Trip to DC

There are a handful of places that I'd like to visit someday. For those who don't know, I want to go to Ireland. No real reason, actually ... I don't think liking shamrocks, the color green, and pretty scenery really justifies a trip, but who cares? I've always wanted to go to Ireland and those are my (silly) reasons.

I want to go to Australia, and just recently I've been bitten with the 'Let's Backpack Through Italy' bug.

Within the US, I want to iceskate in Rockefeller Center, I want to see Niagara Falls and I want to drive up the Oregon Coast.

Going to Washington, D.C. wasn't NOT on my list; it just wasn't something that I was intent on seeing anytime soon.

Silly me.

The past four days, I was in Washington, D.C. for a work trip (my first one in 4.5 years). My coworker suggested that we leave early Sunday morning so that we'd have time to sightsee Sunday afternoon before our meeting started Monday - great call on his part.

Let me tell you ... the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the White House are beautiful in postcards and on TV. Seeing them in person is absolutely breathtaking.

I can't believe I didn't have DC on my must-see travel list. If you haven't been, I'd totally recommend putting it on your list.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from my trip:

the Washington Monument from the Metro station

close-up of the Washington Memorial
(the little dots by the flags are the people waiting in line to go to the top)

The Washington Monument, from the steps of Lincoln Memorial,
with a cool reflection in the Reflecting Pool
outside the Lincoln Memorial

Abe up close

from the inside of the Lincoln Memorial
the Korean War Veteran Memorial

cool shot of the Korean War Veteran Memorial Wall,
with a reflection of the monument

the Jefferson Monument
the Jefferson Monument lit up at night

cool shot of DC across the Potomac
(if you squint, you can see the light
at the top of Washington Monument -
it looks like a star)

The White House, all prettied up for the holidays

I don't know what D.C. squirrels eat, but this was seriously
the fattest squirrel I've ever seen. I know this isn't the most
flattering picture, but it was hard getting a good picture since
he kept running around like a madman in the park -
for a chunky little guy, he sure could move (or waddle)

Progress Pictures

Okay, so apparently I'm supposed to post pictures of our progress. I didn't realize that was the rule. Evidently it is.

We've come to the conclusion that we're only going to be able to paint the kitchen, living room, and our bedroom before we move in on December 3rd. The spare bedrooms and the bathrooms will have to wait since we've realized they're going to take much more work than we had originally thought.

We're dealing with the after effects of someone not putting primer on the drywall before putting up wallpaper. We're trying to take down the wallpaper, and in the process, we're also removing the drywall paper. Ick.

the first spare bedroom - we won't finish this before we move in
(unfortunately, this small section took me about 3 hours to do
... and this is just 1/3 of one wall)

my idea for this room is to paint a light taupe above the wainscotting,
paint the chair rail white (or cream),
and put a darker taupe on the wainscotting

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the other spare bedroom is in pretty decent shape ....
we'll eventually paint it but at least we got the wallpaper border down

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the master bathroom ....
(an example of why putting on primer
before wallpaper is a good idea)

the wallpaper backing is still on the wall
on the right-hand side of the picture;
my attempt at removing the backing is on the wall
on the left side of the picture ...

double ick.

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our 'veritable fish explosion' in the hall bath is no more

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my hard-working husband, spackling the living room

Almost there ...

I have the best husband. While I've been sick with a nasty head cold (that he so generously passed on to me), he's been busting his tail working on the house. On Thursday night, I was able to get the wallpaper border off on the master bedroom (the wallpaper steamer actually cleared out my sinuses for a bit!). Later that night, Lee got off all the border in the kitchen and one of the spare bedrooms. And this morning, he emptied out our storage unit and made a few trips to Goowill and our garage. Right now, he's alternating between steaming the two bathrooms and watching the Iron Bowl (he's still got his priorities!) :)

What an awesome guy.

Wallpaper Removal, Part I

So I think Lee and I can successfully take off Professional Wallpaper Removers from our List O' Fun Jobs.

1/3 of one wall of one room down; 3 more walls, 2 more bathrooms, and 3 more rooms of wallpaper border to go!

The before pictures (aka: nautical vomit)

Before pictures ...

Anyone want a goofy, terribly outdated purple chandelier?
(the picture doesn't do it the purply justice it so deserves)



The collection of nautical wallpaper border:

living room and kitchen

master bedroom

spare bedroom #1 - the rope is especially lovely ...

spare bedroom #2

master bathroom

hall bath

a veritable fish explosion in the hall bath

our cute bathroom faucets

a kitchen with more than 2 sq. ft. of counter space - what a novel idea!

view from the backyard fence towards our house

part of our backyard rose bush collection

And so it begins

So here it is ... the very first post of Team Smith (aka: Lee and Suzanne). We just bought our first house and thought it'd be cool to chronicle our progress as we fix it up. And this will also be a good way to keep long-distance friends and family updated on our crazy lives. Hope you enjoy!

ps: Thanks to my mom for coming up with "Team Smith". She's so cute.