Here is what I have been up to ...

Home Improvements...

Outside of the house before.
















Outside after a new roof, trim boards, gutters and a repainted door.

















A close up of the door. Darrell repainted the door and did a phenomenal job, it is my favorite improvement so far. It really improves the curb appeal.

Living room before.

Living room after painted ceilings and walls. The walls are actually a light beige color but it doesn't come across real well in the photos.

Fireplace before.

And after. I still need to clean the fireplace

Hallway before.

And after.

Dining area before.

After. The door still needs a coat of polyurethane.

The kitchen before (sort of). Darrell had already taken down the vent that matched the mustard yellow counters, replaced the light over the sink, and Pennie and I cleaned and restored the cabinets.

The kitchen in process. I still have to re laminate the counters and paint. The majority of the kitchen and dining area is painted, but I am waiting until the countertops are finished to paint this part of the kitchen. Notice the freshly painted range hood compliments of Darrell, master of the aerosol can :-)

More to follow as the improvements continue. Two of the bedrooms are also painted. Here is what I have left.

1. Paint the master bedroom

2. Paint the bathrooms

3. Install new electrical outlets, switches, and covers.

4. Install carpet (scheduled for a week from Monday, may move it to Friday)

5. Re laminate countertops (second estimate tomorrow, hoping it's better than the first)

6. New molding in the living room, hallway, and around the front and kitchen doors.

7. CLEAN!

8. Yard work.

9. Install new air conditioner???

As you can see I am keeping busy, but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Well, those of you who haven't been working right along side of me. I can't thank Darrell, Pennie, Mom, and Dad enough for all their help.

P.S. Tom you now owe me pictures of the fence.

Here is what Vlad has been up to ...

Vladimir does not get along with other dogs very well so he spends the majority of the time at the Osterud household in his crate. He spends most of his evenings with me hanging out upstairs in the guest bedroom. I tried to get a picture of him rolling on the carpet. It is pretty funny to watch him roll around, but impossible to actually catch him in the act on camera.























Normally the dogs sleep in a crate at night. Neither Tom or I are particularly fond of sleeping with animals. However, since Vlad is couped up so much right now I have been making an exception. Here is a picture shortly before bed. He is quite the cuddle bug.

Here is what Woody has been up to...

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF WOODY AT GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S

Playing with the BIG dogs

Helping with the chores (he LOVES helping wash the dishes)

This is what he had to say when I told him he couldn't stay forever...

As if I don't have enough to do ...

A few weeks back, when Tom and I were getting ready to have all our stuff packed and shipped to South Carolina, I decided to take on a "little" project. I had not been able to use my laptop in a while because the power connection on my system board was loose. The battery is REALLY old and does not hold a charge, so it must be plugged in to work. Since the connection was loose it would randomly turn off when it lost its connection.

Since my new desktop had to be packed and shipped to South Carolina and I am staying with my parents, I had two options for a computer while I am still in Oregon.

Option 1: Use my parent's Mac .

Option 2: Re-solder the power on my system board.

I chose option 2, since I am not a big fan of Macs.

I THOUGHT this would be a quick project. I ASSUMED I could just remove the back panel of the laptop and re solder the connection. I was WRONG!!!!!!!! In order to get to the system board I had to remove every single component from my laptop from the top down. The following pictures show all the components laying around misc. places in the house.

Another Chapter Closed (for Tom)

Yesterday, Tom turned in his final project and made the last presentation as an MBA student. He is officially FINISHED! The last hurdle is just walking across the stage on May 4th to receive his degree.

Tom has worked incredibly hard in order to achieve this goal. It is no easy feat to work full time and obtain a MBA at a highly accredited school. Then, throw in two major life changes during his time as a student (getting married and planning a move from coast to coast) making things even more difficult.

We are breathing a slight sigh of relief today. Tom much more so than me, but I am glad we will have more time to spend together. We have been together for almost 4 years and he has been a student for 3 of those. Now we just have to get ourselves moved to South Carolina.

Tom leaves May 22nd, the day after our 2nd wedding anniversary. I will be staying in Oregon until at least the end of June. Being apart for 6 weeks is going to be difficult, but I am hoping with everything that has to be done, time will go by quickly. It will also be a good opportunity to spend a lot of time with my parents before leaving, as I will be living with them.

For Tom -

Words do not describe how proud I am of you for achieving this goal. I know the last three years have been challenging for you. The amount of time and effort required to complete your degree left you with little time for yourself, and the time you did have you usually spent with me. The sacrifices you have made will open many doors for you professionally. It is my hearts desire to see you succeed and enjoy your career. I hope the new degree brings you the challenges and respect you desire as a professional.

Your devoted wife,

el

OK, know that you have all SUFFERED through that, how about a picture of a handsome man.

South Carolina Photos

Go here to see all of the pictures from our house hunting trip in South Carolina, including a bunch of the new house. Talk to ya'll later :-)

Our New Home

Greetings from South Carolina. As you can see from the title of this post we have found our new home in Rock Hill. We made an offer last night and it was accepted just after lunch today. Here are a few pictures.

The house is a cape cod style with four bedrooms and three and a half baths. There is a basement that has a recreation room (can ya'll say pool table) and tons of shop space for projects.

The lot has a lot of trees as you can see in the pictures and we can't see a single neighbor. The house also has a screened porch that overlooks the backyard down to the creek.

We were very happy to find this home, we couldn't have asked for more. The location is very convienent to work yet extremely private. It is like living in Aurora with a 10 minute commute.