Our house...

(Pam, this one's for you)

November 2005 we bought a house. We moved in exactly 7 days before I gave birth to Landon. Not the best timing, but it was nice to be able to come home to a house that fit a family of 6, rather than the 2 bedroom place we had been living in previously. I actually did not want to buy this house at first because of the unfinished basement. I'm a "move in when it's all done" kind of girl so I can experience the joy of everything right away. Shawn was able to convince me with his cunning ability that this was the house for us. "See the vision" became his famous quote everytime I griped about the giant cement room down the staircase that I felt was just a huge waste of space not being used to it's full potential. Shortly after we moved in he got to work on the bedroom. We hired out the bathroom due to his lack of plumbing knowledge, but the bedroom became his baby. It was carpeted by April 2006. The rest of the basement was still just cement. Who cares that we had a guest room and bathroom finished, nobody really comes to visit us anyway, right?! I wanted the kids to play, and the tv out of earshot while I cooked dinner. "See the vision Jayne". Framing became an evening event. After a time he was finished with that, but the pile of sheetrock in the garage was just taking up space, and he had no more evenings to spare. Residency hit us full-blast and time was a precious commodity. After a few months of deliberation (4 1/2 to be exact) we hired out the hanging of the sheetrock. We then came to the realization that the mudding and taping would occupy much more time and energy than Shawn had to spare, so we hired that out too. We, however, did the painting all by ourselves. I still feel like it is our baby because we put so many long nights and so many coats of primer and paint on the walls. I chose the carpet. Due to an earlier disagreement I was granted full ownership of the decision. Naturally I made sure he would be pleased with my choice, just out of love. Carpet was laid March 2007. We were able to purchase furniture in April. You might notice the upstairs and downstairs furniture is actually the exact same set. Shawn and I have a difficult time agreeing on price and quality of objects. (See the post about Luggage) When we found this set that we not only both loved for the appearance, but was extremely comfortable and fit within the budget, we decided to save ourselves the agony and buy enough to fill both rooms. Some might call it crazy, I call it genius. These pictures really don't do the space or comfort of this home any justice. You'll have to come visit to get the full effect!

(The Dining room is not shown, but connected to the living room, only it has wood floor. The kitchen has a half-wall between it and the living room. The Master bedroom is to the left of the kitchen, the kids bedrooms are on the opposite side of the living room---a great bonus. Downstairs there is a kitchenette with just a sink and fridge, and a fireplace is hiding behind the furniture on the wall in the center. If you click on the pictures you can get a better view. The picture does not do the lighting justice---Shawn insisted on over 40 can lights. He was right. The bedroom downstairs is to my back and so is the bathroom. We also have a room that Shawn made into his weight room, and also a storage room.)

Shawn was right about this house. I love it and will be very sad to leave it in the hands of some other owner in two short years. I will now listen to Shawn when he says "See the vision". Well, depending on what that vision is.........