Bye Bye Peggy Sue

Well it's done, as of May 27th.  She's a goner.  We signed the papers and she's sold.  It's been quite the journey to get here.  I think we are more inspired today to keep doing this than the day we signed the closing papers to buy her.  That's a good thing, we're going to need that inspiration to take on another endeavour. We are all still speaking and still consider each other family, so I would say it's gone well.  Don't get that confused with it being easy.  It has not been easy, but what really is?  We keep hearing His still small voice whispering this is the journey for us, and that's loud enough for us.  We are thankful for the doors He is continually opening for us.  Stay tuned for our next project!!

Meet the Homecoming Queen

So it's been a doozy of a month or so. Missed deadlines and subs that don't show up are par for the course in this business, which is something neither one of us (or Daddy for that matter) can get used to dealing with over and over. She's done. Ready for a family to come and love her and make her home. She is great! New open floor plan with all the bells and whistles. Want a list (I love a list!) of all the lovely?

• new kitchen including cabinets, granite, stainless appliances and tile. we basically started from subfloors and studs.
• new hardwoods and carpet
• new bathrooms except those cool old cast iron tubs we couldn't bear to part with
• new mantle (so darling!)
• new exterior doors and windows
• new roof
• new garage doors and deck
• new landscaping and the beloved flagstone path
• freshly painted walls, trim, doors inside and out!

Here's what we have learned on our first house (another list!)

• when subs are desperate for work, they are experts at everything!
• subs are messy and rarely clean up after themselves
• use good subs when you find one and hang on to them!
• trust your instincts
• don't let your daddy pick up the stain for the door or the floors after you REPEATEDLY told him what color you want to go with. It will be redder and lighter than you wanted and will make you grumpy every time you see it. That goes for the size of bathroom mirrors as well.
• the Shelby County Landfill is home to thousands of seagulls
• ask for opinions from seasoned contractors and real estate gurus. Their advice will vary widely, but will always be helpful.
• your own house suffers greatly. Next go round we will be getting help with house cleaning or DHR might take our babies away!
• your husband will have to babysit more than he signed up for in the beginning
• nobody at the Golden Rule in Pelham will look at you funny if you come in for lunch dirty and looking like a homeless street lady. Best spot in town for end of the week pow wows and catching up on family business.
• all the painters around use Behr paint
• it pays to keep a tape measure, gloves, and rain boots (for muddy days on job sites) in the car at ALL times
• family can make you crazy but oh so fun to hang out with
• doing something worthwhile is never easy, but can be LOADS of fun

Now for the Before and Afters...



 So here's the real estate agent's website: http://www.remax-alabama.com/Home/1481-ARROWHEAD-TRL-ALABASTER-AL-35007/BR/495164/

Help us get this baby sold! Pass it along if you know somebody who is looking for a new home!

Thanks so much for following along with Peggy Sue and stay tuned for our next project...coming soon!







Full Circle..(mostly rambling)

We are still here!  Peggy Sue is so close to being complete.  We are putting the finishing touches on her this week.  Next week, we hope to have a before and after post.  In the meantime, I would like to share part of our journey to Peggy Sue. We started looking for a house back in the fall.  We finally found a house that we liked, and we put a bid on it.  It was the perfect location (a few streets from our houses as we live 100 yards from each other), and a relatively easy flip. We prayed that God would open the door if this was the right house for us, and close it if it wasn't.  We placed the bid, and patiently waited.  Well, needless to say we didn't get this house.  I (Jill) was devastated. (Insert Kimmy's two cents here: from the very beginning Jill kept reminding me NOT to get emotionally attached to any property we bid on. Over and over she would say this. I am the more emotional one although my friends would laugh, right Ashley and Penny? They say I am way too stoic, but that's another rabbit trail.  Jill is the VOICE OF REASON and the more practical one of this duo.)  Jared (Jill's husband) would laugh at that statement! But this was the perfect house, how could God close the door?  I just couldn't let the house go, but we continued to look.  Peggy Sue came on the market, and we thought it was good deal.  We prayed the same prayer, "Open the door or close the door." I was getting numb at this point.  Every bid was an emotional roller coaster.  We placed our conservative bid on Peggy Sue and waited.  We really didn't expect to get the call from our real estate agent, and we really didn't care either way.  Well low and behold, we won the bid.  Oh great...really, this house?  The real estate agent warned us that we wouldn't close for six weeks.  We closed in two weeks.  Peggy Sue was intimidating to say the least, she needed way more than we wanted to really do on our first flip.  The pool alone scared me to death.  Kimmy and I just kept trusting that this was God's timing and God's choice for us.  So we started working on her, and honestly Kimmy and I were completely grossed out.  She was dirty and ugly, and she was a high maintenance flip.  Jared (Jill's husband) is a construction project manager, so he does this everyday on a much larger scale. I would come home complaining about how many projects we had going on with Peggy Sue, and he would laugh and tell me it was good for us to learn so much on our first flip.  On many days, I felt as if I was barely keeping my head above water trying to balance the kids, work, and Peggy Sue.  Jared would also have to remind me to turn the oven off, put the milk back in the refrigerator, and breathe.  But seriously, if we just made cosmetic changes what we would be learning? Despite be completely overwhelmed, everything has fallen into place. God has opened so many doors on this project.  I can't tell you how much I respect my Daddy. He is the hardest working man that I know.  This house is in impeccable shape now, all because of him.  He is a wealth of knowledge to us.  Thank you Mike Kelley for pouring your heart and soul into this dream. It would not be possible without you!  Peggy Sue has thrown us many curve balls, but it has been a blast.  We have truly loved every minute of this project.  God is good! The other day I drove by the first house that we lost the bid on.  It was still empty.  I thought about calling our real estate agent, but never got around to it.  A few days later, she called me out of the blue.  I told her that the house was still empty.  She checked on the house, and it hasn't closed yet.  The real estate company is in transition and the closings are months behind.  It was then, that God showed His plan to me.  I saw it full circle.  He closed that door for our good.  Here we are completing Peggy Sue this week, and the house that I thought we should have gotten still hasn't closed.  This first flip has been a journey, but the most important lesson we have learned is to continue to trust in the Lord and trust His plans.  I really hope that Peggy Sue will bless the new owners, as much as she has already blessed us. This verse has been such a comfort to me "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."-Psalm 3:5-6.  Thank you Lord for knowing what is best for our lives, and help us to continue to take a back seat and let YOU drive this ride!  I also wanted to share what is now in the front yard...Isn't it cute?  Thank you Jennifer for creating this sign for us. We love it!

Come on in, and I'll show you around....

Hey y'all it's Jill.  So what has been happening at Peggy Sue you ask? A LOT!!  We are getting so close, just a few more weeks and she'll be done.  It's been so fun to watch this house come to life.  We'll miss her when she's gone!  On to the updates.  The front door is stained, one more coat and it'll be ready to hang.  The front door is a little more red than we hoped and not as dark, but it is still cute and that's all that matters!

We finally have the hardwoods installed.  No more nasty carpet! It really changes the room.  Dad finally won, and Kimmy and I gave up on the dark finish.  It's going to be darker than the orignal color, but no expresso finish, dang it! You win some and you lose some.

The new cabinets and granite are installed.  A big shout out to our sweet, sweet step-mom Sandra Kelley.  She's best the kitchen designer that I know.  She whipped out the kitchen design in about 15 minutes flat.  She's talented and impressive.  Thank you Sandra!  Backsplash, appliances, and island to come.  We're still debating the island.  Dad, give up.  You're not goin' win this one, it's 3 against 1!

The mantel has been built and installed.  It's painted antique white and glazed chocolate brown.  It's beautiful, this picture just doesn't do it justice.

The bathrooms are very close to being finished.  The tile is completed.  The cabinets have been painted, glazed, and reinstalled. Corian is installed.  My favorite part is accent tile in the shower. It's modern and funky!!  Love, Love, Love!! We kept the old Kohler cast iron tubs because they have character. So darling!

The boys are back from spending time in the woods.  Yay for help!!

We're busying meeting with contractors.  Lots of things happening this week.  We'll be updating soon, hopefully with a for sale in the yard.  Thanks for stopping by!

Our sweet Daddy with 2 of his 5 very best helpers!!

In Which We Play Catch Up

So much has happened since we last updated this little blog! The busy-ness of being mamas, working, deer season (read: honeys are MIA)  and tending to Peggy Sue has gotten in the way of updating. Now that the excuses are out of the way, let's get on with it! We love us some lists. It is how we keep each other in the loop at our job (http://www.thinkconcept.com/) and how we try to keep ourselves semi-organized and going the right direction. The key word in that sentence being TRY. So below is our list of all things new and happening. Enjoy and let us know what you think!

• See this little yellow piece of paper? That my friends is a building permit, otherwise known as "the golden ticket" from the city of Alabaster. That is really all I need to say about that if you know what I mean!

• Here are some BEFORE and AFTER shots of the garage doors. Daddy thought the new ones looked so good white that he wanted to leave them that way. He didn't win that one. They will be painted the trim color and look so much better!

• We opened up the covered entrance. It felt squatty and boxed in before. The new posts aren't here yet. The door. The lovely door. It can't be hung until the sheetrockers are finished.

• New landscaping. See no pool! Just sod and pretty plants. The landscaping had to be done earlier than we had hoped because of some drainage issues that needed immediate attention before more damage occured.

•  Love, love love. The old sidewalk was all busted up because of a sewer line that had been replaced by the homeowners and never really fixed. We decided to replace it with a flagstone path. It is so darling! This picture doesn't do it justice. Multicolored stone and a taupe-tan colored mortar.

                                     

• In the upstairs bathrooms, the beautimous wallpaper is down along with some sheetrock. There were 3, THREE, 3 layers of wallpaper. Wallpaper should be outlawed. Hate it. Passionately. Cabinets are out and being sanded this week. They will be painted an antique white with a chocolate glaze. The counters will have Corian tops. We found enough of two different colors in the shop at Counter Dimensions (http://www.counterdimensions.com/), Daddy's real job, they were both leftovers from other jobs. Yay-saving some moula! Mirrors are down and some tile is up.

• The wall is out between the dining room and kitchen. The kitchen was dark and boxy before. Taking the wall out helps it to flow better. The whole area feels bigger and brighter. Cabinets ordered, granite ordered, flooring and carpet should be in next week or the week after, interior painting will be next week after the sheetrockers finish this week. The ceilings were scraped of their lovely popcorn texture and some extensive repair work will be done from the wallpaper removal damage. See why we detest wallpaper so? It is costing us some big money!
• The bottom picture is of our "desk". We meet here with our sweet Daddy and go over budgets, make any decisions for the upcoming week and write checks. We write. He signs! That tool bench is older than we are. So cool.

• The exterior has been painted, all but the windows. They will be done after the replacement windows are installed. Their trim will be the brown color. We haven't had the shutters made yet, they will be hung soon. You can also see the updated landscaping in the front yard.

Well, that's all folks! Have a good week and let us know what you think!! Thanks for keeping up with us!!