Vegas Vacation

With a whole month off to play, we decided to go home for a short visit. This was not just a vacation, but a reconnaissance mission - we really needed to decide this summer whether or not we will go back to Vegas once our Palmer experience is complete. We were lucky to be able to plan our vacation around the family reunion, since we haven't been able to participate for years. The family reunion is usually a huge ordeal with all of the kids and grandkids coming from all over the place. There are usually some activities planned, and this year the boys were planning on playing paintball. Randy was pretty amped for that and borrowed some equipment to take along.





After spending a couple of days in HOT-HOT-HOT Vegas lounging by the pool, we escaped to the boonies up near Ely where Randy's folks live. It is pretty relaxing up there, not to mention cooler than Vegas. We lounged around outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather.





Randy was able to get his brother, Ray, and his neice, Brit excited about the paintball experience; They did a little practicing outside the night before battle.





On the morning of battle, everyone met at the mountain all camo'd out and ready for war. Of course, there was a lot of trash talk between teams starting the day before, so emotions (and adrenaline) were running high. The teams were pretty uneven...our side had very little battle experience (unless you count 'Call of Duty' on PS3) and they pretty much got slaughtered. The only high point for our side was when Jordan actually connected a shot and sent Uncle Roger out of the game. It turned out to be alot of fun, especially for us "watchers"...we could see the battle on both sides.







Well, we had a great time overall...hanging out with family and relaxing. As for our reconnaissance mission...well, we decided that Vegas was not a place we want to go back to live. Really, it's just way too hot, way too crowded, and just way too fast for us. So, now we just need to decide where we will end up.

Are we done yet?

Well, it's been 11 months...yes, 11 MONTHS...since we began our little remodeling project. I truly thought this would be completed by the Christmas break...of course I didn't think it would be Christmas of the NEXT year! Fortunately, I can see the end of this journey of all things kitchen ...cabinets, countertops, appliances, paint, flooring, etc. What exactly did we do to our humble little kitchen? We started by removing all drywall and replaced the old window since it was old and incredibly drafty. We replaced the old electrical boxes and added some new ones, then installed new drywall. We taped, textured and painted the walls. (Now, to be fair, when I say "we" I am really meaning Randy for the most part). We found cabinets that we had to put together and install ourselves at our very favorite store (The Home Depot) and Randy did a great job, although it took FOREVER to get them all in. We installed a nice deep granite sink with a tall faucet and a cool push-button garbage disposal. Oh, and Randy put in plumbing for a dishwasher! I've never NOT had a dishwasher and it was killing me! Our countertops are finally completely installed (they were just laying on the cabinets with gravity holding them for the longest time. As soon as summer break started Randy installed the flooring, which I LOVE!! The only thing left to do are the baseboards, crown molding and door trim. We will do that when we finish the basement. Yes...we started another project. Hopefully this one won't take so long :)

Let's Catch Up

Okay, so I don't blog...at least until now. A lot has been going on since we moved to this place last summer. I find that Davenport is definitely NOT as nice Iowa City, especially since we are living in the "ghetto" but it is just a temporary step until we move back out west, wherever that may be.

The house is small...much smaller than we are used to, but we are adjusting. When we moved in to this humble little house I could not bring myself to even put my dishes away in the cabinets (they were just gross) and this triggered the never-ending remodeling project. We decided to remove the cabinets and replace them with new ones from Home Depot. Of course, if we were removing the cabinets, then the 1970's tile backsplash had to go to. That actually required removing drywall (not sure how they installed the tile but it just would NOT come off). Since the drywall was coming down we decided to replace the old wiring and electrical boxes with new. Oh, and the kitchen window was in bad condition so that had to go too. All in all we ended up gutting the kitchen and had to eat out ALOT. This was in August (on the 10th to be specific). It is now March. The last of the cabinets and countertops will be finished this Easter weekend, and we finally (as of Saturday) have a dishwasher and microwave!!!!!! No more dishes by hand - lucky me! Flooring goes in next weekend with trim, crown molding and new backsplash going in sometime in the near future. My rechargeable batteries for my camera won't recharge anymore, so I don't have any recent pics with my new appliances, but I will post them soon. So, in the meantime you can enjoy the pics of the old kitchen!