4 days of FRAMING..and this is what we have!

Well, we were worried the framers wouldn't have many good non-rainy days last week to work, but God held back the rain on 4 of the 5 days and they got a TON accomplished! Take a peek!

So as you can see, what a difference 4 days makes. These guys work FAST! We now have almost all of the interior first floor walls studded out, and we are looking at a pretty good week coming up for more progress! As soon as they build the garage walls and screened porch walls, I assume they'll start moving their way up to the 2nd floor! It's becoming REAL ya'll! 

Ladies and Gentleman, FRAMING HAS BEGUN!!!

Pics from today:) From a foundation to this:

It's so interesting to watch this take place! Tomorrow I hope the walls will start going up. That's when I think it will start getting REALLY real! I'll update you guys again soon when more work is done!

Katie

New Year, New House, New beginnings...

Well, happy new year a little late guys:) I just realized I've been so busy that I haven't updated the blog since December. I hope everyone had an amazing Christ-filled Christmas and New Year celebration. My family laid low and just hung out together. Since the new year, I am super excited about what 2012 has in store for the Hill household.

We are still currently living with my parents as our house is slowly but surely being built. Tomorrow is the first day the framers are supposed to start working. However, rain is in the forecast. So, we'll see if tomorrow is actually going to work out to be the first day of framing. It may be Tuesday. But, it's just nice to know it's finally time to start seeing this thing go UP! I'll keep you posted on pics as new stuff starts happening on that front.

Since September 2011, I've been a member at the Spartanburg Athletic Club and have really enjoyed their fitness classes. I've been doing group power, group kick, and group core along with some cardio every now and then. I realized that my body is not supporting all the bad eating habits I used to be able to get away with, so I'm really having to train myself to eat better (and smaller portions) and exercise almost everyday. Hopefully I can shake some of this weight off. Along with those classes, I am going to start teaching ZUMBA there! The pay isn't great, but I'm super excited I will have my membership free! That will be wonderful in the summer when I can go to the pool and exercise at the same place FOR FREE! Nothing better (since I have all summer off--PERKS of being a teacher)!

On the baby front, we still have had no luck getting pregnant; however, I must say, we really haven't tried as much as we did when we were "actively trying." I think Jason and I are at such a wonderful point in our lives where we are super content, but yet we completely trust that the Lord will provide a baby for us in His time and in His way. Whether it be biologically or adoptive, we are open to both. We actually went to a meeting tonight at our church about adoption. Our church really wants to help stand by people who feel the calling to adopt and the meeting was just to launch this initiative and get people together who were interested in fostering, adopting, etc. So, I was so encouraged and happy to see so many people there that will be alongside us through the process when the Lord tells us it's time. I feel as though once the house is finished, we will be ready to start the process, but as we all know, our timing and what we think is right, sometimes is not. So, I'll just say we will wait on the Lord's timing and will act when He tells us to!

So, that's just a brief update on us, and again, I hope everyone has a fantastic week filled with blessings!

Time for foundation...

As the house building process moves along (slowly, I might add as we've had rain a TON lately), I just wanted to stop and be incredibly thankful to the Lord for all He's blessed my family with. Even through trials and hardship, He never ceases to amaze us with His unconditional love. A friend shared with us last night that whenever they have put the frame of the house up, we should go through every room and write a bible verse on the framework to dedicate our new home to the Lord. I thought that was super neat, so I'm definitely going to make sure that happens. Here's a few pics as of recently of the process.

We were thrilled the process went so fast with the cinderblock and brick in 2 days. Then the rain came and I'm hoping they are out there today doing a good bit of work:)

I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas, and remember, after all the presents, yummy breakfast, Christmas movies, etc, Jesus is our reason for the season. Because of His birth in Bethlehem, His sacrifice for us, and His rising from the dead to prepare a place for us, we are HIS! Love you guys!

House update :)

Well, the house building process is coming along!! Last week, they started clearing the lot and today all the trees that needed to come down are down and moved! It's so weird to see the lot cleared!  You can see where the driveway will be, and I can actually get an idea of where everything will be laid out. The other day Jason and I met our builder, George, at the lot to make sure we agreed where the house would sit. We decided to move it about 10-12 feet closer to the road so we would have a little bit more back yard. We MUST be at least 50 feet from the road, so as long as we meet that requirement, we're good to go! Here's a few pics from the other day:)

Jason and I went browsing through the woods behind our lot and it was gorgeous! I'm sure we will see lots of fun things once we're there everyday! We even saw some deer tracks that were fresh. We have heard that we will have lots of visitors when we move in...animal visitors that is!

We also went to the Clemson game Saturday in Charlotte. We normally go to several a year, but this was our first one this season, and sadly it was the last game. BUT, we won! We are the ACC champs! It was a great game to go to. Here's a few pics from the day!

 


Lastly, here's some progress pics of the lot! More to come as things progress further! From beginning to NOW!

Finally, all the trees are DOWN, digging has begun for the partial basement, and we are ready for the final grading to happen. Next step, let's pour the footings!