Gingerich North is Going Green

Howdy friends and family! On this edition of "A day in the life of Dustin and Alisa" we will cover the topic of going green or at the very least, green-er.

When we moved into our beloved house in July of 2008 we found the in-house washer and dryer to be the poster children for well cared for appliances. Both had been in use in their current location since...wait for it...1966. A GE washer model WA 630B and Dryer model DE-810A which had been purchased at Koval Furinture and Appliance in St. Louis Park for the grand total of $302.95 for the pair.
In our short term as their caretakers, we did the best we could to keep them going, but no matter our efforts, the washer would paint grease stains on our whites and the dryer would overheat after 20 minutes of drying and required an hour or more to cool back down before you could start it back up to finish the job. When the dryer drum started emitting a high pitched squeal, we knew their time on this earth was short.

Dustin and I, with the help of Consumer Reports, set to work to find the perfect replacement that would carry on in the GE models' honor. After searching a handful of appliance stores, we came up with a few options, but nothing that really hit a home run. While wasting time before a movie one night, we wandered through Lowe's (a favorite pastime of Alisa's) and noticed a man putting a sale sign on top of two gorgeous Samsung frontloaders. Upon closer inspection we discovered it was their special for the week of Thanksgiving and you could get the pair for half price! After we scraped our jaws off the floor we asked Joe where we should sign. The washer and dryer were delivered the following week!

We said a tearful and heartfelt goodbye to the GE models and let them know that their legacy was not in vain as they will be sent to laundry appliance heaven where they will live on when they are recycled into the newest and best model. We did hang on to their owner manuals and laundering guidebooks for nostalgia. The owner manuals depict a thrilled housewife who is clearly in rapture over her new appliances. Note the hearts.The laundering guidebooks give Dustin and I the most joy as they contain oodles of laundry tips as well as a "troubleshooting" section which consists of a picture of a GE man coming to your door to fix the problem. Ah...the good old days.
The Green effect?: The old washer was a top loader and probably used 30 or so gallons to wash each load (this amount is a total guess on my part) the new Samsung model uses only a couple gallons per load and has an operating cost of $8 per year. The GE dryer would need to run for hours at a time to get our clothes dry, the new Samsung dries the clothes in 15 minutes. Yeah, you read that right. We have the utmost respect for the GE models, but we appreciate the energy efficient qualities of their grandchildren.

Dustin and I settled in to watch the new whipper snappers in action.
Next on Gingerich North Going Green we tackle quite possibly the item that has made our marriage that much happier, our new dishwasher! Now, don't get us wrong, we were fine with the daily hand washing, the dishes piled waiting to be washed, the dishes piled as they're drying, but were thrilled to find that we had a countertop under it all! When we moved in, we knew a dishwasher would be high on our wish list. We made a point to keep one of the cabinets empty. We figured if we could live and cook without that cabinet's storage ability, we could potentially house a dishwasher there at some point.

Fast forward to this Christmas when we opened a present from Ma and Pa Koester containing a giftcard to Sears so we could pick out the very model that made our hearts flutter! After we scooped our jaws off the floor yet again, we promptly purchased our dream model. It was delivered the next day and we set to work calling in the big guns, namely Alisa's big brother Kale. Kale went to work cutting out the existing cabinets to form the cubby that would house our dishwasher for the years to come.We then went to setting up the plumbing, including installing the rolls royce of garbage disposals (yea!).*evil grin* Couldn't resist snapping a shot.

Once all the plumbing and electrical were in place, we unboxed the dishwasher and had it set to be hooked up when Kale said, "Lis, this one has a huge dent in it!" Knowing that this was exactly the thing he usually said to rile me up I just laughed it off. Then Dustin confirmed. Sure enough, the box that had been sitting in our dining room for a month contained a damaged dishwasher! Mildly panicked as we were past the return deadline I called Sears. They assured me that there was no problem and a new model would be delivered at 7:30 a.m. the following day, a Sunday!

I'd like to take a moment here to say that if you aren't buying your appliances from Sears you should have your head examined. They are amazing and will match any price in the city in which you live, even sale prices. It's how we got the dishwasher for hundreds less than Sears had it advertised because it had been on sale at Best Buy at the time. That is all.

As it was playoff Sunday we knew we'd be flying without Kale's expertise this day, but we felt confident in our abilities, and we were right. Dustin and I had that badboy in and running in a matter of hours. We have to install a bit of oak trim to finish it off, but here it is on it's maiden voyage:We can not express how thrilled we are with the dishwasher, it has made the difference of night and day. Thanks Mom, Dad and Kale!

The final new item in the house isn't exactly making us green-er, but it's an update nonetheless. After staring at stark white walls in our kitchen and chipping walls in our stairwell for a year and a half, we decided to freshen it up!

Prep work. Removing the railing.Taking a break from masking duties. Primer on the stairwell.
One of the perils of being in charge of painting the ceiling:
Standing in the sink, getting the nooks and crannies.
There are no words for this:
Just laughter.

We went with "Lemon Meringue" as we wanted something in the buttery yellow category. We also swapped out the old white lights for some new ones that throw a lot more light. The kitchen looks oodles better!

Next we are discussing getting a new countertop, maybe of the butcherblock variety and some new flooring. This floor has to go!

This wraps up Gingerich North is Going Green! More updates as they come!