Throwing the Dice

"We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall"

Proverbs 16:33 


Way back in October when we began this blog, our main goal was to make sure that this house was in God's plan. Before every trip to search for a house/plot of land, we prayed over it and asked God to guide us in our decision. The night that we broke ground on our land, we spent a few moments thanking the Almighty for His blessings, and asking for His wisdom through the house-building project. We wanted to make sure He was in charge of our hearts, our actions, and our intentions. 


Over the past two months, God has brought us through a journey that has opened up our eyes to the extent of His love and provision. Through the middle of chaos and confusion, His continual Presence in our lives has given us peace about the future. In the words of Homer, "I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future." 


It pains me to say this, but in reflection of events that have happened since the New Year, Adam and I will be putting the house building on hold. God has put us on a path that may not include us staying in the town that has become our home. In time, He will reveal His will to us, but for now we are waiting patiently to see what blessings he has for us around the corner. We ask for your prayers during this time as we seek God's will for our lives, wherever His will may take us. 


I don't know 
About tomorrow
I just live from day to day
And I don't borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to gray
And I don't worry about my future
For I know what Jesus said
And today He walks beside me
For He knows what lies ahead
Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know, I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand

About Concrete

When we last left off (way back in November before life became extremely chaotic; my apologies) the walls of the house house had just been tarred and we were getting ready for The Pouring of the Concrete. To prepare, P.C. and some other handy dandy men spent a few hours in the bitter cold raking the gravel base smooth while I stayed home and enjoyed the warmth of a cup of cocoa. Then a blanket of tarp was placed over the whole thing to (I think) keep water and other items such as leaves and sticks from compromising the concrete floor. Then P.C. and John secured the rebar across the ground and elevated it with a bunch of plastic tiny footstools*.

*Disclaimer #1-I am not an excavationist nor am I a construction worker. Words that make no sense to me will from now on be replaced with alternatively girl-friendly words. Over and out.

This is the final product. Ta da! What you are looking at is the future downstairs basement. The upstairs basement was also completed, but we have no proof of it because somebody *raises hand* really doesn't like going out in the cold to shoot pictures when the alternative is staying inside with a down comforter and a good book. And P.C. may or may not have forgotten the camera at the house a few times. 

After a few weeks of waiting for the ground to dry up from a wet weekend, we finally got all of the concrete men over and The Pouring of the Concrete began.

*Disclaimer #2-I am in no way a concrete worker and have never witnessed concrete being poured. I bear no responsibility to posting the proper sequence of the concrete process. Things that look good will be included and stuff that makes no sense to me will be left out. Thank you for your cooperation.

Step #1-This is a concrete truck. Standing next to it is father-in-law-general-contractor-go-to-man John, whose face is camouflaged from the brim of his hat.

Hi camouflaged John!

Step #2- A long slide (see disclaimer #1) is extended from the concrete truck to the gravel base.

Step #3-John stands and observes.

Step #4-Concrete stuff begins spewing out of the concrete truck and the concrete men work frantically to make sure the concrete stuff lands perfectly in the concrete-prepared spaces. Got it? 

Step #5-John stands and observes.

The process continues in this manner until Step #6 when....

John lays his hands on the concrete slide and smiles.

Step #7-While the concrete workers corral the concrete into the rebar squares, they alternatively flatten it with a giant rolling pin to make it nice and pretty.

Over time the floor became smoother and smother til it started looking like this: 

Step #8-Then the concrete men pulled out what I can only describe as a miniature steam roller (Disclaimer!) and as they slowly ran it across the concrete, it leveled itself out and became as smooth as a baby's bottom.

Note: this video is actually of the upstairs garage, but in my infinite wisdom and through the powers of deduction, I conclude that what was done to the basement concrete was done to the upstairs concrete. So just trust me.

Step #9-John takes a break from observing and bothers the cameraman

A few weeks later the upstairs garage is finished in the same manner. 

And there you have it: nice, clean concrete floors that will be used for years to come as a place to park our cars, for our kids to ride bikes on, and of course, a level spot for P.C. to fly his helicopter.

Stay tuned for the exciting adventure of Deciding Where the Driveway Goes!

Feeling Kinda Tarred...

It's been two weeks since our last post. Two very long weeks. When we last left off in October, the house looked like this: 

Then, after some handy dandy work by the concrete men, the house looked like this: 

And then after we wrote a check to said concrete men, our wallets looked like this: 

But fortunately, labor is free at the new house and P.C. and I decided to continue with the next step: tarring the walls. Saturday morning came bright and early (with a freeze warning, mind you) and we clothed ourselves in as many layers as we could and stepped out into the frozen tundra that had become our property. 

Note: I want to take a moment to explain what tar is. Think of really thick chocolate gravy that smells like burnt rubber and sticks to anything it touches. Remember this: it sticks to anything it touches. 

I began the morning by painting the tar on the concrete walls with a roller brush while P.C. dug some holes for some important drainage system that I didn't (and still don't) understand .  

(Note the black smear on my left cheek approximately 6 minutes after I had began painting)

P.C. joined in on the fun and pretty soon we were both hot, sweaty, and tarred pretty much from head to toe. By the time early afternoon had rolled around, we had tarred the east wall...

And all....

the way...

 around....

the house.

I make coveralls look sexy. I'm thinking of bringing them back. And the bulky mid-80's sweater.

After we finished tarring the walls (and attempted to wash our hands off with lacquer thinner because tar sticks to anything it touches), P.C. put pipes around the walls and began filling them in with gravel and dirt, while I stood around and watched and tried to look busy.

At 3:30 we called it quits and headed home. P.C. ran off to do some more manly man stuff around the house. I was hoping to catch a quick cat-nap and first decided to throw a load of laundry in the washer. More specific, I decided to wash the clothes from that morning.

Anybody know where this is going? 

(Clue: tar sticks to anything it touches)

This is a picture of what tar looks like on the inside of a washing machine. 

Needless to say, that nap never came.

What $900 Looks Like

This is rebar.

Hello, Mr. Rebar. Nice to meetcha!

The topic of rebar is not an unfamiliar one, as I married into an excavation family and dinnertime conversations at the in-laws usually center around machinery and construction and other foreign topics that I don't even try to understand. But seeing as I normally tune out such manly men discussions, I couldn't have told you what rebar actually was to save my life. The word could have meant anything, from a joist to a tool to [insert a fancy machinery term].

Raise your hand if you think rebar reminds you of a candy bar. Something chocolatey and caramely and ooey gooey with lots of nuts and some nougat thrown in. 

Mmm...nougat.

Rebar.

Nougat bar. 

I think I'm noticing the similarities. And getting hungry.

The day this load of rebar showed up on our property with a $900 price tag hanging off of it, I just about gave birth to kittens until P.C. explained to me the utmost importance that rebar (not nougat bar) plays in our home-building future. To put it in layman's term, this rebar is what holds the concrete frames together while they pour the foundation and walls. It basically keeps your house from looking like this: 

So on Sunday, while the weather was still nice and warm, P.C. and John spent the day smoothing out the land and preparing it for The Laying of the Rebar. 

By Monday night the concrete men (I'm sure there's an official name for them but I can't be bothered by such trivial things) began painstakingly placing the rebar into concrete footings. (Sorry for the poor picture quality; daylight was fading fast.

And then by Wednesday morning after a thunderstorm was completely diverted around the construction site, (thank you God!), the house looked like this:

Coming soon: The Walls!!!