A lot changes when you stay away for a week

After a week away, I drove to the house last Friday with some company.  My mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, Austin, Michelle, Liz, and Jay all wanted to see the progress.  There was quite a bit more done than I had expected.  All of the internal walls were up on the second floor and most of the trusses were in place.  I now have a pretty good feeling of how the second floor will feel... and yes, the master bathroom is still going to be huge.

I have been accomplishing a lot over the last few days, mostly shopping and picking things out.  I got some good deals on a few things during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday season so mom and dad's garage is really starting to fill up fast.  I think they will be as excited as I am when I get to move in.  I got a new refrigerator, washer, dryer, 4 TV's, dining room table and chairs, and bed which are all in the garage now.  I've also got all of the bedding and some of the curtains already.  I also picked out the oven, microwave, and dishwasher, but they will be delivered directly to the house later on.  I also finalized all of the plumbing fixtures.  I decided not to go with the super-cool/expensive shower fixtures in the master bath... I guess a shower head, hand-held shower, rain head, and three body sprays will have to do :)  I also created a budget for myself (I know this is probably shocking to many of you) as you can see how quickly things can get out of hand... now if I can only make myself stick to it.

Today is the halfway point, day 60 of 120!  I won't get to see the house again until Friday since I am on vacation the rest of this week so I'm sure there will be many more changes over the next week.

Master shower, entrance to the toilet room and closet.

Master shower entrance.

Austin and Michelle in the doorway to the master bath.

Dad, Jay, Mom, and Liz hanging out in the bathroom.

Liz, Michelle, and Austin trying to stay warm.

Another bathroom shot.

Trusses!!!!!

And more trusses.

View from the end of the 2nd floor hallway.

Bedroom and bathroom.

More bedrooms.

Tall ceiling above living room.

Coming down the stairs.

We had to climb down into the basement.

Living room with trusses.

More trusses.

Looking more like a house.

Will I really be living here in 60 days?

I walked on the second floor!

There were no changes on Thursday night but they did work on it Friday.  Liz was in town again and joined me for another tour.  They built out an area in the living room ceiling where bedrooms will go upstairs and they put in the staircase!  We got to climb up the stairs for the first time and walk around the second story.  It was cool to see what the views will be outside my bedroom windows.  My current concerns are that I made the master bathroom too big.... really it is huge 14' x 14' bathroom with an attached 10' x 12' closet.  I think it's going to look like a big room with sinks, a tub, and shower on the walls.  I'll have a better idea of how it looks once the walls go up.  Concern number 2 is with the master bath windows.  It does not look like they are high enough to me for lights and the mirrors to fit underneath them, but I did not alter the height from the original plans and it seems to work in their model houses so I'm sure it will be fine.  I've been doing a lot of shopping and my mom and dad's garage is quickly filling up with all of the new furniture and things to go into the house.  It seems like I have multiple boxes delivered every day which is always exciting.  I'm hoping I get to add several tvs to my collection if I can find some good Black Friday deals.  I am now back in Macomb and will be here for 2 weeks.  I don't have to go back to Peoria to work again until Nov 30 but I doubt I can stay away that long.  I'm sure the house progress next week will be slow with Thanksgiving and all so I may give it a week before I go look again.

Bump out over living room for second floor bedrooms.

The other side bump out over living room for bedroom.

Stiarcase!!!!

Aunt Liz walking up the stairs for the first time.

Taking a tour of the second floor.

Second floor.

Liz standing in the master bathroom.

The other side of the master bathroom.  This is where the corner tub and sinks will go.  I had to modify the plans to add the bump out and make the bathroom bigger when I added the 5th stall to the garage underneath it in order for the roof lines on the outside to look right.  That's why the bathroom is so big.

These are the two windows in the master bedroom.

Day 48

It's day 48 for those of you keeping track and for the math whiz's this means I should have 40% of a house... and I think I do.  It doesn't look like they worked on it today but I did manage to take A LOT of pics before the sun went down.  Enjoy.....

Second story walls going up.

Second story walls and floor.

Second floor bedroom window.

Second floor bedroom window from the outside.

Bedroom windows from the back of the house.

Back of the house.

Garage door in the back of the house.

Back of the house.

View from the street behind the house.

View from the side yard.  Master bath sticking out over garage.

Master bath windows.

Trusses delivered.

More trusses.

Front view from the street.

Master bath supported by posts in garage.

Posts holding up the second story.

Master closet entrance.

Posts holding up second floor.

Posts holding up second floor.

2nd Floor Going Up

Most of the 2nd story floor is down and probably about half of the outside 2nd story walls.  They are being supported by long boards dropping down to the garage floor because the 2nd floor is kind of suspended over the garage.  It looks kind of funny and not how I figured it would be built... but I guess that's why I don't build houses.  I think the opening in the front is the doorway into the master closet that will extend out over the garage but not sure yet.  Rafters were delivered and all of the pieces of the staircases have been un-banded so I'm sure things will continue to change fast.  I wasn't able to get out to the site much before dark so only 1 picture to post that isn't very good.  I should be able to go earlier tomorrow and get some better pics.

Garage walls!

Last Friday, all of the outside garage walls were put up and steel beams across the garage ceiling.  I cannot believe how big this garage seems now.  It's gonna be great.... 1100 square feet!  I was able to go back to the site on Saturday with my mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa and give them a tour.  I was hoping to see some work being done since it was so nice, but nothing.  I'm still not sure if they will ever work weekends on it.  I'm going to be in Macomb through Tuesday morning so won't get to see it again until after work on Tuesday.  Hopefully I will get to post some pics of the second story Tuesday evening!