My family and I have been living in our new house for five months now, and this past weekend we finally hung the majority of our pictures. I’m not sure if anyone ever said this, and if they didn’t I’m saying it now, but pictures really do make a home a home.
Our walls haven’t been completely blank. We had a few pictures on the wall to at least liven each room up a little bit, but many walls were empty. It appeared as though we didn’t have any family, and like the Unabomber – without any real family connections except the brother who eventually turned him in – lived there.
We’re not the Unabomber family, though. We just took a long time in getting our rooms in order to know where we wanted to go with all our pictures. Actually, it was just one room – the master bedroom – but they all needed to be in order before the picture puzzle (sounds like a Bill Cosby preschool program) could be completed.
The bedroom was finished with the arrival last week of a new dresser and media center, allowing us to complete our puzzle.
When we lived in Wautoma, our house had a country home vibe, so our taste in pictures and artwork reflected this. The frames were the type you could buy at most gift shops, and they did not have any type of theme to them.
Our tastes started to change when we moved to an apartment in Plover. The country home vibe no longer worked for us, and we wanted a theme. The theme we settled on: black frames. Widely available and easy to match with each other, these frames quickly became standard in our apartment.
In our new home in Stevens Point, the black frames would work well in setting an overall “black” theme. Black curtains, black appliances, black dishware, black Sony Playstation. Well, we didn’t have choice with that last one, but at least it matches. Although the frames with the pictures were the last thing to go up, they set a precedent for everything else we did.
At our Wautoma home and Plover apartment, family photos dominated the living room. Now they’ve been relegated to every room except the living room, which now has six large scenery photos taken either by my wife or me. Actually, she took all except one of them, which kind of makes her a semi-professional photographer, I think, because our living room has become a photo gallery for her work. That should count for something.
We’ve been careful not to clutter our walls with pictures. We’re fans of the “less is more” approach, but we realize that doesn’t work for everyone, with everyone namely being my mother and most old people we know.
My mother’s walls have little white space (or whatever the color of the wall might be). If there’s room to fit a picture, she’ll make it happen. Maybe it’s from years of accumulating photos, or maybe it’s just an old person thing, but she definitely doesn’t waste the space.
To this day, I’m still discovering pictures on her walls I’ve never noticed before. If you are in my family at any point in you’re life, your probably on my mom’s walls, which have now become a weird sort of visual family tree, even with the branches that sometime twist together in unexplainable ways.
Together with the army of snowmen she brings out every winter, my mom’s house is definitely a delight for the eyes. I wouldn’t want it any other way, though. It’s what makes her home unique.
Just like our taste has made our home unique. Others might not like it, but we wouldn’t want it any other way.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, Nov. 11, 2011.
Showing posts with label new house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new house. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Groundhogs, snakes, birds and toads – oh my
Saturday was wildlife day at the Steuck household, as it was full of snakes, birds, toads and groundhogs.
Since moving in more than a month ago, I’ve been waiting for the wildlife. Although the house is in the city, it’s on the edge of town and is surrounded by plenty of natural landscape. Several years ago, before we built the house, neighbors spotted a bear on our property, and I have heard from others that cougars and wolves have been spotted in the area. But, other than a whole slew of birds who like to wake me up too early in the morning, the wildlife has been quiet.
That is until Saturday when all the animals decided they wanted to live in our yard, and in one case, in our house.
It started with the groundhog. While putting dishes away, my wife, Jenny, looked out the kitchen window and spotted a small brown animal on a rock ledge behind the house. Our son, Braden, and I looked out and spotted it, too. My wife initially thought it was a beaver, but I knew right away it was a groundhog, or a woodchuck as it is also commonly known.
I don’t know much about groundhogs, except that my dad used to shoot them when he spotted them on our property. He said they are a nuisance and didn’t want them there. I don’t have a gun, and even if I did, I could never bring myself to shoot it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s fun to watch it from our window. At one point while watching it, we thought we spotted a baby, but neither of us could confirm for sure that’s what we saw.
Later that afternoon, while in the garage, I spotted a bird in the rafters. Finally having a garage now to allow our cars to avoid becoming encased in the byproducts of birds, I wasn’t about to allow it to do so now. I tried shooing it out, and I could tell it wanted to get out, but it didn’t know how. The garage door below the rafters prevented it from seeing its escape route. I tried for five minutes to get it out, even at one point going outside, lying on my stomach and calling it to hopefully see the exit.
At this point, Jenny came out and told me to let the bird rest awhile, as it’s probably getting tired of flying around hopelessly in the garage. As long as we were outside, she said we should walk around the lawn to come up with ideas on landscaping. As we were walking in front of the house, she spotted a grass snake on our front porch with a toad in its mouth. Basically, it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
She didn’t think so, jumping back about five feet and instructing me to get rid of it.
My first instinct, though, was to get Braden who was in the house. “Come outside and see something cool,” I told him walking past the snake and into the house. He ran out and agreed with me, immediately wanting to call his grandmother to let her know what he was seeing. It’s kind of torture on his part, because he knows his grandmother is deathly afraid of snakes.
I knew I had to get rid of the snake when it took its prey and started going under our house. Like the unwanted bird, we did not want a slithery unwanted reptilian houseguest. I grabbed it by its tail and held it at arm’s length, knowing it wouldn’t be able to reach me if it tried to bite. It’s first reaction was to let go of the toad and come after me. I couldn’t blame it, as who would want me holding it by its rear.
I went across the street and let it go in some high grass near a neighborhood park. Jenny said I shouldn’t have put it there, but it seemed the only logical place to go if she didn’t want it back on our property.
Maybe the bird was frightened by the snake, too, as it finally left after I put the garage door down halfway in an attempt to let it see the exit.
The toad the snake attempted to eat was probably the same toad I told Braden to release after he caught it when we first moved in. To convince him to let it go, I told him it was our “Guard Toad” and that it would guard our house from any bad things. I guess we better find another toad now.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, July 22, 2011.
Since moving in more than a month ago, I’ve been waiting for the wildlife. Although the house is in the city, it’s on the edge of town and is surrounded by plenty of natural landscape. Several years ago, before we built the house, neighbors spotted a bear on our property, and I have heard from others that cougars and wolves have been spotted in the area. But, other than a whole slew of birds who like to wake me up too early in the morning, the wildlife has been quiet.
That is until Saturday when all the animals decided they wanted to live in our yard, and in one case, in our house.
It started with the groundhog. While putting dishes away, my wife, Jenny, looked out the kitchen window and spotted a small brown animal on a rock ledge behind the house. Our son, Braden, and I looked out and spotted it, too. My wife initially thought it was a beaver, but I knew right away it was a groundhog, or a woodchuck as it is also commonly known.
I don’t know much about groundhogs, except that my dad used to shoot them when he spotted them on our property. He said they are a nuisance and didn’t want them there. I don’t have a gun, and even if I did, I could never bring myself to shoot it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s fun to watch it from our window. At one point while watching it, we thought we spotted a baby, but neither of us could confirm for sure that’s what we saw.
Later that afternoon, while in the garage, I spotted a bird in the rafters. Finally having a garage now to allow our cars to avoid becoming encased in the byproducts of birds, I wasn’t about to allow it to do so now. I tried shooing it out, and I could tell it wanted to get out, but it didn’t know how. The garage door below the rafters prevented it from seeing its escape route. I tried for five minutes to get it out, even at one point going outside, lying on my stomach and calling it to hopefully see the exit.
At this point, Jenny came out and told me to let the bird rest awhile, as it’s probably getting tired of flying around hopelessly in the garage. As long as we were outside, she said we should walk around the lawn to come up with ideas on landscaping. As we were walking in front of the house, she spotted a grass snake on our front porch with a toad in its mouth. Basically, it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
She didn’t think so, jumping back about five feet and instructing me to get rid of it.
My first instinct, though, was to get Braden who was in the house. “Come outside and see something cool,” I told him walking past the snake and into the house. He ran out and agreed with me, immediately wanting to call his grandmother to let her know what he was seeing. It’s kind of torture on his part, because he knows his grandmother is deathly afraid of snakes.
I knew I had to get rid of the snake when it took its prey and started going under our house. Like the unwanted bird, we did not want a slithery unwanted reptilian houseguest. I grabbed it by its tail and held it at arm’s length, knowing it wouldn’t be able to reach me if it tried to bite. It’s first reaction was to let go of the toad and come after me. I couldn’t blame it, as who would want me holding it by its rear.
I went across the street and let it go in some high grass near a neighborhood park. Jenny said I shouldn’t have put it there, but it seemed the only logical place to go if she didn’t want it back on our property.
Maybe the bird was frightened by the snake, too, as it finally left after I put the garage door down halfway in an attempt to let it see the exit.
The toad the snake attempted to eat was probably the same toad I told Braden to release after he caught it when we first moved in. To convince him to let it go, I told him it was our “Guard Toad” and that it would guard our house from any bad things. I guess we better find another toad now.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, July 22, 2011.
Challenges always come with moves, despite hopes
Over the course of many moves during my lifetime, I’ve learned each one comes with at least one challenge. I was hoping to avoid any challenges in moving from an apartment in Plover my family and I have lived in for the last three years to a new house we built in Stevens Point. I should have known better.
Things went well at first, as one advantage into moving into an unoccupied home is you don’t have to wait until the previous tenants get out, which meant we were able to move items over to the house over the course of more than a month, easing the burden we had to bear for the big moving day on Thursday, June 9. And with the help of some friends, we were able to clear out our garage and a storage unit in May.
Moving day seemed to go well, too. It was just my wife, Jenny, and me, and a truck and trailer lent to us by our friends. We emptied out nearly all the big items in our apartment and had it unloaded in our house by 11 a.m. We figured the remaining stuff would go over in the next load.
Almost all of it did, starting with our washer and dryer. While Jenny was able to help me carry out and unload all other big items, the washer and dryer were too heavy. So we did so in short bursts in which we lifted it one or two inches off the ground and as far as possible. Going down stairs, we relied mainly on gravity as we banged down from one step to the next.
After unloading them in the garage, we left them there until a friend could help me carry them in. Although I’m not mechanically inclined, I was able to figure out how to hook them up, much to my delight.
It wasn’t until we used the washer that we discovered all was not well. A crack in the bottom of the washer – one that probably occurred during the move – caused water to spill out onto the floor, as well as my heart in hope of completing a perfect move.
The washer was eight years old, so I wasn’t completely upset we had broken it. We knew the lifespan on these things didn’t exceed much longer. I was more upset about going through the hassle of moving it, only to have it mean nothing. It’s worse than writing an article, not saving it and having the power go out as you are about to complete it. Any journalist who says this has never happened to him or her probably isn’t telling the truth.
We bought a new washer later that day, much to Jenny’s pleasure since it was a front-loader she’s always wanted. I was satisfied knowing she didn’t need a matching dryer.
The other challenge occurred both before and after the move: finding, and then installing, a mailbox.
As long as I’ve been living on my own, I’ve never owned a mailbox. It’s always been apartment mailboxes or post office boxes.
For months, we shopped for a mailbox. We liked some of them, but couldn’t fathom spending $80 or more just for the box. For that price, it should pay the bills it’s mainly used for.
After moving and knowing we needed to install one soon, we decided to go with a less expensive one, even if it didn’t have the look we wanted.
Installing it over the weekend had its own challenge: bedrock. We live in a rocky area, and the first hole I started to dig ended when I encountered a large rock halfway down. Not wanting to bother with the hassle of digging around it, I started over. Although I didn’t encounter any big rocks, I met enough smaller ones that the process took a lot longer and was much messier than I anticipated.
In the larger picture, those challenges weren’t horrible. But we’re not done, yet. We still have pictures to hang on the walls. That’s never fun.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, June 17, 2011.
Things went well at first, as one advantage into moving into an unoccupied home is you don’t have to wait until the previous tenants get out, which meant we were able to move items over to the house over the course of more than a month, easing the burden we had to bear for the big moving day on Thursday, June 9. And with the help of some friends, we were able to clear out our garage and a storage unit in May.
Moving day seemed to go well, too. It was just my wife, Jenny, and me, and a truck and trailer lent to us by our friends. We emptied out nearly all the big items in our apartment and had it unloaded in our house by 11 a.m. We figured the remaining stuff would go over in the next load.
Almost all of it did, starting with our washer and dryer. While Jenny was able to help me carry out and unload all other big items, the washer and dryer were too heavy. So we did so in short bursts in which we lifted it one or two inches off the ground and as far as possible. Going down stairs, we relied mainly on gravity as we banged down from one step to the next.
After unloading them in the garage, we left them there until a friend could help me carry them in. Although I’m not mechanically inclined, I was able to figure out how to hook them up, much to my delight.
It wasn’t until we used the washer that we discovered all was not well. A crack in the bottom of the washer – one that probably occurred during the move – caused water to spill out onto the floor, as well as my heart in hope of completing a perfect move.
The washer was eight years old, so I wasn’t completely upset we had broken it. We knew the lifespan on these things didn’t exceed much longer. I was more upset about going through the hassle of moving it, only to have it mean nothing. It’s worse than writing an article, not saving it and having the power go out as you are about to complete it. Any journalist who says this has never happened to him or her probably isn’t telling the truth.
We bought a new washer later that day, much to Jenny’s pleasure since it was a front-loader she’s always wanted. I was satisfied knowing she didn’t need a matching dryer.
The other challenge occurred both before and after the move: finding, and then installing, a mailbox.
As long as I’ve been living on my own, I’ve never owned a mailbox. It’s always been apartment mailboxes or post office boxes.
For months, we shopped for a mailbox. We liked some of them, but couldn’t fathom spending $80 or more just for the box. For that price, it should pay the bills it’s mainly used for.
After moving and knowing we needed to install one soon, we decided to go with a less expensive one, even if it didn’t have the look we wanted.
Installing it over the weekend had its own challenge: bedrock. We live in a rocky area, and the first hole I started to dig ended when I encountered a large rock halfway down. Not wanting to bother with the hassle of digging around it, I started over. Although I didn’t encounter any big rocks, I met enough smaller ones that the process took a lot longer and was much messier than I anticipated.
In the larger picture, those challenges weren’t horrible. But we’re not done, yet. We still have pictures to hang on the walls. That’s never fun.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, June 17, 2011.
New house will be open for people to see during Parade of Homes
My family’s new home, which we’re not even living in yet, will be open to the public Friday through Monday, June 3-6, during the Golden Sands Homebuilder’s Association’s (GSHBA) annual Parade of Homes.
Located at 2324 Falcons Cove in the Eagle Point subdivision on the north side of Stevens Point, the home was built by Heartland Custom Homes of Plover.
The main reason it’s on the tour is timing. The timing of our decision to build the home, and Heartland’s schedule in finishing it, coincided with the Parade of Homes. Since many GSHBA builders, such as Heartland, like to feature homes in the parade, it made perfect sense for the builder to feature our home.
When first asked if we would like to do so, my wife and I hesitated. We weren’t building a big fancy house, the kind we associated as with being in these events.
In fact, our house was pretty simple, in our opinion. The 1,660-square-foot ranch-style home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms compares well with the average home in that it’s large enough to suit our needs and not too big to be out of our means.
But Jason Jones and Brice Nelson, the Heartland representatives who have made the home-building process a breeze for us, told us Heartland would rather feature this type of home than a more lavish one that would be unaffordable for most people. Sure, they are nice to look at, but you don’t want to give people the impression you only cater to the rich, they said.
That made sense to us, so we agreed to be one of 19 houses from 15 different GSHBA builders on the Parade of Homes.
While this decision has delayed us moving into our home by several weeks – as we probably could have moved in last week already – it’s allowed us to take our time in making sure everything is ready for the move-in. In the last several weeks, my wife and I have moved everything over from a storage unit and our garage, as well as some of the things from our apartment we don’t use on an everyday basis.
We’ve hung window shades and curtains, finished touch-up painting, built a new desk and living room furniture (coffee table, end table and TV stand), organized the kitchen and completed the two bathrooms.
Most importantly, we finished our son Braden’s room. An Indiana Jones-themed room, it has three posters of the first three “Indiana Jones” films. The fourth one was not included because I refuse to accept its existence, although Braden likes it. It also has some archaeologist-type décor, such as a globe and an Egyptian Sphinx.
My wife and I both decided the room is cooler than anything we had growing up. Braden thinks so, too, and can’t wait to move in. We’re just hoping he can keep it cleaner than his current room.
We will be there for some of the Parade of Homes, mainly to tell people how smooth the building process was for us. Before we started, we heard from many people about how it can often hurt marriages because of disagreements about how things should be done.
But Heartland made everything so simple by clearly laying out our options. The only disagreement my wife and I ever had dealt with selecting a refrigerator, and that had nothing to do with Heartland. Ultimately, my wife won that one, and I’m glad she did, because it’s one of the coolest things – literally and metamorphically – about the house.
More information about GSHBA and the Parade of Homes, including a map of the parade homes, can be found under the “Parade of Homes” link online at www.gshba.org or by calling 715-341-3536.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, June 3, 2011.
Located at 2324 Falcons Cove in the Eagle Point subdivision on the north side of Stevens Point, the home was built by Heartland Custom Homes of Plover.
The main reason it’s on the tour is timing. The timing of our decision to build the home, and Heartland’s schedule in finishing it, coincided with the Parade of Homes. Since many GSHBA builders, such as Heartland, like to feature homes in the parade, it made perfect sense for the builder to feature our home.
When first asked if we would like to do so, my wife and I hesitated. We weren’t building a big fancy house, the kind we associated as with being in these events.
In fact, our house was pretty simple, in our opinion. The 1,660-square-foot ranch-style home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms compares well with the average home in that it’s large enough to suit our needs and not too big to be out of our means.
But Jason Jones and Brice Nelson, the Heartland representatives who have made the home-building process a breeze for us, told us Heartland would rather feature this type of home than a more lavish one that would be unaffordable for most people. Sure, they are nice to look at, but you don’t want to give people the impression you only cater to the rich, they said.
That made sense to us, so we agreed to be one of 19 houses from 15 different GSHBA builders on the Parade of Homes.
While this decision has delayed us moving into our home by several weeks – as we probably could have moved in last week already – it’s allowed us to take our time in making sure everything is ready for the move-in. In the last several weeks, my wife and I have moved everything over from a storage unit and our garage, as well as some of the things from our apartment we don’t use on an everyday basis.
We’ve hung window shades and curtains, finished touch-up painting, built a new desk and living room furniture (coffee table, end table and TV stand), organized the kitchen and completed the two bathrooms.
Most importantly, we finished our son Braden’s room. An Indiana Jones-themed room, it has three posters of the first three “Indiana Jones” films. The fourth one was not included because I refuse to accept its existence, although Braden likes it. It also has some archaeologist-type décor, such as a globe and an Egyptian Sphinx.
My wife and I both decided the room is cooler than anything we had growing up. Braden thinks so, too, and can’t wait to move in. We’re just hoping he can keep it cleaner than his current room.
We will be there for some of the Parade of Homes, mainly to tell people how smooth the building process was for us. Before we started, we heard from many people about how it can often hurt marriages because of disagreements about how things should be done.
But Heartland made everything so simple by clearly laying out our options. The only disagreement my wife and I ever had dealt with selecting a refrigerator, and that had nothing to do with Heartland. Ultimately, my wife won that one, and I’m glad she did, because it’s one of the coolest things – literally and metamorphically – about the house.
More information about GSHBA and the Parade of Homes, including a map of the parade homes, can be found under the “Parade of Homes” link online at www.gshba.org or by calling 715-341-3536.
****
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, June 3, 2011.
House painting may lead some spouses to ‘fire’ their partner
I’ve never been fired from a job, but I kind of got the boot from one this past weekend.
Heartland Homes of Plover, which is constructing a new home for my wife, Jenny, and I in Stevens Point, gave us the opportunity to paint the interior rooms of our home over the Easter weekend, before flooring, doors, light fixtures and outlets are installed. Translation: take advantage of this now, or spend a lot of time later taping around these things.
We were sort of ready for this endeavor. We spent months looking at color samples, and we debated the merits and pitfalls of each color until we had our choices. At one point, Jenny even taped nearly 100 color samples on the wall of our apartment so we could have conversations about colors at any given moment’s notice.
Purchasing these colors got off to a rocky start, as I left the store soon after we got there. The teenager working there asked if we planned on purchasing a lot of paint, because the paint store was closing in 45 minutes. Yes, we planned on purchasing a lot of paint, and if that was going to inconvenience him, I didn’t want his store to get any of our money.
Fortunately, the next store was much better and within an hour we had all seven gallons of paint we thought we needed. The lady who helped us was super nice and definitely knowledgeable about her department. She even helped me convince Jenny to go with a color for the office my wife wasn’t really feeling. Any married man would probably agree with me that that’s quite an accomplishment.
After Jenny was done working the next day, we went to the house with Jenny’s sister, Raechel, to begin the painting task. Although I knew I wasn’t much of a painter, I was looking forward to the experience because it meant I got to spend time in my future home.
We started with the master bathroom. Using a purple color, we had painted half the room by the time Jenny’s dad, Brad, arrived to inspect our work. A plumber by trade, but truly a McGyver with his vast knowledge of pretty much everything involving construction and even nonconstruction, he was there to make sure we were painting properly.
He took one look at my work and just shook his head. I was getting paint on the ceiling and leaving paint lines everywhere.
Jenny and Raechel were also leaving some lines, but not to the extent I was leaving them. They quickly learned from their mistakes and were soon perfectionists.
I tried to learn from my mistakes, but I think I made it worse in going back over my work.
Later, Raechel worked with me some and I got to the point where I was a C- painter, rather than an F one – and “F” could stand for a word other than “failed” as an adverb for such words as “awful” and “horrible” – but with only one weekend to paint all the rooms in the entire house, they didn’t have time to watch and guide me, so I was effectively fired from the job.
They did it nicely, though. I was relegated to other duties, such as the guy who ran to the store to get more paint and supplies, the guy who picked up food, the guy who watched the kid and the guy who assembled the closet organizers for the master closet.
Later, I became the guy who got to go around and touch up spots on the ceiling, which they accidentally painted. Even that was a learning curve for me, as I got white paint on areas they had painted different colors.
I’m proud of teaming up with the lady at the store to convince Jenny of a dark gray-blue color for the office. It turns out that color is her favorite one in the house. At least I can take pride in one thing when it came to painting.
People who want to see how well I painted, excuse me, how well I didn’t paint, will have the opportunity to do so Friday through Monday, June 3-7, during the Golden Sands Home Builders Association Parade of Homes. Our modest house is one of 16 homes on the annual tour.
****
Orginally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, April 29, 2011.
Heartland Homes of Plover, which is constructing a new home for my wife, Jenny, and I in Stevens Point, gave us the opportunity to paint the interior rooms of our home over the Easter weekend, before flooring, doors, light fixtures and outlets are installed. Translation: take advantage of this now, or spend a lot of time later taping around these things.
We were sort of ready for this endeavor. We spent months looking at color samples, and we debated the merits and pitfalls of each color until we had our choices. At one point, Jenny even taped nearly 100 color samples on the wall of our apartment so we could have conversations about colors at any given moment’s notice.
Purchasing these colors got off to a rocky start, as I left the store soon after we got there. The teenager working there asked if we planned on purchasing a lot of paint, because the paint store was closing in 45 minutes. Yes, we planned on purchasing a lot of paint, and if that was going to inconvenience him, I didn’t want his store to get any of our money.
Fortunately, the next store was much better and within an hour we had all seven gallons of paint we thought we needed. The lady who helped us was super nice and definitely knowledgeable about her department. She even helped me convince Jenny to go with a color for the office my wife wasn’t really feeling. Any married man would probably agree with me that that’s quite an accomplishment.
After Jenny was done working the next day, we went to the house with Jenny’s sister, Raechel, to begin the painting task. Although I knew I wasn’t much of a painter, I was looking forward to the experience because it meant I got to spend time in my future home.
We started with the master bathroom. Using a purple color, we had painted half the room by the time Jenny’s dad, Brad, arrived to inspect our work. A plumber by trade, but truly a McGyver with his vast knowledge of pretty much everything involving construction and even nonconstruction, he was there to make sure we were painting properly.
He took one look at my work and just shook his head. I was getting paint on the ceiling and leaving paint lines everywhere.
Jenny and Raechel were also leaving some lines, but not to the extent I was leaving them. They quickly learned from their mistakes and were soon perfectionists.
I tried to learn from my mistakes, but I think I made it worse in going back over my work.
Later, Raechel worked with me some and I got to the point where I was a C- painter, rather than an F one – and “F” could stand for a word other than “failed” as an adverb for such words as “awful” and “horrible” – but with only one weekend to paint all the rooms in the entire house, they didn’t have time to watch and guide me, so I was effectively fired from the job.
They did it nicely, though. I was relegated to other duties, such as the guy who ran to the store to get more paint and supplies, the guy who picked up food, the guy who watched the kid and the guy who assembled the closet organizers for the master closet.
Later, I became the guy who got to go around and touch up spots on the ceiling, which they accidentally painted. Even that was a learning curve for me, as I got white paint on areas they had painted different colors.
I’m proud of teaming up with the lady at the store to convince Jenny of a dark gray-blue color for the office. It turns out that color is her favorite one in the house. At least I can take pride in one thing when it came to painting.
People who want to see how well I painted, excuse me, how well I didn’t paint, will have the opportunity to do so Friday through Monday, June 3-7, during the Golden Sands Home Builders Association Parade of Homes. Our modest house is one of 16 homes on the annual tour.
****
Orginally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, April 29, 2011.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Three years of apartment life will soon end
My family and I have lived in an apartment for the past three years, which is two years more than we thought we would. That will soon change, as we are currently building a new home on the north side of Stevens Point.
When we sold our home in Wautoma in 2008, we decided to rent an apartment in Plover for a year while we explored our options. Did we want to buy a home, build one or maybe move on to another community? We didn’t know.
We quickly eliminated the option to move elsewhere, as we fell in love with Portage County. Simply said, it offers many of the conveniences of a metropolitan area, but with less of the hassles, such as traffic, crime and traffic. Did I mention traffic?
My wife, Jenny, and I looked at plenty of homes in the area, and never found anything we really liked in our price range. When we bought our home in Wautoma, we knew immediately it was the one. We never had those feelings about the homes we looked at here.
Building a home seemed like the best option, but then the economy collapsed, putting our mission on hold for two more years than we intended. As we waited for the banking industry to collect itself, we purchased a lot in the Eagle Point Subdivision and looked at builders and plans.
Jenny discovered the subdivision during the Golden Sands Home Builders Association’s annual Tour of Homes in 2009 in which one of the featured homes was located there. We loved its proximity to Interstate 39, and the rural setting it offers that we enjoyed growing up in rural Waushara County. We knew it was the perfect place to raise our son, Braden. Plus it has a nice lake where Braden and I caught several big bass last summer.
After looking at a number of builders, we decided we wanted to go with Heartland Homes in Plover, which at the time was a Wausau Homes dealer and is now a Blenker Homes dealer. Jason, Brice and the rest of the staff there were friendly, and word of mouth said they were a good group of people to deal with.
After more than a year’s worth of looking at plans, we finally found one we liked: a modest three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch-style home.
The basement for the home was dug and the footings were set this week. Heartland will set the home, which is constructed in Blenker’s facility in Amherst, on Tuesday, March 22, and it should be finished on May 22.
We’ll have to wait a few weeks to move in, though, as Heartland wants to feature the home on the 2011 Tour of Homes.
The little details about the house – upgrades, colors and flooring – were fairly easy for Jenny and me. We tend to have the same tastes, so we rarely disagreed about anything. In fact, we picked out flooring, under budget, in less than an hour at Carpets Plus in Plover.
Now, we’re trying to determine what colors we want to paint rooms in the house. Blaze orange will not be allowed, Jenny has told me. Maybe I can still push for camouflage.
Heartland will allow us access to the house in mid-April to paint rooms, prior to flooring installation, making the task much easier.
If Heartland could figure out a way for the move itself to be much easier, then all would be perfect. Then again, we’ll be getting out of our crowded apartment soon, which is more than good enough for us.
When we sold our home in Wautoma in 2008, we decided to rent an apartment in Plover for a year while we explored our options. Did we want to buy a home, build one or maybe move on to another community? We didn’t know.
We quickly eliminated the option to move elsewhere, as we fell in love with Portage County. Simply said, it offers many of the conveniences of a metropolitan area, but with less of the hassles, such as traffic, crime and traffic. Did I mention traffic?
My wife, Jenny, and I looked at plenty of homes in the area, and never found anything we really liked in our price range. When we bought our home in Wautoma, we knew immediately it was the one. We never had those feelings about the homes we looked at here.
Building a home seemed like the best option, but then the economy collapsed, putting our mission on hold for two more years than we intended. As we waited for the banking industry to collect itself, we purchased a lot in the Eagle Point Subdivision and looked at builders and plans.
Jenny discovered the subdivision during the Golden Sands Home Builders Association’s annual Tour of Homes in 2009 in which one of the featured homes was located there. We loved its proximity to Interstate 39, and the rural setting it offers that we enjoyed growing up in rural Waushara County. We knew it was the perfect place to raise our son, Braden. Plus it has a nice lake where Braden and I caught several big bass last summer.
After looking at a number of builders, we decided we wanted to go with Heartland Homes in Plover, which at the time was a Wausau Homes dealer and is now a Blenker Homes dealer. Jason, Brice and the rest of the staff there were friendly, and word of mouth said they were a good group of people to deal with.
After more than a year’s worth of looking at plans, we finally found one we liked: a modest three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch-style home.
The basement for the home was dug and the footings were set this week. Heartland will set the home, which is constructed in Blenker’s facility in Amherst, on Tuesday, March 22, and it should be finished on May 22.
We’ll have to wait a few weeks to move in, though, as Heartland wants to feature the home on the 2011 Tour of Homes.
The little details about the house – upgrades, colors and flooring – were fairly easy for Jenny and me. We tend to have the same tastes, so we rarely disagreed about anything. In fact, we picked out flooring, under budget, in less than an hour at Carpets Plus in Plover.
Now, we’re trying to determine what colors we want to paint rooms in the house. Blaze orange will not be allowed, Jenny has told me. Maybe I can still push for camouflage.
Heartland will allow us access to the house in mid-April to paint rooms, prior to flooring installation, making the task much easier.
If Heartland could figure out a way for the move itself to be much easier, then all would be perfect. Then again, we’ll be getting out of our crowded apartment soon, which is more than good enough for us.
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