Brick.....House.....

Wow! I can't believe its been a month since my last post! The first part of November was a little slow while Mom and Dad took their wonderful vacation to Hawaii. When they returned it was back to work. These past couple of weeks there has been a lot of progress. The brick has been started (and almost finished!) and it is so awesome to see. Its so fun to see how different it looks with brick on the outside. This past week Dad came out and installed the fireplace (YAY!!) and I'm excited to see the finished product. It has and will be EXTREMELY cold in Amarillo this week and I cannot wait to have a fireplace to sit by at night.
We were also blessed to have all of the inspections these past two weeks and everything passed. The electrical inspection took longer than we had hoped but the inspector called the electrician and told him it was some of the best electrical work he had ever seen. WOW!! We were not expecting that. The framing inspection also took place this past week and it passed as well. So now once it warms up a bit, they can begin with the spray foam insulation as well as the sheetrock. There are a few places that already have sheetrock and it looks so different! We were also blessed to find tile this past week for a great price and will be able to lay that when the sheetrock and tape and bedding are finished. Its all coming together!
On another note, we had a few setbacks this past week. If any of you live in or have been to Amarillo you know that the wind is relentless. This past weekend the winds were sustained of 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 60. Well this was not a good thing for the shingles and the roof my dad just put on. Most of the shingles on the front of the roof blew off. Just to give you an idea, the shingles are about 2 foot long and about a foot wide. My dad put 8 nails in each shingle and they STILL blew off. That is some powerful wind! Needless to say, he wasn't too happy about it. Its so frustrating to do the work and then have something like that happen and have to go back and repeat your work. We are already pressed for time and small setbacks like this are frustrating. But, there are lessons to be learned and PATIENCE is a big one that we are continually being reminded of throughout this process.
Once again, my dad has been so gracious and wonderful throughout this whole process. We are so blessed to have him doing this for us. We can't thank my mom enough for allowing him to come out and be gone for such long periods of time. It has been a frustrating time, a fun time, a growing time, a learning time, and a time of many blessings. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can't wait to be in our new home!
Below are some pictures of the brick as well as the fireplace. Emjoy!

Odds and Ends

Time for an update!! I have some pictures of a few odds and ends that are going on with our new house. First off, Dad has been working very hard to finish the roofing and get that all taken care of. We had a snow storm here last week where we got almost 5 inches of snow!! Well some of the felt paper wasn't on the house yet so that made for a huge mess! Lots of muddy sawdust! Hopefully the weather will cooperate for the rest of the building and we can be finished before winter really rears its ugly head here in Amarillo.
The plumbing in the house is also starting to take shape! The bathtub in the second bathroom is in and the plumbing for the laundry room is looking great!
We have also had the air conditioning put in. A nice subcontracter from Ft. Worth was kind enough to come out and do the house for us. It looks really good!
We are making progress! Its so exciting to see everything happening. I know I say this everytime but we are so grateful to my dad. Brandon and I have gotten to spend some quality time with him and we are so grateful for that. I enjoy the evenings when we get to hang out and chat about life. This has been the most I have seen my dad since I have moved away from home and it has been wonderful! Lots of memory building!
Next week Mom and Dad are going on a MUCH needed vacation to MAUI!! So fun!! We will surely miss them while they are gone but they definitely need the break!
Here are some pictures of the latest work! Enjoy!

Windows and Wiring

It's been a while since I have updated! We are now finished with the framing and moved on to electricity, heating and cooling, as well as roofing! Dad has been working himself to death and Mom has been worried about him of course!
The first weekend of framing we had Brandon's parents come out and help us. They have been such a HUGE help in the process. Jack has been learning framing and helping tremendously with everything.
The second weekend of framing Jack rode out with Dad to help as well. I was back in Ft. Worth but when I returned I could tell they had made a ton of progress.
During the week Dad has made several trips out to work on things during the week such as putting in windows (YAY!), finishing the trim work and decking the roof.
A cool story with the windows that only God can do...I had wanted double windows (Dad says I have "expensive taste"...go figure) but we didn't think we were going to be able to do it. When he contacted the window salesman he was informed that someone had previously ordered two extra wide windows and had not picked them up. The salesman offered to sell them to use for the same price as the standard windows. So cool!
This past week everyone returned and Jack had the fun job of nailing on brick ties all weekend! Dad had an even more fun job of finishing the decking.
As I write this, Dad's good friend Mike and another worker Randall are wiring the house for electricity! So exciting! It is so fun to see things go up!
I cannot express how thankful we are to my dad as well as Brandon's dad. They have worked until they couldn't work anymore and it has been such a blessing. We have got to spend quality time with both of our families and we could not be more grateful for that. I'll leave you with some pictures; the last two are of the amazing vaulted ceiling in our bedroom. Its going to be so pretty! Hopefully next time I post we will have shingles and air conditioning started, and maybe, just maybe some brick!! YAY! Have a great week everyone!

All the Walls

Hello again friends! Time for another update. This past weekend my dad, Brandon, and Brandon's dad worked very hard and were able to get all of the walls for the house up! They were also able to get most of the ceiling joists up. They worked very hard for three days straight and boy does it look wonderful. Its so exciting to see such progress so quickly. Next up Dad is coming back this weekend to work more on the ceilings and to finish up the framing. We want to thank my dad and Jack (and Brandon of course) for all of their hard work and for sacrificing their weekend this past weekend to help us out. More updates coming soon...for now here are some pictures!

Built on the Rock

Hello everyone! Its been a couple of weeks since I last posted.
The big news is: WE HAVE A SLAB! Isn't that exciting? We are so excited to see it finally finished!
In other news, we have been busy getting electricity set up. Who knew a simple electrical connection would take so long? First Dad put up a temporary pole he worked on for a whole day and after they started the foundation work it was GONE! Someone took it! Our hypothesis right now is that it was either stolen or the electric company took it because we hadn't contacted them yet to set up electricity. So Dad had to start from scratch. Nothing can be easy for him!
Speaking of Dad, he is actually on his way to Amarillo right this second with some enormous amount of lumber to start the framing. Brandon's dad is scheduled to come out this weekend and they will hopefully get all the walls up. More pictures and info to come on that!
We are excited for everything to start coming together and we are so grateful to my dad as well as my mom for all they have done so far! We cannot thank them enough!
Stay tuned for more updates....

In the Trenches

What are those you ask?? Trenches!! For the slab! I could not be more excited about this, it means progress! It means that in just a few days there will be an actual slab down. It also means that in a few days after that the walls will go up and we can start envisioning our house!
So in other news, what else have we been up to in house building?
In my last post we had just closed on the lot and the loan and were ready to get started. Well, that was well over a month ago. First, we took the plans to an engineer so that our slab can be engineered. This is an extra expense that will be WELL worth it in the long run. The soil in Amarillo is very finicky (for lack of a better word) and when it is dry here (as it is now) it acts one way. Then, when the rains come, it will act another way. This can cause some major problems with the foundation. This process of waiting for the engineer was just more waiting but the Lord really opened my eyes and gave me peace during the process. During this time I literally had at least 5 people mention foundation problems in Amarillo of their own or of people they knew. I really felt like this was God's way of saying, "Hey, I got this." After the foundation plans were finished we went straight to the city to apply for a permit. While we were not the favorite of the hippie man at the desk, he finished fairly quickly and we recieved the permits and the ok to start.
Then came concrete. This has been one of the hardest parts so far. I will probably say that about almost every part but this really was difficult. There is building going on ALL around us on all sides but those concrete companies are not interested in us as they have PLENTY of work and have no need to do just one job for someone who plans on not building again and bringing them business. As a result, we decided to use my dad's concrete company in Ft. Worth. So, the day was set for them to begin! I was more than excited. Dad came to Amarillo, we ran errands, got the water line set up, and as we were heading to check on the work, we got a call. The concrete man of course says things didn't work out so we are to go to such and such office and talk to them. Little did we know this was a completely different company and we would be starting from scratch. More waiting, more phone calls, and more questions. The days drug on as we waited and waited. Are you seeing a theme here??
Fast forward to five days ago. This is the day we finally "broke ground". The new concrete company came out and did their thing. I would try to describe it but it wouldn't make sense so lets just say they came, they did work, and then there was flat pretty dirt. That brings us to today. Today the concrete company dug trenches! I was so excited to see actual progress and see the next step being taken. The pictures above are what they have done so far today and I am excited to see what it looks like in just a few days.
As soon as the "rock is on the ground" as Dad would say, he can begin the framing. We will be so relieved when he takes over and we are no longer relying on strangers for when things will be done. I will continue to say that we are so very grateful for the sacrifices he and my mom have made through all of this as it has sure not been easy. We have only just begun but we have already made great memories! Thankfully I have started back to school so I do not have near as much time to call and bug him. :)
This sure is a long post but I want to remember every step of the process! Thanks for reading!!

The Story Begins

Where to start? When Brandon and I first moved to Amarillo we searched for houses to buy. This proved to be impossible at the time as we were newly married, without credit, first time home buyers, and new to the area. The financing was just not possible. About 6 months after moving we decided to try again. This time we obtained financing, used a realtor, and searched Amarillo for a good deal and a great house. Obtaining BOTH of these items seemed to not be feasible. There are really no "good deals" to be had in Amarillo. My (Cortny) dad had originally offered to build us a house but we immediately swept that idea aside. How would it be possible to build a house while going to school (or working full time in Brandon's case) and balance a household? After searching Amarillo for several months and placing several offers on houses we decided to revisit the idea of building. Lots were available in several good neighborhoods and building started to seem like a viable option.

In March we made the final decision to build. We contacted Rockrose Group in Amarillo and found a new area being developed in the Cityview neighborhood. This housing edition is growing like CRAZY! Dad says someone is making millions by dividing up cow pastures and selling them for $30k! Lots were being snatched up right and left. So we started the paperwork process and put a down payment on a lot. Little did we know, this process was going to be extremely long. Since we are first time home buyers and this is a family transaction, there are many hoops to jump through. For several weeks it seemed that the bank was calling daily for paperwork that was needed in addition to all that we had already submitted.
The way this transaction will work is that my dad will construct the house and we will buy it from him. This meant that before he was able to obtain any financing we had to be approved for our own financing.  FINALLY, on June 1, 2011 we obtained a commitment letter needed to confirm that we are indeed qualified to purchase the house once it is finished. I don't think I have ever been more relieved to receive a piece of paper in my life.

Then there was the title company in Fort Worth who had to communicate with the property group in Amarillo as well as the bank in Fort Worth and they ALL had to be in agreement. As you can imagine, this was not easy. It was a major headache. But thankfully, the lot has been closed on and now belongs to Schallawitz Construction, Inc.! We are relieved!

At this point we are working on getting permits and settling MORE paperwork. Nothing has been easy up to this point as even simple things seem to be difficult.

I will probably say this a million times in these posts but we are so grateful to my dad (and mom!) for being so gracious and offering to build us a home. We cannot thank them enough! It has been a tough road so far but the end result is going to be well worth it. All of this may be extremely boring to some but there are times when even Brandon doesn't know all the ridiculousness that is going on. So maybe this will help him empathize! :)

For now I will leave you with some pictures of the lot. They are extremely boring but it is ours (not technically, but close) so we are proud of it! We will keep everyone updated! Thanks for visiting!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! The purpose of this blog is to document our house build in Amarillo, TX. We thought it would be fun to keep our friends and family updated about our plans and progress as well as create memories for ourself to look back on. We are so excited about this phase in our life and while it will be a long and stressful process we are looking forward to the results! Welcome to our journey!