More House Updates

This is reason number 1 that we moved into my in-laws... this is/was our only full bathroom...


yep- it's gone. and I am glad. I will not miss that pink and blue tile, or that rusty tub, or the very narrow space that made life in general very difficult. or the smell that only a bathroom from 1938 has.





in other news.. this is the dry wall that it takes to cover our walls... it's a large and long stack (and in the end, they had to go get about 8 more pieces.)

Here is the insulation. boring I know. but good for my pocketbook. and it helps us pass our "green energy inspection." yes, we have to have one. and they care about what type of lights I buy and what type of faucets we have- it really limits our choices. ugh.

oh- there is our old tub again. yep- I used to shower in that area.

another view of the bathroom- the wall is torn out halfway up because we had pink tile half way up the wall- awesome. not.

the floor. that is just dirt under there. dirt where there has been 80+ years of a tub leak- yuck! hence the smell. oh and they just discovered the leak when they did this... yep- we had rotten boards- they got replaced- yay!!

our NEW plumbing!! this is where one of our master vanities will go. I took this picture just so I can know what is in the walls later. I think that it's cool to know, and it may be important one day. who knows.

the new shower floor. not very exciting. but there is a bench. and it doesn't leak. so that's good.

the tub for the guest bathroom. I went to home depot to buy this. I felt cool "Um, yes, I need a tub please. can you show me where that is?"

this is the woodwork for the pocket door. just kinda interesting to me.

the LONG hallway. everyone looks at this hallway and says "wow, that's long." Yes we know people. we know.

my desk and crafting area. yay! fav!

they replaced some boards in the old bathroom- boards behind the sink and the toliet. shocker.

Dry wall is IN!!

our old shower is now a nice closet!

the guest bathroom... wahoo! it's taking shape!

my desk/ craft area... with dry wall :) i like dry wall. makes it look so nice.

Our BEDROOM!! (the bed will be where that large box is)

Would you look at that bay window seat? I LOVE IT!! wow!

another view of the bedroom

our bathroom!! tub and then shower on the right.

our bathroom- the vanities go on both sides of the door (which goes into our mega big closet)

one side of our mega big closet

the other side of our mega big closet. (yes I know, boring, and you can't tell how big it really is. but that's okay. i will get perspective pictures later, this is just documenting the progress!)

the toliet room- the pocket door closes this off. you can see on the floor the pipe where the toliet goes.

the extra large linen closet. it is WAY deep- by accident really. It was originally supposed to open into the guest bathroom, but then the master didn't have a linen closet, so we just changed where it opened. (the guest bathroom is on the other side of the wall on the right of the closet). But- now instead of being WIDE, it is DEEP. So I have to creatively think through the shelving. DEEP shelving won't work well- I mean how could you get to the stuff in the back?? feel free to shout out suggestions for me

the track for the pocket door. cool huh- this is in the top of the door opening, and it just hangs on it and slides. love it.

in our closet- our shampoo shelves. I asked for 2. I like shampoo and shower goodies a lot and I need some space.

Yesterday they mudded (that means get rid of all of the dry wall seams) I think they are "texturing" today. and then when that dries, they paint! So after school I'm going to pick out paint colors and be all ready!!

I'm really wanting to start sharing some of my inspiration photos so you can see my design ideas, just need more time to blog!!

Hoardes Buried Alive

So when walking into my living room and dining room- I feel like I belong on this TLC show... I am currently a hoarder, buried alive.
You have to move the couch just to be able to get by. You have to move the rocking chair just to see the TV. I have a table oddly placed in front of the mantel- full of random stuff. I have a small desk oddly placed in front of a glassed door bookcase. I mean seriously- can it get worse??

Oh yes... just walk into my dining room. I have a table pushed to the side, all of the deck furniture cushions are on top of the table. all of the tile samples are on top of that. you can also find framed photos and paintings on the table, in between the cushions and on the floor behind the chairs. NOT to mention the mattress set that now lives in there! oh, and be sure to watch where you walk- you just might hit your head on the chandelier.

Oh- and yes I started storing empty bags and a goodwill donation pile under the table- just in case i need to get to them :)

Insight into my current life... and one of my many reasons for moving in with my in-laws for the next month! The Joys of Construction!!

On the Funny Side of Things

Yesterday I posted all of the construction updates... but here are some of the funny tid bits into the addtion...

as they connect the old and new, they have had to tear down a wall that used to be on the outside of the house.... and we have made some interesting finds there...

Original Wall Paper from the master bedroom... they actually just wall papered onto the plywood (the dry wall was added YEARS later). I found 2 large sections and am going to frame it and keep it in the house... a little bit of history.

Way more interesting... last weekend they found THIS in the wall...

Yup. a bottle of whiskey. straight from 1938. I am guessing the original builders drank this on the job and then just stuck the empty bottle in between the 2x4s and covered it right up! ha!

I cleaned the glass part up a lot and gently brushed the yucky (and old) insulation off of the label. I think this will be on display as well :)

Last Saturday morning this pulled up to our cute little house...

A giant purple dumpster! it is more than half way full. And will stay for another few weeks. I think it is the perfect color for EASTER!! ha!!

But personally, I am a fan of the graffiti!! In fact, I have some spray paint in the garage and may have to add my own graffiti!! Kidding. I think.

And finally... this morning I left my pink and blue bathroom for the last time. I cleaned it out completely. The workers were coming at 8:30 to start the demolition and fill the remaining space in the dumpster. I am not sad to see this bathroom go. I have never liked it. Never will. But I do have a picture for the memories :)

Oh the tub. good bye forever.

Now... I need to go home and take pictures of the progress of the bathroom and also of how crazy and full our dining room and living room are! the joys of construction!!

Addition Progress

Well... it's been awhile since I posted about our addition... and LOTS has happened!! I have been taking pictures often... I have some fun, silly ones to show later. Today is purely construction update... so here we go...

the walls of plywood went up! this is now the view from the deck. LOTS of siding will be here. I am thinking lattice with vine growing on it OR window boxes OR just some cool outdoor art.
From the backyard... looking good!!

Our "chicken coop"

Standing in our bedroom- the bed will go between those windows. (and will end around where those boards hit the ground- yes this room is gigantic! By accident!)

I laid on the floor in the spot where I'll lay in my future bed... so here is the middle of the ceiling (where the fan or light fixture will be)

and here is my view straight up into the heavens! I love that there is some tree above me! don't know why, I'll never see this view again, but I just love it!

a few days later... the plywood was on the roof- so no more seeing the sky through the rafters. here I am standing in my bedroom looking towards my bathroom (on the right) and closet (on the left)

When the plywood went on, a hole had to be cut in our real-current-covering our actual house-roof. Well, the roofers failed to show up... which lead to the debacle of the rain coming into our home. BUT, about 48 hours before THAT debacle, we had THIS debacle.

Yes, my father in law came over DEMANDING he had to get on the roof! He got up there, Ty stood on the ladder tossing his nails (1 by 1) and Steve-o nailed that tarp to the roof. He got just over half way finished, when he lost his footing, came sliding towards Ty (while I was standing at the bottom of the ladder holding it).

Next thing I see is Steve-o FLYING through the air PARALLEL to the ground from the unfinished part to right where he is in the photo above.

I hear UGH! and then nothing. I had enough time to pick up my phone, begin to dial 9-1-1, and ask Ty if he's moving.

Then I hear Steve roll over and say "Dad, gum it!" Ty yells at him to get off the roof immediately, to which Steve replies, "shut up! I have to finish!" However, he did get off of the roof quickly. Fortunately he wasn't hurt badly, just cut up and bruised and aching. He said he felt like he had been hit by a truck.

This resulted in my mother-in-law coming over during daily work in order to BABYSIT him and make sure he didn't get on the roof again.

For all of his efforts, the inability to really finish nailing the tarp down allowed the wind to blow it off and then the rain came in... but he tried. and he is still alive. (Praise God!)

and we "fired" those roofers, the new hires came over right away and we have had 3 storms since with NO rain in the house! (Praise God!)

Next went on the "home wrap" - whatever that is. It will be covered with siding, but at least now you can kind of get a feel of what it looks like when it's white.

This was an exciting moment for me! The bay window roof was added! I think it look so cute!

another view of it

Our tub was "roughed in" (don't I sound official).

and that's our shower...

the shower bench I added in last minute (due to my wise friends Brandon and Bethany's advice!)

they took off the vinyl siding AND the original siding of the house (you can see the ugly dark brown paper like stuff that was under it)... and they boarded up our window. Yep- that new sheet of drywall in the middle is where a window to our master bedroom used to be.

there's more of the ugly stuff. and that plywood on the right is covering a door that goes into our current master bedroom! So that will be door to the new walk in closet. But for now they put plywood over it since it doesn't have a lock and there is still a big opening at the bay window (remember the "chicken coop") But starting tomorrow they are putting in the bay windows and tearing out our bathroom (good by pink and blue!) - so we move in with my in-laws tomorrow night! and this door will be the access to the addition :)

the view from my spot in bed again. now we have plywood with radiant barrier on the back and a AC vent... but I know that there are blue skies and a tree above that!

For the last 2 weeks there has been a lot of work on AC, electrical, and plumbing. Not super interesting to take pictures of. But needed to get done. 3 more inspections have been done and passed! We are on the move!! (literally)

I am breaking the rule of my blog and posting something that is NOT joyful - but I will do my best to turn "lemons into lemonade." So this morning at 4:45 I was awoken by thunder. On Saturday the framers tied in our two roof lines- the old with the new. But then the roofers canceled last minute (actually an hour LATE) and so we didn't get the roof made "water resistant." There was a 30% chance of rain for Sunday night, so I just started praying. So needless to say when I heard the thunder, i jumped up. I ran through the house flipping on lights and looking for leaks. I found a leak. A leak is an understatement. I found a waterfall. A LOT of them! Ty woke up because of all the lights coming up and quickly joined me. We started grabbing everything we could to catch the water and sop it up. Let me just say, at 4:45 your brain doesn't work too well. I realize in the picture we have very small cups- it was EARLY! We added in trashcans, vases, pots and soup pots, pitchers, and blenders. I mean literally anything we could find! As they filled, I would hold a small cup to the leak while Ty would go and empty the container. We did this for TWO HOURS! In the lulls of the storm I managed to make coffee, pack lunch, and go shower. I had to get to school. Eventually I took off and left Ty to fight the battle alone. He did a great job! He dried the towels in the drier, emptied and washed the containers when the storm ended and wiped up the ceilings, walls, and floors. Oh the dry wall is ruined- it started bubbling after an hour. Ty's dad says the ceiling is fixable- which is great because it's the original 1938 ceiling and I love it! So how is this joyful?? 2 ways... 1. normally under those windows we have 3 small FULL book cases. Knowing that they are going remove those windows and fill it in with drywall this week, we went ahead and moved everything on Saturday! Praise God! Our books and photos are FINE!! 2. Ty and I made a GREAT team!! Even at 4:45 and without any coffee in me- we just worked perfectly together and did not argue at all! I love him!! And that is my daily dose of joy ... now only if I could get some more cofffe in me... i am so tired!!

Cute Wrappings and Invitations

Look at this pile of gifts... any one present stand out to you?? I LOVE this one!! Wrapped in burlap and twine!! So simple and so cute!! because it's different! LOVE IT!

Here's the back. Funny story... my friend REALLY wanted to wrap the gift in burlap (because it matched the handmade gift inside). So she tried and tried and could not get it right. So her HUSBAND walked in and said "oh, I can do that." And this was his result!! Perfection!! I am impressed!! (he was embarrassed!)

And this was the adorable gift set inside the burlap! Yay! decorations for the new addition!!

On to a wedding invitation... got this in the mail the other day and it just made me smile!

I love the colors! I love the brown inner envelope- the material is thick and paper bag-like. I saved it. I figure I can cover the label with paper and reuse it. And it is THAT cute. Worth saving. I also am a sucker for the cute brown and white baker's string on the package of inserts. (saved that too.)

See the cute string! I love the flowers! This was the back of a post card response card. adorable!

Here's the contents all spread out. Love it all! Love the " d + r " Love the TORN brown paper with directions! LOVE the postcard and the type on it.

and look at this way to choose your dinner... how creative! I'm totally doing that somewhere, somehow.

a close up of the torn paper edges - awesome.

And that my friends, is my daily dose of joy today. the little things in life that make me smile :)