Front Porch Refresh

I have been wanting a screen door for the front for a very long time. I am a windows wide open, fresh breeze in the house kind of girl. We finally bought a very nice storm door with the help of my friend Jennifer.(Thanks again Jennifer for the anniversary gift card!) There were some other things I wanted to do to the entry but we were going to put them off and just install the storm door. Well during the process we realized that our old lock would hit the new handle on the storm door so we decided to go ahead and replace the lock on the front door. It was old and lose anyway but man those things are expensive. Then we decided to go ahead and do everything we wanted to do originally so quickly the prices started adding up. I painted the door a darker red and painted the trim. Everything looks so much better and I love having my front door open now. Of course we ran into problems along the way and it ended up being a two day project but it just wouldn't be a Sondgeroth remodel if we didn't have problems. I don't really have before pics but you can see the front door in our Landscape Remodel post.



Last weekend we were in Terre Haute helping my aunt move and then my brother move so I got some cute pics of Cameron. He is a very strong and happy little boy.

Landscape Complete

We have completed our landscape project and it practically looks like a new house. The mulch makes all of our plants stand out now and I'm so glad we did it. We also decided to carry the edging and mulch into the back and that's what the last pic is of. I think we will have to take a little break from projects for a while.

Before


After

Garage Re-model

So I know.....long time.....no post. I feel like we haven't been up to too much lately but with the weather warming up I'm sure we will be doing more. This weekend it felt like we were outside from sun-up to sun-down. Matt has been working on a project for a long time in the garage. He calls it "finishing" the garage eventhough it looked finished to me. According to him there was a crappy job done on the drywall tape when it was built so he ripped all that down and re-did it. He also added an outlet to a wall that had none and we did some major re-organization. Our garage does not always look as clean as the pics show, all of our stuff was in the driveway and we are considering getting a shed sooner than later. I helped him paint the walls and ceiling this weekend. It took several coats of paint and seriously took all day Friday and Saturday. We are both content not painting for a very long time. It looks great and like a brand new garage.

Before


After


So you would think that we would just have a lazy Sunday but we have already dug into our next major project....literally. We are updating our landscaping. Our house had a lot of really great existing landscaping when we bought it but a lot of the edging was worn and the mulch is pretty much non-existent. So those are the two things we are working on now. Today we have ripped up everything old, made a trip to Menards, and started laying down new landscape fabric. Considering how much area we have to cover we have made a big dent and will probably be finished next weekend. I will post pics then.

Guest Bath Re-model

So our first re-model attempt is complete and it was a success. We are so glad that we picked a small room to tackle first. We did everything ourselves and it was a major learning experience. There were a lot of issues that came up and of course we went over budget but it is a new and bright bathroom so it was worth it. The cabinets and fixtures were outdated, the floor was ugly, and the toilet was small and ran all the time. We replaced everything except the cabinets. I wanted to attempt to save the cabinets so I painted them and put hardware on them and I think they turned out ok. We layed down a tile floor, well I should say Matt because that was his major project and it looks great! New toilet, new light fixture, new sink and faucet, and we painted. The flash on my camera changes the color of everything but the room is painted a light yellow. I have to say the pictures don't do the room justice but I guess you will just have to come over and see it.......and by the way we are for hire if anyone wants to re-model :) The first pic is the before.
(Does anyone know if I can use my swiffer wet jet on tile????)

New Addition

After a lot of recent struggles with my Grand Am I finally bought a new car. I knew it would happen sometime this year but the issues with the Grand Am were costing more than the car was worth so it was time. And it got to the point where I would say a little prayer on my way to work each morning. I have been doing a lot of research on cars and decided that the Honda Accord was best for me and my daily commute. I found one that fits all my criteria and bought it on Valentine's Day. I love it and I know it will be a great car for me. It is a 2008 and is the fanciest car I have owned so I am still trying to adjust to it but once I get the windows tinted it will feel more like my own. And yes Mom and Wanda there are 4 doors because I was planning for the way way distant future :) We have been remodeling our bathroom and the car issues have postponed the completion date because of all the time it has taken from our weekends so I hope to post pictures next weekend.

Biggest Loser Update

So I haven't updated on the losing weight thing in a while. We are continuing to stick to the changes we made during the Biggest Loser competition. I am still tracking my weight with the women and Matt is tracking his mileage ran for the year to see how far he can go. After taking some time off during the holidays we are back on track and back to our end of competition weight. I have a goal I would like to meet at the beginning of February so we'll see if I can do it. Matt is around the weight he needs to be so he is focusing on running and strength training. I posted some pics to show our before and current progress. The first one is the most current picture of us and the second one was taken in September right before we started the contest.

My work and his work both just started a Biggest Loser contest and we were glad to say that we would not be participating because at this point we couldn't win.

Oh and here are the latest pictures received from Terre Haute that I had to share :)

Year of Babies

So in 2008 my life was blessed with more babies than I was use to being around. I went from no baby experience to doing any silly thing possible to make a baby laugh. I had three additions in my life and I wanted to share some photos of these precious little ones because I can't believe how fast they are changing. I love all three of them very much.

First born was my niece, Lucy Sky, born on April 18th. She is a wonderful baby and I hope I can be blessed with a baby just as pleasant as she is. She is my doll baby.

Lucy when she was born and the 2nd one is her at 8 months. It's amazing how they change.

Born next is my 2nd cousin, but he can call me Aunt Manna too if he wants. Kiyren Michael was born on June 30th at a whopping 10 lbs. He is very sweet and likes to snuggle and flirt. I can't believe how big he is.

The 1st pic is Kiyren at 4 weeks and the 2nd one is him at 5 months. He's probably 3 times the size of my little Lucy.

The third addition is still just a little guy and was born on December 16th, my nephew, Cameron Michael. He is precious and I could just hold him all day. He seems to like it when you sing to him and I noticed that he hums a lot. I can't wait to see more of his personality come out. My brother is doing great as a young dad and I am proud of him, but lucky for him (or unlucky)he has these two women to keep his butt in line.