Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Renovated House Pictures!

We have finally gotten around to updating everyone on all of the house renovations that we accomplished since moving in. All projects were completed in early December when Zach finished painting the basement and the movers from New York came with our final shipment of household goods.


Our Beautiful Backyard:
Remember the picture from before?
We spent some long hours clearing multiple dumpster loads of brush and dead foliage.


Back of the House:
You can't really see it here because of the shadows but along the fence to the right of the picture and along the house to the left of the white shed was tons of overgrown ivy. We got that cleaned up to help aid with spider control...the Raid bombs should help too!



Lets go into the house via our back door...

Back Stairs:
Walking through the back door you can either turn left to the kitchen or go down the newly painted basement staircase... still more tidying up to do!


Basement:
This picture is showing a view from the end of the room looking toward the staircase that bottoms out in the top right of the picture. All of these wall were a ratty wood paneling that Zach painted and sealed. We moved a huge mirror from the living room to behind the bar on the left. We then adorned the walled w/ some new and old art from New York and California.


Hey Gan family, does that table and chair set look familiar?
Yes, the ones from the cottage! I was lucky enough to swipe those up :)


Basement:
This shot just shows you where the previous shot was taken from.
We will eventually put some art on this wall as well.


Zach's Bar:
This is a good shot of Zach's bar and temporary weapon storage. In the back right behind the bar is a mini fridge. Hopefully by the time we have visitors, Zach will have cleaned it and have stocked it with your favorite beverages. This shot was taken from the Washroom doorway.



Study /Office:
Pretty neat how a coat of paint can transform a room! This is the perfect place for me to study. Nice and quiet. It just took a little persuading of the cable guy to rig up the house for internet in the basement. Apparently, nothing had been updated since the mid 40's. Zach had to climb up a tree and cut down limbs in order to make the guy stay and tap in a line off the cable main.



Leaving the basement, going back up the stairs we get view of Gracie's hunting blind
(some call it a doggie door)

This is Gracie's perch from which she maintains control of movement in the backyard. At any sign of movement, say from a squirrel, she can be full stride before any perpetrator (or victim) even begins to think about retreating.


Turning right we go up a couple steps and enter the kitchen.

Our Kitchen:
This photo should look very different from before. Zach spent some painstaking hours in here ripping out multiple layers of old flooring and carpet. Not too shabby ;)



Dog Food Station:
This photo looks back to where the previous one was shot.
It also highlights Gracie's food station. So, if you are ever over to the house and go into the kitchen you will find Gracie gobbling away her food to ensure you don't get any.
Funny for the first 5 minutes and then unfunny when she turns into a ball of fur filled with food.


To the right...our sink and view to the backyard.



Walking out the kitchen's entrance we enter the breakfast nook/living room.
Notice the hardwood floors!

Our Living Room:


The Breakfast Nook ... remember the other shot of Zach taking down the shades?





Guest Bedroom & It's Half Bath:
This was the first bedroom finished.
The previous owner had carpeted the entire thing of which we removed and repainted.
It turned out great, just ask Jane. She's our first & only guest thus far and raves of it's comfort!



Master Bedroom:


This is view I get every morning, besides my hunny's beautiful face, of course.
We share a walk-in closet to the left.

Here is a shot of Zach's towel on the door and many, many more pictures.
(Maybe he will put the towel where it is supposed to go once I post this blog ;) hehe).

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Well, that's all for now folks!
Hope you like the renovations.
Come out and see us sometime.

Monday, December 22, 2008

A quick update...

Did anyone know it was a leap year?!
We sure didn't.

When choosing a wedding date we were trying to accommodate a number of things. One being my (Nikki) school schedule, another being the Labor Day holiday, as in, not having the event over that weekend, and most importantly having it in the mountains during the beautiful fall season without the bite of the Colorado Rockies, if ya' know what I mean.

So, with a great big thanks to Lindsey Lehmann for the heads up, we've come to the conclusion that the original thought of an early September (5th) wedding is not going to work. We don't want people being burdened with holiday travel and not to mention the price tag that comes along with that.

With that said, we will do some more brainstorming and come up with a better date and a permanent date which will work on all fronts. It will for sure be in the fall of 2009, most likely early October, and most definitely in the Colorado Rockies.

(: STAY TUNED :)





Sunday, December 21, 2008

On The First Day of Hanukkah My True Love Gave To Me...

Okay, so I know the title is a traditional Christmas song but I couldn't resist after Zachary began singing that around the house after he

PROPOSED TO ME!

Yes, that is correct, we are officially and without question

ENGAGED!

See, that was worth the 4 month wait for a new blog entry, wasn't it ?


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Now for the most important part, the story of how it happened...
Zachary was doing a really good job of keeping me at bay for the last 2 weeks or so since I became increasingly suspicious of his 'sneakery' as we like to call it.
Point one- He wouldn't give me any details of what he was doing or his whereabouts when he was in NY a few weeks ago to visit our families. This in it of itself is very unusual since I normally get a play-by-play report whenever I don't travel with him.
Point two- the 'googly look' as I like to call it. It is a squinty-eyed, prolonged stare paired with a half smirk that I would get here and there. This would then be followed with my harassing, inquisition-like questioning and end with "that's enough, no more questions" from Zachary.
So this went on for about 2 weeks where every single moment was "it" if you asked me.

Finally, we reach this evening, Sunday, December 21st, 2008, the first night of Hanukkah.
Zachary really wanted to celebrate it like I did when I was growing up in the honor of my late Grandmother, Evelyn Gan. I insisted we light the candles at sundown, just as I've done since I can remember, it's only proper. I began to melt the first nights candle into the menorah and light the shamash when Zachary brought over a photograph of my Grandpa Mac and Grandma Evelyn. Obviously a very emotional moment, this was followed by me tearfully yet very accurately reciting the Hanukkah prayer. Evie would be very proud. I then placed the shamash back in the menorah and turned around to find my man on one knee telling me how much he loves me. It was then that he asked me to marry him. I believe my response was "yes, of course yes!" That was the moment when I became the very luckiest girl in the world. To be the one to capture his heart and wear his love on my hand symbolized by the ring which was once my Grandmother Evelyn's given to her by my Grandfather Mac.


After we regain composure from the excitement of this evening we will begin our wedding planning journey. To be on the safe side, we are asking all of our loved ones to save
space in their calendars for an October, 2009 Colorado wedding.

Much more to follow...

With love,
Nicole & Zachary



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