Renovation 101

New stuff is happening in the Norton household.  I am so incredibly excited, blessed, grateful - you name it!  First of all, I think I have shared with you all before that we sold D's car a year ago October.  We decided we didn't need two cars and that we would use the extra money to pay off other things.  Yes, it was inconvenient at times, but we survived!  D has really been wanting a Kia Soul for at least 3 years. So, when he recently came across one that was just a year old, maxed to the fullest, and got a sweet deal (that our bank negotiated for us so we didn't even have to deal with that), we realized it was time.  We picked it up today.  WooHoo!

I jumped into a new adventure this week that I'm excited to share.  Ya'll know I love to sing. I am super, duper passionate about it.  Although I have sang most of my life, I realize that there are a lot of things that I need to improve on.  I can't tell you how much I have learned singing with Chosen and being part of the choir and praise team at First Redeemer.  But, I want to be better - take it to another level.  I started voice lessons Thursday.  They had a slot open at the same time as Audrey's ballet class so I jumped on it.  It was awesome!  She was very encouraging and said there was great potential.  I will find that big voice hiding behind that timid, soft squeak.  :)

This weekend marked five years since we bought our house.  We have been very happy here, although quite honestly, had not originally planned to be here this long.  We moved here not knowing  the area and not looking for our "dream house" at the time.  But, we love our neighbors and the area.  We have decided to stick around longer and are now ready to do some renovating and make overs.  I am in HGTV watching mode right now.  So, here's what we're doing:

1.  Home repairs.  We met with a guy who is doing a lot of those annoying-but-has-to-be-done kind of stuff.  He'll be repairing a leaky shower and fixing the rotted wood from said leaky shower.  He is also going to fix our gate that our new canine child has learned to escape the back yard from.  Ok, so that's the not so exciting stuff.

2.  Painting the exterior.  As much as I love pink, I don't want a pink house.  Ours has a very faint tint pink that really isn't cute..  He will start in a couple of weeks, so I am frantically trying to choose colors so they can be submitted to the HOA for approval.

3.  Pressure washing, mending, and restaining the deck.  Can I get a Woot!Woot! Please?! Seriously, if you have ever been to my house and seen my deck you know it Ain't Purty!  It is actually a little frightening.  He will make some needed repairs, as well.  And, I am so tired of looking at the hideous lattice wall.  That baby is coming down, down,down!

4.  Painting the kitchen & living room.  Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  We have never painted anything on the main floor of our house.  We still have one million nail holes in the walls from the previous owners (ok, so I could be exaggerating a little).  Not to mention the lovely, and I use that term very loosely, grapevine border across the top of my kitchen.  I am still very much open for suggestions on a hip new color.  I am really digging blue right now, which is the color of all my dishes and pottery.  But, I also have to think about my living room furniture that is green and mission style since the two rooms are open to each other.

5.  Last, but not least... new hardwood floors on the entire main floor.  We truly wanted to do this before we moved into the house, but we had to sink several thousand dollars into our TN house to sell it.  Ugh!  But, five years later, we a gonna do it!  No more 4 types of flooring when you walk in the front door.  Seriously, you walk into our house onto a hardwood entrance, look to your left and there's carpet, straight ahead to the kitchen is linoleum, and to the right is a bathroom with a different linoleum.  Crazy!  Here's to some cohesiveness!

So, if you try to call, write, or find me in the next few days - I am either on Pinterest or Houzz, at Sherwin Williams, or watching HGTV!!  And, do not fret! There will be plenty of pictures!!