A Little Bit of Here & A Little Bit of There

This past weekend I was out of town enjoying busy NYC with my sweet sisters and mama in love. :) However, my beloved Joshua and the rest of the boys on the land, were hard at work on the little house. They got sooo much done! :) Here's a little look at how things went down.

While we shopped and dined....

they measured and cut dry wall.

While we sipped coffee....

they pulled out old windows.

While we rode the subway...

they installed lovely new windows.

While we napped...

they re-hung shutters.

We love them! 

Thank you, Dad and J, for letting us runaway to the BIG apple for  a few days! We had a ball and are so appreciative for all the handwork you put in while we were gone. We are so glad to be back at home with you!!!

Goodbye Slider, Hello New Front Door

Like a daisy, I popped up out of bed Saturday morning! Exuding the same excitement of a Christmas morning, I jumped on the bed waking up J. It was 5:00 in the morning and I wanted to know if it was time to go to Lowes. Needless to say I was just a little excited! We were putting in the new door and y'all know how much I've been anticipating that!

Finally around 8 we headed over to the land to pick up the trailer and off to Lowes we went. We needed a few basic supplies. You know, 2x4s, nails, a door handle, and a light fixture.

 Once we got back to the little house we got to work right away! We decided to remove the old vertical blinds very professionally- jumping up and hang on them until they fell. Unfortunately, those silly blinds were hung very, very well. (I suppose that actually is a good thing but in our case it was more annoying than anything.) J got out his drill and removed them the right (boring) way.

 Up next was removal of the sliding door. (woo hoo!) There weren't any real hang ups with pulling it out. It was just a matter of using the drill to unscrew and number of screws and a little lifting. Before we knew it we had a gaping hole in the front of the house! exciting!

 Before

 When the slider frame and glass panels were removed Joshua turns to me and says, "ok, it's Bible story time." I look at him quizzically and say, "ok". He asks, "What did God say about building houses?" Now, I'm really confused and wondering, 'where is my precious hubby going with his Bible story.' Graciously, he helps me out with, "He said don't build your house on..." "Sand!" I reply, now following his train of thought and remembering the familiar Sunday school song. He sweetly shows me that the 'sand' in our case is a rotted piece of wood under the door frame. As he replaces our metaphorical rock, a fresh new 2x4, he concludes our Bible lesson for the day. We built the little house on a 'rock.'

 Now, we are all set to put in the door and very thankfully the existing frame matched the door perfectly! It was only a matter of time before the door was up and we got to put on the hardware. J wired a new light switch by the front door so we can also have a light fixture to light up the new entry. While he worked on that I got busy with my insulating foam. Again, I went crazy with it but Uncle Allen says that's ok. The more the merrier! What could be bad about a little extra insulation? I have a funny feeling I'll be eating those words when it's sheet rock time- we'll see. :)

 After 

 After all this work you'd think we were done for the day but with a little encouragement from Uncle Allen we were on our way to replacing our first window. :) We decided to time the process to see how long it would take and how exhaustive the process was going to be. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad. All they had to do was pull back all the siding surrounding the window (easy peasy, haha!) It took them about 40 minutes and now we have a lovely new kitchen window over where the sink will be. I love it!!!!

 Finally, we were finished for the day! Ta-da!!!

Working in the Dark

The wiring is DONE!!! True dedication is working in the cold and dark in the light of a flash light on wiring. Tonight J and Uncle Allen finished up the wiring but it wasn't exactly under the nicest conditions. We were there until about 9:30 but thankfully with LOTS of help from Uncle Allen we are done! Hooray!!

Pick Up Day!

Pick Up day! :) This Saturday was a busy one to say the least! We got up early to get the trailer ready to head over to pick up the windows, countertops, and sink. Notice that the bathroom vanity and matching granite countertop is not on the trailer along with our other treasures. That's because I learned a very valuable lesson this week. Always measure before purchasing! Last Saturday evening after we ordered the bathroom vanity set my sweet hubby asked if I measured it. To which I responded with, "no, I thought that you did when I asked about it." (Keep in mind he didn't bring a tape measure and I did not ask him to measure it- don't know what I was thinking!) He was so patient about it and let me do some online research and calculating and we discovered if we bought the vanity our toilet wouldn't fit. That would be a problem! Especially considering we only have one bathroom! :) Thankfully, the store has a good return policy and we were able to return it easily...lesson learned- always measure! :) :) :) 

 We prayed the whole way home with these beauties! It's amazing how much bumpier the road feels when you have a load of fragile windows trailing behind! 

 countertop...not fancy but we think it's lovely. 

Wiring, Wiring, and MORE Wiring....

Contrary to what it looks like we did have lots of help again this weekend. Unfortunately, it was a little difficult snapping a picture of Uncle Allen working on the wiring in the dark bathroom. Bradley and Rachel were a big help too! I had fun learning to put in foam insulation. I might have gone a little crazy. I didn't realize it foamed out about an inch or two from where I put it. Poor J, hopefully it doesn't cause a problem when we try to lay down the next layer of under lament. I also tried to help with the wiring. I didn't really do much. I mainly just pulled the wires over the rafters in the laundry area but it was still adventurous. I can't wait for this part of the project to be done!!! Let's move on to bigger and better things- or maybe just something different. (I'm working on patience.) :) :) :)

Pallet Project?

I saw this pallet leftover from when the guys put on the new roof a few weeks ago and instantly thought of Pinterest! :) So of course I've been combing through the website trying to find a project. I came across this fun headboard and showed it to J to see what he thought- not even mentioning the pallet. You won't believe what he said! :)

 (If I wasn't crazy about him already- I definitely would be now!!) 

After seeing the project he responded by saying, "yeah, that's what I was thinking of doing with the leftover pallet." ahhh,  LOVE him! :) :) :) This project is definitely on the back burner but if/whenever he gets to it I know it'll be wonderful!

A BIG Shopping Trip!

Last Saturday we headed back out to Garner's Ferry to the Surplus Warehouse! The store is a gold mine for builders and remodelers! Not only is there everything you could imagine needing but there are also the most helpful and patient people!! This was a BIG shopping trip because this time we were able to catch a very good sale and wanted to take advantage of it. Dave, our new friend from Surplus Warehouse, helped us measure and order all the right windows. He was also so kind to walk with us through the store to take down exactly what we needed and shared the various pros and cons of items we looked at. We also go our countertops, sink, and a bathroom vanity (more on that later.) It was an exciting morning and we are SO excited for the treasures for the little house. 

   One of my equally excited shopping buddies! 

                                                                                          

     J  shopping with Mom and Aunt Deb

Spring in February?

Look what showed up this week! I love the pops of yellow all around the little house! I'm definitely loving the spring-like weather here in sunny SC!  

More and more it's beginning to look like a little cottage. :)

It made it!

FINALLY! It's here! :) 

Happy February!

I LOVE this month!  Who doesn't love a little extra l-o-v-e? 

While this post isn't exactly cottage project related... it was a project. :) I got these adorable little felt hearts from my mama in love. She found them in an after Christmas sale and I have been so excited to put them to good use! The wreath is reminiscent of one I made in the fall but I love this valentine version! It looks lovely on our door and will look even more lovely next Valentine's day on our new door (set to arrive tomorrow!)