Appliances!

Our stainless steel appliances are in! They were delivered on Friday and installed yesterday and they have already completely changed the look of the kitchen. We got an over the range microwave, a dishwasher, a refrigerator, and a stove. The stove is my pride and joy at this point. It's beautiful! It has a ceramic top with a quick boil burner in two sizes, a warming burner, and the oven is a convection oven (which means quicker cooking times) and has a hidden element (meaning the red hot thing at the bottom of the oven, which usually gets covered with junk is covered by a panel and means easier clean-up).

On top of the appliances, my mom, dad, and brother bought us a washer and dryer. We purchased everything at Best Buy from the same girl and she found a 50% off coupon for a Samsung steam washer and dryer pair. In other words, we got my gorgeous washer and dryer, which would have been $1600 per piece, for only $1600. It was the best day! And my mom is jealous because my washer and dryer are nicer than hers.

So my next job in the kitchen is to replace the white knobs on the cabinet with metal pulls or knobs. I'd also like to price sinks and faucets and maybe do that too. The countertops and floors are going to wait for a while, maybe after we get our first-time home buyers tax credit. And today I'm going to go look at living room furniture. And I'm going to buy if I find the right pieces for the family room. The rest of the furniture will be in this week. The goal is to be completely moved into the house by Thursday. Now that our appliances are in, I am so excited to be IN the house!

On a side note: Funny story. Nick had swift water rescue training on Friday. Because of the Howard Hanson dam potentially failing and the fact that, if it does fail, much of King County will have massive flooding (up to 20 feet in Kent!), all King County guys (and other departments across the state I'm sure) will be on alert for the winter and early spring. If the dam fails, Nick will be working 12-hour days every day until the crisis is over. All that=not funny. But Nick's mishap at training was pretty funny. Part of the training was about throwing life ropes and donut things into the water at the Green River to "save" potential victims. It was very cold outside and Nick's hands were freezing. When your hands get cold, they tend to "shrink" a little . . . anyone know where I am going with this?

So Nick calls me to tell me this "funny story" about how midway through the training he looked down and his wedding ring was gone. Yep, gone. As he's standing on the banks of the Green River. He told the other guys and their first question was, "Is she an old wife or a new wife?" Nick's response: "We've been married for a month."

"Oh, shit, dude! She's going to kill you!"

Yep.

So, being the cops they are, they set out in a grid pattern, like you would do when searching for evidence. Can you just imagine them with locked arms walking along the banks of the river looking for a ring so their big, bad cop buddy doesn't get murdered by his new wife? It's freaking hilarious! And I can laugh because . . . they found it. Thank goodness! I told Nick that maybe for some things he doesn't need to wear his ring, like when dealing with water and ropes. He agreed, probably because he knows what's good for him.

I love my husband.