Cabin progress

 

It’s been a long time since I last updated on the cabin, and so much has been done.  So, here we go -

 

We have the boat structure up and the boat is in it – being protected from the elements as we speak (and apparently storage for some wood).

 

 

The cabin is up and level, sided, the door and windows are on/in, the roof is done, the stairs up to the cabin are up, all it’s major pieces are put together and done!  There is so much left to be done, but it’s great to recognize how far we’ve come.  Lance was sweating the roof for a few weeks with the rains coming in November and the roof not finished yet, but we made it!  There was only a few minor rains before the roof was done…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have yet to paint the outside (the yellow color is the primer) and the door.   We also hope (someday) to put on a small deck surrounding the front of the cabin, by the door, and to the left of the house facing the fire pit. 

 

This is what the inside looks like right now.   We have a lot of work to do here.  Electrical, insulation, walls, paint, floor, furniture, bedding and an outhouse.  That doesn’t seem like too much, right?  Well, the good part is that we are in no rush and we can take our time (except the outhouse which needs to be done first thing this Spring/Summer). 

 

 

 

 

We bought some twin mattresses (the only size that will fit up the pull-down ladder up to the loft area) and put them up in the loft.  We’ve used the cabin a few times in September, once in October as a whole family and Lance and Alex did one time in November by themselves.  But, with no insulation and only a space heater, it was pretty cold I guess.  We’re waiting for it to warm up in late Spring to stay down there again.

 

We plan on getting a couple more twin beds for the loft area to make a nice sleeping area up there for all of us.  Downstairs is planned to have a hide-a-bed couch (for extra sleeping space), some furniture for storage and a table & chairs. 

 

We are so excited for this Summer to spend many weekends down at the beach in our cabin.  We hope to have many friends and family join us! 

 

 

Kids playing with glow sticks up in the loft.

 

 

and two happy, lucky cabin kids

 

 

It’ almost looks like what we imagined last summer before anything was built!

Cabin progress

 

 

 

 

The roof is on!  And just in time - we might say! 

 

Lance is sore from head to toe, top to bottom.  He worked so hard this weekend, stretching and nailing, cutting, and bending this way and that way, up and down the ladder – but the roof is done and protecting our little cabin from the rain.  Lance’s Dad and Uncle Joe helped us this weekend. 

 

We even slept in it – all of us – on Saturday night.  Even Steve, Lance’s Dad, stayed with us. 

 

Never mind that it doesn’t technically have a door yet.  It wasn’t a problem since it was so muggy and warm that evening. 

 

We even had our first inaugural fire in our new fire pit (built by Alex and yours truly). 

 

The light from the fire came in the front window and I was imagining what it would be like when it was finished, as I laid down with the kids to get them to sleep.  Lance and his Dad and Mom were out by the fire still.  We would put the kids to bed up in the loft and Lance and I would sit out by the fire on warm summer evenings after a full day of playing at the beach, in this little cabin that Lance build with his hands. 

 

It’s starting to feel very real (very real to the pocket book, I’ve been told, too).  I can “see” the finished product, and feel how it will feel.  And it feels good.

 

We truly had a great weekend, but when we woke up on Monday morning – the question everyone had on their mind was – Can today be Sunday again?

 

Bathtub baby

 

 

We are LOVING our new bathroom! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New kids bathroom!!!

 

 

 

 

First – the old bathroom.  Not horrible (no carpet or anything), but not great either.  There were daffodils on the blue tile, and the grout was failing.  The knobby thing that let the water drain (or hold it in for the bathtub) was broken, the sink had chips in it (sharp chips), and the toilet was not adequate, didn’t flush much…

 

 

 

 

 

So, one of the things on our goals this year was to re-do our kids bath/guest bath. 

 

We set a budget and set out getting estimates and plans.  It was fairly easy since I was just going to go with the same tile we had in our Master bath 3 years earlier. 

 

It’s so hard to pick what is my favorite…

 

The shower head with the hose, the new lighting, the new cabinet/granite/sink/faucet, the new tile flooring, the new toilet that flushes well, or the little touches that I gave it like the whale spout cover, the sticky whales/octopus in the tub, the art, the light blue walls, or the bright blue towels.  We still have to put up a couple of shelves, but we are mostly done! 

 

And it’s functional and beautiful.  And it was easy, just pull and replace. The contractors were great and we’re in the current century!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2011 goals

 

 

Each year, I look back and look forward.  I think setting goals each year helps you see patterns, make changes where you want to, and help get you to long term goal success.  A feedback loop, if you will.  It’s both helpful in the short term and long term.  It get’s you to think about where your aiming.  Otherwise, I feel like you can just wander around and not really go in the direction you want to go.

 

Although this year I’ve struggled (obviously, since it’s late February!).  I struggle with putting more goals out there as I totally feel the need to be able to cross them all off.  I am one of those folks, yes.  I want to actually accomplish what I set out to do – 100%, all of it.  But, this year, I guess it’s different.  I want to look back at this list at the end of the year and think I did a darn good job accomplishing 60% of what I set out to do.  That would be success this year.  I want to stretch, reach and do new things.  Life is moving so fast, and I’m not going to wait around, but live it fully.

 

What really freaks me out is that some of these goals are directly in opposition to each other.  How I will balance these is up in the air.

Less computer time, make photo books. 

Spend less, redo bathroom for kids. 

 

So, without further ado

 

Myself:

Make more goals than I can actually accomplish – check!

start practicing yoga again for flexibility, endurance & strength

start running again during lunch time, after pumping ends

Take at least a photo a week of my kids each

Make a photo book – start with 2010 and make my way back to 2007

Put historical family photos on wall of our office

lose 10+ pounds of baby weight

“Life is meant to be lived … not watched” (much less tv, MUCH less facebook, MUCH MUCH less mindless computer time)

”procrastination is the thief of time” – I find that I can get so much more done if I just do it – stop procrastinating with that pile of paper on my desk that I have to do X and Y with – just do it! 

 

Lance (a man of few words this year):

lose weight, exercise, healthier

don’t bring home work at night

camping/vacation

clean up misc credit cards

 

Kids (I wrote these for them):

Get Alex in as many sports as he wants (soccer, t-ball, swimming, dance, tumbling, basketball, etc)

Alex start doing chores around the house – right now it is folding towels (he’s surprisingly good at this!) and putting his laundry in the basket, putting clean clothes away.

Ask what Alex wants to do and do it 4 times, no matter what

Figure out where kids will sleep this year.  We would love to leave the spare bedroom for guests, but I need to get Sara to sleep in her own bed sometime this year.  How/when/where we will do this – is still up in the air.

Enroll Sara at a daycare/preschool this summer/fall

 

Family/marriage:

Date night once each month

Plan camping trips and a REAL vacation

live within means

monitor miscellaneous spending by writing up on a board, reduce this part of our budget dramatically

go to the beach a lot this summer and go boating

use TV less as a babysitter to Alex

refresh the guest/kids bathroom (refresh is just the nice budget friendly way of saying total redo) 

buy real master bedroom furniture, not metal bedframes and hand-me-down furniture

donate money throughout year, not just at the end of the year

eat dinner together as a family of four - 3-4x/week

overnight weekend getaway for Lance and Allison

 

Long-term:

build a 200 sq ft cabin at our beach property in Gig Harbor

clear some of the land, build a driveway, a place to park the boat, a campfire area, have a picnic table and spend the night there this summer.

2010–looking back

 

1). What was the best thing that happened to you?

Both: Sara’s birth and her joining our family.  Our family is complete.

 

2). What was the most challenging thing that happened to you?

Allison: Balancing two kids, two full time jobs, time for ourselves and time together.  Something’s gotta give!

Lance: When Alex was in the ER with apparent appendicitis and I was in San Francisco on business

3). What was an unexpected joy?

Allison: The boat (trust me on this – this was totally unexpected for me!)

Lance: trip to Leavenworth was much more fun than I thought

 

 

4). What was an unexpected obstacle?

Both: Changing care for our kids more than expected

5). Pick three words to describe your 2010

Allison: adjust/balance/delegate

Lance: tired/rewarding/no-time

6). Pick three words your spouse would use to describe you

Allison:  strong/caring/planner

Lance: tired/supportive/provider

7). Pick three words you would use to describe your spouse

Lance about Allison: tireless/dedicated/motherly

Allison about Lance: busy/stressed/no-time

8). What was your biggest personal change?

Both: Adjusting our life with two kids

9). What was your most enjoyable part of your work (at home and at work)?

Allison: teaching Alex things, laughing, playing outside and being QC lead for a project at work

Lance: playing with the kids, getting multiple raises

10). What was your most challenging part of your work (at home and at work)?

Allison: lowering expectations, trying to “do it all” and returning to work after maternity leave

Lance: dealing with mood swings from kids, working late into the night for deadlines

11). What was your biggest time waster?

Allison: computer, facebook, reading blogs

Lance: iPad “research”, channel surfing

12). What was the best way you spent your time?

Both: playing with kids, games, talking, together time

Allison: taking pictures, cooking for family

13). What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?

Allison: that I can’t “do it all” – not even close!  I’m stronger than I thought I was.  Trusting my instincts as a mother.

Lance: Can’t be the perfect Dad all the time

14). What word, phrase or statement best describes 2010 for you?

Allison: Adjust

Lance: Sara

Next up – goals for 2011!  And beyond.

A look back to 2010

Each year I try to look back, what I liked, what I didn’t, what I want to do in the future, what I don’t want to do.  It helps me shoot for a target, otherwise I feel as if I would just go one with my life and not have much direction.  I would probably have a mighty fine life, but this is just who I am.  Goals/resolutions – what ever you want to call it – it’s what we’ve been doing for the past couple of years as a family.  I would probably not get the things accomplished that I want to and really enjoy and be aware of this joy if it weren’t for this goal setting.  Looking back is the first step of this process.  It helps us set the entire mood for the year.  When we are making decisions, we come back to the goals and resolutions we made at the first of the year to remember what is most important to us. 

 

I will post a series of questions and then answer them in the next post.  It’s fun – you play along too!

 

For 2010:

1). What was the best thing that happened to you?

2). What was the most challenging thing that happened to you?

3). What was an unexpected joy?

4). What was an unexpected obstacle?

5). Pick three words to describe your 2010

6). Pick three words your spouse would use to describe you

7). Pick three words you would use to describe your spouse

8). What was your biggest personal change?

9). What was your most enjoyable part of your work (at home and at work)?

10). What was your most challenging part of your work (at home and at work)?

11). What was your biggest time waster?

12). What was the best way you spent your time?

13). What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?

14). What phrase or statement best describes 2010 for you?

 

I can’t wait to hear some of your answers!  I’ll give you two hints about where most of my answers are coming from…