Saturday, August 28th, 2010
Since Clair and his crew are drywalling the ceiling, we had to get all of the wiring done first. Nathan and Justin spent the afternoon buying supplies and wiring the basement for surround sound and in case we decide we want a projection TV in the basement. Here's the diagram Justin drew up for us.


They ran all the equipment to boxes on the main, front wall.



Here you can see each of the speaker wires hanging down from the ceiling.



We had to order a 50 ft HDMI cable for the TV, and it won't be in until Monday, but other than that I think they got everything hooked up and ready for drywall.
Thanks for all your help Justin!


Saturday, August 28th, 2010
Here's a few pages I finished up this week. Both are made with Karen's new releases.

This is one for Faith – Who You Are

Journaling reads:
This photo says so much about who you are - inside and out.
Pure
Cutie
Sweet
Loved
Perfect
Beauty
You


Who You Are Credits:
All papers and elements - Amelia - Complete Collection By Karen Funk
Template - Simple Starts No15 by Jen Martakis

I did this one as part of the August Journaling Challenge at DHD. Every layout is entered for a chance to win at $5 Gift Certificate to the DHD Shop. There are a few days left in the month to enter, so be sure to check out all of the different Challenge Options.

The next one is a picture of Nathan from Josh and Kyla's wedding last weekend.

Journaling reads:
My man looks good in a suit




Looks Good in a Suit Credits:
B/G paper - Happiness is You - Digital Solids by Karen Funk
White textured paper - Basic Cardstock - Digital Papers by Karen Funk
All elements - Happiness is You - Digital Elements by Karen Funk


Friday, August 27th, 2010
1.) Paint Issues. They finally made a decision on the paint. Sherwin Williams is going to pay to have the problem areas repainted – which is a large majority of the house. They are going to call and arrange for three different painters to come out and go through the house. Each will submit a bid to Sherwin Williams, and they will average the three bids. That will determine the price Sherwin Williams is willing to pay , and from there we can pick between the three offers. The first guy came today, and we have the other two scheduled for Monday. I know it still may be awhile before everything is finished, and we can start moving more things in, but I'm just so relieved to finally be moving in some direction.

2.) Snack Fairy. I opened my cabinet one evening this week to find this. The "Snack Fairy" had brought us an entire bag full of treats. Maybe the Snack Fairy knew we needed a little pick-me-up after these long days of dealing with house stuff or maybe said-Snack Fairy has been asked to wait at the house for long hours this week to meet the cable guy, and the furnce crew and the Sears repair man, and is tired of having nothing to eat. Either way it was greatly appreciated – thanks Snack Fairy!


3.) Kenny Chesney. Would someone please ask Kenney Chesney to stop including two-minute-long intros at the beginning of his videos before the music even starts? I listen to GAC and CMT pretty often. Mom and I listen to it in the mornings while we are working out. Sometimes I just put it on in the background while I'm cleaning or doing chores around the house, and frankly I find his long intros to be unnecessary and irritating. First he did it with his You Save Me video, and now I have to deal with a three minute long football pep talk with his Boys of Fall. Seriously, an eight minute video is excessive – especially when most of it is not even singing! Everyone else manages to tell the story while the music is playing, so why can't he?

4.) New appliances. Now that all of my new appliances are functioning properly, I'm actually quite happy with them. I LOVE the steam fresh option on our dryer, and the convection oven on the microwave is quite handy.

5.) TV wires. Nathan's big , giant TV in the family room was so flat that it actually sat too close to the wall for the electrical outlet and cable outlet to plug in properly. Today Clair recessed both of them back into the wall, so the TV could lock in place against the wall. He also cut a few holes in the drywall and made a section where we can run the wires from the TV through the wall and come out at the bottom where the HD box and DVD players plug in. That way there will be no wires showing from the outside. I meant to take some pictures of it all while the TV was down, but they put it back up before I got a chance to. This is the hole on the other side, where we can help guide them out the bottom. It is in the hall closet and has an easy access panel.






Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Clair and his crew are continuing to work in the basement. State Electric delivered a good bit of our lights this morning, and they got to work installing the recessed can lights.


They also started drywalling the ceiling. This is the area above the mini kitchen.



The bathroom is the door on the left and the bedroom is the door on the right.



The area on the left is a play area – it's one of the ones that had to have the ceiling lowered because of the vents and water pipes. The door in the middle leads to a storage room, and the stairs are on the right.





Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
Today was a busy day. Exhausting in fact. I went to bed last night with so much anticipation and hope in my heart. As we were laying in bed last night, I said to Nathan, "Wouldn't it be awesome if by the end of tomorrow we had the blinds ordered, the concrete guy selected, an answer from Sherwin Williams on the paint, a ship date for the furniture, and DJ started on the yard?" I'm an optimistic person, so I really thought there was a chance that would all happen, and for the most part a lot of it did.

We met with Candlelier at lunch and went over some final numbers and options, and then met up again at 6pm to sign the contract and put down a deposit. We ordered blinds for the family room and dinnette. They said we could have blinds as early as next week, but sometimes with the motorized ones it can take two weeks.

We selected a concrete guy for the back patio – two in fact. Apparently, two of the guys we had bid on the job are actually really good friends, and they decided to do the job together. I think we got a really good price and now we have the expertise of both of them. Mike stopped by this evening to show us the mat he is planning to use. It's a little bit different than a traditional stamp because it just add more of an overall texture, which is actually what we were looking for. We saw this patio at a home in Richmond, VA and really liked it. We are going to have it stained as well. Mike said that he and Troy should be able to get started on the patio next week, which should work out timing wise for the yard.


We still don't have an answer from Sherwin Williams. Hunter came out to see the paint on Thursday, and said that he would have to talk to his boss when he came back in on Monday. Unfortunately, when we talked to him this evening, he still couldn't tell us anything, but said that his boss was working on it and would let us know more tomorrow.

We didn't hear anything about the furntiture today. I will probably call tomorrow and just see if they were given a delivery date. She said their delivery trucks run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we will just have to see where our shipment falls.

DJ did come out tonight and started to mow our yard. He mowed the entire right side yard, but then got his tractor hung up in the spring that runs along the back of our yard. They spent a good while trying to get it out, and eventually did an hour or so later, but by then it was starting to get dark, so he has to come back tomorrow to mow the rest.

Clair and his crew are also working in the basement. They are getting things framed up and starting to work on the wiring. This is the downstairs bedroom with a closet in the back.




There are a few places in the basement that will have lower ceilings because of the duct work.



I was kind of bummed when I saw a few of them, but after looking things over well, I think Clair made the best of it that he could. The main living area will still be 9' ceilings.



It was 9 o'clock before we finally stopped meeting with people, answering questions and signing contracts. I guess I felt like having decisions made would make me feel better about things, but all it really did was remind me how many different things we are trying to juggle at once.