What we've done, what worried me

**** I started this post before our re-fi went through in October but never finished it so it may seem a bit choppy****

There were a lot of little things that I accomplished over the summer, and also some big projects that we accomplished.  There are a LOAD that we have accomplished since we last refinanced.  Challenging myself to complete projects as well as the looming appraisal of our home for our refinance (yes, it went through!)  got me, let's say, off the pot.  However, there were still lots of things that are unfinished in the middle of being finished really needed to get done that I worried about for the appraisal.  Fortunately, we put a pretty decent down payment on our house and we have done tons of work, so we didn't have a huge concern about whether we would qualify for the refinance, however, I still wanted to get some things wrapped up.

Here are a few of the things that I got done the week before the appraisal on our house:

siding painted after 4 years lag, but check out that sorry window

progress, it's primed (ran out with the baby monitor during naps to get the paint stripped, sand and prime) and already lookin' better

heat gun out and in action-there were all kinds of tarps below and then we vacuumed the dirt (crazy, eh?) with a shop vac just to be sure all the paint was gone-probably some of it is lead

the bottom board (and one up from there too) is so rotted (too much dirt pushed up on the side of the house) that we will need to eventually replace or figure something else out

ooooo, paint, pretty

painted and drying-our neighbors (this side of the garage lines their driveway) are singing praise or more like have finally stopped cursing us (just kidding, we have the best neighbors)

another goal: lightly sand and paint the extremely faded south side of the house

nail a board up so that the hideous insulation is hidden & the frame at least looks better, although it is only a temporary solution as the whole door needs a new frame (think a good kick or tug to open the door)

hey, check it out, let there be light!, Steve put a light in our basement "toilet"...literally a toilet with curtains stapled around it

Dexter style basement bathroom

here is a picture of our basement bathroom "walls"

another pix of that light-better than the camping lantern we used to use

sand and stain old pressure treated posts for our small gate that goes between the driveway & backyard

Steve accidentally broke the middle lower pane of glass last year and there has just been a piece of plastic there...took a trip to Coast Glass and had the glass back in in about 10 mins-just nailed the wood pieces to hold the glass back in place

nice reflection

put back in the little wood strips that hold the window in place-these have been out for 5 years now and sitting on the ledge, ready to go

more of the strips added back in for a finished look

more of the south side of the house-where the heck is that piece of trim that goes below the window?  it's gone missing for 4 years now...we have since hung this board but I haven't had a chance to take a picture

And don't forget that this summer Steve has managed to strip all the paint on the back of the house and I repainted it, install an awesome driveway fence & gate Ben Pen and is in the process of finishing up stripping paint off the eaves and repainting.
Since our last re-fi (April 2009-just before I got knocked up : & we went to Peru), we have rebuilt our front porch and stairs to the front porch, landscaped our front yard, tiled our living room fireplace, re-plumbed the house, almost finished the bathroom remodel, plumbed out for another bathroom (basement-there is only a toilet in there and no walls), added trim in the dining & living rooms, had leaded glass made for our living and dining room built-ins, had the floors refinished and added a backyard brick patio and added a laundry chute.  I know that there are a million other little things we have finished but can't really think of them right now.  Not too shabby being that since that time (almost 2.5 years ago), we took a fancy trip to Peru (Inca trail & rainforest), lots of little side trips, and oh yea, baked and had Mr. Ben.

at the Portland Children's museum last month in the dig pit

How do I recall all that?  Well, I suppose I could reference this handy blog here but I cheated and just looked at pictures from our last appraisal report.  Boy, I forget how we used to live-amazing that it is so much better now but we still have sooooo far to go.  Deck anyone?  Dishwasher?  Garbage disposal?  No holes in our attic walls?   hmmmmm....lots to do

Things that worried me...

However, we are fortunate because the re-fi went through without a hitch (despite the depressing value that the appraiser assigned to our home) and we are at it again. Hopefully we will never have to re-fi again and can refocus our energies on projects...however, who knows as it is the holiday season and while I am greatly enjoying all the holiday coffee drinks (Can anyone say pumpkin spiced latte? Peppermint mocha?), I am disgusted by the Christmas stuff that is already for sale.  But have to say that we bought a living social type deal for a toy store and used it this past weekend so Ben is done for Christmas-woopty woo!