Master Bath Remodel

Nearly five years ago when we moved into our current home we had no intention of re-doing the master bathroom.   Really..it LOOKED fine.   I know you are probably  looking at the Before pictures and thinking why would they ever rip all that out of there.   Well, here’s the story:  The jets in the Jacuzzi tub were not working and to repair them we were going to have to rip out those front tiles.  The builder left no access to the motor for some reason.   The previous owner left one box of extra tile, but we weren’t crazy about it to begin with.   So we lived with it a few months and also realized the shower wasn’t going to work for us either.    We were spoiled with a larger shower in our previous home.  Final decision:  MAJOR RENOVATION – We gutted it.

Before:  The small shower and enormous tub:

  

Before:  The floors were pinkish marble (hard to see in this picture).  Not really our taste and they were slick to walk on if your feet were wet.

 

Before:  The cabinets were white and the countertops were white.

 

After:

This is the tile we selected.  More natural-earthy color with a little texture so it is not as slick.

 

We changed out the counter tops to granite and put in limestone sinks and new fixtures.  We did keep the  cabinets.  I had a painter come in and antique them down.

Also got new mirrors and light fixtures:

This is my side of the bathroom.  I had a plumber come in and move the sink from the left side of the vanity to the middle. Then a carpenter had to come in and re-work the cabinets and drawers.

Our new walk-in shower.  We love it.  The tub was completely removed from the room.  So bath people probably won’t like our house if we have to sell it in the future.  There are still bathtubs upstairs though.

Keith’s sink side:

The wall are painted in an older Sherwin Williams color Dhurrie Beige, but they mixed it up for me even though it isn’t on their current color chart.

   

Over all it was quite an ordeal.  As I mentioned a few post ago we discovered the shower pan was improperly installed.  So all that tile you see in the shower from the waist down was re-done about 2 months ago.  Thankfully, the tile store still had our tile in stock.  Hopefully all is good now.

Buster and I are not DIY’ers, as much as I would love for us to be. We just aren’t.   We have to leave it to those that we hope are professionals and know what they are doing.   So here is my newly renovated – renovated master bath.

It’s that Time Again…

The Annual Noble Bend Crawfish Boil and egg hunt was this weekend.  Kids, dogs, neighbors and crawfish were everywhere.

Neighbor Steve getting ready for the crawfish boil with a little help from his friends:

There were lots of good deserts and a grill going for those of us who do not particularly like mudbugs.  Our neighbor Caroline did a great job with this cookie cake.

 

Neighbor Steve prepping the tables:

 

This is what the table looked like afterwards:

We had a great time together and enjoyed beautiful weather.

Easter Morning:   Leah served as an Acolyte in one of the Easter services at our church:

Hope you all had a Blessed Easter focusing on our Risen Savior and surrounded by those you love.

Boiled Peanuts

I was walking through the grocery store last week and there they were…. 

.Peanuts. 

In the southeastern part of the United States, you can drive down back roads and  will probably spot a hand painted sign  pointing you in the right direction for Hot Boiled Peanuts.   My grandparents lived in south Georgia and grew peanuts in their garden.   My sister and I would spend a 2-3 weeks with them each summer. We would pick the peanuts straight from the garden and bring them in to be boiled.  mmm mmm life doesn’t get any better.

                                                        (picture from the internet)

I don’t come across boiled peanut stands in Texas.  So I make my own.

I start out with a 20 oz. bag of raw peanuts in their hull.   Place the peanuts in a large pot and add water to cover.  Bring to a boil.  Add  a cup or so of salt.  I know, I know that sounds like a lot, but it has to penetrate that shell and get to the peanut inside.

You will boil and boil and boil some more to get the inside of the peanut soft.  Approximately 2-3 hours.    Keep adding water as needed.

After all that boiling you get these beauties. 

Just break them open and enjoy.

   

Keep them in the shell until you are ready to eat them.  Place the uneaten peanuts in the refrigerator.  They are good cold or hot.

Let me know if you try them.  

Paint the Path Pink and other paint jobs

As you can tell from the dates on my post, I’ve taken a little blogging break.  I’ve had lots of projects around my home to manage and am still waiting for some to be finished.  So I have been a tad distracted.

This past  Saturday Leah’s school had a Paint the Path Pink 5K Walk/Run Breast Cancer fundraiser.   Paige, Leah and I went and walked.  There were 650 people registered.  It was a beautiful Spring day for walking and over $25,000 was raised for Breast Cancer Research.  The second picture is kids and dogs.   Leah is on the bottom row about 5 down.  

Paige will be mad that I posted this picture with her eyes closed.  Sorry Paige, but it was the only one we got that day.

Here is some other painting news from the home front.

Finally – all the faux painting is gone and replaced with  Sherwin Williams Latte for the walls and Ralph Lauren Metallic Summer Gold for the ceiling.  I’m so happy with the colors.  I have yet to hang the artwork back up in the room.  I just have issues with nailing into newly painted walls.  I’ll work up the courage soon I hope.

The kitchen and family room also were painted.  The family room is Latte now and the kitchen is Nomadic Desert.  I’m waiting for my fireplace stone to come in.  When I get that done, I’ll post a picture of the fireplace and paint. 

My other gynormous project I had to deal with was the shower in my master bath.   We had the master bathroom renovated right after we moved into this house nearly 5 years ago.   We loved the look of it, but after time went on we realized something was not right.  After much deliberation between tile people, plumbers and me in the middle we decided the  tile should be removed and the shower pan checked out.  YUCK! – rotted wood and mold….. This was worst than we thought it would be.

So I now know the repercussions of an improperly installed shower pan.

I kept thinking of a spiritual analogy in this scenario.  You know like sometimes everything looks good on the outside but boy it can be rotten on the inside.  Better get it checked out and fixed or it will fall apart.

I’ll post pictures of the newly re-done shower soon.  This post has run long enough.

Hope you are  starting to see a little Spring where you are.

♥ Joy

Praying in Color

A number of years ago I came across a book entitled Praying in Color by Sybil MacBeth.  It caught my attention as I am always interested in reading books on prayer.  

This book was different.  It was not a “how-to” book on prayer on what to say and do during ones prayer time.

The idea behind Praying in Color is when you are burdened about someone or something to get out your markers or colored pencils and a clean sheet of paper and basically start doodling.    You ever notice when you are praying how your mind tends to wander.  Every new idea/thought/worry can pop into your mind and distract you.   Having a marker or pencil in hand helps to keep you focused on your prayer time.  Praying in color usually does not involve spoken words.  It’s a time of quiet before God when words fail us.  You pour out your heart on paper.

I encourage you to visit the Praying in Color Website and learn more about this prayer concept and see illustrations of others prayers.    You do not have to be an artist to Pray in Color.

After the earthquake in Haiti, I had many concerns weighing on my heart that I wanted to pray for the people in Haiti and the relief workers going into Haiti.  I finally decided to sit down and Pray in Color. As you can see I am no artist, but it helped to put my burdens down on paper and offer them as prayer to God.

I drew with colored pencils so it didn’t scan very well, but it gives you the idea of one of this prayer concept.

So check out the website to see more prayer samples and maybe pick up the book and start Drawing a New Path to God as Sybil MacBeth says.

P.S.  This is also a great way to pray with your kids.   She has a children’s edition of the book also.