ELECTRICITY, SCORE #7 AND DEMOLITION BEGINS

We've been told by many that a project like this will take twice as long and cost twice as much as we planned on -- pray it will not!  But we certainly thought we'd be pouring the concrete slab right about now!


In the meantime, here's the latest:
Score #7 a new, still in the box, stainless steel range hood from a contractor whose client changed their mind-- the Arietta Lazio Pro-Style Range Hood
  
Electricity!
Thanks to our dear friend and project mentor Rick, we are learning the basics on how to wire our house and create an electric plan.  Because it's so exciting to me I'll soon be posting a photo of our plans!
                     

 

I just found this old photo of the three of us--we don't remember where or when this was taken!  The date imprinted on it says 1991, but that's wrong for sure - Andi looks young, but she was not 17!

And THE moment many have been waiting for, DEMOLITION DAY (well, on the inside anyway). My rockin' awesome brother arrived like a tornado this past weekend and we managed to gut the entire kitchen and most of the bathroom.  I have the best brother in the world!  And as a perfect end to each kick-ass day, we ate out and had amazing local dinners, one at The People's Pint in Greenfield and another at West End Pub in Shelburne Falls.  We love supporting LOCAL goodness! Yum!  If you're not from around here, and you're ever in the area you must go to one or both of these places!

PRAY! REJOICE! SPRING IS HERE!

This sums it up -- we've been praying and the forces of love and manifestation heard us.

As I deconstrucuted the brick walkway this morning and as the Red Winged Blackbirds return, I'm feeling very rejoicy and grateful! Our project is moving forward quickly and we are OH SO HAPPY! This is also the week I turn 40 and up until now I've been pretty depressed about entering this new and BIG decade but today at this very moment, I can truly say there's is no place I'd rather be in my life. I'm not religious but I do believe in the power of positive thinking and action and every time I look at the bricks I realize the only option for a long, joyful life is by getting older!

An enormous prayer was answered this past week---finding our builder, an awesome local gem, Colin Bargeron! He will soon become the grand-master-funk once we get the old section demolished.  No dates have been set until we sign the construction loan papers, so stay tuned.... If you have a few tools and a hard hat, please join us for D-days!

The final floor plans after several tweaks and added windows

Our PRAY Bricks Story:  Years ago before we had Stella and our free time was filled with day long road trips to antique and junk shops looking for treasures, we stumbled upon a torn down old brick building in Greenfield. Perhaps some of you might remember the restaurant, ironically called, Brickers? Well there we were, and I think it was almost dusk, standing in this dirty lot surrounded by BRICKS! We were psyched because we wanted to build a sweet little walkway. We backed up our little 2-door hatchback and started to load it up! I remember saying to lisa, "Cool, this one says PRAY on it!" and then to our amazement we realized they ALL were imprinted with PRAY!!  HOLY SH*T...yes holy, indeed. We excitedly loaded as much as our little car could fit, brought them home and went back for more, by then it was dark. We loaded some more and could hardly sleep awaiting the morning when we could go back but when we returned the next day, they were ALL GONE, crushed into powder!  We later learned that's what happens to old brick then it's used to make baseball diamonds and outdoor tracks. O M G, we were floored!