summer recap parte dos

WARNING: This post contains a gazillion photos. However, I feel the need to show you all aspects of my "old" kitchen so you can appreciate the "new".

Back in oh, February, Trevor and I decided it was time to move ahead on our long-awaited kitchen project. After months and months of waiting, we finally got started one week after school let out. We still aren't 100% finished, but we're close. I'm such a ding-dong (probably was just over anxious to start the project) that I didn't take any before photos. So, I had to dig through all of my old photos to find any that were taken in/of the kitchen.

I present to you: the "old"...

Our house in Arizona lacked any colors on the wall. I think we overcompensated when we moved into this house! Once we started painting, we couldn't stop. We ended up with what we affectionately called the "Crayola" house.

I always wanted a yellow and blue kitchen. I certainly had it! Take note of the windows and the vent over the stovetop.

I promise I didn't include this one to show off my attractiveness (anyone ever seen the Steve Martin movie, "Roxanne"?) Just focus on the junk room behind me. It has been a useless eye sore (who puts carpet in a sunroom where it's 90% humidity most of the summer?!) for the past 9 years and we finally decided to do something about it!

I know it's hard to take your eyes off my adorable daughter, but try for a second to check out the fridge and microwave/oven combo behind her.

Trevor obviously has a few lessons to learn about taking pictures of his wife...

Couldn't leave out the view from in the kitchen. See, proof that our house was Crayolaesque! For some reason that I can't pinpoint, we always craved mint chip ice cream while sitting in the family room watching TV and Trevor doesn't even like mint chip.

OK, I try to be photographed as little as possible. So, can someone please explain to me how I ended up in all of these?!? As you would remember from last year (because I know I am so popular and you have all been devotedly reading my blog, even with 14 month gaps between posts), we put in a new deck last year. Our renovation this year included the exterior of the sunroom (with the white windows that scream, "Look at me!").

The first week the Greg and John (our fabulous contractors - I happily recommend them) were here was better than summer camp. They were demo-ing the sunroom and apparently it was so entertaining, my kids set up this viewing area to watch them rip it apart. I not kidding when I say they spent the better part of the week in this very spot. Except for Timothy - he was out there hauling drywall and brick to the garbage (and talking John's ear off). I kept asking Greg if we were going to get a discount on our bill since Timothy did so much work.

When I was a kid, my parents remodeled just about every room in our house. Before putting up the new wallpaper, they would let us cover the walls with drawings. Not only was it fun to have permission to draw on the walls, but I'm sure it was quite the reward for subsequent owners when they had to strip all that wallpaper.

For Family Home Evening one night, I broke out a bunch of Sharpie's and let my kids have at it.

Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief that I took this picture and that it wasn't taken of me! Here are a few of the results.

Is that a plea or a threat?

Was Trevor's a plea too (that the sunroom would turn out OK)? I love that he still loves me like a middle-schooler (I'm not kidding). However, I think it's missing "2gether 4ever".

Self-portrait by Rachel. I'm not sure who was wishing good luck, nor for what. I should have guessed that what it really meant was, "Good luck without a kitchen for the entire summer!"

The result? Well, you'll have to wait until tomorrow as I have to now go clean the kitchen and take photos of the "new".

Let me just say, it was worth the wait!