Walls & Everything!!

Here is a picture from the kitchen into the Breakfast area and onto the deck. Last week we posted an insulation picture, so now you can see the change. And at noon today... the flooring begins!!! My job is to vacuum...

The Bonus Room with Walls! 

Living the Crazy Life...

Here are a few snapshots from the past week or two, part of the reason my blog has been lacking in posts:

• All of last week (Monday -Friday nights from 5-9 or later) was spent at a friend's house where Ryan re-tiled the floor while they were out of town. I was there as a second pair of eyes, moral support, tool-hander, sponge rinser, dinner-maker and also to do some painting. :) Before & After pictures are shown below. Go Ryan King of the Tile!!
• High School Fellowship has started for our church... Friday nights are spent hanging out with high school kids over dinner, and then bible study and then an activity. Last week we watched The Emperor's Club projected on to and old quilt on the side of the garage (it is worth seeing) and next week is Contra Dancing. :)
• Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!! Our tile, hardwood, siding, shutters, cabinets & countertops have been ordered!!
• Dealing with Insulation Inspections, leaks, drywall & rain. Thankfully the inspection passed (3rd time's the charm with this particular inspector), the leak was fixed (no cap on the top of the fireplace), it rained Saturday -Tuesday which prevented the drywall delivery, however it let up Tuesday afternoon so drywall started yesterday!!
• Wednesday Night Tradition - On Wednesday's (to replace our Lost tradition during the school year) we have been having our friend Melanie over for dinner and hanging out. Last night after pasta salad and sloppy joes we hit the grove arcade (a beautiful building downtown with lots of cool shops). We window shopped since most of the stores were closed and our evening was made perfect when the frozen custard shop let us in after it has already closed for some vanilla with hot fudge custard. :) We also wanted through a very Ashevilley bookstore and listed to an impromptu poetry reading.
• Work - and to top if all work has gone CRAZY. I have been working 9+ hour days all week to make one home buyer happy. I hope they end up happy because they will be our new neighbors. :-P
• And from tonight through July 4th, every minute or every day (not spent at work or at church) will be spent putting down tile & hardwood in our house. :)

L

Before...

(The stain is where the sink was).

AFTER!!!

(Obviously before we put the toilet or sink back in).

Watch Out World!!

The Krishnan's Are Coming!!

Well, over the weekend Drew & I confirmed out tickets... after many many modifications our vacation is finally set. It started by planning a trip to Italy, and then to England but when my parents and brothers decided to go to India this winter, we decided to change our plans. (We hope to hit England/Scotland maybe next summer, we shall see). So we are now flying west with my family and we will be there for almost a month!! Here is the plan:

• Leave LA (still need to confirm Aville to LA tickets) Dec 10th with my Dad, Ryan, Micah, & Drew
• Travel through Taipei, Taiwan (5 hours) and
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2 days) before
• Arriving in Madras, India on Dec 12th
• Meet up with my Mom, Nate, Buzz & Meredith who left mid-November
• See friends, family, the Taj Mahal, Uti (a small tea village), go on an elephant safari, visit shops, eat amazing Indian food, spent altogether too much money on little nick-nacks, and hopefully take a train to see some friends from highschool who are now missionaries in India.
• Leave India on Jan 5th arrive in Asheville (via Malaysia & Taiwan & LA) on the 6th (Thank you international date line!! We leave Taiwan at 3:45pm on the 6th and fly for thirteen hours arriving in LA at 12:55pm on the same day!)

I am so happy, some would even call it giddy.

L :)

Bumpersticker of the Day

Death is Like a Doorway...

Here, let me hold this for you.

Progress...

Ok, so you have been asking for pictures. A lot has been done, but it is not really visible. I have posted some picture below so that you can see what has been done, even though the front picture of the house doesn't look that different. Since the last picture I posted we have completed the shingles, installed the front door, electrical, HVAC & plumbing rough-ins and the insulation went in yesterday. The deck should be done today. Drywall and flooring next week! L

Insulation

And here is a picture of the insulation. This is looking out from the kitchen onto the back deck.

Deck

And here is our beautiful deck. The air is actually thinner from the ground to the deck. :-P It will hopefully be finished today.

Wires :)

And here is a picture of the electrical rough-in... multi colored wires... yippee. I will be far more excited once the lights start working. :) This is inside the Bonus Room wall, looking out the window in the fake dormer above the garage.

Heating & Air (and the fireplace)

And here is the HVAC picture... the family room fireplace! (And if you look closely you can see the covered vent under the window).

Plumbing

Here is the beautiful Master Tub! Just one of the many parts of the plumbing. :-P The window behind the tub is 30+ feet off the ground... and has no opening... poor man who had to install it while standing on a latter outside. L

Bumpersticker of the Day

I'm Not Tailgating

I'm Drafting

Achy

On Day 1070...

Well, my shoulders ache, my hands are blistered and I there are muscles in my legs that still hurt after 3 days... but after 6 hours of work I can now proudly say that I have swept between every stud in my new house. :)

On Saturday Drew, Ryan and I worked from 9-3 cleaning up the house. It is beautiful. We swept up 5-6 large cardboard boxes full of dirt, wood shavings and construction junk. We also cleaned up the outside in preparation for dirt that should be coming some time next week... wohoo!! No more huge pit between the road and the house.

-----

In other house news:

We have passed our plumbing, electrical and heating & air inspections and after fixing a few things today we should pass our framing inspection tomorrow. So we may have insulation by the weekend. Wohoo!

My wonderful friend Rebecca helped me pick out all the roof, paint, shutter, tile, cabinet, countertop and carpet colors this weekend. She is a true friend. :) Now I just need to order it all!

Ryan installed his first every pocket door on Saturday.

We are resting up now, because in a week we are going to be consumed with tile, hardwood and trim installation on our house.

Our deck needed 20 FOOT posts to reach the back door off the kitchen. I couldn't watch them build it, it was too scary.

L

Where is the Line?

Where do you draw the line between expressing what you know to be true (right and wrong) and not holding unbelievers to the same standards?

Today, a woman in my office asked me what I thought about going on a cruise with her boyfriend. They have been dating a month or two, and he has invited her on a week long cruise. She wanted a "girl's opinion." What would you say? How do you speak the truth in love in this kind of situation?

L

Bumpersticker of the Day

Some People Are Like A Slinky,

Not Really Good For Anything,

But You Still Can't Help But Smile When You See One

Tumble Down The Stairs.

25 YEARS!!

Congratulations to my wonderful parents on 25 years of marriage! May there be 25 more. :)

Love you!

Leah & Andrew

Hoop Jumping

On Day 1063...

Sometimes the home building (and buying too I am sure) process feels more like a dog show than actually conducting a business transaction. Sit, now shake, now sign here. Well, our house is continuing to move along, but the progress is not so visible. Last Friday we passed the Plumbing Inspection (YAY, running water!) and the Mechanical or HVAC Inspection passed on Monday (wohoo, heat!) . Tomorrow we should get the Electrical Inspection and then the Framing Inspection on Thursday followed by Insulation on Friday & its Inspection on Monday. Isn't working with the local government fun!

It is sometimes even more fun to work with the local inept Bank-Loan-Draw-Officer-Dude. He came to our house on Monday to make sure the work was being done, and so that he could release the money for projects that had been completed... well it was too muddy for his alligator skin boots or something because he just asked one of the workers that was standing around instead of going inside and looking himself, and when we picked up the check and asked why we didn't get the money for the doors and windows he said that he hadn't seen them and that he couldn't release the money until it was verified. AUGH. MAN, OPEN THY EYES! Oh well, we will just remind him that he has no room to complain when we call him in a week and ask for more money. :)

L

Bumpersticker of the Day

REHAB IS FOR

QUITTERS

Movin' Right Along...

The house is moving right along, in fact it is a madhouse. Yesterday (when this pictures was taken) the framers, roofers, plumbers, heating & air guys and the electricians were all working. Thank you for all of your prayers, the rain has held off, and Lord willing will hold off through tomorrow so they can finish the roof! Siding, grading, front porch and insulation coming soon! L

This is Ryan, a little concerned that I may win the bet (that he will stay in the house at least one night before he leaves on 8-22). You would think that after living with me for 15 years that he would understand that big sisters ALWAYS win! Silly Boy... 

Pulled in Every Direction

I am sorry for not keeping you updated, but the past week has been CRAZY. Not it a bad way, but just in a busy, busy, busy way. It seems that our house and our jobs just boomed in the last week, at least it has been that way for me. There has been MORE than enough to do at work, which keeps my from getting bored, but also prevents me from leaving on time and getting other things done (like cleaning my house...). But here is a quick update, because I know you are dying to know what we have been doing all week:

• Friday - Windows delivered to the house
• Drove to Charlotte Friday night to help Drew's brother move (as the pictures indicate)
• Drove back to Asheville Saturday afternoon in time for company cook-out
• Saturday night - cookout/x-box mania
• Sunday - Church and then a Youth Picnic - anyone played British bulldog before? Deadly game. (Ryan won :)
• Monday - House craziness - Met with plumber to being rough-ins, tubs and such delivered and met with HVAC guy to discuss vent placements, framers installing windows (60 feet off the ground on the back... lots of fun) and the roofers started as well. (So, not only are there too many people in the house, they all have headaches :) Oh yeah... and attempted to work and earn money to pay all of these people.
• Tuesday - Met with cabinet dude to measure for cabinets and worked in between and then babysat for some friends so they could get in a much needed date. (Who has time when you have two kids under 3 1/2 and twins on the way??) Got to watch a cheesy prairie romance on TV with my hubby though, so it was all worth it. :)
• Wednesday morning - met with electrician to go over plug placements and lighting - forgot everything I need to discuss this so I am home right now getting it all in order and then heading back out to give him the information I should have had in the first place...

But, it is all still fun... :) I will post some pictures soon!

L

On The Move...

This weekend we helped Drew's brother Jonathon move into his new house in Charlotte. As you may remember we helped him move in January onto a 3rd floor apartment. Hauling it down is much easier than hauling it up. :) All in all we only spent about 3-4 hours moving and just hung out and ate at a great little Indian buffet restaurant.... yummyyyy!!!!! :) And, Lord Willing, in a few months he can return the favor.

L

P.S. For 10 Bonus points can you spot Jonathon?

Dwarfed in the breakfast area. 

The Master expanse. :)

Bumpersticker of the Day

I Think Therefore
I'm Dangerous!

Cooking Staples

On Day 1051...

Every cook has those few ingredients that they cannot live without. They are always in the cupboard and are present in nearly every dish they make. While having my brother here it has reminded me that they way I cook and the way my mom (and by default, Ryan) cooks are very different.

I think that I cook so differently from my mom mostly because I didn't really start cooking until I had moved away and was living on my own. She taught me the basics and I have made up the rest. :) According to my mother the three things that no one can be without are:

1. Salt
2. Butter
3. Onions

In my kitchen, mushrooms, green onions and cilantro (and a host of other things) come and go, but these three remain:

1. Pepper
2. Olive Oil
3. Garlic

What are the staples in your kitchen?