The Reason Is

At church there is a couple who have been married for 30 years. They have 4 children and have always seemed very happy. Last weekend we found out they are getting divorced. Obviously, this is very sad and I have wondered why, after 30 years, some seemingly perfectly happy people would fall out of love. But, I have figured it out. It is obvious to me that they had to make the decision of whether to buy real hardwood or laminate. Because this decision is seemingly impossible and tensions get high very quickly, this must have led to their demise.

Yes, Ben and I are now in friendly combat mode. We are at an impasse. One of us prefers laminate, the other hardwood. I won't say which, so you can be honest in your comments without worrying about seeming to take sides. But, I will throw it out to the blogsosphere: Which is better- laminate or hardwood? Which is more durable, looks better, is better through wear and tear? We will take any and all suggestions- our marriage may depend on it! (I am totally kidding about our marriage being in jeopardy, in case you were worried- there is no need to worry, but if I "lose" Ben might have to sleep on the couch for a month:))

Tell flooring problems do us part...

It Comes In Threes

Have you ever heard the saying that bad news comes in threes? Well, I think we are now done with our bad news. Here is a rundown of April:

1. Worst flus of all time (Ben says we have already had Swine Flu- excuse me, the H1N1 Virus- and we should now be fine)

2. Bad french doors and damaged subfloors

3. Yesterday I accidentaly downloaded a virus on Ben's computer. He is not too happy with me right now....

We finally got an estimate on what it will cost to fix the door situation. We know we for sure need new French doors and new frame. We also know we need the contractor to lift the linoleum in our kitchen and replace some of the subfloor. We don't know how much. Because of that, we need to replace the entire kitchen floor because the linoleum will be destroyed. Since they have to redo the kitchen floor anyway, we thought we might as well get hardwood installed and have hardwood installed on our entire main floor- a project we want to do eventually anyway, so why not do it now when we have to do part of it anyway?

The answer of course is cost. We got our first estimate today. To do the entire floor exactly how we want it and never have to worry about it again will cost almost all of our savings. So, we would have the perfect floor, but virtually no savings. Bye, bye dreams of a mini-van (haha- as if anybody dreams of a mini-van, but the thought is we probably eventually would want one and we would like to be able to pay for it- another reason to stop having children with baby #2!). We can just put hardwood in the kitchen and dining room (the area where we want it most) and that would cost a little less then half our savings and then have the rest of the rooms done when we have money again. Or, Ben's brialliant plan: Get the door replaced and the floor fixed, and then just have them put a patch of linoleum where they pull it up. That wouldn't cost much money, but would cause great embarrassment everytime we had company over (Ben says we can put a rug on it).

I put a poll on the side so you can vote! What an exciting time (I say with great sarcasm- the apartment is looking better and better...).

I will post something fun about Audra later!

What Do You Wear in Colorado When...

...it's not too hot and not too cold? Answer: Nobody knows.

This is what we woke up to this morning. You all know we had a HUGE snowstorm last weekend, then by Sunday afternoon is was quite warm, and by Monday it was in the 70's- but felt like it was 102- and stayed that way the whole week until last night. Living in Colorado, you just get used to the unexpected and never put your snow clothes away!

Of course, this moisture adds greater concern to our water problem. I have one contractor coming out this morning to take a look, and I'm going to try and get at least one more out before we decide what to do. We need to act quickly, though, so hopefully these contractors will be able to tell us what direction we need to go!

A Plea to All You Handymen (and women) Out There!

Ahh, the joys of homeownership: Always having to worry about your house (we might need to buy Mike Shanihan's house after all- sorry Arienne!).

Right when we bought the house, there was a soft spot on our kitchen floor. It was very small, and we realized the problem must stem from the doggy door that somebody put into the wall (the dumbest idea EVER) that leaked water. So, we sealed up the doggy door. Problem solved, right? WRONG! A couple of weeks ago, I noticed the soft spot on the floor was getting bigger. Ben didn't believe me, but I was convinced. We noticed our French doors didn't have a very good seal around it, so Ben opened up both French doors today and this is what we found:

I think we found the REAL problem! Talk about disgusting! Now, we have to figure out how to fix it. Any suggestions? I think we will take these pictures down to Home Depot and ask them for help! (And, I am sure, relying on Ben's dad who is an excellent handyman to help us out before we start falling through the water damaged floor!) But really- if you have any suggestions- send them our way!

Moving Again!

I know we just bought our house 8 months ago and I vowed never to move again, but once we saw this place, we knew we couldn't pass it up, so it looks like we will be packing our bags one more time!

http://www.pruittmarketingresources.com/SWG2/20choverview.html

Playtime

We went out and braved the snow today! We tried to take her in her little sled, but she fell over and after that she didn't want to go in it anymore. OOPS! But, don't try to tell me she isn't the cutest little snow Ewok you've ever seen with this outfit!Cautiously checking out the snow!

The snow plow FINALLY drove by, and left us with a lovely gift for Ben to try and get rid of right in front of our driveway. Oh, well.

Mom with the cutest little girl! Notice, it is still snowing- it's supposed to end by tonight. Maybe church will be cancelled tomorrow!

Here's a cute video of Audra helping Daddy move the snow. Once she started playing in it, she actually really enjoyed the snow and didn't want to go back inside. I guess she is a true Coloradan!

Winter's Back With a Vengence

It appears that because snow refused to fall during the winter time, it has decided to make a MAJOR comeback for spring! We have already gotten at least a foot, and I am sure we will get another foot or more- it just keeps on coming! I made Ben take off of work becaues I didn't want him to get stuck, and we're just trying to keep Audra occupied!

One way is for her to put on hats- her new favorite thing! She puts on hat after hat and then swings her head around to show it off laughing hysterically! What a cutie! (This is her still in her pajamas, obviously!)