Two posts in one day, WOW.
Tim is outside right now working on our fence. I am so excited about that! Our yard is going to be awesome this year. We’re putting up a 6 ft privacy fence all around the side yard, and then we’re going to put in grass and probably a sandbox and one of those huge wooden swingsets. It’s going to be like little kid wonderland, plus I will feel secure letting them be out there without me having to sit around outside, since it’s going to be all fenced in. Our bedroom currently has a window looking out onto that yard but we’re going to be putting in a French door so I will be able to have direct access into the yard, plus I’ll be able to check on them without having to go all the way out and open the gate. Also, I am going to have a massive veg garden this year, and we’re putting in a few fruit trees and shade trees.
I’m just so happy with my house! I love it. It feels homey, I love the layout, I love the high ceilings and all the natural light that comes in, and the location, and the huge yard. I am pleased with everything about it! I was worried that since it was a little bit out of town, I’d eventually resent having to make the drive, but instead, it turns out that I love the little bit of solitude and quiet we get, plus I’ve turned into a more efficient shopper. I thought it’d be a pain to have to do the whole yard pretty much from scratch but it’s actually awesome because we can make it exactly how we want to. There are some improvements we’d like to eventually do, such as turning our massive pantry into a playroom/media room for the kids and remodeling the kitchen, and turning the “sitting room” in our master suite into an office with its own door off the living room (rather than having to go through the bedroom)… but it’s nothing that we can’t live with for a couple of years.
Ok, so this post didn’t have a real point. I just like my house, that’s all. 
My town is small. It’s very small. The majority of places in town, including our old house, are three minutes from anywhere. Three minutes is the maximum amount of time it used to take me to get any place in town, including having to sit through stop lights (of which there are, I believe, a grand total of five.) I moved to a slightly rural area- an area with one very long, straight, two-lane street leading in and out. If you get to go the listed speed limits it takes roughly twelve minutes to get into town. This means:
- I will always be behind someone who is going anywhere from five to ten miles under the speed limit.
- Unless I am in front of a cop. Then it’s all clear ahead of me.
- I will forget at least three things every time I go to the store.
- But I will never remember to get all three things during the first trip back in.
- Any time I am running late, at least one of my children will need to poop. And then probably not be able to find their shoes.
I will get used to it eventually. I will stop forgetting things eventually. Until then I will waste too much gas driving into town for things like lemons and paper towels.
Tim is in Wyoming right now for another mine rescue competition. He works shift work- for a few days out of each month, he is on night shifts. He hasn’t had a night shift since we moved into our new house, as he took some vacation time for the move. So my first night without him in the house wasn’t just a night shift where he comes home at 7:00 am! It’s a run of five nights and six days and I’ll admit, it was a little creepy the first night. I’m getting braver by the minute though. Wait… what was that sound?
Keegan’s bedroom before-
Keegan’s bedroom after- the only DONE room. We decided his room was first priority when he started asking “Go home? Go home?” the first night we spent here. Aww.
Hailey’s room before- same as Keegan’s room, but turned the other way. She picked this room and I don’t know what made her choose this side over the other side.
And after! We were going to do a chair rail originally and then she saw this princess border at Wal-Mart. It sucks though and we’re having a heck of a time getting it to STICK so we might just do the chair rail after all!
Kids (and visitors) bathroom, before-
Kids bath after-
Master bedroom, before- (the control for the sprinkler system is in the master bedroom. Why? Who DOES that? So we are brainstorming on a clever way of hiding it. I am thinking of getting a little treasure-chest thing or something and then drilling a hole out the back and hiding it in there. Hmm.)
Master bedroom, after! I think I am going to make a duvet cover for our comforter. It matches a little TOO close. Where is the bed?!
This is the sitting room off the master bedroom… before.
And after, full of clutter! This is a room I need to tackle. It’s going to be used as storage/office/workout room. Right now it’s just a mess though.
Master bath, before. UGH. The only room that was not white in the whole house- and it was school bus yellow! Everything! Even the ceiling and the trim around the door and the baseboards! WHHHYYYYY!!!????
Master bath, after. Ahhh, much better.
Well, almost. I couldn’t reach the highest points because the ladder wouldn’t fit in the shower stall. Um. We have a really tall friend. Maybe if I loan him some heels…
 Also, the floor in the master bath is YUCK. Someone smoked only in the master suite- my theory is that she rented it out or had someone staying with her long-term. The ceilings in the bath, bed, and sitting rooms were all discolored and it was pretty smelly. The floor in the master bath is really yellowed and every time I scrub it, the wash water comes out smelling like smoke. Ew. We’re going to replace that soon. So remember, kids: don’t smoke. It stinks and is bad for you and turns your floor yellow.
Ok, moving on….
This is the laundry room. One day I might paint my laundry room but that day is not today. Tomorrow’s not looking good either. I am really flippin sick of painting!
And I don’t think I will be painting the pantry. The pantry doesn’t need paint to achieve greatness. This is the Pantry To End All Pantries.
 No, that’s not all! This is the REST of the pantry… (it’s not really painted yellow at the top, my camera was just feeling creative)
Is that the hugest pantry you’ve ever seen?! I deliberately didn’t take ‘after’ pictures because it is STUFFED now. We don’t have a garage, though, so it’s good that we have all this storage. At least for now. Once we get a garage built and can move some of the clutter out, we’re thinking we might do a little remodel in the pantry area. We’ll see.
So that’s my house! The yard is nothing terribly exciting, we have a huge lawn in front but the rest of the lot is weeds and dirt- I mean, potential! We have a half and acre. Weird shaped, but large. It’s going to be fun to work on that. I am just really happy with this house. It’s so HUGE. The kids have room to run and run and run. I have 80,000 projects to do now too, so expect more pictures in the future as I complete stuff!
Going to have to break this into 2 or 3 posts, because I have a lot of pictures. We still haven’t hung any pictures on the walls except for in Keegan’s room, so the ‘afters’ are not final, but they’re a heck of a lot better than how it looked before! We took up the carpet and put laminate flooring in all the rooms except the kitchen/dining, bathrooms, laundry room, and pantry (the pantry had it already). We painted all the walls except in the pantry and laundry room. Took down many ugly curtains. Removed acres of yellow sunflower Contact paper from the kitchen. This has been a LOT of work but well worth it, I LOVE my house!! We got a little money back from overpayment on our title, and plus we had some extra that we’d budgeted to flooring, so we bought a new TV and stand for the living room.
Living room before
after (Dear Tim, your legs could use some sun. Love, Rach)
before… and Hailey runs through the picture…
after- I have a big orange wall!
and by big orange wall, I do mean big… some high ceilings up in here!
Kitchen, before…
After!
Dining room before…
Dining room after!
Hallway, before (door on the right is Keegan’s room, left is Hailey’s)
And after! (The first door on the right is the laundry room, second door is the kids bathroom, then the kids rooms are at the end of the hall.)
I’ll have to work on the rest of them later tonight or tomorrow, as I have a Tupperware party to go to in a few minutes and my son is wandering around the house nude…
We’re here, we’re in, we’re getting settled. Our internet connection seems to be a bit spotty. When I had a minute to post the other night, I couldn’t get online. Of course, right now, I have no time at all but I have a connection.
An update with pictures is coming soon… maybe not today, but soon! Stay tuned…
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