The last day.....

not really going out on a good vibe. Woke up this morning, a touch on the cranky side. Didn't get better with the kids trying to "help" take the Christmas stuff down. But they did listen when I told the boys to play in their room. Khloe did a good job of helping and not getting too much in the way. Still a little sore from my surgery on monday. Did I forget to mention that to anyone? Yep, Sure did. I had thermal endomentrial ablation and essure springs put in my tubes. Long story short, no more kids for Brett and Jaycee. And yes, it's what we wanted. It seems a little weird that at 30 I'm not having any more kids when friends I've know from high school are just starting their families. But then again I do live in Utah now. I was reading blogs and my friend T left a comment that really hit me hard (in a good way) Thanks!! I need to get writing my goals for the year and how I am going to accomplish them. But I have til midnight right? I think the kids are finally getting over their pink eye and colds! YIPPEE!! Maybe we could actually go do something. (knock on wood) I feel that the day will become better...even if it's half over already.

Working on it

I have decided that I am going to be happy. This came to me the other day while I was folding clothes of all things. I remember when my parents died. That I was a pretty strong person and stress didn't get to me as much. What changed that? I realized that it's the way I think. Right now, everyday little random things get me stressed or angry at no one in particular. Why is this? I believe it's because I don't think I can do everyday things. I sometimes don't think I am a good mom. So if I think it it happens (or so I think). That is why I am changing my thought process. Thought are very powerful, more powerful then I think most of us give them credit for. So my (powerful) thoughts for today are I will be happy, I will be a great mom, I will be a loving wife, I will be a wonderful friend. Tomorrow I will figure out how I can do that, one step at a time.

Merry Christmas!

To Everyone that has read the house blog, Thanks! Since it's done for the most part, I will switch this to a Daily thought blog. I've just been thinking about things and need an outlet for them. Not to worry, only positive things! thanks for reading!

Crown and baseboard

Brett found a lady on ksl selling baseboard and crown for .20 cents a foot. He bought enough baseboard for the whole house and enough crown for the frontroom for $70!! It looks really good. We are still debating whether to paint the crown. We kinda like the pine. The baseboard is going to be painted white.

I really like old houses. The only think I don't like is the fact that ours has no insulation. Needless to say the cold weather we have been having is going to be expensive for our gas and power. We are going to have to think of something so we aren't paying an arm and a leg next year.

Slowly, but its coming along

There are still alot to do in the house but it's coming along nicely. Brett and Levi cleaned out the addition so Brett could work out. I would to but since the walls and ceiling are not sheetrocked we closed the vents. It's just a little chilly in there. Brett said he didn't freeze so it was ok. I think I'll wait til after teh hoildays to start working out again! There is still alot of stuff in there but not as much as there was. I shouldn't go look in the garage I was told. This really is a huge room and I can't wait for it to be finished (probably next summer). Brett also painted the kitchen wall that was unfinished. He also put insulation in some cracks so we can put the crown up. Jason finished putting in the cans in the front entryway. It looks great, by the way!

Finally Moved In!!!

Finally we have actually started unpacking boxes!! We moved on Halloween but there were still things that needed to be done before we could really start to unpack. The shower needed to be finished and the countertops in the kitchen needed to be installed and there were some broken cabinets and a piece missing for the pantry but now that everything is finished and we finally got internet and cable (yeah, FOOTBALL!!) Here are the most recent pictures I took this morning. We still need to put crown and base board in and the lights need trim in the front room. The backsplash in the kitchen needs to be finished and the grout sealed, and the one wall needs to be painted and that's about it!! Thanks to all the people who helped us move and work on the house. We are truly indebted to you!Front room

Kitchen, Half of the back splash is put in

Kitchen from dining room

Bathroom, shower, we did granite and ceramic tile

Brett did it all by himself

Entry way, eventally it will be tiled

The next time I buy a house (I plan on being here a LONG time) I'm going to hire someone to do all the work or it will already be done!

The rest of the colors....house is almost done!

So we are getting closer to getting done with the house. There are some things we will have to finish after we move in. (Which is going to be THIS saturday!) But for the most part it's livable. so here it goes!bathroom with tile and vanity in
boys room, please wear protective eye gear when looking at these walls

Khloe's room

front room

Kitchen

I would do the other view but the accent wall isn't painted. Most of the doors are on the cabinets, Brett just forgot to take a picture of the kitchen before we left tonight.

Tile in the bathroom and two new colors!

Here are the colors for the bathroom. I wanted blue because my towels are blue but Brett said it was too cold so we decided on green and beige, I think with the tile it turned out really great! In the shower will be granite but obviously it's not up yet. The beige color will also be in the front room and hallway. Great job BRETT!!

Stolen!

Just when I think the human race is starting to redeem itself, something like this happens. At the beginning of October, Woods Cross did their fall clean-up. So we put a bunch of stuff out. One night there was a note on our door saying these guys did a metal pickup for free. We assumed that our plumber knew these guys and had told them about all the pipes he had taken out. We called the guys and told them there would be a bunch of metal out on the strip for them to pick up. They came and picked all the pipe, the stove, dishwasher and sink that was left out there. Last night our plumber is at the house looking for the supplies to hook up the gas line for the stove. Brett and Tim can't find it anywhere. Brett noticed there were other things missing too. Some roof flashing and some of Tim's tools and other supplies. Brett asked Tim about the two guys that left the note and Tim said he had no idea who they were. So this is what we think happened. These two a$$holes jumped our locked gate, snooped around our open garage, took the most expensive supplies and tools and then left a note on the door to pick up the metal they also noticed while they were snooping. We filed a police report but since we can't say it was them and we didn't see them take anything, the police can't really do anything about it. But I know what comes around goes around and these two will get their's one day. Sorry for the rant but it really makes me mad.

Bought paint

Brett and I took some extra supplies back last night and bought 20 gallons of paint. I was thinking of putting some color samples on the blog but I think that I will make you wait!! I believe we are going to start today!! We need to paint the bathroom first and then we can tile the floor and have a real bathroom again! WHOO HOO!! More (colorful) pictures soon!!

Sheetrock in the kitchen and dining room

We are really coming along on the house. It's starting to look like a real house instead of a bare bones building.

Brett and I put up this wall of sheetrock all by ourselves
Wil came over and helped us with this wall

Into the kitchen

Ceiling already up and first later of mud on.

WE ran out of sheetrock so we will finish tomorrow and according to our schedule we will only be behind a couple of days!

Next, mud and sanding, more mud, sanding and then painting, tile work, cabinets and finishing the bathroom

we still need to buy countertop, sink and disposal, paint and crown molding and baseboard

Whew!

Some house stuff

We have been working on the house but not doing anything REALLY big. Brett let me patch the holes in the boys room and in our room. I also got to patch a hole in the front room wall. I did most of it myself with alot of help from Ryan. Brett and I also laid the tile in the dining room so we could cut all the pieces before hand so when its really time to lay them we don't have to stop and cut them. It looks great!my patch work in the boys room
my patch job in the front room, just need to tape and mud

tile in dining room

ceramic tile in checkerboard on the diagnal

Same tile different angle

Movin' right along

After buying the tub sunday morning, Tim the plumber came and set the tub. Sweet!All the eletrical wires for one wall in the kitchen. It really is amazing what Jason does. It's kinda hard to see the wire but there is a TON of it
Ryan came over and helped Brett put the backboard and green boared in. Brett wanted to celebrate last night because Ryan also got the first coat of tape and mud in the bathroom.

The tub. Once the last round of mud is sanded we can paint and start to tile

Dining room ready for sheetrock

Since there's not really anything for me to do right now (I did fix a hole in the wall with sheetrock, I learned to use the chop saw too, but I'm not quite ready to use the nail gun) I started cleaning out the window sills and tracks. All the windows on the first floor that open have two windows. Not two panes, two different windows. One more surprise for this house. It is nice though because it's better insulated (I guess)

Thanks to everyone that has helped, especially Hailey for letting her husband come over so much and helping!

Framing in the Kitchen and Bathroom

We are moving along a little quicker now that we have set a deadline for the sheetrock and the electrical to get done by the 15th of this month. Brett and Ryan got all the framing done for the kitchen, dining room and bathroom. Brett and I and the kids went to Home Depot this morning (way too early) to buy a tub (so the plumber could set it this morning), a toliet and a vanity. We didn't spend that much. I also bought the cabinets yesterday. That cost a pretty penny but its going to be worth it once it's done. I will take pictures of the tub tomorrow because Brett forgot the camera. I think I'm going to start packing stuff up that we don't use very often and start moving boxes over so that when we do move at the end of this month it will be furniture and big stuff. Just trying to help as much as I can!! there was also another mystery chimmny but this one popped out of the wall. Austin and Tyler broke it out so the boys could frame that wall. It's behind the black plastic vent for the furnace in the picture below.

Thanks Ryan, Austin, Tyler, Jason and Tim for your help

Kitchen Framed

Dining Room framed (my awsome bro-in-law peeking)

Cans in the kitchen and dining room I think there is a total of 10 plus a plug for a fan in the dining room. i will try to get a picture of the wall before they sheetrock of all the wire that goes into a house. it is truly amazing

framing for the tub in the bathroom

Gutted Kitchen

Yesterday we started working on the house again. I decided to take all the cabinet doors off because I was going to paint them. I couldn't get the hardware off because the people put heavy duty screws in and stripped the screw heads. So that was a pain. After more investigation I discovered lots of mouse droppings. I don't know if they were old or fresh. So after going to Home depot the other day to look at cabinets we think we can get all new cabinets for a reasonable price. So we got to gut the kitchen. After taking all the cabinets out I glad we decieded to get all new ones. There were tons of mouse droppings and we found 4 mouse carcesses. GROSS! We cleaned everything up so it's down to the studs again on the ceiling and Ryan and Brett get to frame the walls. So here is a picture before

And the picture after
I've been a little discouraged lately about the house because we took some time off. But I know once we get everything sheetrocked and mudded and taped we can really start flying thru getting more stuff done. I just want to move!!

I know its been awhile...

The boys roomKhloe's room

Front room

Dining room

Kitchen

we went camping....sorry about that. So we haven't been working on the house as much. We decided to push moving until mid to late october. And the work we have been doing you cant really appreciate with pictures. Right before we left Brett cleaned up so I will post those ones so you can see the progress! Hope you enjoy!

Dining Room Demo

Today I got a great start on the house. I got there about 9:30am with the kids, the did really good for about 2 hours so I called Val and like the great mother in law and grandma she is, she came to pick the kids up and had them until about 6pm. Thanks Val!! It was a good thing we didn't have the kids there. IT was super messy and dusty. I took the drop ceiling out of the dining room. That gave us about 3 more feet up. We are taking the plaster out of one wall and framing the other two because the walls are too uneven and the plaster too damaged. We are also taking the ceiling out. We found out the ceiling in the kitchen is new and framed so we can put cans in, Whoo hooo! So I left about 6 to make dinner. It was exhausting but a productive day. While I was at home, Brett took out the rest of the bathroom floor. It was rotted and extremely disgusting. Jason got the cans working in the front room so we have light now!! I had to go thursday night to get the garbage cans and it was so dark and scary in the house with no lights. But thanks to Jason we don't have to worry about that anymore! Thanks Jas! (and thanks to his wife for letting him come over)

Starting to take out the plaster and lath in the dining room
all the plaster from the ceiling

Dining room ceiling, the line across the wall is where the drop ceiling was. I think they dropped it just to get the furnace vents in (I think they were lazy)

Dining room most of the plaster and lath gone on the ceiling and wall

Bathroom, where the tub use to be

The toilet was weird because we thought it was a short toliet but it turns out when they put a new subfloor in they didn't take the old one out they just put it on top and instead of taking the toliet out and putting it on top of the new subfloor they just cut a hole so the toliet would fit around it. I can't stand LAZY ASS PEOPLE!