Saturday #6

Monday we had some wonderful help from our church family moving drywall down into the basement. With the help of Rich, Aaron, Alan, Abigail, Seth, Noah, Ed, and Andrew 40 sheets of drywall got carried downstairs in no time. We were very thankful for their help and fellowshiped over some pizza afterward.

Tuesday night, Jameson and I finished up the remaining electrical. Wednesday the electrical inspector came and DID NOT pass our work. He said he "couldn't tell what was going on and needed someone to explain it to him". How frustrating! Thankfully my dad agreed to talk off work early Friday and come up to be here when the inspector came back. My dad meet w/ my uncle Paul and they discussed and drew up electrical plans for the whole basement. Jameson and I worked on fixing several things the electrical inspector commented on and worked on understanding the electrical for ourselves as well. Thursday we found out the building inspector had to come AFTER the electrical inspector and BOTH had to pass off before we could begin drywall. With the electrical inspection scheduled for 2:30 Friday afternoon, the lady at the city hall said this wasn't going to be possible. We had a lot of helped lined up to help us drywall Saturday so this was another disappointment.

Friday morning Jameson got a call from the lady at city hall and said things opened up and the building inspector was going to come at the same time as the electrical inspector Friday afternoon. That meant if both passed, there was still a chance we could drywall! As it turns out the building inspector did the electrical inspection as well. My dad was able to answer all the electrical questions and .... BOTH PASSED- HOORAY!

Late Friday night Jameson's dad and brothers got here. Saturday, Jameson, my dad, his dad, his brother Jordan, brother Austin, friend Scott all started working on putting up insulation and then drywall. My Uncle Paul and Aunt Carol also suprised us and came up again for a visit. With all that help, most of the drywall got put up in just one day! My Uncle Paul also helped me hang some curtains and cut down some doors and my mom got the rest of the trim painted. It was one VERY productive day thanks to a lot of help!!!

Getting insulation put up.

Dad T. putting up the first sheet of dry wall.

Dad R doing some measuring.

July 3rd & 4th

The plumbing inspector came Monday and passed everything. He was relunctant because our pluming is very shallow, as it is in our entire neighborhood is, so we were just thankful it passed. Thursday evening, my parents and Uncle Paul, Aunt Carol, and cousin Christine came up. Friday morning the guys worked on filing in plumbing with Quickcrete. Jameson's dad had brought his electric mixer last weekend, so my dad mixed the quickcrete, Jameson carried buckets full downstairs, and Paul leveled and smoothed it out. Friday afternoon, Paul worked on setting up a new electrical pannel and running some wiring. Jameson and my dad worked on framing the bathroom. Paul, Carol, & Christine left Friday night after a long day of work. Saturday Jameson and my dad finished framing the bathroom and finished most of the electrical. My mom and I worked on painting trim and doors. We stopped briefly to go watch the fireworks at the dome, but came right back and finished working late Saturday night.

Saturday #4

Thursday, Dalton's came and put in the plumbing for the bathroom and kitchen sink.
Unfortunately, the city inspector was on vacation Friday so we couldn't have it approved and poor cement this weekend. My parents and Jameson's parents came up and the guys framed around the stairs (they used furring strips to max. the area), around the ductwork in the bedroom, and put up the one wall in the bathroom that could be done prior to pooring cement.



The ladies weeded the garden, 'brick patio' area, and back flower bed. We also went to a few garage sales, shopped for blinds for the dining room and kitchen, and powerwashed the outside of the house. Here's a picture of our garden. Everything is looking great! (From top left to bottom right) We have a cherry tomato plant, garlic, zuchinni, green beans, onions, green peppers, more green beans, big tomato plants and roma tomoato plant, and italian largo.

In Other News

The basement project is not the only thing happening in our lives (though I think Jameson spends most of his spare time thinking about it). The baby starting kicking hard enough to feel it from the outside last Sunday. I love being about to feel the baby move around throughout the day and it's great for Jameson to be able to feel the movement now.

My last day of school for the year was Friday, June 5. My last week was filled with some emotion as some students that I've had in class for two years will be moving to the high school next year. It's been enjoyable to watch them grow over the last two years and I will miss them next year. Hopefully I will be able to keep in touch with some of them to see where their futures lead them. Thankfully, it wasn't the very end of my teaching career. I'm planning to start teaching next year until the baby comes (6 weeks). Then I will be staying home with our precious boy/girl and am looking foward to being able to stay home with our children. I worked Monday and Tuesday at school to finish grades and clean my classroom. Wednesday and Thursday were my two days of summer vacation until middle of July. I enjoyed some time to relax and time to get house work done and mow the yard.

Tomorrow I'm starting a 5 week 'externship' at an local architecture firm. It's a new program through the Iowa Math and Science Coalition to get teachers 'real-world' experiance through a summer internship that they can bring back and use in their classroom. While I would love to start my summer break now, I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to make some money (to help with the basement projects) and gain a unique experiance during my last summer without child-rearing responsibilities.