Just a peek

Well, we were unable to meet up with the builder this evening, so we only got to look in the windows. I'm really bummed, because we are going out of town in the morning and it will be a week before we'll have another chance to see the house. I really wanted to go inside before we left. Oh well.

The good news is that I'll be overjoyed when I get to see it later. I know that lots of things will be different by that point!

Tonight, we saw that the interior trim around the doors and windows are going up. Most of the interior doors are now hanging. AND......all of the cabinets are being built! Whoo Hoo!! As opposed to our current house where the stock cabinetry just had to be installed, the cabinets in our new home are all being built on-site. I'm really excited and can't wait to see them. If I take a really deep breath, I can almost smell the wood. : )

I wonder what they'll do while we're gone???

We can't get in!!!

Well, it's official - the doors are locked and we can't get in. Grrrrrr!! So the builder officially still owns the house - small technicality! It's OUR HOME!! Ok - Ok. I'm alright - just disappointed because we really enjoy walking around and checking out "the latest". Guess this just means we'll be even more surprised when we actually see things.

Tonight, we saw that all of the concrete has been poured. Yes - we scratched our initials into the back patio. The concrete was already fairly dry, so I don't know if the letters will show up, but WE know they are there! That's good enough for us.

When we peeked into the windows, we saw the interior doors and trim laying inside the different rooms. That can only mean one thing -- installation soon!! Whoo hoo!!!

Next phase

Yippee - things are still moving along with the new house. Today when we stopped by, we discovered that the forms for the concrete are all in place! Looks like they'll be pouring the concrete tomorrow -- sidewalk, driveway, and back porch.

They also sprayed the primer and texture on all the walls. Hopefully that means the painting will go up tomorrow!! Every day it looks more and more like a home.

UGH --- they have now started locking the doors!!! Luckily, Dave crawled through a window and opened the door for us. We better find another way in!! I HAVE to see my house on a regular basis!!!

No pictures

No pictures today. It's hard to take decent pix of mudding and sheetrock. Looks like they've finished the second coat of the mud. There are still a few places that need fixing, but looks like they are basically done. Next step -- sanding. Glad I'm not the one doing it!

The garage door has been installed. Unfortunately, it was raised, so I didn't get a picture.

They've sprayed the orange marks for all of the concrete. Maybe tomorrow?

Stone is finished!!

Hooray -- all of the stone and brick is completed!! It looks great! The trim still needs to be painted, but that won't happen for a while.

We didn't know we'd have that brick archway. I think it looks great.

The sheetrock is all up!! Tomorrow they'll start mudding.

Archway on the left leads to the Guest Suite. I'm standing towards the back of the family room, looking towards the fireplace/flat screen. All the cables are run through the wall and come out on the left side of the fireplace. (outlet on the right)

Fun Fun!

Brick and sheetrock!

What fun -- the brick is almost finished and the stone has started. It looks great!!

The crew started the sheetrock today. The lead guy said he hopes to have it finished tomorrow. Can't wait to see what it looks like. It's like opening a new present every day.

Lubbock was hit with a "wall of dirt" this afternoon.

 
Those are not my pix - I was busy with children and wasn't thinking about taking photos. Still, this is exactly what it looked like. NASTY!!! The wind had been blowing pretty badly most of the day, but about 5:30, the entire sky turned DARK!! The 3-year-old I was holding said, "The sky is angry." Yes, Josiah.....the sky is definitely angry!!

Check out some videos different people took. http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-690655

The sky began to clear a little, but it still looks bad. We knew there was a bad drought, but this is extreme. I've seen lots of dust storms, but I've never seen dirt like this. I sure hope this is just a fluke and not a precursor of upcoming weather!

14 pounds down!

Saturday was "Weigh-in Day". I'm always nervous to step on those scales!! Luckily, the lady behind the counter never announces my weight and it doesn't show up where people can see it. I just quietly take off my shoes, wait for her signal, and then step on the scales. I hold my breath and try to think "thin thoughts." I don't even look at the print-out until I'm safely back in the truck. I never really know if I've lost weight until I look at my book. THIS TIME........14.0 pounds down!!! Whoo Hoo for me!!!

I've noticed that my clothes that were "just right" are now a little loose and my clothes that were "too tight" are fitting, but I still didn't know about the "number". Well, now I know and I couldn't be happier.

I still hate it - don't get me wrong. My deisre for my favorite foods hasn't gone away. Still, the fact that my clothes are fitting and that my weight is dropping is certainly helping my motivation. Guess I'll keep going.

I don't have a goal weight in mind. I'm just taking it pound by pound.

The brick has started!!

The house is changing so fast right now. I can hardly wait to see it from day to day. Just like we were told, the brick work started today. It looks great!! We went with a really dark (not quite burgundy) red. It will look quite striking with the dark grey roof and white stone.

The bricklayers started in the back of the house. The brick hasn't been cleaned, so it looks like it has some grey. It doesn't.

Guest suite is on the left. Family room is in the middle and master suite is on the right. The patio will be 18' across. Right now, it's 7' deep -- from the windows to the end of the roof. We are planning to pour some extra concrete and add a couple more feet to the patio. We want to be able to put a table outside and enjoy our backyard.

This shot gives you a little better view of the guest suite. Obviously, they are still working on the master. I'm standing almost, but not quite, at the back of our property. 

All of the wiring is finished --- electrical, tv, data, alarm, and surround sound, and the few things we discussed last night have all been addressed. (Moving an outlet or two and adding the data lines.) It looks like all of the air ducts are in, and the shower units are all in place. It sure is fun to walk around every night just to see what's new. I know it will slow down soon, but for now it's really fun playing "I spy" with all the new features!!

Now, I'm curling up with my new Pottery Barn catalog!! After all, I have a new house to furnish and decorate!! 

Several things are happening....

We met with the builder's son tonight. We thought we were just going to do a walk through and decide where to put the electical outlets. We were pleasantly surprised to see that most of the outlets have already been put in!! Dave and I had marked most of the places when we were there on Sunday. We just needed to talk about some of the "extra" places and choose where the data lines would go.

Yippee -- we'll have power all over the place -- even 2 outlets in the island. We are already talking about setting up some yummy buffets and being able to keep the food warm!

Here's our kitchen "sink".

We made plans to have the wiring for the surround sound to be put in the family room. We also decided to put 2 speakers out on the back porch.

There has also been quite a bit of work with the plumbing system. 2 of the shower units were delivered late this afternoon. They will be installed tomorrow.

This is where the guest shower will be.

The duct work has been started.

The roof is finished!!

Here is just a small pile of our rock. It will be around the front door. The brick will start tomorrow!!! Whoo Hoo!!

 The builder is estimating about 10 more weeks. OMG!!!!

Riley visits our new house

Now that there's a real "house", we decided to let Riley check it out. She sure seemed to have fun. Of course, she kept trying to walk through the walls -- ha ha! The house has now officially been "marked". She put her wet nose on every closed window.

Checking out the scrapbook room. She won't be able to look out the window when she's laying down, and I'm sure she'll be disappointed (kidding, of course.) She loves looking out the bay window in my current scrapbook room. This window is low enough so she can still see outside when she's sitting.

Guest bedroom. The shower and toilet are on the left. The sink will be in the middle, and the closet is on the right. She's looking towards where the bed will probably be.

I think she will be very happy in her new home. : )

House Blessing

Tonight was very special -- we invited several friends to help us bless our new home. We asked some people who are important to us as a couple. It was a small and intimate group - just perfect for us.

We joined hands and one of our friends offered a beautiful prayer. Then, everyone grabbed a Sharpie and started writing scriptures and blessings all around. It was such an awesome experience!

I really wonder what the construction crew will think when they get there tomorrow! I hope they read everything and the messages to speak to them just as they speak to us.

Dave is writing on the kitchen wall.

Good friend, Anna Phillips, is writing in the Dining Room.

Anna's son, Sam, is writing on the wall leading from the kitchen into the Family Room.

Good friends, Steve and Carol Boothe, are writing a Hebrew blessing on the fireplace. We laughed when he said it had been too long and he didn't remember how to write in Hebrew. We can't read Hebrew, so we wouldn't have known what he wrote anyway! He just wrote it in English - lucky us!

Dave's mom is writing a special scripture in our Master Bedroom.

It's beginning to look more like a real house! See the pretty arches? I'm standing in the Family Room. The big arch on the left is looking into the kitchen. The smaller one on the right is going into the Master Bedroom.

We had doors and windows when we got there tonight!! This is my Scrapbook Room.  I'm loving this big, 7-ft-window!!

It's definitely feeling more and more like "home"!

Here we go, Steelers!

First of all - yes, we lost. The team played horribly and it was disappointing. Still, the overall experience was AWESOME and I'm so glad we did it!!

The hubs has been a life-long Steeler fan. It's great hearing all the stories about his growing up loving the Steelers. Of course, he raised his boys to love them, and they are raising their boys to love them. When we found out that they were coming to Houston, well it was a given -- we were all going to the game!!

Dave's oldest son and his 10-year-old son drove about 4 hours to our house. The four of us loaded up in Dave's truck and drove 8+ hours to Katy, Texas, where his middle son and family lives. The entire trip, including the football game was a complete surprise to the 10-year-old!! We had literally just walked through the first ticket line when he realized what we were doing. His reaction was priceless -- just like the reaction of ALL the "big boys." :-)

Our seats were HIGH, but they were great. You could see everything......every sack, missed-place ball, missed tackle, etc.....

Big Ben in action.

Get 'em Troy!

Our 1 and only TOUCHDOWN! (Convenient that it was at our end of the field!!)

Wish I could've gotten close enough to see his smile!!  Ward always seems to be having so much fun.

We had a great time!