HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN - THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!!

We went to the Flooring/Countertop factory on 45 in Houston near Park Place - This is the same company that installed our granite coutertops. We picked out travertine tile backsplash and the guys came the same day! They did awesome work, as you can see here.





Pearland Flooring did our floors. What an awesome job Martin and his helper did. They leveled the floor.....

Then Primo put the first piece of Konecto down.

Konecto is a vinyl flooring - floating system, sticks to itself instead of the floor! We love it!!! As you can see in the following pictures, the kitchen, our master bath and the office, dining and hallway have the Konecto.


Carpeting was installed in the three bedrooms and in the new family room otherwise or formerly known as the game room. Now known as the "man cave".....

Martin was acting like he was working here.....



We moved in the house on August 1st and 2nd..... wow 11 months later and we are home......still some to do. There are a few baseboards left to be put in and a few door facings and then those paint touchups but for the most part we are done. Now the unpacking begins as well as the outside. We need the carport and gutters and then of course the back porch to be cleaned up and then the pool.....

Here are a few pictures of the kitchen - mom helped me put a few things up and Jeff and I organized a few things as well.

We are so proud of our new kitchen. I can not wait until I get my new refrigerator.

Today my dryer went out.... Daddy tried to fix it but I guess after 21 years it is time for a new set. Jeff and I went to Conn's - met up with a old school friend of mine - Eric Jenkins and he hooked us up with a new washer and dryer, black refrigerator and Jeff got his 47 inch flat screen for the man cave....

More pictures to come as we get everything unpacked and get those PODS unloaded.

We love you all and soon you will be getting an invite for a party at the Teagues!!!

God has been so good to us. Even though Hurricane Ike took so much, God has continually blessed us and we now have a new home.

Pray with us that Jeff will get a job soon....

Monica & Jeff

Kitchen is almost complete!

We finally almost have a kitchen! We ordered our countertops last week and they showed up on Tuesday evening at 6pm to begin. This is pictures of the island and front corner with the decking being installed.


This is a picture of the guy cutting the hole for the kitchen sink. I must say I have never seen this being done and they were quite impressive in how they grind and buff the granite. Jeff is supervising in this photo!


Here is the 9 inch deep undermount sink.

A view of the countertop from the sink.


The front corner of the kitchen.

Oh the beautiful island! It is 10 feet 9 inches long! There will be enough seating area for 5 possibly 6!

The front side of the island looking from the front door. My bookshelf will hold my cookbooks!

The other side of the island. Lots of pots and pan storage!

The insulation was delivered on Wednesday and we hope to get it installed on Sunday or Monday. We ordered our carpet and flooring yesterday and it should be in in a week or so!

Then we can finally move home!!! I can not wait. God has been so good to us during this time. Thank you all for your prayers and wishes. Almost party time!!!

Jeff & Monica

We have the look of a kithen... well almost.

It's been a long time and coming but it's starting to come along. We've started hanging and setting the kitchen cabinets. The top cabinets have almost all been completed now, but not without "Mr. Murphy" (read Jeff doesn't always measure things right) stepping in and trying to help us out. Seems as if I am able to measure the total length of a wall but it's those little details that don't quite work out. Like a little thing of exactly how far is it from the kitchen sink window to the corner of the kitchen. I'm still not completely sure it was my fault but... Anyway, once we figured out that we had a problem we set down and put an expensive jigsaw puzzle together. We found that by trading places with a few of the cabinets, moving a base cabinet to the island, and God shining down on us once again, everything falls into a good place. So while the cabinets aren't exactly where we had planned them to be, they are all in place and still look REALLY nice! In fact, take a look for yourself...



This is the view from over near the front door, looking towards the kitchen. The cabinets in the forefront are what make up the new island. Yes, it's big but going to be so wonderful. Monica will have a bookshelf (for her cook books) on the right end and the area to the left of it is seating. The island is about 12 ft. long and about 4 ft. wide. I'm sorry that I don't remember the exact measurements, and if I was sure of them they would probably still be wrong... but I'm close. LOL




This view shows from the opposite side of the island, looking back towards the front door. You can see the new pantry over on the wall as well. Monica will now have plenty of space for all of her cake pans, stoneware, and anything else she will need to bake, cook or decorate.




Here is a little better view of the new pantry. The shelves in the middle open, like pages on a book, to reveal more shelves behind them. This is a really BIG cabinet.





This jewel of a cabinet is something Monica has looked forward to having since the first time she ever saw it. It is a mixer cabinet for her "Big Mamma" mixer. The mixer stays on the extended shelf and is simply lowered and tucked into the cabinet when not in use. This means she can end her hunt to find a canister set that compliments the mixer sitting on the counter all the time. LOL It also has a pull out that she can store the rest of the hooks and beaters for the mixer as well. It is a great cabinet and will make my wife a happy girl.





Here is a shot of the new oven/cook top slid into place. Still have to set a few more lower cabinets before it becomes a fixture but she wanted to see what it looked like. I think it looks AWESOME! ! !

Once again, I have to thank my good friend Steve for always being there to help out and putting in the time to help us get back into our home. He is a blessing from God for us as I don't know what I would have done without all of his help. In addition to Steve, my father-in-law, Sam, also helped with the hanging of the top cabinets. While the three of us may not be the fastest cabinet hangers in the business, we are pretty skilled in it... now.

With any luck, in the next day, or two, we will have all the cabinets in place and will be moving on to baseboards, door trim, etc. We will also be finalizing our choices for the granite counter top, flooring carpet (and having someone else (besides myself, Steve, Monica or Niki) install it. If things go right, maybe in about 3 weeks we will be moving stuff into our new home. Until then, keep praying with us, keep sending the emails/calls of encouragement (they really do help) and be ready to come celebrate with us when we do finally get back in the house.

So, keep watching for the updates...
Love to all...
Jeff and Monica

We have paint!!!!

Jeff and our friend JD finished priming all the walls. Jeff painted all the ceilings and then on Monday, Jeff, Niki and I along with one of Niki's friends - Steph started painting the walls.
Jeff taped all the ceilings off and Niki, Step and I started rolling the paint....
Niki was tired and not a happy camper when I took this... My dad snuck the camera and caught me rolling Niki's closet. It had been a long and HOT day.

The pictures below show the soon to be kitchen.



This is the corner of the living room.
The vaulted ceiling once the tape was removed. I love the color



This is a picture of our kitchen cabinets. Jeff is holding it up to the wall to look at the wall color. We like it!!! We Love IT.... We just want to be finished!!!!

Soon very soon....

Talk to you all soon

Texture, Paint and Kitchen Cabinets

Jeff is cutting the cement to lay the electrical conduit to run electricity to the island. What a mess!

This is the archway in the den/kitchen area. We have texture!!!

Niki is helping us prime the sheetrock to prepare to paint!

Jeff getting ready to prime the ceilings...

And yes that is Monica on a chair rolling on the primer on the bottoms of the walls.

FINALLY.... just like Extreme Home Makeover....kitchen cabinets have arrived!!! KraftMaid!!! except we are missing the 1000 volunteers.....HA

42 boxes total!!!

This is one of the doors!!! I just can't wait!!!

We met with Martin at Pearland Carpet and we should receive a bid from him this week.

Jeff, Steve, JD and Chad have completed the priming of the walls and Jeff began painting the ceilings today.

It looks great! We plan to finish the walls this weekend and begin hanging the kitchen cabinets on Monday or Tuesday!!

It is getting closer! We are so happy!

I love my guys! They have worked so hard this week

Talk to you all soon!

Monica

We have ceilings and walls!!!!

A crew of 4 workers came to the house on Thursday, April 30th. They started at about 8:30am and had completed the sheet rock by 2:00pm. They were awesome. No wasted time at all. I had never seen sheet rock installed and they moved so fast I don't think I learned a thing. I saw how quickly they called out measurements and then cut and then put it up. Measurements were called out in spanish so that along with everything else said - I couldn't understand. I probably don't want to know what they were saying.... could have been saying - "I wish that woman would get out of my way and get that camera out of here....LOL

These are pictures of the beam in the in the front room/den/kitchen area. Notice the small arches. Jeff built those himself! I am so proud of him. He has been such a wonderful husband and worker!!!

This is a picture taken from the den into facing the front door and looking into the old sunken living room. Notice the small door on the left hand side. This is a broom closet that Jeff & Steve built. Jeff even thought of leaving an electrical outlet in there to hang and plug in my dustbuster. So thoughtful! . My new office space will be to the right of that window. I can not wait!!!

This is the CEILING and WALLS in our bedroom. Three new vents have been installed in our bedroom. I will have to have three blankets on my side of the bed now. Jeff will freeze me out....LOL

This is Niki's bedroom.... No more camo walls!!!! Even though I loved her previous paint job of the blue camo, I think we are going to have something a little more tame in her room, especially since she will be leaving for college in the fall.

Friday, May 1st! Tape, Float and Texture begins......

Three workers showed up today to begin the tape, float and texture. It will take them approximately 4 days. Should be finished by next Wednesday. They work fast but this takes a little more time.

This is in the den. Notice that there is not that brown beam in there any longer. This guy was scraping off the POPCORN ceiling!!! I am so glad that is gone! YES, those stilts are 4 foot tall. He was a little guy but up so high!

This is looking in from the front door, notice the ceiling towards the back of the picture.... after the popcorn textured ceiling was removed. They scraped it off and skim coated the ceiling. Notice the beautifl arch to your right... Jeff did the frame work for that and then they did the sheetrock and trimmed it out.. It looks wonderful!

Another picture of the beam up in the ceiling in the den. I love it!!!

Arch and small ribbon wall. Everything looks great!!

This picture is taken from the den looking into the front of the house. It looks so big in there now!

This picture is taken from the new doorway from the game room - now known as "Jeff's man cave" or as I refer to it - the new family room...

This is taken from the front corner of what will be our new kitchen. Look how big everything looks. And so bright without all that dark paneling.

We are so blessed! We are so thankful that everything is finally being put back together. We thank God every morning and night for all his blessings. His blessings of family, friends and loved ones that have supported us through such a horrific experience. Please know that you all have helped us in a way that we could never repay but we plan to "pay it forward" as soon as we have time. As Jeff stated earlier this evening. "I think that we are finally getting to the point that the "highs" are starting to outweigh the "lows". It has been a LONG haul but I can almost say it has been worth it. I never wish this on anyone and truly know what others have gone through in these situations. I hope and pray I never see or experience another hurricane in my lifetime or I hope another doesn't come to Pearland until I have retired to whereever that may be. It will surely be as far away from the Gulf Coast as I can be....and still be in Texas....

Love you all,

Jeff & Monica