Balls on Parade: Kitchen Renovation

Two years ago in May Tracy and I bought our first home. The house was built in 1911 and will be 100 years old next year; this being said it needs a lot of work. We have been renovating since we moved in and are still in the process of making our house a home. Over the summer Mark, Tracy's dad was kind enough to spend a few weeks with us working on our kitchen. We ripped out the old counter and sink and Mark and Tracy built a whole new counter, cabinets and opening for the new dishwasher.
YAY for the dishwasher! Tracy and I have been moving our old trusty vintage green roll-about dishwasher that was given to us by Ryan for several years now. This mean green machine saved me countless hours of scrubbing dishes by hand albeit you did have to pre-wash the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher it was definitely a lifesaver! So if you know anyone who is in need of a trusty vintage green dishwasher let me know, it's free to a good home.
Mark also tiled our countertop and put in the backsplash. My dad and I were able to rewire a plug by the sink to operate the dishwasher and I was thankful for the electricity lesson with Dad. Dad and I spent most of the day with the electrical work and decided to also hang up some lovely over the counter hanging lights. Easier said than done, we ended up not having enough time in the day to finish and I was given instructions on how to finish them myself. So day two of Light hanging was nothing short of miraculous...it took Tracy and I all day to figure out that somewhere along the lifespan of our almost 100 year old house the kitchen had been semi renovated and a "false" ceiling had been put up in the kitchen. So Tracy and I spent all day in the attic trying to hang these lights; finally we did it and went to flip the switch and....nothing! We gave up for the day out of pure frustration and Tracy called Ryan in to see if he could figure it out. It took Ryan all of thirty seconds to see that one of the ground wires was not hooked up properly and magically all three hanging lights and the room light lit up...yay! Really hard work but definitely worth it! Thanks to Mark for all of his hard work and time, thanks to my dad for the electrical help, and thanks to Jessie for the tile discount and Aunt Karen for the lights!!!