A Work In Progress....

Yes, the updates have gotten sparse. That's the joy of a new home - all the new projects that come with it! Somewhere along the line, I'd convinced myself that moving to a new, new house I would shed all of those nagging tasks and have a blank to-do list.

Don't believe it. Not for one second.

While a new house is new and the list has many more "wants" than "needs" - it starts growing immediately. Currently we have many wants, in no particular order:

• A Pool
  Yes, our community has a pool. Yes, it's only a block away. Yes, a pool means more work. Yes, it means a reassessment and probably more taxes. Yes, yes, yes. We know all the reasons we shouldn't want one, but we still do. 
• Landscaping
  Even though Ryan Homes supplies some basic landscaping, we want more. Yes, I'm struggling to keep grass alive and mowed. Yes, it just means more weeding, pruning and toiling in the never-ending struggle to keep things looking nice. But parts of this are actually bordering on more of a need. We have a drainage ditch that runs across the back of our property line - it looks horrible. I'd post a picture, but I'm too ashamed. It's been over a year and we simply haven't made any significant progress - but we're developing an idea, that counts, right?
  
  We plan on doing a dry (unless it's pouring down rain) creek bed along the bottom of the ditch, then mulching up the far side. We'd like some large landscaping rocks to give it a more natural feel and, of course, plants. Lots of plants. Trees, grasses, flowers (hopefully the perennial kind that require minimal work but look gorgeous all year long - do they even exist?) and anything else I don't have to mow. Initial estimates from contractors were in the $6-9k range, which seems ridiculous for a DIYer (or at least an aspiring one). Plus, we need to finalize a plan and get the ever-crucial HOA approval. Ugh, work that requires more work - my nemesis.
• The Garage
  We didn't opt for the home office and as a result I have a nice little niche in the garage for storage. I've started my plan to make use of all of that space. I subscribe to Family Handyman (thanks Dad!) and a while back they did an article on a garage storage using french cleats. I love the idea of not having to buy a proprietary "system" just to store stuff (and pay lots of money for). I also love the flexibility it offered - being able to move things just seems like a great idea!
  
  Here's the general idea I came up with:

  

  Garage shelving and french cleats for flexible storage

  Here's what I have so far:

  

  Garage in progress

  So far it's working great, except ripping down sheets of 3/4 plywood is a real struggle! I've realized, I need many, many more hooks.
  
  I did finish my rolling workbench. That was a born-of-necessity project when I realized I needed a larger space to work than the small workbench I'd planned as part of my shelves. I threw together a work table on casters that I can move around as needed (and store out of the way when it isn't!). It isn't large, the base is 3'x3' with a 4' square top, but it's been one of the best things I've ever built! (For actual use, not beauty....it definitely isn't pretty.)
  
  My plan is to finish painting the rest of the garage walls and continue putting up the french cleats just as fast as I can rip them down. Then I'm going to hang every damn thing in the garage that I can.
  
  See how the to-do list grows?
• Mud Room
  We didn't really like the basic look of the cubbies in the mud room that Ryan Homes offered. We wanted something a little more useful, larger, pretty, etc. That means I'm building them. But I need to get the garage sorted out first - I'm still unpacking tools! 
• Weathered Side Table for the Great Room
  The great room in the Dunkirk is huge. Absolutely huge. It caught us by surprise and we simply can't find a side table long enough to not look ridiculous. So I'm going to make one - keeping with our beach-theme design scheme of course. This also has to wait for the garage so I have somewhere to work!
• Pantry Storage
  I so want to build custom shelves in the pantry - the included wire shelves are pitiful and there's so much more space that could be used. I'd love to find a way to put a rolling ladder (they're not just for libraries!) to really make use of the high ceilings and all the space up there!
• Speakers in the Master Bath and Great Room
  Darn you Sonos for being so expensive! I just can't justify until some of these other projects are done!
• Patio
  Yes, we still don't have a concrete patio. We did cover up our mud with a healthy layer of pebbles, but we've change our minds fifty times about the size, shape, type and virtually every other characteristic of our to-be patio. 

Ugh! I could go on and on and on... Maybe I should focus on what I've accomplished? Ceiling fans, check. Um...I think that's it. 

Maybe I've been slacking a little too much around the house. Maybe I'm just enjoying the fact that we LOVE our house. Maybe I'll just bask in that a while longer and let the list grow!

Oops!

Sorry to anyone who might have noticed that this blog went dark for a while - I was changing domain name registrars and forgot about a couple of settings.

Hopefully, things should be back to normal!

As far as the house goes, we're still settling in, but there are more projects and posts coming this fall! 

It's Good to Touch the Green, Green Grass of Home

While I've got nothing on Tom Jones, I most certainly have some green, green grass at my home! First thing this morning, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a not-so-miniature truck from Henderson Turf Farms! GreenPro wasn't far behind with their truck full of tools, trees, plants, sod and shovels!

(Am I overdoing it with the exclamation marks?)

It's a very exciting day here at the MonkShack, where we are going from dusty brown to glorious green all in the span of a few hours. A few hours where all I have to do is watch. Glorious.

Good morning grass!

Hello plants!

Marvelous mulch and our saved stones!

The first strip of sod!

Greening the backyard!

We were able to re-use some of the rocks that had adorned our lot as accent pieces for the landscaping. GreenPro was great about working with us and moving them around until we found their final resting places. We also moved the magnolia-ish bush a little further out from the house (when I say we, I really mean they) because I wanted things a little more spread out.

I was a bit surprised that we didn't have a choice in the greenery - the trees and plants just showed up. Neither of us recall making any decisions about the type of plants that would be planted - and if we had, we probably wouldn't have chosen the Bradford pear that now calls our front yard home. Minor complaints - all overshadowed by the glorious green grass that now covers our lot!

At the same time, Rich was frantically working to fix our egress window shell that had started to cave in on one side. You have to love a man who works miracles under pressure and never stops smiling! Couldn't be happier with the way everything turned out today!

Want to see the finished product? Here it is!

Backyard (yes, the deck is missing - you're very observant)

Side yard

TADA! The front yard in all it's green glory!

Is That Green on the Horizon?

Just let me say how sick I am of dirt. Piles of dirt. Muddy yucky gross dirt. We've been surrounded by a dirt moat for the last two and half months - but maybe, just maybe, the end is in sight.

Take a look at what just happened!

MISSING: One big, ugly pile of dirt.

FOUND: One crap-ton of rocks. Big rocks, little rocks. All kinds of rocks. 

Since some of the rocks that have graced our site are about the size of the iceberg that sank the Titanic (I'm exaggerating, of course), we decided to try to save some of them for landscape accents. I am pretty sure the didn't realize how many of them would be uncovered in this process.

In other landscape news, we have been in touch with GreenPro - the local contractor who performs the final grade and landscaping - for about the last two weeks negotiating the price to sod most of the backyard. Yes, we are THAT sick of dirt. And the thought of having to deal with straw and seed for the upcoming summer makes us want to gag. So we're going to cover all with luscious green wavy grass. Extra money? Sure - but grass is green too, it's an acceptable trade - and the cost is much less than it would be if we waited to do it later.

I say almost because we are opting out of sodding last twenty feet of our yard that is part of the drainage easement where seed has already been planted and seems to be doing just fine. It's a drain - do we really need sod there? We're also building a deck, so I decided not to lay sod that we'd just be ripping up in a month or so.

Here's the SketchUp version of the deck - don't laugh, remember I'm not an architect:

Our planned deck

Out key concepts were multi-level and no railings. We also are trying to find the happy space between having a deck that is too large or too small. This version has steps all around that flow the deck into the yard. The 10x12 foot lower level is a step down and we think we might add a white pergola over it at some point. This summer, we're only doing the deck. We haven't decided on pavers or concrete, but either way, we want to wait until the ground around the house settles before we do the hardscape.

In short, PROGRESS! We are finally closing in on being done with the big projects and soon we'll be able to only focus on the little fun projects - like organizing the garage. Doesn't that sound like a blast?

We're So Happy!

Most expensive key fob we've ever owned.

A Peek Inside Before We Move In

I have to admit, I was afraid to post pictures from our pre-settlement walk through on Tuesday - I didn't want to jinx the closing! Crazy, eh? That's why home buying does to me - it clearly pushes me beyond the bounds of all sanity!

Now that we've closed (can I get a WAHOO?) I have no more fears so here's the pics we took of the inside - before we start moving in and mess it all up. :)

First Floor

Here's the look around the first floor:

The kitchen

More kitchen (we now realize that we need 50, count'em 50, pulls/knobs for our kitchen cabinet doors and drawers - pretty sure we went a little overboard on the cabinets)

The pantry (it's huge!!!!)

The study (my new office!)

Stairs, study doors and front door

Second Floor

Now poking around the second floor:

Top of the stairs

Landing at the top of the stairs

Bathroom

Laundry room (on the second floor!)

Master bedroom

Master bath

Basement

Bathroom

Bathroom selfie :)

And that's about it!

We Closed!

Closing Week!

It's like Shark Week, but only better - at least in our eyes! We're closing this week and will be finally getting to post some complete interior pictures of all of the finished work!

The bad part about closing in January is that they won't be able to do the final grade and pour the driveway until the ground thaws. The mud from the yard and the base for the temporary driveway are two ingredients for a disaster inside our new house! Hopefully we'll be able to mitigate the damage until spring, but it's going to be a challenge!

Stay tuned for some more updates - really, we will post more, I promise! Our adventure is really just beginning - as is evidenced by our ever-growing Google Keep lists of things to do, things to get and everything else that is goes into moving into a new house!

Inside in January!

Ugh! Not spending any time at all inside of the house has really crimped our ability to post updates! We simply don't have much to say (as crazy as that sounds)! We've mostly been spending our time working on updates to our existing house to (hopefully) help it sell! There's nothing more annoying than updating your old house while your new house is being built!

The good news is that our PM has been diligently sending us updates which we look forward to like kids at Christmas! I don't think I ever posted these interior shots from either late December or early January - so here's what's been going on inside - cabinets!

I'll admit I fudged the date of this post a bit, but I wasn't sure of the exact date - so I may come back and correct  it later! Or not....

Brick for Christmas!

I know the updates have been lagging, but we haven't gotten much time to spend visiting the house with the holidays, so we've been relying on updates from our PM more than usual. The warm weather has been helpful with much of the exterior work that has been keeping them busy.

The progress on the brick wrap has been wonderful to see!

Our Pre-Drywall Peek!

During our pre-drywall meeting, we tried to captures pictures of every wall and ceiling for later reference. I have plans of putting in more outlets and adding some additional network ports, so having an idea what might be in the way should come in very handy.....

Hey, Look! A Roof!

You know we're lacking effort when, after spending 30 minutes exploring inside our new house (with our PM and his assistant, per the contract) we only emerged with one picture. And its of the outside. We're failing.

Thankfully our PM came to the rescue with his weekly update!

 The view from the great room into the morning room (on the left) and the kitchen and pantry (on the right). The island is still a little long but it will be fixed. (It's still an improvement - when it came in from the factory, it was framed as a nine foot wall....)

OMG! We Have a House!

We have a HOUSE!!!!

Yes, it's impossible to contain our excitement! Framing started this week and just look at the progress they've made in a WEEK! It's amazing to see just how quickly they are able to assemble the pieces!

 From the front...

And the view from the back....

Gorgeous Fall Day!

Nothing new, but at least there was light!

We Have Wood!

After work today I rushed out to out hole only to find that all of the framing fairies were there first! All of the lumber for the house was delivered! And there is A LOT of it! According to our super-duper PM, the basement is plumbed, the foundation is back filled and they might start framing NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!