Making Our Home Sweet Home

Last Minute Projects

2009-12-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Moving!!!

2009-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

We're finally moving! MOST of the projects are finished or will be finished this week. This coming weekend our family is planning to move us to our new home. I'm so excited! I'm also very relieved. Over this past week we tiled the main bathroom (my mom and brother tiled it), grouted it, reset the toilet, tiled the small bathroom, worked on the island countertop (it still needs the laminate glued down, but I was informed I'm not allowed to even be in the house when that happens because of the fumes), bought a bunch of stuff to finish projects, and lots more. The point being...we're finally there! We're moving!

island

main bathroom

Ryan's new rug

Our new rug

Progress...Days 65 & 66

2009-12-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

Cleaned up...
Painted...
Decorated...
New faucet (to solve plumbing leak)...
tiled...
tiled...
and, yep...you guessed it...more tiling...
and, yet again...more tiling (imagine that!)...
making it feel a little more like home...
ready for grout!...
new fan...
new fan (Ryan picked it out and LOVES it!)

Progress...Day 64 (I think)

2009-12-03T18:29:00.000-08:00

We worked at the house today...Nana, Ryan, Will, Papa Donnie and I. We're making progress. My mom is doing an awesome job helping me lay tile. Will and Donnie worked on some plumbing issues and hung the ceiling fan in the master bedroom.

We had a big disappointment today. Our original plans for moving the utility room into the small bathroom have been scratched! The doorway into the bathroom is too small and widening it is just not a very viable option. At this point it looks like we will be keeping the washer and dryer in the original utility room and I will be working extra hard (in the creative department) to make it still work for a bedroom too. My sister grew up in a utility room and loved it. I'm sure I can make our utility room into a beautiful/cute little bedroom too and at a later time...say 5 or 6 years down the road perhaps we can address the issue of moving the utility room again.

Progress...With a Little Help

2009-11-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

Progress...Day 51

2009-11-21T18:06:00.000-08:00

We worked on the tile yet again today. Thankfully we are ALMOST finished with the kitchen and dining room. We have the pantry left...
Wade cut lots and lots of tile today and we are all but about 3 or 4 cut tiles away from having all the tile around all the perimeters.
We were able to grout a good portion of the dining room. We wanted to grout a "trial" area that was much smaller to make sure we were happy with the grout color, but we mixed up way too much grout. We ended up really loving it anyway.
We've discovered that dark grout takes a lot more work. You have to scrub and scrub and scrub to remove all the black film. After 3 cleanings it is looking better, but we still have 2 or 3 more cleanings to go.

Progress...Day 50

2009-11-20T06:19:00.001-08:00

Progress...Day 49

2009-11-18T18:26:00.001-08:00

I actually finished painting the walls in the main bathroom. I still need to paint the paneling.

I hung some curtains in the living room.
Good News! We passed the escrow inspection today!

Progress...Day 47 & 48

2009-11-17T18:13:00.000-08:00

None. In fact I haven't even been out to the house in 2 days.

I'm pregnant.
I'm tired.
My energy is in a heap somewhere along with my laundry.
And...
to be honest...
I've kind of become a little "blah" with the whole thing.

That will pass. I'm sure. I'm planning to go back to the house tomorrow and do *something*.

Progress...Day 46

2009-11-15T18:07:00.001-08:00

Wade did a lot of work today. I, on the other hand, did not. I must admit I was pretty lazy today.

First of all...Hooray for no more redneck chandelier! Wade installed my new recessed light in its place.
I cleaned the tile.

Wade also removed all of the redneck shelving in what is to become the Baby's Room.
I did manage to do a little painting in the main bathroom although as you can tell I didn't even finish what I started.

Progress...Day 45

2009-11-14T17:41:00.000-08:00

Wade and I got with it today...

Progress...Day 44

2009-11-14T05:09:00.000-08:00

Progress...Day 43

2009-11-12T16:54:00.000-08:00

Progress...Day 42

2009-11-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

Progress...Day 41

2009-11-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Today I laid a row tile. My plan is to really start laying down the tile tomorrow since this first row should be dry and able to hold firm. That should help my rows stay in line better.
Today I also vacuumed the biggest part of the house. Now we are much, much, cleaner. The amount of dust, dirt, sawdust, and filth was beginning to bother me. I even mopped the living room.
Yesterday's post of a teaser. The frame shown in the pictures was what I built, glued and anchored to the concrete so that my island could be set firmly in place...and I did it!

I was really anxious about anchoring the island down. I honestly wanted someone else to do it. Unfortunately I had no takers, so I had to tackle the monster myself. Nana was my cheerleader, and together we were able to complete the project yesterday. Hooray!

Progress...Day 40

2009-11-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

This is what I worked on today...

Progress...Day 39

2009-11-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

Kitchen mostly complete.

Progress...Day 38

2009-11-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Wade painted his "man cave"...
I continued painting in the kitchen. The paneling is done. The walls need a second coat. The ceiling needs painted. A few more of the cabinet doors need to be re-hung. After that it's finished (ready for tile)...

This section will have a trim installed above the paneling.

I re-stained the island. It is now more of a dark brown instead of a brown-red color (although the flash makes the color a little off)...

I'm going to the doctor on Monday and while in the City I plan to get the hardware necessary for mounting the island to the floor. It's really the last "piece of the puzzle" to be completed before I can lay the tile. The house will really start to have a "finished" feel to it when the tile is down.

Progress...Day 37

2009-11-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

This looks pretty ugly, but this is what I did today...

I didn't do much today, but I guess some is better than none. I spent most of the day sitting and visiting.

Progress...Day 36

2009-11-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

This is not exactly in the correct order in which I worked today. I spent most of the day working on walls. Nevertheless...here is what was done today.

I measured, and re-measured (and re-measured) and finally decided on the placement of the island. It is 60" from the north wall, appears to be pretty square and lines up well from all other walls. The only thing I don't know is how the tile is going to come out at the base, but I'm taking my chances.
Oh...and I stained it! I also stained the cabinet doors and drawer fronts but they're not finished. Quite honestly they don't look very good yet.
Ask me about my counter top on the island and I just might give you a hint...homemade butcher block.
While I had the stain out I darkened the end piece on the north wall of cabinets.
Wade and I cut the countertop for the southwest corner. I think we're about ready to glue them down. Tomorrow I'm going to apply a coat of the polyshades to the south cabinets, all remaining cabinet doors and cabinet drawer fronts. I'm glad that job is just about finished.
I spent most the day working on the wallpapering. Here it is going up...
Here it is painted...
And I continued it on this wall too.
A couple of days ago we installed new light covers in the kitchen. I still need new light bulbs for one of the fixtures. (and yes...I'll take the price stickers off!)
Wade spent all day painting the outside. He did such an awesome job, and he's almost completely finished. Isn't he the best?!

Tomorrow I'm hoping to prime (and maybe paint) all the paneling in the kitchen, paint the second coat on the north wall, finish hanging the wallpaper on the west wall, touch-up paint some of the areas I've noticed need a little TLC, finish staining the cabinets, and have a garage sale (Nana's helping!)

The kitchen is finally starting to take shape. I never dreamed the kitchen would take the longest and be the most difficult. I'm very glad to see an end in sight. If I can reach my goals for tomorrow then all I'll have left is painting the west wall and ceiling and anchoring the island. After that...I'm ready to tile!

Progress...Day 35

2009-11-04T19:11:00.001-08:00

There was none...I took the day off.

Progress...Day 34

2009-11-03T17:56:00.000-08:00

We worked out at the house today, but you'll just have to take my word for it. I remembered the camera...I forgot to charge the battery.

Wade scraped, caulked, and primed some of the troubled areas on the outside of the house in preparation for painting.

I painted the dining room walls (2 coats) and the mini-hall from the kitchen to the garage (1 coat). I also removed the rest of the laminate backsplash on the south wall of the kitchen. After that I wallpapered...yes I did say wallpapered. I think about as highly of wallpaper as I do popcorn ceilings however you'll just have to see this wallpaper to appreciate it. As a teaser I'll mention that it was bought specifically to hide some significant damage left when the laminate backsplash was removed as well as to cover the adjoining dining/breakfast room wall. That same wall as it leads into the kitchen will have the laminate backsplash removed leaving similar damage that will need to be hidden. Wallpapering is something new for me. I've never done it before. With any new task there is a certain amount of learning-curve that takes place. I finally figured out the best way to hang this wallpaper as I neared the end of my project today...figures. I just hope the learning curve mistakes are (1) not too noticeable and (2) don't cause any problems down the road (like it peeling off the wall prematurely). Ugh...I dislike learning curves and I hate making mistakes. If it didn't cost money/time I'd probably rip it all off and start over again. Maybe tomorrow it will look completely different...and I'll love it. I hope.

Also...today I reaffirmed the placement of the island by taking more measurements. Now I need to square it up and make sure it measures equal distance from all walls (yes...another perfectionist thing) and mark it on the floor. Mom and Donnie are trying to help me figure out how to anchor it to the floor. Any ideas? Any experience from any of you?

Finally...I applied more popcorn texture to the ceiling. Now I think the ceiling in the kitchen is ready for paint!

Ryan just looked cute all day long!

Progress...Day 32-33

2009-11-02T19:39:00.001-08:00

Blinds hung...
unnecessary plumbing capped off and hole in wall patched (scary room)...
Beginning of the ceiling patch...
Added another layer of texture to a wall in dining room...
Decided on the placement of the island...
Stained more cabinet doors...
Hung cabinet doors, removed laminate backsplash...
Hung more cabinet doors (as they dried)...
Cut and temporarily set new countertop, removed drawer fronts so I can scrub and stain them...

Progress...Day 30-31

2009-11-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

Rebuilding cabinets...

(The start of a new island)

Progres...Day 29

2009-10-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

I spent the day buying more supplies for my next few projects. Stay tuned for more in the next few days.

Progress...Day 28

2009-10-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well I can't say that I got a lot done today however this...

is what I accomplished.

Which is a continuation of this project:

Not bad for a novice who has NEVER IN HER LIFE ever remodeled cabinets (with the exception of cutting the bottom off one to make room for a tall fridge.)

Progress...Day 27

2009-10-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Pictures are worth a thousand words...

Progress...Day 26

2009-10-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today...

Painting...
I mean *marking* on walls. Ugh. At least it's a wall that needed more paint anyway. (Free pat on the back for the person who correctly guesses who helped with this remodeling project.)

Living room floors...
around the fireplace.

down the hall...

and halfway across the room.

Looks great and it's halfway done too!

Progress...Day 25

2009-10-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

Wade cut out the wall in the "Scary Room" (aka guest bedroom), so we can patch it with a full sheet of sheet-rock instead of several odd-shaped holes.

Wade and I marked the starting point for laying the tile after measuring and re-measuring to make sure we don't have any really small pieces against walls/cabinets/etc.

For the sake of color I added a little yellow and green to our decor...
Just kidding. I taped all the seams in the padding. Ryan picked out the tape.

Gone

2009-10-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

We've been gone for a couple of days. Today...back to work!

Progress...Day 22

2009-10-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I spent most of the day at home...just playing. He helped me remove the hardware from some of the kitchen cabinet doors. While he was napping I scrubbed a few of them. They were NASTY!

This...
is the grease the soap brought to the surface. That's just gross.

Progress...Day 21

2009-10-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today I

Took all the cabinet doors off, so I can take them home and scrub them well.

Prepared the living room to have the flooring installed.

Undercut the fireplace so all of the flooring will slide up under the fireplace a little so it has a more finished look.

See...

Progress...Day 20

2009-10-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

I went to the house today with intentions of painting the dining room walls where I had previously textured. The painting project ended up a small disappointment. It looks like I need to run another layer of texture on the walls to cover up the glue spots. However, my local encouragers think it looks fine and with another coat of paint the flaws will be hidden. I might just give it a try. I was discouraged, though, and being a bit over-tired I decided on the next best thing...DEMOLITION!

Remember this original picture of the kitchen looking towards the dining room...
well check it out now!...

Papa and Nana came to help.

Awww...that's better! Open space with plenty of room for the refrigerator at the end of the cabinets on the north wall and an island in the middle. Exciting!

(Don't worry...the project isn't finished. It's only in the beginning stages. We didn't have the right tools to completely finish it.)

Progress...Day 19

2009-10-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't get anything done at the house today. However, I went to the City and bought the tile for the house.
Believe me...the unloading of 550 sqft of tile (47, 45lb boxes) was plenty work enough for me today.

Progress...Day 18

2009-10-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today's progress report is brought to you by the letter "P"
(P is for Paint)

The lesson for the day: "How to Paint a Room"
1st: Start by stirring the paint well. Four hands are better than one.

2nd: Prepare surfaces by knocking down any high spots like these spots of glue left by the previous ~~morons~~ paneling installers.
3rd: Texture any walls that need it after knocking down the high spots left by the previous...oh you know!
4th: Cut-in around windows, doors, and along the edges of walls and ceilings. Basically anywhere the roller can't/won't go. Trust me...I can make a roller go almost anywhere.
5th: Start with the ceiling. Painting a ceiling throws paint splatters and little tiny popcorn texture everywhere. If you start with the ceiling you can wipe the extra splatters off the walls for a nice smooth look. By the way...I think those who decided popcorn ceilings were a great thing (back in the day) were ~~morons~~ lacking good judgment.
6th: Remove light fixtures and other extras. Actually this step could probably be moved up to number 1, but I didn't think about it until I already had this much of the ceiling painted. Ooops.
7th: Continue painting. Use a brush where the roller won't go.
8th: Have a little fun.
Stinkin' vandal...just kidding. I love you Pappaw!
9th: When all is done and a second coat applied stand back and enjoy the view.
10: Be sure to check it from every angle. Doesn't it look nice?!

Progress...Day 17

2009-10-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Today we...
did a little gardening.
removed a lot of nasty glue under some old flooring.
did a little resting.
removed the kitchen carpet.
stained baseboards.
finished the master bedroom
removed nasty carpet in the bathrooms.
cut some boards.
removed more paneling.
finished installing this new faucetate our first sit-down dinner in our new house!

Progress...Day 16

2009-10-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

Today was such a beautiful day. We mostly wanted to stay outside and enjoy the sunshine. We've had so many dark, gloomy, rainy days lately that today was a welcomed reprieve. Gigi did some gardening...re-potting of some beautiful plants she gave us. Wade cleaned more of the dirt off the patio.
Ryan did some gardening too...
Although the outdoors called us, the indoors received most of our attention.
Ryan's ceiling fan was installed, but I forgot to buy bulbs for it, so in Ryan's eyes it's still "broke".
We started laying the floor in the master bedroom.
And we would have finished had this...
not happened. (Daddy broke it!)
So I put down as much floor as possible.
Tomorrow I'll have to go buy a new grinding stone, so I can undercut the trim around the doors. I hope to finish the room.
Pappaw finished securing the plumbing for the shower, so the shower head doesn't wobble around.
When my floor installation project was put to a halt I decided the next best thing to do was rip up some floor!
Everyone joined in on the fun!

Now all the nasty, filthy carpet is gone! (We still have some carpet to remove in the kitchen and bathrooms.) We also pulled off the paneling in the dining room. The walls under the paneling was textured, and if the people who installed it had not glued it to the wall in various spots we wouldn't have to do any prep before painting other than filling nail holes. Alas...that's not the case (see yellow spots all over back wall, picture below). I needed a little extra work to do, didn't I?
It was a busy, tiring day. We were ALL worn out by suppertime, so we went home and ate pizza!

Progress...Day 15

2009-10-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

Lots and lots of progress today. Gigi and Papa came to help us today and will be with us throughout the weekend. WooHoo!!! We're so thankful for their help and definitely their company.

Plumbing repairs

More plumbing repairs.

New faucet.

New Faucet.

More plumbing repairs.

Preparing to paint.

Ceiling painted.

Master bedroom painted!

Progress...Day 14

2009-10-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

Well....

I didn't make any progress today. Lazy day. Period.

Progress...Day 13

2009-10-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today I "freshened up" the baseboards by coating them with a thin layer of Minwax Polyshades. They turned out great!

And the finished look...

Progress...Days 10, 11, 12

2009-10-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

I was gone all day on Saturday (10th) and since I'm the keeper of the blog I'm having to combine 3 days of progress in 1 short little post. That doesn't explain the 11th, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Like I said I was gone all day Saturday. Ryan and I went to Lawton for my sister's wedding showers. We left around 9 a.m. and didn't arrive home again until about 11 p.m. It was a long day, but enjoyable nonetheless. While we were gone Wade cleared out some brush from around the house, removed and cleaned some baseboards, and worked on the pickup. Since I am also keeper of the camera...you get no pictures of that progress!

So what happened on the 11th? For starters, it was our anniversary...12 years! Secondly, we made plans to have a birthday lunch with Wade's family (for his dad). Finally, and probably more influential than anything else, I WAS EXHAUSTED! We did, however, manage to spend about an hour at the house in the morning painting the first coat on the hall paneling and cleaning baseboards. After lunch we went to Lowe's and loaded up on more supplies. But the evening was spent relaxing at home with an early bedtime of 8 p.m.!

Today (12th) was a crazy day. My work phone was busy, so I didn't get out to the house until about 11 a.m. I planned to work at the house for just a couple hours with the hopes of finishing the hall. My mom knew better! She asked to take Ryan with her to Guthrie and then to her house while I worked. (My mom is awesome!) I didn't argue nor complain. What I thought would take a couple of hours to complete took me all day long! The hall is complete now with the exception of cleaning up the trim and laying the floor. WooHoo!

The pictures just don't do it justice. We were hesitant about painting the paneling and it's been a topic of discussion many times. I really wanted to finish up the hall asap so I could see. I think I'm really going to like it. The flash of the camera makes the paneling appear bright white and you can't really tell it's paneling. In reality the walls are a color called "Bulgar Wheat" and the paneling is about 2 shades lighter than the walls. I guess the lighter color and the semi-gloss finish really gets washed out with the flash. Maybe tomorrow I'll take new pictures without the flash. Maybe...

I also hung the curtain in Ryan's room, aired up the mattress and set up the playpen. Now we have a place to take naps. Once I get him used to taking a nap at the new house that will really open up the amount of time I'll have available to spend working. Right now I hate to upset his routine too much for too many days, so we have only been working at the house a couple of hours in the morning and returning home for naps in the afternoon. The next thing I want to take out to his new room is his train table, so he'll have a nice place to play. What more could a toddler ask for...a place to sleep and a place to play?!

Progress...Day 9

2009-10-09T19:34:00.001-07:00

Before discussing today, here is a picture showing yesterday's work (although not the cute ones I should have taken had I not forgotten my camera)

Today has been a day for some major progress or at least progress that is very visible. We actually have a room that is now almost complete. Ryan's room has been cleaned, painted and given new floors. The baseboards are clean, but we plan to give them a little "pick-me-up" with a fresh coat of Polyshades Minwax before reattaching them to the walls.

My goal has been to get Ryan's room completed as soon as possible so we can make it into a safe, clean, fun sanctuary for him to retreat to while we are working on the house. I plan to bring his play pen so he can take naps at the new house, set up an air mattress for him to play on (and for mommy to take a short nap if Ryan needs me to lay beside him for naptime which is common in a new environment), set up his train table, and bring in lots of toys. I even plan to hang his curtains right away. The good new is...I'm almost there!

And...here it is! (I have the baseboards sitting against the walls so I could see the contrast between the wall color, floor color and baseboard color. It also gives it a more finished look.

(Who is that handsome man, and what in the world is he doing with that heater?)

Wade did a lot of demolition work in "the scary room"

This scary utility room is already starting to look like a different room! Way to go Wade!

Progress...Day 8

2009-10-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

This morning Ryan and I went to the new house which really isn't too surprising. It has become part of our new routine...go to the new house after Sesame Street and stay for 3 or 4 hours, come home and take a nap in the afternoon. Today we mopped the concrete in Ryan's room and the hall. You may think that mopping bare concrete sounds odd, but with all of the urine and other pet odors in the house, we're hoping to sanitize and de-odorize everything...including the concrete.

I couldn't decide what to do next, so I opened the paint! We (yes I had a helper) painted the ceiling and the walls in the hall. This evening I primed the paneling in the hall. Wade pulled tack strips and nails in the hall and master bedroom.

Lessons learned while painting with a toddler

#1--paint trays hold an awful lot of paint that can and will make a big mess when dropped.

#2--when told not to touch the paint it will be interpreted as "Please go stand in the paint"

Of all days, today is the day I forgot to bring my camera out to the new house while we worked, so the pictures are left to your imagination.

Progress...Days 6 & 7

2009-10-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I should call it progress or the lack thereof. Well...I guess with a project this big ANYTHING is progress.

Day 6--I bought paint, faucets and cleaning supplies...
That evening I painted the second coat of Ryan's room and Daddy and Ryan played with the new lawnmower (awesome deal...another of God's amazing provisions)
Day 7--I bought the supplies for most of the flooring...900 sq ft of laminate and the underlayment.
Just to see what the flooring will look like I set out three of the laminate planks next to the wall. I think I'm going to like it...
Tonight we ripped up more of the carpet and padding.

Progress Day 4 & 5

2009-10-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

Removing Carpet--very very nasty carpet I might add.

Removing Tack Strips

Cleaning Up A Bit

Ready for Paint

Day 5--10/05/09
My Little Helper

Making Progress

Still Painting

Still Painting

Finished!

(With the first coat. I sure wanted to get the second coat on today, but I was so sore by the end of the first I could hardly move. I took a bunch of measurements instead, so I can buy flooring supplies.)

Progress...Days 1-4

2009-10-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

Well...it finally happened. We finally closed on our house. Last Thursday at 10:00 a.m. we signed all the papers and received the key. Thursday afternoon I spent a couple hours at the house changing all the locks and securing the house. We were told that for some time we might have realtors still coming to the house to "show" it to potential buyers because it may take a while before the listing is removed or declared "sold". The only way to avoid that (and to protect our house from the dozens of keys floating around that fit the locks) was to change all the locks.

I guess I was feeling a bit overwhelmed...overwhelmed with the fact that the house is actually ours...overwhelmed at all the work that needs to be done, because I couldn't get much of anything done on Friday other than washing some windows and dusting off cobwebs. But you know...that actually helped. Just being able to walk up the house with the front being clean and free of cobwebs and the clean windows letting in the inviting natural light...it's great! Uplifting. In a dirty filthy house. And when I say filthy...believe me. I don't know how many and what types of animals the previous owner had, and I don't know how many years it's been since the carpets were vacuumed, but I'd venture to say SEVERAL. I don't even want to know. Cleaning is just part of if...one step at a time.I trimmed the hedges on Friday too.

Saturday was spent with family...good food...good company...great time!

Today was the day for progress. We got busy! The first thing...
The first thing we did was remove this section of carpet. The house is stinky, stinky, stinky and this spot was covered in *something*. It looked like someone had dumped an entire box of baking soda (one of the big boxes) over whatever that *something* was, and my best guess is that *something* was urine and feces from afore mentioned animals. DISGUSTING! We ripped that spot up! We may have to cover it with an area rug so the house passes inspection, but, hey, that's okay.

Speaking of inspection...originally we were hoping for about 90 days to get all of the "required" repairs done. Those repairs will be reimbursed per escrow funding pending the passing of an additional inspection. Unfortunately we only have 30 days to get these "required" repairs done, so instead of doing all our demolition and repairs all at once now we are taking it a room at a time so we can have the required repairs done in time and won't have big unfinished projects glaring at an inspector looking for a reason not to give us a passing grade.Today Wade worked in the garage. He cleaned it up, removed shelving, installed the dead bolt, and even parked the car inside. Wade did a lot of cleaning today.
Wow! I don't know that my little car has ever seen the inside of a garage...at least not since we've owned it.
Ryan tested out the track for his cars, but he spent most of the day with his Nana.I worked in Ryan's room ripping up carpet, removing tack strips and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I'll go into to more detail tomorrow with more pictures. Ryan's room is now ready for paint!

We also had quite a few visitors today. It's great to be surrounded by family who want to enjoy this blessing with us.

A Key!!!

2009-10-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE THE KEY!!!

Now I'm going to go change all the locks.

Patio Cleanup

2009-09-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not we still haven't closed this silly deal. We had a firm date and time set to sign the papers on September 24th at 10 a.m.. We wired our closing money to HUD's bank, had all the documents in order, and were on our way to the Closing Company in Oklahoma City when I got a call from the realtor. She said there was a "delay" and would discuss it with us when we arrived. Come to find out...HUD had yet to sign the closing documents. They hadn't even seen the final contract until that morning! Everything had been submitted to the HUD's attorney's office early the week prior, but someone left our contract sitting on her desk until Thursday, September 24th at 9 a.m.. It never reached HUD and, of course, HUD found something to quibble about and refused to sign the contract which meant that closing could not/did not happen on the 24th. So...closing is now set for October 1st at 10 a.m. I most surely hope it happens this time. There was talk of closing as soon as September 1st. Our first deadline for closing was the 17th and then the 24th. Those days have come and gone. Let's close this deal!

Yesterday Wade, Ryan, Bosco, Myndi and I went to the new house and since we couldn't do any inside cleanup we did some outside cleanup. Bosco hated it because of all the stickers on the patio. Myndi loved being outside and having some dirt to dig in regardless of the stickers. Ryan just loved the dirt...of which he started pouring hand-fulls on top of his head and down his shirt. That's when we knew it was time to go. Wade loved the end result. I loved being outside, cleaning the place up and most definitely...the end result!

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BEFORE

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AFTER

The dirt in the middle still needs to be moved, but since dirt is heavy we couldn't put it in a trash bag and haul it away. It is mixed with broken glass and stickers, so we're unsure where to move it to...maybe scattered in a corner in the backyard. We also don't have a wheelbarrow to move it, so when we all got hot and Ryan started pouring dirt all over himself we left the dirt pile for another day.

Closing Soon?

2009-08-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

If all continues to go smoothly there is a *chance* we might be able to close on the house sometime next week. Can we say WOOHOO!?

Mowed

2009-08-23T19:14:00.001-07:00

Daddy and Grampie spent most of the day mowing the yard at the new house. It literally took all day just to get it mowed since it was so overgrown. The guys mowed and bagged the front yard. It looks great. They mowed the backyard and I'm planning to go out sometime this week and rake and bag the clippings.

Tomorrow I'm planning to call our realtor. While Daddy and Grampie were at the house a (different) realtor drove up with a family following. He saw the guys standing in the drive and asked if they were through looking at it. Wade said they weren't just looking...that pending the closing of the deal, the house was ours. The realtor looked shocked so Wade explained that the auction closed several weeks ago and we were already in contract and had our loan underwritten. We're just waiting to close. The realtor back-tracked and looked at his paper saying, "oh yeah. It does say the house is "pending contract"" They left, but that left us with a little bit of concern. We want to make sure they can't sell it out from under us if someone were to contact HUD with an offer to pay more than our winning bid.

Stickers

2009-08-22T19:30:00.001-07:00

I went out to the house the other day and noticed that the yards are blessed with abundance...an abundance of stickers! If I have anything to say about it...I'm planning to do a little yard work this week during my vacation. Mow...rake...bag. It will definitely be a day of hard work, but I love working outside (if the weather is nice). The realtor told me that HUD is supposed to keep the yard mowed until we close, but since the house is in contract (with us) and it is not in town he said it is very unlikely they will do anything more with it.

Here is looking from the street toward the "lake". You can actually see it from our front yard.

2009-08-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

The loan company put our loan application in "suspension" pending the return of a few items. One of which is a letter explaining why we are only moving 4 miles away from our current residence and how it could possibly be an upgrade since we are purchasing it for considerably less than the worth of our existing home. The other...a letter from the bank explaining that I have access to the funds in our checking account. I guess my name is not "officially" on the account and even though it is on the signature card that isn't sufficient enough evidence.

Details...Details...Details

2009-08-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

God's blessings never cease to amaze me!

Let me recap this crazy (and amazing) deal...(in bullet format because tonight I definitely need some simplicity)

Monday, two weeks ago, we were informed of the house and it's whereabouts.
Monday night...we look at the house
Tuesday...we look at the inside of the house with a HUD approved realtor
Wednesday we look at the house and begin to consider bidding
Thursday we place our bid and file all the appropriate paperwork

Monday, last week, I begin calling all the utility companies so we can get all the utilities turned on for a home inspection. I also call the insurance company and lender. It's amazing how many things have to be lined out when buying a house like this.
Tuesday...same story...little more frustration
Wednesday...same story...even more frustration (utility companies can be difficult to deal with you know), but by the end of the day all the utilities (other than gas since we will need to pressure test the line) are scheduled to be turned on in time for a home inspection scheduled for the following Tuesday. I met with the lender and signed all the loan paperwork. We decide to put only my name on the loan due to the fact that I have great credit and Wade has no credit. He doesn't have bad credit. He just doesn't have any. It's sad that in today's society a family can be debt free and pay cash for everything but be penalized as though they were a family with creditors beating down their door. Without Wade on the loan we received a 5.6% interest. It would jump to 8% if he was on it. The lender said that it doesn't matter how financially responsible you've been...they only look at that stupid credit score number. The only reason I have good credit is because I have a couple of in-store credit cards that I use like cash...charge and pay it all off when the bill arrives. That, by the way, is the only way to responsibly own a credit card (in my opinion).
More Wednesday. Oh what a day! I get a call from the realtor saying that HUD was planning to through out the contract because Wade's name was on the real estate contract but not on the loan. Thankfully God blessed us with an amazing couple of women who wouldn't take no for an answer. Our realtor and lender spent all day on the phone talking to everyone...from the bottom to the top...until HUD finally agreed to go forth. Their condition...Wade had to be marked off the contract entirely and I had to resign everything.
Wednesday night...I resigned the contract and Liz (realtor) overnighted it to HUD.
Thursday morning I get a call from Liz saying that HUD was planning to through the contract out *again* this time because Wade did not initial where his name was marked off (this is after they said they didn't want his signature or initials anywhere on the contract) and because I signed my name with my middle initial, but the name written underneath the lines didn't have that initial. You've got to be kidding me!!!!! Everyone was frustrated by this time, but, once again, Liz and Jennifer (lender) got on the phone and made it happen. HUD finally agreed but said the contract had to be in their hands by the end of the day and in *perfect* order. We resigned and checked and re-checked. Liz drove it to Tulsa. We waited and prayed...knowing that God was still in control and 1) He's bigger than the government and 2) He knew what's best (house or no house)
Friday Liz informs me that everything is a GO!!! Woohoo! HUD signed the contract.

Monday, this week, I planned to do some house cleaning (current house) because with all the craziness of the last couple of weeks I have neglected most of my house-wife responsibilities. My washing machine called it quits! Mom, Donnie and I went to Lowe's and I ended up coming home with a $700 washing machine but only paying $350 for it. Thank you, Jackie, for teaching me that haggling is something that is not only permissible, but very benificial.
Tuesday, today, we had the home inspection. This was, for me, the last big thing that could have been reason to break contract. Since we didn't know much about the house, internally, we were only hoping that the big (expensive to repair) systems were in good working order (eg. in-slab plumbing, heat/air system). The house passed with flying colors! Can we get another WooHoo!! There are, of course, some minor repairs that one would expect when buying a reposessed house. Most of the faucets need to be replaced or repaired. A couple of the drains leak. There's a few holes in the walls. Etc. Etc. Etc. Nothing major. On top of that...we were very excited and blessed to find out that the heat and air unit was replaced in 2003 and the water heaters were replaced in 03 and 06. Those (and the in-slab plumbing) were the big-ticket items we were a little concerned about, but, as I've mentioned before, God's blessings never cease to amaze me. So for now it looks like the only big appliance we'll need to purchase is a new dishwasher. The inspector (Robert) turned it on and soapy, foamy bubbles nearly filled the kitchen. Ryan thought that was so cool.

While the inspection was going on today Ryan played hide-n-seek in all of the closets, and I did some very rough (very rough) measurements of the major rooms. I neglected the utility/3rd bedroom, hall, closets, and storage areas. Here are the measurements:

Kitchen--5'6 x 14
Dining area + breakfast bar area--12 x 21
Living room--18 x 21
Main Bath--5 x 12
Second Bath--4'10 x 7'2
Bedrooms--12 x 14

Blessings

2009-08-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

This is copied from Ryan's Site and was posted last week. It's the beginning of the story of this house.

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Original Post:

It's amazing how God works sometimes. I wouldn't be telling the whole truth if I didn't say that for some time now I've been experiencing somewhat of a dry-spell spiritually...longing for more ...longing for a deeper relationship. I've had a really difficult time with prayer...having intimate times...and dry, empty times ever since Brandy's death. Of course when Ryan was born and with all the troubles and complications related to his birth I cried out to God in earnest, heart-felt prayers like I hadn't done in years. After his complete healing I gave all glory to God, and I continue to do so today. However, my prayer life has been lacking...seriously lacking. I long for more though.

On Monday morning of this week during my quiet time I expressed, in heartfelt desperation, my longing for more and the regret of having such difficulty with prayer. In somewhat of a selfish moment I asked God to please show me His hand in my life and family in a new and definite way. As soon as I said it I felt horrible for what appeared to be a "lack of faith" especially when I started thinking about all God has done for me...I have a beautiful life...beautiful, healthy family...an amazing boy who, by the way, is also a miracle...a beautiful home that is completely paid for...no big worries...great friends...etc...etc...etc.

God heard my prayer and answered it in a way I never would have imagined...even in my moment of weakness. What I'm about to discuss makes me fall on my knees in praise. God is good. His blessings never cease to amaze me. I'm so undeserving, but He still continues to bless me. His love truly *is* amazing. If you have never experienced God's love you sure are missing out on something incredible. I just wish I was as faithful with Him as He is with me, but I'm still a work-in-progress and I'm so excited that my Creator is still working to make me more like Him...no matter how painful it might be.

Monday afternoon my brother called me (he rarely ever calls me). He said he knew of a house we should go look at. Wade and I were not considering moving. It hadn't even crossed our minds. We discussed the possibility of "some day" from time to time and I often kept tabs on the local real estate listings for my own curiouslty and just in case a "good deal" came along. Anyway...David called...I went out and looked at the house without any real expectations. It was mostly just curiosity because I love looking at houses. Well...I fell in love with it!

I took Wade out to look at it that evening. His interest in it was not as enthusiastic as mine, but after much debating, discussing, talking and discussing some more we decided it might really be a good thing. Here's the scoop: The house was for sale, went into foreclosure, was turned over to HUD. We found out about it on Monday. The HUD auction closed Thursday night, 11:59 p.m. If we were going to do anything, we had to do it fast. Sparing some tedious details it really amounts to I spent hours on the phone for 3 straight days. We found someone to show us the house, took a tour, called more people, decided it really was a good deal and we should at least try, called more people, called more people, called more people. Did I mention I called more people? We rounded up as much information as possible about every detail possible and collected all the necessary documents and placed our bid on Thursday evening around 4:00.

We got it!

The house is a 2 bedroom/2 bath brick home on .4 acres. There is a possibility of a 3rd bedroom conversion-project. The backyard is completely fenced in. The house needs a TON of work, but I LOVE remodeling projects and can do most of them myself. The neighborhood is quiet and more like country living as opposed to city-life. There is a small lake just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away where Ryan can feed geese and go fishing. (The lake is down the hill about a 150 yards). So here are the pictures...just remember: the house needs a ton of work, so these are the "before" pictures. I will definitely post the "after" pictures when we're done, but I wouldn't be surprised if those aren't available until closer to the holidays.

Front of house

Standing at the front door looking across the front patio in an eastward direction. The front patio needs a lot of TLC, but I envision something beautiful with this nice area.

Kitchen

Kitchen. If I'm able and finances allow I'd like to take that wall of cabinets out that is directly behind Wade and swing those around to the adjacent wall and build a small island in the place of the refrigerator opening. That would really open up the kitchen a lot.

Main Bathroom.

Spare bathroom. We may end up turning part of this bathroom into the utility room.

Back yard. It's big. Again, I envision something beautiful, but it really needs a lot of work. The entire yard needs to be dethatched, and for the most part it's just a big sticker patch. Give me a year or two and I'll have this yard looking like an oasis. :)

Back of the house.

Standing in the kitchen opening looking at the backdoor. Yes...that's a double-sided fireplace.

Standing in the same place looking at the front door (the wood door in the far corner).

Standing in the hall looking across the living room toward the fireplace. The kitchen/dining area is just on the other side of that. The dining table will probably go right under where that ugly chandelier is hanging from the ceiling.

Standing in the hall. Looking down the hall.

Closet in one of the bedrooms.

Master bedroom.

Utility room. This is the scariest room. We are hoping to turn it into a 3rd bedroom/office. It would be a tiny room, but definitely some potential for cuteness. It's the room that needs the most work.

So there you go...our most recent blessing...and you get to be a part of it even if it is only online. Actually, I would love for all of you (my online friends) to come to my home and have some coffee or tea and cookies. I'd just love that!

Oh one more thing and something that just blows my mind away when I think about it. If everything goes as planned and hoped for(meaning there isn't anything major wrong with the house that would cause us to need to break the contract, we can do all the repairs/remodeling we want/need to do, and we can sell our existing house for close to what it's worth) at the end of this we will still be debt free! That's just amazing (and an indication of what an amazing deal we got on this new house...and how great God's blessings can be).

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Let me just tell you that soooooo much more has happened since this time, and in time I'll share more details.