So, the bathroom walls have been prepped and the kitchen is in progress. After 4 tries and $45 of paint “samples,” I think we have finally found a color for the bathroom walls that matches the magazine photo. As Steve put it: “our bathroom — whether we like it or not — will be one of these 4 colors”. That’s one way to narrow it down.

As for the paint in the kitchen, we have narrowed the wall color to 2 highly similar versions of beige. I guess it will depend on the cabinet color to make the final decision. And yes, the cabinet color has to be narrowed down as well.

As of today, the cabinets are officially done and ready to be loaded. If all goes as planned, we will be seeing them pull up to our house sometime on Saturday — along with a certain uncle and a certain grandpa/laborer/babysitter. I. Can’t. Wait. I’m really hoping we will be able to fit the painting in before the cabinets get here. I see an all-nighter in our very near future.

The shortest person in our group has been busy gardening (she planted her very own spinach plants, then promptly mangled them with her new array of gardening tools), info gathering on the job site (Dat?! Dat?! Dat?!) and being spoiled rotten by a certain grandpa. It is becoming painfully clear that she is going to go through withdrawals when he goes home (secretly, I think he will too).

So onward we forge with our 2 newly acquired slow-cooker cookbooks, our tarp covered floors, our ever-dusty house and our persistent optimism that it will all be worth it.