Alrighty. Now to bring you all up to speed on our current status. 

The kitchen is coming along nicely. The cabinets are painted and the sink is in! The countertop is still the original green but, not for long. I was seriously tempted to leave it but, it simply isn't an option with the cabinet color. We bought the countertop paint from Rustoleum and will be working on that next week (since we now have more time before we move). If you ask Rob about putting the sink in, he may make a face. It wasn't easy. You'll see in the photo below that he had to slide his upper body into the small opening under the sink to hook up everything and put the clamps on. He was very glad to be done with that part of things. The new faucet was a Craigslist score for $40. It was a floor model and was in great shape. I may have to move it into the new house when it comes time. It's so nice! Check it out: 

I painted the cabinet, as I've said, and picking a color was really hard. In the end, I wasn't able to get the color I had in my mind but, we like what we got. Beachy, coastal, fun. Definitely a welcome bit of color in an otherwise neutral area. What do you think about leaving that one strip white vs painting it, too? I can't decide if it's too retro from me.

And then there's the big news: the floors are in and they look fantastic! When we got the floorboards from Lumber Liquidators we were a) surprised they were single boards (not in boxes), b) slightly disappointed that there was a fair amount with defects that had to be cut off, and c) realizing how soft pine really is! We had to make 2 trips to Salem (about an hour roundtrip) to get it all because we stupidly though we could just put 250 sqft of pine boards in my van. My van is a beast... but not a truck. Oh well. And yes, my son slept through it all. Driving. Loading. Everything. We got home and he asked me when we were going to go get the wood. I said, look around kid. You slept through the whole thing! Haha. 

 Once the guys get to work putting it in it really started looking good. I'm totally in love now. It really looks great. It's got that cool beachy feel to it since we left it natural (only used clear poly) and it's nice and clean looking. It was definitely several days of work for Rob and we were SO thankful for James, who came to help get Rob going since he knew what he was doing and Rob had never done it before. I really think the floors make the Airstream look "legit"! 

                                      

Before poly.

After!

Before poly.

After!

Rob's parents come down again to help us out and while they were here Rob and his dad installed all new gas lines. I guess they just decided to play it safe and replace right off the bat. It was an all-day job but, by the end of the day we had a working heat furnace and stovetop! The oven doesn't work yet and we're not sure if it's just the burner or what. We still haven't gotten around to checking that and I can definitely live without it for a while. The water heater doesn't work either and that's more of a problem. No hot water for showers is a deal-breaker. We're going to have to take it apart and clean it and see if we (Rob) can tell what's going on and if we can't fix it we're going to buy a new, tankless water heater. We found this one and it's pretty cheap! I was sketched out at first but, it looks like this company has been making these for a long time with decent reviews so, we might go for it. Here are some shots of the new lines going in. 

I also want to mention that Rob built shelves into the closets so we would have more efficient storage. Yay! Storage space is crucial! I'm really hoping I'll be able to store everything I need in there... not that I have a choice or anything. I think we'll be good, though. See that shelf liner below? That roll is a whopping 4ft of liner. FOUR feet! What a rip-off! It was nice because it was wide enough to cover the shelves but, it cost the same as the other rolls of liner I bought and they had 24ft! You better believe I won't be buying anymore of that white one. Seriously. AND I have to tape/glue it down since it's not self-adhesive. Bah. I will be glad to have nice clean shelves to put my things on though. I'm probably going to get out there and finish putting it in tomorrow. I was going to do it tonight but, I think I'm going to sew the hallway curtain and clean-up in the house some instead. I'll post about the hall curtain when it's done. 

Well, that's pretty much it folks. For now. This week we'll be doing more to get ready to move in so, hopefully there will be some good progress there. If you live local, feel free to contact me to come see it. It's really shaping up! See ya next time!

Furniture Moving Day

So, Monday morning I made bacon, eggs, toast and orange slices (and coffee, of course!) for a very helpful crew of guys. Ok, fine. Rob actually made most of the breakfast because I was doing other things to get ready but... whatever. 

6 guys, friends and family, came with 3 trucks and helped us move all of our furniture to storage. We only left behind something if it made the cut for the Airstream. Needless to say, my house is feeling pretty empty right now. The things that remain behind are: the futon, a small coffee table (that doubles as a toy chest AND a seat!), the Ikea kitchen table, a lamp, my dresser, Will's cubbies (one for clothes and one for books and toys), his bed and the small chair we got from restore just for the Airstream. We also left the kitchen chairs and one more lamp but, those will go to storage when we officially move. 

We chose to move everything on Monday because our closing date was Friday and Rob has to work Thursday. We needed Tuesday and Wednesday to pack what's left and clean so, we figured it would be good to go ahead and move the big stuff. Really glad that's over. I actually kinda like my spartan existence right now. Sometimes it feels good to shake-off the extra stuff and start fresh. I have a feeling that I'm not going to want half of my stuff back after we build the house... which is fine. I just need to guts to actually get rid of it! 

Anyway, here are a few shots of the moving crew in action. They were great!  

Funny thing is, just hours after we finished with all of this, we got a call from our Realtor. The closing date has been delayed. We don't know when we will seal the deal at this point. Could be two more weeks, give or take. I guess that's fine. Gives us more time to tie up some loose ends on the camper and give our yard some much needed love. Pressure's off. A little bit. We plan to get it all down to only what is staying with us in the Stream though so we can move without much notice when a date does get set and because we plan to go see Rob's brother when he comes to visit from Thailand next month so, we need to be ready to be out before we leave if the closing takes place while we're gone. 

Not gonna stress. Just gonna trust. 

:-)

Kitchen progress.

Isn't it cute with the plants around?

The new fridge in action!

Hey everybody! Here's what's going on in the kitchen and living areas. We've taken out the sink to make room for the new one and Rob has marked out where he needs to cut the countertop to widen the hole just a bit. We bought some Rustoleum Countertop Paint and we're going to apply that after he cuts out the hole. I do actually like the original green and am still tempted to keep it but... we'll see.

The front has been painted (along with the back bedroom) thanks to my sis, Laura. She came and helped me knock it all out in a few hours one evening after the munchkin went to sleep. Thank you, Laura!!

It looks so good now. I know it looks pure white in the photos but, it's not. There's a hint of greige in there.

This is fabric that I'm not using to make curtains. Haha. I thought I was going to, I really liked it but... I simply couldn't make it work with the other colors I had envisioned. Thankfully it was just a tablecloth and I returned it to TjMaxx. It's pretty though, yeah? I'm going to be using a natural linen fabric that I already have to a) save money and b) keep the curtains neutral so I can play with color more elsewhere.

See? It just didn't match. It was more obvious in person. Trust me. 

 I also want to show you our custom cabinet that my FIL made. We bought a stock Home Depot cabinet and had to cut out a space for the wheel well and build a shelf over it to make more storage. Rob built the shelf and it's going to be great!

Making the template and bracing the back up higher.

It fits!

Wheel well. We were going to just box it in but that felt like a waste of space to me.
So I said, "Build a full-depth shelf!"

The white shelf. Adds so much usable space!  And usable space is everything.

It's starting to look like a REAL kitchen! Woohoo!

We still have lots to do but, she's coming along. We still haven't named her (him?) yet. I'm waiting for that "moment" when you just know, ya know? I'm too busy to think about it right now anyway.

Good thing the chickens don't mind scrappy!

Here's a look at the chicken tractor in process. We're (Rob is) building this out of all the scraps of wood we had laying around in the basement. At least they'll be put to good use! We needed something to put the hens in while we are living in transition and this should do the trick. :-)

Garlic!!

A story and a trip to Charlotte.

So, last night Rob was out working on the Stream and I was inside packing up books. I get a phone call from him, "I need you to come help me." Ok. Sure.

I go out there and he's in the bathroom, crouched down, and he says to me, "I'm gonna move and you need to put your finger right here." Hang on there, buddy... right where? What's going on? And then I see it... the water all over the floor. He explained to me that he had turned the water on to test some things and then turned it back off and that in the process of doing that the water heater filled up. Now, said water heater was draining out gallons of water right into the bathroom. Fantastic. So we switched places and I plugged the pipe with my finger.

Rob says, "I have a plan!" He comes in with a length of Pex pipe with a shark bite connector and we try to do a quick switch and put it on the open pipe. No go. It didn't fit and now there was more water on the ground. I re-inserted my finger and asked for a bucket. It's an extremely small space so we had to use a trim paint pail (about 5"dia x 10"deep). I filled and dumped that thing about 20 times before the water finally slowed down and Rob was able to get in there and clean up and get it fixed. >phew<

Filling the bucket... again.

At least this drain is functional.

I tell ya what, this whole thing is a wild ride.

To top if off, both of our cars were in the shop this week which set us back in precious funds. Surprise! Oh well. It's all good.

We also went to Charlotte, NC on Tuesday to get a few things. We scored a toilet for the A-stream and saved about $80 on it. We also got a futon from Craigslist. I had searched long and hard for this particular Ikea futon with a particular mattress. Before we went down, I asked the woman selling it to confirm that it was the mattress I wanted and she said it was. We go, we buy, we drive away. I later check the tags and BOOM! Wrong mattress! I'm pretty sure I shed a tear. I was really upset. There are 4 grades of Ikea futon mattresses and I wanted the "Havet" one. It's more like a regular mattress. What we got was the cheaper "Lovas" one. NOT AT ALL what I wanted. >deep breath< We will survive. We'll probably just grab a foam topper and be fine. It was just so disappointing to drive that far for a let-down. Oh well.

We also went to the Ikea store while down there and exchanged the futon cover that came with the futon for a different one. Blackish/grey for white. At least I can have the cover I want. We got a new sink as well. And a towel rack. And curtain liners for me to sew into the new curtains I have yet to make.

A very long, very expensive day. It was stuff we needed though and I'm glad we have it.

Once Rob is done with the plumbing, all we really need to do (major stuff) is test the gas lines and related appliances (water heater, stove/oven and furnace). The new wood floors should come in tomorrow and get installed on Tuesday (by Rob and James, my brother-in-law). Can't wait to see the floors once they're in! It's gonna make it seem so much closer to being ready! I need to finish painting the cabinets this weekend so I don't risk getting paint on the new floor. My little toddler has given-up his naps as of this week so, I don't have time during the day to work on stuff anymore. Nighttime work, here we come!

Oh yeah... and I probably should really start packing. ;-)

19 days until launch!!

Stay tuned for another plumbing post from Rob with details, for those of you interested in hearing about this monstrosity: