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This past weekend after all the bridal shower festivities Steve and I got back to work on the Smokey House rehab.  Luckily it’s starting to smell a lot better in there after we ripped out the carpet.  We’re enjoying doing the work ourselves, even though it can get really tiring.

This lovely lady gave us a stare down as we stopped to admire her on the way to Home Depot.  I hope we can have at least one cow someday!  They just look so cuddly!

Steve went CRAZY here!  We had a 10% off entire purchase coupon up to $2000, and Steve was determined to utilize it to it’s full potential!  We bought a table saw, circular saw, chop saw, saw blades, large level, rubber mallet, paint for ceiling and trim, paint brushes, paint rollers, air compressor with nail gun, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  Steve justified all the new tools because we were not paying someone to do all the work, so we might as well use that money for new tools that we can use over and over again.  Men.

When we arrived, the tree clearing guys were almost done clearing the two gigantic cedar trees that took up almost the entire backyard.  Before, you couldn’t see anything beyond where that guy is standing.  Now you can tell how large the yard is!  It looks 100x better!  The forest behind that fence was starting to make it’s way into the yard, and these guys were able to clear all that too.

And the best part was…..they threw all the trees into a chipper and hauled it all away!

I had the fun job of removing the nasty vinyl from the kitchen and bathrooms.

The smell was so gross.  The heat gun would literally cook the disgusting stains and spills on the vinyl and I had to breathe it in.  After I was completely finished I talked to my dad about it and he said, “I hope you were wearing a mask.”  Duh……a mask.  Ya think that might have helped?  Sheesh, I can be a real blonde sometimes.

But I didn’t complain!  I was accomplishing something I had never done before all by myself!

Here’s a close up of me using the heat gun to remove the vinyl.

And here’s the finished product!  That large wood area in the middle was super easy to remove.  I didn’t even have to use the heat gun there.  He must have spilled something that somehow soaked into the vinyl and loosened the adhesive, because there was a large orange stain there.

Here’s another view of the kitchen, and Steve taking out the trash.

Here’s the living room.  Steve removed all the baseboards to get ready to paint and put the laminate floors in.  The floors will probably be the last thing we do.

Here’s the front entryway.  Steve did an amazing job removing the wood floors that were there.  They were glued down over every square inch, and it was really difficult to remove, but he did it!

Bedroom #1 is ready to be painted!

So is Bedroom #2!

The Master Bedroom is ready for paint too!  See that small square of tan paint on the left under the window?  That’s the color all the walls will be, except for the kitchen and possibly bathrooms, which will be white.

Here’s the master bathroom without the vinyl floors.

Ever since we started this rehab project, this little nest with 5 baby birds has been sitting here next to the front walkway.  They must have just hatched right before we started because they were TINY a couple weeks ago.

Look at that little guy!  They’re definitely a lot bigger now.  I don’t know how 5 of them can fit in there!

Mama and Papa bird are very diligent parents.  Every time someone walks by the nest, or even opens the front door, they sit on the roof watching to make sure their babies don’t get harmed.

Don’t worry guys, we won’t hurt your babies!  We made sure to tell the tree clearing crew to be careful around the nest and not to knock it down while they were clearing some of the trees and bushes in the front yard.  I can’t wait to see when they’ll fly away!