The move.

As we were loading our bed into the bed of the truck to move to the new house, Deb looked at me and said "We're never going to sleep here again."  As excited as we are about living in the house we've poured so much of ourselves into and finally having more than enough room, it was still a little sad and surreal realizing the home all of Cole's memories and most of Samantha's were made, wouldn't be home any more.

 

OK, enough of that mushy stuff.  After our carpet was laid there really was nothing stopping us from moving into the house.  The only projects left were kitchen countertops, back splash and exterior paint.  So I asked Deb what she thought about going to sleep in our house for the first time on her birthday.  Of course, she thought waking up there on her birthday was a better idea.  So Friday Oct. 9th, she got off work and started taking our bed apart.  She was having trouble disconnecting the air hoses from the mattress, so I busted out of work a little early and headed home.  She had the bed halfway disassembled by the time I got there.  I helped her finish up and we hurried up to the house and got it set up in time to head to town to watch Cole perform during halftime.

 

 

Saturday was spent moving anything Deb and I could handle.  Cole had a Marching Band Competition at War Memorial Stadium that evening.  We only had his help until around 11 a.m. so we got some of the large furniture moved before he had to leave.  After that is was mostly clothes, clothes and more clothes.  At least that's how it seemed.  If you've seen Deb's closet, you understand where I am coming from.  Ok, so maybe it was clothes, clothes, clothes, some pictures and a few ducks...

 

 

We only were able to work on the move until around 3.  Then we had to get cleaned up and head to Little Rock.  Samantha brought Deb a birthday present, helped us move some stuff, and went with us to Little Rock for the competition.  The Arkadelphia High School Band was AWESOME!  They took home almost every top award including Overall Outstanding Band in class 5A.  If you haven't seen them perform this season, you need to make sure to go watch.  They will blow you out of your seat. 

 

 Here is the list of awards they received:

Division 1 Drum Major
Division 1 Percussion
Division 1 Colorguard
Division 1 Band...
Outstanding Soloists in Class 5A (Rebecca Fellers and Mollie Daniell)
Outstanding Percussion Class 5A
Outstanding General Effect Class 5A
Outstanding Marching Class 5A
Outstanding Music Class 5A
Outstanding Band Class 5A
The Brandon Award for Overall Outstanding Band in Class 4A-5A

 

Tea came and helped us on Sunday.  That girl is a worker.  Rodney, Jennifer and their kiddos stopped by and helped take a load of bedroom furniture up the hill too.  Since then it has been a box or two at a time.  We've been trying to get things put away before going for more.

 

Deb finally pestered me enough that I called and ordered a move from DirecTV.  I met them last Friday at noon.  Jesse did a very professional job pulling all new wires where wires were required.   We went with wireless Genie's in two rooms and put our old DVR's in the sewing room and Samantha's room so we wouldn't lose our old recordings.

 

The wad of wires required to run 5 TV's.

 

 

We removed one brick behind the TV to run wires to the cabinet behind the fireplace.

 

Sunday we hung the TV above the mantle.  A considerably larger TV is high on the upgrade list.  Bigger house... Bigger TV... right?  I'm thinking no less than 65" and most likely a 70".  The 70" is properly sized for our viewing distance.  Our 46" was just the right size in our old place, but from 20 feet it's like watching an old 27" TV.

 

This Saturday morning we got up and started ripping laminate off the countertops and adding a layer of 3/4" plywood to raise them up enough to span the dishwasher.  Then there was a Razorback game to watch, a nap to take and later a costume party to attend.  At least we had the counters 90% ready before the last three items. 

 

Here we are about to head to the costume party.  Me and my angel.

 

 

Sunday morning, we got back to work on the counters filling holes, ripping 1 x 4's and sanding.  Deb just loves sanding now days.  Dad came over after church and helped us finish the trim work on the counters, installing the bar top and applying the laminate.

 

 

Once the bar top was up, we laid the laminate out on the counter with the sink and traced our cut line underneath.  We rolled it up and took it back outside and cut out the L shaped piece.  Deb thought the air shears were pretty cool so she took a video.

 

 

We cut the laminate slightly oversized so it would overhang all sides by about a half an inch.  Then we test fit it and took it back outside to apply the adhesive.  We rolled the adhesive onto the counter top and the back of the laminate and let it dry.  We carried the laminate back inside and put cardboard strips down to keep the contact cement from sticking while we positioned the laminate on the countertop.  Once in place it was simply a matter of pulling the strips out one by one and pressing the two surfaces firmly together with a laminate roller.

 

 

Dad routed the edge and cut out for the sink while I prepped the bar top with adhesive.

 

I think Uggsy likes his new perch.

 

 

Here is a close shot of the finished edge.

 

Rob, Gina and Lauren stopped by to see the countertops.  While they were there I got the stove top reinstalled.

 

And finally, the kitchen sink.  I still have to plumb the drains into the wall and hook up the dishwasher.  But for the most part the kitchen is done except for the backsplash.

A HUGE Thanks to some awesome local businesses

It has been a couple weeks since our last update. Things have been very busy on the ranch! We have had two birthdays, one band competition, homecoming, building of one homecoming float, one out of town football game, and one Arkadelphia JROTC Raider Challenge at DeGray Lake. Most of those involved our son not being around to help with the move. Yep, you read that correctly, THE MOVE!

Photos will be posted soon. We still have "stuff" to move. We still have a kitchen to complete.

This post is mainly for SHOUT OUTS to some wonderful local businesses that we would like to thank for being so patient and helpful throughout this process.

Hardman Lumber Company and ACE Hardware
I couldn't tell you how many times we have been in Hardman over the past few months. Mark, Travis, Michael, Andra, Trey, and all the staff are wonderful!

T and T Building Supply
Thank you, Jack, for pointing us in the right direction for our tile and carpet! Both are beautiful. Thank you, Tye, for the wonderful carpet install (and leaving us 2 four leaf clovers and 1 five leaf!)

Faulk Plumbing Supply
Mike is always there to help when we don't have a clue what we need.

Hardman Interior
Yes, this girl needs a little interior design help. Thanks Cathy and Jennifer!

Arkadelphia Home Town Sears
I have been in Sears multiple times. Jamie and his staff are fantastic! We have purchased appliances from him in the past and will continue to do so. They loaded me up with a new Whirlpool dishwasher yesterday. Refrigerator, double ovens, and gas cook-top will be purchased, eventually.

Arkadelphia Sherwin Williams
Thanks to Debbie for giving me advice on how to refinish our kitchen cabinets. Our 55 year old, handmade by Granddaddy, cabinets look brand new again!

Joe's Floors, Donaldson
Joe and his crew worked so hard for several days. If you haven't seen the pictures of the red oak hardwood floors, you need to go look!

Wholesale Electric
Corey visited often while he was doing the wiring for the bathroom. They gave helpful tips!

Chris Arnold Electric
Chris, Daniel, Nicky, and Shawn worked through some really nasty weather to get the wiring up to date. That house is wired like nothing I've ever seen. I definitely feel safe!

Clark County Abstract
Desiree really helped with our title work. She made that process as painless as possible, even though we were as nervous as long tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs!

Southern Bancorp
The lender. The one I almost forgot. A big thanks to Brent. He has answered so many questions (over, and over.) This was our first home buying experience and probably our last. We will be moving over to secondary market soon, so Kortni will be answering all my annoying questions.

I hope I didn't miss any one.

It's the little things that make you happy.

Check out my angel... making carpet angels.  Can you tell she is happy to have our bedroom carpeted?

 

 

We finally got the tile finished up and the carpet installed in our master bedroom.  That light we've been seeing at the end of the tunnel is huge!

 

 

Tye (our carpet guy) found a couple of four leaf clovers and a five leaf clover and left them pressing on our kitchen counter for us.

 

We think the carpet goes nicely against our red oak floors...

 

And against our tile.

 

We moved a good bit of Deb's sewing stuff in last night.  I still have to hook the new bathroom plumbing up this weekend.  After that, the kitchen counters still have to be replaced and the back splash has to be installed.  Our plan, good Lord willing, is to spend our first night here on Deb's birthday, next Saturday night, October 10th.  I can't think of a better birthday present to give her.