The simple things...

New Years Day. Here's to everyone to have a wonderful year filled with blessings. Each New Year J and I make a list. Something of a gratitude list of all of the things we accomplished this year, or the wonderful things that occurred. All the memorable things. This year the list will be long. Not just of things we obtained, like the new truck and the farm, but more the life we are building, the community it creates. The dreams that are being expressed. Even the ones we didn't know we had. This past year has been full of surprises and adventures.

It's been nice to have people comment on what we have accomplished with the new house. We continue to be amazed by what we can do together. It only gets better. Sometimes after a bit of grumbling and cussing, but yes, better.

And...

Ahhhh. We have a functioning bathroom. No more recon missions to find porta potties in the surrounding fields. I am sure the local farmers will be happy not to have rogue strangers using their portalet on the sly. And it is a lovely bathroom at that. While there are still some touch ups and trim work to complete, the overall effect is evident. And yes, I have my tub. Some touch up work is needed from moving the monster from the barn to the house, but otherwise, amazing.

 The reset of the fixtures look great as well, and there is more room than we anticipated. It feels downright spacious.

My parents also arrived yesterday. It's the first time they saw anything about the house. My Dad is amazed at the size of the property. My Mom says a lot of it reminds her of her Grandmother and Mother. My work is done, as that is my intent.

Dad and J headed to Home Depot to return a bunch of extra supplies. Nice little store credit as a result. Mom and I will run some errands, figure out what to do for dinner later on today, and then head to the farm so I can help J put some more windows in. I am proving to be quite the assistant, in that it took J to put in one window yesterday in the time it took us to install three. Trust me, I will bring that up when the opportunity presents. (wink)

Tuesday the forestry guy comes. I am so excited to get that rolling. I will be able to put in the tree order then and will need to place my seed order before all the unique varieties are sold out. It happens.

Here's to a sunny day in Colorado, without the 90 mile an hour gusts of yesterday. J had to fix some metal roofing that was flapping madly in the wind yesterday (worries me to death being on a ladder at all, never mind in a wind tunnel). The wind also blew out some of the plywood that was covering the barn windows. The windows are long gone, but soon to return. For now it has just been the boards. The windows from the house will either be used to build a greenhouse or cold frames.

We only have a few more things to complete, the windows being one of them, before we can call for a final inspection for the FHA loan. Once they inspect, and approve, they release the remainder of the rehab funds and we can pay off all the contractors that assisted us. That will be nice. Then we can have the pressure lift and focus on getting the finishes done.

Now, back to work!