Salmon and Sinks

Our two older children are just ending spring break. They really enjoyed being able to sleep in and take it easy, although I did hear complaints because their friends were either out of town or enrolled in camps/sports practice. I tend to waffle between the two schools of "It's not my job to entertain you" and actively planning fun things to do during our down time. I guess you could say that we're sort of a mixed bag. Either way, I told them that soon enough they too would be out of town.

One event we took part in over the break was the Kokanee Quest http://www.govlink.org/kokanee-quest/ with my youngest son's Cub Scout den. It's a geocaching treasure hunt to help raise awareness about our local salmon population (unique to our area alone!), the Kokanee. This quest began at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery http://www.issaquahfish.org/ and we were treated to a class about how the population began and how it came to behave like it does. When our training was completed and we had answered the questions, we went on to find the cache. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend looking into it, even if you don't live in the Puget Sound area.

As of today (since I'm a day late in posting. Sorry about that!) we have 69 days until we launch. We've been checking things off my checklists to make sure we're where we need to be. As the date gets closer, things get a bit more stressful. We are looking forward to the day when we head out of the driveway with the knowledge that everything is safely stored and the house is clean and ready for the new tenants. Then we can exhale and fully embrace our adventure. The kids are coming around. They're still not thrilled about leaving their friends for so long, but I have every confidence that once we're on the road, they'll be as excited as we are. Especially since they are going to help plan our side trips.

One house project I've been teasing you with is our upstairs bathroom remodel. Well, today is the day you finally get to see it! The hardware is still missing, but with the busy week my husband has had, that's totally fine with me. I'm going to show you anyway!

This is what the bathroom looked like before. My husband took these pictures with his phone. It was dated and just didn't flow well. The room had a door that separated the shower/toilet area from the sink and I had been counting the days until it was gutted. What a thrill when that day finally came!

Down came the doorway. Out came the old tile and cabinet. Out came the floor, until we were left with nothing but the skeleton. Then, the magic happened. The tile that we so meticulously selected from the tile store went up. The new, sleek cabinet and sink were installed. The sliding shower door was set in place. Then we just stood in awe of the new room. Is it weird to be so excited about a bathroom? Well then, call me weird, because I totally am! I find myself walking down the hallway and pausing just to look in. Our house is very Northwest-y and now the bathroom in in step with everything else. This is what it looks like now.

 

 

 

I couldn't be happier! It feels much roomier and is now a peaceful place to be. My husband did a great job. It's so nice to have this project checked off the list. Now on to packing...

 

- Jen