One Month Down!

Yesterday officially marked the 1 month "anniversary" of us owning the new house.  It's hard to believe that it has already been a month and even harder to believe all that we have accomplished in that month. 
This weekend we didn't work as many hours, because Saturday was Audrey's 3rd birthday party, but we were still able to check a few more things off the list. After her party we headed up to the house and began work and also gave some tours to family and friends that had come for the party.  Ronny finished his sheetrock work in the sunroom and then touched up the painting.  After that he moved into the den and he and Kenny painted it (with the exception of the wall where the fireplace is since we still have to replace those windows and will be messing the wall up).  After that, he headed upstairs and painted the guest bath.  I have been holding off on painting that room until I decided on a shower curtain, but I finally did on Friday.  
Sunday we were very glad the weather was better than Saturday.  Dad, Kenny and Ronny spent the better part of the morning working on removing the old door and door jam from the sunroom and setting the new door.  The doors look exactly the same, but the old one was rotting around the jam.  Then they finished trimming the windows out.  While they were working on all of this, Treva was going around the baseboards peeling off the old caulk from where the shoemold was.  Mom worked Sunday morning on cleaning off the dust from the fan in the sunroom.  It looks so much better!  I was watching Audrey that morning while Whitney did some school work, so we played outside and tried to stay out of the way. 
After lunch on Sunday, I started painting the kitchen wall where the frig will go.  It needs another coat, but boy does it look better!  Treva worked on priming the trim the guys had just put up in the sunroom.  Kenny and Dad added two electrical outlets for me where my vanity will be in the master bath.  Apparently, this was something no one thought of until the other day when I was drying my hair up there and realized that the only outlet was at Kenny's vanity. That would have been a nice problem if we didn't figure it out before the cabinets came in.  Ronny worked that afternoon on tearing down the rest of the railing and spindles on the stairs.  It is definitely pretty dangerous going up and down our stairs now, but we have decided to wait on putting up the new railings until after we move the furniture upstairs.  We really do not want to bang them all up in the moving process.  After I painted the kitchen, I went out front and push mowed the front yard.  So much for the self-propel working on that lawn mower.  I am definitely going to be using the riding lawn mower from now on. Kenny worked on weed eating and cutting the backyard while I was in the front.  
Over the course of this week, we will be working on getting the ceiling put up in the kitchen so it will be ready for Ronny to paint this weekend.  I am so excited about the ceiling going up.  It will definitely make the house look less "under construction".  The cabinets are being made and will hopefully be ready next week to install! I cannot wait to see them!!!!  
Thanks again to mom, dad, Ronny and Treva for all your help this weekend!  
Now for the pictures:
The den: The color looks the same, but it is actually a totally different color.  The original was gold, but this is Nomadic Desert.  I am very happy with it and the ceiling!

  
















The sunroom:
Dad and Kenny working on their game plan after removing the old door.

New door in and windows trimmed.

  

















Trim is primed and ready for paint.  The door will also be painted white.

Upstairs guest bath:
The beadboard needs to be replaced on the bottom behind the toilet and the toilet needs to be put back.  We also took the crownmolding down in here and will be putting new up.  Oh and I also need to find a mirror for in here.

The stairs w/o the railing:

The master bath:

I never put a picture up of it painted, so here is that and Kenny working on my electrical outlets.  Also the beadboard will be re-painted and the window will be trimmed out.

The kitchen where I painted:

Getting there....

Since my last update we have made even more progress!  Friday and Saturday we had our kitchen floors tiled.  They look AMAZING!!!  What a nice change from the laminate that was in there. :-)  We still have to get them sealed, but are waiting until we are done w/ construction in that area to seal them and the floor in the sunroom.  Saturday, Ronny and Kenny caulked the coffered ceiling in the den and then Ronny painted it.  After it dryed we put our ceiling fan back up.  I am SO happy with this ceiling.  It really looks amazing!!!  Dad worked on Saturday at trimming out the windows in the sunroom.  We need to get a new door leading out of the sunroom to the deck, so dad hasn't been able to finish that side of the wall yet.  Kenny and Ronny primed the trim that afternoon as well.  I worked on misc. things in the house including replacing face plates/air return vents/etc. and of course, cleaning the pool. :-)  Dad and Kenny also took the handrail and spindles down on the upstairs portion of the stairs in preparation for the hardwoods to go in.  Another exciting thing that happened Saturday is that we finally moved our first truck load full of furniture over.  It wasn't much, just Rae Rae's bed, chair, lamp and a few toys, but I am soooo happy to have something in one room now. 
Sunday we were moving a bit slow after having a few friends over the night before.  However, we were still able to get a lot done.  Ronny worked on the sheetrock in the sunroom and our master bath.  Then he painted both rooms.  Dad and Kenny worked on some plumbing and electrical stuff.  I worked on cleaning up in the den and throughout the kitchen/sunroom.  Sunday afternoon, Kenny and I mowed our yard and then hung out by the pool with Audrey.  It was a nice day and Audrey was having a blast splashing on the bench in the pool so I let her get in her bathing suit and get all wet.  By the end of the afternoon, Kenny, Audrey and I were all in the pool (me in my work clothes).  It was cold, but it was so nice to get in. 
Monday the guys came back to put the final coat on the hardwood floors downstairs and they laid and stained the hardwoods in the upstairs hallway.  Also on Monday Trugreen came out and applied the first treatment on the front yard.  I am so anxious to see the yard looking good and weed free!!!
Tuesday night kenny and I went by the house and checked on the pool.  We were so happy to see that the pool had cleared up even more and that now you can see the bottom in the deep end!!!!  Woooohooo!  This is very exciting!
This morning I stopped by the house since I could finally walk on the hardwoods to get upstairs and see the new hardwoods they laid on Monday.  I am so happy with them!!!   They turned out great!  Now we just have to get the new railings up and it will be perfect! 
Thanks to Ronny and Dad for helping us AGAIN this weekend.  We really appreciate it! 
Now for the updated pics......
Rae Rae's room w/ her bed!!!!!

Tile Floor in the Kitchen!!!!

Sunroom windows trimmed out & and painted (Ronny came behind himself and was fixing some places on the sheetrock, that's the white spots you see)

The coffered ceiling in the den!!!! :-)

The new hardwoods upstairs

First dip in the pool!

The refinished hardwood floors!!!

We had the hardwood floors refinished on Tuesday of this week and they look AMAZING!!!!  They have to come back to put the last coat on them still, but they already look like totally different floors.  We also have to come in and add the shoemold back to the baseboards and then paint both.  Here are a few pictures to show you the new floors!
Entry Pre-Closing

Entry Now:

Living Room Pre-Closing:

Living Room Now:

Dining Room Pre-Closing:

Dining Room Now:

Coming right along....

We had another productive week and weekend this past week and things are really starting to come together!  I decided the best way to update at this point is to just tell what all has been done to each room or is left to do.  We have so many different projects going on that it is too hard to sort it all out to write it any other way.  So here goes.....

Den
The coffered ceilings are up!  Dad, Kenny and Ronny finished getting the beadboard up in them on Saturday.  Then Sunday they trimmed the squares and Ronny primed the whole ceiling. Now we just have to caulk and paint it.  On Friday, Dad ordered the new windows for beside the fireplace.  They will be rectangular instead of the slanted look that is there now.  We are also re-placing the carpet in this room and have to paint it (Nomadic Desert).  

Dining Room

Mom and I added another coat of the brown paint to the dining room and put the first coat of white on the bottom part of the wall.  We have to come in and put another coat of paint on it before it's finished.  Mom also shortened the blinds in this room and we replaced the chandelier!  As soon as the floors are refinished and we can replace the shoemold and paint it and the baseboard we will be done in this room.

   

Living Room

Mom painted the trim in here, with the exception of the baseboards that will be done after we have the floors refinished.  She also shortened the blinds this weekend.  This room is ready as soon as we get the shoemold back up and the baseboards and paint them both.  We will also be adding a ceiling fan to that room.

(No picture, sorry)

Downstairs Bedroom "The Blue Room"

I am soooooooooo happy to announce that this room is 100% done!!!  The trim has been painted, blinds shortened, fan cleaned off, lights replaced in fan and carpet steam cleaned.  Now all I need is to move my furniture in here!!! I cannot wait!

Downstairs Bath

Nothing else has changed in this room since Jennifer and I removed the glass shower doors a few weeks ago.  We are going to be changing the sink and countertop in this room.  Although it is pretty to look at, I do not want to clean a brass sink every week.  So we are going to do a cultured granite top and have the sink poured in so it's all one piece.  I am very excited about this decision!

Kitchen

The kitchen hasn't had much change over the past week or so.  We added some sheetrock back to where we ripped it out because of a leak.  We will be putting the tongue and groove ceiling up soon and then adding the covers for the recessed lighting.  The cabinets have been picked out and we should be ordering them within the next few days.  From there it takes 12-15 days for them to be done.  We are hoping to have the kitchen floor tiled this weekend, but haven't had confirmation from the tile guys yet.

Sunroom

We took down all the beadboard in this room and put sheetrock up in it's place.  Other than that, we haven't changed much in here this week.

(The fan was covered while they were priming the den ceiling)

Master Bedroom

Carpets were steam cleaned and we cleaned the fan, air return vents and windows.  All that lacks is the trim being painted and blinds shortened for us to be done in here.

Master Bath

Ronny did some sheetrock work in here on Sunday and added some beadboard back up that had to be removed.  We are waiting for the cabinets for in here.  We also need to paint this room.

Rae Rae's Room

Carpets were steam cleaned and we cleaned the fan, air return vents and windows. All that lacks is the trim being painted and blinds shortened for us to be done in here.

Guestroom #2 Upstairs

This room needs new carpet, trim painted and blinds shortened and then it's done.

Upstairs Bath

This room was ripped apart with plumbing issues, so we need to redo some sheetrock, put the toilet back and have some tilework re-done in the shower.  Then I have to pick a color for this room and paint it.

Outside

The rocks are GONE!!!!!!!!!!  Pam came and picked up the last load this weekend and boy were we happy to see them go.  We still have some in the backyard, which we are going to leave, but they are all gone in the front and side yards.

The Polaris pump was replaced on the pool on Saturday and we can now vacuum the bottom and sides of the pool!  This has really helped to keep things mixed up and not letting everything settle on the bottom and give the false impression that it is clean.  We have also been running a lot of chlorine through the pool to help clear it up.  The pool will be saltwater once it's up and running, but for now we are just putting chlorine in it.

Another very exciting thing to announce is that our hardwood floors are being refinished today!!!!  I am so excited about this and cannot wait to go see them! 

Thanks to mom, dad, Ronny and Treva for allllllllllllllllll their help this past weekend.  An extra special thank you to mom and dad for being at our house working every night after work!  It means so much and we are so grateful that we have such wonderful parents!!!!!

Another successful weekend!!!!

Well another weekend has come and gone.  My tired, sore body is very happy that today is Monday and I'm sitting at a computer instead of hauling rocks.  Speaking of those rocks....they are seriously never ending!  I have never in my life seen so many.  I think I'd be happy if I never saw one again.  Saturday morning we had almost all of the rocks moved...or so we thought!  I can't even count the number of trips we made moving rocks on Saturday and Sunday.  It's not a surprise that my back is killing me today as well as my arms and my legs.  Needless to say, we are almost done with the rocks now.  Whitney and I spotted a few more that had settled into the ground around a few of the planting areas.  So once we get those moved it'll be up to Pam to finish coming from Dawsonville to pick them up.  I think we might have to celebrate the day the last rock is hauled off!
Other than hauling rocks, we accomplished a lot this weekend!  Friday night we didn't take on too much.  Branson was over and our friend Sam came by on his way home from golfing.  The guys decided to go ahead and clean up Kenny's workshop.  They did a great job and it is so clean and organized now.  I know Kenny is really happy to have it all setup.  Saturday we had Uncle Barry come out to work on more of the plumbing issues.  I haven't really gone into detail about that...but let's just put it this way, if there could be a leak...there is a leak.  Every time we fix one problem, three more happen.  It's been interesting and we are so grateful to have Uncle Barry to fix it all.  Ronny came out and continued his work on finishing the sheetrock.  Dad, Kenny and Branson started working on the coffered ceiling in the den.  It is not 100% finished, but it already looks amazing!  While they were all working on these things, I began cutting back the crepe myrtles in the side yard.  That afternoon, Ricky, Michele and Piper came out to see the house and also helped me out in the yard.  Ricky cut a few of the crepe myrtles I didn't get to and Michele shaped up some other bushes near the pool.  After lunch we went to the front yard and they helped haul some of the rocks.  Even sweet little Piper helped pick ones up that she could.  The guys moved from the den ceiling to taking out the windows in the master bath.  We got the one wall closed back up and on the other wall we were able to re-use the bottom part of the window and just move it up.  Sam came back again on Saturday (after playing golf again) and helped out for a bit.  Sunday we worked in the morning after Audrey hunted her Easter eggs and only worked until about 1 so we could go down and enjoy a wonderful meal at mom's.  After we ate, we were able to show the house to the Meltons and Daphne.  Then we began working again.  Nanette brought her work clothes and she joined mom, Whitney and I in the yard cutting back bushes and you guessed it...moving rocks.  Dad and Kenny were able to get the judges paneling up in the dining room.  It looks so good!  I can't wait to see them caulked and painted.  It really adds something to that room.
As you can see, it was another very productive weekend. We really appreciate all the help we had again this weekend. It really really means so much to us that we have family and friends that love us so much. I'll leave you all with some pictures from this weekend.

Bathroom prior to closing:

Bathroom now:

Back of house before we closed in the window:

OH the rocks!!!!!!!!!!!

   

Ready for another weekend of work!

Well, the weekend is almost here.  For most people, that means time to relax and enjoy this beautiful weather we are having.  For us, it means that it's time to start work on the house again, which is in no way relaxing.  However, it is VERY exicting and definitely worth it.  Last weekend we got so much done and I look forward to seeing everything we accomplish this weekend. 
Although the majority of our work is done on the weekends, we have still been able to get some things done during the week.  Kenny and I can in no way take credit for any of it.  We owe mom, dad, and Mary Messer a HUGE thank you for all they have done while we have been at work or at our other house.  Dad has been working on the pool more (getting it brushed and backwashed daily) as well as mounting and wiring the recessed lighting in our kitchen.  I am so excited about the lights being up and can't wait to see them with the ceiling!  Mom and Mary have been working hard in the yard.  They have moved almost all of the rocks to one pile in the corner of our lot so that Mary's sister can come and remove them by the truck load.  They have also continued to pull weeds, cut down bushes, trees, etc.  It is really looking good!  Dad rode up on his riding lawn mower on Wednesday night and mowed the front yard for us.  I heard he looked pretty funny riding up Samantha Drive on the mower...but boy are we grateful!  Our yard looks so much better!  On top of the yard work, mom has also been cleaning up behind dad as he goes along.  She has also started taping off the bedroom downstairs so we can start painting the trim this weekend.
As far as our game plan for this weekend, I believe mom and I are going to try to get trim and doors painted in a few of the bedrooms and maybe just maybe I'll get to move some furniture into them before Monday.  Dad and Kenny are planning on getting the coffered ceiling done in the den and I believe they will be replacing the den windows (the angled ones) and possibly taking out the ones in our master bath so we can close in the walls for my cabinets going there.
This weekend we are really excited to have our friend Branson coming out to see the house.  He has been working in Maryland for the past few weeks and hasn't gotten to see the house yet.  We aren't too sure he'll be much help other than to drink our beer, but we are still excited to have him coming out. :-)  The Anderson family is supposed to be coming by as well to check out the new place, we are really excited about showing them the house in person finally!!!! We are also excited that Ronny and Treva are going to come back out and help again this weekend.  We are truly blessed to have such amazing parents.
I guess that's pretty much it for now.  I'll leave you all with a few updated pictures of the front of the house (with the yard mowed, rocks removed and the bushes trimmed more) and also of the kitchen with the recessed lighting up!  Everyone have a wonderful Easter weekend!