It's All Starting to Come Together

This week marks week 9 of the mother-in-law apartment addition.  Today was pretty crazy busy on the outside. The morning started with the arrival of two loads of road base.  Our project manager, Jeff arrived to touch base about a few things. Next came Chad.  He has been doing the majority of the work in the apartment, along with Adam and Ben. (Ben's in Hawaii this week though...lucky duck!)  Not long after they arrived, a truck full of men arrived to put the wire netting on the garage and the front of the house for stucco application.  Shortly after lunch, two more men arrived to measure for the counters in the kitchen and bath.  Later in the after a slew of men arrived to frame out the new driveway.  At one point, we had 7 additional vehicles in the yard.  Of course I had to run and get more paint so I could finish painting the interior of a closet and one of the men had to move their truck for me.  A little inconvenience is well worth getting this project done though!  Here are some photos of the progress.

The exterior view of Pam's Place.  The Swiss Chalet look will be going away.  Really not our style.

 

Three nights of late night painting last week paid off, since it allowed the guys to get started installing the cabinets last Friday.  Pam chose to keep everything very light and bright since the space if relatively small.  We are anxious to see it all come together.

 And here's a peak at the new garage.  We are all looking forward to not having to scrape our windows for a very long time!

Caleb confirming that this will be enough concrete to play basketball.

 The addition of this new rock wall really adds some great curb appeal!  I wish they would have made the planting bed look equally as beautiful.  I guess that will be a summer project for Mr. Mann!

Week 7

So we are in the middle of week 7 of the construction of Pam's Place and we are thrilled to be able see the apartment take shape.  The drywall was hung this week and the guys have started taping and mudding.

 This is the view while standing at the front door.

 This is standing in the center of the apartment.

 This is the entry that leads to the foyer of our house.  She'll be using this to come and go while doing her laundry--the one thing we weren't able to negotiate into the apartment.

 This is the view standing at that same entrance.  The black box coming out of the corner will be where the wood burning stove will sit.

 This is standing in her bedroom.  The door on the left is her bathroom.  The door on the right leads to the living/kitchen area.

 And of course, this is the bathroom.  

 

The workers will be back later in the week to add the texture to the walls! 

Praise God! It is really taking shape now.

Next week is painting week.  In order to save a little money, they agreed  to let us do the painting. The walls, the trim and the doors will all need to get painted by Friday of next week.  Of course, God's sense of humor is shining through, since the painting can't start until Tuesday next week and they would like for it to be completed by Friday. Four days.  No problem.  The humor is that I am working Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday next week!  He is sooo funny!  Seriously though, I am simply delighted we are this far and the project is on the downward slide.  While we were hoping to move her in during Spring Break, it looks like that might have to be postponed by a week or so.  So much for a spring break move-in and a spring break move out!  Although, through this entire journey, I have learned that God has a funny way of working things out, so it still just might happen!  While it has been a year with a few ups and downs, and we are all ready to have our homes back to normal, we are grateful that God has been so good and has grown us up in many areas of our lives.

I know I haven't shown many pics of the new garage throughout this journey, but let me give you a visual.  A large building of plywood with a muddy mess all around.  They have been at a stand still since framing out the garage due to a couple of unforeseen hiccups.  Yet, this week things started to rumble a bit and the roofer is here adding shingles while the weather is decent.  The entire front area had many drifts of snow from the past storms, and now that it's melting the yard is a complete mess.  The puppies don't seem to mind.  They love to track this dirt right onto my floors.  Ha Ha!  I guess it could be worse.  Not sure how, but I'm sure it could be worse!  I'll post some photos of the new garage in a day or two, when it changes a little bit more.  But for now, I am going to breath a sigh of relief that things are beginning to progress again!

Go Avs

 This past weekend Craig was able to get his hands on some tickets to the Colorado Avalanche vs. Chicago Blackhawks hockey game.  The kids had never been to a professional hockey game, so we headed up to Denver after school.  It turned out to be a great game. The Avs broke the Blackhawks winning streak!  We are certain it's because the kids were there!

Let the Sun Shine In

This week the apartment took on a whole new look.  The front porch got underway and the windows were added.  What a surprise it was to drive up on Thursday to find that the concrete from the old driveway had been removed.  It really is not looking like a garage conversion anymore.  It is starting to feel like this was originally part of the house.  So glad, since we were really trying to avoid the whole "apartment used to be a garage" feeling!

 

Entry and Livingroom

The Kitchen

 

 Bedroom and Bathroom

Having the windows brings such a happy feeling to this place.  The morning sun shining its rays into the place is simply fantastic!  So much warmer, too  I'm sure finishing up the insulation and connecting the heating vents this week helped a little bit.

Next week it sounds as if the drywall will go up.  Woo hoo!  Can't wait to see the changes.

Okay...I'm Done Now

   

We've had three storms in a weeks time and I can  honestly say, I am done with winter.  It is time for spring to arrive and for the snows to turn to rains.  I love the moisture that the snow brings, but I am having a love hate relationship with my shovel right now.  Every day I am shoveling a path to get from the front door to the cars.  By nights end the winds and the snows start back up and the process starts all over again.  One storm a week is doable, but three in one week is over the top. 

 

 

I. AM. DONE.  

That is unless, another storm comes and I find myself dragging my shovel back out to clear, yet, another path!

We have Lights!

Well, I am happy to report that we overcame our first major hurdle with the construction project.  We were able to survive 18 hours without running water or the use of our bathroom facilities.  And surprisingly, we all survived having to use the outdoor commode a time or two!  Granted, I don't particularly want to have to experience that again, although there is a chance, given we haven't upgraded the septic, yet.  However, I can say that we all have a much better appreciation for what the pioneers had to endure day in an day out.

And while we'd been waiting over two weeks for the electrician to complete the first stage of electrical work, we can now celebrate and look forward the next stage of this journey. We did encounter a few unexpected snags related to the electrical work and between the snags and the snowy weather we've been having, it prevented this part of the job from progressing.  Again, I am happy to be able to report that we are ready for the initial inspection which means we are getting closer to the end.

The electricians worked two solid days to move and update our electrical panel, wire Pam's place, add a panel to the new garage, as well as wire it for some lights and outlets.  We have one minor hiccup to still work through--a trench from the meter to the main house.  Mind you, the meter sits about 75 feet away from the house so the trench has to be about 75 feet long. I am hopeful they will be able get this done in a timely manner, even with the additional 10 inches of snow we are expecting tonight. God has been so good to us, and I know His timing is perfect!  I am reminded daily to give my worries to Him and to rely on Him completely. Not always easy to do, but I keep trying.

 Fashioning a new panel that will allow us to enjoy  all the gadgets of the 21st century with peace of mind.

Along with a slew of blue boxes which means we are one step closer to the finished product.

GOD IS GOOD!

Of course the best part is seeing where all the lights will go.  They even put light bulbs in a few of them, so we could really get an idea of what it will look like.

It is really taking shape in my mind now.  I can just picture it with texture and paint on the walls and cabinets on the wall and wood flooring throughout, and the fireplace in the corner and furniture to sit on and...and...and...