It's Paint Day...Yahoo!!!

I have been waiting for this day since we moved into the Cabin last fall....Paint Day!  I am one of those people that are able to walk into an old/run-down/outdated space and see the potential and that's exactly what I saw when we first looked at our place.  I knew that while ugly, the cabinets in the kitchen were good quality and they just needed a coat of paint.  This week we'll finally see if I was right! 

The painters are here are are going to start spraying the kitchen cabinets and crown molding.  I spent the weekend removing the contents of the kitchen cabinets as well as all of the hardware.  I figured this would take me a couple of hours...wow was that an understatement!  It took me 5 hours just to remove the doors and all of the hardware!  Here is a sneak peak at the new layout of the kitchen.  I'll post all of the before and after pics when we're finished.

The timing of this paint job is tricky because the movers will be here to pack up the cabin this Friday and Saturday.  So not only did I need to remove everything from the kitchen and dining room, I needed to "stage" it all in areas designated "Pack" and "Don't Pack".  I will still be living here for the month and we are having some guests for the 4th of July so there is still a good amount of crap I'll need for the next 4 weeks.  It's tough finding space for everything as evidenced by the photos below.  This is our guest bedroom.  Everything on the bed is "Don't Pack" territory and I'm definitely running out of room...

We look like hoarders

So that's the state of the state.  I'm camped-out downstairs while the kitchen/dining room are bagged-up to spray.  Check out my sweet set-up.  You'll note the coffee maker and microwave...clearly I have my priorities straight.

The painters should be done on Thursday and then the movers come on Friday and Saturday.  I'm home for a couple of nights for a 30th birthday celebration as well as Father's Day and then back up at the cabin to get ready for new carpet next week!

Meanwhile, at the South House, Mark has been busy tearing up all of the carpet so we can replace that in the next few weeks and Chris finished painting and it looks AMAZING!  Check out the porch!  I wish we had a before photo...it was gnarly in there....

In other news, today is our anniversary!  As you may have gathered from the post, I am at the Cabin and Mark is at the South House - yep, spending our anniversary 3 1/2 hours away from each other.  It's pretty dumb.  We're working on figuring out a re-do date.

And last but not least, it wouldn't be a blog post without a sunset photo.  I took this one on Saturday - it was gorgeous.

Spring at the Cabin

So it's been sometime since I posted and as usual, much has happened.  In May we rented a furnished apartment for the month while we figured out our next move and ultimately decided that for now we're going to live in our South Minneapolis house.  Our renters moved out at the end of May so Mark was able to move in last week.

All of our "stuff" is still at the cabin so Mark is basically squatting in the house right now but he's a trooper and as Tim Gunn would say, is "making it work".  We were able to snag Chris for a few days to paint the house which is great because it needed a LOT of help.  Before our tenants moved in last fall my Mom and I attempted to paint....let's just say it did not go well.  The apple did not fall far from the tree when it comes to painting skills!  I actually haven't been able to get down to see it's transformation so I'm looking forward to that in a couple of weeks.

We also decided that it's time to put the South House on the market as well.  By living there (hopefully temporarily) we'll be better able to finish a few projects in the backyard, stage it, and get it sold!  So, if you know anyone looking for a beautiful 3-4 bedroom/3 bath house on a tree-lined street let us know! :)

I have been managing the work at the cabin which has been pretty time-consuming.  Finding a painter and getting a start date out of them was a total nightmare but they're finally going to start this Saturday - yahoo!  Once that's done we can finally get the new carpet installed, finish the bathroom, and put in all of our new fixtures....we can't wait!  If everything goes according to plan we should have the place rockin' just in time for the 4th of July!

It's been crazy trying to plan everything out this month and July is looking crazy with things going on every weekend.  We're definitely looking forward to August and hoping it's going to be a slower month for the Schlichtings!

I have a ton of photos from the spring already so here are a few:

Pretty tulips!

Our boat

Perfection

Captain Mark

Skipper Bij

She's not too sure about the water...

The Times They Are a Changin'

 So, I started this at the end of April and apparently just didn't hit "Publish Post"....oops!  A little late but here it is!
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As announced via Facebook, so as to make it official {note sarcasm here} the Schlichtings are hittin' the road...again!

When Mark and I moved back to Minnesota last summer and Mark took over the Moorhead branch the ultimate goal was to get to Minneapolis at some point.  We thought that would happen next fall at the earliest...we were wrong!  About a month ago Mark was asked to takeover the Minneapolis office...in early May...this year!

So this past month has been a bit of whirlwind for the Schlichting clan.  Renovating two houses, moving, starting a new job, selling houses...it's been crazy and I have a feeling this is only the beginning!  It's all great stuff though and I couldn't be more proud of Mark for all that he's accomplished in such a short time - he's a rockstar!

Through this process Mark and I have been both excited to be back in the Cities but also sad to leave 'country life' behind.  It's no secret that I'm actually a hermit hiding in a sociable facade so I've really loved being up here in the peace and quiet.  I'm amazed every day by the rolling hills, forests, and of course, the sunsets.  We definitely count ourselves lucky to have had this experience.  I was feeling a little down about it the other day so Mark and I started talking about all of the awesome things about living in the Cities.  I thought I'd share the highlights:

1. Takeout/Delivery Food Options: right now we can't even get pizza delivered so this will feel very luxurious once we're back in town!
2. Restaurants: besides Zorbaz and a Chinese place in DL we have to drive about 40 miles to get to a restaurant so we are over the moon about all of our dining options back in the Cities....hooray!
3. Grocery Stores: this is a big one for me.  Really the only grocery store here is Super Wal-Mart and it kind of sucks.  I really look forward to being able to "run to the grocery store" and not having to make a day of it.  Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Lund's...oh my!
4. A Dishwasher!  HOORAY!  I actually don't mind doing dishes but this will certainly be nice not to HAVE to.
5. Water Pressure: there is a serious lack of it at the cabin likely due to the fact that we don't have city water.  It will be nice that water doesn't dribble out of the faucet in the Cities!
6. Recycling: don't worry, we do recycle here but there isn't a city program like there is in Minneapolis.  We have to sort everything (including 4 different kinds of paper) and then haul it to a recycling center 15 miles away.  It's exciting that someone will come and pick up the recycling for us and maybe even sort it...yay!

There are obviously many, many more but these top my list right now.