Thursday, April 29th, 2010
I'm blogging tonight from my hotel room in Washington, DC. Actually, I'm just typing my thoughts, but won't actually be posting them. Our hotel charges $13 a day to use their wi-fi! Seriously?!? What kind of expensive, fancy hotel charges to use their wireless Internet? Even McDonald's offers free wi-fi. So then I think, "Hmmm, most hotels have a business center with computers and Internet access." So I call down to the front desk and ask, "Sure, the business center is down on the ground floor across from the escalator. We have several computers available there." After I trek down there, and finally find the "business center" which from the outside looks like a Kinkos, I sit down at the desk and read a sign that says, "Internet access 24 cents a minute." Seriously??? No, seriously. Funny how the lady at the front desk didn't mention that.
So, I guess I'm not catching up on my blogging tonight. Guess I'm not checking out the new releases at DHD that are 30% off today only. So when my blog is out of date - don't blame me - blame the Renaissance!
They're just lucky that Bones and the Office are both new tonight, or they would have one unhappy guest on their hands.
Anyways, here's what my room looks like.
So, I guess I'm not catching up on my blogging tonight. Guess I'm not checking out the new releases at DHD that are 30% off today only. So when my blog is out of date - don't blame me - blame the Renaissance!
They're just lucky that Bones and the Office are both new tonight, or they would have one unhappy guest on their hands.
Anyways, here's what my room looks like.
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
They are continuing to put more siding on the house. I really like how it is turning out. I knew the "weathered cedar" color was supposed to have a more realistic look to it, but I just think it is amazing how much variance and depth it has.
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
They started putting on the siding today. The *right siding* that is. We like it much better!
Monday, April 26th, 2010
We're still working on choosing paint colors. We have had the hardest time with the orange for the sunroom. I think we've had almost 5 or 6 different shades of just orange.
Sunday, April 25th, 2010
We stopped and had lunch at Marvin and Jeanie's after church. It's always a treat to see Faith for a little while.
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
Thursday was Bryce's 25th birthday, so we all went out to eat at Japanese steakhouse Fusion. Fusion is one of those places where they cook everything in front of you on the hibachi grill and kind of make it a show. It's expensive, but definitely fun to do every once in awhile.
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
The stone crew came out today and started the prep work for the stone. Everywhere that you see black will eventually be covered with stone.
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
We are still waiting on the new siding to come in, but they guys have just about got all the J-channel on the house and are ready to move quickly when the right siding finally does arrive.
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
They drywalled the ceiling in the family room today. I'm glad I didn't have to do it!
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Today they installed the last window. This is the one at the bottom of the house that looks into the landing of the basement stairs.
Monday, April 19th, 2010
They are getting ready to trim the outside of the windows. First, they put this stuff called Window Wrap around all of them to help seal them.
Sunday, April 18th, 2010
I took a couple of engagment photos for Kyle and Katy today. They just needed something quick for the paper, so we stopped at City Park after church. Here are a couple of my favs.
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
Today was a good day!
I am happy to report that after today... we have all of our flooring ordered and all of the granite selected for our kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room.
All along that was our goal for today, but I never really thought we would be able to get all 8 different flooring options ordered and granite countertops selected for 6 different rooms. I'm not even talking about just colors picked out; I'm talking about actual pieces of granite with a big stickers that say something like, "Pickens - Master Bath" on it. Now that's what I call progress!
And to top it all off, when we rolled home at 8 o'clock at night after a long, albeit productive, day I walk in to find Mom has dinner waiting for us on the table and all of our laundry done. Does my mom rock or what?!?
Like I said... it's been a good day.
I am happy to report that after today... we have all of our flooring ordered and all of the granite selected for our kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room.
All along that was our goal for today, but I never really thought we would be able to get all 8 different flooring options ordered and granite countertops selected for 6 different rooms. I'm not even talking about just colors picked out; I'm talking about actual pieces of granite with a big stickers that say something like, "Pickens - Master Bath" on it. Now that's what I call progress!
And to top it all off, when we rolled home at 8 o'clock at night after a long, albeit productive, day I walk in to find Mom has dinner waiting for us on the table and all of our laundry done. Does my mom rock or what?!?
Like I said... it's been a good day.
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
The drywaller decided that he wanted to work the weekend, so he was out there bright and early Saturday morning. Most of the interior rooms have the drywall hung at this point.
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Another week down....
1.) An actual day off. Today was the first Friday that I had off, where I didn't have 15 house errands to run. I still had a few new house-related items to take care of, but for the most part I got to stay home.
2.) Running. I took advantage of my day off and the nice weather to go for a run. I love running! I ran about 4 miles and then walked a couple. My running buddy comes home from college in three weeks and I can't wait!.
3.) Siding. The wrong siding issue has been taken care of. The correct shaker style is supposed to be delivered next Tuesday.
4.) Columbus. We are making another trip to Columbus tomorrow to hopefully finalize our granite order and pick out the exact slabs they will be using.
5.) Milo. A few people have been asking about Milo, and I'm sad to report he is still missing. I think it is going on a little over 5 weeks since we have seen him, so even optimistic-me is feeling a little down about the situation at this point.
1.) An actual day off. Today was the first Friday that I had off, where I didn't have 15 house errands to run. I still had a few new house-related items to take care of, but for the most part I got to stay home.
2.) Running. I took advantage of my day off and the nice weather to go for a run. I love running! I ran about 4 miles and then walked a couple. My running buddy comes home from college in three weeks and I can't wait!.
3.) Siding. The wrong siding issue has been taken care of. The correct shaker style is supposed to be delivered next Tuesday.
4.) Columbus. We are making another trip to Columbus tomorrow to hopefully finalize our granite order and pick out the exact slabs they will be using.
5.) Milo. A few people have been asking about Milo, and I'm sad to report he is still missing. I think it is going on a little over 5 weeks since we have seen him, so even optimistic-me is feeling a little down about the situation at this point.
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Kendell is planning to have the driveway poured tomorrow, so we went out and tried to determine what size and shape we want. The size in our contract price included a 36x20 pad. When Kendell had this staked out, it just didn't look right. It was way too small for the area up there, so we decided to add on. This is the shape that we ended up with. I think we will really like it, and it definitely gives us enough room to turn around and move cars in and out easily. It's going to cost us a little more, but in the end, I think it will be worth it.
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
They finished pouring the front porch today.
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
We typically drive by the house on our way home, just to check out what's different from when we went out at lunch. As we were driving up the road, I saw siding on the far side of the garage. We've been excited to see the outside of the house actually with some of the finished materials on it, but as we began to pull up the driveway, my excitement all went away! From half way down the driveway, I knew something didn't look right. I got out of the car, ran over, and sure enough - that's not the siding we picked.
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
The main drywall guy is working by himself today, so he started taping and mudding the upstairs. This is the main hallway.
Monday, April 12th, 2010
They are planning to pour the front porch on Wednesday, so they got everything framed and ready.
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
The state road guys even made a little retaining wall out at the end our our culvert. I thought it turned out really nice.
Friday, April 9th, 2010
They have pretty much hung all of the drywall upstairs. It really changed the feel of room sizes. Some feel bigger, some feel smaller, some just seem different. This is the room that will be my photo studio - it really looks good now. Is it strange that I like the smell of drywall??? I don't know, it's just such a fresh and clean smell!
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
They have a good bit of the walls drywalled upstairs. This is again the main staircase. It really looks different to walk up the stairs and see a big wall right in front of you.
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
They are still hanging drywall upstairs. Just about all of the ceilings are done. This is the main hallway.
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
The DOH came back out today and worked some more on the culvert and the ditch along the front of the property. They now nave all of the pipes in the ground.
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
They started hanging drywall upstairs. This is one of the kids's bedrooms.
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
There are two windows in the unfinished room above the garage. They blacked the insides both out, so you can't see the trusses from the outside.
Monday, April 5th, 2010
They delivered our drywall today. They used a big crane to place it inside through the back door.
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
They framed a few more areas for the cement guys tomorrow. We decided to go ahead and concrete the area leading to the mudroom door. There just wasn't enough space between it and the driveway to do some kind of landscaping. There will be two large steps right in front of it.
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
They are continuing to work on the outside soffitt. The front of the house is just about done.
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
The DOH has put in three of the eight culvert pipes into the ditch along the front of the property.
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
They also have the dozer guy out there shaping the yard some more. He has made us a really nice, flat back yard.
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
They came today and put some seams in the garage floor
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
They decided to go ahead and pour the garage floor first hoping that the nice weather over the next day or so will dry out the mud, so it will be easier to get the cement truck around to the back.