May is almost gone

and then comes the fun part...Summer! We have such a busy summer lined up this year. Two weddings, a retirement, and preparations for our bike trip. Sprinkle in there home improvement projects, gardening, and working out, and we will be busy, busy, busy. Have I mentioned that we got a new roof? Matt did a ton of research, and we decided that since the roof was going to need to be replaced in the near future (It was leaking in the sunroom, and damaging our newly installed drywall in the kitchen), we might as well do it right. The metal roof has many benefits, one of them being the natural insulating quality of the material. Plus, our metal is coated with a paint that reflects UV from the sun, making it even cooler. Add to that the foam insulation we installed above the sunroom (it's a flat roof, and before had just been covered with tar paper overlaid with gravel. Not effective as an insulation, and the sunroom just baked in the spring/summer/fall, and was cold in the winter. No wonder we never used it and it was just a junk storage area!), and our house is noticeably more comfortable, temperature-wise. Our heating/cooling costs are going to go down, and the sunroom will get much more use :) Win, win, win!

Here's what our roof used to look like:

And now (from the roof):

Way different! I like it!

So anyways, my whole point with that was to say that the sunroom is a much more comfortable space, and we might actually be able to use it to hang out. So, that's where our focus is at the moment. We're painting it, and then we're going to decide what to do with it. We're still deciding. But, already it's looking so much better. More inviting. Not so much like a cave. Here's what we've got:

In progress--at this point we had primed half the walls, painted half the ceiling. See how cavelike the other half is?

Trying to decide on colors for the walls. I picked out the one on the right, but that turned out to be too much of a yellow-green. Matt picked the one on the left. It's called Koala Bear. Perfect!

 And, here's the finished product. At least half of it. the walls, I mean. The floor is a different story.

What a difference a can of paint and a weekend can make, huh? We're hoping to work a bit more on it this weekend, but as it stands, we have a fun run/5K on Saturday, then maybe a niece's piano recital after. On Sunday we have a birthday party for a friend. But, Monday's a holiday, so maybe we can get a bunch done on Memorial Day. We Shall See :)

~Pam

PS. I mentioned above the whole "working out" thing, and if you are interested, let me know. I've joined an online fitness community, a place where you get points for working out, embark on quests, and makes exercise fun (at least for me). A few of my family members have also joined, and we're turning it into a little bit of a friendly competition (if there is such a thing with family... ;) I've got to do something to motivate me to get ready for our 3000 mile bike ride in the fall!