Making Excuses

Okay, we are totally behind! It has been three months since we finished the renovation on Betty’s Bungalow, and today I will (finally) share about the last big projects we completed! Life has been a little crazy, and I will give you my numerous excuses for why this wasn’t done sooner…

It’s amazing how quickly the day can fly by even if you’re not working! While I continue my hunt for my first Physician Assistant job, I am coming to appreciate all the housewives (or husbands) out there. Between grocery shopping, cooking for my amazing wife, loads of laundry, cleaning our house, cleaning Betty’s Bungalow, and 10 minute rotations of letting dogs outside, I feel like I never sit down! We don’t even have human children yet – how do you parents do this stuff? So, thats why I haven’t been posting often, along with a few other things in the works (more on that later).

Oh, yeah – we also haven’t introduced our new pride and joy yet! On Christmas Eve, we added Princess Poppy Sparkles (just Poppy on the day-to-day) to the Dharma Dwellings family. Another beautiful little goldendoodle (yes, a black-and-white doodle!) is just what the doctor ordered to keep those winter blues away. She has quite the personality and demands your attention! She’s the most snuggly pooch we’ve had, but that may be because Emily finally caved into allowing the dogs on the couch after having Rory for a while! As you can see, Poppy and Rory are like peas and carrots. They are together constantly – playing, fighting, snuggling, and getting into lots of trouble.

 

So there you have it – all my excuses for why this post is so late. Now, on to the renovation…

LVP: the new MVP!

Installing the new flooring took about one weekend to complete. It was a good project, as laying flooring is one of the tasks I can accomplish (with moderate supervision). We really love the luxury vinyl plank (LVP for short) flooring. Its softer and quieter than laminate or hardwoods. It’s also spill-resistant/waterproof, and I swear I’m not trying to sell them. We hope to have them all throughout our own house some day!

 

Just like butter…

After Jene, Emily’s mom, had finished with her 3rd coat of paint on the cabinets, we were able to get the countertops in place. We love the butcher-block look, and with care and proper maintenance it should last forever. Its different than what most people have at home, and we thought it would be a nice change of pace while staying with us! Jene and Emily carefully sanded the blocks smooth as could be. Keith and I (mostly Keith) did the rough-ins and drilled everything in place.  Then, Jene stained and sealed the countertops too many times to count. The more coats, the smoother and more protected that beautiful wood will be as our guests use it! We are sure hoping it holds up well, and we left a friendly reminder for our guests to treat them with care!

  

   

 

Tiling and Smiling 🙂 

Once the counters were done, it was finally time for backsplash! Emily and I got to do the tiling and grouting. This was our first time doing it, and we had a lot of fun! It turned out great, and we look forward to doing it again in the future! We were smiling not only because of the fun we were having, but because this was the last major project in the house!

  

   

If you’ve stuck around this long

We’ve got some exciting news to share in the coming days… We’ll give you some hints: It has a name. It’s small and cute, but it’s kinda old. Can you figure it out? What’s your guess? Post in the Facebook comments and see if you’re right! Check back in the near future as we unveil our surprise!