...When my dad is 'just thinking out loud'

I have a running joke that when my dad says the phrase "I'm just thinking out loud" it more often than not has a direct impact on my life.  I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but definitely something you have to prepare for.

The most recent occurance was at the beginning of this year.  It was about a month after my grandmother's stroke and we were dealing with the aftermath; rehab, sorting through belongings, finding the right new home for her, and my dad working out all of the details with bills, insurance and the works.

After speaking with the representative for my grandmother's home owner's insurance company one day my dad and I were talking about everything and 'the words' came out of his mouth (dun dun dunnnnn) "Now, I'm just thinking out loud"... and it was then suggested that Dustin and I move into my grandmother's old house.  The suggestion came because under the requirements for my grandmother's insurance the house couldn't sit vacant or the insurance would be lifted significantly.  Dad's thought process?  Grandma's house with no tennant, grandma can't move back in, insurance deadline, Dustin and Rene' living in apartment, Dustin and Rene' could live in house instead, house no longer would be empty, insurance fine again!  Easy right?  Not so fast....

There was a lot of work that needed to be done to the house before Dustin and I could move in, or even consider it.  My grandmother was a smoker for many years which had saturated the house.  That combined with the age of the home made our to-do list pretty lengthy.  Long story short, we replaced and/or updated just about every room in the house, put in new flooring throughout and painted every ceiling and wall (several times)!

So, here is a small preview of the updates to the house... before and after  : )



Living Room



Bathroom

Guest Bedroom

Our Bedroom

Kitchen

There's still a lot of work to be done... but the big things are out of the way!  So for now, we are enjoying our new home, all the extra space, and ability to host get togethers and weekend guests!  : )