Sunday, March 30, 2008

We've got wood!



They delivered our first batch of wood this weekend and they are scheduled to start the framing on Monday! We should start seeing walls on Thursday if everything goes according to plan. So it will be a very exciting week. Our framer told us we should have a completed first floor in two weeks!. So things are really starting to pick up pace and we will soon have a house!

My projects this week include picking all of our lighting and finalizing our appliances. So check back this week because I am sure I will post pictures and ask for your opinions.

We hope everyone has a great week!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter 2008

We hope everyone had a great Easter!! This year we had a very relaxing Easter with the family. Chris' parents came up from the bay area and my family came over for lunch and an egg hunt. Some of the highlights were: Westin using his truck to gather eggs, the kids new bubble blowing guns, playing rock Band with the family and just being able to spend time with everyone!! Here is some of my favorite shots from the day.

Our completed Foundation


Here it is the foundation of our new home!! Chris and I have already spent a few hours walking it and visualizing what the rooms are going to be like!! We are hoping the the CMU wall in the backyard will be done this week so they can pour the final footings for our covered patio and then they can start framing. If we are lucky they may start putting walls together this week. So, as always keep posted!!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Chris' 80's theme 30th Birthday

This past weekend was Chris' 30th birthday and all he wanted for his birthday was an 80's party so what was I to do? Throw him a fabulous (if I might say so) 80's bash. We had the most awesome time!!! We want to thank everyone for being such great sports and really getting into costume! It was great to see all of the creative outfits. A big shout out goes to Ryan for having the best overall costume, to Chris A for the best look a like (magnum forever!!), Tori for the best use of hairspray (those bangs were rockin' but you left your prize) and finally to Keri for the best dance moves of the night!!! Chris is already planning his next theme party so stay tuned.
And a huge thank you to Mike and Emily for all of their help- you guys rock!!!

Here is just a glimpse of the evening!!!

we have a foundation!!


This is a little overdue but on Monday at 7am they began pouring our foundation. Of course Chris and I were there to watch the whole process. It was crazy because as we were driving up the hill to get to the lot you could see the cement pumper. It was a pretty cool site because the sun was just rising when they began pouring the slab. It took 9 trucks to do the entire slab!! They did a great job and it looks perfect.



Last night Chris and I went up there because we could finally walk our home. It feels gigantic!! It is pretty exciting because now we can really see where the rooms will be and where all of our doors are. I forgot my camera so tonight when we ride our bikes up there (I am still waiting for people to want to join us!!) I will take pictures of the finished project.

This week they are finishing up our retaining wall- we didn't want to risk them using the big crane once the house was built. They are also finishing the CMU wall so we can start to see the different levels of our backyard.

Hopefully next week they will start the framing!!!

Friday, March 14, 2008

WOW... 2 posts in one day

House update....wow what a difference a week makes. We have footings, they have done the pest treatment and they put up some of our steel beams. it looks great. On Monday they will be pouring our foundation. Chris and I are going to be there when they start at 7am so that we can see it happen and also so we can make our mark!! Here are the most updated pics.





PS- we now do almost nightly bike rides up to see the progress so if you ever want to join us let me know!! That hill will guarantee a great workout!!!

Where do we start?? Our impromptu vacation!

If you couldn't guess where we were we were at Disneyland!!! Chris and I were invited to LA on Friday to hear Tony Blair speak. What an incredible public speaker. We were so lucky to have been invited to this. I really feel like it was a once in a lifetime thing and am so excited that we got to be part of it. He has such passion for the world and changing it. I left very inspired.

After hearing Tony speak it was off to Anaheim for the weekend. Chris and I have only been to Disneyland one other time- a great trip with my family. However, it was SO crowded last time that we didn't get the whole disney experience. So this time we woke up really early on Saturday and waited in line for the park to open. As soon as those gates opened we ran-like little kids- to the biggest rides- space mountain, the matterhorn, and splash mountain. We were so lucky because the longest we had to wait was 5 minutes. It is worth getting there right when it opens.


We then headed off to try the new ride- Finding Nemo. My reviews- the ride is ok. You get in a submarine and float around a lagoon and watch clips from the film. Not to exciting and a little clasterphobic!! Plus the line was HUGE!!

After that we said goodbye to Disney and headed to California adventure!!! I LOVE CA adventure. We soared through CA, did the screaming roller coaster and dropped down the tower of terror (my favorite ride!!) Because tower of terror is my favorite ride we had to get fast pass tickets so we could it again and again.


Once the line got long, and yes they sure did get long, we headed to the California Pier and sat back and watched the sun set over disneyland. Another great feature of CA adventure is they serve adult beverages!! It was so relaxing to be in a quiet area, no strollers running you over, and sipping on a cool refreshing mojito!!



By dinner time, the park was a zoo and so was downtown disney. We waited in line for over 1.5 hours to eat at a pizza place!! Crazy...but it was good pizza.

then it was back off to Disney to prepare for the night parades, water show and fireworks. What great shows...fanatasia is spectacular and the fireworks are awsome.

All and all we were at Disneyland for a total of 14 hours!!! I have to admit we were done with disney!!!


We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing on the beach in Newport and then headed to Santa Ana so Chris could go to work on Monday.

It was a great mini vacation and we have satisfied our Disney craving for a long time!!!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Blog on Vacation

We will be on vacation Friday through Monday. Check back Tuesday for updates and photos!!! Here is a little hint on where in the world we are!!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

We passed!!

We had 2 inspections today and we passed both!!! Our plumbing is looking good and the prep work for the footings was perfect. What does this mean??? Well, tomorrow they will treat the footings with a termite treatment and then on Friday they will pour our footings!! We will actually have the first building block of our home. We are still hoping that our foundation will be poured in the middle of next week. So keep those fingers crossed that this beautiful weather will stay. I will update with pictures once we have footings!!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Look at all this action!



Today was a busy day up at the lot. There were about 20 people there working hard-plumbing, footings, digging the trenches for one of our CMU walls. I have to say I was very excited to see all of the hard work. It looks like the weather is going to cooperate this week and things will continue to move forward. So stay tuned for more updates throughout the week.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

My Hubby!!!!

We didn't have a lot to blog about this week regarding the house. The weather finally got better and the plumbing ditches dried out. So next week they will be putting the plumbing in, the steal beams will be delivered and the framers will start preparing for the framing. It finally feels like this house is going to get moving!!! So hopefully for all die-hard blog readers this blog will get more exciting!!

But until that happens I thought I would respond to a tag I got from my friend Keri. As you will see it is about your hubby-and since he has had a very long week I thought I would take a moment to share how great he is!!!


here it goes..
1. What is his name? Chris
2. How long have you been married? The best 2 years, 5 months and 24 days but who's counting!!
3. How long did you date? let see here...this question is up for debate...for all of you that were at our wedding you heard the debate. Chris thinks we started dating before we actually did!!! So I will say we dated 2.5 years
4. Who eats more sweets? Me for sure!!! Chris says he is not a sweets guy but put a piece of cheesecake in front of him and it will be gone.
5. Who said I love you first? Chris...on a trip to Santa Monica...
6. Who is taller? Chris
7. Who can sing better? I think its a good toss up-anyone that has been to our kareoke parties knows that we love to sing duets!! We usually butcher the song but have a great time doing it...but I have to say Chris' air guitar skills and knee slide are top notch!
8. Who is smarter? A think it is a tie!
9. Who does the laundry? Oh our biggest headache subject...I hate laundry, Chris hates laundry. I usually do it during the day and he helps me put it away when he gets home. But we have decided that if we ever when the lottery we will hire someone to do it for us!
10. Who pays the bills? Me.
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Chris...right now it is the closest to the door so I make him sleep there!
12. Who cooks dinner? I do..Keri, I am with you if anything ever happens to me please make sure Chris doesn't live on Raleys chinese food!!
13. Who drives? Ha-ha!! this isn't even up for debate. Chris. It is his passion!! So now he just puts up with my backseat driving or as I like to call it "his navigator" telling him what to do.
14. Who is more stubborn?It depends on the day.
15. Who kissed who first? We are not 100% sure on this one but I am going to give it to Chris.
16. Who asked who out first? Chris after 2 years of waiting!! Man he is lucky I stuck around!
17. Who proposed? Chris...and I am lucky he did because I was not being the nicest person that day!!
18. Who wears the pants? (chuckle) doesn't every woman?! :)

I am going to tag my friends Jen W and Amy B.