Hilton Head Vacation part 2

Last week really flew by! We left yesterday (Sunday) morning around 7:45am and got in right around 7pm. I think we brought the sun back with us because it's beautiful today! That worked out perfectly as a way of easing us back into the 'real world' and allowing us to get the lawn mowed. It's good to be home and Harvie and the cats are happy to have us back.

We definitely had a blast and I got some great pictures! I'll try to start where I left off the last time.

On Wednesday, the guys and Chelsey went on an ocean fishing trip with Captain Johnny Walker. They caught a few small sharks but nothing edible. Laura, Halley and I went to Beaufort to do some shopping, have lunch and take a carriage tour of the Historic area. It was really interesting and we learned a lot from our tour guide!

 

This was the horse, Doc, who is one of only 12 horses of his breed in the US with two blue eyes. Unfortunately you can't tell from the picture!

Beaufort is the 2nd oldest city in the South, behind Charleston (chartered in 1711!). It's known for it's beautiful location and for maintaining a historic character through its antebellum architecture style. We saw some of the most beautiful houses with huge wrap around porches. 

 

There were also some of the most beautiful trees. This one is called an 'Angel Oak':

It has actually been the filming location of a few big movies too which was really interesting. The Big Chill, The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini and Forrest Gump. The tour guide showed us the house where Sally Field stayed when she filmed Forrest Gump. He was actually the one who designed the shrimp boats for the movie which was so cool - he was a really interesting guy. 

On Wednesday night Chelsey and Trevor cooked for us. They stopped at a cool fish market and bought a huge Cobia - it was delicious! 

 Reed and Laura rented us a few bikes to use during the week which was great. There were two singles and then a tandem bike which was so much fun. I think I want one of these now!

I promise I was wearing shorts, you just can't tell! They had some beautiful paths around the neighborhood. We stopped a few times so I could get some shots of the beautiful flowers and birds.

 RJ was a good sport about it. He knows I don't like to miss a photo opp!

 Later that night we went to San Miguels, a great Mexican place on the water with live music.

 My goal of the evening was to get a group picture.. success! 

You're probably wondering who the guy behind Chelsey is.. so are we! He was sitting behind us and jumped in. I think that's what we were laughing at in the next picture.

After dinner we were enjoying the band and there was an older gentlemen who got up and started dancing (alone). He was very entertaining and the waitress called him "Dancing Don".. so I guess he was a regular. 

I tried to get this picture when he had his back turned.. but I didn't quite make it in time and he caught me.

After he saw me taking his picture he pointed at me and started motioning to come join him. I figured it was only fair since I took his picture without asking. It didn't take too much convincing.. Lindsay and I both have a thing for live music. 

The pictures are a little blurry but they still serve as proof that I got to dance with 'Dancing Don'.

After a few minutes Trevor joined in:

 

And then Chelsey and RJ:

We made some of our own music too. There was a lot of guitar and djembe (like a bongo drum) playing.

During the trip I learned how to play hearts and even got to shoot the moon (but only by following RJ's directions).

I got to see Halley's competitive side. 

It was a little scary..

On Friday night Halley and Shawn made us some amazing Shish-Kabobs on the grill.

After last week I think we are all in agreement we need to construct a corn hole set. There were many games played throughout the week and on the last night we even had a tournament.. complete with partners drawn from a hat (or hand) and brackets.

 I think all my years of pitching softball came in handy - Big Reed and I made a pretty good team! Halley definitely wins the 'Most Improved' award.

I will really miss taking walks on the beach.

 RJ and Trevor boogie boarding:

 On Saturday morning RJ got up early with me to check out "The Bargain Box" and a free local art festival.

You know I can't pass up a good bargain hunting trip!

There were some really amazing artists at the Art festival. I wish we had room in the car for this awesome mirror!

It was fun to check out some of the different artists' tents.

All in all a fantastic week with great memories.

Everyone gets a shout out:

Shawn - Best sarcastic comments (especially when directed at Laura and she says: "watch it, boy"), best LOST instigator, most impressive sunburn (acquired in under an hour outside, with sunblock).

Halley - Most improved at corn hole, most competitive at cards, craziest hair. Honorable mention for not punching me during hearts (even if it was only because I'm not a birth-sibling). Another honorable mention for buying the best cookies ever.

RJ: Also had an impressive sunburn - achieved a farmers tan look while shirtless, best background guitar playing, honorable mention for humoring my photo opps and willingness to spend a morning shopping with me.

Rachel: I'll give myself a mention for always having a camera and probably annoying everyone with photo opps and for the idea to refer to Halley as 'fun sized'.

Chelsey -  Best tan, best rice salad, honorable mention for impressive ability to stay up late with the guys and best reaction to having a margarita spilled on her ("Forget the table!").

Trevor - Best random comments ("I think my nipple got sunburned"), Best dance moves (hat tipping), Honorable mention for coining the phrase: "I'm in a pooool" when asked to speak on video.

Big Reed - Best use of an inanimate object as a musical instrument, honorable mention for stocking cold beverages and sharing leftover beers, honorable mention for coining the phrase: "Re-fat-tire" and for taking videos throughout the week.

Laura - Most thoughtful : buying doughnuts, packing sandwiches, sharing saltwater taffy, lending sunscreen and sharing her car. Honorable mention for taking Halley and I on the Beaufort tour and to a fantastic lunch at Plum's.

Honorable mention to both Reed and Laura for providing such a fun and memorable week for all of us! 

Hilton Head Vacation part 1

Well I know this has nothing to do with our "home-makeover" but I figured it was the easiest way to share some of our vacation pictures and updates with our friends and loved ones. 

We arrived on Sunday and have two beautiful houses to share among the 8 of us. RJ and I are bunking up with Halley and Shawn (not really, we have separate rooms/bathrooms) and Reed and Laura are with Chelsey and Trevor.

Sunday night we got unpacked and ordered some pizzas and salads. It was a good low key night after spending 11 hours in the car!

On Monday morning I was excited to check out the fitness center in the club house which is in walking distance from all the houses here. It's perfect - a great elliptical, treadmills, free weights, solid weight machine and TV with cable. In the club house there is also a pool table, free coffee and cookies, a nice sitting area and computer for all the members to use. It's a really nice amenity. That is where the pool and hot tubs are also, so it's great to be in walking distance from those (though we haven't utilized the hot tubs yet). 

It's funny I don't remember using the fitness center at all when we were on our honeymoon here a few years ago. I must not have needed as much sweat therapy back then! 

Later on Monday morning RJ and I and Halley and Shawn headed to the pool while the others went to check out the beach. Poor Shawn didn't spend more than 30-40 minutes in the sun and got burned - with sunscreen! He just has that susceptible skintone. Chelsey, on the other hand, turns an even browner shade of brown, we're all jealous!

This was from our dinner on Monday night - went to the Boat House restaurant on the Island and had a great view of the harbor. They had the best fresh fish and of course, Island Vacation tropical drinks.

Most of the group about to head out to dinner:

On Tuesday we hit the pool all day. RJ didn't reapply his sunscreen enough on Monday, so he really burned his shoulders. He decided to try to keep the sun off of them on Tuesday. I really learned my lesson in Mexico last year so have been obsessively reapplying sunscreen and wearing a straw hat.

We've been calling Trevor our free entertainment, he definitely keeps us all amused!

We have a system going where each couple is going to take a night to cook (except Reed and Laura, we're not letting them cook). RJ and I chose to go first and cooked on Tuesday night. We got some great chicken breasts to grill for chicken sandwiches and also grilled some zucchini and corn.

RJ was the grill master and his chicken was perfect (if I do say so myself):

We also made Karen's famous bean salad, definitely a hot weather classic. Fantastic as both a dip with tortilla chips and as a salad topper.

 We also had guacamole with some fresh avocados and cheese with french bread. Nobody left hungry and we finished the guacamole - so I'd say it was a success.

 There are some of the most beautiful trees and flowers on the island. The Spanish Moss is definitely not something we see at home.

Coming soon - Vacation part 2!

In the mean time, we've got to get to the pool.

Downstairs Paint Progress

Last week I started painting the downstairs, starting with the molding. Before it was brown and now it's a clean white - I like it much better!

By the end of last week I had the molding and both paint colors done. Usually RJ does the edging because I hate how tedious it is - but this time I did it with a little paint brush. It took forever!

The paint colors we chose are two shades of light blue/gray. The lighter color on top and the darker on the bottom. It will be separated by a chair rail in the middle and there will be crown molding on top.

 We picked out the chair rail, quarter round and crown molding samples that we want to get - 

here's how they will look:

 I think it will look really good once we get it all up. Just having the new paint up looks a lot better.

On Saturday RJ took down the old light fixture in the dining room and put up the chandelier that was on the rental side. It looks ok but we think we're going to get a new, more modern one that gives off more light.

This coming Sunday we are leaving for Hilton Head with RJ's family - we are definitely ready for a vacation!

Weekend Projects

As you can see from the previous post we still have quite the extensive to-do list! We try to check off at least one or two things each night and a handful on the weekends. Last week we didn't get much done as we had something going on every week night! We still managed to fit in a few projects.. on Thursday before dinner with Renee and Tyler (see post from last week), RJ hung the shelf that goes above our bed and when we got home he decided to go head and install the new shower head! Very impressive.

On Friday night we finally got a set of couches! That alone made the house feel so much more like home. We got them from a guy in Akron about 25 minutes away and it took us two trips to get both the couch and loveseat - but it was worth it! They're a little bit darker than we wanted, a dark tan color. However for $200 for the set and they're basically new, we'll take it! It took us awhile to decide how we wanted to set up the room, but we finally have it set up the way we like it. This is a poor quality picture, it's from my cell phone. I can't find the usb cord for the camera I took all of our weekend pictures on, bummer! 

Another big thing we got done this weekend that was replace the old mailbox. We only had one mailbox for both sides of the duplex and the mailbox had somehow fallen off the post so was just sitting on top of it. Not cute. We went to Lowes and got two new mailboxes, number stickers, a 4x4 (I think) and some mailbox brackets. I have some great pictures of RJ in the process of building it on the camera that I can't find the cord for. I took these with my other camera yesterday so you can at least see the finished product!

I think we should paint the post so it's at least all one color.. but RJ likes the "industrial" look. It's pretty utilitarian but we're happy with it for now! 

While we were working on the mailbox, the neighbor, Jason, was cleaning out their side of the garage. We were laughing about how much further they are along than we are and they moved in about two weeks later. Oh well. We'll get there!

Their side of the garage..

 Our side ...

Yikes.

Leslie (the neighbor, Jason's wife) and I have already agreed we need to have a garage sale this summer because we both have a lot of junk to get rid of!

Another big project we tacked this weekend was clearing out the huge pile of sticks that was taking up some of our side parking. We moved all the sticks and branches into a new pile out back. We really need to have a fire to burn all of these!

Now we just need a rake so we can get all these leaves. 

 The new stick pile(s) outside:

The cat in the pictures above is Ti (better known as Craze), the cats love going outside.

On Sunday when we went to RJ's parents' house for Mother's day we picked up a few lawn care items. They use a lawn service now (smart..) so let us take some of their tools. We need to get out there this weekend and take care of the dandelions and bushes! <Click on the picture below to see it full size>

Last night I painted all of the molding downstairs. We're painting the molding white so we can add a white chair rail and white crown molding after we get the painting done.

Here's how the molding looked before:

Here's how it looks white (RJ is going to put in white quarter round that will cover up the bottom inch or so):

RJ measured 3 feet up and then we used the laser level to draw a pencil line where the chair rail will go.

Today/night we're going to try to get the first coat of paint up in the living room - or at least get a good portion of it done!

It's coming together - slowly but surely!

To Do List....

 We are slowly checking off our to-do list!

To Do:

*Hang above bed shelf in Bedroom

*Paint window area in bedroom

*Hang drapes in bedroom

*Install new garbage disposal

*Install new dryer tube

*Spray paint shelves

*Buy & Install new shower head

*Hang shelves in Rachel’s office

*Install new ventilation tube for dryer 

*Put in new garbage disposal in kitchen

*Buy & Install new light for the upstairs bathroom

*Hang other shelves in bedroom

*Draw chair rail lines in living room

*Tighten screws on scarf hanger, hang

*Fix hooks on front porch for hanging basket

*Get a drop-down table & stools for kitchen

*Paint living room

*Paint kitchen (pick color, buy paint!)

*Put up the chair rail, and crown molding downstairs

*Put in the Quarter Round downstairs

*Hang decorations in the downstairs

*Get a couch

*Organize/Unpack basement

*Bag up all the leaves in the front

*Organize/ Unpack garage

*Buy and install a Mailbox

*Buy/assemble a shelf for the garage

*Hang shovel rack for the garage

*Hang hose rack on front porch

*Buy a dining room table and chairs

*Hang chandelier in dining room

*Move sticks from the front to the back and make a new pile by the shed

*Install new shower head

*Vaccuum out dryer hookup

*Organize office

Eventually ... 

*Put in patio outside
*Privacy fence outside

*Remodel upstairs bathroom

*Floors upstairs?

Thank you dinner

Last night we took Renee and Tyler to a Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse as a big Thank You for helping us move and for helping with the floors. It was a lot of fun but Renee let it slip that I had recently had a birthday - so of course the staff had to come out with their big gong and sing the birthday song. The ice cream with whipped cream was worth the embarrassment!

We had a great time and they are great people - thank you two again for your help!

Checking off the List

We had a great weekend as far as projects around the house(s) go. At the condo we replaced the screens (thanks to the cats they had gotten pretty torn up). When we were over there they mentioned that they didn't have room for the Grandfather clock after all (they were going to 'babysit' it for us as we don't have room for it). We wanted to go to church out by the condo anyway so we went back today to pick it up and drop it off at my dad's place.

The clock is huge and it had to rest in between us..

Both sets of renters moved in yesterday and we collected our first month's rent from both parties which made all this work we've been doing feel worth it! On Thursday RJ replaced the chandelier at the top of the renter's side stairs with another light. We still need to hang the chandelier in our dining room. On Friday I steam cleaned the carpets on the other side. Before Friday both our dryer and our kitchen sink were not in working condition - last week we made the decision to call a handyman to work on both of those. RJ had bought a new garbage disposal and had half installed it but needed a few more hours to figure out the rest. Unfortunately a few hours at one time isn't something we have right now and doing dishes in the bathroom was getting really old. The guy was able to fix them both on Friday afternoon so thank goodness we now have a usable kitchen sink and can do laundry. It's amazing how quickly laundry can pile up!

On Friday RJ also picked us up a new <used> lawnmower from a friend of a friend who fixes and restores mowers. He got a great commercial grade mower that mulches the grass as it goes so you don't have to empty any bags. It's also self propelled which we really wanted. Today after picking up/dropping off the Grandfather clock we came home and worked on the lawn for a few hours.

 We took turns mowing - it isn't bad if you take it in 20 minute shifts. It's just such a big yard - the house it on .8 acres. It took us a good 2.5 hours to do the whole thing.. that definitely counts as our exercise for the day. I actually think picking up all the sticks and fallen branches in the yard before mowing was worse - with all the wind we've been having that was a big job!

I also took some time to work on spray painting some shelves we're going to put up in my office.

 So all in all we:

*Got the duplex rental side all set for the renters (carpets steam cleaned, light fixture changed)

*Got the condo renters all set (screens replaced, Grandfather clock moved)

*Got 1st coat of paint on office shelves

*Caught another stray cat 

*Steam cleaned the new couch

*Worked on cleaning on the garage - moved the grill and patio furniture out back

*Picked up all the sticks and mowed the lawn

*Got the back part of my desk installed

*Did a few loads of laundry - nothing better than clean sheets!

After checking so many things off of the list for the weekend we decided to reward ourselves with some Rendino's pizza. It's a local favorite, right around the corner from the new place. 

Hard to beat pizza and beer on a Sunday night!