Guess what got done at the house today???

We are oh so close...aka circling the drain!!!!  Believe me if you've been one of the poor suckers lucky ones that have been able to spend a full weekend of labor, paid in beer and food, then you know what I mean by circling the drain.  Wow is all I can say.  LOTS of work every weekend.  THANKS AGAIN to those of you that have stuck it out with us <3

Yeah, yeah per usual I am WAAAAYYYY behind on my status update.  I really think about updating ya'll every day.  But then it is time to finally sit down for a minute at night and I pass out ;)

I am going to go to the house tonight and take pictures.  Not just crappy phone pictures but GOOD PICTURES.  I mean, come on,  all of the flooring is almost done.  By the end of the weekend all of the flooring will be done except for the slate floor in our bathroom.  Oh and the carpet in our master bedroom but that is something we are NOT doing ourselves so that doesn't count.  We are oh sooooo close.  We gotta get this show on the road cuz this girl is having December bunco.  HOLLER!!!

Oh yeah back to what was accomplished today.

Yep, the granite dudes came to measure for my countertops!!  Wooohhhoooo!!  I go tomorrow to pick out my slabs and it will be installed by next Friday at the latest.  Which is a good thing according to Ryan and Jarod.  That way they can climb up on my new barstools onto the new countertops to hang my pendants ;)  I've got my eye on them.......

What a week!!!

Whew, it has been one helluva week!!!  Before I continue on, I just have to say THANK YOU to all of our friends and family for all of their hard work this last week/weekend!!!!  Never in a million years did I think that we would get that entire house painted in one week.  Well, what do ya know???  We did!!!  Yes I know....that place is a prison!!

So here we go, let's get to the good stuff.  Here are some rather craptastic pictures from my cell phone but you'll get the idea.  I will have to bust out my dad's good camera this week and get some good shots.

Here is the dining room.  Lighting fixture and all!!  

Here is the breakfast nook with the lighting fixture.  The Project Manager tied is up high so it wouldn't smack anybody in the face.....but you get the gist.

Sunroom with actual working lights!!!  Holler!!!

Annnddddd the stone on the front of the house.  I abso-freaking-lutely love it!!!

And in closing let me leave you with some valuable wisdom that was bestowed upon us this weekend from Aristotle The Todd......

"A wet (paint) roller is a happy roller."  Yeah, you're welcome :-)

It's time for a Friday poll!!

So, I though I'd take the time to get your opinion on what I should do with this AWESOME chest that I scored on Craigslist (it is going to go in my great room).  Now, my friend (I shall change her name to protect the innocent) Chawna said that she thinks I should leave it like it is!  However I want to paint it cream with some silver antiquing and new pulls.  What do you think?  Yes - refinish it or No - leave it as is?????  I need your help.....

I need your help!!!!

I need to find this exact comforter somewhere out there on the interweb!!!!  First one to find it is the WINNER!!!

Boy's Comforter Set

Holy crap!! I gotta pick out paint!!

  As I said, I have lots to update!!

The insulators came on Wednesday to get the show on the road.  I was soooo thankful that they showed up two days early.....much to my harassing persistence!!

Because the insulators came two days early our drywallers were able to get started sooner as well!!  This is a shot of one part of the kitchen and the breakfast nook.

 

That pipe hanging out of the ceiling is where my hood vent will be and the stove will be right under it!

Can you guess what these are?  Uhmmm yep those are my cabinets that showed up a little over two weeks early (which is better than the other way).  Let me tell ya, things have been a little crazy this week!!!  

Now the finishers are working away in the house and guess who has next week off to paint?!?!?!  Yep, this girl does.  Soooooo if anybody gets bored next week, grab a brush and come on down ;)

I have to be honest that I am freaking out a bit that I all of a sudden have to commit to final colors.  Ahhhhh the pressure of it all.  I gotta admit, I like this kind of pressure.  After all I picked November 18th for the magical completion date.  Let's hope I win the pool.......

I'll show ya tomorrow what is being delivered on Friday.  My husband was thrilled......

Update coming at lunch....pinky promise!!!

I have a sh*t ton to share with you!!  Wow, I am a little overwhelmed as things are really starting to come together.  Blah, blah, I will save all the details for you at lunch time.

However, here is a little sneak peak of what's been going on......

Just in time for the cold weather!!

I don't have anything TOO earth shattering to share today but in my mind it is pretty awesome!!  Sooooo, just in time for the temps to plummet we got this put up on our patio.....

Yep our ceiling fan :-) If you look closely to the left side of the fan you can see one of the recessed lights as well!!!  Exciting things people, exciting things!!

Annnnddddd tomorrow the drywall gets delivered!  Woohhhooo, I cannot wait to see what it is going to look like.

Hopefully Ryan is on the horn with the insulation guy trying to convince him to come sooner than Friday.  Speaking of Ryan, he got all of the electrical run into the fuse panel and ONLY zapped himself a handful of times.  Uggghhhh that boy I tell ya!  He makes me nervous.  HOWEVER, it is done now and I won't have to worry anymore.

We are on a roll......

So I am a couple days behind but here's the skinny.......

Ryan was sleeping Wednesday night (he has mono he works a different shift) when his phone rang and it was the electrical inspector.  He asked Ryan where he was and he said, "uhhmmmmm in bed."  The building inspector followed up with, "I'm at your house and can't get in."  Ryan said he couldn't get dressed fast enough and out the door he ran!!

He met the inspector and things went perfectly.  He had one or two little things he had to fix but we got the green sticker!!!  We are official.  I cannot tell you how grateful we are that Louis came earlier than Friday.
I called the bank the next day to let them know that we needed our bank rough inspection ASAP so we could keep on truckin'.  Much to my amazement that inspector showed up yesterday and since I haven't heard anything to the contrary I assume no news is good news!!

Here's the proof!

Now that we finally got that fancy electrical approval he was able to put these back on for me.....

These high quality pictures from my phone don't do them justice but I EFFING LOVE THEM!!!!  I know it may seem cheesy, but in this crazy long process these little things really do mean the most.

You know what else I did yesterday?  I walked into the basement, flipped a switch and guess what happened??  FREAKING LIGHTS CAME ON!!!!  I am really not being a smart a$$......I almost cried :-)  Ryan kicked some a$$ on electrical but would still be working on it had it not been for Grandpa Tom, Uncle Ja-Rod, Uncle Tommy and the rest of the weekend warriors.

Nooowwwww it's time for Uncle Birgil and his drywall crew to come in.  Drywall is ordered and being delivered on Tuesday.  I think it's time to start that email campaign to get the insulation company to bump us up in their schedule.  Ain't no holdin' us back now........

Pass/Fail

Now, pass/fail classes in college are a GREAT idea!! I never minded being able to take a pass fail class.  However, when your building inspection is either a pass or fail option it isn't nearly as awesome!!!  If we fail that meant there are things to fix and that means MORE TIME.  Sweet baby jesus we don't need to waste any more time at this point.  As things are progressing it is clear that my move in date of November 18th is not so likely.  Damn there goes my chances of winning the pool we have going.......

We called for our rough electrical inspection on Monday morning and he couldn't come until FRIDAY :(  Yikes, more time wasted again.  So Ryan called the building inspector and asked if we could come do the building inspection on Friday as well.  He said he could do better and come that day!!!  Yiipppeeee but immediately we were both a little nervous.  So, did we pass????

Scroll down!!!!

Keep going......

Hellzzzzz to the yes we did (pending electrical approval)

Cuz this guy rules :-)

Now I am trying to shmooze the guy at Prime Comfort Insulation to bump us up on his schedule for next week!!!  Maybe we should start an email campaign ;)

Guess Who's Coming Today???

Man I am just full of riddles lately, aren't I?  Well it just so happens that the BUILDING INSPECTOR is coming today to do our rough inspection!  I am awfully excited and a little nervous.  Sooooooo keep your fingers crossed that we get this.....

Now back to the pretty stuff.  So my birthday was a couple weeks ago and I found these four little gems at Home Goods and told Ryan that I had found my birthday present!!!  Thennnnn I had to figure out a way to squeeze them in the back of my Jeep.  Apparently all those years of Tetris paid off!

Here they are in the sunroom just waiting to be broken in (and I don't mean by Ryan, Jarod and my dad on their lunch breaks)!  They look more beige below but the picture above is more the real color!

Guess what we got today??

We got POWER!  Yep official real power.  We are almost done with temporary power.  Yahoooo, life is good :-)

Source

Annnnddddd Ryan called for our rough electrical inspection.  Since I have faith, I know he'll pass with flying colors.  THEN, it is time to call the insulation company and have them come spray the house.  You know what comes after that???  DRY WALL!!!!  Yes, my friends, I said drywall!!!  Yiippeeee I am as happy as a kid in a candy store.

Ohhhhhh AND my cabinets are only 2 weeks out (maybe less)!   If you click on the link below, and look at the cabinets on the island, you can see almost exactly what they'll look like.  The color is the color that I ordered however the door style isn't EXACTLY what I ordered but perdy damn close!!!

Kitchen Cabinets

I usually need a picture!

Sooooooo I love to look through magazines to get ideas for the house.  I usually need a picture to give me some inspiration.  So, I found this picture and really love the idea for my laundry room....

I don't know if ya'll remember these cabinets, but we got these cabinets for the laundry room and my FIL is going to help me paint them white like the picture above (he just doesn't know it yet :P).

So, the cabinets will look perfect.  Then, I got a gift card to Bed, Bath, & Beyond for my birthday and I found the rest of these treasures to make my laundry room look JUST like the laundry room in my picture.....

The silver bar will go between the cabinets to hold my swanky wood hangers cuz as Mommy Dearest said, NO WIRE HANGERS!!!  Oh and look at my wall art that matches perfectly.  You wanna know the best part?  I paid just under 8 bucks for all of it :-)

Go ahead and take your time!!!!

Yeah that title was directed to myself....  

So here is what the outside looks like as we speak!  

Those are shakes in the peaks they are granite gray!

Full shot of both peaks.  Do you see the top window that is trimmed in white?  All of the rounded windows will look like that as well.  I LOVE it!

The garage door (love) and a full shot of the siding.  The siding on the 3 sides is charcoal gray.....a shade darker than the shakes.

And the center peak with shakes and the big dining room window all trimmed out in white <3

Here is a front shot so you can see the two different tones!

Soooo we are just about completely done with the rough electrical and plan to call on Monday for inspection.  Our plumber extraordinaire just finished the rough plumbing and heating and passed his rough inspections.  Michigan Gas came out on Monday and hooked up our gas line AND DTE comes Friday to hook up our permanent power.  Yiiiippppeeeeeee!!!  I am soooooo effing excited.  OH!!  I also ordered my kitchen cabinets and they should be here 2 weeks from Monday if not SOONER!!!

Also, I forgot to mention, that the remaining front of the house that is white will be gray stacked stone.  We *hope* that they will get started on that next week!!

Sweet baby jesus, we are going to have a house here before you know it :-)

A little sneak peak!

So I realized that I haven't shared ANY pictures with the siding on the house!  We are all done on the outside with our work.  Now we are just waiting for all of the stone to be put up on the outside.  I am sooooo excited to see what the finished product will look like.  Anywho, here is a picture of the finished patio.  You can see a little peak of the siding in the background.  I will get out there tonight and REALLY get some pictures of the whole house.....

In the meantime here is the patio :-)

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

So I know I've not updated ya'll in TWO WEEKS!!  You wanna know why?  Cuz we've been building a mother effing house!  Ok, so not every night but whew have we been busy.  Oh and it is also possible that I was on vacation for a week.   

So I pinky promise I will provide ya'll with a full update tonight and get ya up to speed.  Let me tell ya, we've gotten a sh*t ton done.  For the record I've looked like this every weekend for the last 2 months.  Ryan and I get awfully excited when we actually get a break and get dressed up to hit the town.  I am awfully tired of work boots and my shorts and/or skirts.  Oh well, That just means we're working hard :-)

We have a front door!

Yep yep we officially have a front door.  Now, I am not sure if it is going to remain the color it is currently.  I won't decide until we get the siding and stone put up.  However if I do decide to paint the door, it is going to be white!

View from the front road now that all windows and the front door is in.

Front door from the inside.

Some crazy people that decided to photo bomb me.

Up close and personal view.

Things got really busy yesterday!  All of our siding showed up, our plumber-extraordinaire (does he get paid to do THAT?) delivered all the pipe, the 2 tubs for the kids bathroom and the powder room, and the guys came back to get the garage floor prepped for concrete.  Yiiipppeeeeee!!!!

I didn't mention this last week but we decided to go with a different exterior stone. Apparently the stuff we picked was a total pain in the a$$ to install and would take an eternity x 2.  Soooooo I found this stone I liked and Dan from Monroe Aluminum found it literally in less than a day and dropped the sample at our house.  Let me just tell you that that place ROCKS!!!!  Hopefully the sample really looks like what I want and we'll be back in business!

Photo dump!

I don't really have a whole lotta creative juices flowing (or time for that matter) so you are going to get a photo dump of my most recent pictures.

I will update you with some details tonight in case you care.....

Full back view

Another back view.  Do you notice the soffit and fascia that Ryan got done??

Awwww the patio....if we could just get some concrete we'd be all set!

Our sliding door.....yiiipppeeee!!

Front view.  Do you notice that we have shingles???

Dining room windows.  That little roof over the window will be black metal.

Inside view of the great room.

Dining room.

The sun room.

Breakfast nook and part of the sunroom.  Annddd my favorite patio door again!

Roofs, shingles (not of the chickenpox strain), and stairs OH MY!!

Wow so much for brevity in my titles!  Go ahead and take a break in case you need one after reading that reallllllyyyyyy lonnnnnggggg introduction.

Ok you back?  Here we go.......

The roof is now completely sheeted!!

See the little bundles of shingles up there!  Eff off mother nature!!

A little Estate Gray to match the barn

Soon to be stairs heading up to the bonus room

Anndddd the side view so you get a better idea

If you peek way up there that will be the "future" bonus room (after the kids get jobs)

There ya have it my friends.  We are making huge progress???  Billy said they would be finished on all they could do tomorrow and will just wait for the roofers to get finished and they will be back to put in the doors and windows!!  Yiiippppeeee, holy crap we are getting close to having a home :-)