Before and After

So, even as I type, Sean is outside finishing the work to put the pantry door up, but... I already took pictures, so I'll just have to post again when that's finally DONE. But for now, the update on interior stuff (he's been frantically working on finishing up the interior of the existing house, so he "doesn't have to think about it" when it comes addition-time. Smart, eh? Plus very nice for the wife).

Some of this will look familiar from the September 2007 post, but even *I* needed the reminder of what it really used to look like! So I'll start with the upstairs vanity (not even as opposed to the downstairs vanity - there IS no other vanity...yet).

WAY WAY before:

And finally DONE:

As for the kitchen, with the exception of the aforementioned pantry door, that is also DONE! Okay, not really done, as when the addition is finished, we'll put an island where the table is now, but done enough, anyway. Here is a before, as well as an interim, just for fun. And for me to reminisce about the fabulous exploding stove with the wooden handle.

Here's the pre-move-in shot (pre-purchase if we're being honest about it!):


And the post-furnishing shot (but pre-almost-everything-else):


And the DONE, DONE, DONE happy little kitchen!


In the laundry room/pantry, the boy did A LOT of stuff.
Pre-move-in:


And just the other day. Like I said, door is being prepped for install - new pics after that!


And, also just for fun, because I just found this picture of how the walk (slide) to the shed USED to be, before:

And now... with stairs and stuff. And grass.


Rumor has it that the wood order for the first-floor framing will happen next week, and our windows and doors are now here in Rico (as opposed to scattered across three counties), ready to be measured and installed. Can you say exciting!?

As far as the smallest Stogner goes, we had our second appointment last week, and all seems to be going well. Kiddo and I are measuring right on track, and although there's barely any visual evidence of the little one, his or her heartbeat is going strong and we can hear many kicks and punches with the doppler device - though not feeling any of them, yet. Speaking of "his or her," the big ultrasound is scheduled for May 27th, where, if "he or she" cooperates, we may (and that's a big MAY) be able to find out if it's a "he" or a "she!" Fingers crossed...

Can I Call It January, February, and March 2008?

Yikes, the longer I go without posting, the less it seems I feel like posting (perhaps because I know it’ll be a long one!). But it is now time to get back into it, because not only are we mere weeks away from resuming construction on the addition that inspired this blog, we have many other things to share, some happy, some not-so-happy, but part of life nonetheless. Plus I gotta get some pictures in!

First, our very exciting news – Baby Stogner is due October 13th! We are so excited for this next stage in our lives, and are looking forward to meeting this newest member of our family. Tune in for updates, and as Uncle Lew puts it, “fat belly” pictures!

And now the bad news, unfortunately. Late last year (Novemberish), our Denali started having issues – stumbling and falling, and his head was tilting pretty severely to the left. It was getting worse in January, so we took him to Denver to the doggy neurologist (yep, those exist) and found out via an MRI that he had an inoperable skull tumor with a pretty poor prognosis. So, with heavy hearts, on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, we had to say goodbye to our boy. We remind ourselves daily that we were lucky to have had him in our lives, and that – finally! – he is running again in doggy heaven somewhere, chasing balls to his heart’s content! We will miss you, our Best Dog.

Now a little more good news – we actually have drawers. In our kitchen! Like real grown-up folks. Of course, if I were the perfectly organized blogger I want to be, I would include a picture of those drawers here. However, those will have to come in the future, possibly even this month. Also our pantry has undergone an update, not the least exciting part of which is that we now have a new washer and dryer (the parents among you are thinking we are SO smart). I never thought I would enjoy doing laundry quite so much.

As for the rest of the house, Sean’s been doing a great job of keeping the snow cleared off the slab (we had a record-breaking snow winter – 26 feet so far and counting! The pass between Rico and Telluride has been closed half a dozen times because of avalanches (picture below - yowza! The slide is right next to the truck in front of me, and yep, it's at least 2 cars high) – makes for an interesting commute), so when the weather turns nice, which it should be doing ANY DAY NOW, we’ll be ready to go on getting walls up. We are scrounging building materials wherever we can, and hoping the money and our backs and the weather hold out to get the place done this year. Or close enough to done to make it “livable” space.

And now some more good news – our good friends Cody and Annica are the proud new parents of a bouncing baby boy! Rider Bjorn Abbott was born on March 27, 2008, weighing in at a good 7 pounds 6 ounces. And, oh, is he a cutie! Congratulations Cody and Annica! We are so excited for you guys…

So, skimpy post for three months, but things should be picking up any day now!

December 2007

Hey, it's the month of my title! The 28th day of the month, but still.


So, earlier in the month, Sean's company hosted an 80's-themed screening of one of the cheesiest movies of all time: Aspen Extreme. We had to dig in the big bag of ski-clothes goodies. I believe we came up with some gems (yes, that is a side ponytail I'm sporting. I should have made it much higher - it just doesn't translate):



As did many others:


And we made time to find ourselves a not-quite-Charlie-Brown-but-damn-close Christmas tree. We will call him George:





A happy 2008 to all! May all our wildest dreams come true...

November 2007

Hah! I have now procrastinated long enough that I am behind again, and can therefore stick with my cop-out post title, the oh-so-creative "November 2007." Whew.

No house stuff in November, though we did get to do some really fun non-house things. Like take a trip to Mexico to visit Buzz and Mary at their new house, where we were spoiled rotten with lots of beach and palapa bar time and Ramiro's margaritas, along with some great days of fishing.

Why, yes, that is a 75-pound monster tuna that Sean caught (and we brought home)!


Of course, he caught it with a little (a lot of!) help from Buzz and Mary, so everyone got to pose with it back on the dock:

What a great fight that was! So, not to be outdone, I got to catch my very first sailfish - so, so, so exciting! That is wonderful Marco posing as well, who not only baited every line for us, and helped us bring every fish into the boat (check out his "chain mail" gloves - quite the teeth on this one!), but fileted the ones we kept, and put them on ice, ready to be frozen and taken back to Colorado. Thank you, Marco!

We also had many wonderful dinners with Buzz and Mary, and with their Baja friends (yes, those are the whitest legs you've ever seen - it was November and we live in Colorado!):

We also had John and his roommate Dan out for Thanksgiving, which we were lucky enough to celebrate with all the family at "the big house."

And what would Thanksgiving be without a little Guitar Hero? No holiday at all, that's what I say.

John and Dan also stayed at Cody and Annica's brand-new Rico house, and took these pictures:

November 21st:

November 23rd:

So, with that FOOT of snow that fell overnight and into the next day, we were able to get in a little cross-country skiing (the ski mountain wasn't open yet - bummer for the boys):

October 2007

Hey, we're practically caught up! (now I'll actually have to start coming up with post titles) And... wonder of wonders, the rain quit and we were able to pour the slab, again with the help of wonderful friends (what would we do without you guys?).

Heat tubing, to keep our toes toasty:

In no time at all... the concrete was down, in One:

Two:

Three:

Then the real work began: floating, floating and more floating. With a whole lot of waiting, waiting, and more waiting in between. So what better way to kill time than to arm Anna with "her" floating tool (a butter knife) and take pictures? There may or may not have been a bottle of the Veuve involved in that one. But hey, it made killing time fun.

Here we are, hard at "work:"

It was a constant battle to keep the falling aspen leaves off the surface (it was a very windy afternoon!)

And, finally, success! A finished slab. Time to put this baby to bed for the winter. After, of course, our Halloween party...

Where much fun was had!

September 2007

Slow month, waiting for the rain to stop so that we can finally pour the slab. We did lots of research on creating a slab that would serve as our finished floor, contacting the plumber to see if our existing tankless water heater would serve our entire in-floor heat system, including the existing house and the addition (it will, thank goodness!), and ordering supplies. We also watched some football (Go Pack!) and got some well-deserved rest. We did not, however, take any pictures. So how about some interior before-and-afters?

VANITY (thank you, Shane and Sandy!):

Before:

After:

There is a new after, with completed shelf and finished walls, but in the interest of getting this post out there (amazing how I can find so many other things to do at home than to take a picture of the vanity!), it will wait until I get around to it.

KITCHEN:

Before (yep, taken through the front door before we owned the place and got a key - note my head in the reflection):

After:

My January posts will include a WAY after, as Sean promises he'll have the new backsplash and hood that actually matches our stove up before Mom gets here in a few weeks!

August 2007

August's highlight was Sean's trip to Australia, where he saw some really cool stuff:

Made some friends:

Got to ski a little:

Oh, yeah, and did manage to squeeze in a little work, too!

While he was gone, a little surprise was in the works, thanks to our FANTASTIC neighbors, who made sure a little green made its way to our little house. Our first lawn!