From This... to THIS!

For the first 40 days, this is pretty much what we saw every day.

Then, on Day 41, we started seeing the foundation being laid for our slab to be poured.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After those 40 days of laying sand, digging trenches, laying pipe, and post tensioning rods, we finally came to this:

The very next day, on Day 81, our slab was poured! 

And the next 40 days have looked like this: 

 

 

 

 

 This is how it looks today, Day 130:

 

 

 

Day 120: Week 18 Brings Painting!

Day 117: Cabinets!

Oh! The girls and I literally ran from the truck when we pulled up tonight, seeing the garage was empty. That could only mean one thing: cabinets are in!

 

Stepping inside, we saw doors hung and woodwork including windowsills, baseboards and other trimwork. We discovered shelves in the closets.

 

And cabinets! Oh my! They're gorgeous!

 

When we rounded the corner into the kitchen, we all got so excited. We squealed for about a minute straight. LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 110: Tape and Floated

Today our house was taped and floated. We also now have rounded edges in places where we won't have doorways. It looks amazing! Chance says texturing is next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 89: Standing Water in Kitchen

Today I stopped by without the kids on my way home and discovered a large puddle in the kitchen. You could see where the water seeped under the wood into the garage, too. When Raymond, the new construction superintendent, came over to inspect, he informed me that the kitchen pipe was opened and realigned so it would fit into the drywall. The water in the pipe must have been what spewed out everywhere. All of the pipes everywhere else looked to be in good shape, no leaks. We did see that the plumber had been upstairs however no leaks there.

I also asked him what they do for the pipes when we have freezing weather, which we're supposed to have tomorrow. He advised that they would turn the water off and drain the line so that the pipes don't burst. I was glad to hear that!

Not much else is going on here. I did see that the main house is shingled, porches not yet. I didn't take a picture but will tomorrow and post it back here.

Day 83: First Window

Day 70: End of Week 10

Day 28: End of Week 4

We're at the end of week 4 and are running ahead of schedule by about 3-4 weeks. When construction begins, we'll be looking at about 12 weeks to go! Hopefully sometime in March I'll close and get to begin moving in.

As I was leaving the neighborhood today, I saw a sod truck entering, there to deliver someone's yard. Oh boy! What a bad time to be putting down sod, just in time for frigid weather and possible freezing. The poor roots on that grass might not be able to withstand the cold temps. Im happy that mine will be installed in the Spring when the weather will be warm and plants will transplant better.

Building Timeline

I know you probably cant read the fine print on this, however you can probably see the big numbers. Right now we're in Week 4 and are about three weeks head of schedule.

Day 26: Final Selection Day

This is it! Final Selection Day!

Today Im letting go of all of my anxiety and Im going to enjoy this moment. Many people never get to experience this in their whole entire lives. Im going to enjoy this blessing that God has bestowed upon me and be thankful and joyous.

Chance told me at our last meeting that he expected construction to begin the first week of December. Changes will happen fast then. For today, Im going to relish the serenity of the moment because in a couple short weeks, changes will happen every day!

Watch for pictures of my selections today in a separate post to follow later today, and wish me luck!

Day 25: Urbana Antique

For the past week all I've thought about, in my free time, has been about the design and décor of my home. What do I want it to look like? How do I want it to function? What do I want my home to say to people who see it or who visit? What does it need to impress me, make me comfortable and make me happy?

 

Cabinets.
Countertops.
Backsplash.
Fixtures.
Carpet.
Tile.
Wood/laminate.
Paint.
Trim.
Brick.
Insulation.

 

Just to name a few. My options packet is about 50 pages! When you daydream about building a house, it's a lot of overzealousness and the best of everything. When you actually do it, it's a bit more intense. By about a thousand. However, it's very exciting, too!

 

Most of the choices were easy to consider, visualize and make a selection on such as the gorgeous granite I treated myself to or the upgrade from pedestal sink to cabinet in the powder room. Other things were not as clear and required some thought (and even gazing at a zillion pictures online and on my phone) like flooring and fixture colors.

 

Then there were big things like brick. When you go into the design studio, they only have 4 rows of brick in these 12×24 frames. I don't know about you, but a house is huge! Visualizing a small swatch of brick on a big house is not easy, for me anyway. On top of that, try to picture what color paint and trim you want, too. Impossible!

 

I drove around and around, took pictures, talked to people, sent Jennifer a gazillion emails, and even dragged my kids and mom out to help. Brick looks different in the sun as opposed to in the shade. What looks red in the shade may look brown in the sun. It kept playing tricks on my mind.

 

I am drawn to neutral colors. I've found three brown bricks that I could settle with. Bricks with names like Mojave and Canyon Springs. Then there is this really interesting variety with a lot of color that I'm drawn to, Fall Creek. It is pretty, however, I'm not a flashy type of person. I just can't pull the trigger on a brick already overly popular in my neighborhood.

 

It took a lot of struggle, thought and frustration but I really didn't decide until yesterday (okay... today). I took one more trip around the neighborhood looking at my favorites. This time I was able to get out and go see it up close and in both, the sun and shade, at the same time. That's when I knew it was the one.

 

 

 

Urbana Antique. This is it!

 

Here's the variations in the coloring from sunlight to shade. Near where the fence meets the house, some sunlight is able to partly lighten the bricks there, leaving part in the shade. You can see how much the coloring changes. This is why I've struggled with picking brick this week. Houses all face different directions, when you see one in the shade and another in the sunlight, they look completely different even though they have the same brick. I urge you, if you're driving around looking at brick, too, to make sure you see the same house and same brick in sun as well as shade because one or the other just might change your mind. You have to live with your brick for a long time and be happy with it, be able to choose new paint colors (when the time comes) and landscape with it as a background.

I couldn't be more relieved and ready to move onto the next phase. Now, tomorrow, I can go to my Final Pick Day and select all of the things I've been visualizing all week. It will be nice to make it all official. That will be a huge relief! And, having this done, Thanksgiving will be much less stressful, much more peaceful.

 

Watch for pics coming tomorrow!