House Warming Party

The builders

Well the first party at Crow's Nest was a great success! My house is still standing, the walls still have all their paint and no extra dents or holes. The floors are stain free. The only problem I have is the amount of beer, pop, and food leftover!

It was a stressful week for both Dad and I. I had scheduled the party as late as I could. We have a plant shutdown starting next weekend and I don't know what my work schedule will be during those weeks...so I couldn't plan to host a party. That put extra pressure on Dad to get as much done as he could before everyone came through to inspect his work. We both spent many late nights out at the house, with Dad staying later than me many nights.

Chantel came over all day Friday and Saturday to lend a hand. She was absolutely amazing! On her hands and knees with pledge dusting my baseboard, dusting my doors, vacuuming and mopping floors, running to Bay City to pick up the food, setting up the food, you name it, she did it! She busted her ass all weekend for me so I could have a perfect house warming party. She spent hours cleaning the smoke film from the furniture that came from my grandpa's house. On Saturday morning she went to the farmers market to buy fresh flowers for all of my rooms. I had flowers in the kitchen, the living room, my bedroom and all the bathrooms. They were gorgeous and a wonderful addition to a house without any decorating in it yet. If she hadn't come to help I never would have finished everything.

Here are some pics from the evening.

Chantel, Tara and Jamie

Mom and Madi

Aunt Kate, Dad and Madi

Jenni, Madi and Dave

Laura, Grandpa Crower and Dad

Grammy McKibbin and Flower

Erika

Miss Ella

My buddy Carson

Carson

I Propose a Toast!

Does everyone have their drinks ready for the toast? Champagne, beer, soda, water...doesn't matter...we're toasting!

Today is a great day! After more than 2 years of work we passed all of our inspections and were issued an occupancy permit!

That means that I can move into my house whenever I want now! Holy crap...did you ever think you'd see this day?

There is still some work to do on the house, which I'm hoping to wrap up in the next couple weeks, and my tentative plan is to move in over Labor Day weekend.

I have a bunch of pictures of carpet, furniture, etc, but I haven't had a chance to post them. Someday soon I will...please be patient with me. :)

More Furniture Shopping

I’ve now been just about everywhere in Mid-Michigan and beyond that sells furniture. After purchasing the vast majority of furniture I was still looking for a bed, a matching dresser, and an entertainment center.

With Hannah back in Ohio I needed someone to step in as a model for the furniture I was looking at. Mom and Dad gladly took that job, as you can see in the pictures from our trip.

Dad and I took an evening last week to go visit some stores in St. Louis, Alma, and Mt. Pleasant. Jays Furniture Barn in Alma was a huge disappointment and a wasted trip. But on the way to Jay’s we stopped at a store in St. Louis. This is where I realized they had an entertainment center to match my living room tables. And I loved it!

We also spent most of the day Saturday shopping the Amish stores between Midland and Clare. They all had beautiful furniture…and I could have spent thousands of dollars there, but I decided to go the cheaper route for now. Someday I will go back and get some furniture from one of those stores.

I found a bed on clearance at a store in Midland. So I picked that up this week. I also found the bar stools that I want at that store for my island. I am just waiting for the counter top to go on the island so I can decide how many I want to order.

I found a dresser that I absolutely love! The construction is not the greatest, but it was on clearance and the price was pretty good. So I have a dresser coming with the rest of my furniture. Everything except my chair and ottoman should be coming on Friday. So that is super exciting.

We also did some work at the house last weekend. What we thought would be a relatively straightforward job of installing the above the range microwave turned into a two day project. To make a long story short, the parts in the box were not the same dimension as the templates said they were. Dad had to make some custom duct work to vent the microwave out the wall. When we finally tried to put the microwave on the wall the duct work did not want to fit very well. After 5 attempts and some trimming and such, Dad finally stood outside in the rain and guided the duct work where it needed to be. What a mess. But it’s up, and of course, it looks great.

That’s the update for last weekend. Things are moving along pretty quickly so I should have some good info and pictures for you next week too!

Fun Stuff

This week was a productive week and a lot of fun!

With the exception of the actual SHOPPING for carpet...the idea of carpet shopping is a fun one. Knowing that I'm that close! I ordered my carpet last Sunday. The house was measured on Monday, and Dad finished the baseboard so that I'm ready for carpet on Monday evening. In a couple weeks I should have some carpet.

On Monday I had a WONDERFUL day with Hannah May! She was nice enough to take a day of her vacation home to go furniture shopping with me. I enjoyed our quality time together. I was so glad she came with me because she has great ideas and creative ideas for decorating. She also knows me well enough to know that while I liked some of the patterns on the chairs, that I might be afraid to put that in a room for an extended period of time. Therefore she suggested that I buy a neutral color and accent with pillows...and then I can change frequently. :)

Of course we had to make sure the furniture was comfortable, and was going to be suitable for napping, company, and just watching TV. Hannah performed her patented "flop test" on all of the furniture to make sure it was up to par. I think we sat in every chair and couch in the cities of Bay City AND Saginaw. We of course took many pictures while shopping.



Mom and Dad were on vacation this last week. They took the week to head up north to do some kayaking. I was so happy to hear all about their week when they got back last night...and to hear how nice it was for them to get away. I was glad they were able to take the time off.

While Mom and Dad were gone I finished some trim, put up my ceiling fans, purchased my bath hardware (towel bars, toilet paper holders), and grouted my shower floor.

This afternoon Mom, Dad, and I went back to the furniture store to get Dad's approval and order my furniture. And he knows the furniture salesman...which was nice. :) Dad ensured that the furniture was not going to fall apart on me and that I wasn't getting ripped off. Hannah and I had done a lot of research on our trip, but it was nice to know we made some good choices. Below are pictures of the furniture I ordered. I also ordered a box spring and mattress. It is oh so comfortable! I can't wait to sleep on it!

The chair shown will have a different fabric. Although I loved the red...I decided to do a more neutral brownish color. The couch is actually "espresso" in color. Depending on the light it looks black or brown. And it is a very comfortable couch!

All in all it's been a great week!