Painted!

August 21-26: Rafael and Francisco finished painting the inside of the house!

Brigid's room is Solaria (SW 6688).

The living room is Red Cent (SW 6341).

The kitchen and office is Jersey Cream (SW 6379) same as the outside of our house.
The slate is coming along, too! Check out that floor!

The half-bath and library are Blue Peacock (SW0064). Very dark green.

The hallways are painted Decor White which turned out cream like. Looks great!

A Room With a Hue

Aug. 20: The painters move to the master bedroom and bath today. Yesterday they painted a band of Blue Peacock (SW 0064) above the crown molding. Today they did the walls in Peacock Plume (SW 0020). They also did our closet, entryway and bathroom in the same. It's amazing what color does to define the room.



Tran also brought more cabinets. I like the way he decorated the corners on my kitchen sink counter. He's a great carpenter.

Of Rainbows and Treasure Troves

Aug. 9: Jesus and son Valentino finish the tile in both bath tubs. They cut squares of what will be our slate floor and inset them into the tile. It turned out really neat!


I bought some vase beads at Wal-Mart at their suggestion and they inset them with some chopped up tile to construct a custom-made border in the kids' bath. It's sparkly and beautiful!

Jesus gave me a brief testimony of how the Lord got a hold of his heart and also his son's just in the last year. It has been my prayer that this house would also be a ministry. It was very exciting to find encouragement with another believer in Christ right in the middle of new house construction. Praise God!


Aug. 12: Miguel has worked hard to put up all the trim everywhere. He shared with me one day how God had laid it on his heart to help build houses for those who couldn't afford it. He also gave me his testimony of how he came to work for Tran last year after losing his own construction business in another state. Despite his loss, he praises God for what he has and where he is today. What a neat man!

And very talented, too! Look at the sneaky door between the two kids' bedrooms I asked him to put in the wall that the two closets share. He cut a door in half and framed it in. How cool is that!


Check out the other side of the sneaky door, this time after the painters, Francisco and Rafael, have primed and sanded the trim. They did that to ALL the wood trim and baseboards, shelves, window sills and interior doors. Then they painted them with a high-gloss, enamel white paint. What a shine! Lots of work in the heat and fumes since the windows were taped and covered and couldn't be opened. They even wore special suits and a mask while they sprayed. When they left they looked snow-dusted on their hair, faces and eyelashes.

I enjoy the painters a lot. They are very friendly and smiley and they helped me last week when Prolly got into a dog fight with a little female basset hound who wandered onto our property.




Aug. 13: Tuan Tran is building our cabinets and he brought most of them to the house to sand, prime, paint and install. He also commissioned Miguel to put up my pantry shelves. I am most proud of this storage space as I have never had a decent pantry. Thank you, Lord, for 9 foot ceilings and wall-to-wall shelving!



Aug. 19: Tran arrives with the Sherwin Williams paint today! We go over where each color will go. (I only have 8 different colors...) Francisco and Rafael begin with Sarina and Lavery's room. They actually ran out of Party Time Pink (SW 6849) and I had to buy another gallon. They had just enough Lavish Lavender (SW 6975) to finish the room. It's very girly, no? S & L were thrilled. The walls literally glow.


Just before sunset tonight, I saw this rainbow in the sky and I found my pot of gold right beneath! It's not just the house itself that is such a treasure, but the family that it will hold close for many years to come.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21

Workin' on the Walls

The sheet rock guy, Cirino, has different crews for hanging the sheet rock, taping and floating, and texturing. Four guys came July 19 and hung all the sheet rock in one day! Wow!

July 22-24: Jose and Doro are the tape and float crew. It took them 3 days and they are masters at what they do! They were also very nice and smiley. The girls and I liked them alot. It is cool to watch Doro walk around on stilts!


July 23: Matt spends several hours installing security sensors in all the windows and doors. It's hot work!

July 25: Matt, Sarina and I spend a few hours stuffing yellow paper into all the electrical outlets on the walls and in the ceiling. We don't want the texture to get sprayed inside. Prolly even comes in the house to lay on the cool cement floor.



July 26: Cirino's last crew comes in to texture. I chose medium knock-off texture for everything. It looks great!


July 29: Tran takes Matt and I to Houston to pick out tile and granite. He is a very unique builder in that he gives us his contractor price on most things and doesn't add any cost to the materials. We choose laminate flooring for most of the house; slate for the kitchen, master bathroom, and utility room; and tile for the kids' bathroom floor and for the tub/shower walls. We buy our sinks and granite called Golden Peacock.

That night I cried. I am absolutely overwhelmed by all the upgrades! I kept telling Matt, "I don't know how to feel about all this stuff we're buying. We're linoleum people! What am I supposed to do with slate and tile?"

I have to remind myself that God has opened the doors to make this house possible. I must stay focused on Him. I must praise Him, even while it stresses me to make so many decisions about the new house.

The next day, I saw my fashion consultant--my sister Kamala. She helped me work through some color and tile issues and rediscover the excitement in building something new. It is an awesome project with an awesome husband. Thank you, God, for this opportunity!

Getting REAL

Monday, July 19, 2010: A crew of four men arrive at 9:30 a.m. to hang the sheet rock. They work until nearly 8:30 p.m. but they finish the job in one day! This photo is of the fireplace in the living room. When the girls walked into the house at the end of the day, Lavery said, "Wow! It looks like a REAL house on the inside!" They like to hide in the closets and other nooks where we can't see them now.

A Halfway House

July 13, 2010 - It's come a long way from just walls! The outside is basically finished. There are still a few things to complete. The past two months have been busy!
*Matt, his dad and his brother did the wiring themselves. This house will be well lit and have a variety of switches to flip.
*Bay City Electric is doing the A/C. As soon as they finish this week, we can start sheet rocking the inside.
*Insealation brought our woodburning fireplace this past Saturday and installed it.
*Genuine Austin Limestone was brought in and our mason Pablo did a great job on the chimney & columns. It was hot and hard work. The girls and I brought them tea when we could.
*Tran's painters did a great job with the exterior. The colors are Sherwin Williams Jersey Cream and Egret White for the trim.
*Tran's nephew Huy has done a great job on the plumbing.
*The two tubs are the only other fixtures already set in the house.

God has been very gracious with His timing. He continues to assure us that He will see this tremendous project through to its finish. We give Him praise! We're halfway to a home.

The Walls!

April 20: Tran's men begin framing the house! Three sides make it up before quitting time. They have chalked out the floor plan on the slab and it is neat to walk through the house. Matt and I were up until midnight last night measuring rooms and conferring with the blueprints. By doing away with the limestone exterior we have gained 11 inches all around in floor space. NEAT! The house is really taking shape now!