Windows, fireplace, dormers, and more snakes

Brad had to work in MH this past weekend so we were able to see a lot of progress at the house. 

They built the fireplace.

Added the window on the left in the sunroom and put the windows in the whole house!  Except the kitchen.  For some reason they didn't get that window.  And the breezeway is missing the one that was broken.

The dormers are all on now.....

Its starting to look like its supposed to.  

The shower in the master bath.  The plumber was there all weekend working.

He put in the outdoor water faucets.  We want one in the little room under the sunroom but he hasn't gotten that one in yet.

The bonus room above the garage.  I think we're going to make a small home gym up here.  And of course storage.

The grass was getting kind of tall so on Sunday, Brad bush hogged.  I helped by picking up rocks and sticks until I spotted a copperhead.  Then I basically stayed in the bed of the truck or on the road or driveway.  We (Brad) killed 3 copperheads and I saw 2 more of those Ringneck ones like the one in this post. I thought it would be best not to kill those since they're supposed to kill other snakes.  Maybe they'll repay us for our kindness by killing a copperhead or two.

It looked a lot better after we finished.  

Brad talked to Paul today and the roofer and electrician were both up there working.  I already can't wait to see it next time!

Roof on back

They have the roof decked on the back now.

And they have the peaks in the back built.  I didn't really know what this was going to look like but I love it!   We wanted the front of the house to look exactly like the Cedar Ridge but the back was so plain on that plan.  So many house plans we looked at had a beautiful front and an ugly back.

I really wanted the back of our house to have a little character....not look like it should be the front, but a little something.  Paul designed this and Brad and I couldn't be happier.  We plan on spending a LOT of time in the back yard and I think we'll be very happy with our view of the house from there.

They also got the back porch built.  We didn't realize how deep it was going to be and LOVE it!

The plumber started doing his thing last week too.  

Its not the most exciting thing to happen but its progress.

We had to go back to Jonesboro to pick out more lights and while we were there we met Paul at Lansing and got to see what our windows are going to look like.  They had already delivered them to the house but evidently, one of them didn't make it off the truck in one piece so we got to see the one with broken glass.
We also had to pick out shower and lavatory faucets for the bathrooms at Mid-South Plumbing.  The plumber and Paul both told us to go with Delta so instead of having the entire store to choose from, we just had one section.  Picking all of that out was relatively painless.
We got most of our lights picked out too but have a few left to figure out.  Picking out lights has been the worst part so far.  Its so hard for us to make so many decisions at once.  But we're basically finished with that so we can just put it behind us now.

Roof

We have a roof!  Or at least a partial one.  

Its just on the front side right now.

This is the dining area and kitchen.  Its nice to have an idea of how that ceiling is going to look in there.  I'm not a huge fan of really tall ceilings so I've been curious to see this.  I like it...its not that tall really.

The bonus room above the garage.

This picture was taken from the bonus room.  We have LOTS of attic space.  Paul is putting the furnace up there and I'm not sure what else he said but there is so much room up there that I think Brad told him to make it to where we could make a room up there if we ever needed extra space.  

We had no idea the attic would be so big.  We could have easily had a second story.  But we don't really need the space.

The trees have gotten so full and green since the last time we were there!  We can barely see the house across the creek now.  YAY!  I bet they're saying the same thing!

The trees in the front have also hidden the house a little.  When we chose the spot the house is sitting, we wanted to keep some bigger trees in front of it so that people driving by could see the house but not well.  We ended up losing more trees than we planned on and it has seemed way too open all winter.  Not so much any more.  I like that I can be in front of the house and unless someone is really trying they won't be able to see me.  

Paul said we should have shingles in a couple weeks and windows too.  We had to pick both of those out this week as well as the front door.  Those weren't hard because we knew exactly what we wanted for the door and windows and there's not much to consider with shingles.

The Lamp Outlet

In January, Brad and I went to Jonesboro to stay with Brian and Ashley and while we were there we stopped at Bono at a lighting store Paul had told us about.  We met Mary Ann, a sales consultant, while we were there.  We found out that they would do our can light plan for us, and the place is huge so we were sure we could just get everything there.  Mary Ann has stayed in contact with us and we were finally able to schedule a day to get back over there last Friday.  We didn't leave Little Rock until 1:00 and we had dinner plans with Brian and Ashley at 7:00 so we didn't have a lot of time.   We didn't really pick anything out but we decided where certain types of lights will go so thats a start.   I like the clean, uncluttered look of can lights so that is all we will have in most of the rooms, but there are still so many decisions to make. 

We have to go back next month but will probably spend the night with Brian and Ashley so we're actually looking forward to it!

Catching up

There has been a lot going on with the house and I'm so behind posting about it!.  We've been to Mountain Home three times in the last two weeks so we've gotten to see a lot of progress.

First, I want to mention that we've had some visitors the last couple weeks.  Nikki came by one day after work.  It was about to start raining but I was able to show her the progress before it started.  This was her second visit but it has changed a lot since her first time out.   Bill and Donna, the neighbors, also came by and wanted a "tour" because they couldn't figure our floor plan out.  Dale and Ginny came by too and Ginny brought treats!  Lemon bars!  She thinks of everything....she had plates, forks and napkins!  It was good to see them.   We also had one Jehovah's Witness stop by and invite us to a special event.  I didn't have the option of not answering the door, but she was really nice and its nice to meet people from the area.

Okay, so the house is changing almost everyday that its not raining....

The solid exterior walls make a big difference in the way it looks.

The bedroom side. 

The garage.

Paul finally put the window in the pantry.

We didn't realize the cover of the porch came out so far.  But we like it!

The foyer.

Master closet.

Per Bill and Donna, the creek got really big last Tuesday night when Mountain Home received 6 inches of rain overnight.  We had brush piles stacked about where Brad is standing and those got washed together and hung on a tree.  I couldn't believe how high it got!  Everything looked so clean.

I can't wait to get to see the creek up that high.  It seemed to still be up a little by the time we got there but not much.

We stopped by on our way home Monday and were so happy that we stopped when we did.  They were setting the trusses on the garage. It was neat to watch them do it.

Brandon would attach the rope to the truss and hook it to the cable.

Then they'd raise it up while Brandon turned it the correct direction.

Paul and Javier securing the last one.  They were finished in just a little over an hour!

From the sunroom.

I never thought trusses could be so exciting!

From the road.

It was awesome to see all of this progress but we're already anxious to see it next time!

Good news. And bad news.

The good news:  This herd of deer.....

Almost every evening that I'm at Coppercreek, I see this herd of deer.  Its usually right about dark so I haven't been able to get a great shot of them.  But today I saw them early.  They had been up close to the house earlier but I scared them when I starting taking pictures.

 I counted 11 tonight but a week or so ago, I counted 13.  Brad is going to love living here!

The bad news:  This SNAKE!

Um.....YES, its in the house!!!  

Brad and I had been working at the house all day until he had to go to work at 5:00.  I dropped him off and went back to the house to do a little more work.  We have a big tool box full of things we need when we work out there.  We just left it in what will be Brad's gun room so as soon as I got back to the house, I unlocked the box and then realized that Brad had left the door open on the other side of the safe room.  The drain is not working in that area so water is standing and its really dark in there.  Paul has a series of boards he puts behind the door so that no one can open it and I was picking all of those up and trying to put them like he had them.  As I was walking back to the other side, I noticed a stick in the room and I thought it was odd because its all the way at the back of the basement and I wondered how would it have gotten there.  Of course, it wasn't a stick, it was this stupid copperhead!  I freaked out!  Why couldn't I have found it 2 hours earlier when Brad was there?????  I didn't know what to do, we had a gun in the truck, but he was right up next to a wall, right inside the doorway so there was no way I would have actually hit him.   Brad told me to find something to beat it with but its so dark and wet and closed in back there I couldn't do that either.  So I took some pictures of him and just sat outside hoping he would come out.  He didn't.  Its times like this I really wish I knew someone in Mountain Home.  I really wanted to ask Brad if he would call his friend Billy but I decided that was ridiculous since this probably wasn't a full-blown emergency.  I did get a good laugh out of the whole situation though.  I sent a picture of it to Tara and her reaction cracked me up!  I wish I could post it on here, but it wasn't PG.

I grew up in the country and I remember having snakes around, what seemed like, all the time.  But I don't remember being so scared of them then.    I just freak out now.  

Brad got off work at midnight and we went back out there to see if he was still there but he wasn't.  I had already called Paul to warn him so I guess we're safe for now.