For the Love of Lindsay

I've had a few people telling me they want to see some "real" updates on Virginia. I'm not going to lie, I've been a bit nervous. Have we made enough progress? Will they be bored? Then I thought, "Duh, Christie. This is a personal progress blog." It's not like anyone expects Beehives to earn their Young Woman in Excellence necklace thing anytime soon, right? That's strictly Laurel business. So meet Virginia's new and improved kitchen. In all her MiaMaid glory

But first, let's start at the beginning. (P.S. Again, I don't know why I was such a moron and only took pictures of the kitchen the day my dad's family cleaned the house. Virginia's obituary duly noted that she was an "immaculate housekeeper". She really was. So don't judge because these are the only pictures I have)

Anyway, back to the beginning. Anyone remember any of these?





We decided we were over the pink, the wallpaper (whaat?!?) and the cramped U-shaped kitchen and started tearing things out.




And don't forget all that wallpaper we had to scrape off. Too. Much. Fun.

Next, we were off to Ikea to pick out our cabinets. So many trips to Ikea. Too many trips to Ikea.

And then the real fun started. Putting together every last item in those boxes. Things started out pretty smoothly.



But people got frustrated.

Their motto was "teamwork gets the job done".

And I was there helping every step of the way.

And then, finally. Finally we started making some headway. It's not 100% done, but isn't that what personal progress is all about? Here's to you Rob and dad. You two are really, really great.

View from the garage door.


Everything but the kitchen sink.


One day we'll get new stainless steel appliances, and fill in that space with a stove. But who's counting?

I love that I have a place to display my wedding china.

And I love that Jodee and I found these cute, blue glasses at World Market. Rob asked me the other day if he was allowed to drink out of them.

You betcha, Rob. In fact, I'll even bring you the drink. Take a load off, guys.

I'm Hot

And you're not. But if you wanna hang with me I'll give it one shot. Top that.

Don't be jealous of my kitchen door. It's just too hot.

Hate on Me

Sorry that I've been a jerk of a blogger, guys. To be honest, I've had a brush with death. And by brush with death I mean a self diagnosis of AIDS and/or lymphoma. Not even joking. For the past couple months I've had fevers, swollen glands, bugs, flues, aches--you name it. So naturally I've come to the conclusion I probably have one of the above mentioned diseases. And even more naturally I put blogging on hold while I dealt with this.

Right now I'm in bed wearing one of Virginia's old scarves around my head, a mouth and throat full of cankers, drinking gatorade, and shaking off yet another fever. Feels right.

On the upside of my life, the house is looking good! The kitchen is all but done, the living room is looking great, and our sectional for the basement is almost here! We still have quite a bit to finish up, but it's definitely livable and we're definitely loving it.

Also, I wanted to tell everyone thanks for all the tips, advice and prayers (mom) about whether or not to paint our fireplace. I really took it all to heart.



It happened. And no one took it harder than Maxine. We still need to give it another coat and paint the mortar, but basically it's never looked better.

But that's only according to me and like 20 of my coolest friends.