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Month: March 2012

  • Crown Molding

    There are two things that Wade and I swear we will never do again…but somehow we forget the pain of it (like child birth) and end up finding ourselves doing it again…over and over.  Laying tile and putting up crown molding.

    Way back in September of 2009, we decided to redo the floors, pulling up the carpet and adding laminate.  In the middle of undertaking this project, we decided to paint since the floor was up we would not have to put down drop cloths.  Of course when we went to paint, we decided to add a double crown molding to the entire entry/kitchen/living area.  We bought the molding, I primed and painted it and we went to put it up, we found out that our cheap little miter saw was not going to cut it (literally) for what we needed to do.  We painted the wall where the crown molding would go up and then left it.

    For 2.5 years.

    One fine March day in 2012, I woke up and decided I was tired of looking at this 1/2 way done paint/crown molding job.  (The picture above was taken after we had already started hanging the pieces.)  I went and bought a new miter saw and told Wade to put it on his calendar because the next weekend we were going to finish the project we had started over 2 years ago.

    And we did.

    Although we did not finish the ENTIRE project in one weekend, we were able to get the long pieces up.  Then over the next 2 weeks, I came back and cut the corners (having rounded corners meant a small one inch piece in each joint), caulked, and touched up the paint.

    FINALLY we finished!  I am so happy how well it turned out.  But I swear we will never do crown molding again…

  • Losing a cell phone

    In the 16 years I have had a cell phone, I have yet to lose one.

    When Wade and I got iPhones 4 years ago, they did not have insurance on them.  Fine.  We have never needed it before…so no big deal.  Well…that all changes when you drop your phone in a lake and can’t reach it.  I still have not *lost* a phone.

    Luckily I keep everything backed up or in the cloud so I was not too concerned, I would just call AT&T on Monday and get a new phone.

    WRONG!

    I was informed that since I did not have insurance (which is now offered) and my contract was not up until October 2013, I would have to pay retail for the phone…to a tune of $650!!!  After searching I found that iPhone 4s are in demand and you basically can’t find them unless you want to pay the $650.  Sorry, I just can’t stomach that.  If I had insurance (at $7 a month), then I would just have to pay for a new phone at the new contract price ($200).

    I started looking and found that to add a line it would only be $10 more dollars a month.  Wade and I have talked about having another phone for the girls if they go somewhere to take with them.  So…I ordered a refurbished iPhone 4s and when it came in, activated it to my number and bought a cheap phone from WalMart for the additional number.  Even at $10 a month for the next 2 years, plus the cost of a new phone, that $390 is still cheaper than $650!!!

    Is it cheating?  Yes.  But we have had our account since 1992…they have made some money on us in those 20 years.  I don’t feel so bad.

  • The garden adventure continues

    Since my new found love is Pinterest, I am THRILLED that there is a gardening section on there.  I have gotten so many good ideas for improving the black thumb I have.

    And btw…if the weeds in your garden are any indication of how much you have sinned, then forgive me Lord because I sinned A LOT last year.

    I decided not to grow louffa this year since it just takes over the back of the garage. If the world comes to an end and we have to survive on what we can grow…I KNOW I can grow louffa to eat! Instead we are going to try chayote (a green Mexican squash that is supposed to be easy to grow) and cucumbers in this area, along with onions like I did last year.

    We finally invested in a “tiller” that attaches to the weed-eater motor.  Let me just say…this is NOT the easiest thing in the world to use since you have to hold it and till.  I took the tiller to the weeks and it worked pretty well.  I did have to stop and untangle the AWFUL Bermuda grass that would get wound up in the blades.  Every once in a while I would take a break from tilling to work on the garden project I found on Pinterest.  Basically it involved building an a-frame and attaching PVC pipes to it to grow stuff.

    The a-frame kicked my butt since I did not want a 45 degree angle.  In the end, I did a 20 degree angle, but started in the middle so the cut was not as sharp. (I had to use a circle saw for the cut.)

    I used a metal plate on one side and a 6″ x 6″ block on the other side to attach the two pieces together.

    Next came the PVC pipe. I bought 10′ drainage pipes with holes in the bottom. I did not want root rot from the soil, so I thought this would allow the dirt to breath a little and drain. I cut those in 1/2 so they were roughly 5′ long.

     

    I made a 2″ hole every 8″ for the plants, using a doorknob drill.

    I permanently glued on 1 end, so that the dirt can be emptied and refilled. Painters tape covered the holes so that I could fill the pipes and I tapped the pipes every few scoops since I wanted as little settling as possible.

    The girls helped get our starters into the new pipes.

    This is the finished product. We have the lettuce and other small plants off the ground and room for viney stuff underneath (yellow squash). I planted radishes in the front and will also plant a row of carrots as well.

    Wade’s plan is to build an irrigation system for the garden! That would help so much!!!

  • Laundry Room Makeover (sort of)

    This project comes from the Ana-White website.  Our laundry room is a nice size with the washer, dryer and a full sized fridge.  On a typical day, it looks like this (just keeping it real):

    So I set to work in the garage and had the girls help paint. We built 2 boxes to hold 3 baskets for the laundry.

    And now the laundry room typically looks like this:

    I was able to get the stuff off of the washer and dryer and put them on shelves. Not to mention it just looks nicer than the laundry bags.  I have bigger plans for the room, but for now this has helped a TON!