Yet another house update

We now have appliances and stairs! The cabinets aren't in yet so the appliances are still in the boxes, but they're here! We now have steps to our front door, and I think we're going to go buy the railing at Totem tonight - they're having some kind of sale. Yes, it's Halloween here in Ray-town, but we don't get trick-or-treaters so we don't really have to stick around. Which I'm okay with. Kids in costumes are cute, but other than that I'm not really into Halloween. I'm more of a Christmas fan this time of year.

The fridge - they have to take the door off, and maybe the doors off the fridge, to get it inside.

The pile of appliances! I can not WAIT to use my dishwasher!!!

A newel post. The railing is almost ready to go in - the rods are here and it's just about all stained.

Front steps! And of course, no construction job is complete without a Pepsi or two.

 

And the front of the house again - even though you can't see the steps with the fridge in the way. We have all but one light fixture in upstairs, and the doors are in (at Logic) and will be delivered next week along with all the baseboard and casing, which we'll need to paint. I'm starting to wonder if painting ever ends. :) Our tile is not quite here, so we're still waiting on that. My cabinets are supposed to go in next week - I'm really hoping they do because they're kind of a big deal (for appliances and granite) and I really want to see what they look like - I'm not very good at envisioning how something will look - I need to see the real thing.

Anyway, that's the latest progress at our house!

The house, my grandma, and cake.

The rock is all on, and we have a driveway and a sidewalk and lights. The only thing left on the outside is some front steps! Obviously our yard needs work, but that's coming. On the inside, we still need to finish the paint in the basement, but the first coat is all done except one room and half of a hallway. Clark has been doing the painting while I stare at my computer screen all night editing pictures. What a guy.

Last night we went to my grandma's 90th Birthday Party. She used to do readings a lot, and she did one for us at her party - she still makes us laugh! She had on the cutest jacket and I told her I would totally wear her outfit - I love my grandma! She's still amazingly with it for 90 years old - she always asks how the house is doing, and about Clark's job, and I don't know how she remembers anything with the number of kids and grandkids she has. She goes over everyone's names every night before she goes to sleep. She still memorizes scriptures and sayings, too. She's amazing!

Just to make this post more random...I went to the cake decorating class on Thursday and together we made this cake:

We all picked a color of fondant to mix, and when we stuck it all together on the same cake it didn't exactly coordinate, but we still had fun.

House Pictures...lots of them

These are from a few weeks ago now, but I'm trying to keep up with this house journaling thing. There are a LOT of pictures in this post, so be warned.

This is the kitchen:

Living room from the kitchen:

Dining room/nook:

View from master bedroom into our bathroom:

My amazingly hot self. I think we'll just try to leave this picture as small as possible. I guess I don't try too hard to look my best for my house.

And then we had lights!

 

 

And then... the stucco got finished! This is at sunrise (ish) so the lighting is pretty warm. The rock is also started if you look close:

And then we start to see all the dents and knicks in the walls...and the patching begins!

Some cabinet boxes get delivered... and there's that crazy green kitchen:

And the hardwood is moving along - one bedroom down!

The fire place all painted. The white square is where the wood mantel will go - I can't wait to see it!

And the downstairs starts getting some color:

My parents and siblings came out and helped us prime the basement. Thank you!!! I'm not a fan of painting at this point - I just want it done but I have so many other things to do after work (like take pictures every day last week) and it's dragging on...

NEW DAY

Back upstairs - the bathroom is almost done...

And now it is!

Lights in the master bedroom:

The basement's still coming...

Bathroom primed:

Laundry room primed:

More of the family room

I was so excited to see this that I used my camera to get a picture with the flash - it was way too dark out to actually see it and I didn't have any other light.

The driveway half poured!

And then a quick drive-by on the way to work - they are pouring the other half!

The most recent picture:

They're supposed to be finishing the rock tomorrow, so I'm really excited to see that. We have half of the light fixtures in, and all of the doors and casing and baseboard are ordered and will be here soon. I just want to move in to this thing!

Busy

I am really looking forward to Christmas. I'm looking forward to it for all of the regular reasons, like the smells, and family, and Christmas lights, and kids on Christmas morning, and all of the awesome Christmas treats that my mom makes. And the music - I've already listened to Faith Hill's "Where Are You Christmas" 5 times yesterday. And 2 times today. So far.

I'm also looking forward to Christmas because I feel like it's going to be a turning point of sorts - a Life-Has-Finally-Slowed-Down point. The house will be done and we'll be in it, and I won't have the rush of fall weddings and fall family shoots on top of the house stuff (I'm not wishing away any shoots - I LOVE that I get to take this many pictures!). Hopefully I'll be able to just be at home instead of running around to this and that and trying to pick final paint colors, and light fixtures, and baseboards, and carpet, and tile, and bugging contractors, and squeezing in time to paint between editing, etc. Maybe life won't be any calmer, but with the house being done, I think it will, just a little bit.

I'm excited to have an office to put my computer in, without WWE wrestling blaring right beside me while I'm working. Peace and quiet! And a kitchen where the sink stays plugged until you pull the plug out. And a dishwasher. And a washer that will wash my clothes in cold water, without rinsing them in hot. And a closet where I can reach my clothes without kneeling on the bed. And more than one bathroom. And a shower that I can clean and it will look clean. And wiring that is to code and doesn't burn my lightbulbs out in a week or two. And a garage to park my car in, so I don't have to scrape the windshield off in the mornings. And a driveway that you can just drive on, without feeling like you're mudbogging, and back out of, without watching for the trees growing halfway across it and the house a foot from the other side. And windows!! I am so excited for windows and light. This may sound like I'm whining about our amazing (!) basement apartment, but really what I'm trying to say is that I'm SO excited that all of these things are coming! I'm so thankful that we are able to get our own house. We told my parents we are hosting American Thanksgiving - hopefully we didn't jinx ourselves! ;)

We have the hardwood done in the kitchen and living room; now the hallway, two bedrooms, and our closet need to be done. We're buying tile on Thursday (a sale starts that day) and that will get started in right away. Our driveway is framed for concrete, and half of it got poured today. The stucco is done, and the rock is here, and they're putting it on this minute. Our cabinets are starting to go in this week! The upstairs is all painted (well after tonight it will be) and we've started on the basement. I even have one light fixture and all the pot lights in! It's slowly coming together and starting to look like a house.

Green - that's the color of my kitchen. My great aunt, who lives in B.C., heard about my bright green kitchen from somebody in Raymond, so if you're reading this you've probably already heard about it, too. But that's okay - I'm totally fine with my green kitchen. :)

This is what it looked like before the stucco was finished:

More pictures coming soon!