Putting down roots

In May 2022, as I was getting ready to leave one job and start another, we closed on a condo.

The hunt was long and the market was working against us. Prices were inflated and the interest rates were climbing. The amount we sold our Florida house for – a 3-bedroom single family home with a garage and a pool – was the listing price for most small condos in Seattle. Depending on the square footage and the neighborhood, we could afford one or two bedrooms, but every time we put in an offer, someone else had a better one, and the place would get snapped up.

It felt like déjà vu. We bought our first house at the height of a housing bubble, too.

The Saga Continues! - Kitchen Update

If you have been following our kitchen-remodeling saga, here are the old posts. Looking back on the deconstruction really made me stop and appreciate how far it's come!
1. We made a big hole
2. We got new cabinets
3. We got a countertop, appliances, and installed backsplash which sounds like a lot but we did it over a period of like 3 months
4. I built an island

Matt and I moved into our house in June 2015.

Last weekend, we finally cleared out the "kitchen nook" that has been filled with odds and ends from moving and kitchen construction.

Before

It only took us two years...I have no idea why. The bins of old teaching stuff are now in the attic and we made a huge donation to Good Will.

That same week, I was struck by an unusual bout of motivation and convinced Matt to go thrift shopping with me. I was looking for a table and chairs for under the window.

We went to at least half a dozen shops. I nearly settled for something okay a couple times, but never pulled the trigger. The last place we went to was closed, but they let us in anyway. And there it was, the perfect table and chair set! A little beat up, but made of solid dark wood, which was exactly what I wanted. Not too big for the space, either!

It was marked for $225, but they brought it down to $125 without blinking an eye. My budget was $150.

I put off taking photos until I'd gotten some perfect cushions, but now the space is done!

Comfy cushions are a must.

After

It's so nice to be able to come out of the bedroom (the door on the right) and into a clean, open room. I'm not stepping over boxes and random junk. I've really enjoyed eating breakfast at the new table instead of having to use the dining room, and it's lovely to be working in the kitchen and not have an eyesore in my peripheral vision.

My view from the sink.

We are on track to have the kitchen totally done by Passover, which is my goal! I've ordered hardware for the cabinets and once we install it (probably over spring break) I'll post one...LAST...update!

What color-scheme is your kitchen?

Do you have a breakfast space in addition to a dining room?

What's the longest time you've put off unpacking after a move or a trip?

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

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

A New Adventure

When Matt and I bought our house last summer, the plan was a very slow flip. Our main goal was to tear out the kitchen and do a major overhaul. That overhaul is finally underway...And hopefully it will be finished before Megan comes to visit for BDR! (No promises, though; a friend is doing most of the work pro-bono so we're at the mercy of his schedule.)

Here is what our kitchen looked like when we moved in:

Our house was built in the 70s, and I don't think the kitchen has been updated since then.

I absolutely hated the cabinets. They're thin, unadorned wood painted beige; the paint on the handles is chipping and the bottoms of the drawers were all in danger of falling out. Also, weirdly, the cabinets opened in the same direction instead of meeting in the middle and opening in opposite directions. For some reason, that drove me nuts.

Our additional room is full of cabinets.

They're beautiful! We got a few fun, snazzy features I'll share once they're installed, and they're soft-close, even though we didn't spring for that upgrade! I guess it was free! We haven't decided on hardware yet.

The biggest logistical problem was the position of the dishwasher and oven. The doors would catch on each other and that corner was really cramped. I'm having the sink and dishwasher flipflopped to fix that issue.

I also hated how closed off the kitchen was. When I was cooking, I felt secluded from the rest of the house, and it was impossible to get any light in there.

This weekend, we cleaned out the cabinets to prepare for the first stage of the update: demo!

We put everything on the dining room table and covered it with a tablecloth to protect it from dust.

Then, Matt and the crew got to work.

Here it is now:

The view in from the living room. That PVC pipe has already been rerouted back into the wall, so the window is fully open.

The view from the kitchen!

I was adamant about losing that wall. That meant moving some plumbing around. The cabinets will be installed within the next couple weeks (they need to finish drywall and electrical stuff first), so right now our kitchen is basically useless.

My "kitchen" right now.

We put a deposit on some dark gray granite for the counter tops, so the kitchen will look bright and modern once it's finished! I can't wait! My dream-kitchen would have a wired island and a state-of-the-art dishwasher, but this is a good start.

Have you ever done major renovations on a house?
What does your dream-kitchen look like?

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