An Unfiltered Perspective

The pink insulation stays pink even when you cough or sneeze it up. They should change the color so it isn't so obvious where in the body this stuff ends up!

Sometimes it is Nice

Another quick post with some photos of the outside. Still working on the front where the stone goes. That may be another month.


This week is insulation week. Still trying to find a 6ft 4in Oines to help.....


Dad helped with the last loose ends and we should be ready for inspection by Tuesday.



Next big step is moving the sheet rock in. How a two hour job can weigh so heavy on my mind....


Looking forward to the hangers and tapers taking over for a month. It will give me some time for me to rest and the boys a father again.

Siding Finally

Here are a few pictures of the siding details.

We're using 8" hardie plank with hardie panel above.

We are pretty excited about the look and we'll be posting some more photos soon. Please let us know what you think.

A winner.... Finally!

Only uncle Kurt will understand this post. My quest to buy a range hood on Ebay for a bargain has ended sucessfully.

We went out on a limb style wise with this purchase. Now we have a sleek modern range hood, nice cherry cabinets, cultured stone, prefinished siding and an increasingly blurry picture of how it will all look together.

All were bargain deals of course...

Not Enough Time

A quick update.

Since the last post, our immensely talented electrician has finished the rough in and also solved all possible variations of problems that could occur while plugging in any appliance (including a welder) or turning on the lights.

We took a break and went to NY to visit Naomi's parents and family so we have had a couple weeks off from the project and the materials we had on order have piled up while we were gone.

The next big push will be siding which the bulk gets delivered tomorrow. I look forward to getting some up and then updating the photos to get some feedback. We'll be doing something different with hardi panel and am nervous that it may flop. I also am pretty nervous about the stone veneer. It looks simple enough but it will be a big job.

We also need to coax our plumber back on the job. His fishing season sounded really busy and he is wanting a bit of a break before starting his off season work. This fits OK with our schedule. It has been a new experience to not push through a project but actually hold back and slow down. Naomi has me on a TWTh night and a S and 1/2Su day schedule for the duration. This has something to do with the high demand for my parenting and husbandry (can be interpreted both ways) skills.

Photos are coming. Hang in there.

Portland Frenzy

Thanks to Cliff Skillings at AML for making our vacation a frantic buying spree. His help setting up a good price for a 20' container lured us in to fulfilling our hope to check off some major purchases while visiting Faith, Aaron, Jack and little Zoey.

We easily found our cultured stone veneer for the exterior with great service from the folks at Rock-On. The pricing and service was exceptional. We ended up purchasing the Coal Canyon Weathered Edge Ledgestone. It should blend well with the roof and both siding colors.

The excitment of visiting the cabinet store kept me up the first night when we arrived. Waking early, we made it in time for the store opening Saturday morning and quickly assessed the available cabinet sets. With only a few that fit our kitchen configurartion, We settled on a Diamond Cabinet in the Cherry Bayport door style. What sold us on this set was the incredible options. It has two super cabinets and a deep dish lazy susan corner. The all plywood construction tipped the scales.

We also picked up the butcher block counter top from IKEA along with some nice hardware pieces and two more of the Klud glass noteboards which we have been using as backsplashes for our kitchen stoves. Tempered, obscured and totally cleanable. A great adaptive product.

The most exciting purchase was Naomi's new Yamaha motor scooter. 115 miles to the gallon!

Garage Door

I have spent too much time and finally chose the garage door I would like. It is extruded aluminum with obscured, tempered, and insulated glass.

Naomi has her concerns. Two of them actually... Nathan and Tyler.

We may have to pave our driveway just to limit the supply of rocks that fit small hands.

The way I see it, it will be easier to fix glass than pull dents out of an aluminum door.

Let us know what you think!