No More Dirt

Trenches for Plumbing
Steel Re-Bar Before the Pour
The Day of the Pour!

I knew that building this house would be a learning experience, but I had no idea how much I would learn. In my simple, simple mind I never contemplated how foundations are constructed, specifically how the pipes are placed, the cement formed to the exact shape of your house, etc. First, the slab people came and placed the forms for the house, which gave us a rough estimate of how big the house is, but nothing more than that. Next, the plumber came and placed the pipes in the ground in the various ditches they dug, which was followed by an inspection. Then the slab guys came back, dug the beams, tied the steel, covered the dirt with plastic, and poured the slab. Our first 'incident' happened when the slab crew sliced one our pipes down the middle! Monty took care of it, and the pipe was quickly fixed and the process continued without incident. Just another example of how much more calm and collected Monty is. I immediately wanted to know who was going to pay for the repair. We definitely balance one another. That is an extremely simplified version of the week's events, but the important part is that we now can really see what the house looks like. They will start framing next week; I can hardly wait to see the rooms!

Brick?!?

I never would have guessed that picking an exterior could have been so difficult. When we moved from San Antonio I had a vision in my head of rock and stucco, a San Antonio staple. When we arrived our plans took a new turn to match the entire town; we switched to brick. I had a very hard time with this because I had the other house pictured in my head (and on our plans)- with rock! The best thing about this decision is that Monty and I have identical taste in brick. We were able to narrow down a color without too much effort, and crazy enough both Acme and Hanson manufacture brick in Mineral Wells. After living in Mineral Wells from 7th-12th grade embarrassingly I had no idea! Here is a picture of the brick we chose. It is a bit hard to get a good feel for it in picture, but until you visit in person....

Life in Mineral Wells

OK, so it looks like a big pile of dirt, but picture a house.....
Monty's dad in the tractor moving the dirt pile around

Wow! We left Mineral Wells about 8 years ago, and my how much has changed in such a short period. They have upgraded from Wal-Mart to Super Wal-Mart, added a Chili's and other various fast food establishments, and raised the price of a movie ticket to rival that of other towns (it previously cost $3). This being said, we are really enjoying our life here. The pace is much different, but a really good kind of different.

Living with my parents has been wonderful! We eat real meals (at the table!), swim after dinner, play games, and all types of other fun stuff. They have been more than gracious to allow us to live with them; I don't know how we will ever repay them. Monty has been fishing with his grandfather (Pappy) on Thursday nights, and absolutely loves it (he won tonight!).

Work could not be better. I like all of the people that I work with, but I do miss working almost entirely with people in my own age group. I get off work between 5 and 6, but the real selling point is that I don't have to leave the house until 7:50 to arrive at 8:00 and even allow for a little wiggle room. Monty is currently waiting for our appraisal to be completed so we can begin construction. While he has been waiting he has been able to work with his dad (he is a huge help!) to get the lot leveled so that the minute all of our paperwork is complete we can begin building. I have included some pictures so you can get a feel for where we are building, and hopefully the next pictures will have a bit of cement included.