes it much more than I do... it just takes so much time to get ready with long hair!  I am debating whether or not to chop it short once baby arrives.  We'll see.  In the meantime, we're pretty sure our cute little girl will come out with luscious locks of her own, since mom and dad both have rich dark (and potentially curly) hair to pass down.

I feel like the next ten weeks of pregnancy are going to fly by.  Overall, I can't complain- this pregnancy has gone by quickly and without major discomfort (so far!).  I've finally mastered getting a better nights sleep- sleeping on my side wasn't easy to get used to, but the purchase of memory foam pillows has been a complete relief.  I am getting very good at making multiple trips in the middle of the night to the bathroom - John doesn't even feel me get up or hear the toilet flush!  What a champ he is.

Baby is very active now.  I feel her all throughout the day, especially before bed.  She takes my breath away when she puts on her performances... full on 360's and flips are her favorite.  She has a solid punch and left hook too, that little rascal!  If this is any indication of what she will behave like after birth, John and I will definitely have our hands full...

We're registered for our hospital classes and we're in rush mode to get everything ready for baby's arrival.  The countdown is on!

Pomegranates

Look what we've peeped hanging over the fence in our backyard - gifts from our neighbor!  Have you any ideas what to do with pomegranates?  We need recipe ideas!  We look forward to reading your suggestions in the comments section.

Thanks!

A little here, a little there, a lot of savings everywhere!

The couponing adventures have continued.  I think I'm finally getting the hang of this.  After missing out on my KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce for $.50 after coupon at Target a few weeks back, I thought I'd skeet skirt on out early last week.  

Last Monday's rendezvous started at Walgreens:

Four 12 oz bags of M&Ms for $.75 ea!  The stinky thing is that I now have $5 in Register Rewards (like cash) that I must spend before a certain date.  In my opinion these are a PIA to use but we’ll be needing drugs here pretty soon for my Lindsay so that will definitely come in handy. 

Here’s how:

Courtesy of MyFrugalAdventures:

M&Ms Candy 4/$10

Get $5 Register Reward
Use  $1/2 Mars Bags Of M&M’s or Dove Chocolate, 7 Varieties, exp. 10/31/11 (RP 08/28/11)

Final Price: as low as $.50 per bag after coupons and RR 

My next stop was Safeway for CheezIts!

These were on sale for $1.49 with a Safeway coupon and Club card.  Because I earned a $3 catalina (Safeway cash) from my Gain purchase, this little purchase cost me $1.47 for three boxes! 

But wait, it gets better…

My third and final stop was Target.  This time I went straight back to see if they had perhaps restocked the BBQ sauce..  The heavens must have opened because ONE bottle had dropped from the sky, calling MY name!  I had two coupons but I guess one bottle is better than nothing, right?  Whatever.

Upon check out, I had

One bottle of KC Masterpiece

One 32 oz jar of Mt. Olive pickle relish

Three boxes of Zatarian rice

TOTAL: $3.53
  

BUT because of a balance from the Target gift card I had received from a prior purchase of razors, my total out of pocket for this trip was $1.43!

What a rush!

21 weeks pregnant

Here's a picture of Mama Turner at 21 weeks- posing in front of the very bright green wall we painted in the baby's room.  We're still debating whether or not we will keep this exact color- we may tone it down a bit :) 

I LOVE being pregnant- I'm feeling her kick and squirm more and more.  One of my favorite things is laying in bed at night (when she is most active) and asking John to feel my belly.  Even though John feels his own heartbeat through his hand more than anything else, that doesn't stop me from asking him to try!  There is something so special when I feel my husband's hand on my skin- just a thin layer away from the beautiful child we made with love :) 

 

Some of my baby MacFarland's favorite things to eat are:

• Chocolate Milk (or Hot Chocolate.... yes, I know it's summer, but we don't care!)
• Bagels & Cream Cheese
• Eggo waffles with Aunt Jemima syrup
• Tilamook Yogurt- any variety
• Squash & Zucchini & Broccoli

 So much to get ready for baby's arrival!  Next up: Kitchen remodel, projects around the house to finish, and a nursery to design!

20 weeks pregnant- we found out it's a .....

We had our 20-week ultrasound and our little gummy bear revealed itself... 

After seeing our baby girl on the ultrasound, we felt a burst of excitement and we have a renewed energy to get things done! Looks like we'll be painting and getting started on the nursery pretty soon...

John's co-workers were so excited that they decked-out his cubicle in pink "It's a girl!" things.
Wasn't that sweet!?!

Thank heavens for little girls!

A little bit of heaven

Drifted down from above-

A handful of happiness,

A heartful of love.

The mystery of life,

So sacred and sweet-

The giver of joy

So deep and complete.

Precious and priceless,

So lovable, too

The world's sweetest miracle,

Baby girl, is you.

Roses and Berries

Not much has been happening with the manor lately. Lindsay continues to stay pretty busy working her jobs and growing gummy bear. I sit at home in contemplation of the long list of things that we'd like to get done, some sooner than later, and feel somewhat overwhelmed. Remember when we were at Paiute Place and most of our really big projects were completed? Ahhh, those were the days!  Why is it that I'm always so motivated to get things done on the house while I'm sitting at my desk at work?  That motivation tends to die down by the time Ava the Avalon gets me home.  I'm not too concerned.  It just takes a few great kitchen remodel DIY shows and I'm revved up again.  Perhaps I should start watching those sooner than later...

Meanwhile, the backyard has been taking on a life of its own. From wild and crazy blackberry bushes to random rose bushes to weeds and shiz everywhere else, it's a jungle out there!  Let us not forget the wildlife of all kinds roaming the grounds, including skunks.  What is it about the Heights that attracts the skunks?!

Here are some samples of the rose bushes from a few months ago randomly grouped on the side of the house...because that's a good place for rose bushes! I'm not quite sure what the thought process was when these were planted on the side of the house (aka the RV access).

"Painting the roses red..." (Click image to make larger)

The wild and cRaZy blackberry bushes are yielding some fabulous berries. I reckon we won't keep ALL of the bush being that it takes up quite a bit of space so we're going to enjoy the berries while they are in abundance. I've found two recipes (thanks to our beloved Food Network Magazine and a fellow blogger) to make with berries so far.   Have berry recipes you'd like to share?  Please do!

15 weeks Pregnant

15 Weeks

So proud of my little belly at this point! I'm sporting my "belly band" (thanks, Mom!) since I couldn't zip up my skirt all the way in this photo.

Being pregnant is great-

• My boobs are getting bigger :)
• I get to go shopping for new clothes
• Libido sky rockets!!!!
• Nausea is gone
• My hair and nails are growing like crazy
• I'm surfing the web daily looking at the cutest baby things

The only not-so-good part:

• I get tired easily
• All this fun costs money!

We find out in a week or so if it's a boy or girl.  An 18-week pic is coming soon!

Extreme Couponing: Turner Edition

I've been on a coupon kick since the beginning of the year. Between Extreme Couponing on TLC and a local coupon group, I've been intrigued by the bargains to be had.  Nothing like the extreme couponers spotlighted on the show because our stores won't double coupons.  While being in California puts us at a serious disadvantage, there are still deals to be had!  It's really the thrill of it all.  Plus, who wants to pay real money for poopoo things like razors and Ziplocs?!

My latest achievement was at Target today. I LOVE Target!!!  This is probably one of my biggest triumphs with couponing to date! Take a look:

Four boxes of ZipLocs

Four pkgs of four Shick Quattro razors

Two Oral B floss

One container of TicTacs

One pkg Zantac 150

The purchase of the razors yielded two $5 gift cards, bringing down my net total to 

$12.95

Of course, because Target is going through some mad clearance thing right now, I found a few extra items that I considered to be bargains:  

One pkg of mayo/mustard/ketchup

One MadGab card game

I'd still consider myself a novice at this stuff.  Being at that register with my book of coups, fingers crossed hoping that the plan works as described on various other coupon blogs, can be a tad stressful.  However, the worst thing that could happen is that they won't honor the deal and I walk away!  No money lost.  

While I'm still a novice, I met someone in the ZipLoc aisle in Target today.  I had been there trying to decide whether my ZipLoc bag purchase was a real deal or not.  FYI - it was a GREAT deal on ZipLoc brand sandwich and snack size bags, perhaps even the gallon size.  Target brand bags were the same price.    With the coupons, ZipLocs were actually cheaper, so why not.  However, the freezer bags weren't such a deal.  I had to check myself as I placed those freezer bags in the cart and then removed them.  It's definitely a better deal to buy Target brand freezer bags than Ziploc bags unless there's a really terrific sale, FYI.  Anywho, so I see this woman with her binder of coups and she's flipping through them.  I thought she would be able to assist me with her coupon knowledge.  WRONG!  She can't print coupons from the internet!!!  HELLO!!  That's where half the deals are!  I didn't feel like such a novice after all.  Girl looked like she walked the walk but in the end, she wasn't worth much to my coupon experience.  Good luck to her!  I proceeded with my project.

What are your favorite coupon blogs?  What's your most exciting coupon adventure?  

Dontcha just love Target?

What do you get when a boy and a girl LOVE each other???

Baby Turner arrives in January 2012!

For now, we refer to our bundle of joy as our "Gummy Bear" or "Little MacFarland"... and we can't wait to find out if it's a cute little boy or girl that will join our family... one thing we do know for sure, he or she WILL BE cute! :)

Lindsay is nearly done with her first trimester- she experienced a couple weeks of nausea and all the glorious (not!) side effects- but she is feeling better each passing day as she makes sure to schedule in enough rest in her busy schedule.

The doctor said our little Gummy Bear has a strong, healthy heartbeat.  We're one proud mommy and one proud daddy and we are excited to share this joy with all of you!

What do you think?  BOY or GIRL?

Check back to the blog to join us in the journey and watch Lindsay GROW :)

XOXO

Like a Ton of Bricks!

What's that burning sensation you're feeling?  That's from our newly renovated fireplaces at the Manor!  Yes folks, we've gone from fireplace facades that would make you want to slap on a harness and repel to those of a more classic look.  Probably the most expensive but much needed reno to date was the removal of the sandstone rock and the installation of a ton of bricks for not one but two fireplaces.  We have dual fireplaces, one opens to each the family and living rooms.  Pretty nifty, eh?  

If this doesn't scream "HELP ME" I'm not sure what would!

Family Room Fireplace

As you can see, this particular 'place had a bit of a spit up problem.  

Living Room Fireplace

We're just not sure how this look was every popular!

Off with the climbing rock!

The rock coming off this thing was real, not that fakesy fakesy look alike stuff!  We had to have our very talented masonry come and handle the project for us.  

Due to an issue on the backside of this particular side, 

smoke was not able to properly escape through the chimney.

Hence the spit up problem mentioned earlier.  

(See below, right hand side)

The Help (Buffy and Amber).

It was quite fascinating watching the progress of our new fireplace(s).

He did his math in the mastic!  Ya do what ya gotta do!

 

He applied a layer of mastic over the upper half so 

that we would have some sort of finished surface to work from.

Family Room

Living Room

 I ended up sheet rocking and painting that upper half on both sides.

What you're seeing here is a more finished product.  

Join us next time for our living room transformation!

For additional photos of the fireplace project, visit our online photo album.

Welcome to the Manor!

The very first time I drove by the Manor, I knew we'd be lucky to get it!  It was so cute and had so much charm.  Unlike these newer housing tracks with a minimum of ten houses an acre and absolutely no yard to speak of and each looking like the next, this charming neighborhood consists of individual uniquely styled homes.  The Manor was built in 1964 so you know it was built well.  After speaking with the neighbors, many a family have lived here.  We purchased it from a ninety year old grandpa who liked to sit in his chair in the dark and paneled living room and cut out pictures of sexy women to hang on his wall.  He just got too old to take care of the property but we could tell that he had until he couldn't.

     From the sandstone rock fireplace to the stained blue carpet to the paneling on the wall, this place needed work but we never let that fool us.  We could see the potential this place had!  Okay, so maybe I had to convince L a little bit but, luckily, she bought into it and here we are!  While there is still so much to do, we've come a long way and we absolutely love it!  There's work to be done but so potentially incredibly marvelous!

With that being said, here are pictures of the very first project we started the night we got the keys -

There once was a wall between the family room...

...and the dining room.  The dining room was a cave between the family room and the kitchen.

EWWW GROSS!  Let's lighten things up!  Off with the paneling!!

Let's see what's behind wall number 1...

...the makings of an open floor plan!  Sarah would be so proud!

The room then required a beam because there once stood a load bearing wall.  Isn't it cute?  BTW - this is all on the backside of the house.  That cute little door there goes to the backyard.  If you look straight back passed the fireplace, you'll see a white wall with black spots.  That's the master and those are tar spots that held up the wall o' mirror!  Note the disgusting blue carpet and the naked fireplace.  More on that another time.

Before

 After

As you can see we've made a huge difference already and THIS party has only begun!  Stay tuned and we'll show you how we transformed our hideous 1964 fireplace into the magnificent gem you see here!

For additional photos of the family room project, visit our online photo album.