Deck Update

As you know I have been helping my brother build my mom a new deck. Well this weekend I sliced my thumb open which put me on the DL. I was still able to help some but not as much as I wanted.

Here are some pics of the work that has been done:

All of the posts and joists etc are done for both decks.

 

Next Sat we will add the posts for the handrails/railing and start laying the deck boards. I just hope my thumb is much better by then...

All Hands on Deck!

For Christmas my sister, brother and I decided to give my mom money, young good-looking labor (that's me), and plans to build a new deck.

 

We started digging the holes for the new footers two weeks ago. There are only two inspections that must be done. One is of the holes and the second is the final inspection of the finished deck. I have to say we dug 9 holes and those were some of the best looking holes I have ever dug. My hands however begged that they are never put through that again. Needless to say our holes passed inspection.
Now on to the next phase: pouring the footers.

Last Saturday we rented a portable cement mixer and bought 25 (that's twenty-five!) 80 pound bags of concrete. When you have to move them two or three times they start to feel heavier than 80 pounds. We got all of the footers poured and j bolts installed to support the new posts.
This brings us to phase 2: buying lumber!

Enter Sunday. My brother finished the shopping list and we head over to Menards to buy our materials only to find out we can only rent a standard pick-up truck. We have 16' joists to buy so there is no way the 8' bed on the truck will work. So we do the next logical thing, we call Home Depot to rent their truck. Turns out they will hold it for 30 mins and it has a 10'-12' bed so better but not ideal. Carey and I continue to pick up the mounting brackets etc while Hubby runs over to get the truck only to realize he doesn't have his insurance card on him. Luckily I carry mine in my purse so even though he had to make two trips its better than not having a truck. Just as he finishes the paperwork the same people he saw at Menards walked in to rent the truck!! That was too close for comfort. Once we paid for everything we could go around back to pick up the lumber. They have a huge barn and where we picked out everything we needed. Halfway through loading the truck an alarm goes off. Yes there is a weight limit on the truck! We continued to load while the alarm continues to sound. It wasn't the most annoying sound in the world but once we turned the truck on and put it into drive it went off! We made a total of two trips to get everything.
Which brings up phase 3: DEMO!!!

This is probably the best and most dangerous part. My brother and I start tearing off what's left of the railing. He moves on to the deck boards while I do the treads on the stairs. All of this is gone by the time Tim Tim returns from taking the truck back to Home Depot. (I am pretty sure he took the scenic route.) Once he gets back he is put to work removing the old joists while I take a breather. They finished that and I started removing the carriage bolts on the posts to remove the last bit of framing. We found out the joist hangers were rusted out, the only two posts supporting the deck were half rotten and the ledger board attached to the house was starting to rot. Its a miracle that this thing was standing for 29 years. I did not see us making it through demolition without getting a tetanus shot, surprisingly enough we did!
All preceding phases bring us to phase 4: Rebuilding the deck.

This Saturday and Sunday will consist of lots and lots of framing! Not only are we rebuilding the deck we torn down but we are building her a second lower deck. This will give her a multi-level deck with more space to lounge and relax. 

So far it has been really hard, intense work but the satisfaction of building the deck ourselves is worth it. Just knowing the deck is secure makes me reassured that someone won't fall through when they walk on it. By the time we are finished we will be able to host a large party on the deck and know its not going to budge!

Finally!

We finally finished our tile backsplash! It has been a long process but we did it ourselves. It may not be perfect but neither is our house.

Recently our microwave stopped heating so we just bought a new one. Now we just have to install it. I can imagine that is not going to be fun. That is the last piece to our kitchen. I will be relieved when everything is finished!

Considering we just had to buy a new refrigerator because ours stopped working, I think we will put any other projects on hold temporarily.

The View from Here

I mentioned earlier about several projects that we started but haven't finished. We officially finished Project B (the landscaping)! We bought the plants on Sunday and then planted them Monday night. This took a huge burden off my shoulders. 

Just in case you don't remember what it looked like:

After Removal

Before

Get ready for the big reveal!

 

 It has so much more depth and color than I anticipated. I can't wait to see what it looks like in a few weeks!

Weekend Warriors

Memorial Day weekend we decided to take on not one but two projects.

Project A: Tiling our back splash

We started the whole kitchen remodel project a year an a half ago. The only thing to finish is the back splash. I picked out some tile and an accent piece several times only to go back to my originals.. We started on Monday with the assistance of my mom and have almost completed one wall and part of the other wall. It is slow moving but It looks great! It will be a relief when it is finished.

Project B: Removal and Replacement of hideous bushes

We had 10 hideous Yew bushes. In my opinion they are hideous. With the help of my father-in-law and one of our friends we got them all removed last Saturday. I am so excited to pick out their replacements. Unfortunately our time has been limited.

After

Before

I am glad we have finally started both of these projects, I just wish we would have finished one before starting the other one!

My New Main Squeeze... Kettlebells

As you may or may not know, I recently bought 3 kettlebells. It took some time because I had to convince Tim of their value. I am not sure why because I bought them with my birthday money. Yes, I still get birthday money. I also bought the heavier set in case he wanted to join in the fun. I know super thoughtful of me.

My strength training routine was boring and repetitive. I was not getting the results I expected and thus it was a time for change. I have had my eye on a set of kettlebells for quite some time. I like to sit on a purchase just to make sure its something I really want or need. I picked up my Kettlebells Wednesday night and I also downloaded an exercise routine from the web. I burnt the files to DVD so I could follow along in real time.

I set my alarm for 6:30 AM and went downstairs to warm-up. I popped the DVD in and learned the exercises without weight before I did the full routine loaded. Proper form is very important to avoid injury. Many of the moves involve your lower back, hips, and glutes. Some of the moves were in my previous strength training routine. Some examples are Romanian Dead Lifts, Goblet Squats, and Lunges. There were a few moves that were new to me, High Pulls, Halos, and Sling Shots. I love the new variety of exercises along with the different equipment. The set that I purchased has 3 phases and you stay on each phase for 4 weeks before moving on.

I am not overly sore but nevertheless I do have some muscle soreness. Its just the perfect amount, enough for me to know I worked my muscles efficiently but not so much that I am too sore to exercise tomorrow.  I can't wait to see the results!

29 Years

Yesterday I celebrated my 29th birthday!  Sometimes I can't believe I am almost 30 years old. Sometimes I wish I wasn't this old. There are certain goals I thought I would obtain by the time I reached that milestone but only one really bothers me.
 

I always thought that I would be finished having kids by the time I was 30. Yet here I am at 29 with zero kids and nothing to show for it but a broken heart. I struggle with infertility on a regular basis. I try not to bother tell people about this particular aspect of my life because it is very personal. In some aspects it makes me feel inferior. I know in my heart there is some reason I have not been blessed with a child, but it does not lessen the pain.

We have been trying to get pregnant for about two and a half years. Some of that time has been spent trying to getting a diagnosis (PCOS), and then another diagnosis (high cholesterol). We started with a natural approach before we knew there was a problem and then progressed to a medical approach. The medical approach did not start out kind to me. The side effects of the first drug, clomid, were enough to scare me off for a while so we tried the natural approach again aided by acupuncture. We have been on a break for the last three months because of the high cholesterol which could be from the PCOS. I don't know what caused what or how to fix it. We are where we are for some specific reason.  It doesn't matter that everything to this point has been unsuccessful. We followed our path. We followed our hearts.

 

Although our journey has been rough I would not change our path no matter the outcome.