Upward growth

This here post is about upward, rather than outward, growth...of our attic, instead of our, or rather my, belly (though there are some signs of that, too!).

Many of you know that we've been planning this project for awhile now, hoping in fact, to get 'er done (also read: finish the attic to the point that have alternate space for guests and hanging out other than what will soon be the baby's room) before the little baby pops out. Our attic started as a mess of fiberglass squirrel nests loosely surrounding a bunch of knob and tube wiring.
With Ralph's help (you'll sense the theme here, real soon, if you haven't already!), we were able to get some shelves built so that we could store stuff up here through the closet-access in the back bedroom closet.
At this point, things are looking really good...things are moving along more quickly than we'd originally thought, though some aspects of the project take a LOT longer than we orig. expected.

We started with the "stairs"...taking out what used to be our linen closet between the two back bedrooms and replacing it with a relatively temporary ladder-ish "stairwell" (how's that for one hell of a description!?!). The banisters still need to go in, and all the finish work needs to be done, but here's a brief peek at the process...and the relatively finished product...
Haven't quite finished with the finishing, though I started with lots of eager energy!...pregnancy, I admit, has stood in the way a bit...or rather all the things that go along with this stage in life (eating right, exercising, training the dog, doing laundry, going to work, getting enough sleep, etc).
Then, we put the excess cellulose insulation that we'd blown into the attic in and above the joists, into the ceiling...a time intensive process that sounds easier than it is (especially in the "crows nest", which will be a sweet little hide out for the soon-to-be mini-Staton!).
Geoff did a hell of a lot of research on the best methods for environmentally sound, effective insulation, and with lots of help from dedicated individual (aka Ralph), applied his learning over the course of a few weeks. In that first pic, it's pretty obvious how dusty it gets up there!
Once the lower "walls" (ceiling really) were insulated and protected with sheet rock, the sub-floor was ready for action...with lots of Ralph's amazing help, that was just recently finished the other night! SO exciting, for now it's starting to look like a livable space!
This is looking SE, away from Jamie's house, towards the St.John's bridge.
This is looking the other way...NW, towards Jamie's house. That wood "door" at the end is where our huge casement window will live, once all the supplies have been transported upstairs through that temporary "entrance".
Just these few pics do little to represent all the hard work that has gone into this process so far...but it's a little snippet of the project for those that are interested. Thanks for sharing in our process...more pictures to follow as the project continues to move forward!

Partyin' with the pregnant peeps

Tanya and Greg (my close friend from high school), threw a little party, dinner, and game gathering the other night. The food was amazing and the games, lots of fun, too. And how often do you get to go to a party with three pregnant women (out of 5 women there!). Guess that's what happens at this age!I learned from Greg (who knew he would become quite the chef!), how to make egg-drop soup and chinese rice rolls...I'll have to work on the recipe for the chocolate mousse with white chocolate shavings, and the edamame salad, too!

My Husband is a Rockstar: Can you make a McCain Shepherd's Pie?!

This weekend, Geoff did all this amazing stuff, like put in two new outlets (one in the backyard and one that we never finished in the baby's room), and re-wired an older one on the side of the house. Or maybe that was last week...I can't quite remember. Either way, he kicks ass. I can hardly remember how a circuit works (despite the fact that I helped a bit with the re-wiring of our house), and he just gets out there and throws in 3 new outlets in just over an hour!

Oh, he also made the most amazing, unique version of Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie ever... (if only I could get the damn picture to post the right WAY!)!

Not to mention, he nearly finished our rainwater cachment system that we've had in limbo for at least 8 months (we would have finished but we discovered oil in two of our barrels so we need to get new ones!) . Currently, we have 5 barrels that we got from Yoshida's Soy Sauce by the airport (they cost about $3 each). You can see the chain at the beginning of the system that runs from our gutter to the first barrel.
So, the chain runs into the hole in the first barrel, which is covered by mosquito netting and a drain to help keep it in place (this keeps mosquitos from laying their eggs in the barrels). On the back of this barrel, there is an overflow tube which is connected by 1/2 inch supply hose and threaded PVC to the next barrel. In this way, when the first barrel fills, it will overflow into the next barrel (we considered connecting these first two by tubes at the bottom, like the others, but would have had to empty out the first barrel, which we didn't want to do).
Between the 2nd and 3rd, as well as the 4th and 5th barrels, there is a similar connection: supply hose and short PVC (2 or 3 inch threaded) piping, threaded with plumbers tape. In this way, all the barrels will fill slowly, but at the same time. This was a big dilemma we had, whether to connect them at the top and have them fill one at a time, or connect them at the bottom and have them fill simultaneously. We ultimately chose the latter plan because we want to connect the last barrel to a hose which we will then run into our washing machine to use for cold-water wash (a greywater system). We won't be doing this, OF COURSE, until it's legal in Portland (!!), but we'll be ready for it, by golly. We'll be ready...
We currently have a spiggot on our last barrel at the end, since we are still waiting to acquire 2 or 3 more Yoshidas barrels. Ultimately, though, we will have a spiggot on the last one so that we can connect and disconnect it from whatever system we choose to put in place from there.He ALSO mostly installed this Solar Flair Skylight that we got from our good friends, Trina and Peter. Just has to finish putting in the tube extender in the attic, and then it will be done! Pictures soon to come.

Anyhow, I know you're all jealous...or at least in serious admiration, of that husband of mine. Mine. Yup. My husband, and the future daddy of our little bo-peep!

Thanks for sharing! More to come soon...

More mold and you...(more old and new)...

It's been a while, I think we painted two summers ago, but I thought it would be fun to have a whole collection of before and after shots of our house...if nothing else, so we can enjoy looking back at them all and be psyched on the progress we've made. Especially as we jump on into our next big project that will certainly eat up the rest of this year...!
So, when I moved in in Aug. 2005, and bought the house, in Feb. 2006, this was essentially what it looked like. I loved how the purple door matched the irises that would bloom for a few weeks a year.
In July, a year later, we had finally finished painting the house, adding a rain barrel, and re-landscaping the left front yard. Though I do miss the purple door when the irises bloom, I like our new terra cotta one, too!

At its worst, this is what the front of the house
(as you're looking at it, to the left of the door) used to look like.
Many Saturdays, long evenings, research hours, and rock hauls later...
this is our front yard now.

In the summer, the grass would always die--
the dogs (that's Bogey, Becca's former dog!) didn't mind...
But we didn't like the dead feeling so much.
We like living stuff a lot better
(so we brought in lifeless rocks, you wonder?!).

I considered adding some pictures of us hard at work, but those will come with our next project. Suffice it to say, Geoff and I learned SO much about sprinkler systems, labor involved in digging them in; about laying rock, and the hours involved in their transport; and the patience necessary in completing such a big project (that, I swear, was supposed to be just a month-long deal,
but turned into a year plus!!)
But the efforts have paid off...we love sitting on our steps at dusk, watching the water flow over the basalt in the fountain, and the dogs lap it up at their leisure!

New Sink and stuff!

Who woulda thunk that getting a new sink would be so exciting?! During the AIDS walk on Sunday, I was telling one of my students that we were putting in a new sink, and he proceeded to tell me that a new sink can really change your life. At first I thought he was joking...but I actually think he was being completely serious, after noting all the points he brought up to prove his point. And he's not even the home owner himself!
Well, for us it's been exciting because our old vanity thing was made of cheap particle board, and as you can see, was right next to the shower. The water SOMEHOW made babies with those particles, producing mold and mildew...in the wall, the floor, and of course, the cheap particle board POS!
Some days, it would be so stinky...my neighbor says that our whole house smells better already! As tempting as it was to keep the storage space, we were more tempted by the fact that we found this used sink at a great deal on WHERE ELSE??!...Craigslist! We'd been struggling to find a sink that would fit into our little space...doesn't seem like such a big deal, but 20" isn't much space to work with when most vanities these days are much bigger. You can't really tell, but we had to build a new platform for it out of wood, since the matching linoleum was missing where the sink used to be. We also added shelving and cupboard space above the toilet...and pretty soon (oh, and that will be an exciting day, we'll have a new medicine cabinet, even!).

Party at Andrew's!

Despite being tempted to stay in for the evening,
we overcame Tamara's "homing instinct"

and headed to the Going House for a little grub and gathering.
Maybe we should have stayed home...because...

...You know things are wild
when Tamara's massage therapist is making fish faces...

...and Tamara bears her belly
with NO alcohol in her system!

Blue Skies at Tamara-nawas Falls

Today, Geoff and I headed up to the Mazamas Lodge

where we got married just over a year ago.
Dae and Clif, who catered our wedding, are moving to Arizona,
so, they invited us up to the lodge to say good-bye.
We were hoping to visit our sapling, too...
(but, fortunately, our marriage is a lot stronger
than that little tree was...)

Needing to get back to Portland to babysit the twins,
we had just enough time to venture out
into the woods for a few hours after our visit...

We drove around to the east side of the mountain
to Tamawanas Falls...could we go anywhere else
other than a place named that?!

The colors were even more epic than at the lodge...

and it was a great way to tire out not only the dogs...
but the prego-chica, too!
Didn't really expect that there'd be ICE FIELDS!
(Geoff timed this picture just right!)
but we were just hit with a cold spell,
so it should have been no big surprise.
After what could have turned into a disastrous evening,
(we had this really "great idea" to go different ways
in hopes of giving Tamara a bit of a hiking break!),
we finally found each other on the road
and headed back home.
Nothing like a little adrenaline rush
and the end of a beautiful day on the mountain!