Tuesday, October 31, 2006

My 10 Names

I'd love you to all participate! Copy and paste this into the comments and fill it out yourself! Enjoy!

1. YOUR DRAG QUEEN/KING NAME: (first pet & current street/road name)
Salty Yankee

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor & favorite cookie)
Toffee Chip Ginger Snap

3. YOUR "SOOPER FLY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
jsch

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Red Beagle

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Dawn Stafford

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, last 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Schja Wal

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The")
The Purple Vanilla Soda

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Keith Donald

9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne)
Sunflowers

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (grandmother & grandfather's middle name)
Irene Franklin

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Electric and other things . . .

I haven't updated much recently because things have slowed down considerably. Andrew started to work on the electric this weekend, despite the fact he is fighting a cold. I think he will recover quickly, as it seems to not be severe. I'm doing my best not to catch it (although, I've always caught his colds!) because I'm singing at Monroe Presbyterian next Sunday.

Our siding guy was pushed back another week, due to rain delays. That's fine since it is giving Andrew an opportunity to recover and finish this class he is in, while working slowly on the electric. He is also going to have to fix the stairs (they don't fit but were build to plan, we're not sure what happened) and frame in one more door upstairs to some attic space. I don't think we'll be in by Christmas now, but that's ok. I appreciate all the money we're saving by him doing the work.

I taught Sunday School this morning. It was a little tiring as I had to put my one sweet heart in time-out FOUR times! The lady who helped me, told me I did a great job with this girl, after the hour was over, even though I didn't feel things went well.

Well, that's it for now. I'm off to enjoy the last few remaining hours of the weekend!!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

More pictures. . . finally

Yeah! Blogger is being wonderful tonight, imagine that! So, I am able to post lots and lots of pictures! Enjoy!

The beautiful tree in our neighbors yard!


The back sliding door is now installed. Wayne and Andrew figure out how to fix the crack at the top (so they can nail in the door)! They fixed it, of course.


The back of the house.


The view out of the double window in the upstairs bedroom. That window was a bear to install. I wasn't dragging it up the ladder but I was inside, scared to death!



Looking out one of the front dormers.


The view out of the upstairs bathroom window (it's small and high so you can't see in, really).


View of the house with all the windows installed!


Installing the door from the mud room to the back yard.


The view into the garage. All the windows and doors are waiting to be installed.


Dewey gets a hug from me (Jaime). I look a little psycho in this picture but there are others that are worse (believe it or not).


Downstairs back bedroom window is installed.


Looking into the mud room, then laundry room, from the kitchen door.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Who wants what?

After recently joining the myspace online community, I begun to reconnect with old friends that I haven't thought about in years. It has been good, in a way. It was at least, reminded me that I have friends. It has also gotten me thinking about Sterling and our life there. I know that it has all changed now, many of my best friends (and co-workers) are gone, and the atmosphere has changed. I've heard this time and again. This doesn't stop me from missing what we had there.

However . . . . . I have felt lately that some people would prefer us to live Kansas. Many times this idea hurts my feelings. I feel as if I have sacrificed living far away from my family, and that is not appreciated. It also makes me feel as if I am not well liked (worst feeling ever). Anyway, this idea kept me up a little bit last night. I also do like it here! I love our church and the caring community there. I love my Sunday school kids and my fellow teachers. I love my job and the people here. I love our new house and the location. I love the "build-in" family that Andrew's family has provided for us. This is a good "country in or close to the city" type of area. I am able to take advantage of things, such as May Festival, while still driving by farms every day. Anyway, moving on . . .

The roof on our house is being finished today. My past two day's lunch breaks have been spent driving to the roofing distributor (down in Lockland) to pick up extra supplies and also PAY for them. Argh! I'm sick of spending money even though I know it is on a fabulous new house. Anyway, today, I drove down, picked up ridge caps, drove up to our house, dropped them off, and made it back to work, all in about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I owe the church a little make up time. Andrew should be able to start working on the electric work, as soon as his class slows down a bit. He's got a final test, a final paper, and a power point presentation due soon. I'm trying to be patient. The siding guy is scheduled to start next Monday. I'm now hoping for drywall around the 17th of November. We're also contemplating installing the insulation ourselves, to save money . . . of course. I should have time to post lots more fun pictures tonight, if I think of it. I'm really enjoying this lull in the house building. I can't imagine what I'll feel like when it's all done and I don't have to deal with it anymore!! Yeah! I planted some bulbs (by the mailbox) and a bag of grass seed this past weekend. Just in time, as I think the first hard frost hit this morning.

I have also developed a new reaction to stress. My normal reaction to stress: weight gain and yes, I know it is from eating too much. Now, I have discovered that I have an eyebrow twitch above each eye. For a while I thought it might be my diet (which has been so incredibly terribly bad bad bad) but recently I've improved my diet and now both eyebrow's are twitching! I guess twitching is better than weight gain. I have noticed several sweaters are smaller than they were last year. Hmm, must have shrunk in the cold barn storage! :) I can't wait to go back on the Jaime's southbeach diet and buy myself an exercise machine (I've got half the money saved away in my underwear drawer, I'm sure you wanted to know that). Wow, this is an incredibly long blog. I'd better get to work on Sunday's attendance! All for now folks!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

What's in a name?

Take this little test and find out how popular your name is. I'd love to hear the results in my comments! :) Hopefully more lovely pictures will appear tonight. We had a few flurries yesterday, so I'm glad the house is up and roof is on!


HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere is:
1
person with my name
in the U.S.A.

how/'>http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

Monday, October 23, 2006

Windows and Doors are in!

The windows and doors are in, thanks to my husband and father-in-law. I have more pictures than this but not much time to post. I'll just put a few on there. Enjoy!

*Sorry, blogger is being a pain this morning and this pictures are big to upload. I'll try to do more tonight after lessons but I've got to get ready for work now. So, only one picture loaded. It's of our new back door, which I think is beautiful! Enjoy!



Thursday, October 19, 2006

65 Things about Me

I'd love to have any of you copy and paste this into my comments and fill it out for yourselves. The more the merrier!

1)Name: Jaime

2) Birthday: 05/03/1982

3) Birthplace: St. John, Kansas

4) Current Location: Mason, Ohio

5) Eye Color: Depends on what I'm wearing

6) Hair Color: Brown

7) Height: 5'3"

8) Right Handed or Left Handed: Right Handed

9) Your Heritage: Mostly German. Does Kansan count?

10) The Shoes You Wore Today: My black serious shoes.

11) Your Weakness: Sweets!

12) Your Fears: Hmm, losing my loved ones, I guess. I really work on not being afraid of much.

13) Your Perfect Pizza: Pepperoni, sausage and extra cheese.

14) Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: Set up a recital for my voice students to perform in (get them ready for it!!).

15) Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger: Don't IM a lot anymore

16) Thoughts First Waking Up: Depends on the day, today: "Is our house done yet? *sinking feeling* no, it's not. Then "God help me!!" :)

17) Your Best Physical Feature: Depends on the day? I don't know hair, or teeth, I guess!

18) Your Bedtime: Depends on the day. Usually by 11:00 pm

19) Your Most Missed Memory: College days (friends, choir, being romanced and serenaded by Andrew), the year I roomed with Sarah in McCreery!

20) Pepsi or Coke: Neither. The only pop I drink is Root Beer.

21) McDonalds or Burger King: Neither. Not a big fast food person. If I were desperate, McDonalds.

22) Single or Group Dates: Group dates were always more fun since Andrew doesn't really like to talk and I do!!!

23) Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Neither. I only drink fresh brewed tea now, the rest is gross (I'm tea spoiled, thanks to my in-law's tearoom)

24) Chocolate or Vanilla: Depends on the desert. Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate brownies (a little caramel never hurt, either)

25) Cappuccino or Coffee: I barely drink cappuccino . . only if it is very sugary!

26) Do you Smoke: No

27) Do you Sing: Yes! Every day!

28) Do you Shower Daily: Yes!

29) Have you Been in Love: Have been and still am!

30) Do you want to go to College: I've already done that, so probably not anymore.

31) Do you want to get Married: I've also done that so . . . no not again! :)

32) Do you believe in yourself: Not very often.

33) Do you get Motion Sickness: I never have before.

34) Do you think you are Attractive: Rarely

35) Are you a Health Freak: I try to be but am having a difficult time right now!

36) Do you get along with your Parents: Yes, very well.

37) Do you like Thunderstorms: Yes, as long as they don't damage anything.

38) Do you play an Instrument: Yes, clarinet and a little piano.

39) In the past month have you Drank Alcohol: Yes, I tried a raspberry thingy at my aunt-in-law's house. About two sips. Too strong for me!

40) In the past month have you Smoked: No

41) In the past month have you been on Drugs: No

42) In the past month have you gone on a Date: Yes, I can count the marriage
Rendezvous we attended.

43) In the past month have you gone to a Mall: Um, yes, to pick out our appliances at Sears but other than that I haven't been in over a year.

44) In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos: No, I'm not a huge fan of packaged or processed desserts.

45) In the past month have you eaten Sushi: Not in the last month, but I actually like it! Hmm, we should do that soon.

46) In the past month have you been on Stage: Umm, no, don't think so. Not since May Fest finished.

47) In the past month have you been Dumped: Nope

48) In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping: No, not since high school! :)

49) In the past month have you Stolen Anything: No

50) Even been drunk: No

51) Ever been called a Tease: Only by my hubby

52) Ever been Beaten up: Only by my own body. My ankles give out a lot and I fall. . . a lot.

53) Ever Shoplifted: Nope, never.

54) How do you want to Die: Working in a garden, in my sleep, but definitely before my husband. I don't want to live without him!

55) What do you want to be when you Grow Up: A mom, a singer, perhaps a professional organizer.

56) What country would you most like to Visit: Next on my list is Italy. It might be a while before we travel to Europe again! :(

In a Boy/Girl:

57) Favourite Eye Color: Girl and boy: Blue

58) Favourite Hair Color Girl and boy: red or blond

59) Short or Long Hair: Short

60) Best Clothing Style: Don't know. For a boy, I like Carol's perfect man outfit.

61) Number of Drugs I have taken: I don't take drugs (recreation or medicinal).

62) Number of CDs I own: Hmm, maybe about 50 or so.

63) Number of Piercings: Four (two in each ear)

64) Number of Tattoos: None!

65) Number of things in my Past I Regret: Not kissing my dad "goodbye" on my wedding day. I still get a little teary thinking about that.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Long time . . . no post!

Sorry for the gap in between posts. For some people a month is a long gap, but several days is a long time for me, especially with this house. We have been struggling with a few sub contractors charging more than they had originally said. One guy has a (sort of) legitimate reason, so we are paying him a little extra, but I've got our consultant checking into the other one. I just get extra stressed, as I'm sure anyone would, if things go over budget, even a little bit. We aren't putting anything extravegant in this house (at least we think so) so I'm hoping out budget will even out pretty soon. This is a good test for me, to be able to trust that God has our best in store, even if I have to spend money, which is a hard thing for me to do. We've been able to cut many things out of our budget, but we were hoping those would be savings on the total cost of the house, not covering overbudget items from other subcontractors.

We are currently still working on installing windows and doors, and roughing in plumbing and HVAC. The siding guy said he would be able to start on the 30th and it will take him a week to finish. This timing sets us back a week but it is good for Andrew, so he will have more time to finish the windows/doors and the finish the electric. These things all have to be done before we insullate or drywall because we have to pass a county inspection first. We may not pass on the first try so I'm not getting my hopes up for drywall until the 2nd or 3rd week of November. Andrew is (thankfully) taking the next class off, since he will have lots of projects to finish next month on the house (cabinets, trim, and some flooring). We are hoping to be in our house, with a nice little office set up for him, by the time his next class starts. That's all for now.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Weekend Pictures

On Thursday night, I decided to clean all of the burnable material out of our dumpster (cardboard and lumber). I was alone at the house. When I went to get out, I realized I was stuck! Thankfully Andrew came along soon.


Windows are in the garage!

Looking toward the car from the front porch.


Installing the front door!


The front door is in!

The front door (closed).

Don't the shingles and windows look nice?! I'll take a closer picture of the shingle color (Thunderstorm Gray) which we LOVE!

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband! I'm so thankful for you and all the hard work you do for me, even on your birthday (he installed three windows and our front door). I hope you had a wonderful birthday and I look forward to celebrating many more with you!!

Friday, October 13, 2006

Friday the 13th

I haven't been out to our house today but I assume that the roofing is working, the HVAC guy is working, and the plumber is working. I believe they are all done framing (until we tell them what to fix). The windows are supposed to be delivered tonight and Andrew will start installing them tonight. I am so excited to have windows!!

And last, but not least . . . Happy birthday to my mother-in-law, Susan, and my aunt-in-law, Linda.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Roof

Andrew called from our house at noon and said that the front side of the garage roof has been shingled! I'm so excited. I wish I could have gone to see it at lunch today but I just can't drive over there every day. Hopefully it will be looking much different by the end of the weekend with shingles and hopefully a few windows installed! I'll post pictures soon!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Roofer Ramblings

I'm sure you are all dying to find out what happened with our roofing situation, right?! :) He He! Well, I'll tell you anyway. I called a company that was recommended to me by a family member. This family member's company had stopped using this roofer because of quality issues with their work but the roofer had done a good job on their house. So, I decided to just call and see what kind of pricing we could get. We met a guy out at our house at noon and he gave us a decent price. Later, when the head dude called me, he said that there was no way they could do it for that low of price. I talked to him until I was blue in the face but he wouldn't come down (his suggested price was still very good and lower than I thought I would get). Our consultant recommended that I call the original roofing company, Nord, and see if they would come down on their price, once they heard who got the bid and how much they were charging. So, that is what I did. Nord is the company we originally wanted but were just two pricey. They had only knocked off $200 from the original price for all of Andrew's work. Let's just say after a long day of negotiations I got Nord to lower their price to match the other roofer's price! If you didn't understand any of that just know that . . . it all worked out the way we wanted it to!

Today we have HVAC and plumbers still working on roughing in pipes and duct work. The framers should be out today or tomorrow to finish framing up the mud room and laundry room. The windows are going to be delivered on Friday, so hopefully Andrew will have some time to get them put in this weekend. We don't want them to get stolen, so we are pondering tricky ways to hide them or possibly keep them in Wayne and Susan's shop for safety. We'll see what happens. Andrew should be able to begin the electric next week and the siding guy is probably going to come out in the middle of next week. Hopefully, we'll be able to seal everything up there soon. It keeps on moving quickly!

Monday, October 09, 2006

More Pictures from 10-7-06

My apologies, these are not in order. I'm having such a struggle with Blogger Beta right now that I'm just happy these will be posted at all, even if they aren't in order. Things continue to move right along with the house. The septic was mostly installed today (waiting on an inspection). The rough in plumbing and HVAC go in tomorrow. We only have two things we are dealing with right now. We are trying to find someone to finish the roofing (and save us time) for a decent price. I have a call into someone hopeful. I should know more tomorrow. And . . . our stairs are wrong. There is an extra "step" or technical term being "tread." I had the step guy out today to see what he could see. He said he'd check with the guy who built them and get back to me. They won't pass code the way they are built right now, so we are hoping that if fixed quickly and that the framers won't charge us extra to install that a second time! :0

If we find someone to do the roof for the price we want, things will continue to progress rapidly and Andrew could be installing the windows sometime soon. If we can't find anyone, Andrew will continue with the roofing project until it is complete. We think that might set us back two to three weeks. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Ok, now on to the pictures.

Nick handing Wayne a board. Nick did get on the roof but my camera battery died before that. Just wanted to make mention, since Nick witnessed me carrying packs of shingles, which are very heavy, and which Andrew said I couldn't carry! Ha! No pics of that, sorry!


Wayne, Graham, and Andrew working on the felt/tar paper on the roof.


Handy Andy
(only don't really call him Andy, he HATES it . . . I just had to rhyme in this situation)


Garage floor with freshly poured concrete. See the before pictures below.


Pouring the porch concrete!


Starting on the tar paper for the back of the house.


Starting to pour the concrete in the garage. They offered to let me help and now I wish I would have! :(
Looking into the garage before concrete. I told you these were backwards!

The excavation company starting on our septic system (which they finished today!!). The mist was neat.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

10-3 and 10-05 Pictures

I am finally putting new pictures on. Enjoy!

Andrew and Wayne putting on the tar paper for the roof. Sorry this picture is so dark but well . . . it was pretty dark outside! Our neighbor, Herb, is watching and helping.


Blogger is being stupid and I can't click where I want to so this is the caption for the picture below. Our house on Tuesday 10/3/06

Our house at lunch today (10/05/06)

The front dormers are in. Now they just have to frame walls in upstairs and finish the dormer in the back.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

We're FINALLY backfilled!

I have yet to witness the backfill with my own eyes, but our trusty spy, Grandma Myers, reported to Andrew this afternoon, that there was indeed a "big truck pushing dirt around." It seems like we've waited on this a long time, but in reality it's only been a week since my first call. During our site visit with our consultant this morning, I shared a bit of my frustration with the fact that the excavators have told me that they would be out to backfill but they have not and have not called. One call from him, and we had a definitive time and the carpenters were busily cleaning up the site. We were remarking again today how we only started digging on our house three weeks ago today. Things are going so fast! So, here's an updated schedule:

Today: Backfill and framing
Tomorrow: AM, meeting with the septic excavator and beginning to trench, PM Porch and Garage Concrete poured, steps installed inside
Friday: Finish framing (maybe), continue to work on roof, and septic excavator work
Saturday: Roofing Party!
Tuesday: HVAC and Plumber beginning rough in

That's all for now. Hopefully, I'll get pictures up later today. It's changed already!

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

We're on the fast track!

We had a great planning meeting with our consultant this morning. I always feel so much better after those. Our consultant has built a lot of houses in his life, and he said that we are on track to be done by Christmas! The timing will mainly depend on Andrew now. These next few weeks are going to be full of jobs that he has decided to take on himself (shingling the roof, installing windows, and the electrical work)! I'm hoping he doesn't wear himself out and I wish there were more physical labor that I could do to help!

I give thanks every day for this house. I have sent up many prayers throughout this whole process (many of them being, "Dear God, Make this cheaper!"). We have both wanted the same things from the start which is a very conservative house, in which we can serve God. We weren't picky about the things we didn't feel mattered much in the grand scheme of things, such as colors, finishes, the size of the house, fireplaces, building the master suite, cabinets, flooring, and other things we consider a luxury! Not to say that there hasn't been stress but I think we'll come out of this process much stronger and more knowledgeable people! One can only hope and pray!



I am usually ready for bed (at about 10:30 pm or so) and think "Oh no, I forgot to post the pictures," so I will run down to the computer and do it then! It is really a pretty quick process.

Monday, October 02, 2006

10/01/2006 Pictures of our trusses

Taken around noon inside the house, looking up through the trusses. Pretty good picture for my cheap camera!


Looking into the garage from the kitchen "door." There are lots of supports in place . . . which is a good thing!


Looking at the house from the north west side. Hopefully, backfill will be done tomorrow.

Pictures from the back of the house.

From the south west side of the house. The workers are waiting for the plywood to arrive!

Slight Delay

We've had our first slight delay. Our excavator went out this morning to try and backfill our house and there was just way too much stuff in the way, such as lumber, trusses, and carpenters(I figured as much and even called him this morning). They are going to backfill tomorrow instead, this also pushes our concrete guy back a day. To be honest, I'm glad that it's slowing down just a little bit so I can get my feet under me. They are still going to set the trusses today, which means like the whole second story of our house will go up. I'm going to race over at lunch to see it. It takes me about 25 minutes to get there (one way) but I like to check on the progress, even if I don't have a lot of time there. I came in early today so I can take little extra time at lunch. Of course, I am teaching voice lessons tonight because . . . I'm absolutely crazy!! Should be more pictures of the trusses coming soon.