Chicago Mo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2010
- Messages
- 7,613
Love it all!!! you two are going to make an amazing adventure!
~~~~~ Sew, off we go – on another mother-daughter adventure! May 2020!~~~~~
- Thread starter DMGeurts
- Start date
oopsiDAISY
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2010
- Messages
- 3,289
Oh, I am so glad you are back on here! I hate that our dates didn't line up, but I know you must be SO READY for this. I know we are. Have the BEST time!!!
DMGeurts
Never open texts with the "Hand Sewn Button" attac
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2008
- Messages
- 9,666
Hi everyone!!! It's been a while!
Someone mentioned to me, last week, that they miss my updates on The Dis, and kindly asked me to come back and update everyone. So... Here it goes.
It's been so long - I am just not sure where to start?
I guess we will start with Disney - right - since this is what we are all about.
Right at this very moment, Victoria and I have a trip booked for May of 2022. However, both of us are 99% sure it isn't happening. As sad as it is to say - Disney has finally priced us out of their market. Even with staying at SoG and getting military salute tickets - prices still keep going up and it's just getting harder and harder to make the trips happen. Don't get me wrong - we will all go again - but with the girls' busy lives and work - it's just hard to get a plan together and make it happen. Plus - it's expensive for them to try to save for.
Which leads me to work. Work for me has been slow during the pandemic... Thankfully I've been able to keep my business afloat, but there has been a lot of tears surrounding the future of it. I kind of poured my heart out on my facebook business page last week, and I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and people who encouraged me to push on. Since then, I have really been astonished at the amount of my customers and friends who are going out of their way to help my business succeed - or at least continue on. For about the last year, 90% of my customers have not been seeing my posts - and for a business that is run exclusively on Facebook - this can mean total death in a very short amount of time... So, I just kind of put it out there, that I was struggling to fill my orders - and before I knew it, my customers were commenting on my post - all the people who hadn't seen my posts in months were all of a sudden seeing my posts in their feeds... Facebook algorithms are a finicky thing... More comments and shares mean more people see the posts. Liking a post does absolutely nothing for visibility - it only has to do with comments or shares.... So if no one comments and no one shares, no one will see my posts - if no one sees my posts - eventually my business will fail.
The rallying of support over the last week has been astonishing, truly - happy tears - to the point where I think my business may make it through the pandemic? As long as people want what I make, I will continue to push on - I promise that. I love what I do, and I love seeing my customers creating happy memories - trip after trip - with the bags that I make. 
Which leads me to life.... Gosh, I just don't even know where to begin here?
Let's start with the dogs - they are fun right?
Cooper is still his crazy self - and honestly not much to update there. Cooper is now 7 years old - can you believe that?
Max - on the other hand - well, he is now 9 years old, and handsome as ever. Last January, he was having a few issues, so we took him into the vet... during some "routine bloodwork" to see what was up - we discovered that Max's blood sugar was a 579!!! (Normal is around 100)... So Max became a diabetic overnight and we had to learn how to give him insulin shots twice a day. Not only that, but trying to get a good blood sugar level in a dog is a process... A long process. It has taken us this entire year to get his blood sugar down to a manageable level - in the 200s... The hard part, is if we go higher with the insulin, he crashes. And that is SCARY! So, keeping his blood sugar in the 200s is where we stay. That said... Diabetes - if not managed - leads to blindness. Sadly - within the last 4 months, Max has gone completely blind. It was very difficult for us - because we knew his sight wasn't good - but it wasn't until he really starting bumping into things, head first, that we finally realized he was totally blind. So, basically - we lead Max everywhere he needs to be.... He is pretty good at home - as long as things don't change and move... but you'll read further down - we are in the middle of a large construction project - so things are changing and moving constantly right now. Other than the blindness, and his twice daily insulin shots - Max is in good health and is mostly happy.
On to Victoria and Allison... The above pic was taken on V's birthday back in May. (clockwise: Josh, me, Nolan - V's boyfriend of almost 2 years now, Allison and V)
Victoria is staying busy!!!! So much so, that we barely see her these days! During the shut-down, she decided that college wasn't right for her. She finished that semester and decided not to go back - we were disappointed, of course - but we've always known that V didn't like school - so we weren't surprised. Currently - V and Nolan are living together at Nolan's parent's house, about 8 miles away. She is working 3 jobs! She is still at the pizza restaurant - she has been there for 5 years I think? She is also nannying part time for a little 2 year old girl. Then she is also working part time as a Resident Assistant at the same Assisted Living facility that Allison works at. Her schedule is terrifying most days! Her boyfriend, Nolan works at an outdoor sports type factory (I am terrible that I don't even know what he does - and I should) - doing something. He works nights - that's about all I can tell you. He is a very good "kid" - and is always willing to help us out whenever we need it... He has done so much work for us recently and we are very grateful to him!
Allison - she is very busy too!!! Last year, she took a job as an Activities Director at a local assisted living facility, and she absolutely loves it. She graduated with her AA degree last spring, and is enjoying some time off of school. Allison and Gus are still living in their 1 bedroom apartment nearby, with their 2 cats - Willow and Holly. No mention of marriage from Gus yet - and Allison is trying to wait patiently, but she is ready. They have been house hunting, and have put in a few offers, but as of yet - none have been accepted. Which - IMO - is a good thing, as it is definitely NOT a buyers market right now. Gus is doing well, he joined the Air Guard 2 years ago, so occasionally has to leave for months at at time for training - he spent this last summer in Colorado, so Allison took a few trips there to visit him (and we did cat sitting - which was fun with the dogs). When he is home, he is still working full-time for an insurance company... Again, I have no idea what he actually does?
Then there's us...
Josh is still working full time for the VA... Nothing new or exciting there.
And I am still running my business - which I updated above.
We did, however, take on a big project this year - something we have been trying to make happen for 10 years now. We finally decided to build our garage!!! And gosh - it just didn't come together at all how we wanted it to.
We wanted to call a contractor and give them our plans, and have them build it while we watched - basically. Well... That didn't happen. We started trying to get bids in 2019 - but they were all coming back about 30-40k higher than we wanted to spend. So we started to move forward on our own... We had our old garage foundation pulled out in 2019.
Then, in 2020 we started the brutal job of back filling our yard and building a retaining wall... Which still isn't quite finished - we still have to put the cap stones on.
Josh learned how to run lots of excavating equipment it was a process.
At this point, we were still hoping to hire someone to build it for us.... ahhh, but then the great building materials shortage happened, and the cost of our garage skyrocketed. We are getting to the point in life, where it is very difficult and BRUTAL to do winters in MN without a garage. We tried again for some good bids - but of course, they were coming back even higher than the original bids - and that was after we had already built the retaining wall.
We gave it more thought over the winter, and just decided we couldn't do another winter without a garage. As much as we didn't want to - we were going to build this thing ourselves. 
When the first hints of spring arrived, we ordered our building materials. When the ground thawed, Josh went and pulled the building permit. And we were off. We've hired out 3 portions of this job... The concrete foundation... Josh's back went out mid-summer, while we were just starting to sheet the garage, so we had to hire out the actual remainder of the sheeting of the garage, and we hired out the electrical. Everything else - we have done ourselves... and by saying "we" - I mean Josh... because this girl is so scared of heights, I am useless for anything but grunt and ground work.
Build it big or go home right? It's the biggest building we could fit on our property. I insisted - and wouldn't budge, even though I was challenged several times - on 4 things... The front service door MUST match up with the side entry on our front porch and the front of the garage must be exactly even with the front of the house. The siding MUST be the exact same siding as we have on the house (Josh challenged me on this several times because it was "special order" = expensive - on an already over priced project) - but I didn't budge. I get 16ft of wall space in the garage (floor to ceiling) for shelving for my own storage. And I get a parking spot INSIDE the garage at all times.
So the project was a go.
The foundation went in mid-May.
2 weeks later - we had a framing party... Lots of friends and family showed up for the weekend to help us stand walls and lift trusses - this was very much an back breaking weekend. We couldn't have done this without the help of everyone!
The following weekend we started sheeting... And this is where we left off when Josh's back went out.
That was rough! We had to scramble to find someone who could finish sheeting for us - with no notice - and builders are swamped right now... Thanks to a neighbor, we found someone and had it done in a day.
Wow - I guess I only get to attach 10 photos... Sorry guys. I need to leave off here anyways, as I need to get outside to help Josh with the garage. I'll try to get back here later to finish off.
I hope everyone is well and I'd love to hear from all of you! <3
D~
Someone mentioned to me, last week, that they miss my updates on The Dis, and kindly asked me to come back and update everyone. So... Here it goes.
It's been so long - I am just not sure where to start?
I guess we will start with Disney - right - since this is what we are all about.
Right at this very moment, Victoria and I have a trip booked for May of 2022. However, both of us are 99% sure it isn't happening. As sad as it is to say - Disney has finally priced us out of their market. Even with staying at SoG and getting military salute tickets - prices still keep going up and it's just getting harder and harder to make the trips happen. Don't get me wrong - we will all go again - but with the girls' busy lives and work - it's just hard to get a plan together and make it happen. Plus - it's expensive for them to try to save for.
Which leads me to work. Work for me has been slow during the pandemic... Thankfully I've been able to keep my business afloat, but there has been a lot of tears surrounding the future of it. I kind of poured my heart out on my facebook business page last week, and I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and people who encouraged me to push on. Since then, I have really been astonished at the amount of my customers and friends who are going out of their way to help my business succeed - or at least continue on. For about the last year, 90% of my customers have not been seeing my posts - and for a business that is run exclusively on Facebook - this can mean total death in a very short amount of time... So, I just kind of put it out there, that I was struggling to fill my orders - and before I knew it, my customers were commenting on my post - all the people who hadn't seen my posts in months were all of a sudden seeing my posts in their feeds... Facebook algorithms are a finicky thing... More comments and shares mean more people see the posts. Liking a post does absolutely nothing for visibility - it only has to do with comments or shares.... So if no one comments and no one shares, no one will see my posts - if no one sees my posts - eventually my business will fail.
The rallying of support over the last week has been astonishing, truly - happy tears - to the point where I think my business may make it through the pandemic? As long as people want what I make, I will continue to push on - I promise that. I love what I do, and I love seeing my customers creating happy memories - trip after trip - with the bags that I make. Which leads me to life.... Gosh, I just don't even know where to begin here?
Let's start with the dogs - they are fun right?
Cooper is still his crazy self - and honestly not much to update there. Cooper is now 7 years old - can you believe that?
Max - on the other hand - well, he is now 9 years old, and handsome as ever. Last January, he was having a few issues, so we took him into the vet... during some "routine bloodwork" to see what was up - we discovered that Max's blood sugar was a 579!!! (Normal is around 100)... So Max became a diabetic overnight and we had to learn how to give him insulin shots twice a day. Not only that, but trying to get a good blood sugar level in a dog is a process... A long process. It has taken us this entire year to get his blood sugar down to a manageable level - in the 200s... The hard part, is if we go higher with the insulin, he crashes. And that is SCARY! So, keeping his blood sugar in the 200s is where we stay. That said... Diabetes - if not managed - leads to blindness. Sadly - within the last 4 months, Max has gone completely blind. It was very difficult for us - because we knew his sight wasn't good - but it wasn't until he really starting bumping into things, head first, that we finally realized he was totally blind. So, basically - we lead Max everywhere he needs to be.... He is pretty good at home - as long as things don't change and move... but you'll read further down - we are in the middle of a large construction project - so things are changing and moving constantly right now. Other than the blindness, and his twice daily insulin shots - Max is in good health and is mostly happy.
On to Victoria and Allison... The above pic was taken on V's birthday back in May. (clockwise: Josh, me, Nolan - V's boyfriend of almost 2 years now, Allison and V)
Victoria is staying busy!!!! So much so, that we barely see her these days! During the shut-down, she decided that college wasn't right for her. She finished that semester and decided not to go back - we were disappointed, of course - but we've always known that V didn't like school - so we weren't surprised. Currently - V and Nolan are living together at Nolan's parent's house, about 8 miles away. She is working 3 jobs! She is still at the pizza restaurant - she has been there for 5 years I think? She is also nannying part time for a little 2 year old girl. Then she is also working part time as a Resident Assistant at the same Assisted Living facility that Allison works at. Her schedule is terrifying most days! Her boyfriend, Nolan works at an outdoor sports type factory (I am terrible that I don't even know what he does - and I should) - doing something. He works nights - that's about all I can tell you. He is a very good "kid" - and is always willing to help us out whenever we need it... He has done so much work for us recently and we are very grateful to him!
Allison - she is very busy too!!! Last year, she took a job as an Activities Director at a local assisted living facility, and she absolutely loves it. She graduated with her AA degree last spring, and is enjoying some time off of school. Allison and Gus are still living in their 1 bedroom apartment nearby, with their 2 cats - Willow and Holly. No mention of marriage from Gus yet - and Allison is trying to wait patiently, but she is ready. They have been house hunting, and have put in a few offers, but as of yet - none have been accepted. Which - IMO - is a good thing, as it is definitely NOT a buyers market right now. Gus is doing well, he joined the Air Guard 2 years ago, so occasionally has to leave for months at at time for training - he spent this last summer in Colorado, so Allison took a few trips there to visit him (and we did cat sitting - which was fun with the dogs). When he is home, he is still working full-time for an insurance company... Again, I have no idea what he actually does?
Then there's us...
Josh is still working full time for the VA... Nothing new or exciting there.
And I am still running my business - which I updated above.
We did, however, take on a big project this year - something we have been trying to make happen for 10 years now. We finally decided to build our garage!!! And gosh - it just didn't come together at all how we wanted it to.
We wanted to call a contractor and give them our plans, and have them build it while we watched - basically. Well... That didn't happen. We started trying to get bids in 2019 - but they were all coming back about 30-40k higher than we wanted to spend. So we started to move forward on our own... We had our old garage foundation pulled out in 2019.
Then, in 2020 we started the brutal job of back filling our yard and building a retaining wall... Which still isn't quite finished - we still have to put the cap stones on.
Josh learned how to run lots of excavating equipment it was a process. At this point, we were still hoping to hire someone to build it for us.... ahhh, but then the great building materials shortage happened, and the cost of our garage skyrocketed. We are getting to the point in life, where it is very difficult and BRUTAL to do winters in MN without a garage. We tried again for some good bids - but of course, they were coming back even higher than the original bids - and that was after we had already built the retaining wall.
We gave it more thought over the winter, and just decided we couldn't do another winter without a garage. As much as we didn't want to - we were going to build this thing ourselves.
When the first hints of spring arrived, we ordered our building materials. When the ground thawed, Josh went and pulled the building permit. And we were off. We've hired out 3 portions of this job... The concrete foundation... Josh's back went out mid-summer, while we were just starting to sheet the garage, so we had to hire out the actual remainder of the sheeting of the garage, and we hired out the electrical. Everything else - we have done ourselves... and by saying "we" - I mean Josh... because this girl is so scared of heights, I am useless for anything but grunt and ground work.
Build it big or go home right? It's the biggest building we could fit on our property. I insisted - and wouldn't budge, even though I was challenged several times - on 4 things... The front service door MUST match up with the side entry on our front porch and the front of the garage must be exactly even with the front of the house. The siding MUST be the exact same siding as we have on the house (Josh challenged me on this several times because it was "special order" = expensive - on an already over priced project) - but I didn't budge. I get 16ft of wall space in the garage (floor to ceiling) for shelving for my own storage. And I get a parking spot INSIDE the garage at all times.
So the project was a go.
The foundation went in mid-May.
2 weeks later - we had a framing party... Lots of friends and family showed up for the weekend to help us stand walls and lift trusses - this was very much an back breaking weekend. We couldn't have done this without the help of everyone!
The following weekend we started sheeting... And this is where we left off when Josh's back went out.
That was rough! We had to scramble to find someone who could finish sheeting for us - with no notice - and builders are swamped right now... Thanks to a neighbor, we found someone and had it done in a day.
Wow - I guess I only get to attach 10 photos... Sorry guys. I need to leave off here anyways, as I need to get outside to help Josh with the garage. I'll try to get back here later to finish off.
I hope everyone is well and I'd love to hear from all of you! <3
D~
Wood Nymph
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2012
- Messages
- 20,396
Hi D ~
I am so glad to hear from you again! I hope you can make it back to Disney, but I agree that it is becoming too expensive.
Facebook's logarithms, and logarithms for news feeds, drive me crazy. It reduces the amount of new stuff that you see. It's good to hear that your business has picked up now, in spite of the obstacles.
Our daughter and husband faced a similar problem when they moved back to our town from Colorado. They had planned to hire a contractor for a kitchen and bathroom remodel, but the cost was too high for the kitchen. So they are doing the kitchen themselves, very slowly. And the price of lumber has made them hold off on the basement.
You will need every inch of that garage, especially when the snow and ice comes this winter.
I am so glad to hear from you again! I hope you can make it back to Disney, but I agree that it is becoming too expensive.
Facebook's logarithms, and logarithms for news feeds, drive me crazy. It reduces the amount of new stuff that you see. It's good to hear that your business has picked up now, in spite of the obstacles.
Poor Max! I didn't realize that dogs could get diabetes. That must be really hard for your family, too, since Max is such a loving dog.
The whole family looks great. I always think of you when I see Lily Pulitzer clothes in the stores. They look so good on you.
Wow, what a big project! You are lucky to have friends to help, but it was still a ton of work. I'm looking forward to seeing your next updates.
Our daughter and husband faced a similar problem when they moved back to our town from Colorado. They had planned to hire a contractor for a kitchen and bathroom remodel, but the cost was too high for the kitchen. So they are doing the kitchen themselves, very slowly. And the price of lumber has made them hold off on the basement.
You are right to insist on it.
You will need every inch of that garage, especially when the snow and ice comes this winter.
Last edited:
Chicago Mo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2010
- Messages
- 7,613
Is the band getting back together?!?!
Avery&Todd
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 2,522
YEAH!! You're back!!!! Don't leave us hanging on the garage build!!
NJlauren
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2014
- Messages
- 5,591
This post makes me so happy! I almost posted on your Facebook post the same, that I miss you on the DIS. I am so happy to hear things are going well for you and your family!
I feel like with a small business the more I feel connected to the business the more I spend.... haha!
I feel like with a small business the more I feel connected to the business the more I spend.... haha!
missjackiemcg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,582
D I was so sad to see that your business was struggling!! Your FB post about it made me so sad!! I'm so glad your wonderful supporters have come out en force to build you back up
It's so great to hear about your girls and how well they're doing! It is also wild to me to hear how they're working so hard and gulp, thinking about marriage!!!! Weren't they kids just a minute ago?!
Your garage project has been something I've followed with a lot of interest, as I hate our garage, but don't even know where to start planning for replacing it! It will be so nice to have that ready for winter, which I'm sure will be here before we know it, even though it was 90 degrees yesterday!
It's so great to hear about your girls and how well they're doing! It is also wild to me to hear how they're working so hard and gulp, thinking about marriage!!!! Weren't they kids just a minute ago?!
Your garage project has been something I've followed with a lot of interest, as I hate our garage, but don't even know where to start planning for replacing it! It will be so nice to have that ready for winter, which I'm sure will be here before we know it, even though it was 90 degrees yesterday!
Chicago Mo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2010
- Messages
- 7,613
Let's do it!
branmuffin
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2011
- Messages
- 152
D~
I'm glad to see a new post! I've been following your garage updates, but it is nice to see a long form update on the whole crew. Your sweet pups are precious. And, of course, your beautiful girls are so grown up. Time has just flown by so quickly. I am starting a new adventure this year. I've gotten into a medical coding program at my local community college. Right now I am taking medical terminology. I am hoping to be able to take some of the financial burden off of DH when he retires from the Marine Corps in the next 3-5 years. We are not planning on getting more than the standard retirement, so we will both have to work. He might get more of a VA rating than we expect, but as you know, that VA math is tricky, so we are not depending on it. I'm excited for something new!
Looking forward to more posts when you find the time.
I'm glad to see a new post! I've been following your garage updates, but it is nice to see a long form update on the whole crew. Your sweet pups are precious. And, of course, your beautiful girls are so grown up. Time has just flown by so quickly. I am starting a new adventure this year. I've gotten into a medical coding program at my local community college. Right now I am taking medical terminology. I am hoping to be able to take some of the financial burden off of DH when he retires from the Marine Corps in the next 3-5 years. We are not planning on getting more than the standard retirement, so we will both have to work. He might get more of a VA rating than we expect, but as you know, that VA math is tricky, so we are not depending on it. I'm excited for something new!
Looking forward to more posts when you find the time.
DMGeurts
Never open texts with the "Hand Sewn Button" attac
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2008
- Messages
- 9,666
Oh gosh you guys - I want to reply to everyone - but again, I am short on time. I just want to finish off my update from above... And a couple new developments.
Let's start with the fun stuff.
OK - so I guess I am going back to Disney. This was super-duper unplanned. In a nutshell... Suzi booked a solo trip. And I am crashing it. We are under 40 days. Airfare is booked. Resort is booked. Tickets are booked. It's a done deal. I hate to admit it - I am kind of excited!!!! It's a super quick trip with only 2 park days - but it will be just enough to eat lots of coconut dole whips and cheesy grits! And then Josh and I are booked for Aruba in January - our new love... I love doing this "honeymoon" with him every year - smack in the middle of winter. Makes it almost bearable. Almost.
Back to the garage...
So we were able to hire out the remainder of the sheeting.
And then came shingling... This was super tough. Josh has roofed many roofs in his lifetime - like MANY. However, we are not 26 anymore and we have been reminded of that over and over again throughout this project. I know this garage doesn't look very big... and it's just a basic rectangle... It looks so easy. But quite honestly - it's one of the hardest things I have ever done - and I literally cannot take any credit for any of the work. Because Josh wanted 10ft walls - which is awesome - the roof for the garage is really high up there - with the addition of the block on the foundation, basically the walls ended up being 12ft high... which makes the roof almost as tall as our house. Dealing with the weather and trying to get the shingles on - safely - was just a mess. Josh basically had to be on the roof by 6am (our neighbors love us this summer!) and off the roof by 1pm... because by that time, our roof was in full sun and it was just too hot to be up there - not to mention, walking on hot shingles wrecks them. Nolan and Victoria came to help us roof one weekend... so basically V and I hauled shingles up to the roof - 3 at time because that was all we could safely manage. Then Josh and Nolan shingled it. That was the south side. When the north side finally came along - 3 weekends later - Josh's 2 aunts came to help us. It was back breaking and hard work - I cannot stress that enough. And Josh wouldn't let anyone else up on the roof with him, except for Nolan - so aside from the one weekend we had Nolan's help - Josh did all of the roof by himself.
Nolan helping shingle the south side.
Josh's aunts helping us shingle the north side. I also have to add - Josh's dad loaned us all of his scaffolding and extra ladders. It was so nice to be able to use this stuff for an unlimited amount of time - it made our entire project much safer. Along with that - we own our nail guns, pump jacks, planks and metal siding cutter (I know, but we had them all from doing the house), so not having to rent this stuff was a huge help - we were able to go at our own pace.
Once the roof was shingled and we were FINALLY weather proof! We could get our electrical done... It wasn't easy finding an electrician, but eventually we hired a local guy - on the side - and he has been a God-send!!! Really great squeezing us in on his weekends and off hours.
Simultaneously - while the electrician was working. Josh and I were installing the garage door. Talk about a Lego project with insane directions. I was in awe at how this thing went together and how many pieces there were... It was a huge process! From start to finish - it literally took us 3 weeks to install the garage door!!! Now that wasn't every single night working, but a few nights per week and it was done while BMTL were here, so weekends we were off spending time with them.
And then we had to trench the electric line from the house to the garage. I would have to say, out of this entire project - this (for me) was probably the least fun and the hardest job. We even rented a trencher to do the bulk of it - but it was still back breaking for what we had to do and get done ourselves.
We passed our framing inspection with flying colors and were granted permission to "seal her up". Believe it or not - Josh and I LOVE siding - it is our favorite part! Josh is very good at it, and since we did our entire house years ago, we have our own rhythm. And even though I can't get up on the plank - I do make a decent ground crew of one. And nothing was more exciting to me, than to have a garage the perfectly matched our house! All in all - it has taken us 3 weeks to side the garage, Josh completely finished siding it yesterday. So, it's DONE! 
And another few pics with the house... (Please ignore our landscaping - our entire yard was completely neglected this year - like to the point of barely being mowed or weeded, because we only had a 180 day permit to build the garage) - but look at the perfection right there. The garage perfectly lines up with the house, the fascia on the front porch perfectly lines up with the fascia on the garage. It is the exact placement I wanted. If you go way back in your memories - you may remember that it was my "ultimate dream" to put an addition on the house with an attached garage. I didn't get the addition, but this is the closest thing I could get and if you look at it from certain angles - it does look like it's part of the house.
And I just love our lighting!
The only thing we have left to do is to pass our electrical inspection. Josh has to finish wrapping the frame around the garage door where you see the wood above (which is happening today) And then we have to pass our final inspection. Then we can move in. I also want to put a storm door on the service door - but that can wait until after the inspections if we want.
Sadly - we just got word from our concrete guy this week that he can't do our driveway/sidewalks yet this year - which is a super bummer - so we kind of have to put something down there to build a "ramp" (for lack of a better word), so we can drive into our garage without wrecking our pad - it's hard to see in pics, but there is a good 6" difference between the garage pad and the ground. And it has to be something we can safely snow blow.
Anyways - that's it for my big update! I've been waiting all summer to take a nap - because there is nothing better than that right? Yesterday, I got my wish and it was the "perfect" nap day... It was chilly outside and a bit of rain - and it was glorious. To be able to take a nap and not have the garage project looming.
I'll try to get back here soon and do some replies. I need to go get MM his shot and feed them. Have a wonderful weekend all!
D~
Let's start with the fun stuff.
OK - so I guess I am going back to Disney. This was super-duper unplanned. In a nutshell... Suzi booked a solo trip. And I am crashing it. We are under 40 days. Airfare is booked. Resort is booked. Tickets are booked. It's a done deal. I hate to admit it - I am kind of excited!!!! It's a super quick trip with only 2 park days - but it will be just enough to eat lots of coconut dole whips and cheesy grits!
And then Josh and I are booked for Aruba in January - our new love... I love doing this "honeymoon" with him every year - smack in the middle of winter. Makes it almost bearable. Almost.Back to the garage...
So we were able to hire out the remainder of the sheeting.
And then came shingling... This was super tough. Josh has roofed many roofs in his lifetime - like MANY. However, we are not 26 anymore and we have been reminded of that over and over again throughout this project. I know this garage doesn't look very big... and it's just a basic rectangle... It looks so easy. But quite honestly - it's one of the hardest things I have ever done - and I literally cannot take any credit for any of the work. Because Josh wanted 10ft walls - which is awesome - the roof for the garage is really high up there - with the addition of the block on the foundation, basically the walls ended up being 12ft high... which makes the roof almost as tall as our house. Dealing with the weather and trying to get the shingles on - safely - was just a mess. Josh basically had to be on the roof by 6am (our neighbors love us this summer!) and off the roof by 1pm... because by that time, our roof was in full sun and it was just too hot to be up there - not to mention, walking on hot shingles wrecks them. Nolan and Victoria came to help us roof one weekend... so basically V and I hauled shingles up to the roof - 3 at time because that was all we could safely manage. Then Josh and Nolan shingled it. That was the south side. When the north side finally came along - 3 weekends later - Josh's 2 aunts came to help us. It was back breaking and hard work - I cannot stress that enough. And Josh wouldn't let anyone else up on the roof with him, except for Nolan - so aside from the one weekend we had Nolan's help - Josh did all of the roof by himself.
Nolan helping shingle the south side.
Josh's aunts helping us shingle the north side. I also have to add - Josh's dad loaned us all of his scaffolding and extra ladders. It was so nice to be able to use this stuff for an unlimited amount of time - it made our entire project much safer. Along with that - we own our nail guns, pump jacks, planks and metal siding cutter (I know, but we had them all from doing the house), so not having to rent this stuff was a huge help - we were able to go at our own pace.
Once the roof was shingled and we were FINALLY weather proof! We could get our electrical done... It wasn't easy finding an electrician, but eventually we hired a local guy - on the side - and he has been a God-send!!! Really great squeezing us in on his weekends and off hours.
Simultaneously - while the electrician was working. Josh and I were installing the garage door. Talk about a Lego project with insane directions.
I was in awe at how this thing went together and how many pieces there were... It was a huge process! From start to finish - it literally took us 3 weeks to install the garage door!!! Now that wasn't every single night working, but a few nights per week and it was done while BMTL were here, so weekends we were off spending time with them.And then we had to trench the electric line from the house to the garage. I would have to say, out of this entire project - this (for me) was probably the least fun and the hardest job. We even rented a trencher to do the bulk of it - but it was still back breaking for what we had to do and get done ourselves.
We passed our framing inspection with flying colors and were granted permission to "seal her up". Believe it or not - Josh and I LOVE siding - it is our favorite part! Josh is very good at it, and since we did our entire house years ago, we have our own rhythm. And even though I can't get up on the plank - I do make a decent ground crew of one.
And nothing was more exciting to me, than to have a garage the perfectly matched our house! All in all - it has taken us 3 weeks to side the garage, Josh completely finished siding it yesterday. So, it's DONE! And another few pics with the house...
(Please ignore our landscaping - our entire yard was completely neglected this year - like to the point of barely being mowed or weeded, because we only had a 180 day permit to build the garage) - but look at the perfection right there. The garage perfectly lines up with the house, the fascia on the front porch perfectly lines up with the fascia on the garage. It is the exact placement I wanted. If you go way back in your memories - you may remember that it was my "ultimate dream" to put an addition on the house with an attached garage. I didn't get the addition, but this is the closest thing I could get and if you look at it from certain angles - it does look like it's part of the house. And I just love our lighting!
The only thing we have left to do is to pass our electrical inspection. Josh has to finish wrapping the frame around the garage door where you see the wood above (which is happening today) And then we have to pass our final inspection. Then we can move in. I also want to put a storm door on the service door - but that can wait until after the inspections if we want.
Sadly - we just got word from our concrete guy this week that he can't do our driveway/sidewalks yet this year - which is a super bummer - so we kind of have to put something down there to build a "ramp" (for lack of a better word), so we can drive into our garage without wrecking our pad - it's hard to see in pics, but there is a good 6" difference between the garage pad and the ground. And it has to be something we can safely snow blow.
Anyways - that's it for my big update! I've been waiting all summer to take a nap - because there is nothing better than that right? Yesterday, I got my wish and it was the "perfect" nap day... It was chilly outside and a bit of rain - and it was glorious. To be able to take a nap and not have the garage project looming.
I'll try to get back here soon and do some replies. I need to go get MM his shot and feed them. Have a wonderful weekend all!
D~
Last edited:
Wood Nymph
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2012
- Messages
- 20,396
How exciting! I know you and Suzi will have a great time.
Okay - I'm super impressed that you built most of the garage yourselves - but even more impressed that you installed your own garage door!Josh and I were installing the garage door. Talk about a Lego project with insane directions.
It must have been nice to finally be able to do the siding after months of hard work.
The garage looks great and looks like it belongs there. I love the light fixtures.
missjackiemcg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,582
Hooray for such a short countdown!!!!! Ours is still more than double yours, but we'll be there for Christmas, so it's hard to complain about having to wait a bit longer.
ljcrochet
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 4, 2006
- Messages
- 2,374
Garage looks amazing. I’m in awe that josh with your help built it.
I’m so excited for your trip and now sad that we cancelled out weekend trip which was going to be the first weekend in November and instead going to New Jersey to visit family.OK - so I guess I am going back to Disney. This was super-duper unplanned. In a nutshell... Suzi booked a solo trip. And I am crashing it. We are under 40 days. Airfare is booked. Resort is booked. Tickets are booked. It's a done deal. I hate to admit it - I am kind of excited!!!! It's a super quick trip with only 2 park days - but it will be just enough to eat lots of coconut dole whips and cheesy grits!
-
Disney's No-Bake Granola Bar Recipe From the Contemporary
-
There's NOTHING Like a Disneyland Churro & There Are NEW Ones Coming!
-
Disney Debate: The Magic vs. the Money of a Disney Vacation
-
Why You Should Visit Epic Universe Right NOW
-
Stopping Into 'The Plastered Owl' Bar at Epic Universe
-
Disneyland's Brewing Up NEW Cold Brew Coffee Drinks Next Week
-
Bring Dirty Sodas to the New Pirates of the Caribbean Tavern
Save Up to 30% on Rooms at Walt Disney World!
Save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resorts Collection hotels when you stay 5 consecutive nights or longer in late summer and early fall. Plus, enjoy other savings for shorter stays.This offer is valid for stays most nights from August 1 to October 11, 2025.
CLICK HERE
