Work, Work, Work and Yes More Work!

This is what I came home to after my trip to Florida. This is where the carport once stood and no, the cinder blocks did not clean themselves up.
One of the next steps after cutting down the trees and cleaning up the mess from the not-so- happy carport area was to dig out the area where the footings (concrete slab that supports the foundation) were going to be.
These are my two tools that I used to tie the rebar in the below picture down so that our house would not crack. The gatorade was just a perk.Below is my friend, "Rebar. Say hi, Rebar." Each corner where the two pieces of rebar meet had to be tied with a wire "bread tie." The tool above made it go quicker.
This is the crew that helped us. The one in her gymnastics outfit is really helpful. This is one of the two concrete trucks that have been hanging out at my house. The first one poured the concrete for the footings. The other poured the concrete for the garage floor.This is a picture of the supervisor overseeing the laborer. "I think he is a little off. I am not happy with his performance."This is most everything framed in. Since this picture, I have a garage door frame and a closet for the garage which is the wall farthest away in this pic .
Earlier in the year my husband and I took some time to rejuvenate ourselves and our marriage. Now the thing is, I imagine that when most couples get together they start reflecting on how busy their lives are and how they can take it easier. . .how to make their lives less chaotic. My Prince Charming and I are a little different . . .when we get together we start making plans to stir up things. . . to shake things up a little!!

I really don't know how we started talking about it other than our carport needed to be torn down because it was rotting. Most of you know my sob story. We apparently bought it when it was rotten. . . smart move, huh? :) Anyway, it needed a little TLC. We had to do something so we decided to do a big something!! We decided to add on to our home. We love our home but we wanted to get a little more space.

Even as I type, I wrestle with the want/need side of things. I think of our church going to make "sheds/houses" for the people in Guatemala in which they were sooo thankful. Anyway, that will have to be another blog post. Obviously by our American standards we needed more space.

My closet is really squishy and I don't like my clothes squished. Also, I have posted before how I do not like my washed and dryer in our main bathroom. It bothered me. Every time I tried to relax in the tub I was haunted by the washer and dryer. They were crying out "feed me, feed me." So I am getting a master bathroom that just cries out, "clean me, clean me." :)

We are creating 600 square feet of living space and a two car garage. Most of the framing is finished now and we are waiting on trusses. Yes, we are doing most of the work ourselves. . .ie Prince Charming is sweating through about 2 loads of laundry a day!!! YUK! But it is cheaper than hiring out. We do have some incredible friends to pay tribute to though.

Rusty - special thanks for cutting down the trees and not letting the three trees fall on my house
Stan - part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Ken- part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Brent- part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Caleb P.- helped with laying electrical line and covering up the hole, poured concrete and helped smooth it for the footings
Roy - FRAMING EXTRAORDINAIRE - he helped Prince Charming finish the footings, floor the house and frame the first two major walls. They began work as soon as they got up and worked until it was so dark they couldn't work anymore
Mikki aka GB - helped raise the walls and move about 500 cinder blocks to the correct area!! and did countless hours of jaw aerobics with me while they were visiting; it was awesome!
Marvin - our neighbor; helped lay the foundation with cinder blocks and concrete; gave Prince a good start to understand how to do it
Glenna - our neighbor; she saw us in a bind when we were raising one of the garage walls and came to help hold it up while we got ourselves together. . .not a fun experience
Tim - lots of phone consultation for Prince Charming and some very nifty tools

Prince Charming, you are amazing. Can we have a talk about this time next year on how to make our lives less chaotic?!! :) I have loved all of this experience and it is a really neat family project. Who needs Home Depot's once a month family building projects. You can get a family building project every day of the week here!! More updates to come soon. Gotta work!!

I Have a Condition


Do you struggle with loss of concentration at work, shaky hands, watery eyes and irritable chore syndrome? If so, then you may have a serious condition called jewelrymakingcrazynessitis. I am going to have to go to Jewelry Making AA.!!! It is so addictive.

Last weekend we had a ladies' night at church where we all went to dinner and followed it up with some jewelry making. A friend showed me how to make earrings and lets just say that I will not be needing any new ones anytime soon. Since Friday . . . today being Monday I have six new pairs of earrings and five new bracelets. My birthday is in September and I already bought my birthday present at what Prince Charming now calls "Naughty Lobby" aka Hobby Lobby.

It is so fun and I cannot wait to wear all of my new accessories. . .not at the same time of course . . .but it is tempting.

Menu Plan Monday

Wow. . .here we go, Monday again!!! I had a great weekend and I have a recipe to show you that I made for my sweet hubby. He has been asking for one of his favorite soups and Father's Day was the perfect time because of all of the fresh produce available.

Sunday - Father's Day Gazpacho! He had three bowls of this before I went to bed so I know he liked it. I used a combination of real and canned diced tomatoes. I did not have beef broth so I substituted chicken bullion. We had fresh basil as well as some green bell peppers from the garden which makes cooking exciting!! Also, I added spicy V-8 instead of tomato juice. My kids even ate this with tortilla chips like it was salsa. It is really good for you too. . .please don't tell them! :)

Monday - Gretel's last t-ball game; frozen bag ravioli (don't worry. . .I am going to cook it! :)), green beans and texas toast

Tuesday - running clinic; preparing for the Four Mile Classic-note to self: do not eat salsa before you run at night; Cabbage (slice it. . butter and salt and pepper it, wrap it in aluminum foil and put it on the grill) and Bratwurst on the grill. . .I may eat when I come back! :)

Wednesday - We have been invited t o a Family Birthday Party so I am off the hook for cooking. . .Hip Hip Hooray for Birthdays

Thursday - BBQ chicken drumsticks and thighs, fried okra, fried green tomatoes and biscuits. . .did I tell you that I was born in Georgia. . . bless your little pea pickin' heart! :)

Friday - chicken caesar salad; We had this salad last week too and it is really really good; I cannot wait to have it again!

Saturday - breakfast for dinner; french toast and bacon = yum

Sunday - taco salad

I have tons of things to share with you this week on our construction progress, my new hobby and what my kids have been up to so make sure to check back. Also, remember for more yummy recipes to check into Laura's fabulous I'm an Organizing Junkie Blog. If you post your menu this week, she make pick you for her give-away!!! Yeah!! Have a great Menu Plan Monday!