Life's simple pleasures

So many things make me happy. Not a lot of big things happen in my life....just a series of small things to make me smile. But this past week was different, something big happened. It was a lot of hard work (but then hard work makes me happy too). Adam and I got to work side by side putting in our new back splash! Originally we were planning on using our Italian marble we used on the countertop. We got it free, years ago, from where I work. They were leftover from a project and they were going to toss them. There are cream, grey and black. Obviously, we used the cream on the couter. We were going to use mostly cream with some black on the back splash. However, Adam had no idea how difficult the cuts he'd have to make were going to be.

Here's the kitchen on Thursday morning before work got under way.




Barry and Steve came over. Those three were going to whip out the backsplash in a few hours....at least that's the idea Adam had. I was supposed to hang around to be the go for girl. I was going to work in my garden to get it ready for veggie plants. Because none of the cuts were made on a flat edge of the tile, they weren't coming out exactly right. It was really stressing Adam out. Then, Barry tried cutting out the holes for the outlets and burned through the blades because the tile was too strong. So after we fed them lunch, we let them go home. We made a trip to the hardware tore and got different blades for a different machine to try cutting the outlet holes. We got some that worked but when we pieced together what was already cut out and saw how off the cuts were, we decided we needed a plan B.

Another trip to the home improvement store. We only had 45 minutes to shop before they closed. A couple of different tiles caught our eye...we debated and finallyagreed on one. Then we had to decide on the accent tile. I ran and got a cart 5 minutes before they closed while Adam found an associate to help him find the correct mortar. So by the time we got home, there was no time left to start. I did get a few hours in in my garden so not a complete bust. But nothing happened in the kitchen...except a mess I needed to clean up before we started again in the morning. Oh, and we fed Andy (the guy who lived with us for a month) and his 5 kids. Their mom's stepdad died so she was out of town. Dinner was supposed to be at 6. We just got the stove put back into position and the kitchen cleaned up at about 5:45. Dinner was a little late but we pulled it off. Almost forgot about that.

Friday was our anniversary. When I was going through all the boxes of stuff, I found these hearts that had stuff written on them, things I love about Adam. They were from our second anniversary. I set them aside so I could find them again. And I actually remembered about them. I taped them to the cabinets since they all still applied. ;o) This back splash was our anniversary gift.

Adam slept in. I worked in my garden while he rested. Then we stopped around dinner time. We went to a Japanese Hibachi grill. That was a really cool experience. After dinner, we went back home and watched a movie. So we only got 2/5 of the kitchen tiled on Friday. These are the two walls we finished by the end of the day. And the tiles in the foregound are for behind the stove.


Adam slept in again on Saturday but after a quick breakfast, we were back at it. He put all the mortar on and placed the tiles.


I followed closely behind him getting the mortar out between the tiles, with a toothpick) so the grout has a place to be. Then I cleaned all the surfaces (under the cabinets, tile fronts, counter top) where the mortar got.


At 6, we finished 2 walls and Adam was ready for another break with the heating pad on his back. So I cleaned up and took the dogs for a walk. We were gone for an hour. When we got back, Adam was just finishing up the last of it! Behind the stove.


We cleaned up but left the tools to be taken downstairs the next day. By Sunday evening, it was all cleaned up. And this is what it looks like now. (I have to say, this has to be a record for a project gettng cleaned up.)








We are both so happy with it!!

There's still a few things left to do before it's all finished but we're are one giant step closer.

Here's a funny view. The kitchen side has seen a lot of progress...the living room side, not so much. ;o) One step at a time here, people! You trying to kill us? ;o)


From the staircase.


From the dining room.


I couldn't have gotten a better anniversary gift!! :o)