Bathroom on closing day!
I can't believe it's really been 3 years already.
Yeah, but can you believe the kitchen looked like this 3 years ago??
Did I mention our lease expired 6 weeks from our closing date?
Game on, baby!
We ended up extending our lease by 2 weeks so we could get everything done. We got final approval on our code compliance inspection on Thursday morning, June 12, 2008. We needed to be out of our rented duplex by Sunday, June 15th.
Nick was in Chicago on a work-related trip.
We had exactly 1 box packed.
See, here's the thing about tight timelines and massive amounts of work - they don't lend themselves to things like free time. "Free time" which could be used to pack belongings. Or grocery shop. Or sleep.
Living room circa May 2008
We would go to work, go straight from work to the house, work until somewhere between 11pm and 2am, drive 35min back to the rental, sleep, repeat. For two months. There was just no room for packing. Had we used our renovating time to pack we would have had nowhere to move into, because we would've failed our code compliance inspection.
Tricky, huh?
So I dragged my poor sister into the packing frenzy that Thursday after I got off the phone with the inspector and then with the help of some family and coworkers we somehow got everything we owned from the rental to the house. It was a complete disaster. Not at all how I had envisioned the move itself going.
Me with said sister who packed up everything I own.
(I owe you one!!!)
And then? We jumped back in. And lookie where we ended up 3 years later!
We could be here for awhile....
We did something similar! Having two homes at once is crazy and exhausting, isn't it? We only gave ourselves a month, but we didn't have any code compliance things to worry about (or at least, not that we knew about...) so no one was going to force us to be homeless if we ended up a little slow. I hated it though... going back and forth all the time was terrible. Our rental was half an hour on a good day from our house. We did a lot of driving that month...
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of fun to look back and see where you started from!
Wow! What a rush! You guys didn't have much time, but wow! Look at everything you accomplished. Deadlines can be good to get you going, but also so darn stressful.
ReplyDeleteit'll be done before you know it!
ReplyDeletehappy three year house anniversary!
kelly
These posts are just too fun! I love seeing the progress and you two are just adorable in those pics from when you first started working on the house! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Cindi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Feedburner link. You're now on my igoogle page! Also many thanks for being the first to follow my blog (non-family member). Very cool!
It must be nice to be able to now reminisce about such a stressful time in your life. You're lucky to have so many friends and family to help you get through it. It looks like you've really come a loooonnng way. You should be proud!!!
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ReplyDeleteHoly Canoly. You are TOTALLY feeling the pain I've been in for a year with MY kitchen!! You are doing an AMAZING job though!! Beautiful. It is so worth it, right? The satisfaction of doing the work yourself is so gratifying. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Talk about PRESSURE!
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like a good anniversary to remind you of how far you've come :)
It's amazing how far your house has come in the time you've been there! It's hard to believe your living room looked like that at one point!
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteWow and I thought we had it rough! You guys are my new heros!I just found your blog but look forward to returning and viewing all the new updates.
ReplyDeleteBeth
WOW! Hurry in a rush, its good to have a deadline projects but it can tired you little bit, but you guys are fabulous, great work guys!
ReplyDeleteHappy third House Anniversary!!!