Ignore the ranting lunatic in the corner

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I would rather bitch on facebook about this, seeing as it is the source of my frustration, but I can’t without seeming passive-agressive or finger pointing.  Please don’t think this is directed at anyone in particular.  This has been building up since last year, and a few comments recently (not even directed at me) have pushed me over the edge. 

I’ve resigned myself to be the black sheep in my and Matt’s families, but it feels pretty shitty to be on the outside looking in.  I will always very different religious and political views from everyone else, and I’m SO SICK of hearing, “Well, I’m sorry, but you’re wrong.”  I seriously want to pull my hair out.  Matt deals with it to an extent as well, but his views aren’t as strong as mine, and I’m WAY more sensitive about it than he is.

Yes, I am a gay marriage supporting, Obama loving, pro-choice, agnostic liberal.  DEAL WITH IT.  People are entitiled to believe what they want, and who are YOU to decide if it’s right or wrong?  I’m not like you, I don’t want to be like you, and you’re no better than me.  Get off your fucking high horse.  Until I hear something intelligent and insightful come out of your mouth, I refuse to read or listen to another word.  End of discussion.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I feel the need to get something pierced or tattooed as a childish act of rebellion.

**End of rant**

I feel better.

More details about the kitchen project

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So, the little kitchen remodel project has mutated into a monster that grows bigger and bigger every day.  As of right now, this is what’s going on:

Cabinets: Everything is being removed and replaced with custom shaker style cabinets in a nice cherry finish.  We finally decided to go with laminate counters (due to cost), but did pick out a nice slate style (dark gray).  No laminate backsplash in order to make the counters look more like stone slabs.

Flooring: All carpet and tile is getting ripped up and replaced with either a laminate or engineered wood floor (we’re picking it out this week).  We also talked about replacing the carpet in the craft room (the room between the garage and our living room), but once again, it depends on money.  But before anything can be installed, we need to work on the subfloor.  It’s a 30+ year house, so there are some squeaks that need to be addressed, and we may need to replace some plywood if the roof leak caused any major water damage.  And once the floor and paint is done, we will be adding new baseboards (I really don’t want to try to salvage the current ones, but if we have to, we have to).

Walls:  Paint!!  Gone will be the pink!  We’re thinking of a nice muted blue/green for the entire great room area.  Eventually I want to paint the downstairs area, but that’s another project for another time.  Before we can paint, however, we have to do some drywall removal/repair.  The bulkhead area above the cabinets will be torn down.  And we need to paint the ceiling in the kitchen due to some….uh…..smoke damage.  **shifts eyes**

Plumbing: a copper pipe needs to be rerouted to the wall the kitchen and bathroom share, a shutoff valve needs to be installed, and the dishwasher moved to the other side of the sink.  Oh, and parts need to be bought for my awesome faucet find.  And finally, a gas line needs to be run to where the current stove is (that’s where our range will be).

Electrical: The 220 volt line will have to be run to the other side of the room for the oven/microwave combo, as well as some lighting above the sink, and possibly replacing the pendants above the peninsula area (again, depends on time and money- may be delayed).  Under cabinet lighting installed, outlets added to the peninsula area, and a few existing outlets will have to be moved/rerouted.

Shelves: We’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and we figured now would be a good time to work on it (while the house is under construction), as opposed to later.  Floor to ceiling wood shelving will be installed to the right of the fireplace.  Cabinets may be installed for DVD/cable box/disc storage, but again, we can’t make up our mind, and it depends on the cost.

Things to be done in the future: New furniture, glass doors for the fireplace, new mantle for said fireplace, painting downstairs, THE UPSTAIRS BATHROOM, the craft room, the guest room, office remodel, the sewer, the landscaping, the roof…..the list just never ends.  Ever.

Big changes!

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So, the next few weeks here at the house are going to be pretty crazy.  If you don’t hear from me or Matt, it’s because we’ve a) killed each other, b) killed ourselves, c) got trapped under debris,  or d) are too exhausted to move.  Here’s what’s going on:

1. Everyone’s getting married or having kids

So, apparently everyone in Matt’s extended families have decided that they want to get married or have babies.  That’s great, but that means that I have to go to a buttload of baby/wedding showers, not to mention the actual weddings.  That means a LOT of driving to the Jeff City area.  I love Matt’s families, but it’s just coming at a bad time.

2. Wedding season is kicking back up.

For some reason, Lisa never really books weddings in the summer.  And that’s fine with me, because it sucks trying to look all professional-like when your makeup has sweated off and your hair is plastered to your face.  We do, however, have several weddings coming up, starting in August.  I have recovered from the wedding burn out, and am actually ready to start back up again.

3. I’m getting more serious about my own photography.

I’ve been slacking WAY too long due to laziness and lack of confidence.  I can’t do that anymore.  I’m being proactive, and am taking steps to get more business.  I’m currently working on a professional blog, I’ve started an Etsy store to sell fine art photography (no items for sale yet, but I’ll post when there is), I created a professional Twitter account, and I’m working on a paper portfolio as well.  I’ve got a few paid gigs coming up soon, and a few collaborations that are REALLY exciting. 

4. I’m going to try to sell my soap at the Rock n Roll craft show in November.

I found out more info about the event, and Jessi and I decided to give selling our soap a try.  This is still in the very early stages of discussion, so this may not pan out, but I am really excited at the prospect.  The only problem is that if we’re going to sell our soap in November, we need to start making it, like, now.  It takes time to cure, but making over 100 lbs. of soap is going to be a problem seeing as we will be kitchenless for about 6 weeks.

And finally,

5. The kitchen project is officially starting.

We’ve talked about this damn project for just about forever, and you all must be sick of hearing about it, but it’s really exciting for us (at least me).  I was supposed to do a house-wide purge this weekend, but that really didn’t work out.  And that’s ok, because it can be done during the week (without Matt, since most of the crap that’s going away is mine).  The cabinet maker is taking final measurements on Tuesday, and while we don’t have a definite install date yet (it could be as early as August 6), we have a LOT to do in the meantime.

So, I’ll see everyone in September, unless you want to come help us paint! 😉