I'm in my mid-40's and only married 3 years. I met DH when I was 40. I like to tell him that if I had to wait this long for him, he was worth it! 1.We match up very well personality wise (though he is introverted and I am extroverted--like islandgal said we balance each other out). 2. We have similar modest family backgrounds, and we both put ourselves through graduate/professional school, so when we met it was almost like we'd known each other. 3. We have similar interests in music and love to go to live music events together. 4. LOL, he was right when he said white for the paneling in the kitchen without realizing there are literally 100 shades of white. He also insisted on granite slab for the countertops. 5. He's not handy, but he at least knows that. We are happy to call professionals for things beyond our capabilities, which is pretty much anything beyond painting. He never had pets and took on me with three cats after we got married. He was at my side when we had to put one down a couple of weeks ago due to kidney failure. He truly loves me for who I am. He likes a woman with curves. Enough said.

Thanks Mary...I havent rented in over 10 years. I guess my fear of being a renter really clouded my judgement-although that foreclosure seemed to be a really sweet deal. I am so used to my kids being able to play and laugh loudly even later in the evening, used to not having to worry that my dog is disturbing someone because he is barking at a critter foraging outside, and used to not having to worry that me walking around on the kitchen floor in the middle of the night may be disturbing people downstairs. Because of the pets and kids-and the location we need to relocate to, I am pretty much stuck with an apartment complex.... The first people were unable to come up with financing in the first 48 hours. I consider myself fortunate-because the husband came by my house the night before we accepted the second offer/before we initiated the kick out clause to ask me questions-9PM he knocks on my door even though we both have agents-wakes up my kids, and I had just sat down to relax after a long day-to ask me to leave certain decorations-because his wife was "taken" by them-no mention of money-I'm just supposed to leave them. I told him what store I purchased them in-and where he would be able to purchase alot of the items he wanted...and he mentioned in passing that his house wasn't on the market yet-and he was hoping he could wait at least till next week to put it on the market because he doesnt want to deal with it over the memorial day weekend....Huh??? Then he wanted to know if the small propane tank for the fireplace was rented or purchased-all things he could have easily found out from my agent. I know we offered this house for a more then fair price. I felt as though he was trying to squeeze every bit he could out of me-and Im sure it would have gottten worse as time went on. When I mentioned it to my agent the next morning, she called his agent to ask him what the guy was thinking coming over here, and the other agent had no clue the guy was here. My agent told me I shouldn't have let him in-I should have just told him he should direct any questions to his agent, and politely close the door... Apparently he wasn't in any kind of big rush to sell his home even though my home would have to wait to sell till he was ready. I dont know what he was thinking-the contract he signed said that he had 72 hours from the time we signed the contract to get his house on the market.... The other offer now in effect is a very nice couple-they even sent a note with the offer asking me not to change a thing because they loved the house just the way it was-and they commented on how nice and clean it was and how much they are looking forward to living here. I do love this house so very much, and feel so much better knowing these people will take care of it like I have-and will only improve on what we have done.

dian57 - At least in your case concrete is a "known" flooring material. mustbnuts - The lights were found for me by sheilaaus122. See the link below for info. I do love them. Oh, and we have two bathrooms, a front bump-out and a great room addition to go. One step at a time. sheilaaus122 - Thanks. Yes, that is the "wide" view of our modest kitchen. I know what you mean by the focusing thing. I've done that pretty much every step. (Oh - don't let Hubby know I said anything but I kind of like the light natural floor. Probably because it's such an improvement over what we've had.) Regarding the pendant height - I'm not entirely sure. I do know that they're lower than the "norm" due to limitations (crappy dropped ceiling). The pendants came with three "tubes" for suspending the light. So there's one "tube" which I believe is 12" and then the heart design and the shade. I'm not at home right now but will measure when I get home. amcofar - That's too funny. Unless they change the Constitution to allow dogs or parrots to be President that'll never happen, though. ci_lantro - Yes indeed. I worked with Hubby some last night to "rack" the floor and I'm just amazed by the transformation already. The wood is just sooooo beautiful. lynninnewmexico - The trip is primarily for business but I do hope to squeeze in a little fun. At least it will get us away for the kitchen chaos for a few days. flowerchild - That actually sounds like it was a lot of fun. Here is a link that might be useful: the lighting thread

Kohler makes two apron front sinks that come in a "short apron" style that can be installed on a standard sink base cabinet. The Whitehaven is cast iron (comes in white and other colors) and the Vault is stainless steel. They also both come in a "tall apron" style for a farm sink base, so be sure to order the right sink. The tall and short apron are the same size in the inside. It would be good to look at a short apron to be sure you like it. I really like mine and I actually like the shorter apron so that my doors are taller making it easier to access the cabinet. If you want to wait on the flooring an inexpensive improvement would be to lighten the grout with grout paint. Look online for "grout paint before and after" to see if you like the effect. Darker grout does not show dirt, but I have the lighter in my basement and have not had any trouble with it. I have some of the grout paint for a bathroom, but I haven't tried it yet. When I had installed my backsplash, but before it was grouted, there was the illusion of contrasting grout. I decided that for my kitchen, the contrast did not work, so that is something you can decide before you grout. I also made a slight change up in my choice of backsplash after the new counters were installed and saw the big picture. You may want to do the same. Consider some of the lighter quartz with gray in them, but not solid gray. Gray and mid tone wood can be a bit drab together. My countertop has some gray in it but also warmer tones. In this light it looks gray: https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~58831076 This shows some of the warmer tones: https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~88667617 If the wood flooring in the other parts of the home is still available, you could continue that.