Diary of the Haberdasher

Why didn't we have the internet when my girls were little?

2009-11-20T19:58:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I am a total DORK when it comes to doing my girl's hair. Always have been. Even if I can figure out how to make it cute, it never stays and I end up with children of the dumpter look within an hour. I stumbled across this cool blog where they show videos of how to make cute hairstyles for girls. I am AMAZED! (click on the title to go there).

2009-10-23T20:47:00.001-06:00

I'm so NOT ready for teenagers! The nice thing is they can pretty much run their own party as long as we supply an endless supply of sugar and pizza. The down side is the decibel level is SIGNIFICANTLY higher. I forgot the main rule of teenage girls: they start talking at13 and they don't stop until about age 18. I guess that means the party was good?

2009-09-23T21:07:00.000-06:00

so now there is so little left to do, it's hard to remember to take pictures and send them.

2009-09-20T06:56:00.001-06:00

Wow what a busy weekend. My sister, Joyce, came down for Friday and Saturday. We got a good chunk of the kitchen done. I just realized I don't have any detailed pictures of the kitchen, so here they are.

2009-09-17T18:48:00.002-06:00

I never thought I would be grateful for toilets, but the HORRID smelling port-a-potty from our front yard is GONE! The neighbors were even more thankful than we were.

Ethan christened the guest toilet and is VERY worried the toilets are too small for moms and dads rather large rumps.

One thing that is not too small is my laundry room sink. WOW!

2009-09-17T18:32:00.001-06:00

The list of stuff to be finished in the house is getting shorter and shorter. We got our appliances today. Holy cow, they're beautiful!

2009-09-16T22:00:00.001-06:00

COUNTERTOPS!
Today, after two days of virtually nothing being done, we were surprised to find the mantle and the countertops installed. Plus we spent a whole hour playing with the light switches because all the lights are hot and on.

Lights, camera,

2009-09-13T21:25:00.001-06:00

Oh, it is so exciting to see the stuff we picked out get put into the house! I had forgotten what the main chandelier looked like until it showed up in the house yesterday. Wow.

2009-09-11T20:46:00.001-06:00

Even better, we have cabinets!

2009-09-11T18:59:00.001-06:00

Look closely, the exterior now has lights!

2009-09-10T22:05:00.001-06:00

Now that's paint!

2009-09-09T19:23:00.001-06:00

The painters have been busy today. They got primer (tinted the same color as our walls) throughout the house. Plus all the doors and moldings got their coat of bright white paint.

2009-09-09T19:00:00.001-06:00

Ooooooooooo concrete. The back patio is poured along with our back steps and garage back landing.

2009-09-08T18:11:00.001-06:00

So the big pile of gravel in the front yard has been moved to the basement stairs and back porch. Plus, new dirt has filled in our holes in the front and back yards. We're getting graded and tomorrow the cement truck is coming to pour the back patio, back porch and outside stairway.

2009-09-08T17:38:00.001-06:00

You know you're getting close to being finished when you get doorknobs with locks installed. Although these aren't the style we priced out, the color is right and I think the real ones will look great.

2009-09-08T17:35:00.002-06:00

Today they stained our banister and prepped for paint. Tomorrow they'll do all the doors and trim, then thursday they'll do the walls. YIPPEEE!

Prom Stairs

2009-09-06T20:10:00.001-06:00

I am amazed at what a difference molding and doors can make. Almost overnight, the house looks like a real house. The thing that makes the huge difference is the stair railing is in. Cabinets come on wednesday, that means paint should be soon too.

Neato!

2009-09-06T17:47:00.002-06:00

so now we have a garage door opener with really cool switches.

2009-09-06T17:45:00.001-06:00

finish carpentry is COOL!

There goes our annonimity: we're famous now!

2009-09-05T12:58:00.002-06:00

As I was driving by the house today, I spied THE GOOGLE CAR parked next to the high school's baseball field. I bet that means you'll be able to actually google my address and see an actual street map. Hooray!

White is nice.

2009-09-05T10:38:00.002-06:00

So now that the white garage door is in, the house is really looking fantastic. I'm so excited. I was really worried the white would look weird, but it really is lovely.

COLOR!

2009-09-03T23:05:00.003-06:00

COLOR! Our house is finally colorized and it looks AMAZING. It is really starting to look like a home.

Date Night!

2009-09-03T23:00:00.002-06:00

AHHHH.......just the two of us alone in the moonlight. Some may consider this romantic, but something about the melodic racket of the paint sprayer mixed with the aroma of fresh paint and the gentle 90mph Spanish Fork breeze inflating the dropcloths we taped to the doors like balloons that inevitably took flight just wasn't doing it for me. Cordell tried all he could to add to the mood including whispering sweet four letter words under his breath, cooling us both with a refreshing wet semi-gloss coating; but to no avail. I have officially added "painter" to my top 5 list of occupations I don't want when I grow up. It's right up there with garbage man and assistant school custodian.
To be fair, the garage looks great, and we're living a dream, that as Cordell says, everyone talks about but near does: painting and texturing our garage BEFORE all the crap gets moved in. Every person who has walked through our house has told us how they wished they had done it. Now we can officially say we're livin' the dream!

Doors

2009-09-01T17:54:00.002-06:00

all our doors for the inside have been delivered and get installed on thursday.

the trims and moldings have been delivered too. I can hardly wait to see it in the house.

Tile

2009-09-01T17:48:00.002-06:00

The tile around the fireplace and on the hearth is installed as is the rest of the tile throughout the house. Hopefully we'll get grout tomorrow. It really is beautiful. I'm not sure if that's because the tile actually IS beautiful or if it is because the tile is mine that I think it's beautiful.

2009-08-31T20:27:00.001-06:00

Well, the stucco is finally starting. So far the color is pretty much cement. We think this is an under coat and the color will be the next layer. I CAN'T WAIT!

2009-08-31T20:22:00.000-06:00

So Cordell and I snuck into the house through the basement so we could see the tile work up close and personal. It literally took my breath away. I loved watching the initial construction stages, but the finish work is FUN!

2009-08-28T19:14:00.001-06:00

So we stopped off at the house after picking up the kids from school. To our surprise, we found all the doors nailed shut and we couldn't get in. Anya insisted that it was because all the workers were sick of us coming in whenever we wanted. So I walked around the back of the house and peeked in the patio door to see stuff smeared all over the floor and tile boxes stacked in the family room.

Plus, stucco has been delivered and should start soon.

2009-08-27T18:02:00.001-06:00

Anya has always joked the house doesn't look like a house, just a bunch of wood. Slowly the amount of visible wood has been disappearing behind brick roof and facia. Now her claim has no legitimacy because every inch of remaining wood is covered in black plastic and chicken wire.

The exterior is starting to look good!

2009-08-25T18:44:00.003-06:00

With the soffit and fascia and brick, the roof really doesn't look as orange. I'm so excited to see the house taking shape!

The plumbers have been busy.

2009-08-25T18:37:00.002-06:00

The gas lines for the water heater, stove, and dryer have all been run. We added the last two lines at the suggestion of David and Paul.

Texture!

2009-08-25T18:30:00.002-06:00

Inside the Drywall is mudded and taped. They are almost done texturing. I think paint will be coming soon.

Soffit and fascia

2009-08-25T18:22:00.002-06:00

Soffit and fascia have been going up since yesterday. They're almost done with it today. I am amazed at what a difference it makes to the house.

I love this brick!

2009-08-25T18:07:00.002-06:00

Oh now I remember why we chose this brick. It really is gorgeous.

Here comes the Brick!

2009-08-21T19:30:00.002-06:00

Brick is laid out. Pretty soon it will be on the house.

The white world of drywall

2009-08-20T17:11:00.003-06:00

We have almost all the drywall board up right now. I am AMAZED at the mess. This is my master bedroom window. It seems that any open space availible is being used to throw drywall scraps and mess. However, there is DEFINITE progress.

This is the view from the top of my stairs looking down towards the master entry. We ended up adding a plug in the nook so that (on Helen's suggestion) we could put electrical decorations there.

The main staircase. I can hardly wait until the railing goes in!

The half wall in the bedroom with the extra can lights we added above the tub and shower.

Real rooms and insulation!

2009-08-19T18:37:00.004-06:00

So it's been a few days since we did the insulation and wiring, but tons of stuff has happened at the house. First of all, Monday, we had insulation sprayed into the house. Plus, today, we have drywall in our garage, our master bedroom and bath, the ceilings are done and some of the kitchen has been finished. All of the windows are in (Ethan is excited for that). The bottom line is really that the house is starting to look like a home with reall walls and rooms.

I've never been so grateful that I'm not my own contractor.

2009-08-17T20:39:00.002-06:00

We pulled cat 6 wire to every room but the bathrooms, we installed boxes, drilled holes for the wire and boxes, then ran conduit for satellite and a tv above the mantle, PLUS we insulated the garage and all the bedrooms. We are all pretty tired. Okay, we are fully EXHAUSTED!

WIPE OUT!

2009-08-17T20:31:00.002-06:00

Wow what a busy weekend! On friday we completed our 4way inspection. Then came the real fun.

What have we done?!?!

2009-08-12T22:19:00.003-06:00

The roof is done, but it looks ORANGE! I know I shouldn't worry, but I do. What if my house is the ugliest house in the neighborhood? It has been 2 1/2 months since we picked out colors so I don't remember what the final product will look like. However, the brick was delivered today so it will be going up soon. Maybe I'll be able to relax once I see the two together.

We also got our fireplace today. But we don't know what it looks like, and we don't dare take the cover off to peek.

A web of wire

2009-08-11T19:39:00.004-06:00

Busy Busy Busy

2009-08-11T19:38:00.002-06:00

So, besides the windows, the plumbing is done (as Ethan wanted to demonstrate with the back outside faucet), windows are going in, and electricians are stringing a web of wires and cables. Outside, we got a whole bunch of gravel being graded in preparation for the driveway and the columns on the front porch.

Anticipation.....

2009-08-10T23:27:00.002-06:00

Not only did a lot get done today, but we've got a lot scheduled for tomorrow. Ethan is thrilled that his windows will be installed and tar paper is going on the roof tomorrow. Plus, the plumber should finish tomorrow, the electrician will start on Wednesday, we pull cat6 wire on thursday, and the 4 way is friday. That means we're doing insulation sat sun and mon. Any help would be appreciated.

Wet and Wild (almost)

2009-08-10T23:13:00.002-06:00

LOTS of things got done today. Amost all of the plumbing is in, including the master bath tub! And, the elusive basement drain showed up connected to the plumbing stack in the furnace room.

I heart Park City

2009-08-07T18:20:00.003-06:00

Tonight Grandma and Grandpa have offered to let the kids sleep over with them at Park City. They LOVE swimming in the pool and doing all the fun things up there. As for me and Cordell, we are going to enjoy a little peace and quiet together......how divine!

The first pictures inside

2009-08-07T06:11:00.002-06:00

The framing is done. I'm amazed at how quickly the house can take shape. This is the first time we've really been able to walk the rooms and see the sizing. I have to admit it all looks a little small. I'm chalking that up to my poor spacial judgement. I can hardly wait for the day I get to add furniture.

Framing Videos

2009-08-06T09:17:00.005-06:00

The only way to describe the framing process is an ant bed. Here are some videos of the process.

The house taking shape

2009-08-06T07:32:00.003-06:00

Its amazing that after only 3 days we have something that looks so much like the finished product. Anya and Ethan and I got to tour the house early Wednesday morning.

Ethan is standing in his bedroom and Anya is standing at the bottom of the main staircase.

What a difference a day makes!

2009-08-04T14:20:00.002-06:00

What a difference a day makes! We have a whole main floor and basement framed and by the end of the day, I bet we'll have floor joists upstairs. The roof trusses are here and will probably be going up soon. Wow!

The Garage is up

2009-08-03T23:31:00.006-06:00

Not only is the garage up, but most of the walls are framed and floor joists are going in on the main floor!

2009-08-03T23:24:00.001-06:00

Here we are in front of our future garage. Notice the framing crew is still working and it's past 5. In one day, they framed the whole garage, finished the floor joists for the main floor, got a good chunk of the basement framed, and pre-built all the walls. We met with the super and he says this crew will be done on THURSDAY!

2009-08-03T13:08:00.001-06:00

That, my friends, is the garage getting it's walls.

Not so Good News turned to UNBELIEVABLE

2009-08-02T19:30:00.004-06:00

So after being totally bummed out about waiting the whole weekend to see the framing start, I got a message on my answering machine from Helen telling me that she had just driven by my house to see like 13 people all over building the house. She left the message sometime Saturday, I didn't get the message until right before church on Sunday. Let's just say sitting through Sacrament meeting was definately a trial. After church, we all took a Sunday drive over to the work site and were utterly AMAZED! I had assumed they would have just started framing. However, they had poured my garage AND basement floor as well as built most of the exterior walls for the house. I saw pieces that I recognized as my kitchen window as well as my master suite windows. This is really exciting! It looks like tomorrow, they just have to attach the already built walls to the foundation walls. WOW! I never imagined they would be working on a SATURDAY!

The only little worry I have is that the drain for the sink in the basement's kitchenette is still not roughed in. That makes me think they are going to have to rip up all that nice new concrete to fix something I called about on Wednesday and leave an ugly patch job instead of a floor poured in one piece like I have now. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens.

I'm having problems posting pictures from my phone to my blog, so as soon as I figure out what I did wrong, I'll post pics of the progress.

Some good news, some not as bad news and some bad news

2009-07-31T15:02:00.002-06:00

Okay, first the bad news: the city didn't forget about us and gave us a power meter. ***Sigh**** I guess we can look forward to city bills after all.....

The not as bad: it's Friday so no more work for the week.

Now for the great: WE GOT LUMBER which means they're going to start framing soon!

Plumbing Rough-Ins

2009-07-29T15:00:00.002-06:00

Today we got all the rough ins for utilities and plumbing, except for the drain in the kitchenette and the outside entrance. Hmmm...hope they didnt forget them...

Backfilling

2009-07-27T19:46:00.006-06:00

So today we were lucky enough to visit the house while they were backfilling the hole around the foundation. They filled all the window wells with gravel, then the mountains of dirt around our hole was put back in the hole. I am amazed at how huge the backhoe was and how effortless the operator made it seem. I was kind of suprised at how noisy the whole process was as well. The garage is completely filled in now and I can hardly wait to see what happens tomorrow....could it be plumbing or flatwork or framing or even more backfilling?

Window Wells and Moisture Barrier

2009-07-22T20:32:00.002-06:00

Today our beautiful grey foundation walls got sprayed sticky black to get ready to be buried in dirt. We also got window wells and the curb and gutter was cut.

I can see the Basement!

2009-07-21T17:32:00.002-06:00

This is Anya standing in her new future bedroom in the basement (when we finish the basement--hopefully next year.)

Not only do we have basement walls, but we have windows and a new address. We just happened to be visiting the construction site when they painted it on.

We have foundation walls!

2009-07-20T17:44:00.003-06:00

I am amazed at how quickly you can build a house. This morning, we drove by the house to see a crew setting the forms for the foundation walls. A few hours I drove by to find a cement pump truck and a crew POURING the walls!

The Footings are in

2009-07-17T16:33:00.002-06:00

We have a basement foundation! Basement walls will be coming next week.

WOW! that hole is deep!

2009-07-16T17:19:00.002-06:00

So we stopped by and found our hole completely dug. We couldn't resist climbing down in to inspect the work and scaling the MOUNTAIN of dirt that came out of our hole. Grandpa Lundgreen said that he watched them fill a whole dumptruck full of dirt and take it away.

It's finally begun

2009-07-16T12:27:00.003-06:00

We are the proud owners of a big hole and a pile of dirt. This is one of the happiest days of my life!

We have a Backhoe!

2009-07-14T16:01:00.002-06:00

So we didn't get a hole today--not sure why, but we did get a BACKHOE at about 3 o'clock today. I think we'll have a hole tomorrow!

Orange Spray Paint and a lot of anticipation.....

2009-07-13T16:17:00.003-06:00

So now the outline of our house is spray painted on the lot. Shayla and I checked it out today. All I can say is that it looks really small compared to my vision. I seem to remember Jesse saying his hole looked really small too. I'm sure it will be wonderful.

HOLY COW!

2009-07-09T14:13:00.002-06:00

They're staking the house. We're going to have a hole on TUESDAY!

2009-07-08T11:16:00.001-06:00

Ethan is so funny.

SOMEDAY our house will be here!

2009-07-08T08:10:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of our lot without a hole or house. Hopefully, we will have a hole very soon and a little later, a house. Our family room and backyard will have a great view of Spanish Fork Peak! I'm so excited!

Who Knew?

2009-07-08T07:36:00.003-06:00

Who knew that ANY of my or Cordell's kids' softball or baseball teams would EVER play in the state tournament? But this year, Anya defied the odds. Her team, which placed 4th in the city was invited to play in the tournament this year. That sounds great until you realize there were only 6 teams in Springville. Her team was a substitution for another team that could not make the tournament.

Even more suprising was that her team went on to make it to the final 8 of the tournament. She played 5 games in 2 days. We're so proud of her!

Ain't Technology Great!

2009-07-07T08:22:00.001-06:00

I had no idea I could text into my blog. This may come in handy when I start posting a play by play of my house and all sorts of fun things!

So much for blogging

2009-07-06T23:09:00.005-06:00

So it's been almost a whole year since my last blog. Hmmmmm.......I guess I have about the same track record with regular journals, so I shouldn't be so suprised. A lot has happened this year.

For starters, we finally threw in the towel on building in Utah County. The excrement dished out by the county stunk much worse than any sort of natural fertilizer I've ever smelled in Lake Shore. So, instead we decided to build an Ivory Home on the east side of Spanish Fork instead. We're thrilled to finally get the chance for a little more space. (Although I have a sneaky hunch that no matter how much space we get, we'll just fill it up eventually.) We've picked out all our colors and materials and should break ground shortly. I told Cordell I will probably start crying the day we walk in the front door with the keys to our own home. He said I was way too sappy. :) Hopefully we should be in mid to late September--just in time for Halloween! Here's a link to a virtual tour of our floor plan, with the exception of the upstairs loft being a bedroom instead: http://www.showmethemodels.com/hamilton/index.htm

The second big thing for me is that I have FINALLY finished my Master's Degree and can have some time to enjoy my family and teaching without the added stress of homework and portfolio projects!

The front of my house some day.

2008-07-01T07:21:00.007-06:00

Okay, so one of the big hats that I wear has to do with building a house. We are building a house in Lake, Shore, UT, but before we do that, we have to subdivide a piece of family ground. It is a lot of work, a lot of chasing and a lot of heartburn. But we know it will be worth it. For the past four YEARS I have been playing with a million different houseplans and drawing them on Punch SuperHome Suite. We have refined and played and tweaked and completely thrown away so many house plans it's just amazing. However, I think we have finnaly settled on a houseplan. Yesterday, I figured out how to export elevations of the house. This is what Our house will look like, with a few exceptions. As Cordell says, it will not be quite as pink, but the program was very limited with it's surface selections. Also, you will notice that the roof on the right side of the house looks like it is coming out of the center of the wall. This is because it will be our bonus room and the program will not let me make the types of walls we will be using. I am so excited! Seeing the picture of the house just makes me all the more anxious to get the paperwork done so we can start building!

Here we go.....

2008-06-22T10:23:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I've finally jumped on the blogging bandwagon. I'm starting out blogging in an attempt to have a place to hang all my many hats at the end of the day.