End in Sight?

Our house is painted, our house is PAINTED! This is one of those huge projects that we needed to accomplish as we finish up our house. Brian and I are SO excited! We have stepped outside so many times to keep checking on how it looks. The trim will be white, that is supposed to get done on Tuesday. Hiring a crew of guys has been one of the best decisions we've made for finishing this dang house.

I mentioned in one of my last posts that we are able to look at buying a bigger house now. Well, unfortunately that exciting step is on hold for now. We have decided to completely finish this house before looking to buy another one. As much fun as it is to look at houses now, the reality of affording two mortgages is not doable for us. Another reason to grow in being content.

Like I've mentioned before, I like having this blog as a source of remembrance of phases of my life. Not going to lie though, I do love when people read my posts and comment. It's a special thing. :) Having said that, I am going to write out the projects that have been accomplished on this house, and the things that need to be finished yet. My husband has really been working hard (mostly by himself) on this house for the past 5 years or so, and it has really come a long way.

Some facts:
-House was built in 1946
-House is 611 sq. ft. (included in that is the current laundry room which was an addition, probably in the 1970's!)
-House had the strangest lay out when Brian moved in
-House had lath and plaster walls which bowed out
-House has a two-story shed in the back which is original, seems to be the same size as the house
-Houses' only update was a new roof when Brian bought it

Projects that Brian has accomplished on this house:
-Tore out weight-bearing wall that separated the living room from the kitchen. As tiny as this house is, taking that wall out has opened up quite a bit! Now the kitchen and living are only separated by an island. You would walk into the living room, go through a door into the kitchen, go through a door in the kitchen that went into the first bedroom. Go through a second door in the first bedroom into the bathroom. Go into the second bedroom from the bathroom, go through the second door in the second bedroom into the living room. It was built to be a big circle! There was no way to get into one room without going through a bunch of others. How funny is that?!
-Tore down all the lath and plaster walls to studs, and rewired all the electricity in the house. Rebuilt all the walls with sheet rock. Mudded, textured, and painted all the walls.
-Put in new vinyl windows.
-Put new doors inside and the doors that lead outside. New door frames and base boards.
-Tore out old cabinets, and kitchen wall and window. Replaced with new window, sheet rock, and cabinets.
-Replaced kitchen and bathroom sinks, new bathtub / shower / toilet.
-New tile in bathroom.
-Re-did plumbing.
-Tore out old carpet / checker-tile flooring and put in hardwoods.
-Built half wall / island in between the living room and kitchen.
-Tore down the old siding on the house.
-Put new siding on the outside of the house.
-Built eves for the front and back of the house.
-Put new shed in back yard (we currently have 2 sheds:))

Those are the things that I recall on my own, but he would probably list more things. He's done all this while successfully running a business with his dad, and being a pastor at our church. He is truly hard-working and amazing. As easy as it is for me to grumble that it isn't finished yet, I  am so blessed to have such a hard working man.

Ok, now, for the projects we have yet to finish:
-Replace sewer line
-Paint trim on house
-Tear down old fence, and replace with a new one.
-Tear down the old 2-story shed
-Replace 3 broken tiles on the bathroom floor. :(
-Finish sheet-rocking the laundry room, then mud, texture, and painting it.
-Put shelving up in laundry room
-Build corner closets in bedrooms
-Put up back-splash in kitchen
-Fill holes in base-boards around the house, and painting them.
-Touch up paint

Wow, the list of "To-Do's" seems a lot smaller after remembering all that has already been done. Listing all of this has really done a lot of good for me. I almost feel like there is an end in sight with this house - and we will be able to look into something more spacious for our eventual growing family. If any of your readers are handy in any of these areas, or have handy husbands you'd be willing to share, feel free to let us know! We could probably feed you as payment. :)

Thank you for reading!