Nolan

I have to write this down before I forget it. The other night we were talking at dinner and one topic of conversation was Nolan leaving first grade and going to second grade. I was telling Nolan that I thought it was a good idea to learn who the second grade teachers are so that when they post the list of which students are in which teachers class, he will be able to put a face to a name. After all of this Nolan said, "so do you think its a high probability that I will pass first grade and go to second grade?"!!! Yes, Nolan, I am pretty sure this will not be a problem!!

House pictures- really!!

Okay- I didn't mean to tease you the other night! Long story short, I thought I had the house pictures, but apparently I did not have updated ones. So without further ado, here they are!


New Living Room


Hardwoods are in, formal living and dining
Kitchen

Kitchen cabinets are here!! WAHOO
View from the back


Laundry Room (orange and green- it makes me happy!)
Media Room

Chase turns four!

I know, I know- I NEED to post pictures! I will talk more later, but I think most people just want to see..... its going well and coming to an end!! Meanwhile, here are some photos, inlcuding Chase's 4th birthday!

This is Nolan running down Nana's hill with the little ones in the garden wagon- all three laughing hysterically!!! As were we!!! Rest assured, no one was hurt!

Excited- finally!

I just have to write a quick post, because today is a significant day for me. We went to our house today, primarily to measure shelving for our pantry. No get this, one of Michael's friends at work loves to do woodwork. He asked Michael what he was going to do with all of the hardwood floors we are taking up. We didn't have a plan, so Michael brought them to "Thornbury". So a few days later Michael shows me these really beautiful shelves made out of my hardwood remnants! Now, this is the ultimate best thing ever for many reasons. First of all, what a wonderful way to recycle these hardwoods. Second, and most important to me, is that I get to keep my hardwood floors, they will just be shelves in my pantry. That just really made me happy! But back to my title- as we were measuring and looking around - for the very first time I felt excited about my house! It was nice to finally feel this way.... that's all!

House Update

Well a six month project is down to about 6 weeks. It is strange that with as many photos as we have taken we seem to have missed much of the interior construction. I will have to go over and take some photos this afternoon.

Framing, electrical, plumbing, and insulation is complete. In fact most of the house has now had sheetrock installed. A few other small projects to do Monday and Tuesday and then taping, mudding, sanding and texture. We could be painting by middle of next week, or possibly the weekend...hopefully.

Here are a few photos. We'll post more of the house tonight and of Chase's 4th birthday party.

Another inspection

Electrical inspection has been completed. Although it passed, of course there is another surprise. I've come to expect these surprises, but it comes with a price tag and alot of annoyance on my part. What I learned with the electrical inspection is that it is done by labor and industries, not the city of BL. One of the things the electrical people are concerned about is safety and they are conscious of things encroaching in your space. So with that said, one of the things that are not allowed per the book of rules, is the inability to have some wall sconces on a part of the hallway I wanted. Okay fine- whatever. I will get over that- just annoying that's all!

We also have to have an enclosure in our venting system. The venting system was not enclosed before and it has to be now (also some extra bucks). Again- annoying- but clearly nothing I can do about it!!

Other than that, things are coming together. I do have to say that so far it looks great! So despite my complaints, the actual project and house is looking good!! We went and checked out some "estate homes" the other day (for decorating ideas, etc), and we were very pleased with ourselves that the upgrades we chose to do on our home, were in these homes too!!

I have some new photos I will upload a bit later.

an AH- HA moment

So, a few weeks ago, Michael and I are at Home Depot (we frequent HD alot these days), and on this particular day, we were in the market for canned lights (recessed lights). We are putting in quite a bit of recessed lighting in our home, so of course we are trying to get the best deal but yet maintain great quality! There are quite a bit to choose from. So, we asked the person in the lighting department to help us, as we had a few questions. So, the HD lighting person kept asking us is this "New Construction" or "Old Construction". We kept hearing this term, and in fact we had been at another lighting place just before this and they asked the same question. Now, for a long time I took this to mean that there was some mysterious date that signified a difference between New Construction and Old Constructions. Nope, that is not the case. This is what they mean when they ask this question: is there drywall in the place that you are putting in your canned lights? That is what it means, your house can 5 days old or 50 years old and that particular question is really all about drywall. This is why this process drives me crazy- there are all of these codes word and phrases I have to figure out. I think it would be easier to ask if you are putting in canned lights in existing construction (not removing drywall and basically just putting a hole in the ceiling) or is there no drywall and you have to attach the canned lights to the beams/wood. Maybe its simple to everyone else, but this particular issue took me several weeks to figure out- then it was like "ah-ha", I get it now!!