Still Recovering From Move

This weekend, we moved some furniture items and boxes into the storage which were too heavy for Laurie to do on her own.  We also assembled our large desk in the den as Laurie wanted to keep it because she really likes it and it has tons of storage.  After it was setup, she is thinking it might be too big for the den, but we left it there for now to give her a chance to decide.

After setting up the washer/dryer in June, we needed to add some shelves to use in the small space remaining in the laundry closet.  We found exactly what we needed at Big Lots and it was a special price cut weekend.  Mike put the shelves together and they fit perfectly.  We now have space to store all our laundry and cleaning items.

It is a snug fit, but it works and holds all the supplies

Once Laurie (and most of our house) was relocated to Payson, we moved all but one of our four vehicles there as well.  The Jeep has been there since we got it back from Matt after he graduated from college and the truck (Titan) and car (Altima) have been there on and off, depending on where we are on any given weekend. Our fourth car, a Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible, has always been in the garage in Gilbert and has only made the Payson run once.  But now Laurie has the Jeep, the Titan and her "fun" car with her all the time.  Since buying the house we have talked about putting in a garage.  It would be nice to have protection from the weather for at least one car, but that will not be happening any time soon as we have a few other more critical items (putting in a kitchen to name one) which need to be accomplished 1st.  In the meantime, the Eclipse is prone to leaking when it rains and the sun is also pretty rough on soft tops.  So Laurie decided to buy a 10'x20' canopy carport from Harbor Freight and we put it in the area of the front yard where we think we will be putting the garage to give us some idea of what it will look like and to shield her car from the elements.  Not sure it really gives us a good idea of what an actual garage would look like, but it does give protection to the car.

The awning blocks some of our view when we are on the porch, but still get the breeze

The car does get some ground splash, but at least it does not leak

Mike also had time this weekend to complete the grouting of the hearth he had built in December for our pellet stove.  Based on all the research he had done, he thought the grouting would go easier, but later he determined it was made more difficult because he used premixed grout and it was thicker and dryer than the products he had seen online.  It still looks good, just took more work to make it clean.  The next step, after the grout cures, will be to add the trim and put it in place.

Mike thought she wanted a pose, but she really wanted an action shot

Action shot - Had to scrub a little harder than he thought to get grout off

Another action shot - Final clean of the tile

The house is slowly getting to a normal state.

Stats: 1 Home Depot trip; 3 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 6/23/15-7/12/15: $99
Remodeling expense to date: $51,466