at the top of my list

We close on our new house in less than 2 weeks. We have a long list of things we want to do to the house. We won't be able to get it all done at once, but I really want to get the kitchen done pretty quickly.

We already bought new stainless steel appliances because Sears was having a 30% off sale on all Kenmore, except the dishwasher, which was 40% off. Score!

We pretty much decided on a white kitchen this time. We'll paint all the cabinets, maybe get new doors and drawer fronts, new countertops, new sink and faucet, and add a stone backsplash around the stove. I can't wait to share the transformation!

The only thing I really don't like about this kitchen is that the only upper cabinets are those 5 above the stove. Then there are two more, generally useless ones, above the fridge. (Which is to the left of the pantry door. Yeah, a pantry!)

I love the big picture windows but they take up valuable cabinet space. Oh well.

Those windows look out to the huge backyard (1/2 acre!) Which brings me to the next thing at the top of my list. A new swingset for the boys. The weather in Kingman is much milder than the rest of Arizona. It only gets around 100 degrees during the summer--very doable for outside playtime.

I'd really like this one but don't want to spend that much. We're looking on Craig's List to see if we can find something. But my kids need to get outside and play and a field of dirt doesn't make you want to stay outside, so this is a top priority for us right now.

So after we close on the house, we'll clean it (it's been empty for a while), clean the carpets and move in. Then my husband and dad are heading to Indiana for all our stuff. (We left most of it in storage there until we had a house so we didn't have to move it ten times.)

The rest of my list right now consists of cleaning the bathroom and going grocery shopping. Maybe tomorrow.