Chapter 6: It has began? begun? started...

It's been several months since my last blog... we hadn't done much on the house to blog about until recently. We have officially started the basement renovation! I'm super excited! Adam has almost finished his little workshop at the far end, and after he's done we'll move on to start finishing the rest of the basement.

The work he's done in the workshop includes finishing the walls (they were already studded & insulated). He just had to add a few more studs to extend the room to include a large storage closet, and he used ply wood for the walls, to give it a "workshoppy" feel. LOL He has to finish the ceiling and build his workbench, then he'll be ready to move his cabinets & tools in.

For the rest of the basement, which has been mostly studded, we just have to add a few more studs, add insulation, and we are going to put up paneling. We're not going to be finishing the ceiling in the main part, as it already sits too low. We will be finishing the floor with tile.

We have a little area closed off under the steps that will be our storm center. Adam is going to add a storm door to the entry way, and we'll keep our emergency supplies down there.

Spring Clean & Swing

This past weekend was beautiful! We finally got some rain to wash away the massive amounts of pollen that has kept us indoors with the windows closed for weeks... No point in washing the car - 30 min. later it's completely covered again! You could see pollen clouds (looked like dust from a crop duster) around the trees... but this weekend I was able to open the windows and start my Spring Cleaning. Shampooed the carpets, dusted, swept up the cobwebs, mopped the hard floors... got everything done accept dusting and the carpet in the master bedroom (though I managed to get all my laundry put away and vaccuum the floor for the first time in weeks - I always clean the other rooms before mine, and never get to it), and the family room- which I dusted last weekend. Which isn't 1/2 bad... shampooed three out of four carpets, cleaned both bathrooms, the kitchen, living room, dining room, and the kid's rooms! My back is killing me... And we managed the cut down the swing set that came with the house and was at the bottom of the hill cemented down and overgrown with weeds, vines, trees... and we managed to salvage it! A little soap, water, new screws, and WD40 does wonders. I wish I'd have taken a before picture because it was really bad... But now it's great and the kids love it!

So on the agenda for next weekend is a well needed vacation-trip to my parent's in Valdosta... it will hopefully be hot enough to warm the pool! Saturday I get to endure a family reunion (inlaw's side), but otherwise it will be a much needed restful trip... Because the following weekend it's back to work! This week and next I'll finish inside the house after I get home from work... but then we have outside work to tackle... and boy do I mean tackle. The house was vacant for over a year, so the yard is badly overgrown with weeds... Hubby mowed last weekend, bless his heart, you can no longer tell - it looks worse than it did before he mowed, and this was the first time he'd mowed it since we moved in! YIKES. So weed and seed here we come... In addition to cleaning up the yard we have a back deck & front porch that need pressure washed and a fresh coat of paint... so we have some projects coming up - finally! The blog has been a little dead lately. And hopefully later this summer we'll start on the big basement project!

We're Baaack!

So the good news is hubby was only out of work 4 days (by the grace of God - there's no other explanation seeing as the average person is out of work 600 days with the economy!) He got back on out at the base, and he's happy to be back out there - he prefers the atmosphere & the schedule... he's back on M-F from 7:30-4:30-- no more Sunday's! Woot! He took a small pay cut, so we went from "comfortable" to "just fine". So the home improvements may continue, but at a slower rate... No more charging up 3 cc's at once! LOL So we have to pay off the one we have a balance on now before we do something else. We bought surround sound for the big ol' TV (that we no longer have HD cable for... *sigh*) and once it's paid for, we're looking at getting a new recliner for hubby (the padding has deteriorated on the one he has, and you can feel the edge of the wood on your back... not comfy.) We're looking at a chair and 1/2 recliner at Big Lots. :)

So the basement (which will go on the Home Depot card) is going to be set back a few months... our original starting point was March... but seeing as it is March, that's kinda out the window! So maybe by June or July, we'll cross our fingers!

Someone threw a rock into my gears... or whatever that saying is!

Welp, clear to say the basement and several other things are going to be put off for quite a while... hubby lost his job last week... he may have something lined up - he's waiting to hear from a contractor on base that he interviewed with on Friday, and it went very well - he had said he just had to talk to his boss for the final say so, and he'd call him today... 4:39 and still waiting.

But even with this new job we'll be shorter on cash... This job may not pay as well, and most likely won't do 6 month raises, and we'll have to buy another truck (we sold the one we had when he got that job b/c he had a company vehicle, and the truck just sat in the yard not being driven...) He'll start paying for gas - that was another benefit of the company vehicle - he only put gas in it when he used it for personal reasons - the irony being "personal use of vehicle" being why he was let go *cough* bull crap- they were downsizing the teams, they just found a reason... he was told by a previous supervisor he could use it as long as it was minimal, within city limits, AND he put gas in it... which he did! COX CABLE HAS BAD ETHICS! They just didn't want to pay severance... so they picked a few guys they could dig up anything on and booted them. My hubby didn't have ONE write up... no negative feedback, nothing. Anytime he asked his boss for feedback, he didn't have much to say... he couldn't get any constructive criticism to save his life, or in this case his job. He always got GREAT feedback from customers, and was probably one of the hardest working & ethical techs they had - he wouldn't have driven the van to the chiro if he wasn't under the impression it was okay. They didn't care what his "reason" was, they were going from 3 teams to 2 and this was the easiest way out.

Clear to say if he doesn't get this job, he's on his way to the unemloyment office tomorrow, I've already put the kids back on Peachcare (Thank God for Georgia's healthcare for kids!) and applied for some assistance just in case... If it weren't for my father in law we'd probably risk losing the house we just bought all together, but we're going to make the mortgage and he said he'd help us with the smaller stuff as long as we need it... I'm just glad we have someone in the other house making payments or we'd be double screwed.

We feel pretty confident he'll get this job... I'm just not very patient when it comes to waiting! LOL The guy was supposed to call him today, and if he doesn't Adam will call or go up there with his dad tomorrow. Fingers crossed, prayers said... God will get us through this! We'd been praying for him to get off the Sunday shift... this wasn't exactly what we had in mind, but God answer's prayer in his own way...

Since it's February...

I thought I'd blog for the month, since I haven't had anything to post in a while. So we filed our taxes, should have our refund by the end of the month, and be ready to start on the basement by March! Woo hoo!

We haven't done too much around the house... we did add another shelf to the pantry and finally hung the curtain track in the family room, and also hung the curtains in our bedroom. Small projects, been spending my weekends keeping the house clean. Sooo ready to take on this big project in the basement!

The Small Things

So we can't do a lot right now with cc's to pay off... but we shouldn't forget the small things... we have a small trip to Home Depot in our future... we need to fix the door to the crawlspace under the house -- seeing as we think that's how our little mouse "friends" have been getting in... we caught a 4th one! Out of sticky paper and traps... probably will need more.

And hubby wants to get some cabinet organizers for the kitchen and some wood to add one more shelf to the pantry. So a few small projects still going on at Tiffany Lane!

Before & After

We've been in our home 2 months now, so I think this warrants a home tour with some Before & After pictures.

Living Room

Before:

After:

Dining Room

Before:

After:

Kitchen:

Before:

After:

Family Room:

Before:

After:

Master Bedroom:

Before:

After (New pictures coming soon!):

Andrew's Room

Before:

After:

The Nursery (Ella's Room):

Before:

After:

Since we can't spend right now, I can dream... Landscaping Ideas

So until we can afford to start back up again in March, I can dream... our backyard comes out a ways as flat, then dramatically slopes, big time... and then there's a flat area at the back, currently overrun by vegetation... we're only going to fence the flat part at the top, but sometime in the rather distant future (when I win the lottery), I'd like to terrace the hill with stone & steps and clear out the flat area at the bottom... possibly for a pool. ;) Here is some slope landscaping inspiration for your viewing pleasure...

We're On Hold...

So right now, home improvement is on hold. We're waiting on 2 things: my father-in-law is financing our fence, so we're waiting on him to give the go ahead there, which he had said after the New Year, but he's dealing with some medical issues right now, so we're being patient... and we are currently paying off balances on the Home Depot, Best Buy, and Big Lots credit cards from the move and Christmas... so once those are paid off (all same as cash deals!) we'll be back on track. So they'll be paid off no later than income tax season (so hopefully by March...) and then we'll be ready to tackle some of the big projects in the works this year... the two biggest of which are refinishing the basement & painting... LOTS of painting! So if you don't hear much from me on the home improvement and renovation side for a while, don't worry... I'll be back! I'll try to keep everyone posted with anything we do around the house, but it won't be anything big for at least 2 months... :(

2009 in Review

So this past year was a big one! Ella turned 1 and Andrew turned 4. We got a new dob, Bubbles. I got a new job and we bought a new house. We moved and painted all in 2 days - it was a big job. Since moving in at the very end of October, we've painted 3 rooms, put in new carpet (which delayed us from really moving all the way in for an extra week...) We had to get a few new pieces of furniture to fill the much larger space we had acquired (kitchen nook, pantry, and some "new" living room furniture.) I managed to get us most of the way moved in by Christmas, which was a lot of work, but a goal well met.  And we have a lot planned for the year ahead!

 

 

Clear to say the last 2 months of 2009 were our biggest...

Oct 31: Moving Day/Painting Day #1 (3 bedrooms)

Nov 1: Painting Day #2

Nov 2: Touch up painting...

Nov 4: Attempted Paint removal (sink clog)

Nov 5: Carpet Installation (Living room & 3 bedrooms)

Nov 6 & 7: Finished moving all the way into the house since the carpet was in... put furniture in the right place, started unpacking boxes... Put up laundry room shelves. Hung curtains.

Nov 11: Finally posted some in progress pictures...

Nov 14 & 15: More unpacking... hung pictures.

Nov 16: Managed to remove paint from sink...

Nov 18: Installed the security system

Nov 21: Storage solution for 4year old's room & hung pictures in baby's room

Nov 23: Started Christmas decorating (We were pretty much all moved in!)

December: The last month, once we were basically unpacked (within a month, record  timing!) and decorated, was devoted to Christmas shopping, family, and a few more purchases towards our home, but no major improvements... Got our new nook & kitchen pantry (before Christmas... just in time for Christmas brunch with mine and hubby's family.) The goal was to have the house livable by Christmas (by my higher standard & definition...) and that's what happened!

Goals for the New Year: 2010

1. Finish Basement
2. Paint kitchen walls & cabinets/pantry
3. Paint bathroom walls & vanity (white) and replace sink
4. Paint living room all one color (currently 2 walls are one color, and the other two another...)
5. Fresh coat of paint in hallway & dining room
6. Fence the backyard
7. Fix up the yard/landscape
8. Fix up the back deck/buy new patio furniture & grill
9. Put up above ground pool & playground set for kids

Update: new Kitchen Nook & Pantry

So nothing in our kitchen matches (yet.) In the year ahead (after we finish the basement) I'd like to tackle the kitchen in painting the walls & cabinets/pantry. (See some of my inspiration here.)But for now I'm just glad that the nook and pantry both fit in the empty corner, and that we finally have our food out of boxes!