Sunday, December 19, 2010

When oh when shall we move in

Well its getting down to crunch time.  We had originally hoped to have moved in by Christmas but I'm just not so sure anymore.  Progress is being made as we speak.  Hardwood is being layed, so is tile.  But there are just so many stages to everything and an order to do things in too.  But its getting there.  Phil has been working every day and every evening.  As he puts it, he is "perma-tired" and quite looking forward to January!  But he is still very much enjoying the process and seeing things come together.

So these posts have been pretty sporadic up until now but I am hoping they might be a bit more frequent in the next couple of weeks as all the visible completion happens.

Last week I had a wonderful night in Vancouver with my friend Anna (from Abbotsford).  She is one of my very best friends who I knew before I met Phil..........it just worked out pretty nicely that I ended up moving to her part of the world (we first met in South Africa!).  Anna treated me to a night in a swanky hotel in downtown Vancouver and in the hotel lobby there was the most amazing smelling Christmas tree ever!  Its not much to look at in the photo but if you could just smell it too you'd want to sniff it all the time too.


The next day, Phil and Sophia came over on the ferry and met us at IKEA.  Oh how I love IKEA.  Our aim was to buy our bathroom vanities, which we did.  We needed 3: one for the basement suite bathroom, one for the main bathroom upstairs and one for our master bedroom ensuite.  I dont have a photo but you'll see them later.  They're really cool and they were a lot cheaper (including the cost of taking the truck on the ferry) than buying anything here in Nanaimo.

On the way back to the ferry, Sophia decided that socks were over-rated and that she wanted to put her feet up - she found a convenient way to do it.  Oh and you cant really tell but there was a beautiful setting sun sky in the background which was gorgeous to watch as we drove through North Vancouver.


So times have been busy but we did manage a trip to the Christmas tree farm with Grandma and Grandad to pick their tree and seeing as they live just upstairs from us we havent bothered to put ours up.  I am considering putting one up in our new house in a couple of days once the hardwood is all layed.  Phil says it might get in the way and it will get dusty...............we'll just see about that.  We also made it out to the Bethlehem walk which was an amazing experience where you feel like you've gone back in time and you are walking in the streets of Bethlehem.

So Sophia's excitement for the week is the carpet that has been layed in what will be her new room.  We went for carpet in her room and the bedroom next to it (a future childs bedroom).  So soft!


Also this week we have Phil's cousin Matt over from Abbotsford.  Wow Abbotsford gets a second mention in one post!  Anyway, Matt is awesome and a skilled worker.  Phil and Matt have now installed the base cabinets in the kitchen.  Looks a bit strange right now but there's still a lot to do there.


And now Matt is laying hardwood and Phil is laying tile.

Pictures to come soon.

Over and out.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Getting there

So things are starting to look a little more like a home.  Upstairs, new drywall is up where it needed to be and things are starting to appear that are like a promise of things to come.  I arrived at the house this afternoon to see a framed in structure that will become what I am sure will be my beloved window seat in the living room.  This is something I've always wanted and was excited that this sort of bay window could allow for that.  We have some ocean view from there when you look down the road so it will be a wonderful place to put our feet up with a good book and watch the world.

Here it is!  And there is Sophia discovering the mandarin box and requesting her fourth one of the day.  Dont worry they're baby sized ones!


Drywall is back up and the mudder and taper is coming to start on the upstairs tomorrow.  So the wall and entry way over in the corner wasnt there before but it is now and its our entrance way to a laundry room/pantry.


The laundry room will host our lovely new frontloaders and goodness knows what else as its nice and deep. Ooops this pictures kind of blurry.


Next week the drywallers are coming back to do the basement - very exciting!!!  In the meantime, Phil will spend much of the weekend insulating..........fun stuff!!!  I on the other hand will spend it relaxing as much as possible - the semester just finished and I have 10 days till my one exam so I think I can afford to relax a bit.  Mmmm maybe a bath.

Talking of baths, this little munchkin loves hers.