My last day at my current gig will be on a Wednesday so I will also make sure to enjoy 2 days to myself before the transition begins. Fingers crossed all goes well, and thank God for answered prayers!
Monday, January 27, 2014
2 Weeks!
Some good news came to Hawthorn Drive last week, actually some GREAT news! 2 weeks from today I will be starting a new job in the marketing department of a large credit union here in the metro and I am so, so, SO excited! I will be a business development specialist and it will be a creative sales position so it will merge my two biggest passions into one job, that I will hopefully deem a career. Murph and I have been praying for months that a position like this would open up and that I would be a good fit, and I am confident this is where I am supposed to be. It took two interviews and a box of warm cookies but I got it. Woot woot! Celebrations have already commenced and I have been the lucky recipient of
some amazing office goodies that I just can't wait to use. I also spoiled myself a bit and picked up a new Naked2 eye shadow palette and a Clarisonic.
My last day at my current gig will be on a Wednesday so I will also make sure to enjoy 2 days to myself before the transition begins. Fingers crossed all goes well, and thank God for answered prayers!
My last day at my current gig will be on a Wednesday so I will also make sure to enjoy 2 days to myself before the transition begins. Fingers crossed all goes well, and thank God for answered prayers!
Monday, January 6, 2014
QUICK UPGRADE
Two new lights went in this weekend at Hawthorn Drive as well as a new ceiling fan. One ceiling fan to go, one closet light fixture and possibly another new fixture in the laundry room (not loving the $15 fix we did in there) and we will be calling it a wrap in the lighting department! I can't believe we've got them almost all changed out! We went from a pair of mismatched brushed nickel fixtures to some ORB beauties that match the other fixtures in the house. Do you know how hard it is to find a flush-mounted ceiling fixture that does not look like a boob light? I'll tell you nearly impossible. Thankfully after some hard work I found two non-offensive fixtures at Lowe's for only $49 a pop, that's a steal in my book!
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| These old guys made my eyes bleed |
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| Much better .... now about the oak EVERYWHERE! |
We are also almost done with the great outlet / switchplate change out with only our bedroom to go and a switch in the laundry as well. For me it's the little things like fresh white switches and covers that make me breathe easier when remodeling this 90's gem we live in.
What else is on tap in the reno department this year? We've been talking about painting our 2nd guest room and our bedroom, then every room and ceiling will have a fresh coat on it. I've also got plans to get some furniture repainted and some photos up on our walls!
PROMOTED!
Now that it's official I can officially announce it here. Murph got a promotion! If you asked me what he does I would have a hard time explaining it though :) You see he's a computer programmer, which means he is insanely logical in his thinking processes, whereas this girl ... not so much. What I can accurately report on is that he works in the claims area at a large insurance company here in the metro and has been there since he graduated college. While we were on vacation in October I received a call from his boss on my phone, which was odd, and when Murph called him back I watched his jaw drop as they talked. He told me he had the opportunity to take a promotion, and after some conversation he took the leap! Then we waited, and waited, and waited .... two months later he was finally able to transition into his new role as a Lead Application Systems Analyst. Congrats Murph, I am so insanely proud of you!
Friday, December 27, 2013
YEAR IN REVIEW
It's hard to believe we are getting ready to wrap up 2013, such a cliche but where on earth does time go? Here's just a quick look at our last year, one filled with so many blessings!
January - We decided to tackle a renovation on the first floor of our home. What started as an innocent trip to look at flooring turned into a project we won't forget! We spent the last 2 weeks in January ripping out all of our flooring and sanding and painting our cabinet bases white.
February - Renovations continued with sanding, sanding and yes more sanding. After 3 weeks of that routine we found ourselves with beautiful white cabinets. I am happy to report almost 1 year later, we are still chip free! After 6 weeks without a floor we had beautiful handscraped looking laminate installed on the first floor as well, it was a glorious sight, and we were happy to no longer wear shoes while at home. We also made it to BaconFest, making it the most delicious month of the year!
January - We decided to tackle a renovation on the first floor of our home. What started as an innocent trip to look at flooring turned into a project we won't forget! We spent the last 2 weeks in January ripping out all of our flooring and sanding and painting our cabinet bases white.
February - Renovations continued with sanding, sanding and yes more sanding. After 3 weeks of that routine we found ourselves with beautiful white cabinets. I am happy to report almost 1 year later, we are still chip free! After 6 weeks without a floor we had beautiful handscraped looking laminate installed on the first floor as well, it was a glorious sight, and we were happy to no longer wear shoes while at home. We also made it to BaconFest, making it the most delicious month of the year!
March - We were sick. Man that was a rough month. Fevers, cough, congestion, misery. That's how we lived. Our biggest accomplishment was installing cabinet hardware. We wrapped up the month by spending Easter weekend in KC with Murph's family.
April - This was a fantastic month to say the least. Our biggest accomplishment of the year was fully paying off my student loans. We both took some time off for a mini-staycation and enjoyed beautiful Spring weather. Murph went to the Drake Relays, we got our bathroom 100% in working order downstairs and we moved one step closer to our renovation project nearing completion.
May - We celebrated our first anniversary with a night out at Johnny's. It was hard to believe we had been married a year.
June - Murph ran Dam to Dam and I ran the 5k. Our kitchen finally started coming together with new chairs to go around our loved table from my Dad's store, and finally 6 months later we were able to install the trim on the first floor and call our renovation a wrap! Murph and I also headed back to KC to enjoy a concert together and spent some much needed time with his brother's family.
July - July started off with a bang and a long 4th of July weekend. We went hiking with the pup and watched him swim for the first time. Murph also turned the big 3-4!
August - Another month of fun began by celebrating Murph's Grandpa's 90th birthday! We also celebrated my 29th birthday along with my bestie Nic's 30th with our annual boat trip on Big Creek. I decided to train for the Des Moines half-marathon and was sidelined early in the game with some neck troubles, but made a full recovery by the end of the month. We also enjoyed DSM's Restaurant Week with a night at my favorite place, Alba.
September - This was a quiet month. We pretty much laid low, enjoying lots of college football and a couple of trips home.
October - Time for some vacation! We headed to northern Wisconsin for a week of relaxation ... and a car accident. After taping our car together we spent a few days hiking and attending a wedding in the Minocqua area. We also made a stop to visit friends in the Twin Cities and went to Minnehaha Park and the Nook in St. Paul before heading back home. After returning home we had just a couple weeks until our big half-marathon. It was one heck of a cold morning but we were both happy with our finishes.
November - We spent November being humbled because our car was in the shop for 6 weeks. This may sound trite but, having two vehicles is such a blessing and we were reminded of that daily in November. We spend Thanksgiving in Lake City and celebrated Murph's Grandma's birthday that same weekend. Murph and his Dad also took down some trees at Hawthorn Drive, making a big impact to the front of our house.
December - We celebrated the season with our good friends by having our 2nd annual holiday progressive dinner where I proved to everyone I can still slam a beer college style ;) We also were able to spend the Holiday's with our family which was fantastic. My Gram turned 94 on Christmas and we were blessed to be with her for the majority of the day.
Clearly 2013 was a year of wonderful happenings for us, here's to a 2014 that will be even better!
Monday, November 18, 2013
BYE BYE BIRCH
Saturday Murph and Denny tackled a big project on our radar, tree removal. We had a group of birch trees on the west side of our house that were always cause for a little concern. The birch seemed pretty weak and were generally taking over the side of our house. So Denny manned the chain saw while Murph did the pushing and I went and got my hair done so I didn't have to watch any trees land on my loved ones or our house ;) We are glad to have a few less leaves in our future, more light in our bedroom and a cleaner look to the house in general. This makes me even more excited to the exterior done because now we will be able to see it! Thanks again Denny for helping us out.
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| Summer: LOTS of tree going on here |
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| Before |
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| After |
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