School Background

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go.....


We are beyond exhausted but we must carry on! Here's what has been happening:

The office got dry walled 

The guest room got dry walled...this is the same room shown in our before photos. In case you forgot what it looked like before, here it is again....

The hallway got dry walled

I think Willy and Janie were tuckered out too. Since the AC hasn't been installed yet (that should be in the next week or two), we do wet them down to help them keep cool. 


The moving line - Josh with his truck, Dereck in his brother's truck, Diego in his green Chevy, and me in our car


Furniture moved into the Living Room even though we don't have flooring yet


Washer and dryer got moved in and installed

I got to use the paint gun to prime and seal the office

We painted the office - 2 walls are a dark gray and the other 2 walls are the same color as our hallway, kitchen, and dining room

Ceiling fan got installed in the office

The guest room and hallway got painted too. Curtains were put up int the office and guest room. 

Next up: flooring in the office, finish moving out of the townhome, deep clean the townhome (we have to be out by the 31st, this Saturday), then finish everything else in the house once we are moved out of the townhome. 

Friday, May 23, 2014

Establishing the living quarters

We are moving right along. Time is running out before we have to move out of our townhome. School is officially out now (hip, hip, hooray!). Now we only have one job to focus on....finishing the house. It has been so stressful this month trying to maintain sanity, being a kind teacher without snapping on my students during the last month of school, and having patience with everything. Cheers to getting things done!

Dereck painting the Living Room

Master Bedroom is painted

Ceiling fan is installed in the Living Room with the help of Diego

Master Bedroom ceiling fan went up too

Dereck started installing the bamboo flooring in the Master Bedroom


The Dining Room - curtains are put in (these are the cheap roman paper that are temporary blinds but they work great for now on saving money)

The Dining Room and Living Room colors (the Dining Room is the same color as the kitchen walls). Oh yeah, the dining room light was installed. It is small but I think once we have a dining room table, it will be the right size. 

We brought over curtains that we had at our previous place and installed them in the Living Room. I think they fit perfectly with the Living Room color.

Kayla, our niece, and Dereck's mom stopped by. Kayla had fun giving Grandma "hair" using the cut off bits from the Dining Room curtains.

Dereck LOVES to sleep in a room with absolutely no light. These temporary black out curtains work amazingly well for $5. I'm impressed!

We've had to move the guest bed and a few things into here as we are now dry walling the office, hallway, and guest room.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Drywall, Dust & Denim

So we've been drywalling the Living Room, Dining Room, and Master Bedroom. This process literally has taken us the last 3 weeks (beyond our regular job hours and weekends). We've had some great help from friends lately. Diego and Josh have been a big help in getting this process moving faster. Today we just finished sanding the first layer of plaster and put on the second coat. Tomorrow we'll sand. Thursday, we'll put on the final coat. Friday, we'll spray foam the rest of the house (because the additional foam we had to order will arrive this Thursday). In addition, this weekend we will do the final sanding and use the texture machine (loaned to us by Josh and his family...Thank you!!!) to texture the walls. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Oh yeah, don't forget that we'll be putting up drywall in the office and the guest room this weekend. It's a sprint to the finish line. 8 days left of school. 2 1/2 weeks left with our rental unit. Needless to say, we are crazy from stress. Thank goodness we're not bickering.

Here are photos to prove our progress:
Living Room & Dining Room

Josh and Dereck plastering


Plastering the Living Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom (Panoramic View)

This is denim insulation: It is made of recycled jeans. This insulation is placed in the walls as a sound barrier between the Living Room & Guest room, the Living Room & Master Bedroom, and  between the Master & Office.It surely does make a difference. This was noticed immediately upon installation.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Wall to Wall craziness

Sometimes, okay often, I feel like I'm going cuckoo. It's almost like a Merry-Go-Round ride that never ends. I even feel like an awful daughter, sister, friend, and coworker because my immediate priorities involve getting a house livable. Right now we're putting up drywall in the Dining Room/Living Room and Master Bedroom. Last Saturday, our brother-from-another-mother, Diego, helped us out incredibly by adding another set of hands and tips from previous drywalling experience.

Prior to starting the drywall, Dereck finished installing the Radiant Barrier (looks like aluminum foil) in the attic. This acts like the sun shades you put up in the car windshield. We've noticed a dramatic difference of the temperature inside the house especially since we have no A/C installed yet and we have reached the 100 degree temps outside.




Dereck cooking our first meal in our newly installed kitchen
The main bathroom is functional!!!

Definitely a relaxing spa in our own home!!
Dereck and Diego drywalling the ceiling in the Living Room

The drywall is halfway done in the Dining Room/Living Room

Starting on the ceiling in the Master Bedroom
I can now envision this place as our home. I'm excited but stressed at the same time.