Busy

I am really looking forward to Christmas. I'm looking forward to it for all of the regular reasons, like the smells, and family, and Christmas lights, and kids on Christmas morning, and all of the awesome Christmas treats that my mom makes. And the music - I've already listened to Faith Hill's "Where Are You Christmas" 5 times yesterday. And 2 times today. So far.

I'm also looking forward to Christmas because I feel like it's going to be a turning point of sorts - a Life-Has-Finally-Slowed-Down point. The house will be done and we'll be in it, and I won't have the rush of fall weddings and fall family shoots on top of the house stuff (I'm not wishing away any shoots - I LOVE that I get to take this many pictures!). Hopefully I'll be able to just be at home instead of running around to this and that and trying to pick final paint colors, and light fixtures, and baseboards, and carpet, and tile, and bugging contractors, and squeezing in time to paint between editing, etc. Maybe life won't be any calmer, but with the house being done, I think it will, just a little bit.

I'm excited to have an office to put my computer in, without WWE wrestling blaring right beside me while I'm working. Peace and quiet! And a kitchen where the sink stays plugged until you pull the plug out. And a dishwasher. And a washer that will wash my clothes in cold water, without rinsing them in hot. And a closet where I can reach my clothes without kneeling on the bed. And more than one bathroom. And a shower that I can clean and it will look clean. And wiring that is to code and doesn't burn my lightbulbs out in a week or two. And a garage to park my car in, so I don't have to scrape the windshield off in the mornings. And a driveway that you can just drive on, without feeling like you're mudbogging, and back out of, without watching for the trees growing halfway across it and the house a foot from the other side. And windows!! I am so excited for windows and light. This may sound like I'm whining about our amazing (!) basement apartment, but really what I'm trying to say is that I'm SO excited that all of these things are coming! I'm so thankful that we are able to get our own house. We told my parents we are hosting American Thanksgiving - hopefully we didn't jinx ourselves! ;)

We have the hardwood done in the kitchen and living room; now the hallway, two bedrooms, and our closet need to be done. We're buying tile on Thursday (a sale starts that day) and that will get started in right away. Our driveway is framed for concrete, and half of it got poured today. The stucco is done, and the rock is here, and they're putting it on this minute. Our cabinets are starting to go in this week! The upstairs is all painted (well after tonight it will be) and we've started on the basement. I even have one light fixture and all the pot lights in! It's slowly coming together and starting to look like a house.

Green - that's the color of my kitchen. My great aunt, who lives in B.C., heard about my bright green kitchen from somebody in Raymond, so if you're reading this you've probably already heard about it, too. But that's okay - I'm totally fine with my green kitchen. :)

This is what it looked like before the stucco was finished:

More pictures coming soon!