What we did before he left

The House!

The house was bought back in October 2013.  It had carpet and popcorn ceilings and a lot of dog piss stains throughout the house. The previous owner had a lap dog but we won't hold that against her...

Before we moved in...

...Jeston decided to use part of the loan for the house to redo the floors, walls and ceilings - because he's smart and knows that an endeavor like changing floors, walls and ceilings should be done while the house is still empty.

So goodbye piss-stained carpet, goodbye popcorn, goodbye faded walls!  Hello wood laminate floors, smooth ceilings and paint.  You look so nice in your new home.

Not the final product

For the most part, it was ready for us to move in.  I had made a fun trip down to FL to pack up the rest of my belongings.  Got a little sidetracked with a mugging in downtown WPB (travel in groups of three everybody) but by Halloween we had a mattress, some new walls, floors and ceilings, and a bunch of furniture/appliances that our roommate Mark brought with him (THANK YOU MARK).

Then winter came.  

Having grown up in very hot climates my whole life (Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Florida), my body is not accustomed to dealing with the following weather patterns on a regular reoccurring basis:

• Ice
• Cold Rain
• Sleet
• Snow
• Really anything below 50 degrees Fahrenheit 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaz3Vf2lnt0

It's just not in my nature to handle being exposed to those circumstances constantly and from November to March I was kind of a cranky bitch.  So, I apologize if I offended or upset anyone, I just wasn't myself. I had to wear socks. And because of that we really didn't do any work on the house during those months.

But we did talk a lot about what we liked.  Jeston signed up for a Pinterest account so we could share ideas or inspirations of what we wanted. There were a lot of drunk nights talking about our plans for the kitchen, yard and decor themes throughout the house.  But not much action....just a lot of remodeling foreplay. 

SPRING

There's rain, humidity, sun, some chilly wind here and there, but the best part is that I can go without having to wear socks anymore.  

I hate socks. Yes, even in closed toe shoes. 

But I'm into Spring.  It was the perfect excuse to start fixing the mess that was the backyard.  And thankfully Jeston wasn't scheduled to leave until mid-April so I was able to use him and his manly strength for a few weeks. 

He dug some holes for me.  Ripped out a bunch of stupid looking plants, cleared out the back and front yard of random winter remains (leaves, branches, etc.) and piled it all up in a corner so I could start a compost pile.  There were a lot of weird concrete stepping stones and pavers used by the previous owners in the yard.  Those were all moved to a unified place to either be thrown out or used later...who knows.

We also planted an apricot tree and aptly named it our 'love apricot' because everyone measures their relationship through the growth of things.  And we decided not to grow any forms of animals (humans, pets, etc.) so instead we bought and planted an apricot sapling.  So hopefully it lives...or else we'll have to break up.

 

Sad little Love Apricot

Jeston dug a hole!

And then he left.  Off to Fort Lauderdale/Caribbean for rehearsals and dry dock and all the things that an audio engineer does to prepare for working and living 8 months on a cruise ship.  

From that point forward...the remodeling was on my shoulders.