Close but no cigar : (

So yesterday we tried to win a landscape make-over with Yard Crashers from the DIY network. We spent over 9 hours at Lowe's in South Tampa, with a quick trip back home (Clearwater) to take some photos. We are a little disappointed that we got so close, yet missed out. Oh well... I will say that the couple who won it (they stood next to us in line) were extremely nice and had an adorable 9 month old girl. We wish them the best. It was a chaotic process and we lost a day of working on the house but at least we won't look back and say we didn't try. Ahmed (the host of the show) was extremely nice and I'm happy to see such a genuine guy in his position. We did get a picture with him but I look extremely goofy in the shot! If we appear in the episode, I'm afraid of how goofy I will look : ) Of course Jennifer will look amazing despite me dragging her out of bed to spend the day in Lowe's. Make sure to be checking out the episodes and we'll let you know if we find out when it will be aired.

Although we have some minor things to get done inside the house, we can no longer neglect the yard. It might take us a while (maybe not even this year) to get it just right, we'll keep plugging away. So, that's that and now it's time to enjoy our new kitchen : ) !

PS- the photo was taken just after we found out we were not the winners & the other photo is our house from the street.

Yard Crashers 2, Help!

Please Yard Crashers!!!!

Tools

Well, I guess we're fans of craftsman tools now. We took back eight screwdrivers, 2 pliers and one pair of wire cutters to Sears because they were worn out (the metal tips were stripped or even broken). Sears actually replaced all of them with no problems. They said, go pick out your replacements. So we did and they didn't charge us the $127 it would have cost otherwise.

Sink is in

Finally, after 2 months without a kitchen, we have the dishwasher, sink and garbage disposal running. Now we have to to remember how to cook. The cabinets came in yesterday but we still are missing a few parts. So we spoke with the store manager and we will speak to him again on Monday. We're still happy about the kitchen!

Time Passes On

So, it's been a while since we've posted any pictures. That's because we've been waiting for the damaged cabinets to come in, which they haven't yet. But we finally got our countertops in! The sink is up and running yet but it will be by the end of the week. We have also been working on the little things, like painting the bathroom, finishing the tiling around the kitchen cabinets, in the closet, grouting, etc. We have also replaced some electrical outlets and generally been doing the little things, while trying to keep up with work.

Here are some photos of the counters. We'll post the bathroom and others soon.

Cabinets

Wow.... we made some progress! We worked hard and got all the base cabinets up. We have to re-order a few of the wall units because they were damaged. But at least we have the base units up and we have a group measuring for granite countertops this Friday and we should have new counter tops in 3 weeks or so. We actually got done with the cabinets in time to eat on the beach before my Mom & Ron flew home.

January 14th - Cabinets

Today Ron was here to help get these cabinets going. There was a learning curve but we managed to make some headway. We hope to make more progress today and this weekend. The doors are a different color and will go on at the end. The microwave is up and running : )

More from Seattle

Working Vacation in Seattle

So we went to Seattle for an annual biological convention. There were thousands of the top scientists there and both of us presented research material. Fortunately, we saw some sights including a tour on the water, the original starbucks, pike place market and a couple of local breweries.