Splish Splash: New Bathroom!

All I wanted for my birthday was to take a bath in my new, big ole bath tub! After about 4 weeks of work, Dan Decker (Kady Day's Daddy) finished up our project, and I couldn't be happier. Our new bathroom still isn't big by any means, but it is completely functional and beautiful as well. Here are a few crappy camera phone pics. I will actually take real photos of the bathroom and master bedroom eventually, but I've got to get to work. Enjoy!

 Our lovely salmon-colored bedroom we inhereited from previous owners

 Master Bathroom Before. About 4x6 ft

 View from the room of the bathroom on the right and the "hers" closet on the left. Not suitable

 Work after Day 1. My new closet is being framed out into the room and the bathroom will extend the entire width of the room, taking over where the closet was previously.

 Tada!

You can"t see how cool these sconces are, but I love them. I simply took outdoor sconces from Lowe's and replaced the bulbs with large Edison bulbs. Love them!

Just in case you were wondering where the necessary compnents were :)

Love my new stool Chad got me for my birthday. Finally, every high-maintenance girl's dream, a place to sit and primp.

Pictures of the bedroom to follow...

Nesting

Well... one week in the new house, and it is definitely starting to feel like home. For the most part, we have the downstairs set up. Of course, things aren't exactly as I would like qutie yet (i.e. I plan to still paint the kitchen and half bath) but all in all, I am finding our new love nest to be quite cozy and charming. I will say though, coming from only 975 sq feet, I have been surprised how much we have managed to "sprawl." So far, we have only purchased one media cabinet, one console table and a new kitchen table/chairs. As anyone knows, homeownership is not cheap, so it has been challenging but fun to make the most out of the things we already have.

Here are a few before and after shots. The previous owners had a slightly different style :)

 Living Room: Before

 Living Room: Before

Kitchen: Before

 Living Room: After

 Chad's favorite kill above the fireplace

 I'm in love with my new media cabinet :)

So thankful for my new kitchen

 Finally a spot for our over-sized dinner plates

 Got a great deal on this perfect table and chairs from the Adcocks :) Thanks, Evie!

I don't have a "before" picture of this, but imagine dark purple and brass.

I am beyond thankful for all of our family and friends who helped us with the move. Seriously, without them, I would probably be sobbing amidst piles of boxes. Soon, I hope to post pics of the real renovation, which is happening upstairs. On Monday, our contractor began by completely ripping out the tiny/dated master bath. He is now constructing a much-larger bathroom by expanding into and eliminating what would have been my closet. He then framed out a new, larger closet for me by eating away a bit into the room itself. Oh well, I would MUCH rather have a functional bathroom and larger closet than an over-sized bedroom anyway. The construction is going well. I will be sure to post before and after pictures when the project is complete.

Happy Labor Day everyone! You can find me in Smithville.

164 Cottonwood Drive

For any of my college friends, you know why I am so excited not only about our new house, but about the address in general. Yep. The Fusons are finally into our new home! Today actually. The past few months have been a crazy ride of finding renters for our condo, moving out with a week's notice, moving to the Ruckart's in Mboro, the lakehouse in Smithville, back and forth back and forth, until we finally got the keys to out new digs yesterday. After hours and hours of painting over the most hideous paint colors a girl has ever seen, the movers are coming to load everything out of GranDan's garage and into our new home in about an hour. We are so pumped and so thankful for our families and friends who have been so helpful and generous over the past few weeks of homelessness. I am definitely feeling like a pretty blessed girl today.

Our new address, obviously, is 164 Cottonwood Drive in Franklin, and we would love visitors. I will post some before and after pictures when I find my camera charger somewhere in the abyss of our things. On Monday, we start our biggest project when my awesome contractor, Kady Day's Daddy, will come to start the demolition and renovation of the master bath. I'm so so excited. yay!

Pre-Occupied

Once again, my blogging has taken a back seat to all else in my life. But just so you know, this is what I have been up to...

 If all goes to plan, this will be the Fuson's new home in a month!

164 Cottonwood Drive

I absolutely fell in love with this neighborhood. We may be the youngest residents in the community, but that's fine with me. Apparently, there is even a Cottonwood Pirates Swim team. I think I'll start the "layout club."

 Pretty big switch from the condo...

So I guess we will be needing one of these.

We are so excited to hopefully be moving into this cute little house and making it our home. The inside needs a little TLC, but I am happy to finally have a place that I care to spend some time and creativity on. Our first order of business is to completely renovate the "master" bath, which is hurtin for certain. Before and after pictures to follow. Yay! 

A Nighttime Bike Ride

Though it was actually a year ago tonight we were newly-wed, Chad and I have speent the last 5 days celebrating hardcore. We are so blessed to have access to Aunt B's beach house in Seaside and feel so thankful to get to spend time in this quaint little beach town. I have grown to love the various shops in Seaside over the past few years and literally can't get enough biking, shopping and eating while I'm down there escaping from the real world.

In typical Fuson fashion, Chad and I spent most of our trip eating our way down 30A. From lunches at the Wine Bar to our last night at Cfe 30A, I can honestly say, I had some of the best food I've ever eaten. I'll try not to get carried away, but I have to tell you that I discovered a "feta and cream cheese BLT" at the Wine Bar, and I am now obsessed. I also tried and loved oysters for the first time at Hurricane Oyster Bar and tasted the best crab cakes ever at Bud & Alleys. To burn off at least some of these delicious meals, we spent our days in the ocean and our nights riding bikes.

One night, on our way down to the pool, we rode by one of the many picture-perfect little Seaside families when we heard the most-hilarious mother/son conversation. Please try to imagine the squeel-ish shrill of the adorable 4 to 5-year-old little boy yelling this from the porch as his mother rode off on a bike leaving him with his brothers and sisters...

"MOMmmmmm! Should we go on a nightime bike ride?!?!"

His mother quickly shouted over her shoulder as she attempted to escape...

"No honey. I'm going to get your daddy something to drink."

Completely unphased, the little hyper-active baby model replied...

"MOMmmmmmm! Should I go with you?!?!"

By this point, Lance Armstrong couldnt have caught mom. Hilarious.

Don't ask me why, but repeating this got Chad and I tickled all week and also made us feel priviledged that yes, we could go on nighttime bike rides whenever we wanted.

Now for the pictures:

My computer is dying, but I might post more this week. Right now, though, I'm going to watch all 45 minutes of our wedding video. The first of many anniversary traditions. (I'm hoping the other ones all revolve around more beach trips :)

Being married to your best friend is the best thing ever.

One Down...

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't do birthdays. Nope, I do birthWEEKS. Months even. So naturally, when the mister and I began to near our first anniversary, a week's worth of celebrations was in order. What can I say? I like to celebrate!

I am literally bursting with excitement. I can't sit still. Tonight we will pack up the car with bags, bathing suits and our wedding cake topper to head to Seaside for a few days. Appropriately referred to as the Honeymoon part 2, this little getaway could not come at a more perfect time.

I once heard the saying "Gratitude is the attitude of a successful life." I could not agree with this statement any more and especially appreciate it in the context of marriage. I pray that over the next 60 years I continue to thank the Lord daily for the blessing of my sweet husband. It is truly overwhelming to love someone this much. I'm still obsessed.

A quick recap of June 26, 2010... a very happy day...

http://player.vimeo.com/video/18220208?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20

Lake Rat

Chad calls me this, I like to think lovingly, at least once a week. He's right. I am a lake rat. Truthfully, I'm trying to devise a plan to be one of those women who "summers" at the family vacation home. Sure, I might take a drive or two down to Seaside for a break from the bugs, but I could certainly see myself packing up the kids one day to "summer in Smithville." Ha.

Here are a few pictures of the first few weekends of summer. Unfortunately, my camera is dunzo, so expect nothing but camera-phone shots for a while. I'm tired of writing, so enjoy :)

And by the way, my new curtains came in! Yay!

Here's to the best summer ever!