Drywall!

We have started drywalling, yes, finally! It has made a huge difference in the house. For some reason, the rooms seem bigger? Which is odd, because you would think it would be the opposite, but it's not. Each day I stop by the house it has changed. I love this part of it, because for so long it seemed like we were treading water in the same place - for a long time. We have hired a guy (yay Adam!) to do the mudding, taping and texturing of the walls. He is doing the first floor and we are going to work with him on the second floor. It's amazing to watch him work. Granted he has all the tools that make it look sooo easy (deceiving) but, he's also done it for a long time. It's the one thing that Brad and I knew we would not be able to do, at least not very well or in a timely manner. We're very happy right now with the progress. Brad is still hanging drywall in the master bathroom and the upstairs, but everything else downstairs is being completed.

This is the looking into the living room from the front door. The closet on the right side is now drywalled as well. And yes, we do have the fireplace going.  I love the fireplace!

 

This is looking into the kitchen from the living room. One thing (of many) that I'm looking forward to, is all of the light. I love the windows, knowing they will be a pain to clean. But, the light is fantastic! I'm already thinking of the great pictures I will be able to take of food, all the new recipes I'm going to make this year! I've always wanted a lot of windows in my house. Natural light and air flow are two things that top my list of essentials. I think we've accomplished those.  

This is my master bedroom closet, with secret hideaway. Well, not really, just extra storage, but it could double as such? I'm posting this to show that we really are using every single square inch of available space. As you can see, it's the space under the staircase. I don't have a walk-in closet, but having this extra storage makes a huge difference. As we were designing the house, the element of storage came up and it would be one of the things we would change if we could. Barring that, we've inched out every single space we can.  

Piper's room. I think hers is my most favorite. It's such a cute little room. All the detail, most of which you can't see in this picture, but the trey ceilings, her bookshelves, the angled door. It's just perfect for her, and someday, Hailey. Hailey is already waiting for the day that this room is hers.

That's where we're at now. Brad thinks we will be painting within the next three weeks. Please, please, keep your fingers crossed that it happens on schedule!!!

~ Misty

Deal #117, 118, 119...

One of the good things about taking so long to build our house are all the deals we have found. A vast majority of our appliances, building supplies, electrical etc. have all been fantastic clearance or closeout deals. I think I may have mentioned them on here before? At any rate, our latest finds include this microwave. It was one of the last things on our list that we need for the house. It's been rather difficult to find what we want on sale because they typically don't go on sale. It will be built into the cabinet and Brad wanted it to match the brand of the other appliances we have. When he was in Ames last week, he stopped at the Lowe's there, as he always does, and found this microwave. It was a special order return and originally was priced at $233.00. Brad knows the manager there in that dept. and asked if he would take less. He did and our final cost was $100.00. Score!!! Basically, it will cost more to build it into the cabinet than the whole unit cost.

The next find was our crown moulding. There's an Omega outlet that's open on Wednesdays in Denver. We've heard a lot about it, but never stopped in. I heard it can get pretty crazy as the deals are outrageous, and it's first come, first serve.  A couple of weeks ago, Brad was in the area and decided to check it out. He found all of this solid maple crown moulding. Originally, in a store like Menard's, this can run anywhere from $15/piece to upwards of $25/piece, depending on the detail.  Guess how much we paid?

$1.50 each piece!

That's right, a single dollar-fifty. Another huge score! He started with 100 pieces and then went back and bought more, slightly different pieces that he plans to rip and use as part of our baseboards. I am so excited to see what it looks like when it's put up! And the best part is that I don't have to paint it, Brad is going to spray all of it. Yay!!!!!
More deals coming soon...
~ Misty

Try-It-Out Tuesday

A lot of the blogs I read have catchy little phrases for different days of the week, like Muffin Tin Monday, What I Ate Wednesday etc. It seems like a good way to have an accountable system for posting and it goes along with my goal to try 52 recipes this year (one per week, or so). I thought if I had a specific day I posted it, it would be easier for me to do. Remembering back to when I had my photoblog a couple of years ago, I did very well keeping up with it and generally tried to post every week or sooner. 

I was pretty proud of myself when I came up with this one. I was lying in bed trying to get to sleep and naturally thinking about a ton of random things. Eventually, I thought about my goals for the year and this blog. I like to come up with catchy ways to remember things and mused over different ways to phrase my idea. I also wanted to be able to shorten it. I thought about Thursday, but there was nothing short about that and Thursday sounds so much longer than Tuesday. There are no "r's" in the week, and if I'm trying it, then Tuesday seemed to be the best option. Where to go from there? I thought I had it when I did "try-it" Tuesday, but what do you get when you put that together with the first letters? Not going to work! I added the "out" and that's much better: Try-It-Out Tuesday aka TIO Tuesday.  So, that's how I came up with it and the hard part starts, actually doing it.

I'm very guilty of reading recipes, going to the store, buying everything I need and... never making it. Right now in my cupboard, I have a large jar of wheat germ (who eats wheat germ?!) a small jar of imported gourmet non-pareil capers (for making peppercorn sauce) and an unopened box of sugar in the raw (who knows what recipe that was for?). I'm hoping that this challenge/goal will help with my "problem". That being said, the only rule I have for this thing is that the recipe is new to me. Not a version of something I've already made or something that I try out-to-eat. It can be anything, from anywhere or anyone. I have a plethora of options in that category. I am in love with pinterest, as stated before, and I subscribe to several cooking magazines. All of that combined with an abundance of cookbooks, I think I'm good to go.

So what's my first TIO? I think I'm going to go with the Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos I made on NYE. I realize that's slightly before the first of the year, but in reality, there were still some left after midnight so that counts right? I don't happen to have a picture of the ones that I made, but they looked exactly like these:

I believe the overall consensus was that they were very good. I do make a jalapeno popper that is filled with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon and brushed with bbq sauce, but they are completely different from these. Would I make them again? I think yes, but I would change a couple things in the recipe, like less parm cheese and less ranch dressing than what is in the recipe. 

There you have it, my first TIO. One down, fifty-one to go...

~ Misty

Happy New Year

As I began the new year last night, I was struck by how easily my children are able to adapt to their circumstances and find happiness in everything around them. Piper was being pulled in a little wagon and her laugh and expression on her face was truly priceless. I had to snap a picture because it was the perfect example of how I want to be this year. I want to look and more importantly, feel that happy more often. I'm not delusional enough to think it will happen every day, but it's something to strive for. I think I really need to pay more attention to my children and learn from them, instead of trying to "teach" them things. I clearly have a lot of things I need to relearn.

~ Misty

What to Read?

My amazing sister, Michelle, and brother-in-law, Dustin, bought me a Kindle for Christmas. I love, love, love books! I have a gazillion books - yes that's an actual word, well for me anyway. Just ask Brad, he's had to move them from house to house and even in a boat after the flood. My dilemma is that I have soooo many books and I love to read them. I'm often reading several at a time. But now, I have this Kindle. So, what do I read? I need some input on the best way to use mine?

I have downloaded a lot of free things so far. I have some books, fiction and non-fiction. And I did some word games, that the kids and I are all enjoying. But how do you decide what to read? What tools work best for you on the kindle? I am overwhelmed by the whole notes and highlighting thing. I read that you can transfer things from your email to your kindle. Does anyone know of any other cool tools or tricks? I am excited about the fact that you can save where you're at and go back to it later. I also like that there are endless possibilities for books to download, but where to start?! Hmmm, oh the choices!!!

~ Misty

Wrapping Up 2011

It's finally about over, this year that is. As optimistic as I was about the new year at the beginning, it turned out to be a bear. Granted, some good things happened, but generally, it's a year I will be happy to put behind me. Instead of focusing on all that was difficult or didn't go as I had planned, I'm going to try to leave that behind and look ahead. This picture was taken Christmas day.

I am most thankful for my family and that everyone is healthy. 

I have a friend that says it's cliche to have a resolution that starts on New Year's Day, so I'll start now. Well, I'll start thinking about things now. Overall, I'm ready to move into the red albatross. I'm ready to have my own space. I'm sure everyone else is ready too. I'm ready to have someone ask me if we are in our house yet? and actually say yes! We are in the drywall phase right now. We've actually hired someone to come and start the mudding and taping next week. I do think it will go quicker then. Most of the first floor has the drywall hung and we're hoping to finish that up by the end of the weekend with inspection on Tuesday.

There are several personal goals I've set for myself. I'm reluctant to call them a resolution, just things I really want to change. Among them, be healthier, drop those last few piper pounds, lower my overall stress level, be more consistent in my parenting and relationships. There are some fun ones too. I would like to do the 52 new recipes in 2012, run a 5k (or more?) focus on my writing, do more with this blog....

Any new goals or resolutions for you? If you would like to read some perspective that a friend shared, check out this blog, I did and it helped a lot as I was thinking about how I could make this year great - 30 things

~ Misty

Piper's Kitchen

I finished Piper's kitchen just in time for Christmas. It has been, by far, the gift I have been most excited to give. I don't think I would have attempted it if it weren't for Brad's help. He was able to cut the holes for the sink for me and help attach all the hardware. But, in the end it was my project, so I'm taking the rest of the credit.
I totalled up my cost in the project and my best estimate was around $50 or so. That includes the actual cabinet, wood for the back, all the hardware, paint and fabric. The two most expensive things were the unit (15) and the faucet (20) which actually is a laundry faucet that works if it's hooked up to water. Brad asked if I wanted him to plumb her room for the sink? That was a very quick NO! Can you imagine the disaster that would cause?!
The first picture is her the day after Christmas with her kitchen before I moved it into the actual kitchen. Still a mess from Christmas, you can see that she's a little on the short side yet. She has been using the potty for a step stool, rest assured, she doesn't actually pee in the potty yet...

I put hooks on the right side of the kitchen to hang her apron and pot holders. And on the left side, I painted a picture frame and added "Piper's Kitchen" to the top of it. However, when I tried to glue on the metal for the magnet board, it messed up the side of the frame. I still haven't fixed it yet, but when I do, I will attach it to the side so she can put her letter magnets on it and maybe her shopping list :)

So, it's finally done and I can quit obsessing over it. The good news is that Piper loves it, plays with it all the time and the other kids do too. I wish I would have seen this idea when Hailey was little. Maybe someday if I have a niece, she can use it when Piper's done with it.

~ Misty

Christmas is Coming

It's true, Christmas is coming. So, we needed a tree. Last year, we waited too long and had to get one of the last two trees that was left at Earl May. Usually, we go cut ours down from the Kris Kringle tree farm the weekend after Thanksgiving. We made it there this year, just a couple weekends off. All the boys had their hand at cutting it down. Starting with Jackson while Anderson threw a fit because he thought he wouldn't get a turn. And Brad finishing it off. He has a hat on this year, so no funny head shots.

 The girls and I watched while they did the dirty work. Piper wasn't too thrilled with the whole snow suit thing, but it was sooo cold! She looked like a stuffed marshmallow waddling around.

 Last week, I decided it was time for a change, so I had my hair done darker and shorter. It's a bit of a drastic change, but I think it works. The lighting is hard in this picture to tell how dark and red it is, kind of like red wine. We took a bunch of other shots that actually turned out better, but I liked this one. Piper was trying to get in on the action and was very upset that she wasn't in the picture. So, there ya go Pipe! And in the background you can see the tree decorated by the Block kids. No shortage of tinsel there.

~ Misty

Pinterest Addicted!

The first step is to admit you have a problem. Yes, I have a problem - PINTEREST! Where have you been all my life?! Like so many others, I have fallen victim to the allure of crafting, baking and new style ideas that dominate pinterest. Seriously, I have no time for facebook now. I spend way too much time on pinterest and I'm sad to admit, I think Hailey is addicted as well? She is always asking to go on and find new craft ideas. On the upside, I have gotten a ton of new ideas and my kids and family are benefiting from it. I made the headband holder below for the girls. Super easy and turned out way cute, you can use the inside of the container to hold other hair things as well.

I'm also not the only one that wishes she could sew better after being on pinterest. So, that's next on my list, brushing up on my sewing skills. While on the site a few weeks ago, I found the absolute cutest idea for a little play kitchen. This is the inspiration for the kitchen. But, I 've taken it a step further, cut off the ledge on the back, removed the cardboard and added a 48" high solid back with a shelf. Here are a couple before pictures.

The whole thing is going to be painted pink. I was in the process of sanding and started to prime it all when Brad tells me that I shouldn't use spray paint. He gave a list of reasons why etc. etc. As it turns out, one of his clients offered to primer and spray it in his paint booth. I can't wait to see how it turns out. I am making the curtain out of the same fabric I used to cover her chandelier.

A few other details on the kitchen, the knobs for the stove were free from an appliance store and I got the "sink" for .75 from a thrift store. Brad says I should put a Viking emblem on the oven. I'm still researching that idea, but how cute would that be?! There will be a magnet board on one side and hooks to hang her apron and potholders on the other side. I am so excited for this to be done and able to give it to Piper for Christmas. Stay tuned for the finished product!

I have tried quite a few other things from pinterest. We did the pumpkin muffins for school a couple of times, super easy and tasty too. I bought the ikea shelves to do this project, just need to paint them - you guessed it - pink!  I'm making my sister's cards into a book, about half way done with that. Who knew she had so many cards?  

 If you haven't done so already, you should check it out. http://www.pinterest.com/  

But don't blame me if you have no more free time...

~ Misty

Another House Update

You know you're slacking as a blogger when your husband even asks for you to update it! I admit, it's been a while. Perhaps I'm only meant to be a quarterly update blogger? At any rate, lots of stuff happening at the house. Still making progress, but very slowly.  Here's a few of the inside, as requested by Brad.

Insulation is done in the house with the exception of the part above the porch which will be blown in this weekend. This is the kitchen. Brad actually finished drywalling everything in the kitchen last night, but this is the only picture I have so far. The black paper and wire on the island is prep for the stone.

 Fireplace with prep started for the stone.

Drywall was first started on the ceiling of the boys' room. The ceiling is now completed, but haven't gotten to the walls yet. The little space to the left is their hideout area.

I can't remember if I had posted a picture of Brad's "Man Cave" or not? This is the room above the garage. It won't be completed until after we are in the house. For right now, it's storage for all our things. I've started bringing totes of stuff over to help when we actually do move in.

Finally, an updated picture of the outside of the house. It looks like the sidewalk will have to wait until spring. But, at least we can drive and walk easier on the driveway.

I had hoped we would be in before Christmas, but I'm not convinced that will happen. We are really behind in everything. It all takes soooo much longer than we anticipate. We both feel like we should be further along by now. Nights and weekends just aren't enough. I wish I was able to do more during the day, but having Piper and Anderson at home makes it difficult. Hopefully after the drywall is done, I can have them over during the day while I work.  Trying to get ready for the holidays just isn't the same when we're not in our house yet. Until then, I'm still thankful for a place to live, my house or not. 

~ Misty