Life
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Italy Day 1 – Cats, Rowboats, and Carbonara
(If you missed it, here is the arrival) We were finally in Italy! The country we had dreamt of visiting for so long. We had arranged to drop off our luggage at our VRBO in advance of check-in, so we made a last minute decision to walk from the train station to our rental. With our luggage. But we were not prepared for walking the streets of a country where everyone drove like it was the Indy 500. And you could either get mowed down by a motorcycle, a vespa, or a tiny hatchback. Anything was possible. So what we thought was a 20 minute walk, was in fact much…
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Italy – The Beginning
The beginning. Emmett and I had always planned something big for our 10th anniversary. It started off as a trip to Santorini (we both love Greek food) but changed to Italy once I saw a Hallmark movie that had been set in Verona. I fell in love with the idea of Italy, and as we started researching the country, realized that there was so much to see. During the planning stages, our trip seemed to be so far away. I looked up VRBO’s and grew more excited at the thought of strolling ancient cobblestone streets and learning another culture, while celebrating a decade of marriage. But the adventure was still…
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Drywall Is Up!
The house is getting closer to move-in day. We’re at the stage of choosing colors and fixtures and I’m afraid of getting it wrong. Yes, I’ve researched and pinned everything I like on on Pinterest, but when it comes down to it, I still don’t know what to choose. I’m famous for changing my mind at the last minute (just ask Emmett!) Drywall was installed, finished, and primed in about three weeks. The change was astounding. I can hardly remember what the house used to look like before drywall. Almost every day I stopped by the house after work to look at the progress. Emmett asked them to finish the…
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Ready for Drywall!
I can’t believe we’re finally here. We closed on the construction loan over a year ago. Back then, Emmett had no idea how long this house would take to build, but he estimated around a year. That jumped around several times throughout the course of the construction, but now we’re getting down to the end. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Once drywall is done, nothing will look the same again. We won’t be looking at the studs, the wires, the plumbing lines, the HVAC system. The insulation. Instead, we’ll see the house looking like a home. One step closer to moving in. One step…
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A Portable Garden
A small garden that's easy to move.
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December Slowdown
Since the weather changed, work has slowed down. Emmett has been dealing with mud, frost, cold weather, and rain. He’s still trying to finish the exterior of the house. And big surprise, we’re still staining. It’s a lot of work to add wood siding. A lot more work than it sounded like on paper. We have stacks and stacks of siding and shingles that need to be cleaned and stained before Emmett even gets a chance to hang them. Trim boards are the same way, they need to be stained and added to every opening and corner of the house. Without someone there to help him, Emmett has to climb…
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Cold Has Descended
Somewhere along the way, the warm weather I took for granted disappeared. Winter is on its way. And unfortunately, we are behind where we want to be on the house. Emmett can only do so much, he’s one man tackling an entire home and although sometimes I feel like he’s superman, he’s only human. And me? Hunter is headed to college next year, and he was blessed to be able to run in the state cross-country meet. Callie is still playing basketball, and when you throw in a WVU football game and a college visit, I am also way behind where I need to be on the house. There is…
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Farmhouse Style
Years and years and years ago, I picked out a farmhouse style house plan with wrap-around porch. I don’t know why, but it just appealed to me. It had three dormers but only 1600 square feet. Pretty small, but it had everything I needed. Many years later I married Emmett, and as we were talking about house styles we both wanted the same thing. Kind of eerie actually. But we both loved the three dormer farmhouse with wrap around porch. So…here we are. We’ve been married five years and have talked about our new house for that long (possibly longer). After months of planning and preparation and construction, we now…
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Tedious Work
It’s been a while since I posted, the progress on the house is slow but sure. Once the trusses were set, Emmett was worried about getting the house dried in as soon as possible. However, he has been working as a two man team (with my Dad), and they can only do so much. The roof turned out to be a lot harder, and a lot higher, than Emmett had anticipated. It’s a lot higher than ANYONE anticipated. There is a big difference from looking at a floor plan and some elevation sketches to what you see in real life. In hindsight we might have used a 2-story plan, to…
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Trusses are set!
The last time I posted was when the first floor walls were complete. That feels like a lifetime ago, even though in reality it wasn’t that long ( two weeks?) Since then, everything has changed. I’m still as nervous as ever. I’ve waited so long for this, and the house is going to be beautiful. But I’m not someone who puts a lot of stock in things. My car has almost 200k miles on it and I’m hoping through sheer will that it will make it to 250k. I don’t have to have the latest fashions or nails. I clearance shop and use every cash back app at my disposal.…
