Weekend two was spent setting footings and tying steel. I only took pictures the first day because I spent all of today trying to stay caught up with the things we normally do during the weekend: grocery shopping, laundry, more laundry, and add in getting my phone fixed.
While Johnnie and the boys worked on setting footings, Dustin spent time in the mini excavator digging the footings for the garage. Isn't he handsome?! :-)
Those boys were certainly put to work! They measured and bent rebar, put it in the footings, drug rebar to the basement, and did everything else they were asked to do. They were real troopers and I'm so proud of both of them!
At the end of the day, they both desperately needed baths, but they had a lot of fun.
Like I said, I didn't get any pictures on the second day, but everything is set to pour concrete footings this week. Happy Sunday! Everyone is off to bed...they're whipped!
We spent the weekend working to prepare for the house. Okay, okay...Dustin and Johnnie spent the weekend working. I really had more of a support role, so I guess you could call me the supervisor.
Dustin left super early Saturday morning and I reminded him to take a picture before they started working so we could remember what it looked like "before". I'm thankful he remembered to take it so you can see how dense the trees were.
As you can see, there was A LOT of clearing to be done and the boys got right to work. Jaden and I showed up with breakfast and could tell they had already been super busy. Bummer...I guess we missed some of the physical work there, sorry guys!
Once they got the trees and brush cleared, Dustin and Johnnie started measuring. and measuring, and measuring. Followed by marking, and marking, and marking.
At this point, Jaden and Johnnie's son, Andrew, decided it was time to go meet our new neighbors and they needed a chaperone, so I volunteered for the job. If I'm being completely honest, I didn't really plan well for helping with the "dirty work" since I wore my expensive jeans and newer Sperry's. Mental note: wear something more appropriate tomorrow.
So, here's something interesting...our new neighbors are tigers, and lions, and bears (not really), oh my! The National Tiger Sanctuary is less than a mile from our soon-to-be house. It certainly is worth a visit if you have the time. We watched the animals get fed and learned a lot about each of them. It's so funny how they each have their own personality. I believe the kiddos had a great time, even though I'm pretty sure if the fences hadn't been there they would have been eaten. The boys may or may not have each walked away with a souvenir, but I'm not at liberty to say.
After our little field trip, the boys and I went to pick up lunch and returned to see what progress had been made. I have to say I was pretty surprised and impressed with how far they had gotten. The basement is beginning to take shape! They continued to work until almost dark and then called it a day. Dustin was pretty tired, especially since he's working on this project on the weekends after working 12-16 hour days during the week. The man has a work ethic, I'll give him that!
Day Two
Day two of the first weekend brought more clean up and pushing dirt. The guys arrived early, and the boys decided to stay home this time. When I arrived later in the morning, Dustin was busy with his chainsaw and Johnnie was in the track loader.
Eeek! It really looks like a basement, or at least a really, really big hole. It sure is nice to know people who do this kind of thing for a living (or to be one of the people who do!).
The guys worked for a few hours today, but also left themselves some of their evening to relax before they head back to work tomorrow bright and early. The project is really beginning to take shape and after all the kicking and screaming I did to NOT build a house, it's starting to get a little exciting. (But don't tell Dustin!)
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
And so it begins....
The journey seems like it has already been going on F-O-R-E-V-E-R, but today it got real, folks. Like, really REAL. No backing down, no backing out.
Let me start with a short backstory to catch you up to speed. We put our home of 11 years on the market and within a month, it sold. If you've ever sold a house, you know what kind of stress is involved in that entire process and I could hijack this first post already by simply sharing the many frustrations and nightmares involved.
Then, we were homeless. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. We weren't homeless...we moved into my mom's basement. Yep, 40 years old and living in the basement with my husband and our 12-year-old son...every girl's dream, right? For many reasons it has turned out to be a blessing in disguise and I am thankful that we had that as an option.
But...I want to focus on the process of this entire house-building journey for us to look back on, for friends and family to see, and maybe to share the laughs and tears with strangers who can relate...maybe even learn from. So, here we go........
First, we found land that met all of my husband's ridiculous list of wants (bless his heart). Here is a picture of the land when we purchased it. It looks pretty different today because this was taken at the beginning of the summer and now we're in September, so there is a LOT more green. I'll post an updated picture soon.
Three acres of beautiful land covered in trees and overlooking the Ozark Mountains. It really is an amazing view and I'm looking forward to drinking my coffee on the back deck on a crisp, cool morning.
Today, September 13, 2016 marks the day we officially begin the house building journey because we closed on the construction loan. The shear volume of paperwork and the promise that I'll pay with blood, sweat, tears, and more money than I care to disclose makes me want to vomit. I'm pretty sure somewhere in there I may have signed away my first born child. But, for better or worse, here we go. May the odds be ever in our favor!
