Kitchen Progress?

Hi there!  I think there may be one or two people out there holding onto hope that I might actually share some sort of progress one day.  It's been a great winter/spring/summer with a lot of traveling and, well, not a whole lot of house work.  But I'd like to share some pictures of the very very slow progress we've made on our kitchen.  Living without a kitchen has proven to be way too easy for us so we just kind of let it drag out for forever and ever.  But the counter templates have finally been made, which means a full kitchen is hopefully not to far in the distant future.

Lets back up a bit.  Early this year when there was (gulp) still snow on the ground we took a trip up to Cumar Marble and Stone to pick out our counter slab.  After much debate and a trip over to the home of one of P's gracious bosses we decided on Carrera Marble.  There were a couple of reasons we pulled the trigger on the natural stone versus choosing a solid surface material.  1.  we love the way it looks.  and we just don't think the solid surface look alikes compare.  2.  P's boss showed us their marble counters that were installed 9 years ago and never sealed and then abused.  And they looked great.  Not all gross and stained like you hear happens to marble.  Just patinaed and nice and worn.  We liked.  3.  We learned that should we wish to keep the shiny new appearance of our marble that there is now a super duper sealer on the market that promises to protect from any and all stains.  I think it's called bulletproof.  So we went for it.

Cumar is known for having a really nice selection of Carrera marble.  The whites are really pretty white (not greyed out as they can be) with really nice grey veining.
So we pulled a slab we liked.  And there it has been sitting.  For months.
Meanwhile we've P has been working away on the built in elements that surround our IKEA cabinetry (which we are loving btw). 

P first built a small 2x4 wall on the backside of the island and then added a small shelf as a side "leg" for recipie books etc.  And of course I went all crazy and decided it would be a super idea to get our cute little IKEA stools out and set them up next to the unfinished island.  Genius.

P was able to get all or most of the cuts for the cabinet side panels made at Home Depot so that they could fit in the Jetta.

And here they are all put in place.  We chose to add a second smaller "leg" on the right side of the island to support the marble (so we wouldn't need a massive steel bracket) and to give it a more balanced look.  The panels have since been primed and will be painted white to match the cabinet fronts soon. 

Here they are templating.  It was kind of interesting to see the way they do this.  They essentially create a grid using luan and screw it all together and then carry it out to the truck.  Done!  As you can kind of see in this pic we will also have an outlet under the counter overhang on the fat "leg"/backside of the small shelf.  There is also a second plug on the side of the island next to the fridge.  And check out the red CB2 pendants!  We actually bought them way early in the renovation.  Impulse buy.  Not loving them now, but they will definitely work for the time being!
Hoping to be back with many more updates soon!