Project Lohman: Step One

Well, as you know, I am slowly continuing my quest to make Justin's bachelor pad a comfortable home for two...well, I am very proud to say that in the last month, we have made one gigantic leap of progress!!

Half of the house, containing the original master bed and bath, another bedroom, a guest bathroom, and Justin's office, was carpeted for the last 6+ years. While the carpet in the rooms was not in horrendous shape, the hallway was beginning to show wear from lots of traffic over the years.

So Justin informed me one day not too long ago...he said "you know there is hardwood flooring underall the carpet!!" My response was to immediately try to pull up a corner to get a glimpse at the promised land...sure enough...hardwood floors lay under there...And this is what they looked like:

The front bedroom, aka Maddy's Room:

The original Master Bedroom on the back of the house...

Justin's office:

And the hallway connecting the bedrooms and the guest bathroom to the rest of the house:

And yes, that is a large puddle of dried paint on the hardwoods...someone did not take any caution when painting the house!! Not only was paint splattered everywhere...there were definitely marks of other substances...maybe a dog or two roamed these halls back when...

Looks pretty terrible huh?

The Windy City

This weekend Justin and I took a little break from all the house projects and disorder and craziness that surrounds them to go celebrate his friend Tracy's 30th birthday in Chicago. We flew out Saturday morning, getting to Chicago in time to enjoy a little sight-seeing before the birthday bash..

We ate Chicago-style deep dish pizza...

We walked and shopped along the Magnificent Mile:

We went to a local favorite, La Scarola, and learned what exactly "escarole" is and how to eat it...along with ravioli, halibut, and spemoni ice cream!

And after dinner, we went to our friend Tracy's 30th birthday roast...two comedians were hired by Tracy's parents to roast their daughter and son in front of 40 of their closest friends...it was hilarious and crude and such a fun time!

Little did we know that the next day, Sunday, we would spend 7 hours in airports - yes, O'Hare AND Midway, trying to get back to Memphis. IN the middle of the morning, a flight was completely canceled, leaving 150+ travelers scrambling for the empty seat in any and all other flights. Needless to say, we were out of luck...so at 5:20pm, Justin and I hopped into a rental car (THANK YOU DAVE ROBERTS) and drive the 8.5 hours home to Memphis.

WHAT A WEEKEND!

Goodbye Mimosa!

Goodluck and happy-home-owning to the new owner! I am sad to sell this house, but we are soooo happy not to have the responsibility anymore!

Weekend Warriors

Lots of fun and exciting things are happening around the Lohman housebold on Normandy...we are working hard on making our house a home...especially for me as I am the newbie in the house and on the block!! Justin has been hard at work in the yard making sure that we have the trimmest, fullest plot of grass on the street. He is making good use of his birthday presents (an edger and a hedge trimmer) and the end result is stupendous! Here he is, hard at work...

We have a very unique fence in the backyard, which, unfortunately, is showing its age. From our deck, we can see the neighbor's nice even fencing, and we have always wanted to have an upgrade of our own...so one steamy July 4th, Justin and I demo-ed the old fence in preparation for a new one...Here are the before and afters:

Old fence, lots of character, lots of deterioration:

Demolition day...

New fence...evenly spaced, built for privacy, and perfectly in line:

And below is the dog-run, an area surrounded in chain-link fence, which we cleared of nasty vines and weeds.

And the view from the back of the yard, combining the deck and patio and new fencing.

We are so happy with the end result...we have hopes to continue the fencing in the back, but will probably save that sweaty work for another summer... For now, we can't wait for the weather to cool off so we can have people over on the deck and enjoy the great outdoor space! For now, we have moved inside to start other, more ambitious projects (i.e....stay tuned...more to come!)!!!

Spoiled rotten...and wanting more!!

Yes, it's true...I am totally spoiled...I have been to two different beaches in the last two weeks. Justin and I went down to Pensacola for Memorial Day and then the next Friday, I took an entire week off of work to be with my parents in Sunset Beach, NC. I am rested, well-fed, sun-kissed, and relaxed...if I could only have more!!

Here are a few pics from the last few weeks...the view from the Lohman's condo never gets old...you can see down to Perdido Beach and usually can catch one heck of a sunset. We can only hope and pray that the oil does not devastate the beaches as they have predicted...

Justin and I have a favorite restaurant down in Pensacola called Dharma Blue...they have the BEST food...we always get a wide variety of sushi for the table and leave with full bellies!!

I was so glad to be able to spend the weekend with Justin and his family and our friend Doug, because, unfortunately, Justin was not able to join us in Sunset Beach...we missed him greatly!!

This is the few from the top of our rental house in Sunset Beach..

My parents and I had a wonderful time at the beach...we read books, we shopped the outlet malls, we played ladder golf - a new beach game, and we soaked up the sunrays!! I flew home to Memphis Thursday night, the same night Justin was flying home from his national work meeting in Richmond, VA. We had planned a rendezvous in the Atlanta airport, but delays in flights ruined our plans! Fortunately, we were able to spend the day together Friday, planning for our first weekend of World Cup Soccer action.

Since the soccer games started at 6:30am Saturday morning, Justin DVR'd them and invited some guys over for breakfast and soccer...I decided to concoct something scrumptious, and found this recipe for Sausage Breakfast Casserole. It was delicious!

Happy fellas...comfy couch, soccer-mania, and good food...And just who is spoiled now???

Abundant Sunshine...

Yes, that was the weather forecast for the weekend of Justin and my wedding...it was amazingly perfect...and it seems it is now the theme for the past few days in Sunset Beach...abundant sunshine. The beach weather also brings abundant wind, water, sand, and suntan...all a welcome break from the grind of work.

Short Update...

So...Life has been slightly hectic, as is slowly becoming the norm for me...My house is still on the market with enough showings to keep me hopeful that the right buyer and contract is on its way! Work is crazy...I am the only NP working the week after Memorial Day - which means, 5 days are scrunched into four and I am running all day long!! However, I am always happy to see that someone in my family is relaxed and getting some much-needed rest! This is Maddy, my gray tabby that I adopted in Nashville, sleeping on the kitchen table...totally inappropriate but definitely cute. (Don't tell Justin)

My good friend, and maid-of-honor Brook came back up to Memphis in May for BBQ Fest...we all met out at the Blue Monkey for some good times and catching up...I hadn't been on the bar scene in awhile, and we had a blast!!

Tomorrow is Justin's 30th birthday...and we are heading to Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to be with my family...this is always a much-anticipated trip for me...but unfortunately falls on a bad week for Justin this year. He has a work meeting in Virginia, he is missing the finals of his men's league soccer tournament, AND he has to fly on his birthday....POO! I hope the hedge trimmer I got him for his birthday makes up for all of that! HA!

Anyways, Wayne and Maria (Justin's parents) came over last night to celebrate the big 3-0 and I tried out a new scallop recipe that I had pulled out of Coastal Living. The Lohmans brought fresh scallops up from Pensacola, FL, and we put together the delicious meal and festively fun time! I am sad that these might be the last gulf scallops we have for a while...seeing how the oil was 6 miles from Pensacola this morning...

Happy Birthday to my fantastic husband!