Oct 26, 2012

Progress as Promised

I just wanted to share a few really quick updates that Nathan and I have done around the house that I'm enjoying.  I apologize in advance for the bad cell phone pictures :)

First, we updated our master bedroom decor.  It's actually changed even since these pictures, so I'll have to do another post with even more changes.  So here's the thing, our bedroom furniture is from 1977.  No literally, my mom bought the furniture in 1977.  So as you might imagine it's a little what you would call... dated.  But it's still in great condition (insert comment about how they just don't make things like they used to).  So I wanted to keep it, but try and bring the style into 2012 and out of the disco era.
Before

The best way I knew to do that was by changing the very heavy mirror.  Fortunately the top piece just sits on the dresser and is not attached which makes removing it a breeze.  To us, the transformation of just taking off the mirror and replacing it with a new more modern mirror that hangs on the wall, was pretty dramatic.  It actually "lightened" up the room.  So yay for this little piece of progress!
Progress
I'm also trying to switch out the decor in the room to a more "Hollywood Regency" style.  But these things take time so I'll have to update you guys as more progress is made.  But like I said, I've changed things since the above picture, so it's already looking even better.

I also did a quick update by the bed by switching out our bedside lamps.  See... me likey the new lamps a lot!
Before
Progress
And just because I like them so much... a beauty shot of the lamps.


Now moving out of the bedroom, we will head to the kinda-sorta-not really-more like a garage-laundry room.  At Casa Groves we don't have a true laundry room.  Instead we just have an area in the garage where the washer and dryer are, and where there was a closet.  In general, the space was ugly and did not function well.  We needed more storage, and because I'm a girl, and I do most of the laundry... I wanted it to be prettier.
Before
Before

So we Nathan tore out the old closet that wasn't getting much use.  Then we tore out the old shelf above the washer and dryer, because his unusually short wife had a hard time reaching it.  We thought about painting, but realized that just seemed like so much work as there would need to be some wall patching that would have to be done first.  So instead, we got inspired by Pinterest and hung curtains.  Well actually we hung inexpensive Walmart bed sheets.  Much quicker and it hides all the flaws.  And most importantly it's just prettier.  We also put up a new shelf to store everything... and voila... a nice laundry nook. :) 
Progress
Progress
And finally... my favorite piece of progress is our new and improved front door.  First the front door was just flat and boring, and there was a very old (charming in it's day but not so much anymore) screen door.  Both were just looking dated and dull.  So my super-husband added some trim to the front door to give it more detail.  Then we he painted it a bright red (LOVE red doors).  The final touch was a new glass storm door.  Ah... it's amazing how much nicer it looks as you drive up to the house.  Really updates the house and curb appeal.  
Before (last fall)
Before
After (doesn't show the true color)
So there you have it... Progress as Promised.  Check back for more Casa Groves updates.  





May 30, 2012

A Glimpse Backwards...

So apparently I'm a bad blogger and have posted nothing since the wedding.  I'm sorry about that because I really would like to keep this site up-to-date on all that "Team Groves" has going on.  So to get us caught up I thought I'd do a quick run through on what we've been up to since September 4th, 2010.

When we last left you we had just become "Husband and Wife".  Feel free to take a brouse back through our wedding pictures.  Clearly I'm biased but I think they are ahhmazing! :)  The morning after the wedding we rushed off to enjoy a week in the sun in Puerto Vallara, Mexico.  Thank you to my brother Bryan and his wife Leslye for recommending the resort.  It was everything we hoped a honeymoon would be.  After an amazing week relaxing in the sun we came back to T-Town ready to settle into married life.  Since then we've had the awesome pleasure of doing quite a bit of traveling.

Let's see... First there was a Black Friday shopping trip to Kansas City.


Then a trip to the "Mother Land" aka Texas to visit the Morse family for Christmas. You have to watch this hillarious video. To give you a little background info... the Morse family does a strange twist on the "telephone game" where basically we sit in a circle and each person has to tell a part of the Christmas Story. Thanks to Grandma Peggy, I think this retelling is both funny and sacreligious. But hey that's how we roll in our family.


Then in January we had the pleasure of going on Retrospec Films' annual ski trip.  (Thank you Nathan for working for such a cool company).  An added bonus to this ski trip is that we were able to stop off in Aspen, CO to enjoy an evening at the Winter X Games.

Winter X Games 2011
Copper Mountain, CO

In May we traveled to North Carolina to watch my baby sister get hitched. We enjoyed family and beaches while there.

Mrs. Overcash


Carolina Beach, NC



Then we took what we dubbed an Anniversary Moon to Eureka Springs, AR.  We stayed in the Treehouse Cottages.  I highly recommend this place for anyone looking for a weekend get-a-way.  It was a great way to spend our first anniversary.


Then there was another Black Friday shopping trip only this time to Dallas.  Then we swung down to Waco, TX to celebrate my Grandma's 80th Birthday.

We were back in Texas in January for Carysa's baby shower (yeah, baby sister don't play around... "first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage"). 

We spent Valentines in georgeous Breckenridge, CO with the Retrospec Films crew.  Yay for this annual ski trip.

Breckenridge, CO














And most recently we took a road trip to Louisville, KY for my best friend and me to run the Kentucky Derby Marathon.  But it wasn't all just running we got to do a little sight seeing too.

Louisville, KY














Whew... that should catch us up on all of our world travels.  Stay tuned for future trips that may be coming up.


But we've done more than just travel in the last 21 months.  As 
mentioned I recently finished my 3rd full marathon.  It took me about 9 months to decide to stop being a lazy married woman and get back to running.  So I did the Tulsa Run last October...








the Route 66 1/2 Marathon in November...









and the Kentucky Derby Marathon in April.  No I don't like running but I love getting a medal and staying skinny. :)




Some of our favorite moments over the last year + was hanging out with our favorite underage people.

Chloe
Caleb
Chase
Audrey
Wyatt
Bethany


Eli (& Uncle Nathan)


Seriously, who could resist these faces (or backside in Chase's case - he's too cool to pose for the camera).  And while I haven't gotten to hang out with the newest member of our family, I already think he's pretty spectacular. :)

Ryder
But if you know me, you know that it hasn't all been fun and family.  There has been plenty of work going on around La Casa Groves.  As I said at the first of this post - I'm a bad blogger.  You will find this to be true with my lack of "before" pictures on all of our house projects.  I always seem to remember to take pictures after we've started to make progress on a project.  So I'll just be showing you the "towards the beginning" picture and the "after picture".

First there was the little rock area in the front of the house that was over grown with weeds and in desperate need of some attention.  So we got our "HGTV" on and dug it out and laid new rock.  And voila, now it's no longer an eye sore.


Next was the deck... See we had this concrete area off the back of our house that was always a hot mess.  Literally.  Dirt and debrit would accumulate.  It basically made the backyard an unappealling place to be.  So we had a deck built.  And. It. Is. Amazing.  We heart it.  And now spend lots of time in the backyard.




Then there was the bathroom.  We have one bathroom in our house.  It is super tiny.  And it was straight from 1960.  It was in despearate need of a face lift. So with a little whinning (okay alot of whinning) to Nathan, he and his Dad made my remodeling dreams come true.  They ripped the whole thing out (minus the tub) and rebuilt it.  Of course with any remodel we ran into a few snafus such as the sub-floor under the toilet had completely rotted out.  Um yeah, that would have been a bad day had the toilet suddenly decided to fall through.  (See the picture of my Father-in-law standing in a hole - not good).  And of course only having one bathroom meant we had to be strategic about what we did and when we did it because we still had to shower and "toilet" during the remodel.  But it all worked out and oh how I love you now little bathroom!




Most recently we've purchased a grill and now that grill needs a home.  You are probably wondering why the deck isn't the perfect home.  But see we want to maximize the deck space for ourselves and guests and the grill gets in the way of that happening.  So we've started a little project to create a mini-outdoor kitchen.  We're not finished yet but you can see what we've done so far.


So while this is by no means an all inclusive list of everything that's happened in the Groves home since Wedding Day, it is at least a highlight of the big stuff.  My goal is to transform my bad blogger ways and do a better job of keeping you up to date on all of our travels and projects.

Happy Summer!



Feb 27, 2012

Bathroom Remodel

We're currently in the progress of remodeling our bathroom!
Bathroom Remodel

Dec 22, 2011

Sep 3, 2011

Mar 17, 2011

A Few Pics From Our Honeymoon

A little late, but here are a few pics from our Honeymoon.
Honeymoon

Nov 11, 2010

Nov 3, 2010

Our Wedding Trailer!



PRESS HERE TO VIEW ON YOUR PHONE

Thank you Joel for making this video happen. We greatly appreciate it.

And thank you to Jason, Damon, and Joel for capturing the ceremony and reception. We owe you guys big.