How to Install a kitchen sink

How to Install a kitchen sink

Difficulty: 2-3 beers, one handy homeowner, and one future father-in-law

First: assess the situation

Sure, it doesn't look that bad at first. Then I'll explain to you that the little bowl is really really little, and also happens to be where the garbage disposal is. The faucet is ancient and difficult to maneuver and adjust. And, it is UGLY. Washing dishes sucked.

Besides, once I saw what I could have instead:

Isn't she pretty? Thank you very much generous people that came to our housewarming party! Your Lowes cards got put to quick use!


So now it is time to do battle. Turns out Sir Ugly Sink is cast iron. Heavy would be the word I would use. Larry and Dad had more choice vocabulary.
Dad appears to be field dressing the sink or something. It's dead man, let it go.

Now begins the fun part. It should have been easy, we bought the same size sink as was in there already. Should drop right in.
Ha
again I'll say it,
Ha!

New beauty sink is much bigger
So now what do we do?


First get one of these guys; a handy homeowner

and...
a few saws.
There was a lot of sawing involved. I'm still finding sawdust in my spice rack. I don't ask questions.

So now here is where we stand:
Did I forget to mention I'm also getting an under sink water filter?

There is my handy homeowner man putting it in right now.

So anyways, after much swearing and a leak that required a trip to the hardware store, here is what we have:
fodder for the scrap yard

a new water filter! No more brita pitcher! Aren't you all so jealous?

a beautiful new sink and faucet! She's so pretty it almost makes me want to do dishes.... almost.

And most importantly:
Happy homeowners!

It's a beautiful day for demolition

I love our house, I love the size of our yard. I did not love all the crap growing everywhere. Crap is very hard to get rid of; gardening and landscaping are not for sissies.
Let us just take a moment to really understand what we are working with here:
Kind of hard to see, but seriously, stuff is eating the porch

it gets better

What is that thing?
I think at one point in it's life it was a raised flowerbed
Now it's where bushes and disgusting plants go to die a horrible death

Oh, you want more?
There you go.
Just let that all soak in
Scary bad, isn't it?

So begins the demolition
day one: remove the crap
This was really hard, the bushes had really deep roots
Estimated weight loss from sweating: Kelly - 2lbs Larry 10lbs

But, we got somewhere!

Larry and I got it to this point
Then the reserves were called in

The rest of the job got pawned off on Larry's little brother
Why did he have to do this you ask?

Here's your answer:

this is little brother's truck
with Larry crawling in the engine compartment
I think we've answered all the questions now

Back to the matter at hand

Are you dying to know what my yard looks like now?


Success!!! It's amazing how much different it looks with that awful thing gone. I've been working a lot in the flowerbeds in front of the house too, they already look better but have a long way to go.

Home ownership is not for sissies, and we haven't even got to the good stuff yet!!
Next on the list is outdoor lighting and a new kitchen sink.
Stay tuned!!

Tales from the backyard

One of these days, I promise I will get outside and post pics of all our hard work. We have been working in the yard the past 3 weekends and it is really coming along great. I love my house and my yard, the yard just needs a lot of work, but we are doing wonderful things with it. Our yard is 1/4 acre and has been a little neglected but it already looks so awesome. I love my riding lawn mower, I mow the lawn and Larry weed whacks and rakes. We have a good system going. Yesterday we chopped down grape vines that are taking over the entire corner of the backyard, along with a bunch of trees and bushes. Can't wait to get out there again next weekend!

Why yes, I am a homeowner

Really and truly, we own a home!!
Today is Friday the 13th and we closed on our first home today. Brave souls, aren't we? We get the keys on Monday!! So this weekend will be spent packing and getting things ready, the next few weekends will be spent moving. Wanna help?

I'm getting married for real now!

It's all so real now!
We gave people money, so it is going to happen!
We are getting married in Frankenmuth, with our families with us. I think it will be nice and intimate, I didn't want a huge blow-out affair, not to mention we don't have that kind of money! I am sill in shock at how easy it was to set everything up. We went up yesterday, saw the site and the restaurant, put down deposits and that's it! It's like having a wedding coordinator. Both places will call me the week before to finalize some details but basically all I do is show up and they will make everything else happen! We even picked out napkins and centerpieces, food, everything. We just have to figure out what songs to walk down the aisle to. I don't even have to worry about flowers, they call me and ask colors and do the rest. So really I just have to get myself a wedding dress and Larry has to get a suit, other than that its mostly like just get there, the will get us married!
Best decision we made about the wedding so far! I know we are kind of bummed we cant celebrate with our friends, but that's what our epic housewarming party will be for!!!!!

My Dad retired, I guess I'm getting old

My daddy retired after a long career at General Motors. How do we celebrate such a momentous occasion? Well thats easy, our clan looks for any excuse to have a party!

Here's the man of the hour, accompanied by his "real boss"

Also in attendance, my apparantly narcoleptic Grandmother and myGrandfather
seriously, I took like 3 pictures, eyes shut in all of them. I give up Grandma!

You might recognize these 2 people:

Perhaps we should have a toast to this wonderful occasion, and who better to give it?
it's Eric! My favorite little brother! His speeches are always...well....memorable!
Let's toast!
ok Dad, what you got to match Larry's gigantic beer?
Dad's in heaven with his scotch and soda.

What do we like in this family almost as much as eating?


Presents!!!!!
comedy cd's for the long trip out west


what every retired person needs, a 12 ton air powered hydraulic jack

and the most perfect old man gift of them all....
it's a metal detector! We should have gotten him some tall black socks and sandals too, that would have completed it!

I'm so happy that my Dad got to have all this fun, he worked hard in the icky hot gross plant to give us all a great life. Thanks for all you have done for us Dad!

How to install an exhaust brake

Yes, thats right, I'm going to teach you how to install an exhaust brake on a Silverado 2500HD with the duramax diesel engine. Cause I'm cool like that.

We did this a month or so ago, I just got the pics, they tell the story


First, obtain said truck and a large driveway, jack it up and place dad underneath

Then, obtain the services of a diesel mechanic that will work cheap

good, you are well on your way! Now you will need a seriously expensive exhaust brake after you convince your wife it will be worth it
Great! Now saw off your exhaust. Yes, seriously.
Perfect. Now you should pray. You crazy person, you just sawed off your exhaust! What were you thinking? Or, just have some fun with it all
Yes, I was helping, I was the tool girl
Then, crawl under truck to see whats going on


I got to put that clamp on. I didn't have enough leverage, so I had to brace myself of Larry. Dad said it looked dirty. He actually said much worse but I've put those memories out of my head

Next step, find wife, make her work too
Her job is to connect the air hose
Good job everybody! It works! Let's celebrate!

Wait, where is Kel? Oh wait, there are baby bunnies in a hole in the backyard. I suppose thats where Kel would be
Oh happy day!
Bunnies!

And that my friends, is how to install an exhaust brake!

Lazy Chicken Fajitas

I just made a really yummy dinner that was so good. I tend to do my best cooking when I look online for some inspiration, then I throw away the recipes and just work with what I have. I don't measure, I'm lazy.


If I felt good enough there would be an awesome photo here. Maybe I'll take a pic when the Mr. heats his up

Recipe - kind of:
-a package of boneless skinless chicken breast cut into the size you like, about a pound or so
(extra points if you got them for 99cents/lb like I did!!)
-Season salt, probably 1 tsp or so
-Garlic, chili powder, cumin about 1 tbl
-Black pepper, a few grinds
-About 2 cups of assorted bell peppers, sliced into strips
I use frozen "Melange a Tois" from Trader Joes
-Onion, one small
I use the frozen diced onions found on the top shelf of your favorite grocers frozen veggies aisle
-Oil to grease the pan, grapeseed is my favorite to saute with

How to:
add oil to pan over medium heat, add chicken and season with season salt
cook chicken till no longer pink
add onions, black pepper, cumin, chili powder and garlic.
Cook a minute or two and add peppers
Cook until peppers are of uniform heat
serve with sour cream on soft taco/fajita wraps
For you dairy-phobes like me use Tofutti Better than Sour Cream, its awesome

I'll take a Merlot please

I'm still not feeling well, the cardiologist thinks I have Pericarditis. It's basically inflammation of the membrane that surrounds your heart. It should be getting better but i still have a lot of pain and I'm so short of breath it's hard to do anything. Well, I shall try not to dwell on that. Let's move on to my house, I can plan all the fun stuff.
Home decor:
This is the current state of affairs in the master bedroom.
The floor is actually in pretty good shape, the early 90's ceiling fan makes me feel icky. Right now all the walls and ceiling are white. Darn near everything in the house is white, it reminds me of my apartment.









The Mr. really likes the color "Merlot" (his words, not mine) and really wanted to do something like that for our bedroom.




So this is the current inspiration picture, but with the color a bit more on the burgundy side. I can't remember what it is called, probably some fancy Frenchy wine name. I love the white crown molding. Now the question is, what do I do for the floors? We have those nice hardwoods and not much money to speak of. I also need to find a better ceiling fan, as much as I loathe ceiling fans I don't think I will win the battle to remove it. White? That's my guess for now. I guess I'll just have to take a nice walk through Lowe's and Ikea! I do love those places, its like new home heaven.

Welcome to my little space on the web! I have always used my Myspace blog, but I figured now is the time to move on to bigger and better things. I'm into crafts, cooking, science and getting my life in order! I'm engaged to a wonderful man, getting married next year. We look forward to getting our first house in order and getting ready to build our family. My blogs will probably revolve around my attempts at putting together a home, and making it ours!

This is my new little home, it looks cuter in person though. We close June 16, so excited!!