The Kitchen, BEFORE

It's very good the kitchen in this house is ugly and broken. There's no place to put a refrigerator here (how did the previous owners live?), most of the base cabinets are free-standing and roll around, there is nowhere to hook up the dishwasher and the kitchen sink does not work. Hmm. 

But, yay for me! It has been a secret life of mine to daydream about a kitchen that I could one day design, specify and install. 

Here's a view of the kitchen side. Somebody had previously knocked down a wall (you can see the ceiling transition from popcorn to smooth). So thanks for doing that. But as for the rest, what were you people THINKING? 

Here's a view of the dining side. Not sure what the chandelier placement is all about. But there's a fireplace in the dining area and I like that the dining is open to the kitchen. 

Kitchen planning here we go!!

"It's Old and Cheap"

Look at what I found as I was going through city records on the house.

Apparently this house took William McKnight $5,250 to build in 1946.

65 years later, it will take me about that much to replace the flooring ALONE, DIY-style. What will houses cost when the kids are grown up?

An Actual House: We are in Escrow

So after all that talk about being careful not to jeopardize our spiritual house, we are now surprisingly in escrow for an actual house! 

Stubbed toes, we will miss you. Wait a minute, no we won't! At one point, Kevin and I both had bloody pinky toes from stubbing them on things around our small apartment. To get a butter knife while you're in the kitchen, you have to walk over to the dining room cupboard (there's nowhere in the kitchen to store eating utensils), and to walk there you have to step over Noelle's play space right as she's laid out her beautiful pretend picnic. As you tip toe back through her litter of toys, past the pots and pans hanging on the kitchen cart right next to her head, you stub your toe on the kitchen ladder. To cook you move the ladder in front of the refrigerator. To open the refrigerator you have to move the ladder in front of the sink. To wash your hands, you then move the ladder in front of the stove. And so on, and so forth, except repeat scenario a million times in almost every room of the apartment. 

Oh, God heard my prayer alright. He saw my bloody toes. Our need for more space. A backyard to run in. 

The house in not quite ours yet. We are praying escrow closes smoothly. 

God has been faithful to us! 

*Thankful for:

~parents, on both sides, who love us and provide so generously and sacrificially for us

~healthy babies growing into toddlers growing into preschoolers

~baby eating rice, wheat, oatmeal, milk...no allergies so far with her!

~smiling, crinkling eyes and nose of a giggly, always-happy Tasha

~sweet kisses of husband, our 5-year anniversary coming up soon!