Ash Wednesday

For Lent i decided on giving up string cheese. Honestly, it's a food I cannot control myself with. I go to eat one and I eat 4...this will definitely be for the good :)

Ice/snow day

Another home update diy faucet

I decided to spend my Valentine's Day changing the faucets in my home. The only one I didn't complete successfully was my guest bath. When I shut the valves off I noticed the water was leaking  so I didn't proceed with the install. and right now I'm kind of glad I didn't because I am considering exchanging one (I bought the same fixture for both bathrooms.)..., for a oil bronze one for the master bath and move the new master one to the guest bath. What inspired that you may ask... First, I realize the piping was copper under the sink and then i realized I had  cheapest(buildegrade) fixtures. Then I start searching online to see how invloved the project is. My confidence was high since I just successfully did my lights; again I went to YouTube & watch how to videos; it seems just as easy as the lights because all you're doing is connecting two ends. So I went to Lowes and Home Depot. I ended up getting my kitchen faucet from Lowe's and then the bathrooms I got from Home Depot. I also bought the supply lines & bought a wider wrench and a basin wrench (but never used it). I came home with that at first and realize I couldn't even get the plastic holders turn off the screws to undo the fixture. So I went back to Home Depot which was a nightmare because the traffic on a weekend. The dogs enjoyed it since they got to go for a car ride. I bought the

The stores plumbing super wrench, that's made for faucet removal, it was 20 bucks (well worth it, so much easier to get everything uninstalled and reconnected.) 

So, First I decided to tackle the kitchen sink since that was the most expensive one I bought &also the one most desperate in need of upgrading. 

The before 

I spent well over an hour trying to pull out the faucet because trying to get all three of the tubes for hot water, cold water & spray hose through the 1 hole was hard! I did check the night before so I knew I had a four whole sink.

The faucet I bought works with any # of holes sink. Above I had already installed the soap dispenser that comes with the new faucet set. And here it is below all finished and on to prove I have it working. I also checked underneath for any leaks and didn't feel any water or see anything after minute(s) water running. 

Hot & cold all work. Below is all the other pictures from the masterbath before and after. 

The guest bath will have to wait for another day, once I Google what the valve shut off leaking needs/means and if I need to call a real plumber or not. Which will give me time to decide if I really want to switch the new master bath and exchange the other one for the oil bronze one that was $$$. (i'm thinking I will and then since it will really be the last of any extra money I have)

so this will probably be the last home update for a while. And live here just over a year and a half and it's taken me this long to do it. 

Little home updates

 Last time when I first moved in & installed my chandelier I hire an electrician to come out and install it. I watched him most of the time & thought to myself I can do that. So since I had some extra money that I wanted to spend I decided to update some of my interior and exterior fixtures. So I watch the YouTube video on how to change lights. The only tool I didn't have that I needed was the wirecutters which I bought a cheap cutter for $9. And that was only after I had done one light using scissors to cut the wire and shave it back. (I also had to borrow my brother-in-law's screwdriver drill, for 1 screw I could not get out of an outlet box by hand)

Fairly easy to install and relatively inexpensive (if u do just one) and totally changes the feel. The problem is I started with just the outdoor ones and within a couple days I had my whole house done. 

The before backdoor fixture (the front door was the same thing) 

The new front light

The new back light with motion sensors 

The before hallway 

The new hallway lights 

And the most pain in the butt light to change was just changing the shade on my ceiling fan light in my living room. Can be done with no tools just fingers but damn those light screws that hold the shade in place are a pain! 

(The pattern matches the swirls and colors on my fireplace mantle, and I know that the pic isnt appealing because of all the colors but with the fan on you can't really see the gold with the lights on.) 

 

Also did the lights in my bathroom but I didn't take a take before picture but you can see how big they were and they didn't have any shade so it was just the bulb light shining bright first thing in the morning irritating my eyes plus I'm not a fan of bright lights to begin with. I havent painted yet because I haven't wanted to crawl up into the attic & I'll do that this weekend but you get the idea what lights look like for the meantime (i'll update the pictures once I paint)

I also decided to get a rug for the kitchen 

and add a window film for the window in the dogs room. The dogs also got a new light in their room to remove the builder grade gold base one (like the hallway one) but what I replaced it with was just a simple around light like the one that was there, just with a oil bronze base. 

(I had just said to myself to doublecheck to make sure they were going into the same direction but after stepping back I realize I had done what I just said not to do but like it enough to leave it) 

After a Hike on Superbowl Sunday.

This is my dogs after hiking today at umstead state park. Currently in their not too excited about the game tonight. GO SEAHAWKS

My beautiful new roof.

One of the things I was looking at when I was buying a house was that house wouldnt need a major repair within the first 5 years and then I went and bought a house that had inspection issues, so I knew going into it that I had some issues going on. Although inhindsight I probably should've had a contractor look over the things on the inspection report instead of taking the inspectors word that most things were okay even though there were issues. Anyways the first major home repair I had to pay for was a new roof not to mention that I discovered that the roof was starting to rot on Christmas morning. Because it was raining I guess this below caught my eye for the first time 

Luckily my brother-in-law/boss  had a roof contractor to refer me to call because he trust his opinion and work. I called his company (on tops roofing) after the holiday and he came out & gave a very fair replacement option and Upgrade option. Once I funded the project I called the contractor to schedule/order and a week later I have a brand-new roof that I don't have to worry about leakage or rotting wood spreading. I decided to go with the upgrade option which was the gaf-hd timberline roof and for the color I choose Williamsburg slate.

To be honest I was super worried about the color because when I googled it & saw pictures I only liked half the time as far as curb appeal. I'm glad I didn't change the color. I couldn't be happier with the end result & Chris and his crew were nothing but professional and great to deal with. 

Check out the before and after pics. (I cant stop taking pictures of my house now.)

Byebye old roof

Hello new roof

Below is old again

And new again

Below is before back of the house with 3 poles and 2 satellites 

And the now the new back of the house with no satellites.

Jimmy Fallon Blew a Chance to Date Nicole Kidman

Has to be one of the funniest, most awkward interview ever and it's great! Check it out