The Cabinet Debacle

The tile floor in the entryway, kitchen and back hallway was all finished up last Thursday and here is what it looks like:



We are so happy with it and think it looks just wonderful. We're also glad we spent the extra money to get the tile floor because it just looks so nice and will last forever. We need to seal the grout on Monday and make sure we do that every 3-5 years to keep it looking good. Next step is the cabinets which we thought would be delivered by now. However, I just discovered a major screw-up with my order from IKEA and it never got placed and they never called to tell me that they were not going to place it or to discuss the issue. I don't really have anywhere else to go for a comparable product so I'm stuck waiting another 2-3 weeks for the cabinets. Just a helpful hint for everyone- make sure your phone number matches up with the phone number your credit card company has because some retailers use that for verification in addition to your address. Ugh- so disgusted.

This weekend we've been working very hard to get everything painted so we can move in next weekend. We got primer up in the living room and entry last night and painted two of the bedrooms and the hallway today. The bedrooms and hall were already white (thanks to some primering I had done a few weeks ago) and we only did one coat but I think that's going to be all we need. We'll check it out when we go over tomorrow and see what we think but so far we think maybe just a few touch-ups and we're done with those areas. The color of those are "Churchill Hotel Vanilla" which looks white if you just walked in and could not compare the color to an actual white. But it's a little more warm and creamy and looks like, well, vanilla. We'll be painting the entryway and formal dining/living room a color called "Homestead Resort Parlor Taupe" which is basically just taupe. It's a nice, really light tan color and we'll be painting the ceilings that color too. Rob originally wanted white ceilings. I don't really like that and neither of us wanted to cut in along the ceiling or tape all that off. So we compromised and picked out the two really light colors so Rob could have the lighter ceiling he likes without the hassle. We're very happy with the decisions we've made about colors and how to paint it all. It's looking great and it just feels wonderful to have it feel more now like our house and be how we like it. If you remember, the living and entryway used to be a peach color and you can see them below with just the primer on. It is amazing how much it brightened them up by doing that, especially the entry which used to feel so dark and yucky when it had peach walls and dark red tile. We'll be sure to put up more pictures after the painting is all done so you can see the finished product.

Tips for Cheap Tix

In the past year, I've been on two major trips- one to Kauai and one to Aruba. I've also made numerous flights between Des Moines and Fresno, Des Moines and Los Angeles and Fresno and Los Angeles. I've been on a few other big trips in the last few years and for a leisure (not business) traveler, I do fly quite a bit. Consequently, I get asked fairly often for tips about finding cheap flights. Two weeks ago I flew from Des Moines to LA for $192 round-trip and Rob made the same flight this past weekend for $209. Here's some things I can tell you.

1. Sign up for frequent flier programs- They are free and I can't even begin to impress upon you what you can get in return. I went to Kauai for free and got Rob a half-price ticket too last year because of them. You have to make an effort to stick to one (or two) airline(s) but you will reap the rewards. Big time. We have enough miles again already to go anywhere in the U.S. and even the Caribbean and Mexico. So many choices...

2. Sign up for hotel and rental car frequent customer programs too- Often times you can get miles/points for more than just the place you are spending your money at. For example, I last rented a car from National and got points with them and frequent flier miles with American. Hotels work together with them too.

3. Get a credit card that earns miles- We all have them. You may as well get one that gives you something back. I have one for a major airline and that helps me earn lots of miles. If you aren't someone who flies a ton, this will definitely help you rack up the miles if you use it for groceries, gas and other everyday things like that. You can also earn extra miles for certain retailers and services. However, it's still a credit card and should be used carefully. I would recommend getting one for a specific airline rather than one that gives you different options for several airlines- I've heard that they are a pain and have lots of blackout dates. I've never had that problem.

4. Be flexible- Last minute deals are usually the way I go but they rarely give you more than 10-14 days notice from the time the deal is available until when you have to take the trip. You can sign up with airlines to get their emails for last minute deals. United and American send out emails every Tuesday for cheap flights for the following weekend. Travelzoo also has a last minute deal email (their "Top 20") that they send out every Wednesday. Sign up for these.

5. Check the airlines' websites- It used to be that services like Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, etc. would have the best deals for purchasing flights. It's no longer that way, I've found. I always look on those websites first but then I check out the airline's website because they are usually the same price and you also get bonus miles for booking online through an airline's website.

6. Be in the know- check every couple of weeks or so on flights that you often take or are looking at taking just to get familiar with what a good price is. For example, when I look for a Des Moines-Fresno flight, I usually get a price that is between $450-$600. But since I keep up with it and look often, I know that I can get that flight for around $300 if I am patient and keep looking.

7. Days matter- It's more expensive to fly on Fridays and Sundays. Try and make a trip from Saturday through Monday- you'll save a lot. I've also read that flights are cheaper if you book them on certain days of the week but I can't remember which days those are.

8. Don't forget the little guys- It's easy to think of the major airlines when looking for a ticket but don't forget to see which smaller ones fly in and out of your local airport. These airlines also don't usually come up if you look on a travel website like travelocity or expedia. You have to go to the airline's own website. To find which airlines fly out of your airport, you can usually go to the airport's website to get a list and often there are links to the airlines' websites from there.

9. Check for nearby airports- For example, if you want to fly into San Francisco, check Oakland and San Jose and maybe even Sacramento. You may have to drive a bit but it may be worth it depending on how much you save.

10. Finally, it stinks but...- Sometimes if you are willing to stop twice instead of once, you can get a better deal. This isn't always the case but if you are looking to save a few bucks, don't restrict your searches with the number of stops you are willing to make.

So get out there and have a good time- it's a big, big world out there and you should see it!

In Bloom

All the poppies in our backyard have been so close to blooming and over the last week or so, they finally have opened. They are beautiful! I wish there was a little more color to them. They all seem to be orange which was a little disappointing. Well, maybe not so much- how can you be disappointed by having a ton of flowers blooming in the backyard? I like to just look out our living room window and see this.

First Floor

With all the work to do putting the kitchen back together, the floor has been our first big challenge. As you've seen in the previous posts, we got the old floor out. The tile guy started this past week and so far, this is what we have.



He laid down all the cement board and then nailed it in place and sealed the joints/cracks in between the boards. He'll be back out for probably two more days to lay all the tile which is going in the entryway, kitchen and back hallway that leads to the garage.

Yard (Or Should that be Hard?) Work

So here is what our house looked like Saturday morning:




Here is what it looked like Saturday afternoon:




And here is what it looks like now:




The house has this really cool stone on the front of it that you could hardly see with those enormous bushes in the way. The chair of the horticulture department stopped by our house last Thursday night and gave us some tips and advice on different things. One thing he recommended was taking those out- which just happened to be something I was advocating for a while now. So while Rob's in California visiting with friends and family and racing, I thought it would be a good time to tear them out and have a little surprise for him when he gets back home. As you can see, I still have a little pile of branches to be picked up and bagged but I ran out of time. There are still three stumps there too that I was unable to get out. I worked on the first stump for about 5 hours on Saturday but it still wouldn't budge. I think I'm going to have to get some professional yard help to get those out. However, we now own pruning shears, a pruning saw, an ax and something we always called a "persuader" in my family. It is a piece of metal that is about five feet long and probably weighs around 50 pounds. One end is pointed and the other is flat. Thankfully, all my limbs are still attached although I do have numerous scratches, cuts and bruises that I didn't have before all this started.

Technical note: They just "helped" us at blogger by adding an autosave feature which makes it nearly impossible for me to post. They claim to have it fixed but that's why I haven't posted for a week and why they may be a little sketchy for a while.

Workin' for the Weekend

We've been spending all our time lately at the house, working on getting the kitchen torn up so that we can put it back together. We had the plumber out last week to take care of a few chores and the new tile floor is getting put in this week. I finally earned a little weekend furlough for all my hard work, as you will see below. Rob was ripping up the vinyl flooring in the kitchen but the cardboard backer on the vinyl would not come up too. I had to wet it all down with water and then scrape it off with a putty knife. It sucked. I have no idea why I'm smiling in the picture.



You can see the purplish-stuff is the cardboard layer that I still needed to get up. And it smelled like.... well, it was bad. I'll just leave it at that.



As I mentioned, I got to take the weekend off and I went out to LA to visit my bestie, Nanette and her husband. We had a great time- mostly eating, shopping and doing girly-stuff like massages and pedicures. We made it to my favorite LA places to eat which are Versailles and Bay Cities Deli. We also tried a new place, Jin Patisserie, in Venice and had their high tea special which was wonderful and a good deal at only $18. And then you just can't beat seeing a good butt statue in Beverly Hills.



It was a wonderful break but we'll be back at work this week. And don't feel too bad for Rob- he gets this weekend off to join his buddies at the race track in California and have some fun time there while I'll be painting and working on the house.

Busy Little Bees

We have been so busy lately, buzzing around the house trying to get everything torn out of the kitchen and lining up everything that needs to happen next. We go over to the house every day after work and stay until at least 9:00 p.m. And we've been there for the past two weekends, working all day long on things. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave me much time for blogging :o( Anyhow, Rob and I worked together on getting the vinyl flooring out of the kitchen and that was tough. Rob got the existing tile out of the entry but then I had to go back through and pull out all the staples that were left behind from the plywood board the tile was sitting on. There were hundreds of them and that was a pain. Literally. I kept getting my pinky smashed between the pliers and the floor while I was pulling those staples out. I got a blister on my hand too from the pliers. We ordered the new tile floor and that goes in next week, after the plumber comes out and does a few little chores for us. We also ordered all our cabinets from IKEA and those should be delivered to us in 2-3 weeks. On top of that, we have to keep up with the yard work and the grass grows like crazy out here! Speaking of...

Spring is definitely here and it’s gorgeous. Everything is clean and fresh and in bloom and it looks so much better than I expected it to look. The grass is such a beautiful green- you don’t see grass like that in the Central Valley in California. It almost hurts your eyes to look at it. There must be a thousand poppies in our backyard (not really but there are a LOT!) that are just starting to bloom. When they really get going, I’ll be sure to take a picture and post it here. In fact, I’ll be putting up a few pictures soon of what we’ve been up to with the house lately. I would’ve done it now, but the battery on my camera is dead and that needs to charge up first.

The New Wife Haircut

Pretty much every new wife does it, so I thought I would too. I really like it, it's so much easier to do and it holds up in the rain and wind back here a lot better. Want to see?

Before:



After: