Finally...THE HOUSE!!!!

 Alright...first...I know it sounds really bad...but we didn't take any pictures of the outside of the house and I don't have any of the whole house...I will put some on of Halloween with Whitney...but here is what we have been working on the last 2 months and it is finally done!! First...we have to thank Jodi's parents for coming out for 2 weeks and killing themselves in making the house look amazing!! We couldn't have done it without you!!!  So...here are the BEFORE/AFTER of our cute little house!

 First...this is the Kitchen before. We didn't take out the one side of cabinets as the plan is in a couple years to completely redo the kitchen and put in a dishwasher...until then...it will still have to be Wade!!! :)



 

Drum role please...here is the after of the kitchen!!  As you can see we put in a new microwave (thanks Mom and Dad)...took out cabinets and put new ones in on the one side.  You can't see it...but we cleaned all the handles and painted the inside of all the cabinets (again...thanks Mom and Dad!!!) Plus...all new windows,blinds and carpet! We also put new lighting in and a new fan.  The table will go in the corner along with a new TV!!! :) Hey...I need something while I am cooking up a storm in my new kitchen.  It may be small...but it is bigger than what I have had and I actually have a normal size stove!!! YEAH!!!

 

 

Now on to the living room and hallway.  We didn't do a whole lot here as far as changing stuff! The before....

 We did redo the walls (plaster and paint)...aka Mom and Dad...we also put in brand new windows, new blinds, new carpet and lights.  We also opened up the closets.

 











Next come the bedrooms...here is the before of our bedroom!

 

Here is the after pictures...we took out the top shelving...cleaned the dresser section really well (don't think they had been cleaned in a long time!!), new windows, blinds, lights, carpet, new doors (from Idaho!!!) and opened up the closet with a light in there.  I think it looks pretty awesome!!!

Whitney's room was the same as our minus the shelving unit.

 

And for the after...we did the same thing to hers as ours.  She got all new stuff plus some really cute splatter painting my mom did as I am not good at making small splatters!!! :) However...you really can't see the splatter in the pictures!

Lastly upstairs in the bathroom...hence the whole reason for the remodel in the first place.  It didn't have a shower and a window...so we had to come with some idea to fix it!!

So...we decided to take out the window in which my dad filled it in with studs and made the outside match the red siding with a beautiful red EIFS job.  I will have to put pictures up of that when I do the outside.  We took out the vanity as well as bought a new hot water tank...so the vent could go away and we have more shelving in the one corner...the bathroom turned out GORGEOUS!!!

Last, but not least...the basement...this is the one place where the complete look changed...but of course...I don't have pictures of it from before.  However...it is nice and clean and white down there.  We have a nice storage area for both stuff and food...a very nice laundry area now with shelves to fold (HOORRAAAYY...no more sharing a public laundry!!!) and huge playroom for Whitney with a nice carpet piece so she can play all she wants and not drag her toys all over the house!!! :) We plan to finish off the basement as my dad has made it completly dry!!! So in a few years...we plan to add a couple more bedrooms and another bathroom downstairs!!

 

It was a lot of hard work, time, money, tears, sweat and even some blood...but we are very grateful to have had the chance to make it our home before we moved in.  We want to again thank my mom and dad for coming out and helping with all you did...we would never have been able to do this without you.  We would also like to thank everyone else who helped us (Jeff, Christners, Ralph, Chad, Jason, Donny) for all your help in making this house our home.  Please enjoy the pictures and if you are ever in Osky...stop by...we now have a little more room than before!!! :)

The Crazy Happenings of the Steinlage!! The last 9 months!! :)

Alrighty...we have obviously been very busy as I have not been real good about keeping this updated! So much has changed in the last 9 months that we have lots to talk about!! We had a few more months of winter after spending a beautiful week in San Diego.  We had one really good storm that snowed everyone in for a couple of days!!! We spent much of the spring at either William Penn athletic events or sitting on the sidelines at Grinnell Soccer games (which starting next season, I will be the head coach now!!! :)  The free time we did have...we spent our time being entertained by our WhiterBoo!!!

She loves putting on my sports bras...playing at the park and wearing her sunglasses..especially upside down!!! 

 

May came with the end of Penn's school year...soccer...and school.  My parents did come out for Mother's Day as I had bought tickets for my mom to go see Bob Seger...it was an amazing concert!!! They also came out over Memorial Day to look at houses...we found one we liked...but it didn't work out...but we are glad as you will find out later!!! :)

The summer started out kind of slow...but I did take a trip to Idaho with Wade's grad assistant Keena for some White Water Rafting on the Salmon.  Of course it was cold the whole week...but we did have lots of fun after warming up and not having to deal with stupid people!!!

I hurried back from Idaho to help celebrate Wade's step-mom's (Cathy) 60th birthday and then we took off back for Idaho for a couple of weeks.  We had a lot of fun hanging out and doing all kinds of cool and fun things. Whitney was also spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma with a new toy which she loved riding around their parking lot!! She was very good at going in circles!!

                                             

We did have lot of fun at parade (well most of us)...everyone got some sort of virus right before the 4th of July...so Wade was sick that morning...so Whitney sat with grandpa and grandma while I helped Jerie in the parade be the mascot and drive her bike for her.  Everyone started feeling better and we were able to enjoy the fireworks at a new place and loved every minute!! 

One of the coolest parts of Idaho was we were able to attend a Kenny Chesney concert thanks to Brother Dale and had 7th row seats and back stage passes.  It was a lot of fun!!!

 

We headed back home for a few weeks before heading out to Ohio to meet up with my family and Jade to enjoy Cedar Point. 

 We spent two days at the water park and amusement park and loved it!! We enjoyed all the rides and the crazy thunderstorms we had to hide from!  The rest of the summer was spent hanging out at home...enjoying the last few weeks of rest before school started!

Now for the fun and exciting stuff...while my parents were out here...we looked at some more houses and somehow by fate found a cute little house that was perfect.  We could have moved right in..but decided to do some updating and such before we moved in.  So we have been busy since the first of September getting it all torn apart and such for my dad and mom to fix it all up at the beginning of October.  It will be nice to have it all done and nice to finally have our own home!! I will have a seperate posting about the before/after later!!

Last but not least...I was able to accomplish something exciting!! I for some crazy reason had wanted to do a triathlon. So I had been somewhat training for it when in July I decided I would do the Hy-Vee triatholon in Des Moines (it is huge!!! and an olympic distance one). So for 10 weeks...I trained and trained and trained some more to get ready for the race over Labor Day.  It was a 1 mile swim...24.5 mile bike and 6.5 mile run.  I only had a mountain bike to use (which if you are ever going to do...DON'T!!!) but I was able to finish in just over 4 hours.  I accomplished the goal and plan on cutting back on working out for a little while!!! :)

So...now that is over...we are just working on the house and enjoying life (well at least trying to!!!) We are excited to get moved in and have a fun Thanksgiving and Christmas this year!! Hopefully all is well with everyone! Love to all!