A few down....and many to go!!
I guess that is the territory we now roam! Home ownership! Always a project huh??
So we are still working on the completion of the home! Tom did an AMAZING job with the fireplace surround!! I'm excited to post a picture at some point! It's beautiful and makes the living room look so beautiful!
As I type, my wonderful husband Tom is setting tile in the master bathroom shower! We are trying to decide how to design something nice in there...of course at the last minute! This should have been thought out long ago, but that's how we roll (as they say)!
I'm anxious for the time when we get to take our first shower in the enormous shower, and get to use the beautiful vanity that we got at Costco!!
Tom in the meantime has finished painting the shelving that will go in the closet of the main bath, so it's ready to be nailed up!
Tom built a wonderful mantle type coat rack that runs along the hall at the start of the entry! We got the idea from Grandma Forrest, who found a picture in a magazine of a neat coat rack with black hooks and said "You need to do this!" The picture looked so neat that we, of course, agreed and now we have the neatest looking coat rack on the block!!
Now I'm sure we are the only ones who needed this coat rack attached to their wall, as we got rid of any hall closet there was on the original plan....Tom loves the idea of a long hallway as it reminds him of his granparents home in Chelan!
The best project of all,which didn't take much time for Tom to accomplish, is my absolutely wonderful hidden garbage cans....the kind where you make a cabinet into a pull out garbage...yup we are so cool like that!! I've always dreamed of being able to hide my garbage cans by having a pullout cabinet! We bought the converter kit at Lowe's, and Lowe's and behold we are in garbage heaven???!!! Well you get the picture, right??!!
I love the pullout garbage just as much as I love the built-ins in all the closets, which I thought I loved the most before he installed the garbage pullout deal!!!
So folks thanks for taking this journey with us...even though I didn't do the greatest at posting consistently!!
If I ever do another blog I will try my best to be better at posting....until then I will hopefully get more pics up of the wonderful finish work!! Maybe I will even continue posting as we move into the spring and start the wonderful life of yard work and gardening!!
Which brings me to another project on the list....THE FENCE!! Aaagh..that will be huge laborous chore as well as a nice chunk of change!! But it will be so nice to get it up!
Goodnight all!! Love~mel
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Drumroll please!!
We are finally in the house!!
Moved in a couple weeks ago and now comes the settling in, which seems to be taking me forever...with the kids, work, socializing, etc. We are trying.
A few big things have yet to get done: the master bathroom shower needs to get tile set and grouted and the floor needs to get grouted, also the fireplace needs to have rock put on it!
We have a walk in pantry and we decided to use stain grade wood to match the cabinet color in there...so we have made way more work for ourselves...as we have lots of wood to stain and then Tom needs to set them all up! I'm anxiously waiting for that since we will be putting lots of items in that walk in pantry!
I will try to upload some pictures right now! So I will exit for now and hope to blog more soon!
Moved in a couple weeks ago and now comes the settling in, which seems to be taking me forever...with the kids, work, socializing, etc. We are trying.
A few big things have yet to get done: the master bathroom shower needs to get tile set and grouted and the floor needs to get grouted, also the fireplace needs to have rock put on it!
We have a walk in pantry and we decided to use stain grade wood to match the cabinet color in there...so we have made way more work for ourselves...as we have lots of wood to stain and then Tom needs to set them all up! I'm anxiously waiting for that since we will be putting lots of items in that walk in pantry!
I will try to upload some pictures right now! So I will exit for now and hope to blog more soon!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Final items....
Howdy...
The end of October is coming fast upon us...so hard to believe!
Time sure flies.
We are having lots of fun seeing the final items being completed at the house!
Tom laid out travertine in the master bath on Saturday with the help of Papa Forrest. It took quite awhile laying it all out to see how they actually wanted to have it truly lay, but it ended up looking so beautiful. We are waiting for the thinset to dry before Tom grouts it.
These last few days Tom has been working on built in's for the closets. They are turning out great!! I can't wait to post the pictures of those built in's...I'm so proud of Tom. He is so talented and he plans it out in great detail. He measured how much the clothing sticks out of our current closet compared to shelf depth, etc.
We are hurrying to prep for the painters to come in to paint all the beautiful trim work this coming Wed. They will be there tomorrow to prep.
Thanks to John for hanging all the interior doors and putting on the trim. He did an excellent job!! The trimwork looks so great!
Today, mama and the kids will be heading out there to spend some time cleaning to prep for the painters. It will be quite the chore.
I keep thinkin of how my friend Meagan described running her half marathon and talked about how that last mile was the worst part of the run, knowing you are so close, but how you want to stop running so bad.
Tom and I are at that last mile and boy are we tired of this whole thing, but we need to keep running because we are so close to the end of the race!! Tom is doing a great job going out there everyday trying to accomplish a little at a time to get us all finished up!
The granite is going to be installed on Wednesday...it is beautiful!! I can't wait to see it installed. It's actually the cheapest stuff out, there...it being 2 cm (which is being phased out of the granite world so I've heard). It's called Santa Celia. It is so beautiful even if it is the cheapest out there!!
Once the painters are done at the end of the week we will have the electricians and plumbers come in for their finish work, hopefully by Monday or Tues., and have the carpet installed ASAP, hopefully by next Thursday or Friday...
Still have to take the time to upload the latest pics...hopefully soon!! I'll put a couple on here of the kids that were taken just the other day!
The end of October is coming fast upon us...so hard to believe!
Time sure flies.
We are having lots of fun seeing the final items being completed at the house!
Tom laid out travertine in the master bath on Saturday with the help of Papa Forrest. It took quite awhile laying it all out to see how they actually wanted to have it truly lay, but it ended up looking so beautiful. We are waiting for the thinset to dry before Tom grouts it.
These last few days Tom has been working on built in's for the closets. They are turning out great!! I can't wait to post the pictures of those built in's...I'm so proud of Tom. He is so talented and he plans it out in great detail. He measured how much the clothing sticks out of our current closet compared to shelf depth, etc.
We are hurrying to prep for the painters to come in to paint all the beautiful trim work this coming Wed. They will be there tomorrow to prep.
Thanks to John for hanging all the interior doors and putting on the trim. He did an excellent job!! The trimwork looks so great!
Today, mama and the kids will be heading out there to spend some time cleaning to prep for the painters. It will be quite the chore.
I keep thinkin of how my friend Meagan described running her half marathon and talked about how that last mile was the worst part of the run, knowing you are so close, but how you want to stop running so bad.
Tom and I are at that last mile and boy are we tired of this whole thing, but we need to keep running because we are so close to the end of the race!! Tom is doing a great job going out there everyday trying to accomplish a little at a time to get us all finished up!
The granite is going to be installed on Wednesday...it is beautiful!! I can't wait to see it installed. It's actually the cheapest stuff out, there...it being 2 cm (which is being phased out of the granite world so I've heard). It's called Santa Celia. It is so beautiful even if it is the cheapest out there!!
Once the painters are done at the end of the week we will have the electricians and plumbers come in for their finish work, hopefully by Monday or Tues., and have the carpet installed ASAP, hopefully by next Thursday or Friday...
Still have to take the time to upload the latest pics...hopefully soon!! I'll put a couple on here of the kids that were taken just the other day!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Closer to completion!
So here we are the 9th of October... wowsa!!!
Sorry guys...I guess I should just junk the blog life. Too much for me to handle I guess!
Well even though we seriously thought we would be in our lovely new home by the end of June...we are still a few weeks away...it won't come soon enough!
Currently Tom is laying the bamboo floor and has completed the dining room, living room kitchen, and will work on the hallway and pantry tomorrow! It looks so beautiful!!
Today a nice guy named John was working at the house with Tom, hanging all the interior doors, and doing the trim work around the windows, etc. He is the same guys who hung all our cabinetry!! Thank God for John is all I can say. He is saving us lots of time and he does a good job!!
We laid our sod in the front and immediate back yard a few weekends ago with the help of Mike Paris and Mitzi White, and our babysitter Abby coming to the house to hang out with the kids while Mama helped Mitzi and Dada! We all worked hard and did a good job!
Our house looks like a nice home now from the outside! So neat!! I will be posting some pics soon since we got a different computer and hopefully will upload pictures easily!
We are hoping for a move in date of the end of the month so we can party it up for the kids birthdays at the beginning of November!!
Take care all...more to come soon!
Love
mel
Sorry guys...I guess I should just junk the blog life. Too much for me to handle I guess!
Well even though we seriously thought we would be in our lovely new home by the end of June...we are still a few weeks away...it won't come soon enough!
Currently Tom is laying the bamboo floor and has completed the dining room, living room kitchen, and will work on the hallway and pantry tomorrow! It looks so beautiful!!
Today a nice guy named John was working at the house with Tom, hanging all the interior doors, and doing the trim work around the windows, etc. He is the same guys who hung all our cabinetry!! Thank God for John is all I can say. He is saving us lots of time and he does a good job!!
We laid our sod in the front and immediate back yard a few weekends ago with the help of Mike Paris and Mitzi White, and our babysitter Abby coming to the house to hang out with the kids while Mama helped Mitzi and Dada! We all worked hard and did a good job!
Our house looks like a nice home now from the outside! So neat!! I will be posting some pics soon since we got a different computer and hopefully will upload pictures easily!
We are hoping for a move in date of the end of the month so we can party it up for the kids birthdays at the beginning of November!!
Take care all...more to come soon!
Love
mel
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Can you say snake???
Ok....so where to start....
most recent is that Tom was able to start the rock work on the front of the house. We picked some ledgestone styled rock called "Chardonay" with hues of gray, black, plum. The front of the house mostly done, with a column to do and the rock underneath the entry patio on the concrete wall.. it's a neat look which they started on the back patio as well. Putting rock on the wall of the cement patio underneath a cantilevered (sp?) edge. The rock looks so neat. Very excited to paint the exterior to see what it looks like all put together! Ryan has helped Tom all this past week getting that rock up, and for that we are extremely grateful!!
We thought final excavation was done, but the septic tank is too high I guess and the excavators who did it are going to give us some dirt to make it right instead of digging the thing back up to dig deeper. So hopefully sod will grow on top of that! We'll see!
Over 4th of July weekend, we were at the house all day on Friday and Saturday! We rented a trencher to trench the ditches for underground sprinklers. Boy was that a doozy to get the hang of...maneuvering that trencher! Tom was a pro by the end of the two hours it took to trench! Although we wet ground way too much in on spot, so it got stuck in the mud and I did my best to help get it out! Very hard for this weakling!
We got all the things for the underground sprinklers and we got the design for free since we purchased at the irrigation store!
We ordered some bamboo flooring from an online supplier called Build Direct and boy was it a great deal...and that bamboo is some strong stuff! Pretty eco friendly as well. Not that we have been making that a goal, but it's nice to add that element.
The bamboo will be dropped off on Tuesday, and the appliances we ordered through Sears are in as well.
So we need to get the exterior paint picked out, some floor put down to install appliances, and toilets at least. We are needing to put in the underground sprinklers in, so that will be an all day thing probably!
Oh yeah...we have rattlesnakes up there folks!! Lots of rattlesnakes!! How exciting for this Mama...(not!) Tom killed one the other day with a shovel..it took him by surprise as he opened the water box to turn on the water! EEEEKKK!!
So now everywhere I walk...every little thing I see or feel is a snake, I'm always asking about the latest snake sightings, etc. I've even let out quite a few screams these last couple of weeks since I thought I saw a snake!! Ughhh!
I'm a little more freaked out about it, because I actually saw the snake that Tom killed, because we were there that day and I made him show it to us as half of the body was still slithering and had it's rattles still up in the air!! Ryan found the rattles a few days later and took them home!!!
Ok everyone...thanks for reading my monthly posts...maybe the next time I post the house will be done!! LOL!!! Hopefully not that long in between posts.
The house may not be done for awhile...maybe at the end of August. We'll see!
Love you all!! mel
most recent is that Tom was able to start the rock work on the front of the house. We picked some ledgestone styled rock called "Chardonay" with hues of gray, black, plum. The front of the house mostly done, with a column to do and the rock underneath the entry patio on the concrete wall.. it's a neat look which they started on the back patio as well. Putting rock on the wall of the cement patio underneath a cantilevered (sp?) edge. The rock looks so neat. Very excited to paint the exterior to see what it looks like all put together! Ryan has helped Tom all this past week getting that rock up, and for that we are extremely grateful!!
We thought final excavation was done, but the septic tank is too high I guess and the excavators who did it are going to give us some dirt to make it right instead of digging the thing back up to dig deeper. So hopefully sod will grow on top of that! We'll see!
Over 4th of July weekend, we were at the house all day on Friday and Saturday! We rented a trencher to trench the ditches for underground sprinklers. Boy was that a doozy to get the hang of...maneuvering that trencher! Tom was a pro by the end of the two hours it took to trench! Although we wet ground way too much in on spot, so it got stuck in the mud and I did my best to help get it out! Very hard for this weakling!
We got all the things for the underground sprinklers and we got the design for free since we purchased at the irrigation store!
We ordered some bamboo flooring from an online supplier called Build Direct and boy was it a great deal...and that bamboo is some strong stuff! Pretty eco friendly as well. Not that we have been making that a goal, but it's nice to add that element.
The bamboo will be dropped off on Tuesday, and the appliances we ordered through Sears are in as well.
So we need to get the exterior paint picked out, some floor put down to install appliances, and toilets at least. We are needing to put in the underground sprinklers in, so that will be an all day thing probably!
Oh yeah...we have rattlesnakes up there folks!! Lots of rattlesnakes!! How exciting for this Mama...(not!) Tom killed one the other day with a shovel..it took him by surprise as he opened the water box to turn on the water! EEEEKKK!!
So now everywhere I walk...every little thing I see or feel is a snake, I'm always asking about the latest snake sightings, etc. I've even let out quite a few screams these last couple of weeks since I thought I saw a snake!! Ughhh!
I'm a little more freaked out about it, because I actually saw the snake that Tom killed, because we were there that day and I made him show it to us as half of the body was still slithering and had it's rattles still up in the air!! Ryan found the rattles a few days later and took them home!!!
Ok everyone...thanks for reading my monthly posts...maybe the next time I post the house will be done!! LOL!!! Hopefully not that long in between posts.
The house may not be done for awhile...maybe at the end of August. We'll see!
Love you all!! mel
Monday, June 29, 2009
Time Flies!!!
Hi all....long time, no blog!!!
I can't believe it's the end of June already!! Time sure flies! We have a lot of stuff that has happened at the house so hopefully I can remember it all!
We've had plenty of visitors to our place...our good friends Larry and Patty, Krisanna, Mitzi, Aunt Jen and Uncle Jerm with Mady & Logan came to see it!
So the siding is officially done as of last week...the last bit of shake was put up top, and the guys have worked on caulking, building up the posts that are on the back patio as well as the one on the front porch.
The sidewalk was poured! So nice, with a flaired end up to the driveway! Good job Flatline!
We just got done with the interior paint! Our friend Larry has his own painting business and has nice equipment to make painting easier! Those fancy spraying machines!! He helped Tom starting last weekend with a full day on Saturday the 20th and then again the next Thurs. and this past Friday! It is done other than a bit of touch up work!
We had quite the time trying to figure out paint colors, but thankfully Grandma Forrest came up for a few days in a row to help us think it all out! She is the Master Interior Designer! She knows her stuff and has great taste as well..it's the taste I love! So it's been a blessing to have her help us! Thanks G'Ma Forrest for all your help!! I haven't even seen it yet! Tom went today to take off the plastic from the windows so he could see it in the light and it is quite dark he said. We picked Barnwood which is a sort of brown...and a green color for a few rooms, and a yellow color called Hubbard Squash for the extra bathroom and the laundry room!
Now comes tile choice! Wow...what a chore. Costco is currently carrying some great floor tile for way cheap and it looks great too! We are getting it!! Costco is a great place to get stuff if it fits the theme of the house!
Bye for now...it's way past my bedtime!
I can't believe it's the end of June already!! Time sure flies! We have a lot of stuff that has happened at the house so hopefully I can remember it all!
We've had plenty of visitors to our place...our good friends Larry and Patty, Krisanna, Mitzi, Aunt Jen and Uncle Jerm with Mady & Logan came to see it!
So the siding is officially done as of last week...the last bit of shake was put up top, and the guys have worked on caulking, building up the posts that are on the back patio as well as the one on the front porch.
The sidewalk was poured! So nice, with a flaired end up to the driveway! Good job Flatline!
We just got done with the interior paint! Our friend Larry has his own painting business and has nice equipment to make painting easier! Those fancy spraying machines!! He helped Tom starting last weekend with a full day on Saturday the 20th and then again the next Thurs. and this past Friday! It is done other than a bit of touch up work!
We had quite the time trying to figure out paint colors, but thankfully Grandma Forrest came up for a few days in a row to help us think it all out! She is the Master Interior Designer! She knows her stuff and has great taste as well..it's the taste I love! So it's been a blessing to have her help us! Thanks G'Ma Forrest for all your help!! I haven't even seen it yet! Tom went today to take off the plastic from the windows so he could see it in the light and it is quite dark he said. We picked Barnwood which is a sort of brown...and a green color for a few rooms, and a yellow color called Hubbard Squash for the extra bathroom and the laundry room!
Now comes tile choice! Wow...what a chore. Costco is currently carrying some great floor tile for way cheap and it looks great too! We are getting it!! Costco is a great place to get stuff if it fits the theme of the house!
Bye for now...it's way past my bedtime!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Latest updates!
Hi all!!
It's a very windy day today and the guys: Richard, Ryan, and Tom are out beginning to side the house today! Wow!
The sheetrock has been put up and the tape and texturing is complete as well!!
I've been trying to upload pictures to my Picasa program and I'm not able to upload what I want so I have to try to be a techy and figure out what to do! Bummer!
Now we get to start picking out colors for painting the inside and outside! Fun!
It looks so different now!
Oh yeah...the back patio has been poured! It looks great and it's so neat to stand on it and look at the back yard!
It's coming along! We'll see how long it takes to side the house! The garage doors should be in on Friday and installed on Monday!
Well no pictures to post but will put some up soon hopefully!
Take care all!
mel
It's a very windy day today and the guys: Richard, Ryan, and Tom are out beginning to side the house today! Wow!
The sheetrock has been put up and the tape and texturing is complete as well!!
I've been trying to upload pictures to my Picasa program and I'm not able to upload what I want so I have to try to be a techy and figure out what to do! Bummer!
Now we get to start picking out colors for painting the inside and outside! Fun!
It looks so different now!
Oh yeah...the back patio has been poured! It looks great and it's so neat to stand on it and look at the back yard!
It's coming along! We'll see how long it takes to side the house! The garage doors should be in on Friday and installed on Monday!
Well no pictures to post but will put some up soon hopefully!
Take care all!
mel
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Hello all....
I suppose we can count on me blogging about every few weeks....lol!
I won't condemn myself too much, there just hasn't been much activity out there and I'm always very busy! I also go on computer strikes quite often, to where I just dont want to put up with the busy-ness of being on the computer and spending time posting, emailing, etc.!! Sorry everyone!! I usually will make it out of those frumpy moments and I'll get in some correspondence with my neat friends! Again....sorry!
Today Mel went out there to see the insulation...as it was put in yesterday and finished up today!
Richard was out there today doing some nice work on the rock we've got out there!! He's making it so we can make good use out of what's already out there so we can order less when it comes time to landscape! It looks good already and he's not done yet!
Sheetrock gets hung starting on Thursday!! WOW!! That will be a huge change!
Electrical rough in is completely done! I will have pics of the electrical stuff up tonight!!
Tom was out there this past weekend on Saturday with Richard to finish up little tidbits of things. Tom finished the roof and returned materials to Home Depot!
Richard did odds and ends framing fix ups...he changed the door framing for us, since we FINALLY picked a door system. It's simple but what I had wanted from the beginning and it just took a while to get there!
We picked a simple two panel fiberglass door with the top panel having an arch and we will have rainglass windows from Millgard installed into the two sidelite panels that are full 6 ft. panels. I'm excited to have the rainglass for privacy purposes. It's real popular to have the open window sidelites, but it just bugs me that people could look into your house at any moment. If I want to walk around in undies or something...I don't want to feel like I can't because of the darn open windows on the side of my door! TMI...sorry! But just trying to get my logic across!!
I went in today to order our garage doors, and it was easy!! I was so proud to have made a quick decision on that one!! It's easy to figure out what you like if you drive around the different neighborhoods to see what's out there and what you like and dislike!! It's a great way to figure things out!
Now with the cabinets that a different story....I was wishing it was the parade of homes time around here so I can just look at different cabinet layouts! I'm dragging my feet at figuring out what I want! We are closer...I met with him two weeks ago and expected to order cabinets by last week but we didn't! So hopefully we'll get on that! It took way too long to pick out the doors and I don't want to do that with the cabinets, since they take awhile to get here! Mike at M.L. Cabinets is who we are working with he is doing a great job coming up with something we will like! I'm just so excited to have my bench seat in the laundry/utility room!!
I found a great deal at a yard sale for some pendant lights. They were $15 a piece brand new! We need 3 pendants and they can be pretty spendy I hear! Haven't even looked yet!
So we are not sure if they will tie in with what we are doing with the cabinets, arched doorways, etc...we'll see! I'll just sell 'em on craigslist if I need to!
Okee dokee...got to go to bed and need to upload some electrical pics!!
Good night all!
I suppose we can count on me blogging about every few weeks....lol!
I won't condemn myself too much, there just hasn't been much activity out there and I'm always very busy! I also go on computer strikes quite often, to where I just dont want to put up with the busy-ness of being on the computer and spending time posting, emailing, etc.!! Sorry everyone!! I usually will make it out of those frumpy moments and I'll get in some correspondence with my neat friends! Again....sorry!
Today Mel went out there to see the insulation...as it was put in yesterday and finished up today!
Richard was out there today doing some nice work on the rock we've got out there!! He's making it so we can make good use out of what's already out there so we can order less when it comes time to landscape! It looks good already and he's not done yet!
Sheetrock gets hung starting on Thursday!! WOW!! That will be a huge change!
Electrical rough in is completely done! I will have pics of the electrical stuff up tonight!!
Tom was out there this past weekend on Saturday with Richard to finish up little tidbits of things. Tom finished the roof and returned materials to Home Depot!
Richard did odds and ends framing fix ups...he changed the door framing for us, since we FINALLY picked a door system. It's simple but what I had wanted from the beginning and it just took a while to get there!
We picked a simple two panel fiberglass door with the top panel having an arch and we will have rainglass windows from Millgard installed into the two sidelite panels that are full 6 ft. panels. I'm excited to have the rainglass for privacy purposes. It's real popular to have the open window sidelites, but it just bugs me that people could look into your house at any moment. If I want to walk around in undies or something...I don't want to feel like I can't because of the darn open windows on the side of my door! TMI...sorry! But just trying to get my logic across!!
I went in today to order our garage doors, and it was easy!! I was so proud to have made a quick decision on that one!! It's easy to figure out what you like if you drive around the different neighborhoods to see what's out there and what you like and dislike!! It's a great way to figure things out!
Now with the cabinets that a different story....I was wishing it was the parade of homes time around here so I can just look at different cabinet layouts! I'm dragging my feet at figuring out what I want! We are closer...I met with him two weeks ago and expected to order cabinets by last week but we didn't! So hopefully we'll get on that! It took way too long to pick out the doors and I don't want to do that with the cabinets, since they take awhile to get here! Mike at M.L. Cabinets is who we are working with he is doing a great job coming up with something we will like! I'm just so excited to have my bench seat in the laundry/utility room!!
I found a great deal at a yard sale for some pendant lights. They were $15 a piece brand new! We need 3 pendants and they can be pretty spendy I hear! Haven't even looked yet!
So we are not sure if they will tie in with what we are doing with the cabinets, arched doorways, etc...we'll see! I'll just sell 'em on craigslist if I need to!
Okee dokee...got to go to bed and need to upload some electrical pics!!
Good night all!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Hi all!!
March 29th was my last post!! Wow, time sure flies.
So where I left off was saying that Jeremy was maybe going to come and help Tom with the roof! Their horse Bonnie did not have a baby by that time and Jeremy was able to come help Tom all day on Monday March 30th! Tom was ever so grateful for his help that day! The day was pretty breezy but so nice and sunny! They got a lot done.
Tom ended up starting to work with a friend on a job that is supposed to last 4 weeks. They started on Wed. April 1st.! So that will be wrapping up pretty quick!
Tues. was a violently windy day! So no roof work that day! In fact the black tar sheets they had rolled out all blew off and Tom had to buy more to lay out!
Tom starts the other job and Richard helped Tom finish the roof work at the Clark house here and there throughout that week. Tom went on Friday after work to try finishing up the roof and on Saturday the April 4th Grandma Rodriguez came to watch the kids so Tom could work all day on the roof to finish it up! The electricians were gearing up to start in on the Clark house!
We met with Brad of Silverline Electric on Monday April 6th for an hour or so to talk about every detail of outlets, lights, etc. All's I can say is 'WOW'...so many things to think out!
Brad is an easy going fellow and didn't mind the endless calls from Melissa asking tons of questions! Thanks Brad! I was wanting to take pictures of them doing the work and I think they all thought I was nuts. (They don't know I'm a pictur-a-holic, even though I tried to tell 'em) So I got a few shots in but man, it was like pulling teeth so to speak!! Thanks for letting me try anyways guys! I'm posting your pics on the blog here and I told them they would be the 'boys on the blog'!! Ha!
The week of April 6-10 there was no activity at the Clark house. On Sat April 11th our windows were delivered by Albrecht Glass and Tom and Mel's brother, Will set the windows in a few hours that morning before Melissa had to go to work!
So comes Monday the 13th...electrical work begins! Melissa drives out to the site on Tuesday and Wednesday to see progress and talk to the guys about all the notes I wrote down. Tom Clark and family drove out Tuesday night to take a look at progress!
Friday we took our dear friend Mitzi, (Melissa used to live with Mitz for a couple of years) to see the Clark house. It is neat to see it in the stage it's in! We are excited to see how it will progress!
Well I think that's all for now...I'll post again quickly if I remember something. Got to go get the dishes in the dishwasher and fold some laundry!! Good night!!
March 29th was my last post!! Wow, time sure flies.
So where I left off was saying that Jeremy was maybe going to come and help Tom with the roof! Their horse Bonnie did not have a baby by that time and Jeremy was able to come help Tom all day on Monday March 30th! Tom was ever so grateful for his help that day! The day was pretty breezy but so nice and sunny! They got a lot done.
Tom ended up starting to work with a friend on a job that is supposed to last 4 weeks. They started on Wed. April 1st.! So that will be wrapping up pretty quick!
Tues. was a violently windy day! So no roof work that day! In fact the black tar sheets they had rolled out all blew off and Tom had to buy more to lay out!
Tom starts the other job and Richard helped Tom finish the roof work at the Clark house here and there throughout that week. Tom went on Friday after work to try finishing up the roof and on Saturday the April 4th Grandma Rodriguez came to watch the kids so Tom could work all day on the roof to finish it up! The electricians were gearing up to start in on the Clark house!
We met with Brad of Silverline Electric on Monday April 6th for an hour or so to talk about every detail of outlets, lights, etc. All's I can say is 'WOW'...so many things to think out!
Brad is an easy going fellow and didn't mind the endless calls from Melissa asking tons of questions! Thanks Brad! I was wanting to take pictures of them doing the work and I think they all thought I was nuts. (They don't know I'm a pictur-a-holic, even though I tried to tell 'em) So I got a few shots in but man, it was like pulling teeth so to speak!! Thanks for letting me try anyways guys! I'm posting your pics on the blog here and I told them they would be the 'boys on the blog'!! Ha!
The week of April 6-10 there was no activity at the Clark house. On Sat April 11th our windows were delivered by Albrecht Glass and Tom and Mel's brother, Will set the windows in a few hours that morning before Melissa had to go to work!
So comes Monday the 13th...electrical work begins! Melissa drives out to the site on Tuesday and Wednesday to see progress and talk to the guys about all the notes I wrote down. Tom Clark and family drove out Tuesday night to take a look at progress!
Friday we took our dear friend Mitzi, (Melissa used to live with Mitz for a couple of years) to see the Clark house. It is neat to see it in the stage it's in! We are excited to see how it will progress!
Well I think that's all for now...I'll post again quickly if I remember something. Got to go get the dishes in the dishwasher and fold some laundry!! Good night!!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Busy weekend!
Hi all....on Friday Tom and Richard were busy working on facia and started roofing. One big snafu, which was my fault, was that I didn't go take a check to the business that was going to provide the roofing so they were going to not send out the roofing materials until Monday but Tom needed it on Friday to start, so he found another company that was willing to send it out right away! Whew...what a bummer!
The weather on Friday was pretty overcast and windy and rainy..ick! But they still hung in there a full day. Tom stayed to work on the house till dark. Melissa was worried because at 8:15 Tom hadn't shown up yet and so Hannah and I drove way to fast out to the house....I was thinking Tom was laying on the ground hurt or something! His phone was dead too...bummer!
He was OK...talking with a friend who helped him a little with the roof! Thank God because that was a big scare! Josiah was with his Grandpa and Nana Clark who came to pick him up for an overnighter since he hasn't seen them much lately! He had a blast of course!
Tom worked Saturday, thankfully, since Grandma Forrest came to stay with Hannah for the morning until Melissa got off work...it was a very cold, windy, heavy rainy day and the guys still worked! Kudos guys! They eventually went inside to do some finish up some small details!
Tom worked Sunday as well for the morning until Melissa went to work at 1 pm and then Papa and Grandma Forrest came to take the kids for a couple more hours for Tom to finish his interior projects. He wants to focus on the roof tomorrow (today :{ )
So Tom's brother Jeremy should be coming to help Tom with the roof tomorrow unless their horse Bonnie ends up having her baby. He will be driving all the way from Spokane! Thank you Jeremy, you are awesome for helping! Tom & Jeremy owned their own roofing company in Spokane while they were both going to Eastern Washington University! It paid the bills and got them through school! Fun times!!
I will be posting a few video clips on the blog in the bottom where the pics are...I had uploaded them to the sidebar but they didn't fit so I had to delete them and it's 2 am so I'm not going to try again!
Goodnight...sweet dreams everyone!! God Bless you all!!
The weather on Friday was pretty overcast and windy and rainy..ick! But they still hung in there a full day. Tom stayed to work on the house till dark. Melissa was worried because at 8:15 Tom hadn't shown up yet and so Hannah and I drove way to fast out to the house....I was thinking Tom was laying on the ground hurt or something! His phone was dead too...bummer!
He was OK...talking with a friend who helped him a little with the roof! Thank God because that was a big scare! Josiah was with his Grandpa and Nana Clark who came to pick him up for an overnighter since he hasn't seen them much lately! He had a blast of course!
Tom worked Saturday, thankfully, since Grandma Forrest came to stay with Hannah for the morning until Melissa got off work...it was a very cold, windy, heavy rainy day and the guys still worked! Kudos guys! They eventually went inside to do some finish up some small details!
Tom worked Sunday as well for the morning until Melissa went to work at 1 pm and then Papa and Grandma Forrest came to take the kids for a couple more hours for Tom to finish his interior projects. He wants to focus on the roof tomorrow (today :{ )
So Tom's brother Jeremy should be coming to help Tom with the roof tomorrow unless their horse Bonnie ends up having her baby. He will be driving all the way from Spokane! Thank you Jeremy, you are awesome for helping! Tom & Jeremy owned their own roofing company in Spokane while they were both going to Eastern Washington University! It paid the bills and got them through school! Fun times!!
I will be posting a few video clips on the blog in the bottom where the pics are...I had uploaded them to the sidebar but they didn't fit so I had to delete them and it's 2 am so I'm not going to try again!
Goodnight...sweet dreams everyone!! God Bless you all!!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
House all sheeted!
So very sorry for the huge span of time without blogging....geez..I didn't realize that it had been that long!!! Our Uncle Dave emailed us and asked if our camera was broke!!!
Nope...we have certainly taken a bunch of pics for sure!! Amazing to see the progression happen somewhat quickly!! The home had trusses put on and the roof is sheeted entirely!
So I will post a few pics below..so make sure to take a look!! I really need to change this format of the blog...but that won't be happening anytime soon since I can't even take the time to make an entry!!
Where I left off was on the 12th...the next day was Friday the 13th ....trusses arrived that day and I went out to take the guys some yummy burritos from Roberto's Taco Shop and my friend Daisy came out to take a look at the digs. Richard's wife Janelle was there as well! We all ate and had fun visiting!!
Tom said that day was kind of frustrating once they started to mark out the truss layout because the prints weren't matching something or something....lingo???
Anyhow...come Monday the 16th...the guys start to roll the trusses!! It was a brutal day of very intense wind....and they still walked on those walls to roll those trusses....I couldn't have done it, that's for sure!! Both Monday and Tues were horribly windy days and those were the two days of rolling trusses.... man those guys are so good!! Thanks Richard and Will for helping Tom, he couldn't have done it without you guys for sure!!
Now Wed the 18th the sheeting begins at the back of the house!! Sheeting is done by Friday..or maybe Monday, two days ago! Now begins the work of inside arches, trayed ceiling, soaker tub decking, framing in door, etc., etc.
The plumbers came in today....Wed to start the 'rough in'...they should be done tomorrow!! Thank you to Precision Plumbing and Sean Doncaster who had patiently worked with the lady of the house to figure out what she wants!! WOWSA!!! Too many decisions for this little brain!! Sean is a cool fellow who Mel has known for a few years!! Thanks Sean, for being so patient and understanding of my mini dilemas about tubs, and fixtures!!
Thank God for people with experience and lots of ideas...I'm still stuck on what door to get and we've been thumbing through the book for the last couple of weeks, and driving by many a house to see what on earth we would want, all while staying in the budget!! That's a joke... because of course all the cool stuff is the most expensive stuff!!!
I gave Grandma Forrest a call this morning to get some door advice so we can get the windows ordered, which should've been ordered a couple weeks ago, but I have been mulling over whether to get a door system or just a single door with vinyl windows for sidelites (which usually looks pretty darn cheesy unless it's done with careful, tasteful detail of the finish trimwork). So we will certainly be getting fiberglass door for sure, but I haven't made the final decision as of yet! Tomorrow I will hopefully get a few more prices of some things and from that I will make a decision!!
Visitors this past week included Papa & Grandma Forrest on Sunday the 15th, Grandma Rodriguez on Thursday the 19th, my friend Meagan Santos on Friday the 20th, and Grandpa & Nana Clark on Saturday the 21st! Thank you everyone for coming to see what's going on out there!! It's fun to share!!
Thank you to everyone too who looks in on the blog to see what's up!! Although it would help if I made some entries!! Just email me to remind me!!! That'll be good accountability to stay up and blog!
So as well as deciding most recently as of yesterday and the day before, we decided on fixtures, tubs, and still working on the sink and that blessed front door!! We will be meeting the cabinet guy on Friday and the electrician on Monday to hash out some stuff!!
I'm honestly feeling like I need more time to do some much needed homework on some things!! But it's a little late for that and we seem to be needing to make lots of decisions all of a sudden.
Today's scenarios included Tom talking with the plumbers about where to put the fixtures for the soaker tub because it's a tight master bath and the tub is a corner one without much room for installing the fixtures together so they are trying to figure out the best placement....he was also having to stand in the framed in master shower to try to decide where he wanted the shower head to go, and where to place the control valves for the shower...we are putting a wonderful rainhead shower in the ceiling of the master bath!! So excited....we have two water tanks so we can have plenty of indoor rain shower showers!! So exciting....I had the pleasure of experiencing a rainshower head in January while visiting our Wilson family in Eatonville at our Uncle Dave's house.....it was such a great feeling to have all that warm water falling all over you!! I loved it!!
So you all will be glad to know that we WILL be putting a sink in the laundry room!! Woo Hoo!! Now we just have to find it at a cheap price!!
The internal blinds are probably a no go!! Just worried about the maintenance of the blinds like that!! I'll have to get creative about how to cover the master bedroom patio door! Grandma Forrest suggested a solid door, but I'm thinking I would like to be able to look out onto the patio!
So we changed up the second bathroom and took Richard's idea of placing the tub and toilet in their current spots!! It was a great idea Richard!! So very glad we opened up the space in there like that!!
Ok so very late and I still need to post a few pics....take care all...God Bless you!!
Nope...we have certainly taken a bunch of pics for sure!! Amazing to see the progression happen somewhat quickly!! The home had trusses put on and the roof is sheeted entirely!
So I will post a few pics below..so make sure to take a look!! I really need to change this format of the blog...but that won't be happening anytime soon since I can't even take the time to make an entry!!
Where I left off was on the 12th...the next day was Friday the 13th ....trusses arrived that day and I went out to take the guys some yummy burritos from Roberto's Taco Shop and my friend Daisy came out to take a look at the digs. Richard's wife Janelle was there as well! We all ate and had fun visiting!!
Tom said that day was kind of frustrating once they started to mark out the truss layout because the prints weren't matching something or something....lingo???
Anyhow...come Monday the 16th...the guys start to roll the trusses!! It was a brutal day of very intense wind....and they still walked on those walls to roll those trusses....I couldn't have done it, that's for sure!! Both Monday and Tues were horribly windy days and those were the two days of rolling trusses.... man those guys are so good!! Thanks Richard and Will for helping Tom, he couldn't have done it without you guys for sure!!
Now Wed the 18th the sheeting begins at the back of the house!! Sheeting is done by Friday..or maybe Monday, two days ago! Now begins the work of inside arches, trayed ceiling, soaker tub decking, framing in door, etc., etc.
The plumbers came in today....Wed to start the 'rough in'...they should be done tomorrow!! Thank you to Precision Plumbing and Sean Doncaster who had patiently worked with the lady of the house to figure out what she wants!! WOWSA!!! Too many decisions for this little brain!! Sean is a cool fellow who Mel has known for a few years!! Thanks Sean, for being so patient and understanding of my mini dilemas about tubs, and fixtures!!
Thank God for people with experience and lots of ideas...I'm still stuck on what door to get and we've been thumbing through the book for the last couple of weeks, and driving by many a house to see what on earth we would want, all while staying in the budget!! That's a joke... because of course all the cool stuff is the most expensive stuff!!!
I gave Grandma Forrest a call this morning to get some door advice so we can get the windows ordered, which should've been ordered a couple weeks ago, but I have been mulling over whether to get a door system or just a single door with vinyl windows for sidelites (which usually looks pretty darn cheesy unless it's done with careful, tasteful detail of the finish trimwork). So we will certainly be getting fiberglass door for sure, but I haven't made the final decision as of yet! Tomorrow I will hopefully get a few more prices of some things and from that I will make a decision!!
Visitors this past week included Papa & Grandma Forrest on Sunday the 15th, Grandma Rodriguez on Thursday the 19th, my friend Meagan Santos on Friday the 20th, and Grandpa & Nana Clark on Saturday the 21st! Thank you everyone for coming to see what's going on out there!! It's fun to share!!
Thank you to everyone too who looks in on the blog to see what's up!! Although it would help if I made some entries!! Just email me to remind me!!! That'll be good accountability to stay up and blog!
So as well as deciding most recently as of yesterday and the day before, we decided on fixtures, tubs, and still working on the sink and that blessed front door!! We will be meeting the cabinet guy on Friday and the electrician on Monday to hash out some stuff!!
I'm honestly feeling like I need more time to do some much needed homework on some things!! But it's a little late for that and we seem to be needing to make lots of decisions all of a sudden.
Today's scenarios included Tom talking with the plumbers about where to put the fixtures for the soaker tub because it's a tight master bath and the tub is a corner one without much room for installing the fixtures together so they are trying to figure out the best placement....he was also having to stand in the framed in master shower to try to decide where he wanted the shower head to go, and where to place the control valves for the shower...we are putting a wonderful rainhead shower in the ceiling of the master bath!! So excited....we have two water tanks so we can have plenty of indoor rain shower showers!! So exciting....I had the pleasure of experiencing a rainshower head in January while visiting our Wilson family in Eatonville at our Uncle Dave's house.....it was such a great feeling to have all that warm water falling all over you!! I loved it!!
So you all will be glad to know that we WILL be putting a sink in the laundry room!! Woo Hoo!! Now we just have to find it at a cheap price!!
The internal blinds are probably a no go!! Just worried about the maintenance of the blinds like that!! I'll have to get creative about how to cover the master bedroom patio door! Grandma Forrest suggested a solid door, but I'm thinking I would like to be able to look out onto the patio!
So we changed up the second bathroom and took Richard's idea of placing the tub and toilet in their current spots!! It was a great idea Richard!! So very glad we opened up the space in there like that!!
Ok so very late and I still need to post a few pics....take care all...God Bless you!!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Interior walls today!
OK...no pictures tonight but I definitely wanted to journal the last couple of days! I wasn't able to make it to the property on Tuesday, but the hard work the guys accomplished that day was putting up the sheeting on the exterior part of the walls.
Today...the kids and I went to see the new, exciting changes taking place which was the interior walls were being built and put up!! It was so neat to see!!
Another cold day today...not sure how cold but it felt like freezing cold weather!! Amazing! The guys said that in the morning it was even worse than what it was in the afternoon when we showed up, and it was so so freezing cold! I felt bad!! If it were up to me...I would have gone home and snuggled back in bed to go back to sleep!
Thanks so much Richard and Will for helping Tom out with this...you guys ROCK!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Tom would never have gotten this far without you guys there to help him get 'er done!!
The mini dilema we face at the moment is how to arrange the 2nd bathroom. As the guys began snapping lines and putting up interior walls the dimensions come to life, of course, as compared to looking at the plan on paper. Everything seems so small....but its twice the size and more of what we occupy now...
With that said the 2nd bathroom is so small, it seems, and we are trying to figure out a way to maximize space but also making it feel more open and not so cramped because the toilet is right next to the shower! Richard had a good idea that Tom wanted me to come out to see, and I agreed that it was a good idea. It was to move the toilet to the opposite wall so it opens up the space in front of the tub.
So Tom spent tonight drawing up a couple different scenarios he would frame up. Both scenarios involve getting rid of the hall closet and he's taking away my space for a cool bench in the utility room....he says there's still room for 15 in. of bench...
My thinking is it would be nice to have a spot to sit and take off your shoes and put on some slippers coming in from the garage! Also a spot to hang our coats and keep our hats, gloves, some shoes, etc. Especially since we are going to get rid of both hall closets!! We are being bold....
Tom called Grandma Forrest today to have her look at the set of plans she has with her at home to see what she thought of some things we are thinking of changing. She had good input as well!
Wow...so many decisions! So Tom says trusses are coming on Friday!! How exciting!
I will hopefully post some pics tomorrow!
Thanks for reading! I'm thoroughly enjoying everyone's input in regards to all the things I'm posting and my polls I've put up!! As far as the sink in the utility...I think Tom is certainly trumped!! Everyone seems to be on my side with that!! :) With the blinds, I've heard a mix of yes and no. Definitely a little more difficult to weigh out! Thanks for the input...I love hearing it all!! So good to get second opinions since there are so many ways to think of something but our two brains can only think of so much!! Thanks for sharing your brain power!!
Take care all!
...........to be continued!
Today...the kids and I went to see the new, exciting changes taking place which was the interior walls were being built and put up!! It was so neat to see!!
Another cold day today...not sure how cold but it felt like freezing cold weather!! Amazing! The guys said that in the morning it was even worse than what it was in the afternoon when we showed up, and it was so so freezing cold! I felt bad!! If it were up to me...I would have gone home and snuggled back in bed to go back to sleep!
Thanks so much Richard and Will for helping Tom out with this...you guys ROCK!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Tom would never have gotten this far without you guys there to help him get 'er done!!
The mini dilema we face at the moment is how to arrange the 2nd bathroom. As the guys began snapping lines and putting up interior walls the dimensions come to life, of course, as compared to looking at the plan on paper. Everything seems so small....but its twice the size and more of what we occupy now...
With that said the 2nd bathroom is so small, it seems, and we are trying to figure out a way to maximize space but also making it feel more open and not so cramped because the toilet is right next to the shower! Richard had a good idea that Tom wanted me to come out to see, and I agreed that it was a good idea. It was to move the toilet to the opposite wall so it opens up the space in front of the tub.
So Tom spent tonight drawing up a couple different scenarios he would frame up. Both scenarios involve getting rid of the hall closet and he's taking away my space for a cool bench in the utility room....he says there's still room for 15 in. of bench...
My thinking is it would be nice to have a spot to sit and take off your shoes and put on some slippers coming in from the garage! Also a spot to hang our coats and keep our hats, gloves, some shoes, etc. Especially since we are going to get rid of both hall closets!! We are being bold....
Tom called Grandma Forrest today to have her look at the set of plans she has with her at home to see what she thought of some things we are thinking of changing. She had good input as well!
Wow...so many decisions! So Tom says trusses are coming on Friday!! How exciting!
I will hopefully post some pics tomorrow!
Thanks for reading! I'm thoroughly enjoying everyone's input in regards to all the things I'm posting and my polls I've put up!! As far as the sink in the utility...I think Tom is certainly trumped!! Everyone seems to be on my side with that!! :) With the blinds, I've heard a mix of yes and no. Definitely a little more difficult to weigh out! Thanks for the input...I love hearing it all!! So good to get second opinions since there are so many ways to think of something but our two brains can only think of so much!! Thanks for sharing your brain power!!
Take care all!
...........to be continued!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Walls are up today!!
OK....week 2 day 1 of framing the house as of today!!! I'll include quite a few pictures in this one if I have the patience to upload...we'll see...there will be at least a couple of new ones!!
I have a video I can upload too...we'll see if I can figure that one out, since I'm still having issues with the whole PDF to JPEG to uploading a picture deal!! Thanks for the help with that problem John...I tried what you said but it's not working for me!!! Ugh!!!
I'll start with today!! Today the guys...Tom, Richard, and Mel's brother, Will got all the exterior walls up including the garage walls. It was a freezing cold day...and windy too.. but it's pretty much always windy up where the land is!! The kids and I went out to take a look and I had to put Josiah in his snow pants and boots, and heavy coat so he could roam around the house!!
So hats off to the guys for enduring the harsh weather conditions to get all those walls up today and also the massive huge beams that go over the garage exterior walls! Man those looked heavy!! At one point Richard did comment on the fact that his he couldn't feel his lips or nose because they were numb from the cold!! Crazy!! Thanks for all the hard work and effort!! We truly appreciate it!! The guys are so talented to be able to frame up an entire house!! It's such a great accomplishment!
So I guess this post will be one of much rambling!!!
Friday the guys worked on building walls on the ground to get them ready to be put up today!
The concrete for the garage was poured and worked on all day on Friday! It was covered in tarps to protect it from the cold! I tell ya...the weather is so wierd! It has hailed twice in the last week! Josiah was trying to catch the hail in his hand today....he caught some then he licked the water off!! So cute!!
We are at crunch time for getting the windows ordered because Tom and the guys should be done framing in two weeks and they need to have the windows set by then to get an inspection to be able to proceed with the roof!
We are having a hard time trying to figure out what kind of entry door we want...we haven't really done our homework...so now Mel is going to drive around to see what would be desireable for the house!
So begins the tedious details of picking and choosing so many different components to the finish work of the house!! We are looking at trim as well as windows..should we get a dining room door with or without the interior blinds, should we have a privacy window in the master bath since it's the only window in the bathroom unfortunately! Should we put a sink in the laundry/utility room...Tom says no & Mel says yes!! What kind of floor will we choose?? We really need to go look around at stuff, which we haven't done!! If you have any input...let us know!
Mel started work on Wed, so it has been a busy week and of course that's my excuse for not blogging until now...I almost bailed out of blogging tonight as well, but I made myself!! I'm so exhausted...so much to do so little time is what it always feels like on my end of things!! Hannah's been congested but is now getting over it, and that is emotionally draining because you hope that they feel OK even though you can tell they are miserable when they can't hardly breathe!! So Hannah is on the up and up! Josiah is such an awesome kid...so very good....although he wears Mama out throughout the day as he in the the testing boundaries stage. It's fun but sometimes frustrating and exhausting!! We love our kids and are so very thankful they are healthy and happy! We are BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!!!!
We love you all and thanks for keeping up with us on this blog deal!
I have a video I can upload too...we'll see if I can figure that one out, since I'm still having issues with the whole PDF to JPEG to uploading a picture deal!! Thanks for the help with that problem John...I tried what you said but it's not working for me!!! Ugh!!!
I'll start with today!! Today the guys...Tom, Richard, and Mel's brother, Will got all the exterior walls up including the garage walls. It was a freezing cold day...and windy too.. but it's pretty much always windy up where the land is!! The kids and I went out to take a look and I had to put Josiah in his snow pants and boots, and heavy coat so he could roam around the house!!
So hats off to the guys for enduring the harsh weather conditions to get all those walls up today and also the massive huge beams that go over the garage exterior walls! Man those looked heavy!! At one point Richard did comment on the fact that his he couldn't feel his lips or nose because they were numb from the cold!! Crazy!! Thanks for all the hard work and effort!! We truly appreciate it!! The guys are so talented to be able to frame up an entire house!! It's such a great accomplishment!
So I guess this post will be one of much rambling!!!
Friday the guys worked on building walls on the ground to get them ready to be put up today!
The concrete for the garage was poured and worked on all day on Friday! It was covered in tarps to protect it from the cold! I tell ya...the weather is so wierd! It has hailed twice in the last week! Josiah was trying to catch the hail in his hand today....he caught some then he licked the water off!! So cute!!
We are at crunch time for getting the windows ordered because Tom and the guys should be done framing in two weeks and they need to have the windows set by then to get an inspection to be able to proceed with the roof!
We are having a hard time trying to figure out what kind of entry door we want...we haven't really done our homework...so now Mel is going to drive around to see what would be desireable for the house!
So begins the tedious details of picking and choosing so many different components to the finish work of the house!! We are looking at trim as well as windows..should we get a dining room door with or without the interior blinds, should we have a privacy window in the master bath since it's the only window in the bathroom unfortunately! Should we put a sink in the laundry/utility room...Tom says no & Mel says yes!! What kind of floor will we choose?? We really need to go look around at stuff, which we haven't done!! If you have any input...let us know!
Mel started work on Wed, so it has been a busy week and of course that's my excuse for not blogging until now...I almost bailed out of blogging tonight as well, but I made myself!! I'm so exhausted...so much to do so little time is what it always feels like on my end of things!! Hannah's been congested but is now getting over it, and that is emotionally draining because you hope that they feel OK even though you can tell they are miserable when they can't hardly breathe!! So Hannah is on the up and up! Josiah is such an awesome kid...so very good....although he wears Mama out throughout the day as he in the the testing boundaries stage. It's fun but sometimes frustrating and exhausting!! We love our kids and are so very thankful they are healthy and happy! We are BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!!!!
We love you all and thanks for keeping up with us on this blog deal!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
House Talk!!
Hi all.....I received a very helpful tidbit that prompts me to get this post up quick. I wanted to put it up last night, but I got frustrated since I was trying to figure out how to get a picture of the house plan that is in PDF form onto the blog!
Thank you John & Kathy for your input about more info needing to get up here!!
So we went to the property yesterday to check out the progress and the foundation is totally done!! Wow..it looks so cool! We took our picture where the front door would be and I'll be trying to take pictures at that same spot as the project rolls along!!
So now time to talk about the home!!
It is a 2257 square foot rambler. It has 3 bedrooms and a den. It will have a walk in pantry off the hall! It will have a huge master bedroom with a huge closet! It will have a nice fireplace! It has a pretty nice size utility room which should have quite a bit of cupboard space! We also plan to put one of those bench style seats, in place of the closet, with hooks for coats and drawers underneat for storage!!
Which by the way if anyone has any ideas as far as storage and cabinet layout for utility rooms or pantry's I sure would love to hear it! I've been trying to look stuff up on the internet so I can get some ideas!
Not sure what the style of home would be considered which is why I so badly wanted to get a picture of the house plan onto the blog, but I'm not techy enough to figure it out!
When we were out there yesterday to see the foundation is neat but to try to think it out dimensionally is odd. The garage seems so small compared to the plan and so do the bedrooms that are at the front of the house!! I'm anxious to see it all framed up!!
Tom will start the framing on Monday...how exciting!!
Thank you John & Kathy for your input about more info needing to get up here!!
So we went to the property yesterday to check out the progress and the foundation is totally done!! Wow..it looks so cool! We took our picture where the front door would be and I'll be trying to take pictures at that same spot as the project rolls along!!
So now time to talk about the home!!
It is a 2257 square foot rambler. It has 3 bedrooms and a den. It will have a walk in pantry off the hall! It will have a huge master bedroom with a huge closet! It will have a nice fireplace! It has a pretty nice size utility room which should have quite a bit of cupboard space! We also plan to put one of those bench style seats, in place of the closet, with hooks for coats and drawers underneat for storage!!
Which by the way if anyone has any ideas as far as storage and cabinet layout for utility rooms or pantry's I sure would love to hear it! I've been trying to look stuff up on the internet so I can get some ideas!
Not sure what the style of home would be considered which is why I so badly wanted to get a picture of the house plan onto the blog, but I'm not techy enough to figure it out!
When we were out there yesterday to see the foundation is neat but to try to think it out dimensionally is odd. The garage seems so small compared to the plan and so do the bedrooms that are at the front of the house!! I'm anxious to see it all framed up!!
Tom will start the framing on Monday...how exciting!!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Many Thanks!
I wanted to make sure and say a big thank you to a couple people!!
Thanks Aaron Magula owner of Dream Builders....thanks for all of your help and letting Tom show up at your doorstep at short notice so many times to talk about changing the plans...doing up stuff for the city, etc. We appreciate all that you have done for us!! You are awesome!
LouAnne Burton with Banner Bank..you worked to get this through for us and for that we are so grateful!! Thanks for all your hard work!
I'm almost falling asleep I'm so darn tired...I need to go "nigh, nigh" as I am always telling Hannah!!
Thanks Aaron Magula owner of Dream Builders....thanks for all of your help and letting Tom show up at your doorstep at short notice so many times to talk about changing the plans...doing up stuff for the city, etc. We appreciate all that you have done for us!! You are awesome!
LouAnne Burton with Banner Bank..you worked to get this through for us and for that we are so grateful!! Thanks for all your hard work!
I'm almost falling asleep I'm so darn tired...I need to go "nigh, nigh" as I am always telling Hannah!!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
OK...I'm slackin'!!
Friday the 20th..we finally signed our huge stack of paperwork...loan stuff...title stuff...etc. etc.
Monday the 23rd...it's technically official!!! We are the proud owners of a bank note on a half acre of land that will have a 2257 sq. foot home built on it!!
It's real...it's done....praise God & praise Jesus...thanks to all who prayed for us!! We are so thankful for the support!
On Monday they poured the concrete for the footings??? Not sure of the lingo...anyhow...they were taking the forms off the concrete today...and Tom was set to snap lines tomorrow afternoon and frame on Friday, BUT.....
we need some more dirt for fill and we can't get it until Monday...so they will now officially start the framing process on Monday which is when Tom has the lumber drop scheduled first thing in the morn!!
Wow...how exciting...
we had a cabinet guy come in and talk to us about what we need for the place..we are excited to
get a bid from him!
After much internal deliberation and a few polls we took...Tom decided his new business name for his framing company would be "RIVERVALLEY FRAMING, INC." He likes landmark type names...he chose this over "RESURRECTION FRAMING, INC."
Tom is very excited and we are looking foward to seeing the progress...Melissa has cleared off a 2 GB SD card for these next few months of picture taking!
Anyhow...more later...I'll try not to slack anymore!
Friday the 20th..we finally signed our huge stack of paperwork...loan stuff...title stuff...etc. etc.
Monday the 23rd...it's technically official!!! We are the proud owners of a bank note on a half acre of land that will have a 2257 sq. foot home built on it!!
It's real...it's done....praise God & praise Jesus...thanks to all who prayed for us!! We are so thankful for the support!
On Monday they poured the concrete for the footings??? Not sure of the lingo...anyhow...they were taking the forms off the concrete today...and Tom was set to snap lines tomorrow afternoon and frame on Friday, BUT.....
we need some more dirt for fill and we can't get it until Monday...so they will now officially start the framing process on Monday which is when Tom has the lumber drop scheduled first thing in the morn!!
Wow...how exciting...
we had a cabinet guy come in and talk to us about what we need for the place..we are excited to
get a bid from him!
After much internal deliberation and a few polls we took...Tom decided his new business name for his framing company would be "RIVERVALLEY FRAMING, INC." He likes landmark type names...he chose this over "RESURRECTION FRAMING, INC."
Tom is very excited and we are looking foward to seeing the progress...Melissa has cleared off a 2 GB SD card for these next few months of picture taking!
Anyhow...more later...I'll try not to slack anymore!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Finally an Answer!!
Hi all....here's the latest......(drumroll please)
Looks like we WILL BE BUILDING A HOUSE soon!!! WOO HOO!!! We are so very excited to say the least!
LouAnne spoke with Tom tonight at 6pm to let him know that the underwriters have approved everything now for sure and that she would be emailing Stewart Title to get us an appt for Tues or Wed to sign papers!!
This call was after a call on Tue evening at 8pm letting us know that she is still working on it...then she called yesterday evening to let us know it was finally going back to underwriting with the file complete and we would hear the answer today. She actually called us!
The first thing Tom did was to call the concrete guys to let them know they can begin to build the forms at least, but wont be pouring until we have signed papers, by my request!
We have lots to do now....but so very excited and ready for the challenge, and so very happy that Tom is going to build a house!! Josiah keeps saying "Syah help dada build a house!" We keep telling him that Mama & Josiah are going to help Dada build us a house!! How awesome!!
Thank you to everyone who has been praying with us for the best outcome that God would have for us!! We of course were partial to a yes answer, but were prepared for anything knowing that God has our best interest and a bigger picture in mind!
Take care all.....lots more to come..Tom says to me "Now we can keep putting stuff on the BLOG!" I just need to figure out how to make a really cool blog like I've seen out there!! I'm just learning so maybe you'll see changes to our blog soon!!
Looks like we WILL BE BUILDING A HOUSE soon!!! WOO HOO!!! We are so very excited to say the least!
LouAnne spoke with Tom tonight at 6pm to let him know that the underwriters have approved everything now for sure and that she would be emailing Stewart Title to get us an appt for Tues or Wed to sign papers!!
This call was after a call on Tue evening at 8pm letting us know that she is still working on it...then she called yesterday evening to let us know it was finally going back to underwriting with the file complete and we would hear the answer today. She actually called us!
The first thing Tom did was to call the concrete guys to let them know they can begin to build the forms at least, but wont be pouring until we have signed papers, by my request!
We have lots to do now....but so very excited and ready for the challenge, and so very happy that Tom is going to build a house!! Josiah keeps saying "Syah help dada build a house!" We keep telling him that Mama & Josiah are going to help Dada build us a house!! How awesome!!
Thank you to everyone who has been praying with us for the best outcome that God would have for us!! We of course were partial to a yes answer, but were prepared for anything knowing that God has our best interest and a bigger picture in mind!
Take care all.....lots more to come..Tom says to me "Now we can keep putting stuff on the BLOG!" I just need to figure out how to make a really cool blog like I've seen out there!! I'm just learning so maybe you'll see changes to our blog soon!!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Still waiting!
OK...so we are to the point that we just want to know if this is a yea or nay! We took LouAnne copies of bank statements that she said was the last thing she needed and that the underwriter was waiting for this specifically and they would call us!
Every time we have had contact with her is because we call her and she doesn't call us, but when we do call she gives us something else she needs! Pretty annoying to say the least. I just hope this isn't how they do business normally should the loan go through and we have to deal with them on a monthly basis. Oh well...it'll all work out to what God would have for us!!
So today Tom called to see what's going on and she said that they tried to call Costco to verify that I will be returning to work and if I will work the same amount of hours that I did before I left and so Tom called her back to tell her who they should talk to about my hours, etc.
It really is hard to not get frustrated at that. They should just give us a list of the things they need instead of giving us something new every time we call!! They don't even call us to let us know what they need additionally!! Crazy!!
Take care all.....
Every time we have had contact with her is because we call her and she doesn't call us, but when we do call she gives us something else she needs! Pretty annoying to say the least. I just hope this isn't how they do business normally should the loan go through and we have to deal with them on a monthly basis. Oh well...it'll all work out to what God would have for us!!
So today Tom called to see what's going on and she said that they tried to call Costco to verify that I will be returning to work and if I will work the same amount of hours that I did before I left and so Tom called her back to tell her who they should talk to about my hours, etc.
It really is hard to not get frustrated at that. They should just give us a list of the things they need instead of giving us something new every time we call!! They don't even call us to let us know what they need additionally!! Crazy!!
Take care all.....
Monday, February 2, 2009
Still anxiously waiting!!
We are certainly anxious to say the least!!
We stayed home this weekend after planning to visit Tom's brother and his family because the bank needed some letters in regards to Tom's business not having any credit history.
As framers they only needed to buy nails for each project because most of the builders over here buy the lumber package and have it waiting for the framers to start with and the framers will order more as they go along.
Anyhow...Tom met with her on Saturday to get the letters to her and to talk to her about some business stuff.
She said she'd call on Monday, and she did which was a nice surprise because she is usually so busy she forgets to call us!! So she called to say she needed copies of the current state registration for the business to have on file. Tom took it to her right away!
Now we are waiting again to hear if it's a yea or nay! We are praying it's a yea, since we are so excited at the thought of building a home!!
If it's a nay.....all's I can say is what a big big bummer!! But we are trusting that God would have His way in all of this and that we can trust in His plans for us!!
I was reading today how the banking industry is still in shambles, pretty much, and they are so very strict lately about loaning to people. LouAnne has been great to work with this whole time and she has sounded pretty optimistic about the whole thing, but maybe it's because that's her job?? Not sure what to think....so we're just praying!!
We stayed home this weekend after planning to visit Tom's brother and his family because the bank needed some letters in regards to Tom's business not having any credit history.
As framers they only needed to buy nails for each project because most of the builders over here buy the lumber package and have it waiting for the framers to start with and the framers will order more as they go along.
Anyhow...Tom met with her on Saturday to get the letters to her and to talk to her about some business stuff.
She said she'd call on Monday, and she did which was a nice surprise because she is usually so busy she forgets to call us!! So she called to say she needed copies of the current state registration for the business to have on file. Tom took it to her right away!
Now we are waiting again to hear if it's a yea or nay! We are praying it's a yea, since we are so excited at the thought of building a home!!
If it's a nay.....all's I can say is what a big big bummer!! But we are trusting that God would have His way in all of this and that we can trust in His plans for us!!
I was reading today how the banking industry is still in shambles, pretty much, and they are so very strict lately about loaning to people. LouAnne has been great to work with this whole time and she has sounded pretty optimistic about the whole thing, but maybe it's because that's her job?? Not sure what to think....so we're just praying!!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Bank blues!!
The bank said on Thursday that we would be closing Monday, so by Tuesday morning when we hadn't heard from them we called to see what the schedule was for us to be closing. We had already scheduled the excavation for Monday which didn't actually happen until yesterday (Wed).
That was so fun to watch the guy in that track-hoe to the excavating! Josiah was a little scared of the loud noise, but had fun watching!
The concrete guys were scheduled to come right after they guy was done digging the hole, but we cancelled due to the loan not being closed and funded....we don't want to put any more moola into this until we sign those papers!!
So Lou Anne, the loan officer, said she would be calling today to tell us when we will be closing (for the third time, I believe). So hopefully this time she's right because we are chompin at the bit to get the concrete in so it's set by the 1st and Tom can start the framing!! We are excited!!
Hopefully there are no issues with us closing the loan, Lou Anne is assuring us that everything is OK, but that there are a lot of loans that they are working on!!
I haven't uploaded the pictures from excavation but I will do that a little later after I accomplish some housely duties first!!!
Well my son is asking to watch his ABC movie so time to go!!
That was so fun to watch the guy in that track-hoe to the excavating! Josiah was a little scared of the loud noise, but had fun watching!
The concrete guys were scheduled to come right after they guy was done digging the hole, but we cancelled due to the loan not being closed and funded....we don't want to put any more moola into this until we sign those papers!!
So Lou Anne, the loan officer, said she would be calling today to tell us when we will be closing (for the third time, I believe). So hopefully this time she's right because we are chompin at the bit to get the concrete in so it's set by the 1st and Tom can start the framing!! We are excited!!
Hopefully there are no issues with us closing the loan, Lou Anne is assuring us that everything is OK, but that there are a lot of loans that they are working on!!
I haven't uploaded the pictures from excavation but I will do that a little later after I accomplish some housely duties first!!!
Well my son is asking to watch his ABC movie so time to go!!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
New schedule!!
On Friday Melissa went to the PUD to get an application for temporary power and they gave me the U Dig # to call, before we dig anything and there are at least 6 different utility companies that have to come mark up the property....so we will begin the excavation for the house on Tuesday morning and get the forms for the foundation going at noon that day as well.
We didn't hear from the bank on Friday so, we're not sure if the loan is closing tomorrow or not??
We didn't hear from the bank on Friday so, we're not sure if the loan is closing tomorrow or not??
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Monday's THE DAY!!!!
Today Tom scheduled excavation, and concrete forms for Monday! Everyone is ready to go as it has been slow and people are ready to work! The timing, yet again, is absolutely perfect as Tom will finally be done tomorrow with the current home they've been working on for a month and a half at least! The weather has drawn out this job by many days!
Temporary power pole went in today, put in by Silverline Electric who will be our electricians!! Thanks guys!
Tom went to put the house address on the property last night, so everyone knows where to go!!
Monday will be a busy day of officially closing on the loan, and officially groundbreaking at the property to begin construction!!
Wow...we're finally here!! Thank God for His provision during this whole process...His timing is impeccable to say the least!! His hand has been in this whole entire process!! Praise Jesus!
Temporary power pole went in today, put in by Silverline Electric who will be our electricians!! Thanks guys!
Tom went to put the house address on the property last night, so everyone knows where to go!!
Monday will be a busy day of officially closing on the loan, and officially groundbreaking at the property to begin construction!!
Wow...we're finally here!! Thank God for His provision during this whole process...His timing is impeccable to say the least!! His hand has been in this whole entire process!! Praise Jesus!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Some pictures finally!!
Hi all...I was able to add pictures finally so be sure to look at them at the bottom of the blog!!
Take care!!! Love you all!! TOM & MELISSA
Take care!!! Love you all!! TOM & MELISSA
Staking out the House for Excavation!
Today it was so cold and the roads were covered in an icy sheet, so as Tom tried to make it up the hill where his job is, the truck tires were spinning out and he started sliding down the hill backwards. The trailer jack-knifed and the truck spun all the way around...thank God Tom is ok and there wasn't any damage to the truck and trailer!!
To say the least Tom and Ryan didn't work today again due to the freezing cold weather!! They have had to keep putting off finishing this job because of this weather. They only have a couple days left to work on it and get it all done...so hopefully that will be soon!
Since Tom didn't work he decided to go stake out the house in preparation for excavation work!!
He had Richard's help to do the task in the below freezing weather!! They got the staking all done, so we are ready for the excavator!
I went out to, of course, take pictures of the first major event on our property and to my surprise saw a SOLD sign, which felt really weird!! I took some good pictures and I hope I can post them all on this site..I have yet to try the multiple picture thing on here!!
It's really official and it's all truly going to happen!!
Tom spoke with LouAnne, our great loan officer, and she said that we will be for sure ready to close on the loan by Monday the 26th!! WooHoo!! We will bring in receipts for the items we've
paid for and that will be deducted against the down payment!!
So the excavator will be back in town on Thurs and hopefully we can get him to dig our hole on Friday!! How exciting!
To say the least Tom and Ryan didn't work today again due to the freezing cold weather!! They have had to keep putting off finishing this job because of this weather. They only have a couple days left to work on it and get it all done...so hopefully that will be soon!
Since Tom didn't work he decided to go stake out the house in preparation for excavation work!!
He had Richard's help to do the task in the below freezing weather!! They got the staking all done, so we are ready for the excavator!
I went out to, of course, take pictures of the first major event on our property and to my surprise saw a SOLD sign, which felt really weird!! I took some good pictures and I hope I can post them all on this site..I have yet to try the multiple picture thing on here!!
It's really official and it's all truly going to happen!!
Tom spoke with LouAnne, our great loan officer, and she said that we will be for sure ready to close on the loan by Monday the 26th!! WooHoo!! We will bring in receipts for the items we've
paid for and that will be deducted against the down payment!!
So the excavator will be back in town on Thurs and hopefully we can get him to dig our hole on Friday!! How exciting!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Closer and Closer
Tom spoke with a loan officer in Spokane yesterday because our local one LouAnne has had a family emergency come up! Tom & I are praying for her and the family! Hope everything's ok for her. The woman in Spokane told Tom that they are very close to having the assessment done. In a day or two it will go to the underwriters who should have it for a week. We have a closing date of the 22nd of January....so Tom is bouncing ideas off me to see what we should do about the electric and to figure out how to get the first things scheduled to happen by the end of the month that way we can bill it out and get paid from our loan right away!!
So the deadline is January 22nd! Wow it's getting closer and closer, but Tom was figuring out that this process has taken at least 40 days going into 50 or more!! That's a long time but it's certainly divine timing in my opinion..our God is taking care of us! Praise you Jesus!!
So the deadline is January 22nd! Wow it's getting closer and closer, but Tom was figuring out that this process has taken at least 40 days going into 50 or more!! That's a long time but it's certainly divine timing in my opinion..our God is taking care of us! Praise you Jesus!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hi all...Tom heard from the assessor today and the loan officer...they said the assessment should be done soon..should've been done as of Monday evening but Tom will hear more from LouAnne tomorrow (today as it is almost 2am :{ crazy)!
Also we were shocked to hear from the city building dept. that the permit to build is ready! Tom took the app. on Thursday afternoon. It was supposed to take 6-10 days, but it only took 2 days! Wow..the timing is such a God thing!
Now we are waiting to just close on the loan. In the meantime, Tom is going to schedule the excavator to come dig the hole for the foundation and we will be ready to pour right when we close on the loan!
I'll work on getting pics up..I haven't taken a picture of the land yet!!
Also we were shocked to hear from the city building dept. that the permit to build is ready! Tom took the app. on Thursday afternoon. It was supposed to take 6-10 days, but it only took 2 days! Wow..the timing is such a God thing!
Now we are waiting to just close on the loan. In the meantime, Tom is going to schedule the excavator to come dig the hole for the foundation and we will be ready to pour right when we close on the loan!
I'll work on getting pics up..I haven't taken a picture of the land yet!!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Planning
Hi ...we are excited to start this Blog to keep everyone updated on the progress of our home building project!! It's a dream come true for Tom to build our family a home with his own hands, so we can build a great amount of sweat equity on a new home!!
Tom will frame, set windows, roof, hang siding, do the finish work, hang cabinets, lay flooring, and whatever else he can to build that equity!! Richard Guthrie will be working with Tom on the construction project! We are thankful for his help in advance...thanks Richard!! You and your family are a blessing!
Our status currently is "waiting on the loan to close"! We have heard from our loan officer LouAnne and she said that the assessment on the house will be done by tomorrow (hopefully) and it will go to the underwriters for about a week and then we should be ready to close. We had to sign an addendum to the Purchase Agreement for the land since it's gone longer than we expected of course.
In the meantime Tom has been working on things like getting the approval for a septic system, and turning in the application to the city for an approval to build our home!! It was quite an extensive amount of paperwork! Tom has been doing such a great job at getting all that tedious paperwork done! Good job honey!!
Melissa is still mulling over how the kitchen cabinet layout should be arranged as well as the utility room, walk in pantry, and the bathrooms...those are important areas that need to be functional. Hopefully the decisions made will be attractive to prospective buyers should we sell the house in a couple of years!!!
Well thank for reading our blog and we will post pictures later & fill in on the progress!
Tom will frame, set windows, roof, hang siding, do the finish work, hang cabinets, lay flooring, and whatever else he can to build that equity!! Richard Guthrie will be working with Tom on the construction project! We are thankful for his help in advance...thanks Richard!! You and your family are a blessing!
Our status currently is "waiting on the loan to close"! We have heard from our loan officer LouAnne and she said that the assessment on the house will be done by tomorrow (hopefully) and it will go to the underwriters for about a week and then we should be ready to close. We had to sign an addendum to the Purchase Agreement for the land since it's gone longer than we expected of course.
In the meantime Tom has been working on things like getting the approval for a septic system, and turning in the application to the city for an approval to build our home!! It was quite an extensive amount of paperwork! Tom has been doing such a great job at getting all that tedious paperwork done! Good job honey!!
Melissa is still mulling over how the kitchen cabinet layout should be arranged as well as the utility room, walk in pantry, and the bathrooms...those are important areas that need to be functional. Hopefully the decisions made will be attractive to prospective buyers should we sell the house in a couple of years!!!
Well thank for reading our blog and we will post pictures later & fill in on the progress!
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