A Beginning and An End

I like projects that have a definite beginning and an end to them.  When I was in the insurance business, it seems like there was NO end to the quotes and policy service and claims and such.  The granite business was the same way - clients thinking about granite - picking out granite - doing quotes - and the list goes on and on and on..............

I'm one of those people that likes to start a project and finish it to the end - and that's just what I did the past couple of days!

One of the guys on the contractors' crew had cut a load of wood and asked us if we were needing some - of course we were - we always need wood!!  And the price wasn't bad either!  So he delivered it on Monday night and the pile looked like this.

 After today, the pile looked like this!

A start - and a finish - that's the kind of projects I like to do!!

Busy Times!

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend weather wise - no snow, warm temps and mostly sunny skies!

As usual we jam pack as much as we can into our weekends up north!  Glenn was itching to go ice fishing - Evan had a basketball game - and Rayna had another tournament!  Because I was going with the "church ladies" on Friday to Castle Rock, Glenn actually drove up by himself and one of the ladies who now lives in Hudson, dropped me off at Jaime's on her way home!

The church ladies met at an old church turned restaurant in Castle Rock (how appropriate!!!)  Marilyn (who actually is part of our "choir girls" group) joined us as she was in town from Atlanta so there were 5 of us to eat!

 The restaurant was very unique inside!!  The stained glass windows were still there along with the confessional booth which had a small table for two inside it!  Decorations were very tasteful and you can kind of see the rock wall behind the gals on the right side of the picture!

 Our meals were delicious - and of course the best part was dessert!!  Two of the gals were celebrating birthdays so they automatically received 2 scoops of home made ice cream - and let me tell you, the ice cream was delicious!!  I'll definitely order it by itself next time!!  The other 3 of us shared a chocolate cake dessert which was served with banana ice cream, along with caramel and powdered peanut butter - I hadn't heard of that before!!  It was sure good!!

Glenn and Brad went fishing for the day and we all congregated that evening (along with the Keppy's minus Gary who was on a ski trip that weekend) for dinner at Jaime's!

Saturday morning was Evan's basketball game - Jaime took me by Carino's so I could get some coffee to go and then it was off to the game!  Evan played well and it's fun to see those little guys play!!

 Next on the list was smoothies for the kids and Glenn while we 3 girls ran to Michael's to get some supplies for upcoming scrap booking weekend!!  Glenn watched the kids at Jessi's house while we also ran to Kohl's and of course who can just buy ONE thing at Kohl's????

Kenzie had a birthday party that afternoon and looked so cute I just had to snap a picture!!

 We ended up watching a movie Saturday afternoon while the guys fished again - no luck for them, not even a bite!!  Glenn always teases that we're going to have fish for dinner and it never happens!!  One of these times we'll take him up on it and then we won't be eating anything for dinner!!

Sunday morning we all got around early for Rayna's tournament in Parker - I snuck out early to grab coffee again!!  The school was amazing that she played at - a newer school and we enjoyed walking the halls for some exercise and checking it out!!

Here's the gang watching Rayna play!

Unfortunately Rayna's team didn't do so great that day..................but there are many more games to be played!!

We stayed and watched 3 sets of games and finally headed out early afternoon - since it was such a gorgeous day, we stopped at Home Depot and American Furniture Warehouse to get some ideas for the new house........and I found several things that will work out well!!

It was nice to get home and collapse after the busy weekend!!

Let The Games Begin!

Our oldest granddaughter Rayna has once again started her competition volleyball games!  She is on the "Elevation" team again and last weekend was a 3 day tournament in Monument.  We headed there on Saturday afternoon to watch her play in 3 different games!

 Rayna has a great serve - hard and fast!!  It was fun seeing her play with her team and we're rooting from home that they'll finish up the tournament in the Top 5!

Check out her number - she LOVES the number 13 - I keep telling her it's because that's the date of my birthday!!

Hard to believe she's growing up so fast!!

Frost Frost Go Away!

Even though we've had great weather since Neal and his friend arrived, the first few days were tough mornings because of the frost!  By the time the sun comes up high enough to melt it, it's already 10:00 and the day seems to be 1/2 gone.................The guys ended up brushing it off with a big broom and using a portable heater on part of it.  But work is going well on it!!

 You can see the color of the roof in the next picture - I really like it and think it really compliments the logs!!  See that lone piece of metal in the right of the picture?  We had some high winds yesterday and that was the result - bent up pretty bad!!

 Tonight at dinner the guys informed me that we're about 12 sheets of metal short!  Not sure if the blame goes on Glenn who measured the roof or the guy who placed the order.  No matter - it will have to be ordered and Glenn will have to put it up himself with some hired help since the 2 guys will be heading back to Iowa this week!!

Another "Brittany Lane" Address is Officially OURS!

Remember my blog when we bought our property - the one that explained how I wrote letters to people asking them if they were willing to sell their property?  If you recall, one couple said they were coming out in October to see their property and would make a decision then whether or not they wanted to sell it.

Well, they did come out the end of October - and they did decide they were going to sell their 2 lots - both that back up to our new property.  In fact, they even called me and told me they were going to sell them and would we be interested in buying one of them. After talking it over, we decided that if the price was right, it would be great to have another 2 acres right beside ours so I called them back and asked them what the price would be.  Believe it or not, they said they would sell it for the same price as what we bought our building lot for!!!

WOW - we were SO excited and told them yes, we wanted it!!  So as of this morning, 41 Brittany Lane is also OURS!!!  It's a beautiful lot - full of trees and another rock formation!  We haven't decided if we'll do anything with it - perhaps in a couple of years, Glenn may decide to build a house to sell - who knows?

But in the meantime, it's ours!!

 
As you can tell by the pictures, we had beautiful sunshine today - it was a wonderful day for the guys to finish putting up the ice shield on the roof - the inspector stopped by and passed it and the metal roof was delivered by the lumber yard-  it's all hands on deck tomorrow to start putting that metal on!

A Full Crew Means BUSINESS!

I walked up to the new house this morning and there were 7 workers plus Glenn and the contractor!!  I expect to see a LOT of progress when I walk back up this afternoon!

Glenn's son Neal and friend drove in from Iowa last night so they're hard at work putting down the ice shield today and after that will be the metal roof!  The metal roof actually doesn't arrive until tomorrow and I'm excited to see the color we picked out - a dark bronze! 

 They finished up the framing for the office (left side), bathroom, and the laundry room which leads into the garage.

 And the master bedroom bath is all finished as far as framing goes too - walk in closet to the left and across from that will be the bathroom sinks and vanity - shower behind the vanity and the toilet in the back left corner.

Yesterday we met with the cabinet guy and have a pretty good idea of what the kitchen will look like if we go with him - I'm waiting on pins and needles for the estimate!  Also ordered the windows and the outside doors so we can get it all enclosed!

I did decide on a change yesterday which involves changing the location of the master bedroom door (which is already framed in) so they'll take care of that change today - it will help with a little more space for the kitchen cabinets.

Luckily we didn't get the snow that was forecasted (just a little bit) and the sunny weather should hold till next Tuesday - if everything goes well, the roof will be done by that time!

It seems like this last week has been full of decisions I've had to make on the house - I'm just hoping I'm making the right ones!! 

January House Update

Progress on the house is finally happening again!!  The weather this week has been fantastic with temps in the 40's and snow is melting like crazy!!  I FINALLY got all of the ice off of our cement where we park the cars!

This is the back of the house - where the kitchen will be - we'll be putting trapezoid windows up high and the kitchen sink will be below the window.  To the left will be the french glass doors leading out to a deck.

 Looking from the inside towards the fireplace and living room - again trapezoid windows up high and they finally got all the logs above the windows cut and placed.

 This is the master bathroom - the shower got framed up today and Glenn is standing where the vanity will go.

 One crew is working on doing the under side of the roof - the soffet I guess you call it - they are almost over to the front of the house.  I really love how the front of the house turned out and of course can't wait to see all the rock put up on the fireplace!

Glenn's son from Iowa (Neal) will be heading out next week to put the metal roof on - I'm sure hoping the weather will hold while he's here!

Glenn is busy working on the plumbing in the lower level - I'm busy making those important decisions - ha ha!!

Happy New Year!!

2015 - it's arrived whether we're happy about it or not!  I always like new  beginnings - changing out the calendars, cleaning out the filing cabinet and making new files for the new year, getting Christmas put away and redecorating the house (along with moving furniture!) and thinking about all those things you not only WANT to do this next year but NEED to do!

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve and New Year's Day - didn't even stay up to watch the fireworks off the peak at midnight, even though it was a gorgeous, clear night!  But we did awake about 11:15 as someone was shooting off fireworks in front of the peak and we saw a few beautiful explosions out our window from the bed!

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Glenn did go rabbit hunting with a friend this last week - a nice break from working on the house!  The weather hasn't been cooperative at all the past couple of weeks so there is basically no progress to report - but this next week is to be nice all week and even into the 40's - I expect a LOT will get done!

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I have found a new past time that I'm really enjoying - playing my keyboard!  That keyboard has set on the shelf for years and years and hasn't been played.  So this year I decided to get it down and practice a few Christmas songs to play for the kids instead of the guitar!  WOW - I  had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing - I used to play for church many, many years ago and piano and organ are just like riding a bike -  you really don't forget how to do it!!

I was so excited to play Christmas songs for a few weeks but now that it's over, I've moved on to other music - I ordered an "easy" classical book of songs and have enjoyed playing a lot of those - I also have a few books I have kept over the years.  But I was really surprised when I was cleaning out the storeroom and actually found a binder filled with postludes and preludes and offertories that I had copied when I used to play for church back in the late 60's.  And as soon as I started playing them, I recognized all of them!!  So if you're wondering what I'm doing in my spare time, I am practicing!!

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January is always a LONG COLD month here in Colorado so I switched my blog background to remind me of the beach......................and possibly thinking of a vacation for Glenn and I since we'll celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in March.  Because of the new house, we didn't take our normal trip in Nov. so I'm thinking it's time to get away soon!!

Is This For Real????

(yes, that's supposed to be $1.94 )  For the last couple of weeks, gas has been steadily declining and when we headed into town last Sunday, I snapped this picture - who knows how long it will stay under $2.00!!