Last Night In the Camper...Take 2

So here I lay, in our camper bunk, listening to the rain pounding down on the camper top and wondering if tonight will be our last night in this oversized, Porto potty. While it is a nice camper, it needs to become a memory rather than a reality.  We thought we would be sleeping in our house tonight but the plumber discovered a "glitch" that because it was the fault of the home company, we have to wait and hope the home company gets it fixed tomorrow.  So now we wait, and hope and pray that tomorrow is THE day. Today was the longest day ever just anticipating being in our home, I'm guessing tomorrow will seem even longer. The disappointment of something you are looking so forward to isn't easy to take but as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait....I believe our house will be great.

Last Night of Being the Camper Queen

Written Monday, October 28th:  Today is my birthday and all I really wanted was to be living in our house....but that hasn't happened.  However, the plumber did say today that he should have everything up and running, or flowing, by the end of the day tomorrow.  Sooo, that means we can sleep in our new home and start living in it tomorrow!  Yippeee!!! While it's not by my birthday, it's still before the 100th day in the camper.  Now you may be saying, I thought you already hit that mark??....well, remember I teach art and technology, not math. Apparently when I calculated it previously I was right, but then figured it again, and was way wrong.  SO, if all goes as planned tomorrow, we will have spent 97 nights in the camper....97 straight nights!  The end to the lamping adventure really can't come soon enough as out of the last four mornings we've had frozen hose or hot water issues three mornings.  Just so you know, a hard freeze warning will result in a frozen hose and no water.  I have informed my family that I will be taking a shower and running our huge water heater out of water, I may even drink extra water just so I can use the "real" toilets a lot.  Can't say I'll miss the camper bathroom....nope, not even a little.  I also won't miss buying the overpriced, one ply, RV toilet paper.
While lamping hasn't been all sunshine and unicorns, it has been good at showing us how little we really NEED to live.  It's also shown us that patience is a virtue....a virtue which I am lacking but learning and growing in.  When we started this adventure, we saw so many ways God was pushing ahead and clearing the way.  Now that we are coming to the point of reaching the goal of being in our home, it's going to be fun to see the plans God has for us and our home.  Pretty sure this is just the beginning of an even bigger adventure. Stay tuned!

Counting Down!

Today marks 13 weeks in the camper.  Tonight will be night 104....my math was off last week so I didn't realize until today that I surpassed the 100 day mark.  It's crazy to think that we, I, have survived over 100 days with a quarter or less of our belongings!  But the time is nearing that we'll have access to all the things we don't need again.  We are hoping to not see another full week in our little dwelling that looks more like a closet than a place people live.  Yesterday the exterior crew worked on finishing up the exterior work, still not finished but should be today.  The drywall finisher showed up yesterday, a day early, and worked til after 11PM last night....this made me so happy!  We got temporary electrical service hooked up last night thanks to one of our awesome friends, Brad Hails.  We still have to have the heat pump all hooked up and the plumbing completed before we can really move in.  Praying that all happens by Friday so we can move in this weekend.  I did take a few more pictures of the interior.....can't wait to add paint to the walls!

Master Bedroom...with a view.

Carter inspecting the dining room area...he then began to use it as a basketball court.

The dining room/living room area.  Can't wait to hear the piano resonate through this area.

Family room with stairs to the basement

This was the view when I got home today....pretty sure the guys on the catwalk aren't getting paid enough. Pretty sure we'll spend a lot of great, relaxing moments out on the patio terrace.

First Time In

Yesterday, we got to go in the house and walk around for the first time!  It was so cool to see the boys excited to see everything but it was also a bit overwhelming to see all the work ahead of us.  This week the inside finisher should be starting work at putting in flooring, trimwork, drywall work, etc.  We'll see a lot of people in and out of the house this week....plumbing, hvac, and electrical all have to be worked on this week.  If the timing all works, we could potentially be moving in the house next weekend...but that's a big IF.  But just knowing that we can get in and measure for tile, fill nail holes, pick out paint colors and hopefully start painting this Friday, makes us very excited and makes the wait worth it.  I have to say that walking around the house today had a sort of surreal feeling to it....I kind of kept thinking, is this really our house??!!  I then thought about the patience and prayers that we as a family and couple have had over the last several years when it's comes to our home. 

Some pictures from our first time in our house!

Joel did the honors of letting us in for the first time. :)

Roger checking out his new cooking/baking space!

And I in my tub...

The boys picked out the finishes for their bathroom...I think they did a great job!  Notice the toilet lid already up and we don't even have the plumbing all finished and working....boys.

A slight view of the front of the house....front porch still has to be done.

 

 

Raise the Roof!

Today the workers are back and the roof is going up!  Can't wait to have a shingled roof over my head instead of a roof with vents that when left open during rain, lots of stuff gets wet.  Yesterday we went up to Effingham and got our house keys...feels good to have keys to some doors again.  We also got paperwork for how to do our cosmetic inspection after all the finish work is complete.  After the finish work is complete we have one week to let the home company know of any cosmetic issues like stains, or tears, or dents, etc.  But first we have to get to that point! We haven't been able to go in the house and really see what it looks like....can't wait to get to that point!

The Eagle Has Landed...sort of...

Today we can officially mark off 12 weeks of lamping from the calendar.  The good part is that while we are still lamping, we probably only have about another week and half left in the camper. yay!  The best part is that the house was put on the basement yesterday....hence the title, the eagle has landed.  The "sort of" part was added that while it's on the basement, the roof has to be done along with a lot of finishing work inside and outside, as well as the plumbing, hvac...you get the picture.  There's still a lot to do but we are close than we've ever been and we are excited.  Ok, we are VERY EXCITED! The whole family is ready to put the camper to rest, even the dog.  He took off from the camper the other night.  While he did come back, I think he regretted his little tour of the woods when he had to take a bath in the camper "bathroom."  Actually, I did discover that the shower is the perfect size for a dog.   It's just the getting the dog in and out that isn't easy and garnishes sounds from our dog that say, Please, don't drop me, and I can't breathe when you are holding me like this!  The fact that our Buddy is just a wee bit on the overweight side probably doesn't help the getting in and out of the shower. 
So back to the house progress.  As I said the house was put on the basement yesterday, that was quite interesting to watch.  At one point we had three retired guys out sitting in their lawn chairs just watching to see how the how was going to roll over the basement.  Add in one parent, two people we barely know, and three friends who all stopped by to see the progress and I'd say we were the Columbus Day main event.  And yes, we had two people we barely know come out to look at what was going on.  One of these people came up and looked the house all over last week without even saying anything to me.  It's funny how nosey people can be and how they don't think anything about looking someone's new house all over when said someone is standing in the yard.  Okay, enough of that soapbox.....
Below are some picture of yesterdays progress.  There won't be any more progress until it is a clear, no rain day because the next step is putting the roof on.  Obviously, we need for there to not be any rain around when that occurs.  Hopefully, tomorrow the roof will go up.  We'll be going up to get the keys tomorrow and finding out more of the timeline as to when things will be finished and we can get in to paint, move in, and close the lamping chapter of the Hayse family adventure. 

 

 Here's a video of how they "roll" the house pieces over the basement.  They then lower it with hydraulics down onto the basement. 

 

Surprise!....

Yesterday wasn't a good day....we woke up at 5AM to discover we were out of propane but fortunately there was enough in the grill's tank to get us through the morning.  Then Roger texted me to tell me that out house wasn't going even be picked up from the factory until next week sometime, which meant it may not be on our property til the following week.  To say I was bummed and a little ticked would be an understatement.  So fast forward to this morning....
As we're getting ready for school Joel asked where the back fill guys were.  I said they wouldn't be doing that until it was time for the house to be here and it didn't sound like the house was going to be here this week or next week.  He then said, "but daddy said the guys were coming to backfill the basement tomorrow and that was yesterday, so they should be here today."  So, I asked Roger about it and he said that our basement guy was going to be in the area and was going to go ahead and do it.  He also said that it would be fine for the basement to be backfilled without the house coming for awhile.  I thought this sounded a little odd because the whole plan has been to night backfill until the house is within 3-4 days of coming.   But I trusted my sweet hubby.  Fast forward again to today about 1:50PM....
I'm sitting in my study hall class and my phone starts buzzing.  I notice the number is probably related to the house but I wasn't in a position to answer it and figured they would leave a message.  Once I got to check the message I think smacked my desk and jumped out of my chair a bit....and definitely got the attention of the students in the class.  The person calling was the gentleman who will be delivering our house.  He was calling to confirm a few things about tomorrow....our house is coming tomorrow morning about 10AM!!!!!  I am ecstatic...over the moon....wooohoooo!!! But wait, we aren't getting the 3-4 days notice that we were supposed to get.  So I call Roger and let him know about the phone call and tell him to call this guy back immediately....I was afraid he was calling the wrong number or something.  haha!   After getting off the phone with Roger, he sends me a text letting me know that his big surprise has been ruined....what??!!  Yep, Roger has known that the house was coming since Tuesday!....and was keeping it to himself!  He was going to surprise me so I would come home from school tomorrow to find our house sitting in our yard.  I really don't know whether to hug his neck or strangle him for not telling me!  He could have saved himself a lot of grief if he would have told me the truth yesterday.  Either way, love him and can't wait to end this lamping chapter and move on to our new house chapter. 

Can't wait to have this real kitchen to cook in....and even clean.  We got this picture from our "girl" and can't wait to see it in person. I'll never complain about cleaning a kitchen, or doing laundry, or cleaning house again.  So I may complain a long time in the future, but I will have these memories to look back on and these words to read and remember how blessed I am.  I will truly be thankful for EVERYTHING.  The Hayse family is fully aware of how blessed and fortunate we are, and who it came from.  Thank you, Lord!!

11 Weeks...Is the end in sight?!?!

Here we are...11weeks.  We celebrated with no hot water this morning.  Apparently the pilot light went out on the water heater at some point overnight.  The only good thing about having a 6 gallon water heater is that it doesn't take too long for it to heat up.  I was able to get a semi-warm shower...lesson of the day:  never take for granted hot water, or even lukewarm water!  Another lesson from this weekend is that a camper toilet isn't much different than a porto potty....just an observation.  However, I will choose my camper toilet over a porto potty any day.  While I may choose it, I certainly won't miss it.  I also won't miss the lack of insulation in the camper.  The last few nights have gotten down in the 40's and while we have a furnace in the camper (thank goodness!) the camper doesn't exactly hold the heat all that great.  Oh, and an update with the cooler weather....no, I couldn't find the winter clothes in the garage because they are apparently in the boxes at the middle and the very bottom of the 10'x20' mountain of totes and boxes holding all the things that we haven't really needed all that much the last 11 weeks.  After purchasing some long pants for the boys last night, I came home this evening to find Joel's only pair of tennis shoes in the camper that fit him, caked in mud all the way up the sides and even on the shoe laces.  HOW does this happen???  He said he was just walking and happened to stepped in a mud puddle.  The lesson here....no mud puddle near a construction site us JUST a mud puddle.  It may look like a mud puddle but it is actually a mud pit that will suck you in and may you think your foot is in China.  Now, normally when the boys have a case of severely  muddy, I would clean them off outside and then put them in my handy dandy dryer with the shoe rack so that the shoes would be dry the next day.  Since we don't have my handy dandy dry with shoe rack available, the old fashioned way will have to work.  A shoe drying fire was built by Roger. Now, anyone want to bet if the shoes will actually dry before they catch fire, or melt??  Oh the things that become so much harder when you are living with minimal needs at your finger tips. 
Now to address the question, is the end in sight??  Well, we think it is!...but still no real dates to look forward to.  I think if the company said, on October 14th we'll be bringing your house to your property, weather permitting, I would feel much, much better.  Knowing a specific day will make the end really in sight, until then it's still a little elusive.  I don't do uncertain very well!  As I understand it right now, we're just waiting for a call that will be 3-4 days in advance of the house being brought to our property.  So we sit....and we wait....and the adventure continues. 

Junk Mail and Pink Shoes

This week we mark week 10 in the camper....tonight is night 71.  Our space hasn't gotten any bigger than the day we started but the amount of stuff in the space has accumulated.  So today I admit to something I've been doing....mainly because I'm wondering if it's legal.  It seems like we get a ridiculous amount of junk mail.  And since I'm tired of it just sitting in my car or junking up our tiny living space, I've been leaving some of it in the mailbox! Eeek! There I admit it, I am a junk mail bully!  I won't bring in the junk mail, but I will bring in a new pair of pink shoes.  They are so cute!  I did discard the box and bag before Roger saw them because he already thinks I have too many clothes in the camper.  My response is that just because I live in a camper doesn't mean I have to Look like I live in a camper.  Anyway, I really am not a shoe person...I really can't remember the last time I bought a pair of shoes. But that's a matter for another blog, like a fashion blog and I would not be the person for that.
Now, an update on the house progress...there hasnt been any for a week or so since the basement was finished.  Since we haven't seen any progress lately it was very nice to come home to a little progress.  We have a walkout patio!  Who knows, I may just end up sitting down there imagining there's a door and house.  I did imagine I was sitting on the front porch the other day, the view wasn't great, just a pile of dirt but I'm hopeful it will be great in the future.
The boys are becoming worn with the camper a bit...or a lot.  I think they are going to appreciate the space that we'll have in the future and their own rooms more.  I know I have a whole new appreciation for having space to seperate them when their pesky ways with each other get out of hand.  We worked at the local homeless shelter this past weekend.  They noticed that we served almost as many kids as we did adults.  That was an eye opener.  We just want them to see and understand that they, we, have been so blessed and our purpose is be a blessing to others.
Still hoping to not see day 100 in the camper but we have no control over that.  That's probably been the hardest part lately, having no control over how soon we have a house. We can't go pitch in to get things finished faster, or see the progress, or make sure things are done to our satisfaction....mixed feelings about modular building right now.  Hoping once we see the house and are in it, there are no regrets.

 

Looking forward to enjoying our walkout "pit" with an area to lounge along with tiers for herbs, and landscaping.