Weeks 2 and 3

I snuck inside quick to catch up on the last week while Nick and Grandpa are working in the basement on the walls.  They told me it was going to be slow for a while, so I took the opportunity that I was given while I had the energy to actually sit down and write something.

I've been pretty bad about writing as much as I would like, but I've been keeping notes in my phone to remind me what we've been doing every day and who has been here so I won't forget.  Working all day and then coming home and helping has made me have very little energy to do anything else.  I'm transitioning to a new role at work so between juggling that, keeping the house clean and building, I've been pretty busy to say the least.  Anyways, here the recap of the progress we've made in the last week.

Wednesday - July 8: We didn't have much to do this night, so we decided to take a night off from the house building stuff and went to Mooville and got ice cream with Kellie and Gary.  For those of you who don't know, Mooville is probably the best ice cream place ever and I'm literally obsessed with their sea salt ice cream and waffle cones.  Needless to say, I was happy to go get some ice cream.  If you guys live around the area, or are ever in the area, you should definitely go check them out :)

Thursday - July 9: Nick and I worked on moving the rest of the stone to get it out of the way and around the basement walls.  Kellie and Gary came over to help get prepared for Friday and pouring the basement floor.

Friday - July 10: The end of Thursday made me feel so loved and blessed.  We are trying to do as much on our own, without hiring people so we can save some money and our friends and family have been so willing to take their time and energy to help us do that.  Let's just say when we are done, Nick and I are going to be busy repaying the favors and helping out all of our beloved family and friends whenever they need it.

I got home a little early from work to help get things ready.  I was planning on getting in the basement and pulling and moving cement, which didn't end up happening because of the large group of men we had here.  Mike and Jermey Barbour, Grandpa Buck, Mark Farrell, Gary, Marty Carter, Adam and Kevin Dow, Jordan Richardson all came out to help us.  Charles Farrell (Gary's dad) stopped by for a while to see how things were going.  Grandma Sharon and I were making sure everyone was staying hydrated and had everything they needed.  Aunt Karrie brought us dinner which consisted of lots of pizza and breadsticks, water and gatorade.  Kellie and Kristin came by after work.  Kristin left after eating and Kellie stayed to help for the rest of the night.

 

After getting the floor all poured, we had to get leveled and smoothed.  Mark and Nick were down in the basement using the trowels on their hands and knees to get around the edges and Gary was using the power trowel to get the larger parts of the floor.  The sun had cured the cement a little quicker than we had expected, so Mike, Jermey, Kellie and I were rotating between spraying where Gary told us to and helping direct each other where it needed to be sprayed.  Mike, Jeremy, Kellie, Gary, Mark, and Grandpa Buck stayed later to help us finish the floor and get the power trowel out of the basement.

Saturday - July 11:  Every year since before I was born my dad's family has been going to Higgins Lake and camping for 1-2 weeks in July.  I've tried to figure out how to explain what this time and my family means to me, but I don't think their is a word to explain how much I cherish the time that we've been given to share together and the bonds that the time has given us.

I was really worried this year that we weren't going to be able to go up and spend time with my family, but it worked out pretty perfectly that we were able to.  We didn't have any of the lumber to start working on the basement support walls delivered yet and they weren't going to be delivered until Monday, which left really nothing to be done on the house.  I was so excited we were going to be able to go, relax and spend some time with my family.  We ended up getting to the campground around 10 on Saturday morning.  My parents, Rachel and Phil, Ryann and Ben, Josh, Ashley and Bradley, Aunt Carolyn, Gabby, Uncle Steve and Aunt Diane, Ahna, Leah, Kara, Uncle Dave and Aunt Pam, Grandma and Grandpa Shaffer, Uncle Ralph and Aunt Nancy, Noah, Uncle Tom and Aunt Nancy, Sarah and Lindsay were all there on Saturday.  Usually Higgins Lake time consists of relaxing, playing games, campfires and going to the beach (which are my favorite things minus a few things such as long baths and puppies:)), so we did just that.  Went down to the beach for a bit, took the kayaks out, Uncle Dave had the sailboat and soaked up the beautiful sun.

               

We had pizza pies for dinner, another one of my favorite things, and we celebrated Bradley's 1st birthday.  It was an absolutely wonderful day.

Sunday - July 12:  We spent the day at Higgins again just relaxing and enjoying our family.  Jenna and Brooklyn were up to visit on Sunday.  Taco night, another one of the most anticipated food nights at Higgins was Sunday.  Nick and I left right after dinner and headed home.

While we were gone, Grandpa Buck and Grandma Sharon and Kellie and Gary made sure they were stopping by to keep the cement wet so it wouldn't crack.

Monday - July 13: Monday was back to work for me, while Nick, Kellie, Grandpa Buck and Grandma Sharon spent the day at the house.  We had sand delivered to fill in around the house to help with the water drainage.  Nick borrowed Kevin and Melanie Dow's skid steer to move the sand, while Grandma and Kellie were in the trench leveling it.  The lumber for the basement support walls, floor joists and decking was delivered.  Grandpa spent his day mapping out where the walls needed to go and marking the lumber.  When I got home, we spent a couple more hours working on the sand, but had to stop because the ground was too wet to drive over with the skid steer.

Tuesday - July 14:  Grandpa and Nick spent their day working on the walls in the basement.  When I got home three of the walls were up.  Kellie and Gary came by after Gary was out of work and helped build a couple more walls.  Josh and Ashley Farrell and the girls stopped by to check out the progress and say hi.

Wednesday - July 15: Jessica, Grandpa and Grandma were here during the day working.  Grandpa and Nick worked on the walls again and Ray McDaniels (one of Grandpa's friends) stopped over to assist them for a bit, while Jessica and Grandma moved some of the leftover sand.  We got the foam laid out on the walls and started laying some of the plates.  We figured out we were short some lumber and couldn't make the last three small walls in the basement until Thursday when we got more lumber delivered. Grandpa left around 530, and Gary came over shortly after to help Nick finish laying the plates.

  

Thursday - July 16: I took today off of work to be home to help with some of the house things.  This morning, more lumber (the stuff we needed for the basement, and all of the lumber to build our upstairs walls) was delivered.  Grandpa got here around 10. I was able to sleep in a little and get much needed rest, and then I moved the rest of the lumber needed for the basement for the guys while they worked on setting the wall. Richard Hager (another one of Grandpa's friends and our neighbor) stopped by in the afternoon to check out the progress and help.  Kellie came over and we worked on getting the plates completely done and correct.  Kellie left around 6 and Gary headed over to help us get the bond up.  Kevin brought the tractor by to move the rest of the sand and had a couple beers with Grandpa and Nick.  Melanie stopped over on her way by to see the progress of things.

Tomorrow is another day filled with more work and support and love from our family and friends, and Nick and I are so excited to continue this journey together!