It's a Mann's World (Let's Make a Home): End of the Year Schmear

To the Dear and Faithful Reader:

Ufffff, it's been a while since I've done one of these. And as I snuggle up in my comforter while it's minuswhateverbelow outside in Denver, I realize it's almost the end of frickin' 2014! It's the end of the third year we've been working on the house, and the one year anniversary of living in it. And I am...working in Denver aka not in the house. <tear>

But a lot was accomplished this year! We've been slowly chipping away at little and big projects, and with just a little more time and warmer weather, a lot of those projects will get finished. This is an ongoing process as you all know, but I've started to be more okay with the idea of constant transformation. (I may say this every year, but it does get more and more true...) It's just what this project is. Don't get me wrong, I can't WAIT for the house to be mostly done. But I've lightened up slightly re: the need to constantly explain to people why it isn't done. Most people get it and love the amazing things we've done so far.

This Year:
1. You can go potty and wash your hands in the downstairs bathroom. (The toliet flushes and everything!)
2. The trim upstairs is pretty much ALL INSTALLED!
3. We put up the siding on, and painted, the addition.
4. RJ created beautiful cedar trim for the living room.
5. Found an amazing deal on a wood pellet stove, keeping the house warm and toasty in the winter without using a ton of propane.

Recent Bits and Pieces:
1. We've put up a smidge of trim on the addition--but that's the main project where the weather just has to agree with us in order to move forward. And for most of the fall when we had time, the weather cried. And then I died...inside...Ahem.
2. RJ installed a couple more cabinet doors in the kitchen.
3. He replaced the boring-looking and kind-of-shitty IKEA overhead light in the dining room with a much cooler chandelier his parents found.
4. We temporarily fixed a couple of the hanging kitchen lights--shortening them and finally installing the ceiling covers to cover ragged, ugly drywall holes. A temporary fix until we can put up ceiling wallpaper, but SO much better looking.
5. A cool vintage light fixture on the back of house. Now we can see possible intruders! But mostly so we don't fall down if we have to go out the back door at night.

As we say goodbye to 2014, there's a lot more to do. But I'm (honestly) confident that by the end of 2015, we'll have most everything done. #famouslastwords

And in a year of tragic and difficult losses, I dedicate this final 2014 post to William Nunn, Molly Glynn, and Mary Louise Berry. Your lights continue to shine brightly in my heart.

Happy New Year, Folks.