Saturday, April 3, 2010

mi casa es su casa

well, i love conference for an infinite number of reasons.

reason # 1: my lil dry spiritual canteen exceeds capacity after the first musical number by the choir.
reason # 2: i now get to see my utah home...without actually being there...and yet it makes me feel like i'm there. like i'm home. it's wonderful.
reason # infinity: i get to feel the love my Heavenly Father has for me and all of his children. and what greater feeling is there than that really?
and somewhere in there is reason # thirty something...which is that it gives me a minute or two or four-hundred-eighty...to sit, listen, reflect..and do mindless things i often neglect, like organizing pictures.

hence, i finally organized my house post. i don't think anyone will appreciate this more than me, M, & M's dad (ok and maybe Jeff)...all of whom were helpers in this rennovation project we now call home. but, alas, it was a lot of work, and a lot of work always is worthy of a fairly lengthy blog post (one which includes a hefty amount of pictures..luckily downsized by the miraculous invention of "photo collages").

so, without further adieu, let me introduce you.....to....
ouuurrr house!


i will now divide this post into three parts: BEFORE pictures, DURING pictures (which include some heavy, intense demolition pictures), and the most exciting part, AFTER pictures (which really should be called "PRESENT" pictures...aka, "pictures taken at the present time, which in no way reflect an end result, but rather a work in progress"). ok. so here we go:

BEFORE PICTURES:
(take note of the awesome teal tub/toilet combo, the sweet floral wall-paper, the ghetto pool, 1/3 filled with murky-turkey water, and the awesome wood paneling that sandwiches the fireplace. this place was rockin' when we first saw it).


 DURING PICTURES: 
(demolishing things isn't really my thing...but i've never seen M or his dad so happy than they were when they showed us the pictures and videos they had taken of the pool being destroyed by the Bobcats. wow. also notice the pic of M underneath the house...now that's a tight crawl space. finally, you should know that we completely gutted the bathrooms-- tore down a wall to make a bigger shower, and did a lot of other crazy crap that i can't even remember. and when i say "we"...i actually mean M and his dad. and this usually all happened between 10 pm and 2 am on weekdays. awesome).


AFTER PICTURES:
(as aforementioned, these are not so much "after pictures" as they are "after the destruction" pictures. this means that we still have much to do...these are simply pictures of the house now being livable...this includes {but is not limited to}: new carpets, new doors, fresh paint in every room and on every ceiling, new floorboards, new light fixtures, new closet doors, and brand spankin' new everything in the bathrooms {yes they did those incredible tile jobs themselves. no they are not for hire}. our most recent beast is now: LANDSCAPING. dun dun dun....hence, a very empty, dirt-ful backyard).

and just because i'm a girl...and i know you'd appreciate these little details, i thought i'd share my two most favorite decorations in our house at this point:


and, not to be redundant, but that all resides inside this lil casita in the middle of our street:


and thus concludes the massively overloaded, long awaited post about our new lil house here in beautiful Northern California. hopefully it did not disappoint.

oh, and consider this an open invitation to come and visit anytime. bed & breakfast is our specialty (my fave is waffles or french toast, but i'd be more than willing to adjust and cater to your faves, wants, and/or needs).

xoxo
p.s. a special warm thanks to Rick for being the spine of this whole process, Jeff for your countless hours of painting, Lynne for watching Ellie all those days + afternoons while i painted, projected, or unpacked yet another box, and M for being the heart and soul behind this whole thing...i love you all -- a day doesn't pass that i don't think of you and how immense your contribution has been to our happiness in our first home. hug, hug, triple hug.
p.s.s. please note that i am aware there are TONS of empty walls, and tons of empty spaces everywhere. decor is on my to-do list....and i hope to share some of my favorite finds in the future.. ok, now i'm really done.

27 comments:

ClaysJenna said...

Marci...I LOVE IT!!!! Can I come visit?? I want to see you, Ellie {'cause I haven't even MET her yet} and that beautiful house. it doesn't even LOOK like it COULD have been the same you did such a great job. It's beautiful!! I love the picture of Ellie in the dirt. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!

Hilary said...

It is beautiful! I talked to jen the other day, and she was telling me how beautiful your house is. I think I need to plan a trip to see it. miss you tons! Kudos to Mike and you for ALL the hard work.

Unknown said...

Marci, it looks AMAZING! I'm so blown away and how much work you guys did. The kitchen is gorgeous! What a dream! And you've been pregnant for most of it! I'm very impressed. I wish we could come see it ourselves! Give Ellie a kiss from me!

Jenny said...

I have one word for you: J-E-A-L-O-U-S!!!
Everything looks amazing.

The Fredy Family said...

Loving that kitchen!!!! We remodeled our bathroom, kitchen, floors, and windows with a 4 month old. I can symphatize!!! Great work!

Mat and Brooke said...

Beeeeautiful!! I love it, Marce! Had NO idea you were demolishing nearly the entire house and building it back in your own little (big) way!! It turned out amazing. I truly love every bit of it! Congratulations to you on your very first home sweet home. :)

Courtney said...

Looks amazing, can't wait to see it in person. I will have to make the trip sometime soon. I can't believe how big and open all of the rooms look, I love it!!!! How fun and exciting, decorating is so fun, I'm glad you get to have a house to decorate.

Ashley said...

Holy moly it looks amazing!! I too love a red kitchen. Very sassy and lovely. Can I come visit you someday when we're off the island? :) Ok. thanks.

Amber said...

You have a beautiful home and I really admire you guys for being patient enough to remodel all that. I can't wait to have a beautiful home some day.

anne said...

Well that's a LOT of work. It looks absolutely FABULOUS! Great job to M and M's dad...and you too. :)

C and MC said...

holy smokes! good work! It is so fun to see all the pictures of the whole process, where we don't have to go through the hard work like you guys did. It looks fabulous though.

Kade & Jess said...

That is awesome! It looks great! I just wish there would have been a picture of you with a tool belt.

Lea Tame said...

Wow! I love it! I can't wait to see it in person!

Heather said...

I love the red kitchen! It makes me tired just reading your post. You guys have done a lot of work and it looks amazing!

ThE oLdHaM's said...

Marci I love love love it! I love the red kitchen! i love the bathroom and I love the fireplace in the living room. Don't you just love having your own space that you can do absolutely whatever you want with it?!?!? I love it! You guys did a great job!

Shaylee said...

Your house looks awesome Marci! I bet that feels amazing, especially after putting in all the work yourselves. It definitely paid off!

Linda said...

And one more time CONGRATULATIONS to all of you...Rick, Lynne, Jeff, Mike and Marci and of course Ellie who has been a trooper through all the changes and projects. I am very wowed at the team work involved and therefore the results are shared in such a special way. I am sorry that we were not around to help... since we were moving at the same time ( what are the odds of that!) I am so proud of you all. It was way fun to come visit and can't wait to do it again. I am excited for you to come this weekend to see your home here! Projects still going on! But I am thrilled to have you! I love you. Abrazotes, MOM

Ashley Myntti said...

I love it, Marci!!! I can't wait to come and see it in real life (the waffles and French toast sound great to me!). I wish we were closer so we could go decor shopping together cuz that is on my to do list too (as soon as I can walk more than ten feet anyway!). Love ya tons!!!

Jons and Celeste Leigh said...

Marci!

WOW. {Where do I even start?}
You guys have really been busy. I can't believe how much work you guys did. I didn't realize you did such an extensive remodel. The finished project is beautiful right down to every lovely detail. We love you guys and miss you guys so much. We are SO thrilled about your pregnancy. Sending you hugs and love xoxo

...can't wait to visit sometime-we'll bring the chips & salsa :)

mere/tay(xoxo) said...

taylor is jealous of mike's handy man skills. beautiful work. you turned a house into a home. way to create sista!!
so......let me explain my header. it is indeed a little odd. if i had to explain it in just a few words....remember happy gilmore's happy place??
the other day tay was doing some violent yet funny photo shop thing and was sending it to his brothers. i told him that he could do a more peaceful and happy photo shop picture and he said "prove it" so i did.
we call it mereland.
love you.

Amber Jenks said...

You're house is BEAUTIFUL! I love the red kitchen.. It looks so great!

Anonymous said...

Your house is so cute i love it!! I bet you are so glad that you are done with it all and that you are in your house. We are still unpacking our house lol it feels like we will never be done but i am sure we will be done one day lol.

Tiffany Johnson said...

LOVE the red kitchen!!! My sister in law's kitchen is that color and I LOVE IT! I'm super jealous! :-) I love all that you did to your house. It looks so nice! I want to come visit!!!!! :-)

Tiffany Johnson said...

LOVE the red kitchen!!! My sister in law's kitchen is that color and I LOVE IT! I'm super jealous! :-) I love all that you did to your house. It looks so nice! I want to come visit!!!!! :-)

bartonbeat said...

such a beautiful home and we were so lucky to see it in person!!! mike seriously worked it--and all from learning on his own, that's pretty amazing! cant wait to come and visit again soon. give Ellie a hug from Wade. xoxo

Kimberly said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE your beautiful house! I can't wait to come visit and see it in person. Congrats! So exciting!

KO said...

Wow... you sure have had your hands FULL!! Great job!