The Kitchen

The last of the big house projects got finished this weekend. The kitchen is finally done! At some point, if we stay here long term, we'll add a back splash. But for now, we're just so glad to have it all put back together and settled (after putting in all the appliances, repainting all the walls and the trim, adding crown molding, changing out the counter tops, the sink, and adding some shelves...).

I wish we had some good before and after shots but we don't. All we have is one weird photo of one of the counters from when we were having our inspection done when we bought the house. You'll have to use your imagination to get the full picture because the kitchen is an odd shape, so it's hard to photograph. The first photo starts in the back corner and then they go clockwise around the room.

BEFORE

AFTER

No More Scary Basement

Ben finally finished our basement this week, which has been so nice for us. We love how it turned out. The basement had a water/mold problem when we bought the house, so we had to rip the whole thing out, down to the studs. And that's how it sat for over a year (while it got used as a tool shed, saw dust bin, etc.) until we got around to putting the walls back in. I used to close my eyes when I walked through the big basement room on my way to the laundry room. Looking at the "before" pictures with the mold still makes my skin crawl, but here's the newly finished product.

BEFORE

AFTER

Done...AT LAST

We bought our home here in Shaker Heights last September, as a foreclosure, so we've had a lot to do to fix it up. The outside of the house was horrible (the roof, the shutters, and the bricks falling off, the front step falling down, the door beat to pieces, and what was left of the door covered with an awful metal door, etc.), but it had to wait a long time before it got some much needed attention. And FINALLY...one year and two months later, it's done! We can't even believe it's the same house now when we pull up. And we're also so glad that the outside of our house is no longer bringing down the property values of the homes around us...and so are our neighbors. Here's a few before and after pics. We loved our little house so much even before we did all the repairs, and now we're just enamored with it.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Halloween

I forgot I had these darling pics of Reagan's first trick or treating experience until just now. I don't know if she had fun asking for candy she wouldn't eat (except for a sucker, see below), but Ben and I sure did.

Us having a little talk about her door approach.

Reagan wondering why Daddy wasn't coming with us.

Reagan disgruntled about something or other. I love her face in this one.

In love with her rootbeer sucker.

So proud of herself.

Twelve Reasons Why We Love Cleveland So Much

(Fall here is so spectacular.)

The latest Cleveland tourism brochure...

"Surprise!!! You'll FALL in love with Cleveland."

Or this...

"You can LEAF me in Cleveland anytime.

Life just doesn't get any better than this."