Week 16 - That's a wrap (almost)

We are so close to being complete on the outside - only the railing, rain gutter, finish electrical and the elusive garage door are all that remain.  With all the heavy snow we received over the weekend, it may be too late to get the rain gutter on until spring, but the railing is ordered and should be in the 2nd week of December.  Garage door...supposed to already be installed.  All was not lost, however, as we continued to push along inside.  Monday brought delivery of the furniture.  Our new dining table 

new couches

 my desk and working area

and Curt's new tv (want to come watch a movie? Not only does it look great, it sounds great with his surround sound)

Thursday the granite countertops were installed

and Friday the appliances

 my new kitchen -

Friday, the elusive garage door showed up (finally!), but was only partly installed.  I mean the door is installed, but none of the hardware on the inside is - so it is just sitting there, looking pretty but not functioning.  Jason (the builder) is pretty frustrated with the situation - well, he's not the only one! 

This is how we look now (good thing it's a BIG new driveway)

Yes, our POD was also delivered on Friday.  Too bad we can't move the stuff from inside the POD to the garage, like we planned to do this weekend

Saturday, bright and early, Jason (the builder) showed up to install the backsplash.  We choose a frosted subway tile.  I like it!

 

All that remains inside to complete now (for Jason the builder) is the final electrical and plumbing - which is scheduled for this Monday and Tuesday.  So, with nothing left to do on our home Jason really did leave. Just like that - 4 months of H.A.R.D. work, every day (except Sunday's).  I'm going to miss him, he's become part of our home.  If you ever need work completed, please give him a call

We cannot say enough good about him - He's the best!

Saturday night - I was so excited to finally cook in our new kitchen you'll never guess the first thing I made

 I boiled some eggs! 

Now, the "moving back in" process starts, we still have plenty of boxes and "stuff" laying around everywhere, but we'll work on it as we slowly put our lives back together.

All in all we are so very pleased.  What a huge undertaking this has been, but it has been worth it - we love our new....old home.

Week 15

Well, a "blizzard" of a week was in store for us!  After postponing the install last week, I arrived home on Monday to find our cabinets were well under way -

after a few days of furious work - they're in! 

 

we've ordered the counter tops

 

these are the mud cabinets installed down stairs -- a few little things remain from the cabinet company, the hooks for these cabinets were forgotten and our hardwood doors for the family room need to be returned (we had them stained to match the kitchen cabinets).

The shutters were installed, these are the living room shutters (hadn't intended to do this, but the cleaners ruined our drapes when I took them in to be cleaned -- oops!)

the family room shutters

Jason (the builder) returned to finish the soffit/facia - it looks SO good - and complete - so complete now that he loaded up ALL of his things and drove away.  I wanted to cry.  I am so grateful for him and the way he has handled our reconstruction, thank you SO much Jason & Island Construction.  The remaining items are all sub'd out, so he'll just be back to oversee those items (the garage door, the wrought iron, rain gutters and finish plumbing/electrical).  The ceiling insulation guys finally made - JUST in the nick of time because as you can tell from the pictures, we have had 3 straight days of SNOW.  It just keeps coming and coming and coming - but I have to admit, it is a beautiful sight and since I can now drive right in to my (doorless) garage, I don't even care anymore!

 

 Can you believe how much snow????

  
Don't mean to brag, BUT, through all of this, not a lick of snow on our big, wonderful, front porch (a newbie for us)

With the house nearing completion, we were brave and had the little girls up for a spell.  It was so good to have them in our home again - and they were excited to explore and experiment.  We also decorated giant gingerbread boys or girls 

 

With the cabinets installed, I have started moving in to them and out of ALL the boxes.  This included my China - from the crates stored deep in the basement into the new dining room cabinets (in hopes of using it on a more frequent basis).  As soon as I opened the crate and held a plate in my hand I was transported back to a time YEARS ago, with my mother.  Looking at that plate in my hand, all I could think of was her.  I was flooded with memories, we picked this china out together and I remember her council in helping me try to be wise and practical with this big choice as I was still in High School.  She was pleased with my decision and loved helping me pick out the necessary accessory pieces as well, you know - the ones I would/should need like a HUGE turkey platter and service for 12!  I think she was more excited than I was. I received coordinating napkins, table cloths, etc. for birthday/Christmas gifts to complete everything.  What sweet memories filled my heart, I was not expecting these emotions, but there they were.   I love and MISS her, my sweet angel mother. I'll probably be using my china more....a lot more!

Not much else going on at our home next week - well, hopefully a garage door!

Week 14

Monday - our home is finally painted, we are so pleased with it

the scafolding is set in place around the house for the soffit/facia installation.  The insulators never showed up to install the ceiling insulation (new addition as well as add to the existing), so Jason (the builder) couldn't begin the installation.  I'm sure he'll take care of that scheduling matter next week.

 

The rest of the sidewalk was poured and the curing begins.  I am SO excited to think that next Tuesday I will be able to pull right inside of our new garage! Speaking of that garage -- the truck which was transporting our new garage door over turned enroute and our garage door was destroyed! A new one has been ordered and is now on it's way - hopefully it will be here safely next week.

Th electricians came and installed the ceiling fans, hooked up all the lights and most of the outlets

another close up of our kitchen floor with the frosted glass inlays - sheeze, this floor doesn't look all that much cleaner than last week, just how many more times do I have have to scrub it?

I also began the process of priming and then painting all of the baseboards.  It seemed to go on forever and ever and ever.  It took me a couple of nights, but I got 'er done!

We took a night off to visit little (sleepy) bat girl and the lady vampire (as well as go to the JAZZ game) on Halloween  - oh SO missed seeing our Denver kiddies :(

 Ready or not --- I started to move into my broom closet, I couldn't wait

 we set the shelves up inside of the slider

 got new cast iron heat registers (I really like them)

and Curt started the process of hooking up the Wi-Fi and intricate sound system

I also got the basement wall painted so it's ready for the new mud cabinets (which were supposed to be installed last week, but should be installed this week - hopefully!)

and got the door trim/frame painted as well (yes, that is the painters tape I haven't removed yet)

We had visitors --- visitors that brought us dinner and we put them to work!  Marisa, please make that kitchen floor finally shine -

Thank you girls!

Just plain A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

 I have begun my "love/hate" relationship with my new floor.  I love it, it is so beautiful - but I am beginning to agree with Jason (the builder) who complained (alot) about installing this floor. I was also warned by a few people about dark wood floors (mainly Jamie!) and I do realize we are still in the "construction" phase, but PLEASE --- I can NOT keep up with the dust, and there is just a whole lot of floor....I mean for someone who stopped cleaning when the kids left (hehehehe), will it suffice to say I am a bit overwhelmed? Heaven help me!

All in all, a busy "touch-up" week for us, we are nearing completion and it feels SO good.