Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Building our Home on a Firm Foundation

On our deck, where I plan to be still, relax, and enjoy the view of God's splendor

I came across an article somewhere about writing bible verses on a new house before it's sheet rocked. I thought it was a fabulous idea to starts your foundation of a new home on the foundation of the bible. We got to a place of building this weekend that it was time to do this, so on Sunday the kids and I along with my mom went over to the new house with Sharpies and a list of bible verses that we thought would fit each room.

Drew didn't really seem interested in helping. He kept wandering from room to room, seeing what we were doing, investigating his new house, but not really wanting to write anything so my mom took over what I had planned for him to do. A little while into it he says, "I want to write my own bible verses in my own room". I asked what he wanted to write and he said he needed to think about it so I assumed we'd be coming back another day to help him.

He then went to get a Sharpie from my mom and started yelling across the room, "How do you spell T-R-E-A-T?". Not knowing what he was doing, I walked into his room and he told me he wanted to do Matthew 7:12. I asked if he knew what it was and he said yes, so trusting him (and googling it later to make sure he was right because I am OCD like that) He wrote out "Treat others the way you want to be treated. Matt.7:12 Golden Rule" on a beam in his room. What an awesome reminder of how we should be every day... and what an awesome reflection of what he is learning in Discovery Rangers!



Here are a few of the others we decided to write:
Above the front door

Mom wrote this in the dining area

Ty wrote this in her closet.

In the master bedroom
Hallway



Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Just a Boy and His Dogs

One of the biggest adjustments that Drew has had to make during this house building experience is not having his dogs with him. Because my parent's dogs doesn't play well with others, we had to find somewhere for them to go until our house is done.

Thankfully, our friend Andi does small dog rescue from her house so adding a couple more to her mix wasn't too big of a deal. She has been a life saver and we appreciate her so much.

Today is our Roxy's (black Shih tzu) birthday. We are going to guess that she is 4 years old and we use today as her birthday as it's the day 3 years ago that she was rescued from the shelter. She was so underweight, matted fur, just a mess when we got her.

Drew wanted to get her a birthday present so he bought her a bag of treats to share with all the friends at Andi's house :)




Friday, May 30, 2014

Framing

Last Friday they started framing our house. They ran into some issues with the temporary power so we are a few days behind, but we are making progress.





The framer told me that the stairs to the basement would be put in today... the roof trusses will be put in by Monday, and the inside framing will be done by the end of the week. We'll see how it goes!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Lisa Williams, PHR

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I passed my Professional in Human Resources exam and I now have three important letters after my name... PHR.

What a crazy ride... driving over an hour to Sandy every Tuesday for 3+ months, having a child be in the hospital, having my house sell and have to move, going to Nashville work work, all while trying to take this class and study for this exam.

I am thankful for the friendships I made during the class as the day before my exam I got some notes that helped me study exactly what I needed. Without that information, I think I may have been looking at other things thinking they were important to find out I didn't need to know it. (every time the test taking window opens, the test questions change. Not everyone got the same questions this time around but you at least knew what areas to study more of once some classmates too their test)

My work has been so supportive of me getting this certification. Yesterday morning our VP came in singing and dancing as if he was in a parade. They got me a cake, a card, and gift certificates. I am so blessed to work with such a great group of people!




Friday, May 16, 2014

Exterior and Foundation

Yesterday we finished picking out our exterior... front door color, garage door color, stucco, siding, etc. We have an amazing help at Master's who is so in tune with what we are doing and what we want, it's made it really easy.


We went over to the lot and they had finished putting up the foundation walls and were waiting on the cement trucks to come. I ran into a lady I used to go to church with who will now be our next door neighbor. She introduced me to someone from across the street. She says she loves the neighborhood and our builder!

 




We were looking around and I freaked out a little bit because I couldn't figure out the walkout door in the basement. It wasn't making sense to me. Then I thought they forgot Ty's room b/c I didn't see a window. I called my dad and my parents came over and we walked through. My dad even climbed the wall to tell me the window was down inside. I felt a lot better :)

A little while later we went back over when the cement trucks were there to see them pouring. It's amazing to me how each step of this works and how good they do. If I were to try, cement would have been everywhere. Instead, these guys working on it make it look effortless.




One of the coolest things I found was a lady bug in the basement. It was in my moment of panic and it was there. It almost felt like God was telling me to calm down. Lady bugs have always been important to me. My great-Aunt always wore a ladybug pin on her shoulder as a sign of good luck. 


Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Stone, Lighting, and Footings

Yesterday, Bryan and I went to Harristone to pick the stone for the outside of our house. As soon as we got there, it was a rain/hail storm but that didn't stop us from doing what we needed and we found one that we really liked.


Then we went over to Century Lighting. Holy overwhelming! Luckily we met with a nice lady who helped us figure out what we needed and where it all was. Here are a few things we chose:


They dropped off the footings and should be installed today!


Monday, May 12, 2014

We have a hole!

True to the builder's word... they dug a hole on Friday.



Saturday was a visit to Out of the Woods to pick counters, cabinets, sinks, etc. We decided on a dark espresso colored wood and a light granite counter top with black and tan flecks. Then we went to Master's and met with Angel to pick out flooring, paint, and tile.




Today we will go to Harristone to choose our stone for the outside then back to Master's on Saturday to pick stucco and roofing. That will just leave lighting which I think will be the biggest struggle for us... our tastes vary a bit. We'll see how that goes :)