Don’t ask Olivia what color her boat is… she’ll try to convince you that it is green. This is the newest addition to the “but Olivia would love it” collection.
Jon is currently out of town on business and I got Olivia to once stand still for a picture….I told her its for her daddy! Wanted to share.
For those that don’t know… I’m not much of a paper person. I’m cramming about 10 years worth of knowledge into (hopefully) about 4-5 months of exams and certifications. I figured its time to be semi responsible, and help my career a little if possible. This piece of paper is just above the entry level certification. I’m taking the “professional” level tests (3 of them), starting next week. I hope to have that done by mid-October. After that, well, we’ll see how it goes from there. There is basically one higher level exam, its silly hard, and cost a LOT of money to take… and I have to go to North Carolina to take it. As I said, we’ll see.
I thought I would save some money by putting in granite tile countertops from easygranitetile.com… I saved money all right, but the prep work about killed me! I had to weld up 3 different types of supports and make a million cuts on the concrete backer board, and that stuff is super dusty. The tiles are just setting in place, and are not level yet. Once they’re level it is difficult to see that its tile. I also have to grout it (grout lines are 1/8″). As you can see from the pics, we’ve also added a bar sink. Once the tiles are set, I’ll drill the hole for the faucet. There is also a small apron to cover the exposed wood along the edge of the counter. I’ve probably got another 6 hrs or so of labor left, but it should look really good. We’ll be doing backsplash after that, and then I BELIEVE the kitchen is done… no one really knows though.
Yup, 31 light fixtures in the kitchen and we’ve got a few more to install. No, you don’t turn them all on at once… it’d be like looking at the sun. They’re for different settings. Anyway, here’s a grainy low light photo of the new in/under-cabinet lights… which btw, I had to tear down every wall-mount cabinet to put these in and cut 2 holes in the wall. What a hassle.
It should look a lot better against black countertops and our awesome backsplash. Those should be here in 2 weeks.
We’re finally wrapping up the house. We still have a few projects left, but mostly easy ones… that cost a lot. We’re getting countertops and backsplash soon, we have the under/in-cabinet lights (need to install this weekend), paint the house (exterior), pour a new driveway, and build 2 retaining walls… and get a glass shower door made for the guest bathroom… and finish the basement… but thats basically it 
. It actually is a lot less work than it sounds like. I’ll have everything except the basement finished by the end of May, as long as our re-finance goes well. Anyway, here’s the new hood!
So… I got bored and started eating a little better in August. That went well, so starting the last week of September I started going to the gym. I started 2 days a week, then 3, now 4. I’ve lost 21lbs, 4″ from my waist, and dropped from 26.% body fat to 17.5%. Believe it or not, but by clinical standards I was considered to be obese in those first pics at 26.5% (25% and over is obese for my age). I hope to hit 10% without losing much more in the lbs dept, but that probably won’t be an easy task. I don’t want to be skinny, but I do want to fit back into 32″ pants! 34′s are loose so it should happen any minute now… until then, here are some progress pics from Oct and some from this week.
Note that I am sucking in for the pic in glasses
Also, its difficult to tell because of the facial hair, but my double chin is gone.
Update 18 Jan 11
We leveled and trimmed out the upper cabinets on one wall. The keen eye will see some wiring hanging down behind the cabinet. That is part of the in-cabinet and under-cabinet lighting that I mentioned the other day.
*****************
We’re moving right along with the kitchen. We leveled the base cabinets, installed toe kick and filler strips, and did some metal working to put in that nifty HVAC vent (yes, I’m going to paint it black). I’m starting on the upper cabinets tonight. They’re a little more involved than the base cabinets. We’re putting lights under each of them for the counter top, and inside each of the glass faced cabinets. Its a little silly, but we spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and really like it there. We will have 39 light fixtures in the one room though. 17 cans, above table fixture, above bar fixture, and the rest are a mix of the puck lights in and beneath the upper cabinets. It should look nice. Each set of lights is on a dimmer. Really, this is just us seeing what we like so that we can improve on the design in the next house. I will probably go with an automated lighting system to control the lights in the new home. Anyway, here is a quick peak at what its looking like. I’ll post more pics tonight after we do some of the upper cabinets.
