On the Horizon

It's hard to look to the future right now because so many things are uncertain, but Matt and I have been working toward something for awhile and our first major step is complete, so I feel the need to share.

We've sold our house.

We signed the closing docs in our car. If this isn't peak 2020, I don't know what is.

If you've been reading here for awhile, you know we bought our first house in the summer of 2014. Our plan was to do what we called a "slow flip"; our timeline was four years but it ended up being six.

2014

Our biggest overhaul was the kitchen. In the intervening years, we've also repainted the inside and outside and spruced up the landscaping just a bit. After Hurricane Irma, we got a new roof.

2020

We celebrated New Years and birthdays in this house. We buried Archie there and set up a little memorial for him. This is where we celebrated my promotion, half a dozen wedding anniversaries, and quite a few Passovers. This was a good first home filled with memories.

But it's time to move on.

Our last photo, taken on moving day.

This was a scary time to plan a move. We listed the house in early March, right before Coronavirus really impacted our area of the country. The house went under contract barely a week later. So, we were dealing with showings, realtors, appraisers, etc, while also dealing with finding a place to rent, all while avoiding people and the outside world as much as possible. During this time, school went fully remote and I was working from home full-time. (I still am.)

Things have been stressful, to say the least.

One of the biggest hurdles was finding a short-term rental because...well, the future doesn't stop for a pandemic. Our goal before COVID-19 was to move to Seattle; this had been a dream of ours for a couple years. Things were delayed, mostly by Irma, but now that the house has sold, the possibility is back on the table. If things fall into place, we will make the move this summer.

Luckily, we were able to find a place where a short-term/month-to-month lease was an option, so we have officially moved in and bought ourselves three months to figure things out.

Now that the sale of our house has closed and we've moved out, I feel less stressed. I can finally look ahead with anticipation rather than anxiety. Things are still uncertain, but in a this-is-an-adventure sort of way instead of a wtf-are-we-doing way.

As things settle down, I hope to go for my first run in three weeks, scope out some job options, complete the school year as successfully as possible given the circumstances, and stay healthy doing it. I hope you are all staying healthy and safe, too.

ABK

TOL - Just Some Things

Today I'm linking up with Amanda at Running with Spoons to share some random thoughts.

1. More kitchen stuff! Our kitchen island came! I spent over four hours putting it together all by myself. It was a pain because the instructions weren't clear about which way certain boards had to face, so I ended up taking it apart and starting over twice.

I insisted on building this all alone and it SUCKED but now I feel like I can do anything!

But it's gorgeous! I built the doors and drawer and lifted the granite top (which is real granite and so freaking heavy) and everything! I was pretty proud.

It was really hard to get a good angle in these photos but you get the idea!

I've already used it to prep breakfast and dinner and I'm so glad I finally decided to just jump in and buy one - Matt and I had debated getting an island for months but it was definitely the right choice. 

2. Self-love. This week I realized how far I've come in the "body acceptance" area of my life. Like, I've finally gone from "acceptance" to full on embracing my body.

Instagram always brings up a lot of fitness accounts when I'm scrolling through searching for new people to follow, and often that means "fitspo"-type posts come up. Looking at some of those photos this week, I found that I wasn't comparing myself to IG accounts of perfectly fit or impossibly thin women.

I've spoken only briefly of it in the past, but I've dealt with disordered eating and I was surprised and proud to see that my mindset has finally naturally shifted away from wanting a waif-like body. (Some people are naturally waif-like, and that's fine, but that's not me.) I've never been happier with where my body is and what it's capable of, and it felt really good to avoid that comparison trap completely without having to consciously readjust my mindset.

3. RUNNING! Getting four runs in last week, even if our "long run" was shorter than planned, felt so good. I told Elizabeth after one of my two runs in late December that my body and mind felt good after running even if my legs didn't - I forget how important running is to my over-all wellbeing. I am so, so happy to be running again.

It feels great to be back!

Elizabeth raised a good point when so many people teased us for wearing long sleeves on our run Sunday...It literally goes from 80+ degrees to 50s overnight in Florida. We never acclimate to winter properly because the temperature drops 30 degrees without warning! That makes me feel better about how cold I felt!

4. Conversations on the run. While running one afternoon, Elizabeth and I received a few more honks than usual. (One of them was very encouraging and called out, "Keep it up, girls!" but the rest were just obnoxious as usual.)

We'd been having a normal running conversation, but eventually I couldn't ignore how strange it was that we'd received more honks during this one run than on the last dozen combined.

Me: "I wonder if we look really good right now, or if we look like we're dying and need to be woken up. Or if they think this is our New Year's resolution and they're trying to encourage us?"

E: "I wonder if they'd honk at us if they knew we were talking about poop."

I died laughing. Seriously! I imagine the people who honk and catcall would be pretty surprised if we turned around and told them we'd been talking about how running wreaks havoc on your intestinal tract.

We joked a little bit about maybe getting shirts that say WE'RE TALKING ABOUT POOP on the back so drivers have fair warning. It might make a good deterrent!

5. Candids. And, just because, here's an outtake from our workout picture from Monday. An old student had stopped by as we finished up, so he took the photo, and we were joking around about how we should pose.

Me: Let's look really sad that our arms hurt now. E: You are a dork.

What are some random things going on in your life this week?
Have you ever built furniture? (IKEA counts!)

ABK

Kitchen Updates!

Well, it's been over a year since we got started on this project, but the kitchen is finally...done? I mean, we still have hardware to install on the cabinets and I'd still like a new fan...and the breakfast nook is still being used for storage...but the kitchen itself - backsplash, kickboards, and trim - are finished!

My goal is to have it all done by Passover this year, and we are slowly but surely coming to the end of this project. Good thing we've started another to fill up all that free time we'll have now! (More on that in another post.)

Here is what we started with when we moved in, June 2014:

The numbers are things we wanted to fix. See below.

1: eliminate space above the cabinets
2: take out the wall behind the sink that separates the kitchen from the living room
3: move the appliances (this corner construction was idiotic) and get new ones
4: new cabinets that don't all open in the same direction and aren't from the 1970s
5: new countertops

Here's what the kitchen looked like when we got started on the backsplash:

Cabinets, appliances, layout, counter, and wall are all taken care of!

The backsplash took about three days start-to-finish. First, we met Dave and Tammy at Floor & Decor to pick up our supplies. We finally found a backsplash Matt and I could agree on - he finally agreed to white after we brought home some samples and decided it fit our kitchen best.

We wanted subway tile originally, but both agreed the quartz/marble white/gray looked best and was best for resale.

We also picked up thin set, grout (we had to pick a color for that too! Who knew?), and sealant.

Then, as we got started, we realized we'd need a real wet saw to cut the tiles accurately, so Dave and Matt went off to rent one while Tammy and I did what we could with the full sheets, individual tiles, and a tile-clipper tool.

Before: bare walls.

We worked into the evening. Once I learned how to properly go through all the steps, it was fairly easy. Tammy and I did the majority of the actual tile-laying while Matt and Dave cut tiles to our specifications so they'd fit perfectly. When the backsplash was done, I sealed it for the first time.

Matt and Dave measure the first set of cuts for the pass-through wall. 

Fitting everything around the sockets was the hardest part, but Tammy and I are pros now!

Matt using the wet saw after sunset with Tammy's help as the lantern-holder.

The next day (Day 2: New Year's Eve) Matt and I grouted the kitchen. My shoulders were so tired and weak from the previous day! We managed to get it all done, let it set, and wipe it down...by the time we were done, it was past midnight and officially 2017. I sealed it a second time and we called it a night.

The grout was the hardest part...not grouting itself, but scrubbing it off afterward!

Some close-ups!

The next day I mixed up one last batch of grout to fill in any little crannies that needed patching. And then...IT WAS DONE! Kind of. Here's the "finished" product:

We changed our outlet covers to stainless steel to match the rest of the appliances.

On the Monday following New Years, Elizabeth and Roniel came over so Roniel could work on our next project and help us get started on that, but he also installed our kickboards and finishing "trim" under the high cabinets.

This was a job I thought would take a few hours; when I told Tammy that, she laughed at me - with good reason! I'm amazed at how much work it took! But I felt really accomplished when we had finished, and I love how it looks! And I especially love that we did it all ourselves! The mini wall behind the sink was completely my work (other than the cutting), so I can look at that perfect little space and know I did that.

I am ecstatic that this project is nearly finished! The kitchen itself is done; we're down to the finishing touches. It's been fun, but I'm going to be so glad when we can stop thinking about "what's next" for this room in the house.

Do you enjoy DIY projects?
Have you ever tiled anything in your house?
Do you prefer DIY or hiring experts?

ABK

I Built a Bed!

Matt's dad and Tammy bought themselves a new furniture set and offered to give us their old one. I was really excited because we don't have any matching bedroom furniture. (I should have taken a "before" photo of our bedroom but forgot. Bad blogger move!)

The only problem was that the bed frame was built for a boxspring to sit in, and with our new foam mattress, we didn't want a boxspring. We wanted a platform.

So, we made one. (We actually made a slat platform because it allows for more airflow, which is better for the mattress and for keeping cool at night.)

Matt says he doesn't like Snapchat, but he seems pretty into it here. Also, this is the most I've ever smiled while at Lowe's.

First, we assembled the frame and measured the length and width; we did some math to figure out how many slats we'd need and how long they had to be, then headed to Lowe's to pick them up. We chose yellow pine wood, which I read was sturdy and perfect for platform beds, and had them cut to size.

While Matt worked on changing out the light switch which would be hidden by the headboard (we made it a smart-switch so we don't have to reach it anymore), I laid the slats down and measured them to 3.5 inches apart. Tuft & Needle recommends 3-4 inches of space between planks, so that's what we went with.

After laying all the planks, it was time to drill! Matt made the drill holes and then I drilled in the screws.

I didn't know how to use the drill but now I'm a pro. I'm learning life skills over here!

I felt pretty dang proud once we were done! 

We lifted the mattress back on and made up the bed. All told, including dismantling the old bed frame and moving it, the trip to Lowe's etc, we spent about six hours working on it!

None of our pillowcases match. Don't judge us.

The bed is lower to the ground now, which I like, and it's super sturdy. No more sliding around on a wheeled frame! The best part is that now that our squeaky boxspring is a thing of the past, the bed is totally silent. It's a million times nicer to sleep in now!

We moved the old boxspring and frame into the guest room, so we officially have real beds in both guest rooms - no more inflatables! I feel like we're real adults!

This really wasn't a bad way to spend a Sunday. I felt accomplished and exhausted afterward...which was perfect, because I had a brand new bed to sleep in!

PS: You guys are so awesome for all your advice on getting used to my Garmin! I'm combing through the comments and trying out some new things!

Have you done any DIY projects lately?
What does your bedroom set look like?
When was the last time you got new furniture?

ABK

My New Gym

One of my goals this summer was to clean out one of our guest rooms and turn it into a little at-home "gym."

I came home from work on Tuesday weirdly motivated to finally roll up my sleeves and get to work. I wish I'd taken a before picture, but all you get is this after shot:

I'm not sure if I'll keep the rug in there; it may slip around during certain exercises. We'll see how it goes!

My running quote-a-day calendar is right in front of the TV, so I can stay focused and motivated while also being entertained. I've also decorated the room with the sign my mom made me for my first marathon, a 26.2 magnet my sister got me, and the motivational quote block Megan got me when we met in December!

I also put a pile of fitness magazines in there. I've been planning to go through them and tear out the workouts that look interesting and make a binder of them, so that's my next project.

We originally had two beds in this room; one was an inflatable. I deflated it and was momentarily sidetracked when I discovered a dead snake under it! You know, finding lizard mummies in the house isn't unusual, and they don't gross me out much, and I like live snakes quite a bit, but this little guy freaked me out! He was just unexpected.

I wasn't sure how to get rid of it, so I took a break and watched some Real Housewives until Matt suggested I sweep it up with the broom. He's so smart.

Here's some of the equipment I have at my disposal:

1: Yoga ball. 2: Resistance band loop. 3: Various resistance bands with handles. 4: Weighted medicine ball. 5: Various recovery items. 6: Kettlebells and weights. Not pictured: the pull up bar in the doorway.

The next additions on my list are a yoga mat (I've been storing mine in Elizabeth's classroom and want a second for home) and a workout bench. There are so many ways to use them, and I know we can find a good one without spending too much.

A video posted by Anna Victoria (@annavictoria) on Jul 17, 2016 at 3:48pm PDT

I do most of my non-running workouts at school, but there are days I can't, and that's when my nice little workout room will come in handy! Just having it in the house is motivating me to use it!

Now the question is...once I get the bench, can I convince Matt that we need a treadmill, too?

Do you have a designated workout spot at home?
What equipment would you put in your dream at-home-gym?

ABK

Shopping, Snacks, & Kitchen Stuff

I'm in one of those "brain dump" moods today. I guess that happens when there's not much running going on! I'm in that weird limbo between recovery/time-off and beginning the plan I outlined in my last post.

So...random mind musings it is!

Early this week I got my new, personalized discount code for Skirt Sports! You can use ABK20 for 20% off anything on the site. How cool is that?! They're still dealing with some glitches from updating the site, but they're in the process of updating merchandise and everything. I've got a bunch of stuff in my cart but I'm waiting to checkout until I see what else goes up on the site this week.

Oh you know, just restocking for spring!

Tuesday I ran for the first time since A1A. My quads hurt in that I'm-still-tired-why-are-you-doing-this-to-me kind of way, but it felt really good to get out there and get moving.

Feeling good after 3 easy-ish miles: 11:06, 11:10, 10:57. I should've gone much easier but I was just excited to run.

If you look closely, you can see my weird tan lines. I currently have a calf sleeve tan line and a shorts tan, so there's one section of skin above and below my knee that's normal and everything else is ghostly pale.

Wednesday an old childhood friend of mine was in town - he actually had a business meeting in Tampa but flew into our airport so he could see us before he had to go home So we were able to spend a few hours and grab dinner; this was one of those times I was too engaged in hanging out to take pictures of dinner. We talked about what's on our book list, so here's one I'll be reading at his suggestion:

Matt came down with a cold the day after A1A and I started feeling it late last week. It's made this week pretty hard to get through; my energy just feels totally depleted. Part of that is the post-marathon stuff, but the cold's not helping.

I picked up some really weird snack foods when we went grocery shopping this week! I've been wanting snacks that are higher in protein to add to my usual fruits, so I grabbed some normal stuff: nuts, cheese, Greek yogurt...and sardines. How's that for weird?

One of these things is not like the others...

Last night, I was having a funny dream and woke myself laughing...like outright, huge belly laughs! Once I woke up, I kept laughing because I had given myself the giggles. Ridiculous.

Our kitchen is almost finished! The to-do list still seems long, but considering how much we've done, it's really just little things. We just need to find hardware for the cabinets, replace the lights and fan, add a small portable island, and do the walls. The walls are the next step, but I'm indecisive about the backsplash.

I've never loved running a dishwasher more. Being without a functioning kitchen for four months will do that to you, I guess!

My new favorite room in the house.

So, that's my week so far! I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend. Hopefully I can kick this cold to the curb.

What's your favorite weird snack food?
What are you reading right now?
Do you have any workout gear in desperate need of replacing?

ABK

The Perfect 4th

I spent all last week deep-cleaning our house. We've officially lived here a year and we finally had a "house-warming" party. Really, it was a chance to celebrate our 5-year anniversary (a bit early) and the 4th of July with friends. Anyway, this was our first time having guests come stay with us in the new house, and it was wonderful.

When I wasn't cleaning, I was contending with this weather, so my workouts were really spotty. 

(This week we've had torrential thunderstorms every evening and have lost power multiple times. Fun stuff.)

I think mopping, vacuuming, moving furniture, and doing laundry made up for my missed runs.

We spent the weekend having too much fun to stop and take a bunch of pictures; Saturday's dinner out was the first time in ages that we had a group dinner and no one was on their phone! It was really nice to just enjoy each other's company and not be a slave to the screen.

The seven of us taking a break in the shade.

We did 3.5 miles down a calm, picturesque river.

We paddled Saturday morning and then spent some time in the pool. After dinner we set off fireworks and played Cards Against Humanity. I baked a cake before dinner and drinks...and frosted it after (as you can clearly tell from the pictures below haha). It wasn't the prettiest thing, but it sure was tasty!

I used King Arthur's GF chocolate cake mix and added vanilla Greek yogurt to the batter. I stuffed the middle full of strawberries...that makes it healthy, right?

I can't wait to have another reason to host a party. Having people over really does make a house feel like a home!

How did you spend the 4th of July weekend?

Did you watch the FIFA Women's World Cup? I usually don't like soccer, but we played so well I was captivated the entire time!

ABK

Note to Self: This is a Running Blog

I haven't written about running in awhile because...I haven't been running. What started as some necessary time off and LASIK recovery has snowballed into a real slump. I'm playing with the idea of starting a run streak to help reignite my engines.

Last time I participated in the Runner's World Run Streak I felt I got a lot out of it. I don't think I want to go 39 days again, but a week or two of running daily might be just what I need. 

The trick to a good run streak is to remember the minimum - one mile - is a perfectly fair run. It fulfills the requirement while allowing for rest and recovery. Last time I streaked, I found my passion for running again, got stronger, got faster, and built confidence. I think that's really what I need right now.

Just because I didn't run once over spring break doesn't mean I was sedentary. We finally undertook the task of painting our house.

Here are some before/after shots!

Matt and his dad powerwashed the house Saturday while I recovered from Passover and did some lesson planning.

Before, the house was a washed-out pink with brown gutters and soffits.

The last time our house was painted was probably in the '70s. We had a hard time choosing a color because, while I like pink houses, Matt was dead set against it. In the end, I thought a reddish-brown would be bold but not overwhelming, and then (after much debate and stress), Matt found the perfect color.

You can see the new color beside the original here!

Almost done!

I've never so much as painted a room before, so I was beyond grateful for Dave's expertise and the additional help from Tammy and her son Justin. We got pretty much the entire house done in one day! (There are a few areas that will need touch-ups and detail-work of course.)

The color is a deep pink/almost red (it's Valspar's Savannah Red if anyone cares), but looks definitively red in certain lights. I love it!

I'm really happy to say goodbye to those dated brown gutters, too!

I feel very accomplished, and the house is one step closer to feeling like our house. (I guess by the time we have everything set up to our liking, it will be time to sell!)

Have you ever painted a house?

What color is your house?

Have you ever participated in a run streak?

ABK

Making Our House A Home

Well, it only took us six months, but we've finally hung decorations, organized the office/guest rooms, and added some warmth to our house. 

There are still a lot of big projects to face, like tearing down a wall and redoing the kitchen/master suite, but for now the majority of the house is coming along. Here's what Matt and I spent winter break working on. (It doesn't seem like much, but shopping and decorating take a deceptively huge amount of time and effort.)

To see the before shots, go here. I'm not putting the photos in this post because, let's face it, scrolling through a million house pictures isn't really why most people read this blog!

Living Room

First, we spent approximately half my lifetime at Lowe's picking out curtain rods and curtains (which we returned, then went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to find new ones).

This is my "OMG CAN WE GO HOME?" face.

Then we got to work!

Matt removed our oatmeal-colored verticals. Yuck.

I patched and painted the holes, with Archie's help of course.

Matt hung the curtain rod...

...with Archie's help, of course.

We debated on colors. Originally I really wanted red curtains and finding a set that matched our rug nicely was awesome. But in the end we went with white.

Our living room gets pretty dark so white curtains make it feel more open. Plus, the sliders go out onto the pool so light, airy curtains made sense.

The finished product. We also hung an autographed SUP paddle Matt won at a race.

Dining Room

Our dining room is connected to the living room, so we wanted curtains that matched. We went with the same white. When we moved, my parents gave us three pieces of real art. We've now hung two of them; the third's frame shattered and we need to reframe it.

We hung the Möbius Strip in the dining room.

The view to our front patio. We clearly haven't done anything out there yet! You can also glimpse the new cushions I got for our chairs...no more red and green plaid!

Guest Rooms

Even though we're planning to get a queen bed for at least one of these rooms, they're still complete enough to accommodate guests.

One of our hand-built shelves came crashing down this week (too many books!), so Matt had to take them down and add supports. Now the office/second guest room is all set up. Our framed diplomas are hanging over the desk, too.

We have two beds in the first guest room, and now there are even pictures on the walls!

I had some fun framing my All Star Game tickets, etc.

Foyer

We hung our second nice piece of art, the King of Hearts, on one side of the foyer. Across from it we put up a nice mirror surrounded by photographs I took during our various trips around the world. I can't wait to add more photos to the collection...We don't have one of Panama printed yet. 

From top left around: Edinbrugh, Aix en Provence, Florence, Jerusalem, St. Mark's Square (Venice), Cliffs of Moher (Ireland), Venice, Arc de Triomf (Barcelona), Aix en Provence.

We plan to get a nice table to put under the mirror, too.

Master Suite

We finally took down our gross, broken verticals in the master bedroom and can now actually let daylight into our room! We have a wonderful view.

We haven't hung anything on the walls in the master yet. The problem is that everything we love we want out on display where people can see it! So our room is still very bland; but our new duvet set, rug, and curtains do help!

Addition

The space off the kitchen that we had been using to store junk has been cleaned out and organized! We're not sure what we want to use this space for, but at least now it's not an eyesore.

 

Obviously there's still tons to get done, but the entire house feels warmer with so many little details added. I'm starting to feel proud of it and like I can really call it "home!"

Do you like decorating and organizing house stuff?

What is your favorite room in your house? Why?

ABK