Adventures in home renovation and the grand opening of HOSTEL MORRISON

Wow. Where to begin? Lots going on (nothing new there). Casey successfully replaced all the galvanized piping in our home. During the process our water main broke. Up goes a third of flower bed and much of Casey's new grass, in goes the Grand Canyon. Luckily we had help from my brother-in-law, who you see in some of the pictures, and some of our neighbors. (Thanks neighbors!) Tyler, my bro-in-law, is in between graduating college and starting the peace corps.Pretty cool.



So, back to the house. Upon finishing the piping, replacing the water main and filling in the Grand Canyon, we began bathroom demolition. Down came the walls, out went the vanity and behold evidence of what used to be a window. We were planning on building a window into our new bathroom. What a wonderful surprise the bathroom gods left us. Thank you bathroom gods. Apparently one of the previous owners didn't think much of natural light and walled up not one, but two large windows. One in the kitchen and one in the bathroom.













We also tore down our one linen closet (older homes are notorious for very little closet space)and plan on building some corner shelves instead, to add space. As much as I would love a new toilet, we are going to settle for just replacing the seat and lid until later down the road. We did find some great tile for a fraction of the regular retail price at a local salvage company. The floor and shower walls will all be tiled.

I do have pictures of our adventure but for some reason Blogger is not letting me upload them. Something about an internal error. Check back later, hopefully I'll get it figured out.

As the Smoky Mtn. representatives of the Great Nation of Texas, Casey and I have been recruiting. Our two friends, Ben and Kari, are due to arrive later this week. They essentially have embarked on the same journey Casey and I started a little over a year and a half ago. Can you believe its almost been two years already??? It feels great to be able to pass on the good karma of offering our home while two young people get on their feet and stake their claim out here in the hills. We suspect they will be with us for a several months. Crowded, yes, but love grows in tiny spaces.

Another new addition to the rustic HOSTEL MORRISON is Layla. The 11-month half boxer half lab female puppy we are fostering for someone who is moving to Florida and can't take her baby with her. We are diligently searching for a permenant home for sweet Layla. Hopefully we can find something in the coming weeks.



Honeymoon planning and reservations are almost complete. We lack a few pieces of gear, which we will purchase from our local outdoor store (SHOP LOCAL WHEN YOU CAN FOLKS!), and we will buy our food the week of. We have even already purchased our Nikon D60. It should be arriving any day. Very excited about the new cam. The first night we are staying in a hostel and the last night, at the end of a four-day backcountry trek, we will stay in a Teton Village resort/hotel, where we will indulge ourselves with running water and a king size bed.

So that's that.