A lot has changed!

It has been over a week since I visited the house. Wow, what a difference a week makes.

Here is the view from the front (stupid port-a-pottie and dumpster in the way). The framer is working on all the rafters so we are finally able to start seeing a roofline.

View from the back. The back (and front) porches feel so much bigger now that they are walled in and have roofs. Very exciting!

Ryan went around the house last week and marked all the rooms, cabinets, etc. Prior to this, we would walk in to some rooms and question if things were gonna be too tight or too big or too small. Now, we could really get a better feel of where things are and if minor things need to be tweaked. The best part...THIS is what my awesome kitchen island will be like! It's huge!


I walk around the house and can't believe it's ours. I have walked through so many of Ryan's houses during frame stage. They are all amazing and I am always proud of the work Ryan does. It's very surreal to walk through now and know that this is MY house and in less than a year, it will be filled with MY things -- well maybe not filled. :) All the nerves about this process fade when I walk through the house!

Second Floor Progress

I haven't been to the house this week so I made Ryan take some picutres for me.  Things are really coming together!  Hopefully Admiral and I can stop by and check it out on Friday on our way out of town.

We FINALLY got a "Purchased" sign on our lot sign. 

The second floor walls are going up!

And the gameroom...

Happy Mardi Gras!

The past couple of years we have celebrated Mardi Gras Galveston Style with Suz and Brandon and various other friends. This year, we didn't make it down to the island so I decided to bring Mardi Gras to us as best as I could... Shrimp & Crawfish Gumbo and King Cake.

I am not posting a Gumbo recipe because I haven't gotten it just right.  I use my friend Margaret's mom's recipe and sometimes try to incorporate other recipes.  The roux is still my weakness I think, but with enough Tony's and other spices, its good enough to eat. 

And, my King Cake... Well as you can tell, I didn't really go for looks this year.  Its not ring shaped and I didn't make purple icing, just green and yellow.  Oh well, it still tastes good!   

Happy Mardi Gras!

Walking Upstairs

On Friday, the entire second floor subfloor had been laid and the framer was making the lines for where all the walls will go.  All of the walls and the stairs are complete on the first floor.  We were able to walk around on the upstairs which made me very nervous since there was no sort of railing to make sure I didn't fall.  The framers act like its no big deal.  Eek, made me very nervous, my heart was racing whenever I got close to the edge. 

Here are the pictures!

The stairs

View from second floor loft down into the two story dining room.

Second Floor

Looking down into the downstairs guest bedroom (for you, Mom)

View from the back of the house at the other house Ryan is building.

View of the Pond from one of the Upstairs Bedroom windows. 

Trying to Decide

I am trying to decide what I want for the backsplash in the kitchen, on the wall with the cooktop.  

This is my initial idea, using the liner and insert seen at the botton of the picture.  It would be in the oil-rubbed bronze color.  The main field tile would be 6x6, neutral color.  4x4 of the same tile, laid on the diagonal will go inside the box, with 2x2 dots.

The inspiration comes from some photo's like this:

 But with a border that's not quite so heavy... more like this.

This is the second option that I am liking.  It would be 6x6 tiles laid straight as the main field tile with 3 big 6x6 metal deco's in the middle.  Then, along the bottom would be 4x4 tiles laid on the diagonal with a metal liner above.

This is the closest picture I could find on the internet to what I am going for, but the tiles aren't exactly the same sizes.

Which do you like the best? I just can't decide.

We have walls!!!

The framer decided to go ahead and start on our house on Thursday as there are several things on backorder at the other house he has been framing.  Thursday they came and drew all the lines and all the lumber was delivered.  By the end of the day Friday there was a skeleton of a house!

I went out Friday during lunch.  The neighborhood sign was up for our street.

And the good stuff!  This is what was done when I got there at noon (they started at 7am). 

These three big windows are in the family room.

This is the right side of the house, behind the garage.  I have highlighed the guest bedroom and utility room windows.

We went out again on Saturday (in the rain) to see what they finished Friday.  As you can see, there were much more walls up.  I suspect that by midweek I will be able to walk into each room on the first floor!

Moving right along now!

A Red Velvet Valentine's Day

Last week I posted about finding Bakerella's blog and making the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies.  Since then, I added Bakerella to my Google Reader so I can see what new goodies she posts.  This week, she posted a couple of different Valentine's treats.  One was a little above my skill level since I haven't moved to Fondant yet -- and to be honest, Fondant is not my favorite.  

Then she posted Easy and Easier Valentine Treat and I was sold -- Ryan likes red velvet cake, red is perfect for Valentine's, a cookie sandwich always wins me over.  And, the recipe used a box cake mix so I didn't have to buy much.  It was very easy and the ultimate reward... Ryan said it might be his new favorite cookie!!!  I think they will become a regular for "red holidays".

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

from Bakerella

1 Box red velvet cake mix

1/2 Cup butter, softened to room temperature

2 Eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix ingredients until combined.

Roll spoonfuls of cookie dough into balls and place on baking sheet about two inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Cool.

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 Cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 8 oz. Package cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 1lb. Box of confectioner's sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

In a mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla.

Gradually add sugar and mix until smooth.

Ice bottom of one cookie and place another cookie on top.

Since I didn't know how the cookies would turn out, I decided to split the cake mix in half and make half cookies, half cake.  I followed the cake mix directions (cut in half) and reduced the baking time by about 5 minutes.  I used the remaining cream cheese icing and sprinkled with red sprinkles.