Week Two/Three

Okay, here's week two action, with a little bit of week three thrown in. Right now, we're in the midst of week three/four so hopefully there will be lots of progress coming your way very soon. T-minus three weeks until our original deadline.

Kevin has been busy with demo and has already started the rebuilding progress. This week he's working on drywall...especially in the bathroom areas where we (and by 'we' I mean Kevin) ripped out the circa-1984 light boxes over the bathroom vanities. The drywall will now be flush with a cute new updated light fixture. 

Thursday brings the installation of a brand new garage door to replace the rotting wood that's currently in place. Also, you'll see in the pics below that our resident flipper has started taking down the wall that made the garage a rumpus room instead of car keeper.

We've hired a contractor to come replace the roof the house and replace some siding on the back side of the house. Materials are ordered and weather permitting, that job will begin in the next few days. We've been selecting lots of finishes and light fixtures, etc. (my favorite part) so getting daily shipments from UPS and FedEx has been like Christmas! Tomorrow, we're headed to the builders supply to select granite, tile, etc.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Scared yet? 

Week One, Take Two

Hmmm... It has come to my attention that my week one post showed two pics. Um, there were many, many more. Not sure why the pictures didn't post because they are showing on my version. Gotta love technology!

Here's the second attempt to show you the inside of the house. Yes. There really is more than a snowy brick exterior. The spacing is coming out weird, but I'll take what I can get for now. Thanks so much for your comments (both on the blog and in real life), otherwise, I'd have no idea you couldn't see what I'm seeing.

THE INTERIOR:

The lovely living room. There was an extremely heavy wood-burning stove on a brick hearth. Sold the stove on Craigslist and plan on busting out the brick and using drywall in its place. 

  

   

  

The kitchen: Not in horrible shape. It will get painted cabinets, granite counters, new appliances, and tile floor. 

  

  

  

The laundry room. A cute space. More paint, tile, and some updated plumbing will make this good as new.

 

Hall bath: Very cool that this house has two full baths. We'll rip everything out here and replace the tub, toilet, vanity top, mirror, light fixture. Paint and tile will complete the renovation. 

  

  

There are two beds in addition to the Master suite. This is the middle bedroom and the site of some teenager graffiti. New drywall was put up in this room so we'll mud/tape and texture it to match the rest of the house. Paint and carpet will be the standard here, as well as everywhere else. New light fixtures, hardware, and knobs will also go throughout. 

  

  

  

The Master: A GREAT size for the house. It's got a cool tray ceiling and an attached bath. Plus doors to the backyard, which we'll change from sliding to French. We had a little wallpaper party a couple of days before we closed. The kids couldn't help themselves! 

  

 

And again with the Master bath, it will get the same treatment as the hall bath. New counters, tub, tile, toilet, fixtures, etc.

 

  

  

Super scary garage conversion. Obviously the carpet is coming up here, we'll replace the garage door, remove the air conditioning unit and two new exterior doors will go in. Paint and an opener will take this space back to its original purpose. 

  

Week Two pics are on the way, with Week Three coming up shortly. I just need to rescue them from Kevin's phone. Wish me luck...

Funny Kevin

So, this weekend we were talking about the missing camera charger (that I referenced in the Flip post below). It's been MIA since our return from Vegas about 3 or 4 weeks ago and I'm kind of fearful that it's hanging out in a hotel room drawer at the Monte Carlo. Anyway, our exchange about went a little something like this:

Me: I just don't know how we're going to take pictures of the progress at the house. I really want to document it all the way through.

Kevin: Why can't we take pictures?

Me: Well, duh. Because we the camera charger is still lost!

Kevin: It's lost? I thought you just didn't know where it was.

Me: .....

This makes me laugh every time I think about it. I wonder what his definition of "lost" is?

Week One: The Before

Presenting....our current project. This is our latest purchase and Kevin's new day job: Flip this House, the Sequel. This little beauty is a 1200 square-foot, 3 bed, 2-bath brick house on a great oversized lot.

We learned from our last project that we only want brick houses so we're already way ahead of the game versus the previous go-round. It will need a new roof and some exterior repair, but the inside is pretty cosmetic and basically just lots of labor and materials. Wait... what else is there? 

Anyway, some of the before shots are a little scary. The plan is to bring you pictures each week of the progress we've made. We are missing a camera charger now so week two may be strictly iPhone pics.

 

The exterior: Complete with overgrown landscaping and missing mailbox. The garage has been coverted to a big room, but we'll be changing it back.

 

We meet again! And in a different year, no less. If January is any indication, 2010 is fulfilling its promise of making 2009 seem like a bad dream. 

It's been a fast first month. Don't you think? I think we always say that, but it feels especially true. Let's see, I think the last time I was here we were recovering from Snowpocalypse 2009. Who knew that we'd end January the same way? It's true. We've already had Snowpocalypse 2010.

Ugh. 

Maybe we can try to not make this a monthly happening. The funny thing is, I was completely confident that we were on the downhill slide to balmy, beautiful, live-with-the-crazy-summer-and-winter-just-to-experience-it spring. I had practically put the Uggs in storage and busted out the short sleeves. Oh well... Uggs are comfortable. And I love a cozy cardigan. I'll try to pass the time, somehow.

Kevin and I made it out of a town for a quick trip to Las Vegas. Ahhh, sweet relief from reality. I would have been okay with an extra day or so, but really Vegas is made for short journeys. Kevin entered his first-ever poker tournament and placed....THIRD. How card-shark amazing is that? It was his first time even sitting at an actual table (And not playing online...tee hee.) Hmmm, I could totally stand being a professional poker player's wife. Hanging out in the Penthouse suite while he's down making a year's worth of money in a weekend.

Other big news? We are flippers once again! (Did you hear trumpets?) This is good news. Great news, in fact. Kevin's been floating around for awhile now. Trying to find just where and what we were supposed to be doing in life. After the restaurant didn't pan out, I know he was feeling like life was giving him no more than a huge kick in the privates. I mean, really. What do you do when you can't do what you've always done? 

Many long talks and hard discussions later and we came to the conclusion that this was an opportunity for him to do ANYTHING HE WANTS. Not an opportunity many people get 10 years into a career. Turns out, Kevin kind of hates the restaurant business. But he LOVES working with his hands. Doing projects. Building and creating. Even more discussions later and we decided to dive back into home renovation. The fact of the matter is, we both LOVE houses. We move constantly. We look at houses even when we aren't buying. I mean, honestly, we move every two years. We just love it. So there, do what you love. Be happy. And the money will follow.

We. Shall. See. 

Other quick quips from this month: 

• NEVER let them use clippers on your son's head unless you're okay with his curls disappearing. 
• Birthday parties at piano bars are very fun (Happy 30th, Jen!)
• Sometimes you really can connect with long, lost friends on Facebook.
• Sucky builders will last long after closing.

So, apparently when you don't post for a month, the posts are long. If you're still with me, I'm presenting my goals for this so-far, so-great year. 

GOALS:

1. Work on expanding the Miller Family (and I don't mean get another dog, people).
2. Buy, renovate, and sell at least TWO, and likely THREE houses. 
3. Attain my real estate license (more on this later, but it had to happen eventually)
4. Try to expand my writing to more creative and less means-to-an-end. (sometimes I feel like if I take another writing job I'll poke both of my eyes out. A good sign that I need a break.)
5. Convert our entire photo library to digital and organize it in a useful way.
6. New truck for Kevin.
7. Become a less sucky cook (yep, I set my goals high) and experiment with real recipes. 
8. Read more (I'm joining a book club so that should help).
9. Stay connected with my friends in a more substantial way (sometimes it seems impossible!).
10. Potty-train Riley and work on narrowing down preschools (practically a full-time job in Edmond, OK).

Okay, I'm sure I have more, but that seems like a good, solid list. Maybe I should have added "blog more than once a month." I'll try that one anyway. Only 11 months to go....