flooding...again

we have a bit of a love-hate relationship with our basement, and right now is one of the times when we're questioning the prudence of owning a house with a basement in a coastal area.  we love the "man room", second kitchen, and comfortable feel of the space (it's always much cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than the rest of our house).  but, we hate waking up to this...

(well, this is after some mopping up, moving furniture, and shop-vacing)

at 3:15 this morning when billy and jefferson went down for their midnight-ish snack, i heard "uh-oh" and knew we were in for a treat.  thankfully, it hadn't rained in quite awhile until this week, so it took 4 days of raining basically non-stop for the water to start coming in.  and thankfully, we are now well-prepared (physically, mentally, and emotionally) with our cleanup routine after more floods in the past 3 1/2 years we've lived here than i can count on one hand...or maybe both hands. 

so, when i get back from my work trip next week, my vote is to rip up the floor (it's only a sheet of vinyl, which we're somewhat suspicious that the previous homeowners installed right before they listed the house, so that shouldn't be too bad to rip up).  then, we can see what we're working with on the slab and hopefully move forward with some sort of waterproofing system.  let's hope that there are no cracks or signs of water seeping through the floor!  the exterior waterproofing system is much more affordable, and then we wouldn't run the risk of having to rip out the pretty, expensive pine paneling in our den, as well as the baseboard heating system, and probably the furnace. 

i'm kind of excited to have a new floor covering in the kitchen as well.  maybe we'll do large square tiles or a more industrial look of staining or painting the existing concrete floor, assuming there are no cracks. 

i guess the ground is pretty muddy, seeing that it looks kind of like someone peed all over the floor

jefferson is not a fan of the shop-vac

every chance he got, he would attack the hose

so at least that brings a little humor in the midst of our frustration!

almost done!

i am FINALLY almost done with my appraisal license!  for the past year and a half, i've been taking classes and training to become a real estate appraiser, which will give me much more flexibility and income potential than my current job, plus i really enjoy the work and finally feel challenged!!  over the past several years, there have definitely been bits and pieces of my different jobs that have been challenging, but those challenges have been more related to logistics, getting people to do what they're supposed to, etc. rather than challenges that really require me to use my mind and aptitudes.  so, this shift in my career path has been such a blessing, and i'm thankful for God providing this opportunity while the economy is depressed and we've felt kind of stuck here.  it's been great to stay busier in my job, and i've gotten to see my family more on work visits to atlanta, so that's been an added bonus.  and, as much as we hope to leave this area at some point, if we had left before i started training, i might not have figured out that this would be a good career path for me. 

now, i'm starting to contact lending institutions and other potential clients to start developing some contacts for future work once i'm out on my own.  so, i'm excited to see where this leads and also to have the flexibility of working from home before too long (good for the terrier and for tax write-offs and for any future kids we have).  there will be a big celebration at the chorey household when i am finally done, but for now, the end is very much in sight! 

and, on a side note, i'm excited about the updated look of my blog for the fall.  with it feeling more fallish around here, i thought i'd give my blog a little facelift.  and, there are so many cute backgrounds, it may get a few more facelifts before fall is finished. 

our master bedroom

(cute idea from kelly's korner blog)

our master bedroom

i have done a few posts on my blog about our master bedroom, as several posts have been dedicated to our never-ending home improvement projects.  so, for this post, i'll show an evolution of our master bedroom, which has come a long way but probably still has a ways to go! 

we love our master bedroom, as it is spacious (for an older home), has great natural light, and normally has a pretty calming feel to it.  it also houses one of my favorite furniture purchases (bob timberlake armoire which we got for a complete steal and is one of two big pieces of furniture we've ever bought...we are a big fan of hand-me-downs and garage sale finds) with plenty of room to spare, which wouldn't have been the case in our previous house.

this room started out entirely blue...that means light blue walls and ceiling, blue trim, and blue shag carpet. so while we both love the color blue, we opted for our favorite neutral color in this house - light khaki from the seaside retreat collection at lowe's - for the walls with white trim. it also had some way outdated drapes, which we replaced with white faux wood blinds. and the biggest change was for us to rip out the carpet, which left untouched hardwood floors!

before we moved in

 

after settling in

i recently switched around our art to incorporate some pictures from our trip to europe a couple of years ago...i loved the botanical print, but it looks great in our guest room now, and it's fun to have some of our own photography in the room.

the room has a peaceful feel with neutral colors for the large spaces and muted "sea" colors for accents.  our bedding was a wedding gift (matine toile pattern from pottery barn in porcelain blue, which i LOVE), and i registered for it in a king size even though we currently have a queen size bed, but i figured that would save us money in the long run if we ever upgraded to a bigger bed.  we have a cream colored shag rug to soften up the room, and although i had purchased some linen drapes from walmart awhile ago with the intention of hanging them in our room, after testing that out, we decided the drapes took away from the natural light and made the room feel a little more closed in.  maybe we'll get to use them if we ever have a bigger room!  some more changes i'd like to make would be to possibly paint the bed and to change out our bedside tables for something more substantial, but for now, we enjoy how our room looks very much. 



fall.

after a HOT summer, it's finally starting to feel and look a bit like fall around here.  growing up, i never really thought of myself as a big "fall person", but i think going to school in virginia (and then sticking around afterwards) has given me a greater appreciation for all things fall.  we did have a nice seasonal change to fall in georgia, but the mountains around c-ville coupled with so many fun fall activities there set that area apart from my falls growing up (with the exception of fall visits to the lake :)). 


so, here are some fallish things we're currently enjoying or plan to enjoy this fall...
sleeping with our windows open ~ our town smells like peanuts roasting or, as billy puts it, "like a football game" every day ~ going on morning runs in the cooler weather ~ using our firepit (well, after the burning ban is lifted) ~ football games and tailgating ~ the beach once the summer crowds have cleared out ~ leaves changing ~ beginning of billy's marathon season ~ apple picking ~ wineries ~ our 4th wedding anniversary ~ evening bike rides, which usually serve as our cocktail time ~ driving on the parkway ~ more time on our porch ~ busch gardens howl-o-scream ~ oktoberfest (wish we were there, but we've been celebrating with the official music, billy's latest ipod download :)) ~ comfort foods ~ pumpkin ~ gearing up for bryan and kristin's wedding ~ finishing my appraisal license (not really a fall thing but something VERY much anticipated) ~ fall garden ~ starting a new bible study ~ more time with friends and family


we're in for a super busy fall, so i'll try and remember to take pictures and post throughout.  lots of fun times ahead! 


to start it off, here are a couple of pictures of our newly planted fall garden...we're trying to grow spinach and bibb lettuce.  our pepper plant is still producing, as are our oregano and basil, but the basil may have to be replaced soon (it still looks a little sad and dried out from the last heat wave).  should have some more fun pictures with people actually in them soon, as we head to a couple of football games this fall! 

the new plants look a little sad (they were pretty and full when we got them, but this weekend was pretty hot, and we didn't plant them right away)...i guess if they die, we'll just buy some more, since they were only $7 total (for 18 plants)

i also just realized that i never posted pictures from the rnr half marathon in virginia beach, which billy ran over labor day weekend.  we had another great "staycation" there at the turtle cay resort, and this time, we brought our bikes, which was great!  i rode about 20 miles the day of the half marathon, and we rode together to dinner, concerts, etc, which was so fun!  definitely made me want to live at the beach even more :)  billy finished the race in a good time of 1:25, which he was a little disappointed by, but i still thought he did great!  and, it was his first race in awhile, so hopefully his marathons this fall and winter will be better races for him.  here are a few pics from the weekend...

around mile 11...still going strong...and i missed the usain bolt pose right after this :)

finish line...i think billy was too fast for me to take the picture, plus there were lots of people blocking my view

post-race on the beach...they got the best medals this year!

new art

as i mentioned in my post the other day, we recently did a little switch around of art between our bedroom and the guest bedroom, which has been a nice change.  the art in our bedroom now has more cool colors and looks nicer with our muted blue bedding (billy swears it's green, but i keep telling him it's "powder blue").  and, it's fun to have some reminders of our trip to europe in our room now. 

enlarged pictures from venice and capri (could possibly have 4 up there, but we like our blank space on the walls)

van gogh "cafe at night" print billy has had forever ties in nicely with our own images from europe

we're thinking about some new bedside tables too, as we need a little more space on top (we frequently knock over cups, lamp, etc when reaching for a drink in the middle of the night).  i've thought about just doing round skirted tables you can buy at target or walmart for $5-10, but we don't want to sacrifice the shelf or drawer storage.  so, our bedside table decision is still up in the air for now. 

also, from my post the other day, here are additional guest room pics...

office area

closeup - love how my memory board goes well with the bedding, and we also came across another piece of art from billy's high school days (he doesn't think he painted this, but it pairs well with the impressionist painting of his that's in the room)

guest room fan in need of an update

i think we could easily spray paint it, but it's pretty noisy, so we may drop a few bucks on a basic white fan that will hopefully blend into the ceiling a little better

in keeping with our "new" free art, i came across a palm tree print in a closet recently that i had forgotten we had and thought it would be perfect in our living or dining room.  i had been looking for some kind of art, plates, or other wall hanging to go on both sides of our fireplace, but i ended up deciding that something would look better on the dining room wall in order not to crowd the living room (we have a large, antique mirror above the fireplace, and i didn't want to take away from that being a focal point in the room).  so, i love how this worked out so nicely...the print goes perfectly in our dining room, with the greens and reds of our walls and fabrics.  plus, the price tag was perfect!  it definitely completes the space.

i may be partial, but...

i married the nicest guy ever.  i am very blessed with a loving, godly husband who knows how to care for me really well.  this morning, my day got off to a bad start for multiple different reasons, and billy had a morning meeting in norfolk, so we didn't have a chance to really hang out or talk while we were getting ready for work.  but, when i got home for lunch, he happened to be there also, and i was greeted by this on the back steps...

pretty, new, bright pink flowers in a little planter to replace my old plants that had dried up this summer.  so sweet!  how can you look at bright, summery flowers and not be happy??  i love how he seems to know just what to do to help my day get better or cheer me up when i'm having a bad day.  and i'm very blessed for that.