Are You Getting Tired Of Hearing About The House Yet??

I am...but it's what I do day in and day out, so that's what you get :0). Today Eric and I worked on the rock and made some serious progress (more than what you see on the photo). We're hoping for good weather tomorrow so we can get it done and move inside before we get snow!! The Lord has helped us so much with the weather and being able to find subs to help us finish in time!! Everywhere around us has seemed to be getting snow, but the storm that was supposed to come our way didn't and we are so grateful!!! Eric's friend, Danen, and his brother are here helping us get all the tile done and we are so happy!! It is turning out so awesome and we are so glad that Lamar is gone and our finish work is getting done so much better!!! We are looking forward to being done and moving in to enjoy the fruits of our labor!! It has been a pretty stressful time and I feel like all I do is work, but soon enough we will be in and ready for visitors!! The appraisal finally came in, our insurance is square away, and our loan is almost done-can I get a Hallelujah?!!! (It's a ton of work!!) The last two days at the house have been interesting because the long awaited beams and steel valleys were put in---which was no small feat!! They put the valleys in today, and at 600 lbs a piece it was pretty incredible to watch!! We love the patio covering they put up downstairs and can't wait to put in matching posts when the groud unfreezes!! BTW the photo of my little feline friend is quite cute huh? This little guy showed up at our house on Friday and has no tags. He is so good though!! I seriously am not a huge pet fan, but I have thought about keeping this little guy!! The electrician has been taking him home at night to feed him and bringing him back during the day to keep us company. He just sits in whatever place is being worked on and is super friendly and never barks-so cute, but he sheds so he will not be staying. Our Halloween pretty much consisted of doing the house with minimal time spent in festivity. I did go with my friend Shanoa to the ward party last night, and stole someone else's baby so I could go in the cake walk-haha. Working at the Elementary has been so fun and the Halloween parade and parties did not disappoint-the kiddos looked so cute!! Eric and I didn't get to dress up this year, but I have some amazing ideas for next year!!!

Just Us 2009 Style and A Little Venting...

Here is a preview of us...courtesy of me running back and forth to set the timer. I need to figure out my remote...was gonna do it and then company came. At least we still got some photos in before the weather really turned south!! You can get a sneak peek of our Christmas card on my blog http://www.simplemomentsphotographybyliz.blogspot.com/

****Oh BTW did any of you feel a breeze, or get a crazy whiff of something nasty? If so, I apologize...that was the crap hitting our fan :0). (Sorry, I have to have fun with this somehow to keep the sanity). Our builder skipped town on us and left us and the financer to figure out how to get our house completed by November 15th-fun, thanks for the all the patience building you turd of a man. In a way I saw it coming, and in a way I am glad. However, it's like breaking up through the phone...use your cahonas and dump me in person, seriously. He ran away like a dog with his tail between his legs...it will catch up to him eventually, and now I get to save some money and get it done right-with about the same amount of stress. So, please excuse our smell...we're working on cleaning up the mess as we speak ;0).

Fresh weeks to all my friends!

Liz

Our Week

Kinda boring I know...but exciting that the doors are finally hung!!

The kitchen is finally starting to come together!!

My $108 dollar break from school....

The master bathroom.

The flooring is going in.

The spare bathroom.

The front-it is finally changing again!!

I love how everyone is blurring around them in these photos!!!!

I finally have some photos to upload along with the house!! This week was Homecoming and I am so glad to say that both the varsity football and volleyball teams won!! It was on Thursday night which made it super hard to want to go to school on Friday, especially since we have Monday off. Today was our Super Saturday here and I taught earring making-which was a huge hit!! I probably have 10 new pairs of earrings to show as models because of teaching!! I also had the chance to get a head start on some Christmas presents!! Eric is taking a break to go fishing today, but tonight he has to be a chaperon for the Homecoming dance-which I think is pretty funny since he's not really into things like that. They have not been working on the house the last couple of days, but we have decided I think to put the beams in the roofing structure so that you can't see them. The kitchen cabinetry has been put in, and is almost complete. I think they turned out really great!! They look black but they are actually a really dark brown. They turned out a little darker than what we wanted, but I still really like them!! They have also started on our flooring, the wood floor is going down and so is the backer board for the tile. The brick out front is almost complete, but they ran out of mortar so they should be finishing that up next week. The house is almost all sided as well. It seems to be moving along quickly, but we know how much they still have to get done in less than one month so I am not quite sure they will make it. None the less we are happy with how it is all turning out. One the bummer side...while trying to be quick since I was leaving work to get the appliances delivered, I recieved a nice speeding ticket on my way back. The worst part is I knew I totally deserved it, and then to top it all off the guy took like 15 minutes writing it so it made me even later that than it would have if I had just gone the speed limit!!! (That'll make you want to scream at the man) So...$108 later, I have learned my lesson-lie about why you were speeding to try and get off (j/k).

Happy ticket free weeks to all my friends!!

Liz

It's Our Baby....

Seriously messy...not so good for the OCD in me...

Rock and siding is going on...

Master bedroom is currently getting hardwood...

Paint and texture is pretty much done...

Yea....we are closed in now!!

I know for some of you it is a little old hearing about the house (Shayne), but I like to think of it as our baby, which makes me feel better about the extreme obsession. For example these are some similarities I anticipate when we actually do have a baby: We wait with anticipation as it changes and progresses. We're super proud of how it's turning out. It has caused moments of extreme stress, anxiety, excitement, tears, ect. It's super messy!! We have lots of people around for support, information, and TLC when it/we need it. Like a proud parent I like to show people pictures and talk about it :0). I think about it all the time and wonder if everything will be okay, will it look alright (you know you think it-haha), will everything function properly when we are in, will we have problems down the road, ect. Although it's not really a baby (I know some of you were hoping for an announcement), it will have to do for now. Besides, I am surrounded by babies and mommies to be that will let me share in their joy until it's really our turn. BTW....the painting is done, the rock is going on, the hardwood is going in, the garage doors are on, the septic is finished, the appliances are coming tomorrow, and it should be done in a month or so.

Say What???

I was in PE today with a group of Kindergartners and the PE teacher was talking about safety (it's fire safety week) and who comes to help us when we get sick. Well, we live in a pretty small town and all we have is a clinic so she told them that if they were too sick that they will put you back in the ambulance and maybe even in a helicopter to take you somewhere else. She then asked for suggestions of where they would take you and the kids answered with various places including Jackson, Idaho, and Rock Springs. The best answer however was a little girl that said, "or even sometimes they might dig a hole and put you in the ground". Say what??? I about died laughing...don't kids say the darnedest things??

Us Lately

WARNING-It's lengthy (and the photos are bachwards-but you can figure it out), but hey it's my blog so I am entitled to vent and celebrate a bit when it's needed...

So...we have had some issues with the house as I am sure some of you have read on Facebook. We had to bring in a structural engineer to check out the roof and a few other things. He came back with a small list of things to do, which included adding beams to the roof. I just talked to him again today and after what we thought would be 4 exposed beams it is now sounding like it will be 6 to get our roof past the 15 lbs snow load it has right now. For those of you who don't know much about snow load and Pinedale, we need more than that because that will only hold 1.5 ft of snow before you start to have issues that show within your home. Needless to say it has been pretty stressful and we have had quite an unhappy contractor-but I don't feel too bad because he should have done it right the first time and if he was unsure about snow load because he's from Georgia he should have done some research. So...N-E-Ways, we are waiting until tomorrow to hopefully sort it all out and get our house back on the track to completion. They now have the septic in (which is the huge concrete tank you see them putting in in the photo), and have started the outside to have the rock put on. They also have all the taping done and sanded, and the windows and wells put in the basement.

Eric was able to go hunting during all of these roofing issues-I tried hard to talk with everyone on my own to sort it out, but the contractor refuses to listen to me and my logic :0) Anyways Eric was able to stay out there even though he was stressed and on his last day he shot a great 6 point bull. We got lots of meat and he is super excited to have one of his best Elk kills yet!!

On another note I had a birthday on Saturday and turned 1/2 of 50 (even though the candles only say 20...we used what we had). We were able to go to SLC with Eric's Mom and Brother to see his other brother and his wifey. We had a super fun time and I had an awesome birthday. I was able to hang out with my good friend from H.S. -she was so sweet and took me to breakfast!! I had the best syrup I have ever had (no offense Mom)-lots of butter involved I am sure!! Thanks Linds-you're the best and I will miss you like crazy!! Then I was able to do some serious shopping with Eric and the fam. For lunch we went to Tucano's-nothing like a little Brazilian food, but the funniest part was when they came to sing to me as we were headed out the door-they were super slow. The looks on their faces when they got to the empty table...almost better than the looks of the dessert they were carrying-hahaha. To top it all off we went to a comedy show, and convinced them to do a funny game involving blind folds-acting-and mousetraps (notice the guys clenched toes as he is taking a step). To finish off my great day we had fondue...could a girl ask for anything more???? We had cake on Sunday after a wonderful meal of steak and coconut shrimp-yummy!!! Thanks to you all for a great birthday!!

The only downside of the trip was driving home in tons of rain, sleet, and snow!! Peggy and Cam had to stay the night with us last night because the pass was closed for them to make it home. We have had snow off and on all day today, and still have a bit on the ground. Nothing like an early snow to prepare you for winter. Pray for us that it will stop until they get the roof fixed :0).