Hello long lost blog!

Well, seems like it has been ages since I have written on the blog...and a quick check of the histories proves that to be true!  The small amount of blogging that has been happening around here has been done by Jeff!  So in honor of him...and to get some updates on this poor blog, I will tell you about Jeff the Builder.

I know that some of you think that Bob is the builder, but, he never seems to visit our home, so Jeff has had to step into the building shoes.  While we have been REALLY enjoying our home, we have found that it is majorly lacking in storage.  I know what you are thinking...it is just possible that we have too much stuff.  It is possible, but I wish you could know how much stuff I really got rid of before we moved, and even after we moved, I filled 2 more boxes of stuff to donate.  I still may have too much, but my kitchen is smaller and I don't have as many closets.  My china and other fancy dinner ware had no home, and neither did any of our games (which is a major problem because we have tons!  and we love to play them.)  Money has been a bit tight around here--we have not been having good luck with our cars nor the ac--lets just say we have been bleeding money :)  which means we don't have a lot to play with. But wait!  Jeff's frequent travel means we racked up credit card points and we got a small chunk of change in gift cards to Home Depot.  So, we set out to make some storage units!

As you can see, there was a big need for storage!

On the first day, we borrow a truck from some friends (thank you again L&D!!) and headed over to the Homer Depot, I quickly learned something.  Hanging out in the wood area is just as boring as an adult as it was as a kid doing it with my Dad. (Sorry Dad!  I still love you!!)  Anyway, we quickly buzzed through the  gift cards and Jeff set to work thinking three times, measuring twice, and cutting once. 

Putting together the pieces once they were all cut...it took a lot of patience :)

Even I helped a little bit!  Do you love my hammer?  My Grandpa gave it to me!

And the 3 gargoyles are finished...and filled!

A close up :)



The inside! 

Jeff did and amazing job.  I was teasing him because the cabinets are very utilitarian--no frills and not gorgeous, so they are affectionately known as the gargoyles :)  They really have made a big difference in the space--and my sanity.  I was not happy that the 15 things we own that are actually worth something were hanging out in cardboard boxes just waiting to be broken!  

As you can see, there are still a couple boxes: 1 is pictures waiting to find a home, and the other is stuff from our childhoods...waiting for one more go thru and a better home.

 

It is so much nicer that I even have a little sewing/crafty nook.  Maybe I will actually use it!  Plus, now we can punch the bag without harming ourselves...or the crystal :)

The other major job Jeff has undertaken the last couple weeks was to give me a couple more shelves in the pantry.  We have 9 foot ceilings, but for some reason the shelving in the pantry only went up to about 6 feet.  I know most people can't reach higher than that, but I so needed the space for the huge kitchen things...like the roaster.  So, we once again hit up Homer Depot and Lowes actually :)  We bought the wood, Jeff zipped it out, and we painted it a lovely shade of mauve...it was $1 in the reject pile of paint colors.  We were going to try to color match what was in the pantry already, but it seemed a hassle, and let's face it...$1 is a way better deal than 12.


Jeff measured very carefully...made sure things were nice and level



Brackets to help hold the shelves up...they are gonna be loaded down!

Jeff working hard...or hardly working :)

Cleaning up after getting all the shelves in

Ta-Da!  The shelves are glued in and being held down by Gatorade....we are awesome :)

We finished up kind of late, so I only got half the stuff into the pantry last night and finished up today...I was really tired of tripping over bags of groceries :)

The 'mostly food side'

The 'mostly stuff side' :)

Anyway, I am pretty much excited about all of the new places to put things.  I am super thankful that Jeff is reasonably handy :)  What a guy!