{ Back to routine and a new kitchen }

I woke up around 6:30 AM yesterday morning, and decided to stay up and not give into the temptation of slipping back into a deep sleep.  I've been indulging lately, sleeping in until 8 and enjoying every minute of it.

But.....come Monday morning, hubby goes back to work and the 5:30 wake up calls begin.

I got a cup of coffee and sat down in the living room.  The house was dark and quiet, outside the wind was blowing strong enough to get my wind chimes dancing.

It was pure bliss.  Just that quiet moment, sitting in the darkness, watching the wind chime, sipping on hot coffee.

The remnants of Christmas have been put away and things are back to normal.  I do love seeing my living room looking tidy and fresh for the new year ahead.

The past few days our main focus has been the kitchen.  It's been a work of love, it's been tiring and stressful at times.  We bickered a little here and there, all due to wanting it done and realizing that it's really not as easy as they make it out to be.

Truth be told, I wanted to cut corners at one point, and paint right on with the doors intact.  Thankfully my husband talked me out of that, and as much work as it was to remove every single door and drawer, along with all the hardware and so on.....it was well worth the time and effort.

It is not finished, there is still some backsplash that needs painting, some touch ups here and there, a bit of yellow wall that needs white paint and so on.  It IS however fully functional and beautiful and just what I had envisioned in my mind.

Let me show you the before.

I've always immensely disliked the dark cabinets, the yellow walls and the backsplash that was just a continuation from the counters.

I've spent years imagining what my kitchen will look like, the colors, the layout.  We didn't own a home though and so I made do with the various kitchens I lived in, both on and off base.

The minute we bought this house, my husband knew that I would immediately pounce on this kitchen like a cat on it's prey.

And so, our first big project of 2020 took off.  It is not finished, I till want some shelves made and put up, the floors need replacing, I plan on changing out all the hardware as well, but it is slowly taking shape and making me extremely happy.

One of the first things I did was remove some of the doors.  I love an open and airy looking kitchen with some open shelving.

About two years ago I had already removed two doors on the upper right side of the sink, and I decided to go ahead and remove the door on the left side too.

I used to have a tall table with some stools, in the middle of the kitchen.  Much as I enjoyed having a small place to sit at for a quick breakfast or lunch, it felt like it took up too much room and made the kitchen look even more cluttered.  The fact that it was also black and wood color, didn't help the overall brightness either.

I knew I wanted a new kitchen island and I had something else in mind, but while at Lowe's my husband pointed out a shelving unit that was on sale.  My first choice wouldn't have been metal shelving but once we put it up, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

A coat of blue paint to match the lower cabinets, all my cookbooks neatly stacked on the middle shelf and my most use appliances on the bottom.

Instant love.

The wood pieces on the sides will be painted blue as well, and the wooden shelves themselves will be white.

There is no way to express the joy I feel when I step into this kitchen.  The change is unbelievable, it still leaves me in shock.

The kitchen feels bigger, much brighter and it totally screams ME.

I will continue to take you along on the kitchen renovation journey and will show you as we add things or remove them.

I had to show you this basket that my daughter gave me for Christmas.  It's a laundry basket although I'm not using it as such.  I've placed it in the corner of the bedroom and am keeping my bed pillows inside.  How adorable is it???

I'm also excited about all the new books I'll be reviewing this year.  My read pile was dwindling away, but I've received my first in the mail, so this is officially my first read of 2020.

It is the first in The Victory Sisters series.  Just up my alley, history, romance and so on.  Exciting!

I am going to keep this one short, I mostly just wanted to come in and share the kitchen progress, and let you all know that from Monday, I will be back to regular blogging.  Can.not.wait!

Have a blessed weekend friends and I'll see you all Monday morning :)