underground service

We had an eventful weekend!  With the help of R's parents, we got the underground service installed to the house.  It was a hell of a job with the 24+ inches of snow and frozen ground.  Not to mention the running around needed to rent a ditch witch this late in the season.  But, we decided that burying the electrical was our best bet.  We love the look of it {the fact that you can't see it!} and hopefully it'll be maintenance free for years to come.

check out this snow!  yikes!  I think our January move in date will be pushed back a few months.

R (and his dad) are licensed electricians, so I had fun learning how to get this installed.  It was also a huge cost savings doing this ourselves.  The downside- it was freezing and snowy.  I think we had a high temperature just over 20 degrees.  brr.

digging through cold, cold ground

trench is almost ready.  backfilling frozen dirt was really tough!

R hard at work

the finished product!  I love that there are no overhead wires running to the house.

Today we're going out to place boxes for receptacles.  I LOVE that I get to be so hands-on planning the electrical.  We're going to wire and pre-wire for just about everything we can think of.

Here's a little sneak peak at our shingles!  A package blew off the roof, so we got to see the color in person.  Weatherwood, it's called.  It's a medium to dark brown.  Behind that 7 foot high snow pile is our front porch.  

More after the jump!

snow!

Welcome, November!

the view on our front porch, taken from inside the rental... I'm not going out there!  it sounds like the total snow fall at the new house was much more than we got up here.

We got our first storm of the season, and it was a big one.  Between 24 and 34 inches of heavy wet snow were predicted at our build site!  We're feeling a little anxious, but we did the best we could to prepare.  The roof is (mostly) on, and R's parents graciously put plastic over the open windows and doors.  I'm not sure what this means for progress.  We're still planning to work on the electrical this weekend.  That means snowblowing before we can dig a trench for the underground to the house.  I don't know if it's a great idea to pour the garage floor when it's this cold... but I'll be sure to keep you posted as we know more.  Wish us luck!!

In other news, this weather has inspired me to sing the Who "Welcome Christmas" song on eternal repeat.  Fahoo Fores, Dahoo Dores,Welcome Christmas Come this way...

my {latest} favorites

What I'm obsessing over lately!

1 - hickory cabinets

source: pinterest

I'm not loving the reddish hue of natural oak, and I know I want a light wood in the kitchen.  Maple may be too light (and too pricey), and I've really start falling for a clean hickory.  This wood's natural pattern can get pretty crazy, and you never really know what you're going to get.  But, I'm liking that.

2 - marble countertops, with full tile backsplash

source: my old country house

I love when there's no counter backsplash riding up onto the wall, and the tile can go all the way down to the counter.  I think it just looks a little neater, cleaner, and then there's no weird depth difference, or rounded lip of laminate where it meets tile.  Guess what- these counters pictured are formica!  Woop!

3 - beadboard guest bathroom

source: jennasue

I'll probaby have to get a jump on this soon- I'd like this installed during construction.

4 - built in bench/landing station

source: house updated

This one is put on our DIY list for after we move in.  I've got the perfect spot planned out for this, right at the garage entrance, near the kitchen.  It's going to end up being the door we use most, so I'm hoping this will contain the clutter.

5 - built in bookcases (living room)

source: pinterest

Another one for after we move in.  I'm going to need some time living in the space before I figure out what will work best here.

6 - laundry storage

source: pinterest

Although we have tons of room, we aren't installing cabinets in our laundry room during construction.  This is for a few reasons, but mostly it's because we blew the budget on kitchen cabinets.  We didn't want to settle for cheap cabinets in the space we'll use the most.  After we're in the house, I'm going to start planning what we want in the laundry room.  I know some storage is a must, along with an area to hang/dry clothes.  I think some pre-fab cabinets in a fun color are in our future.

7 - board & batten entrance

source: jennasue

This is another project on my DIY to-do list after we move in.  I don't think we'll be lacking for things to keep us busy!

we've got mail

Not much of an update today.  R is working on a flooring estimate, but otherwise it was a quiet weekend.  We had our first snow last week...I'm glad that melted in a hurry!  We need warm(er) weather to hold out a couple more weeks until we can get a roof up.

We got our mailbox installed!  We get a serious amount of snow up here, and it's not uncommon for mailboxes to get knocked down on the regular.  R's dad built us this little baby that's designed to swing on the base if a snowplow [or anything else] hits it.

In other news, focus on the lot has shifted to the garage.  They have the block laid, and it sounds like they started framing today.  Slowly but surely.