513

For the past week, Marshall and our nephew Robi have been up in Charlotte working on our house in NODA. Our house number in Charlotte is 513 and we often refer to the house as the 513 house or our "city" house. For the past 3 years we have rented the house, mostly out of necessity since the market has been such that to sale it would be virtually impossible. But, with the market finally getting better, we decided to take the time now to try to fix it up and put it on the market. With the prospect of another baby on the way, we are wanting more than ever to simplify our lives. While I don't mind having a rental house, ideally the rental house would not be 4 hours away from us. If our rental was in Wilmington it would be a lot more manageable and cost effective. Since, I am at work 12-14 hours a day Monday thru Friday, I am of no help to Marshall where renovations are concerned. Luckily, Robi agreed to take his 2 week break in between summer school and the fall semester to come down and hang out with Marshall and help on the house.

Every day, Marshall has been sending me pictures of the work they are doing and the house is starting to look fantastic. Pretty soon it is going to be so nice, we are going to be mad we aren't living in it! So far they have mostly been working on the bathroom. They used the time I was in Salisbury to take the toilet out and rip up the floor. They then laid a new floor and installed a new toilet. Originally, we were going to also replace the vanity, but instead decided on replace the faucet and adding a cabinet above the toilet. Hopefully, we will make it to IKEA this weekend to purchase a cabinet for the bathroom and a shower rod. The apartment I am staying in has the exact IKEA cabinet in my bathroom that we are thinking of installing and I really like them. IKEA is perhaps the best thing about coming to Charlotte. They have so many brilliant ideas and products to make use of small spaces. You can also get so many fantastic design options. I've actually been secretly hoping we could make a run to IKEA this weekend as I have yet to go there at all since I've been in Charlotte. My sole purpose in going there is not entirely for our 513 house though. I think they will have some great options for our Wilmington house too as we have 3 closet doors that need replacing. Maybe tomorrow will bring on a shopping trip!