On the topic of reading . . .

I've invested the last 5 months studying for my preliminary exams. I have them scheduled for the middle of April - two more months to go. It hasn't been too bad; some weeks are more difficult than others. Happily, I am going to finish my second list this week (just as soon as I wrap my mind around the Gadamer/Habermas hermeneutical debate), which means that all I have left is poetry and literature, a piece of cake compared to what I've been reading lately.

Last week, I had a doozey, Action by Maurice Blondel. It was interesting but difficult. You know, too much of a good thing. By the third day, I was beginning to wonder why I was in grad school in the first place. So, in order to prove that this text is good for more than making me insecure, I've decided to add a Blondel quote to the blog on the topic of love.

"love proceeds from the individual will, though it surpasses the individual, that it requires a sometimes heroic generosity and abnegation, but that it is not thereby contrary to the intention of the one sacrificing himself to it, that its reason and its justification is an end higher and further removed than the apparent aim of the first desire, without however making of the attraction which bedecks it a deceiving ruse and a cruel trick of nature"

You can see why I was frustrated by this text. Difficulty aside, I like this quote because it makes the point that love is bigger than any one individual. In addition, its ends and purposes are higher and better than our own. Kind of reassuring, I think.

So there you go. Maurice Blondel's thoughts on love for you to ponder on this last night before the month of February, the month where we pause to celebrate our love (and to boost Hallmark and FTD's profits).

Our Kitchen

So it turns out that Thursday evening is a good time to do some blogging. On Thursdays, I hit a wall. I've finished out my week of teaching, I've done two full days of reading for exams, and I still have to get through a day of reading on Friday. So by Thursday night, I'm ready for some mindless activity. Blogging fits the bill.

And tonight I want to write about my kitchen. Here are a few pictures of it.



It's not a bad kitchen. It definitely meets our needs. We're not big fans of that bar height counter to the left of the dishwasher, nor do we like the fact that the cabinets extend all the way up to the ceiling - six inches of wasted space if you ask me. And there's other complaints we have, but I won't bore you with the details. Like I said, it meets our needs. So we tolerate it - for now.













While we tolerate our current kitchen, we dream about a new kitchen, the kitchen you see below:
We're leaning more towards the Cabernet color, not the Kaffe, but you get the idea. We want to update the kitchen, give it a more contemporary look, and make it more functional for ourselves. The kitchen guy is coming out tomorrow to do the official measure. Once our designer, Warren from Seattle, gets the measurements, he'll get started on our design. I've never had a professional design anything for me before; it's kind of exciting.

Ted and I really like this kitchen and are itching to get it ordered and installed. Of course, we've got the whole financing thing to figure out. Do you think it would be bad if we started a "Build the Kitchen" charity fund? Our pitch could be "Helping families feed themselves" or "Building better lives one kitchen at a time." Of course, we only intend to build one kitchen, but that's a minor detail. Then there's the whole issue of whether or not this can appropriately be called charity, but I'm optimistic that we can figure that out, too. Guess that means I have to get to work on setting up our non-profit status. I'll let you know once that is finalized . . .

. . . hey, a girl is allowed to dream, isn't she? :-)

Thomas the Tank Engine

I owe my mother-in-law these photos. Now you can enjoy them too.

Sic 'em

Check out what our men's basketball team is doing . . . it's stirred up a lot of excitement around here.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3211589

Drum roll, please!

OK, here it is, the promised bookshelf picture. To the left, you can see the shelf in its original state. It was a dingy oak structure that had paint and candle wax on it. After a few tips from my dad, Ted and I were able to clean it up, darken it up, and make it look much better (see below).









You'll be happy to know that we agreed on hardware for the doors on our second shopping trip. We decided to go for the Venetian bronze look to match our wall plates.













So that's what Venetian bronze looks like. Above that, Ted installed our new key hooks. Yes, they're actually coat hangers. Why use coat hangers instead of a key rack, you ask? Let me tell you. Once upon a time, I had a key rack. Now this key rack did not like Ted. Ted would put his truck keys on the rack. The rack would fall apart. Ted would swear. #!@*. That rack didn't last long. To avoid these problems, we chose coat hangers over a key rack. Hopefully no one gets the bright idea to use them for their original function - we just might have a hole to repair if that happens.

All Quiet on the Western Front

I've neglected my posting duties of late. I blame it on the fact that not a whole lot is going on here in terms of the remodel. I did finish staining our built-in bookshelf while Ted was at corporate. He was able to stain the doors and the case before he left; I took care of the shelves and the detail work. Now all we need is hardware for the doors. We haven't been able to agree on knobs - who knew that doorknobs could be a point of disagreement? Once we get that squared away, we'll post some pictures.

Remodeling activities for the weekend include - Painting! (For some reason, it seems like an ongoing activity). We're going to finish off the kitchen and work our way up the stairs. I think Ted is also going to shorten and stain the handrail in the stairwell.

Next big project - Concrete flooring. Hopefully we can get that started this March.

And for those of you who may be planning a visit soon, we finally got the shower in the guest bathroom fixed. Yes, the plumber did come out and get the valve replaced. And it only took him 2 1/2 months. So when you plan your next trip to Waco, rest assured that you will have your very own bedroom and bathroom to use.

Because I promised my mom . . .

. . . here is a slideshow of photos taken at my wedding. Yes mom, I know it's long overdue. But I don't think that surprises you. :-)

Grandma, we will miss you!

This past October, Ted and I got the chance to visit my great-grandma in Colorado. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to have him meet the eldest member of my family.

On the ride from Greeley to Arvada, Ted asked me what my grandmother is like. "Feisty," I responded. I don't know of any other word that better describes her. During every family function I can remember, she was always the center of activity. From giving her kids and grandkids a hard time to making sure that everyone was well fed and comfortable, grandma had a knack for stirring up activity, getting things done, and making people feel at home. No visitor left her side without realizing he had spent time with a very special person.

Great-grandma passed on the final day of 2007, but she will not be soon forgotten. We loved her and will miss her, but we thank God that we were blessed to know her.

Christmas Slideshow

Check out the slideshow below for photos of our Christmas in Corpus Christi.

Condo under Construction

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of the condo after we had settled in and put everything away. As a result, I don't have exact before-and-after pictures. But I figure your imagination can give you a good idea of what the condo looked like when we moved in. Picture a standard rental - white walls, beige carpet, nondescript linoleum, wear and tear on the base boards, plastic wall plates, etc. Now, take a look at the photos below:

We went from drab to dramatic (yes, I have been watching too much HGTV) by painting half the living room Weathered Brown. The other half, along with the downstairs hallway (see top photo), kitchen, and upstairs hallway is Ivory Coast (well, most of it is; the rest will hopefully be painted soon).

We decided to add a punch of color to the kitchen by painting one of the walls Cranberry.

Looks good, doesn't it? We had a heck of a time getting that wall to look right. You'd think that painting a wall red would be just like painting a wall any other color. It isn't.

Just this weekend, Ted finished putting up crown moulding in the living room, and we hung our maps and shelves.

The moulding still needs to be painted, and we have to decide what's going on the shelves, but it's starting to come together. Upcoming projects include staining the built-in bookshelf in the living room, ripping out the bar height counter in the kitchen, and taking out linoleum and carpet in preparation for our new concrete flooring. We're also going to redo the half bath downstairs - new paint, new sink, new mirror, new fixtures - the works. Then we hope to get a decent couch and take on the cabinets in the kitchen. Yes, there's lots to do, but we're enjoying putting time and effort into our very own home.

New Blog Site

Now that Ted and I have become homeowners, we decided we also needed to start our own blog. Why? you may ask. So that we can show our friends and family the remodeling process we have started. We are excited to have a place of our own that we can fix up the way we want. And we have big plans for remodeling. So, we hope that you'll find the time to check the site from time to time to see what's currently under construction in the Gonzalez residence.