Handy Home-RENTERS: Adirondack Chair Project

Now that we know we are staying in Michigan- life gets a lot easier AND a lot more fun! Instead of packing our bags to move half way across the country, we are packing up our belongings to move 30 minutes. Instead of cramming our lives into a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment- we will be moving into a house... with a yard, and a garage, and SPACE.

Glorious!

While our first official home together was in Grenada- that was a bit of a unique situation where we had limited supplies and mostly created make-shift decorations and things to get us by- so really, as far as getting down with our DIY wild sides, it doesn't exactly count. Don't be mistaken- we got SUPER creative and the majority of our house WAS as "Do It Yourself" as you could get- but this time around we are going to be able to make the house much more "homey" and OURS- even if it is just a rental!

SO here begins our HomeRENTERS adventures- where I will document all the projects, mishaps, and fun that goes into our adorable East-Side Michigan rental home :) Someday, we will finally be homeOWNERS, but until then there is no doubt we will be able to keep ourselves busy renter-style!

We have a house that we will most likely be renting but need to dot our "I's" and cross our "T's" before anything becomes official. We are so excited  (and to be honest, Nick has been stir crazy with so much time on his hands and maybe   totally, driving me nuts) so we I, had to find him a project. Nick loves "man things and projects" as he calls them, so we researched a few things and decided on Anirondack chairs. Ya know, those cool, wood, chairs that can be painted pretty colors?!

This project took several days, which was great for filling time, but also was a lot of fun! Nick hit the hardware store and bought all the supplies and a few new toys that he "needed" and then the next couple of days were filled with sawing, sanding, measuring, gluing, and drilling. We had SO much fun. Nick's incredibly handy and for a girl, I consider myself a very helpful and handy side-kick so the project overall went very smoothly and the chairs turned out AWESOME!

We still need to stain or paint them but we haven't really decided on a color or theme yet and at this point may wait until we get settled into our new place to do that since there will be more room for them to dry outside or in a garage- rather than pulling them into our current living room and possibly killing us all with the paint fumes!

YAY powertools!!!!!!

Putting together the base of the chairs and the back :)

ALL DONE!!! Still need to be painted or stained and we are going to round out the top a bit in some way, but mostly COMPLETED! And sooooooo comfy!

Relaxing after a job well done!

Next stop- St. John's Clinical Center!!!!

The verdict is in and we finally have the official word from SGU that we WILL be stayin' in the D! WOO- WOO!!! 

After originally being told we would hear on July 15th, it was bumped back to the week of the 15th, and then in true SGU style, the news came on the last possible day of the week- on Friday, around 2pm- FINALLY.


I was home but Nick was out running errands when I saw the email pop up, so I quickly called him to tell him the email had arrived and to see if he wanted me to open it or wait and open it together. He had NO intention of waiting any longer- so I was given the green light and my heart was instantly happy upon seeing the words- St. John's Clinical Center Detroit. YES.

The process is extremely frustrating though and as everyone's placements come to be known, it's clear we are one of the fortunate ones to have gotten our first choice- as many did not, and some got placements not even in their top 3 choices! =/

Detroit may be a strugglin' city. But it's OUR city. We're proud of it and think that good things are comin'. We couldn't be more excited or more thankful to get to stay here!

Cheers to movin' to the East-side! :)

Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock

Nick's exam started at 8:00am and at this time he should be close to rounding out his 3rd section and 1 section away from a lunch break- which is more or the less the middle/ a little over half way point of his exam day! Whew!

I am SURE it is going well and that he crushin' it! However, this whole sitting and waiting to hear about it thing is less than fun. Is it 4pm yet?!

What have I done so far to pass the time?!

• Forced myself to keep sleeping until well after I, or my body, wanted to be asleep.
• Did some online prep for upcoming things this week
• Read some of a book
• Checked the time a billion times
• Checked Facebook more than necessary
• Played several games of Candy crush

Still on the agenda to pass time until 4pm:

• Go for a run/work out
• Shower
• Maybe clean-ish 
• Candy Crush
• Read book
•  Pace around the house until Nick calls

All in all a productive day around here... at least for one of us! Let him be free STEP 1- Let.him.be.FREE!!!!!  Excited for the fun and relaxation to begin :) 

The STEP is going down :)

TOMORROW is the day we have been waiting for- STEP 1 exam day!! WOWZA!

The nerves and tension were running a bit high around here over the past couple of days as Nick continued to study day after day, hour after hour, trying to take advantage of every last minute possible to cram more knowledge into his head. Honestly, I don't know how his head hasn't just exploded at this point... there's so much in there! However, while he's starting to feel the pre-exam jitters, I personally know he's going to rock it out and am mostly just getting antsy to have my husband back in my life!

What? I'll see him more than a half hour in the mornings and evenings?!
What? He might actually talk about things unrelated to the STEP and medical diagnoses and jargon?! (okay, let's not get carried away here, but maybe not AS much!)
What? He'll actually get to participate in the fun and not have to miss out?!
What? The overtired, stressed guy will be replaced with a well rested, easy going hubby I know and love?!

Yes. I like the sound of ALL of that! Although, I must say that while I of course can't wait to have him back- at this point I am definitely MORE excited for HIM to finally be free, get to relax, and be able to get out and have fun! To be cooped up for as long as he has... I can't imagine. And he's been a great sport about it for the entire 7 weeks since we got home and his life has been consumed by studying. He deserves some fun in his life!

Today however, the nerves seem to be diminishing and he's ready to kick some major STEP booty! This morning we went to church, stopped by the Grotto, enjoyed a nice lunch, and now Nick is putting in a few hours studying and reviewing a few last minute crunch time details. Already in the oven is the lasagna he requested for dinner in order to carb load for the big battle tomorrow :)

Today he also bid goodbye to both his study spaces- both of which he won't mind NOT seeing for quite a loooooonggg time! Here's his jail cell in the library that he's been camping out in for the past 7 weeks- looks really comfortable, cozy, and just missing the padded walls... 

The exam takes about 8 hours and to help him ace his test he will take:

• his jam-packed knowledge filled brain
• water
• a pb&j sandwich
• a couple chewy granola bars
• a banana
• applesauce
• HALF a roll of toilet paper- very important it isn't a full roll also (neurotic much?!)

To unwind after his exam, I have an assortment of obviously necessary goodies:

• Budlight
• Blue Moon
• Patronnnn on iceeee
• Car filled with gas to take him wherever his free heart desires!