Twice in the same week !

No sooner had Mollie and Jeff returned to Kansas City after Christmas ... they were back in Lincoln for the weekend to attend a friend's wedding.  Here they are as they were headed out the door ... this isn't just Mom talk, these guys look pretty fabulous!

Jeff and I were asked to baby sit ... for McScout-erson.  I was able to capture Scout during a brief moment of stillness.

Merry Christmas 2012

Jeff and Mollie were here with us on Christmas eve ... here we are on our way to church.

This morning we were up early to see what Santa Claus left for us. 

I'm just adding another pic of J and M ... because they are just so darn cute.

As Jeff and Mollie were packing the car, Scout was very concerned about what was going on beyond the frosted glass ...

Best wishes from us to you ... Merry Christmas !!

Merry Christmas from our Scottish Christmas Grelf

Cluny went to see St Nick .. and after dropping a deuce in the middle of PetCo .. thus, landing on the ' naughty' list, I couldn't have been more proud ...

Santa was a kind-hearted soul and sat with Cluny for the obligatory photo.

Home Sweet Home

After months of anticipation, we (finally!) closed on the house November 30.  The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity .. packing, moving, unpacking and settling in.

We are loving our new home!  We have been able to clear a majority of the boxes from inside the house ... that is, if you don't count Jeff's office or my studio.  I find it very strange that I have found 7 of 8 throw pillows; I have a shade but no lamp; and whatever did I do with the baking pans ?!? Ya gotta wonder who packed this stuff???

Jeff's out of town this week and Old Man Winter has decided to make an appearance ... so last night I made taller stacks and bigger piles and was able to shoe-horn both cars in the garage.   I sent Jeff a picture of the cars in the garge and was named most valuable player for my efforts!

We still have stuff in storage and again, there are those pesky boxes stashed behind closed doors.  I'll get to them all ... in time. 

Here are a few pictures and Cluny will do his best to give the 50-cent tour. 

This is the living room taken (the picture was taken from the foyer).  The fireplace is super cozy and the wall color really warms up the room.  The Christmas tree is up; and it fits thanks to the soaring ceilings.

Cluny has decided to photobomb the pictures ... so there you go.

The kitchen is very open and inviting and I have lots of cabinet space.  I love the granite countertops, tile backsplash, and my copper sink.

 

The guest room is on the front of the house and has this beautiful arched window.  The guest room and bath set apart from the master suite .. so it feels like a suite unto itself.  I love the arrangement.  Jeff and Mollie will be here in a couple of days to celebrate Christmas, and they will the first ones to occupy the guest suite. 

Another Cluny photobomb ... Not!  Cuny doesn't care for the stuffed Stepford version of himself ... so we leave it in the guest room where he doesn't see it.

This is the master suite .. and yes, there are a couple of cardboard boxes in the corner.  I'm going to get to them .. just as soon as I can.  The master is quite roomy and has a coffered ceiling which makes it feel even bigger.  The master bath has a large tiled shower, double sinks, and a walk-in closet.

The basement has a projection TV .. Jeff, does in fact, have the best mancave on the block.  We enjoy watching movies and football games on 115 inches of TV.   And look .. there's Cluny!

Jeff's office and my quilting studio are also in the basement ... however, I won't be showing off those rooms until some more of the moving boxes are unpacked and those rooms are a bit more organized.

It's just so wonderful to be able to settle in and make this house feel like our home. 

Inching Closer to the Finish Line ...

As we have previously discussed, Jeff and I try to get by the new house as often as we can.  As we approach the finish line, each trip to the site brings a joyful noise.

Our painter is a terrific guy and has done a really nice job.  We chose a soft brown latte color for the walls.

The remaining light fixtures have been installed including the ceiling fan in the bedroom and the light bars over the vanities.

The last of the kitchen cabinetry is in .. which means my copper farm sink has been installed.  Am I wrong to be this excited about a kitchen sink?  The measurements have been taken and the granite will be delivered and installed in a few days.

The sinks in the bathrooms and wetbar are in.  The granite counter tops are awesome!  This is one of the dual sinks in the master bath (the 2x4s are holding the under-mount sink in place until it sets properly).

I have made friends with the tile setters, Eugene and Dwayne.  These guys are masters of their craft and have been hard at work on the flooring and showers. 

This is the tile in the entry ... this tile resembles wood and is set in planks.  This is what we'll have in the entry, kitchen, and wet bar.

The bathrooms will have traditional tile set in a brick pattern.   Here's the floor in the guest bath.

The tile on the floors in the master and basement baths can't go in until the mats for the radiant heat flooring is inspected.  Until then, we get to enjoy the shower walls.  No grout yet, so pardon the spacers.

Finally, the stone work on the fireplace is finished and It . Is . Fabulous!  It looks just like the picture in my head.  All of the credit on this one goes to Jeff.  I was ready to settle for a stone pattern that was kinda.sorta.close.but.not.exactly.what.I.wanted.  Jeff wouldn't agree and asked to see more samples.  Our tile and stone contact stretched a little for us and came up with this great dry-stack stone product.   Jeff was so right! 

Election Day 2012

Here are the pollworkers from my precinct.  I knew well enough to capture of photo of the crew before the polls opened.  Over the course of the next 12 hours, we aided 85% of the registered voters in our precinct cast their ballots.  

Although it's a long, exhausting day ... there is no better way to spend election day in this country.

Left to right ... Jim Swarz, Judge; moi; Ann Taylor, Precinct Captain; Cheryl Swarz, Clerk; and Lea Kinnison, Clerk.

We are rolling right along ...

A lot of things have changed at the construction site in the last week ... these pictures will tell the story.

The sod is in ... and as the person who was potentially in charge of muddy paws ... I am grateful.

The lighting is also starting to go in.  Here's a photo of one of the carriage lamps on either side of the garage.

Although many of the fixtures are covered to prevent paint over-spray, I was able to capture some photos of a few of the interior lighting fixtures.

Ceiling fan in the great room.

Chandelier in the kitchen.

The cabinetry is being installed.  Cabinets are the 'furniture' of the kitchen so this feels like a really big step.  The stove and the fridge will go on this wall.

This is the bank of cabinets on the opposing wall.  The opening is for the dishwasher.

The cabinet for the sink was the wrong size.  I don't know anything about construction ... except ... a 36 inch sink will not fit in a 30 inch hole.  Thus, the cabinet for the farm sink had to be re-ordered.  I will, however, give you peek of my hammered copper farm sink.  This sink is so cool ... I won't mind washing the dishes!

The cabinet (electronic components will go in the niche) over the fireplace is coming together .. the primary elements have been assembled and a coat of white primer applied.

As I mentioned before the painter is on site ... he's doing cut in work on the walls and painting the trim and the doors.  This is the coffered ceiling in the master bedroom.

Interior doors ... standing at attention ... or maybe this is the optimal position when the paint is drying.

The plumbers are hard at work on the showers. This is a picture of the shower in the master bath. Note the bench seat on the right.

Downstairs in the basement, the lowers have been installed for the wetbar.  A knee hole fridge will go in the opening on the left.  When we sat down with the kitchen designer (6 months ago!), we had not accounted for the soffit.  Another thing I've learned about construction ... the duct work isn't going to move, so we had a do-over on the uppers.  Those will be here in about a week.

 

Happy Halloween!

Too much transition this year and I couldn't find my Halloween mojo ... so I did the next best thing.  I found the guy with the best costume at work and snuggled up to him.  All I needed was a yellow hat and I would have rocked it ...

The city of Lincoln has a marketing firm that is re-branding the city .. one small effort is the placement of these little signs all over town ... the effort has kind of a 'Where's Waldo' feel.  I found this one at 20th and Van Dorn.

According to the article in the Journal Star, the campaign coordinator says the intent is to surprise and delight folks. There's an entry on city of Lincoln's FB page with the other signs.


http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10151197211014788.474123.369391354787&type=1

Meet me in St Louis ..

OK, so maybe we weren't exactly in St Louis, but we were about 45 minutes north .. so close enough.  Jeff and I hopped down to Missouri for the weekend to visit with my father. 

Brother Gary was kind enough to let us impose on his family and we arrived amidst a festive birthday party for our niece, Austyne, who turns five this year.  Our birthday girl was greatly impressed by the Disney offering of the summer and her birthday wish included a bow and arrow just like her heroine, Merida, from Brave.

Here's a picture of Austyne, proud archeress, and our nephew, Anderson.

We visited my Aunt and Uncle's farm and Jeff convinced me to hike up into his deer stand .. a first for me.

Whilst out of town, my dear friends Rhonda and Dean were kind enough to offer shelter for Cluny.  Thus, Cluny's big adventure ... a roomy backyard (a real luxury for him after 6 months of apartment living), friends that match him pound for pound, and he can neither bully or be bullied by.  A great big thanks to Rhonda, Dean, and the boys for welcoming Cluny for the weekend!

Dean, who is clearly a superior photographer, captured these photos and generously shared them with me.  Here's a photo of the three Hound-cateers.  Wilson, Cluny, and Newman (r).

If you aren't over it yet ... here's another construction update

As we begin to zero in on closing date ... I seem to be making more trips to the construction site.

Outside, our deck is taking shape.  I'm very excited to have a deck large enough to use as an outdoor space.  It's too late for this year, but I'm asking the Easter Bunny to bring me patio furniture next year  :)

On my next trip, I noted the columns are in place in the entry.

As well as the air conditioner ... since cooler weather is here, I won't need it till Spring, but Jeff is happy to know it's there.

Here's a picture of the deck now that the stairs are in place.

and another angle taken whilst standing on the deck.

The sprinklers have been installed.  These have to go in before the ground gets too cold.  Another item, that we will be happy to have come Spring.

Moving inside, this is the cascading wall that you'll see as you enter through the front door.  It's truly one of my favorite design elements.  It reminds me so much of the cascading walls in Mom's galleria.  On one side is the main floor and the stairs on the left, head down to the basement.

The durarock is in place in preparation for the tile floors in the kitchen and baths.

This picture captures the outlet for the radiant heat floors we are having installed in the bathrooms .. this is going to make the tile floors nice and cozy in the winter months!

The cabinetry is being un-crated (although not yet installed) ... I just love the color (the pictures doesn't do the rouge color justice) and Shaker styling!!

This niche in the office for a flat screen TV.  It's difficult to see in the photo, but the short walls on either side of niche are angled to add a bit of interest.

These pictures are in the family room in the basement.  Or as Jeff likes to call it .. the future home of his big ol' TV.  This picture angles West.

And this picture angles East.  The niche is where the TV components will be located and the doors are resting against the wall where the TV will be projected.