Readying the Kitchen

Things have progressed much more now, but here's what happened right after the cabinets came out -

Kitchen Sans Walls -

We took advantage of some pre-existing holes in the wall to insulate the pipes -

After much finagling to get the insulation in -

Some places in the ceiling needed some work -

After patching up some cracks and holes -

Where some cabinets used to be installed over the bar area -

We aren't replacing those cabinets,
so we've got to fix up the place where they were attached to the ceiling -

All patched up. We're going to put an awesome light here -

This is the entire kitchen after patching up the wood paneling so that in the future it will no longer look like wood paneling.

We're still living without a kitchen sink, dishwasher, stove, and oven. We have decided to go on a sort of cleansing diet once we get the kitchen back. Hopefully that will make up for all the eating out and microwave meals!!!

Fringe Fridays

The Happy Chappy House has started up a new little tradition called Fringe Fridays. On Fringe Friday, our entire night is centered around watching the newest episode of Fringe on Fox. (in HD!) If you follow our Happy Chappy Twitter, you'll find that I sometimes can't help live tweeting the episode. After the show, we're usually in the mood to do something geeky. The last time Trey was over for Fringe Friday we did microscope photography and watched Flight of the Navigator.

Fridays on Fox
9/8c

Why we love Fringe -
1. The Nostalgia Factor - Joshua Jackson plays Peter Bishop. John and I were both really big fans of the Mighty Ducks phenomenon growing up. It's fun seeing our favorite Mighty Duck all grown up in a big boy's role!
2. Badass Female Lead - Olivia Dunham is played by Aussie actress Anna Torv. She's a kick ass FBI agent with the ability to move between universes. She has had to overcome a lot but when all is said and done she's a strong women who stands on her own two feet.
3. The Amazing John Noble - Another Aussie with some fantastic acting chops. He plays Walter Bishop, a mad scientist who is missing pieces of his brain because he asked that they be removed. (He's currently trying to grow them back so that he can be on the same intellectual plane as Walternate - the Walter Bishop from the alternate universe!) You may remember John Noble as Denethor in LOTR: ROTK.
4. The Subject Matter - All the best science fiction: Alternate universes, teleportation, time travel, reanimation - I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it!
5. Leonard Freaking Nimoy - plays William Bell, the founder of the appropriately-named Massive Dynamic - a corporation linked to all sorts of mishaps that have threatened our universe. He sacrificed his life to get Walter and the crew back to their own universe.

Cosby Kitty

Believe it or not, we have a cat that doesn't mind wearing clothes.

Odjabiel actually used to wear a tiny bandanna when he was a kitten. But he grew out of it. When Halifax hated the sweater we bought to try and keep him warm, we put it on Odjie. And Odjie wore it for a few days until we decided it wasn't cute anymore...

Ripping out the cabinets

So we've been ripping out our kitchen for a little while now to make room for a new one.


We spent a lot of time trying to sand and re-stain the cabinets to make what is there look better... to no avail.

We've finally decided to purchase new cabinets.

Ripping out the cabinets ourselves saves us over $800!


Ripping out cabinets is a little tricky when they're nailed to the rafters in the attic.


Jiggling it loose...


Trying to figure out how to get that bugger out.


Got it out and moving on...


The original builders certainly didn't spare any nails...


Needed to get Dad's help with some of the bigger stuff... as well as Bowser's advice.


We did most of the rip out in a single weekend.


Having Dad here was a real help!


The dishwasher was tricky: the floor was installed around it, and the cabinets had been replaced around it as well.


We couldn't pull the dishwasher out until the cabinets were demolished around it.


After removing some of the cabinets around it, the dishwasher was finally ready to come out.


And this is what we found...


All the cabinets are out.
(Good riddance!)


Stay tuned for how we prepared for the new cabinets to arrive!

Happy? Chappy House

So some have asked why there hasn't been a blog post in a while from the Happy Chappy House. The Reason: For a while there things weren't very Happy. The simple truth is that I have been dealing with a dangerously unhealthy amount of stress lately that has not only warranted visits with medical professionals but has (not surprisingly) put a significant amount of strain on our relationship. I won't go into detail about what's put me into a funk (job, school, weather, finances, uncertainties...) because what's really important is that I'm working my way through it and have plenty to look forward to.

And now on to the fun stuff -

Last week we had our friend Trey over for a night of Fringe and microscope fun. Trey had stopped by my office for some chit chat a few days prior and we got to talking about Astronomy Picture of the Day and photography. Then somehow we got to talking about microscopes and how fun it would be to try photographing through one. Well, as it happens, Trey has a microscope and I have a pretty badass camera. One thing led to another and Trey ended up buying a microscope adapter for my camera. It took us a while to figure out a good shutter speed but after several unsuccessful shots (some completely black, some completely white!) we got a handle on it.

A tiny piece of a feather we looked at in Trey's microscope -

We were actually able to look at it closer through the microscope (we think we even saw a mite!) but had to zoom out a bit to get a good focus with the camera. We're still working out the kinks but hopefully some time in the future we will be able to dazzle you with rotifers, insect wings, and other fun stuff. (More pics on Erica's facebook)

It's a good thing Trey brought the microscope for entertainment because we were all pretty disappointed with Friday's episode of Fringe! Later we had Chinese take-out while watching Flight of the Navigator. Pretty fun night.

Some things we are looking forward to -

Totally Psyched 5K in Denton (April). John and I are both going to participate in this 5K for my birthday. My sister is majoring in Psychology at UNT and this 5K is being put on by their Department of Psychology. It will be nice to see family and run in an event that is supposed to help support their education! We also might head to the Scarborough Renaissance Festival that weekend!

My Best Friend's Wedding.
I am going to be a bridesmaid in my amiga's wedding at the beginning of March. This is the bridesmaid's dress. It is SO her. I love it.

For those of you who know Jackie (YES! Jackie Smith is getting married!!!) she is registered at Macy's. The wedding is in Florida. I haven't been there since I was 2 years old, so this should be an adventure!

The New Kitchen!
After over a year of trying to do it ourselves, we have finally made the decision to just rip out the kitchen and let pros put in a new one. We feel good about it. Just having cabinets that we can put things in should make living sooo much easier. (Photos of the rip out on John's Facebook.)