First Beach Day!

I think I mentioned before my parents came into town the week after we moved in. It was their spring break so they decided there was nothing they would rather do than come help us work on the house! They drove James' car out for us (Since James drove the U-Haul out and I drove my car, leaving James' car in Utah until they came) and they brought GINGER! I was so excited to live with my puppy again.  After working like crazy on the kitchen, we decided to take an afternoon off and head out to the beach. It was Ginger's first experience at the beach and although she wasn't very fond of the water, she loved running around in the sand!

Don't let the water touch you!

James tried to get her used to the water by throwing her in...

... but she hated it and ran out as fast as she could!

We had a great afternoon and are happy adjusting to the California life ;)

Kitchen Update Part 1

One of the first things I knew I wanted to do to our house was update the kitchen. I had been reading blog after blog about how to paint kitchen cabinets. I knew it was going to be a big project to tackle but I knew if I didn't do it right away, it would never get done. We also needed new countertops (whoever thought TILE countertops in a kitchen was a good idea?!). Anyways the project still isn't done, but here's some pictures of the process so far!

Kitchen before anything had been done to it. Good structure, but pretty outdated. 

That's actually not a double oven like we thought.. the top part is a MICROWAVE! 

Had to get that nasty dishwasher out right away.

Anyone want a dishwasher??

New Fridge!! 

Aaaaand the granite is in! Our realtor recommended a guy named Jorge to do our granite. He was great. We told him to rip out all the tile on the backsplash but that we would put up our own.... 

...Which left us with this lovely sight.

New sink though! Thanks Jorge :)

James had to try and figure out how to install our new dishwasher since the store wouldn't install it. Took a few days but we finally got it in and working. 

Now for the cabinets! Started by taking off all the doors and sanding and cleaning all the wood. 

Next comes primer

All primed and ready for paint! We also had to rip out the drywall since it was so damaged from Jorge ripping the tile off of it. This was my least favorite stage.. it was such a mess! 

My parents came into town just in time to help us with everything. We decided to put bead board up on the island and as the backsplash. They are trying to stick it on using Liquid Nails.. just a tip.. it doesn't work! After 3 tubes of different Liquid Nails, we finally gave up and used REAL nails. Much better. 

Painting time!

Working on the doors in the garage. Between sanding, cleaning, priming (twice), painting (twice), then putting a Polycrylic top coat on (yep.. twice!), they sure do take a lot of time!!

The first 6 doors are up! I'm finally starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. 

Once I finish all the top cabinets, I'm going to paint all the bottom ones gray. 

*One day* I'll have a pretty kitchen :)

Let's Get This Party Started!

Alright alright so I got married, moved to California, and bought a house. That means I'm a grown up now right? Well what else do grown ups do then BLOG! Plus I promised a few friends I'd give it a try so they can keep up on my terribly interesting life (kidding).

Well I'll start at the beginning of our move. We packed up and left our 2 bedroom apartment in Provo and headed out for our new adventure here in California! I was really sad to leave behind all my friends, family, job, and all the familiarity I had in Utah. I lived my whole 27 years in Utah county and knowing I was never going to live there again was really tough on me.

Luckily I had this awesome husband of mine by my side holding my hand. I was really excited for all the things that lay ahead for us and I knew this was the best move for us.

The morning of our move, my parents and the O'Neil's came to help us pack everything up. We took a little lunch break with some Hot 'n Ready pizza's. This little guy is the cutest, is he not?!

His sister is pretty cute too :)

Good bye's are the hardest. :(

Goodbye 7 Peaks...

Goodbye apartment #12.. You've been good to us.

Goodbye Provo

 HELLLLLOOOOOOO new house in California!