Success! By George we have done it!

Oh my gosh. What a crazy past few months!!! We finished the house, moved, got settled, and even made time to go on vacation twice! God has been with us every single step of the way, and now all we are waiting on is approval for our new loan. (Gotta pay off everyone and our GC.) ;) It feels so great to have a new, clean, safe home...everyone must come visit!

These pictures go back a few months. We were working 10-12 hr days doing LABOR on the house...eg wiring the electrical, laying hardwood, doing all the tile and grout, painting, painting, and more painting. Then came all the other finishes like shelving, vanities, mirrors, and of course refinishing all our furniture to a nice rich black to go in our lovely new home.
Thanks to all our friends who came and helped out. You guys are incredible, and we appreciate it so much!

Finishing Touches!

Iron Master...these guys were so funny. Not really good at english...but great at welding. Except they started a fire on my grout sponge in the middle of our entry hall! They welded the iron on site to make it a custom fit and design. I had to create the design and structure of the railing in photoshop for them see because their english was sooooo broken!



Exterior painting...what a nerve wrecking experience! We went up 3 stories high together in a double cherry picker and painted all the trim and fascia, and all the window casings. Nathan even installed the gutters by himself! It was quite scary. At one point I just had to sit down on my paint can for a few minutes and try not to freak out! It was cold and the wind was blowing and making the basket shake back and forth!
Nathan painting under the porch. We still have some exterior trim to finish this weekend, but thank God we can reach it all with a ladder.


Painting the belly band. We also built all of our cabinets and hung them ourselves in both of the two kitchens. We ordered them from Kansas. (Like 1/3 the price of Home Depot!) It is funny...now the sound of a power drill is strangely comforting. I think in triggers some sort of feeling of progress and good memories of hard work. Maybe???

I have never been so tired and exhausted but so excited in my whole life. On Aaron and Shauna's last night we went out for a much needed dinner at Giovanni's, our favorite Italian restaurant a block from our house.


Aaron and Shauna. They are great!
Color works wonders. This crazy stucco guy was standing on the rim of a 5 gallon bucket 3o feet in the air on scaffolding. Crazy or brave???

Michelle Wigand, my friend, came and helped me paint. She was great.

We Passed Inspection!!!!

One day at a time...one project at a time....disco/dance music and lots of coffee, Diet Sunkist and Mt. Dew!!!

Jason Wigand and Nathan laying hardwood flooring in our new rental unit...

Sitting in what is now our "reading room" planning out the patter for the inlay in our black marble bathrooms. Aaron (Nathan's brother) beveled and cut all the marble. It looks incredible.
I got to be the grout princess. Plastic HEAVY DUTY Gloves - my new favorite new accessory. ;)
Aaron and Nathan using the tile cutter. We did three full bathrooms in about a week. Shauna and Aaron were amazing help. They were a total blessing the entire time they were here.
More grout. :)