Opening Day

Tonight we celebrated the Sounders first game of the regular season...Abe in style (thanks Andrea!)

Landscape Update - Avid Reader Request

To my dismay and surprise, I received a request from an "avid reader" for a LONG overdue update on our landscaping. Umm...thrilled to have a "avid reader" so here you go!

Back in October I started a witty (or so I thought) post on how Jeff and I spent a lot of time "compromising" on the landscape, but after having Jeff read it through, it became apparent that I was the only one who really found it funny- imagine that. It was also way too much information for the WORLD wide web, so I scratched it. Basically, our friend Jake was a huge help with the design, and the front walk will be finished this summer along with the side and back yards.

Also, no project here at 729 gets complete without the help of my MIL and FIL - they are the best and their generosity and sense of humor amazes me; they spent a very full day helping us pull it all together and we could not have done it without them.

So below are a ton of pictures - minus the "funny" commentary.
 

In prep for the new basement window and the egress requirements,

 we built out a new window well...(does my husband plan ahead or what?)

Please don't judge us...he loved it!

Look at those roots my FIL is showing off!

My FIL & BIL in action.

 

 

The in progress "Before"

& After

Basement Update

We had a busy weekend, here are some before and after pictures the basement.

Abe hard at work in the bathroom...

The Heat Is On

With only 42 days of winter left we are happy to announce we have heat! Isn't she a beauty? 95% efficient, gas run, hunk of heat and worth every penny.

Basement

The lack of posts over the past 1-2months is indicative of the spare time we have since diving into our basement remodel....It is not so much of a remodel, as a finishing of something that was unfinished when we moved in.  If you recall from our blog while it was still in its infancy (November 2009), the basement looked like this:

After stripping everything out, and starting with a blank canvas, we were able to get the entire house re-rewired, and will soon be re-plumbing everything as well.  We added an egress window for Gus's future bedroom, and lots of storage space.  Other significant additions include phone jacks (which we had none of when we moved in) and insulation.

As always, Abe needs to gear up with dad anytime they venture down to the basement.

Window opening that we cut into the foundation.

Window opening prior to drywall going on.

Finally, as a final note, we regret to inform our readers that we have broken down and hired a contractor to install a new furnace and duct work.  We are not proud of our actions, but figured this is the only way we are going to get heat in the house before the winter is over.

Detour

We took Abe down to Westlake Center this morning for a quick Christmas Eve detour.

All I want for Christmas

Abe had a visit with Santa today, we are pretty sure he asked Santa for 3 things:

1. a central heating system
2. the ability to reason
3. a tape measure