Spring 2015 Recap

STRESS. Mostly cat stress. That was the theme last spring. Pet lovers, you will understand 100%.

There was so much going on that it was hard to get a handle on it all at times but we managed.  Semester 2 of Grad school kicked into high gear, Cheeto had surgery to remove the cat version of kidney stones, Chester had major surgery on his leg to correct luxating patella's (basically moving knee caps which is super rare in cats), our first house was being built, on and on. Basically whenever there was a moment where we could have some fun and unwind, we did! Chester's surgery was crazier that we imagined so when he was fully recovered after SEVERAL months, we were ready to relax.

 

 

 A band we knew from Raleigh, American Aquarium, played in Jacksonville so we went up for the night and enjoyed ourselves! They were playing in a small venue, Jack Rabbits, and we met up with some friends for the night. Give them a listen for sure.

Discovered a new-to-us disc golf course. 

Part of Chester's recovery was that he couldn't jump up and down from places in the house. UMMM...do you know what cats love to do? During the day he had to wear a cone and we had to get steps to help him walk up and down places safely. We got a set of stairs for the bedroom since he slept with us so much and my principal at the time gave us another set for the couch...MUCH better than the suitcases! He was so happy...and so were we!

Definitely enjoyed some gorgeous sunsets!

 Since Chester insists on helping with my grad work, we had to move the stairs in the office every time I was working or he would try and jump up on the desk. Ridiculous mess.

 

Pretty sure he learned a lot about administration:

 

 Until it was time to nap again.

 Added some new art to our walls!

 

Captured some brotherly love from Cheeto after a long time of hissing & being crated. It was crazy how much he hated the cone on Chester & the smell he had for quite some time due to the surgery/stiches. He was also mad because he didn't have a play buddy so he was bored and caused quite the ruckus instead. QUITE the ruckus.

 

 Enjoyed the beach, chopped my hair.

 

Kayaked some new places.

Got the most hilarious gift from one of my students (which I really wanted to do some days)!

 

Saw some Gator baseball before they made it to the CWS and placed 3rd in the Nation! Go Gators!

HOME SWEET HOME

PHEW...what a journey this has been to even see my BLOG again! I am thrilled to finally have time to get back at it and share some of our favorite life moments with y'all. Well here's our beloved Home Sweet Home post! We moved back in July 2015 and have LOVED living here. I still pull in the driveway and think we are arriving at someone else's home!

 

From signing our construction contract to our final closing, it was quite the experience. I'm glad we had no clue what we were getting into with building our first home FROM SCRATCH because I'm not sure I'd do it again! (well...now that I do know we are more prepared...so maybe). I am not the most decisive person so having to make thousands of decisions - some that I didn't even know existed - was really tough but SO worth it. I was also fortunate last year to work 5 minutes from our new neighborhood and be able to stop by several times a week and really see how our home was evolving over the course of a few short months. 

 

Construction contract signing day & celebration at Swamp Head!

 

Photo shoot on the land before it's cleared: 

 

Land is cleared! 

 

 

Face Timing with Clay to show him the progress: 



Foundation is poured!

 

Framing - where it really starts coming to life.



 

 

Trusses & Walls!

 

Closing in the roof

 

Packing up our rental...the last time for a long time!

 

Ductwork!

 

Master bath tub

 

Master shower

 

 

Electrical! 

 

ROOF IS ON!



Prepping for hardy board siding

 

Insulation

 

Mom & Dad Face Time! 

SIDING!

 

Front windows - one of my favorite parts!

 

Getting ready for the walls!

 

 

Walls make SUCH a huge difference! I remember being so amazed walking in this day.

 



 

Master Suite

 

Kitchen

 

Pantry, Guest Bath and Guest Rooms

 

TRIM and our interior PAINT!

 

Kitchen cabinets

 

Kitchen accent wall

 

Dining accent wall

 

Bathroom accent wall

 

Custom front door

 

Tree removal

Master suite - tray ceilings & crown molding

 

Painting complete, crown molding, trim, doors

 

I just love that contrast and pop of clean white lines. 

 

Kitchen 

 

Light Fixtures and fans:

 

Island lighting

 

Dining room light fixture

 

FLOORS!!!

 

 

Exterior paint and trim

Master bath double vanity

 

GRANITE COUNTERTOPS

 

Kitchen, shower, & bathroom tile. This step took me FOREVER to put together. I probably went to Lowe's and Home Depot a dozen times pulling out granite, tile, floor, and cabinet samples and laying them all over the floor until I could decide 100%. #firstworldproblemsy'all

 

Back patio

Master vanity

 

Laundry room/storage

 

House Numbers

 

Vanity in!

 

Appliances

Shower tile work

 

Patio pavers extension: SO glad we went ahead and had this done instead of trying to do it ourselves!

Master bath tile work

 

Landscaping

 

Surprise! Our very own palm tree - this was a must have & our builder surprised us with it!

READY FOR MOVING DAY! Cheeto wanted to make sure he was packed.

Thankfully we have amazing friends! HUGE shout out to Heidi, Luke, Dustin, Gilberto, John, & Chelsea to help us move into our home. We love you all!

WELCOME HOME!

 

The babies settled in really quickly!

Our sweet new neighbor Nicole brought over cookies!

 

Dad's awesome work at an antenna attempt...signal was too far...bummer. 

 

Mini-housewarming cookout!

Kareoke

Updated board from The Fullers

Curtains and preliminary furniture placement. Many changes have taken place but you get the idea!

 

A garage that holds all our gear!

 

Mirrors up!

pre-porch

post-porch

 

 

So that was the process of our first home! It's still surreal coming here everyday. We are so blessed and thankful for being able to make our home exactly what we wanted it to be with our first one!

 

We love visitors! What are you waiting for?