valentine's day What's Good in the Hood

Well I'd like to tell you that the Jetplanes had a relaxing weekend snuggling my the fire (we finally figured out how to use our gas fireplace) and watching the Colts beat the Jags...but sadly I cannot.


Friday we high tailed it up to Boise to pick up our final interior doors for the house. The linen closet door the smallest and the most expensive, had to be custom ordered...BOO. The pantry door, thank goodness, was stock. We also purchased the baseboards for the living room, family room, kitchen, and hallway. We purchased contractor packs, they aren't the glamorously tall and detailed baseboards we originally wanted but hey...things add up so somethings are sacrificed. I am loving my new appliances though:)


After that we met up with a couple from our squadron and ate all you can eat sushi at a new sushi place. Since they just opened (without a liquor license yet) we headed over to Cheesecake factory for drinks and of course desert, yeah I'm a fat ass so what.



Saturday morning bright and early we got up and hung the doors. Be hold all new doors (minus the closet doors on the side those are for the laundry area and our utility room)We then headed back up to Boise to enjoy the NIU v Fresno State Bowl game. Mr Jetplane is an NIU alum and I got us 1/2 off tickets on Groupon. Mr had a couple of frat brothers in town as well so we partied it up at the NIU alum reception and then had great seats for the game. We got to watch NIU beat up on Fresno, much to the surprise and anger of a couple Boise State fans that were chatting it up around us. We were rolling deep with some Chicago Southsiders so I'm not sure they knew what could happen if they kept running their mouths.... oh well.



We had a great time. So much fun that we ended up skipping our squadron Holiday party.

Hello Smurf Turf!!! I still find it crazy to see mountains in the background. I'm not used to it yet.

After the win we got on the field and them BAM it started crazy snowing!!! It was awesome!


Sunday morning I awoke to the sound of rushing water and then drip, drip, drip. Our roof is leaking...our NEW ROOF. The NEW ROOF that we had put on in order for us to purchase the house. It was dropping water right by Milo's bed and he was freaked out and lil pissed off. Needless to say, we are not happy and the roofer was out here a couple of months ago to fix the problem...obviously its not fixed....mmmm.



Mr decided to open up the ceiling...oh joy! I refused to sleep in there last night so we're kickin it in the guest bedroom. Thank God our houseguest left on Thursday...I washed the sheets and threw away the pillows he'd been sleepin on. Mr didn't want to sleep on them either.



Anyway - the rest of yesterday Mr. measured and cut all the baseboards. (Yeah trim...we've lived without since August). We'll start installing tonight. We installed the chair rail for the kitchen bead board yesterday. Its crazy how different the house is looking. Its been a lot of work, and we still have more to go, but its really been a rewarding experience seeing the changes the house is making.


Next on the list - PAINTING, we have more coats of white for the stairway, trim, bead board, new doors, and then onto the kitchen cabinets....


We are trying to get as much done as possible before Mr deploys in 2011. Its coming up and no matter what I can't wish it away. When he gets back from the desert we will be totally renovating the 2 bathrooms, so that's something to keep my occupied while he's off doing God knows what over there :)

valentine's day My Life in Bullets...

Well hello there...how is every one's holiday season going thus far? Ours is crazy for sure! So crazy, that I've obviously not been blogging regularly in quite some time. So in order to bring you up to speed in a relatively quick time frame...here we go...

1. The Jetplanes have been hard at work renovating/updating our humble abode. I hope to share pictures soon.

2. We purchased new appliances for the kitchen and I love them, especially the awesome ice cubes the refrigerator makes...its the lil things in life, right?

3. We have been snowboarding...well clarification... Mr has been snowboarding and I have been attending lessons.

4. The Jetplanes spent most of last week in Florida for my end of year meetings and holiday party. We got to have a lovely dinner with fellow blogger, and our husbands finally got to meet.

5. We are headed back to Illinois for the holiday and while I'm excited to see family, after the recent travel mishaps I've experienced, I'm not thrilled to be getting on a plane.

6. And in even better news, I'm happy to report our friend that was in the car accident has made great progress in the past 2 weeks. Due to the progress, he wasn't moved back east and is still in the area. He is tracking people and able to provide non-verbal responses to questions...He is even giving his wife kisses...yes I know amazing right?

Well there is a snapshot of the past couple of weeks in 6 bullet points, sadly I guess my life isn't that exciting.... So I'll leave you with a lil laugh. Here are a couple of outtakes from my holiday party... My department performed a skit at the holiday party and this used in it :) Enjoy!

Yes I know my husband looks totally creepy in that picture...

valentine's day Just a lil taste...

Of the Jetplanes' Fall Decor. Up first is our family room. Let me start off my saying I absolutely hate our fireplace. Its a weird abnormal height, its been converted into gas and has an ugly surround, and the mantle is a baby mantle. But it is what it is for now. valentine's day I would also like to say that the wood trim in the windows have been primed and is ready for their last (hopefully) coat of white paint. The 25 year old 1" wood blinds are no longer and will be replaced hopefully in the next month or so. ( I may have worked for Levelor in the past know my blinds people!)

Next up is our entry way. I love it and sorry I don't have better close up pictures.

valentine's day The majority of the items come from the Dollar Store, Target, and around the house. I used Harry Potter and Sookie books sans covers to create height on the table. The blood drippings came from the Dollar Store. I have them all over our front windows as well. The wine glass is filled with eyeball gum which I have since devoured. I also have my prized glass skull which I bought at TJ Maxx last year for $4.00 people. I love it. It holds paperclips on my desk the rest of the year. Yeah...I'm a freakshow, I don't care :)

Pay no attention to the rest of the chaos that is our house right now. We haven't put down floor trim yet, you'll notice paint swatches on the wall (from family and living rooms), the missing light switch plate cover from the kitchen (since we ripped all the wallpaper down), and a slightly unfinished gallery wall in the hallway. Our house is a work in progress people :)

I'm kinda sad this year, because I'm usually more into decorating, especially the outside. This year I just don't have it in me :(

valentine's day Come and Knock on Our Door

The Jetplanes have been hard at work on our new (to us) house in Idaho. We purchased the house in all its 1986 glory. I believe there had been 2 previous owners to the property and while a lot had been done to the outside of the property, not a lot had been touched in 20+ years since the house was built. The house is a good house. It has good bones and has a great layout/space. We are really happy in this house. If feels more like home than our home in NC ever did.

But with all that being said, it needs work, it needs updating more than anything. We've all ready ripped up the carpet and laid hand-scrapped wood floors. I love them. I really do. We're in the process of painting the window trim white and we just started replacing the doors.

Take a look at door #1, that would be the guest bathroom.

Pretty big difference right? It still needs to be trimmed out, but it already makes the house look 20 years younger and so much brighter.

We purchased the doors stock from Lowes and with our handy dandy 10% off military discount, we saved a lil money. We are also replacing all the closet doors, except those in the master bedroom. Master bedroom/bath is getting a total remodel so we're not changing those out for the time being.

Can't wait to show you more. I'm pretty excited about it.

valentine's day Fake it till you make it...

That's a common motto of the Jetplanes...

As a young married couple (yes we still consider 30 yr olds very young) trying to save money and remodel their 2nd house, fake it till you make it is something we do on the daily. You see I am one that you would call having...champagne taste on a beer budget...that comes to clothes, shoes, and home decor.

So when it comes to the living room we needed something to use as an entertainment center. I had my eye on something similar to the PB option below.

Which can be yours for a cool $3k. ummm yeah not gonna happen at all. So what's a girl to do with oh about zero dollars to spend on this.

Well I decided to pull into 2 book cases that I used in my office in the previous house...ala Walmart for around $99.00 a piece. Mr. Jetplane successfully mounted the television on the wall between the bookcases but we still needed something to go in between. We needed found a black tv stand at Target. In order to bring it up a notch we added a lil hardware from Lowes. FYI these will also be used on our cabinets in the kitchen (when we get around to that). We purchased the tv stand for under $40.

So my entertainment center might not be as awesome as PB's option, but its under $300.00.

Not too bad if I do say so myself... oh sorry for the craptastic pictures, they are all taken with my blackberry...someone has lost the charger for the camera :(

valentine's day Residing in a Construction Zone

Casa de Jetplane is in various states of disrepair or repair depending on how you look at it. Its exciting but its annoying at the same time. We hope to be getting gloriously dark, hand-strapped hard woods throughout the main living areas installed next week. But before that could happen we had to pull up the 20+ yr old thick-as-hell carpet, carpet pad, tack strips, and countless staples. Don't even get me started on the stairs leading to the loft...

So needless to say, we've been walking on backer board for about 2 weeks and everyone is annoyed, including the dogs. So much so, that they have agreed to lay together in the living room, which rarely happens...

Last night we began tackling the installation of the 1/4" plywood and I got to try to the air compressor staple gun that shoots 1" long staples. UMMMM....it was awesome and I loved it. So much more fun the job that Mr had, measures and cutting all the wood to fit...boo.

But as with any home improvement tasks, us Jetplanes prefer to stay hydrated with adult beverages. Guess who's is who?

Doesn't everyone drink lil cheap champagne and a Tall Boy of Coors Light while installing plywood...no just us? Oh well... We're saving ourselves over $2,000 by doing this ourselves, that deserves a drink, right?

Wish us luck, we're installing the kitchen, living room, and hallway tonight and this weekend....

valentine's day On the rocks please...

I am on the lookout for an awesome bar cart or a cabinet, table, etc. that can easily be used as a bar cart. Perhaps it is well known that the Jetplanes like to partake in adult beverages, right now I'm extremely partial to 3 Olives Cherry Vodka. I also enjoy gin and tonics, wine, champagne, and the occasional light beer...but enough about me and my drinking habits.

I want a bar cart and I know exactly where I want it to go in the family room. To my total surprise, Mr. Jetplane is on board for this one. He thinks a lot of my ideas are crazy...I mean really crazy. But luckily I can show him 4 or 5 pictures of what I'm talking about and he now agrees I might not have lost my mind.

Bring on the drinks.... and any suggestions you may have for bar carts... I'm looking for cheap option people, putting in new hardwoods is expensive.

Image 1 from Lonny, no longer have info for image 2 or 3. If you do, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

valentine's day Bit of This & Bit of That

This post is going to be all over the place, so apologies all around...

1. Ummmm, how freaking good was Mad Men on Sunday? I'm so happy its back. I adore how Peggy has come into her own, Joan has her own office, and Betty is dealing with a b!tch of a MIL. (didn't have that with Don since he had no family) Even though Don is now dealing with the consequences of his actions, you still like him, you still want him to come out on the other side...which I totally believe he will. Don Draper is a Big F'in Deal people.

2. Now True Blood - Its picking and choosing parts of the books it wants to follow. I believe in Alan Ball and all but seriously - why wouldn't Bill heal after being cut? I hate Cooter, but love how trashy Debbie Pelt is. Talbot is wonderful and Franklin is a total freakshow. And this dog fighting ring....YAWN. Ummm hello - only 1st born can be a WERE, duh! And let's get to saving Pam, she's awesome!

3. The state of our current house - CRAZY. We're walking on backer board over here... We ripped up all the flooring ourselves in the living room, hallway, kitchen, entry way, family room and stairs to the loft. Yummy dark hardwood is going in its place. Tearing it up ourselves saved us almost $1,000. We are planning on putting down the plywood ourselves too, which saves another $1,000+. I'm excited for the new floors, but not excited for the bill or having to work through all the noise its going to cause when they install.

4. My garden is growing and I have harvested several summer squash, 1 spaghetti squash, and 1 tomato.

5. We saw Inception at IMAX the weekend it came out. Amaze-balls. Seriously.

6. I have learned that there are more VW bugs in Idaho then anywhere I have ever been. Mr and I are constantly hitting each other "Slugbug no slug backs".


We went on a walk around the hood yesterday evening - 4 of them. How is that even possible?
By the way - we ONLY do it for VW Bugs.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

valentine's day Black or White - Part 2

Thank you all for your input on the kitchen cabinet color. You all are offering very valid points. I thought I should show you the other side of the kitchen. It is relatively large space.

Obviously the light fixture will be changed, window treatments burned, and the trim will become white. I think we will have beadboard run up the walls about 4 ft with a wide chair rail. The beadboard will run into the 2nd half of the kitchen near along the pantry and side of the fridge. All the floor trim will be replaced with thicker trim and painted white.

So does this change your thoughts on black v. white kitchen cabinets?

valentine's day Is it Black or White...

No I'm not talking Michael Jackson here...I'm talking the color of our kitchen cabinets. Do I go black or white?


Black? Like Gwenie Paltrow's kitchen...

Or white like this gorgeous kitchen...

That is the question my friends. Our counter top is a Corian and appears to be relatively new. It is tan with flecks of white, gray, and black. The flooring we are putting in is a dark, real wood that will be carried in from the living room to the kitchen and into the family room. The wood color is similar to the flooring in the picture of the white kitchen above.

Here is the kitchen in all its glory with the original owner's belongings.

What was your first thought? Those kitchen cabinets on the right have to go??? Well that's what we thought too... Day 1 we ripped out the cabinets. Excuse the 2 big boxes we used those to help us hold the cabinets in place while removing all the screws, nails, and whatever else had been holding those things up since 1986.

So what's the consensus....black or white?

We have purchased fixtures for over the kitchen table and the sink, those are brushed nickel and were cheap at Lowe's so the new cabinet hardware will be brushed nickel. We are also set on removing the top portion of the Corian that is used as a backsplash. These pieces are glued on and not a portion of the countertop. This will be replaced with white subway tile with white or a gray/black grout.

So do we go black or white?

* Sorry I do not have links for the 2 kitchen pictures, if you do, please advise and I will give appropriate credit.

** FYI - All the appliances will be replaced. All trim work will be white and all doors are getting replaced with new, white doors.

valentine's day How does your garden grow...

When the Jetplanes did our final inspection on our new house we were totally surprised to find that the sellers had planted the veggie garden. You can't imagine how happy I was.

The beds had been built but I was afraid we were moving too late in the season for me to plant anything, no needless to say I did the happy dance when I saw that it was planted and thriving.

We have corn, 2 types of cucumbers, 3 types of tomatoes, spaghetti squash and summer squash.

I just love all the yellow flowers on the squash... Also, I only know 1 way to cook spaghetti squash so I'm going to need to learn some new recipes.

I harvested my 1st summer squash and I think a couple more can be picked tomorrow. I'm eager for all the tomatoes, I love myself some tomatoes. And I'm begging my cucumbers to grow because I can't wait to make this.

valentine's day What up Idaho...

We are here... well we've been here since July 8th. Alot has happened since we last 'spoke'.

Mr. Jetplane began a Captain and turned the big 3-0.
We bought our 2nd house and we love it. It honestly feels like we live on a compound. It has a veggie garden and the sellers planted everything before they moved out.
We have already started a little demo and remodeling.

Oh and we already have our first house guests...and we don't even have all our belongings yet...truck comes tomorrow!

Heading to my 1st coffee tonight to meet all ladies in the squadron.

Hello Idaho the Jetplanes are here!!!!!

P.S. Thank you for all the Twitter love while we were traveling. I'm going to try to do a post about the trip later next week.

XOXO

valentine's day Casa de Jetplane #2 Update

Well, we're in full swing over here preparing for the upcoming move and future renters in our current abode.

And with all this, I have been day dreaming about future house and what it will look like (when we're done with it). Can you tell this house was built in the late 80s....

The top cabinets on the right will be going. Pendant lighting will be going in its place. Of course the lighting will be gone as well.
This is the view from the family room. The counter top is new as is the sink. Those will be staying (for cost reasons) but the back splash will be leaving. They are individual pieces glued to the wall. Subway tile will be going in its place. The counter is actually fairly short, I'm looking for shorter metal stools. I think I have found some on Overstock, but I need to measure.

Here is the eat in kitchen. There are 3 large windows on the side. Its actually fairly large area. I would like to have a built in window seat and a large built in china cabinet on the wall. New lighting...obviously.

The flooring in the entire house will be replaced, that's the first thing that is happening...oh so exciting. That right there, will change the entire look of this dated house.

Below are my inspiration pictures. I apologize that I don't have the links for the credits. I have a bad problem of not keeping track especially on my work computer. If you know the link, please let me know and I would happily give credit where credit is most definitely due.

Lovely pendent lighting, white tile, great metal stools... what's not to love. Right?Yes, there is an obviously theme here...
But my favorite is this kitchen by LAKBdesign, posted by House of Turquoise last week I believe. I had an immediate reaction to this kitchen, and those red stools....TDF, am I right?? This new house is truly going to be a labor of love... So much is going to be happening to the Jetplanes in the next 3 years as we live in this house... a deployment, holidays apart, easing into a life out West, and hopefully having a child... Its an exciting and scary time.

valentine's day Status of the Jetplanes Real Estate Empire...

If you read this blog, you will know that the Jetplanes are moving to Idaho and we put an offer in that was accepted on a house. We had the standard inspection done on Tuesday and there were only minimal issues, the house was built in the late 80s, so we anticipated some small details.

The house has a wooden shingled roof, a roof that we had never seen before, so we had a roof inspector come out and do an inspection. It was only $50. A general inspector will not provide you a detailed roof inspection, so we chose to pay for an additional inspection. Well it turns out this inspector actually did an inspection on this roof for the home owners last year and replaced several of the shingles. He gives the roof a 5 years or more (with maintenance) rating. Well, that is not good enough for us.

So needless to say, we've submitted another amended offer on the house last night. This might be a deal breaker if we can't come to some compromise. We've been up front and honest with our agent telling her we have concerns about the roof. I think our agent thinks we're crazy or delusional or something. It feels like she thinks we're too demanding or expecting too much. That's fine, but we're not buying a house that will need a new roof in 5 years, that my friend just ain't happening...unless you show us some money...

Oh and THANK YOU all so much for the birthday wishes, I really appreciate it. And on a total side note...guess who got carded while ordering a drink at dinner last night...this lady!!!

UPDATE: The seller has agreed to put on a whole new roof. Ask and you shall receive... we are SHOCKED and so HAPPY!!!

valentine's day We're Locked and Loaded People...

The offer is accepted.... I'm a mix of excitement, nerves, smiles, and anxiety.


This song has been in my head since I received the call from Mr. Jetplane with the news...

valentine's day The Gallery Wall is Up

I've been day dreaming about this for quite some time. I love photographs and I especially love the pictures I have recently received from my mother. They are black and white pictures of my grandmother when she was in grade school, her confirmation, and wedding to my grandfather. I also got a picture of my great grandparents wedding day with my great aunt and uncle as their maid of honor and best man. These pictures mean the WORLD to me and I am amazed at just how much my grandmother, mother, and I look alike.

I purchased all the frames from Walmart, Target, and Kmart. All were sale and came with mats. Mr. Jetplane helped a great deal in the hanging of all the pictures...with only minimal complaining.

valentine's day PB Style on a PBR budget

I, like a lot of people, fell in love with this...

But unfortunately the Jetplanes are not made out of money and I adamantly refuse to spend a lot of money on seasonal decor. Therefore I only buy these items on sale or even better at the end of the season.

I honestly don't even want to go into thinking about how much that look would cost....its ridiculous, but it is awesome... Don't worry if you can afford it...I'm not hating the player...just the game.

So what did lil Mrs. Jetplane do? Well so glad you asked...

First of all I don't have that much space to work with. So I needed to condense the look. The pumpkins are fake ones that I bought from Michael's last year for seriously 80% off. I thought about painting the them creme last year, even bought the paint but got lazy and didn't do it.

The wicker pumpkins are from Michael's regularly $24.99 and I purchase them on sale for $19.99/pc. I purchased the crows, leaves, and straw from Michael's, as well, all for 50% off. Crows were $2.49/pc, leaves $2.99, and straw $5.99.

The lanterns were purchased from Walmart in the Lawn and Garden department. They were regularly $25.00/pc and I bought them for $10.00/pc. I placed some of the leaves in them and then used a battery operated votive in each lantern.

The black metal plant stand, I have had forever. I believe I bought it at Lowes in Lawn and Garden. I have used it in everyone of my past apartments and houses on the balcony or porch as a table. I bought it for around $10 its metal and has held up for 7 years now.

The wreath was purchased at Big Lots last fall for under $10.00.

Yesterday I told Mr. Jetplane that I was going to give our house the PB look for around 10% of the cost. He said, "Great Honey!! What's PB?"

Oh boy...you would think he would have learned by know. He likes the look except he thinks the crows are creepy. I think that's why I like them. They had owls too, but they were alittle more expensive, and I'm a tight ass, so they didn't get purchased. Maybe if they go on 75-80% off, I'll pick up an owl or two and some of the larger crows.

So there you go, Casa de Jetplane Fall outdoor decor. I have more home improvement posts coming this week and potentially a giveaway... stay tuned.

valentine's day Does Anyone Else Hear That Loud SUCKING Noise???

Yeah? That's my hard earned money being sucked out of my bank account... Don't get me wrong I love our new home (that we own). I love picking out paint colors, drapes, rugs, etc. I love deciding where the mirror should go, how to arrange my pantry, and sleep in our brand new room.

But as much as I love to shop and spend money... I hate to spend money... and spend money is what we've been doing... a lot of.

1. Buying all new blinds for the house. It was new and had none.
2. Buying lawn stuff... the yard was a little sad and it costs a lot to get all the crap we needed for it.
3. Buying new curtain rods. We have several windows that are much larger than our previous houses. Which also led to some new curtains...
4. New furniture... we assumed we'd be buying furniture for the downstairs living room since our sectional would go upstairs in our new bonus room. Ha Ha! Sectional won't fit up the stairs. Luckily we sold it to a friend (for quite a deal for him). We have purchased new furniture for downstairs and upstairs. Yeah!!! Did that sucking noise just get alot louder all of a sudden??
5. Food... having to buy all new condiments, oils, etc. You wouldn't think would be a big deal, but it seriously adds up.
6. Garage crap... Mr. needed to build a work bench, have shelving, and is now coating the garage floor...
7. Still need to buy 2 rugs, one for downstairs and one for upstairs...why are rugs so expensive? Speaking of which... why are baskets so expensive... and curtain rods? and pillows? ugh...

Oh and the list goes on and on...

Sorry for the rant...