We've got to clean out the camper!

I'm sure that everyone has the same stories and the same pics from this awful storm, but we all like to share our experiences just the same. So, here is our story............

Justin hasn't slept in his own bed since Monday night! He left early Monday morning for a TX trip. (Check his blog for the latest post about that.) I was really uneasy about him going on this trip since I knew the weather was going to be bad between here and there. I am normally not uneasy about him going on trips over night (actually to tell the truth we both look forward to him going on an overnight trip once in a while!), but for some reason I wasn't looking forward to him going. Probably because I knew it could be several days before he could get back home. He did get to come home on Wednesday (thank goodness). We were out of school on Tuesday as a precaution. About 7 that night I headed to my parents house. I knew that if the power went out at Ron & Jill's all they have is the wood fireplace and I didn't want to impose on them any more than we already are. My parents have gas heat and tend to be very overly prepared for power outages. They live out in the country and the power goes out pretty often out there. I spent the next four nights at their house. Justin came out and stayed there too once he got home. On Thursday we went all over town and to Trumann looking for lamp oil and D batteries. We like everyone else in the area were in need of those things and of course couldn't find them anywhere. We did however find the cutest welcome bear for the house and a coleman camp stove to replace the one of my dad's that wasn't working so well. It was the last stove in the store. We got there just ahead of another man and I think he was a little irrtated that we took it and didn't let him have it. We finally found the lamp oil and batteries in Memphis!!! We had to run over and look at some flooring so the hunt continued on there. The Wal-Mart in Germantown had coleman kerosene (lamp oil) for the lamps and we found batteries at the Bass Pro there. The Bass Pro was completely wiped out of every camping supply they had! Saturday we spent the night at our friend's Keith & Denise's house. And we are now staying with Joslyn and Aaron. We feel like gypsies! We have been living out of the jeep and a suitcase for days now. Justin looked at me Saturday night and said, "Courtney, we have got to clean out this camper!" The jeep doesn't make the best camper, but we are making the best of what we've got til the power is back on at Ron & Jill's. A huge thanks to those that have taken us in this last week. We really do appreciate it!

Here are some pictures of what it was like at our house:

(Did anyone notice that there is felt on our house?!!!!! Our metal was supposed to come in for the roof last week sometime, but we haven't heard anything about that.)

Here is a glimpse of what it was like at my parents house:





As you can see they really do live out in the country with ALOT of trees! The have one lone tree that didn't loose any branches. Their place is going to take all year to clean up. Some of it will probably never get cleaned up. They still don't have power either.

Well, I guess that is the best and the worst of Winter Blast 2009 for us!

Lots of progress

Since the last post a lot of progress has been made. With the rafters finished the dormers were built. As you can see this made Courtney pretty happy.

With those done and some decking on the roof, you can really see what the house will look like now.

In the last post, I mentioned that the master bedroom was a little smaller than I like. Well, that was when the dormer wall extended into the room a bit farther than it actually had to. We were able to change that and it added quite a bit of usable space to the room. In this picture, I laid a piece of wood down so that you can see where the wall was vs. where it is now. Its not a huge amount of space, but it was amazing how much that opened up the room.
I just had to get up and see how steep the roof really is. It is REALLY steep.

More to come soon!

Thats REALLY high!

I guess he is not scared of heights!

It is looking more and more like a house these days. The framers we hired (best investment so far) have really been moving quickly. It is really nice to see the house with rafters on it because now we can really get a feel for how it is going to look. So far we are pretty happy with how things are turning out with one exeption, our bedroom. It is not bad, but it got a little smaller than we would have liked. Thats not too big of a problem for us though because we really don't figure we will need that much space in there. There is luckily a lot of room everywhere else!

Here is a look at the back

You can see the rafters going on the front over the loft area in this pic. Lifting that rafter into position with no floor under it makes this a pretty difficult task. I don't think the guys were too happy about doing this.

One more shot of the back.

more progress

We finally finished framing the first floor of our house. Since then, we have made a lot of progress. Of course it has been a little chilly outside......

I'm sure I will get in trouble for that one.

After finishing the interior walls for the first floor we had to remove the tonges that are on the top of the logs so that we could set the floor for the second. (When I said we could set I mean we could have the framers that we hired set) We tried several methods to take them off but the best I found was to use a reciprocating saw. After a lot of up and down on the ladder and that is finally done.
Once we were finished we were ready for the framers. I am very impressed so far with our framers. They actually started Tuesday. They were knocking ice off of lumber so that they could use it. Those were miserable conditions and these three guys were working at a pace I could only dream of. They finished out the top plates on the 1st floor walls and then got right to setting the floor joists.

With all of the floor joists set they built a temporary stair case and then started laying the floor material.
It was pretty cool to stand in our loft and look over into the living room!

Top floor walls and roof coming soon!

Happy Thanksgiving! Have some turkey - and an update.

We, like everyone else have been very busy the last couple of weeks with ballgames and holiday etc. So we have not been able to work quite as much as we hoped. We are almost done with the interior walls now though. We just have to build a couple of closets and the first floor framing will be done. Not much else new so here are some pics of whats done now.

Here is the view from just inside our front door, looking right towards the living room.

This is the view from the hallway looking towards the front door and the living room.

Same position as the last picture but looking towards the back of the House. Dining and Kitchen in the forground. The door goes into the laundry room and then way in the back you can see the door going into the garage.

New Blog

Okay I just wanted to plug my other new blog at http://shipleylogbook.blogspot.com . Give it a look and let me know what you think.

Bloging priveliges revoked

Courtney's blogging privilages are hereby revoked for failure to maintain current information and deriliction of blogger duties. I will be maintaining the upshipleycreek blog until such time as she proves her ability to keep updates forthcoming.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, on with the update!

Last week I finished laying logs. This process took longer than I expected, but I think the finished product is worth it.

From the Front

From the Rear

Last week also involved the installation of our septic system.

The septic install also cleared out our back yard quite a bit. Actually they took out more trees than I expected but the end result is nice. Now I just have to get some grass started.

This week began the construction of the interior walls for the first floor. With any luck that should go fairly quickly.

While it has been frustrating at times, I am having fun with this project and I am learning a lot. I promise more frequent updates as progress continues!

Justin