Updates

I have not updated in SOO long because my life was consumed by tasks for my Brother's Wedding, August 4 (it was beautiful, but more on that in another post!!!) and working at the house!!

THE HOUSE

Where to start.... Well, I guess where I left off would be the best place, we installed the five windows upstairs and had the dining room window installed in the last photos I posted. The new living room window was installed after my last post! This means the window installations are complete!!! WooHoo!!

Since the windows were all in, Matt was able to focus on wiring, followed by closing up the walls!!  The 'framework' for the bar between the kitchen and living/dining area is complete, the tile counter tops with wood edging is laid and just needs grouted, and the refinished hard wood has been

hung' for the book case on the one side of the bar.

What used to be two windows........ Became one big hole for one window!

The entire house is ready to be painted, and is almost completely painted! We settled on a tan color for the bedroom, and decided to do an accent wall (although Matt did a little more than just one wall) in "Orange Spice" with the rest of the walls being white. The Kitchen, Dining Room, and part of the Living Room are white, and the living room will soon have a tan accent wall (the same color as the bedroom).

In the upstairs Matt decided to put cedar boards between the beams the whole way up to the peaks in the rooms. Although its hard to describe, it looks AMAZING!! The pictures I took do NOT do it justice! (Below: Office with Orange Paint and Cedar Planks)

Matt started back to The University of Pittsburgh yesterday so his work time at the house is at a bare minimum for the next 3.5 months! Luckily, (for us) my brother, Adam, is laid off from his Carpenter Union job, so we made him an offer he can't refuse to get our house ready! :) Our goal is September 30 to be living in our new house!! I really hope we make it! I can't wait any longer!!

 The current Master Bedroom

The Orange office with the start of the cedar boards!

Shopping on Amazon

If anyone out there, like me, LOVES Amazon.com, you can shop straight from my website! There is a link at the bottom (p.s. I get 'credit' for your shoppping so I'm all for YOU using the link!!)

~Amanda

Cookies

Matt is ending the end of his semester at Pitt so we haven't had much time since installing the windows to work at the house (window pic below).

I've been busy making cookies for weddings. My cousin Andy is marrying Rachel on July 21!! Mom said we would make Raisin Puff (YUCK) and Thumbprint. I found lilac dye when I went to Washington for the selling closing of our last Washington County Property!! The color looked wonderful, I think!

Next week starts the cooking making for Alex and Liz's Wedding..., that will take a while longer since we are making Raisin Puff, Thumbprint (with pink and charcoal icing), Mini Nut Rolls, and Mini Apricot Rolls (My Favorite)!!!

Windows

I'm so excited that our windows for the upstairs bedroom came in today!! We are taking out the door and unsafe balcony and replacing it with five tiered windows!! Yeah!! I can't wait until they are installed! I will post pictures!

Progress Pictures

Progress is Visible, Just not in Photos!

It has been awhile since I updated on the house. Things are coming along quiet nicely. I think all of the destruction is complete and we are on to rebuilding!!

DownStairs

On the first floor we have all of the drywall pulled that we are re-doing. Matt has re-wired most of the first floor and all the dry wall has been hung except for in the kitchen. The bathroom has two coats of paint, but needs a third, and then it will be ready for trim, closet doors, and shelves in the closet! We still need to decide on flooring for the first floor as well as the layout/cabinets/appliances for the kitchen.

UpStairs
The second floor has been drywalled and needs one final sanding before 90% of the walls upstairs are completed. We have ordered new windows for the bedroom upstairs and Matt has started to add personal touches to the house! He found a new favorite store, ShopDemo, in Mt. Pleasant. Matt bought three different types of hardwood flooring to accent around the house. We planed the boards down and stained them. Matt used one set in the office as backing to built in book shelves and as accent on the attic peak! It looks really nice!

I will post pictures as soon as I can get my phone to download the photos! Unfortunately last time I tried to download photos, the computer and phone would not connect and were both being difficult! :(

~Amanda~

London

I LOVE LONDON! It is one of my favorite cities and always will be!!!

We booked our hotel on easytobook.com and I was definitely impressed with the hotel! It was a lot more spacious of a room than I anticipated. The room had two single beds.

The main reason for our entire trip was Amy and Andy's wedding!!! The entire group did a tour to Stonehenge and the City of Bath. The trip was fantastic! Although Stonehenge is really just a bunch of big rocks in a field, to see them, and they way they are arranged really is amazing! The city of Bath was phenomenal! I really didn't research it before the trip but I'm so glad we went there! I would recommend it to anyone travelling to England!

Stonehenge

The Bestest Friends a girl could ever have!

Roman Baths

Part of the Roman Baths

The 'Circus', a part of the city of Bath, it was very neat, it was circular, and the buildings all curved around the Circle!

A Random shot in Bath!

The Wedding

The wedding started in the hotel lobby. We had these delicious Cupcakes and Champagne to celebrate! We also took a few Photographs inside before starting our trek to the Tower Bridge!!

The flowers were gorgeous!

The bride and I!

All of the Ladies, all dressed up!

Amy and Andy said their vows on the Tower Bridge with the Tower of London in the background!

The Tower Bridge, the location of the Vows!

My 'Date' and Travel Partner Candy! :)

(Oh and my personal hair and makeup artist!)

Amy and Andy said their vows on the Tower Bridge with the Tower of London in the background!

The Bride and Groom.

All the Ladies on the Bridge

After Amy and Andy said their Vows everyone headed to a pub for 'Fish & Chips' for dinner! It was nice to kick back and relax!

Candy and I had an extra day in London, so we went exploring after everyone else left:

We saw a lot of sights including:

Big Ben

London Eye

Buckingham Palace

Kensington Palace

Kensington Gardens

Camden Market

Oh my there are really too many places to mention, so here are a few photos:

 

She didn't believe me they were really evil creatures, even though they are pretty!

We were also fortunate enough to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, I would make that a must see for anyone who goes to London!!