Phase... Let's call this 15

I have been working on this house for four months now. Here is the latest:

I even have the sink resting in place (sans plumbing, that is today's project). Honestly I am quite excited about it. It is really good learning and knowing that I can do more than just take things apart. Now I know that I can put them back together again, to some degree at least.

Lately I have been working on the house and schoolwork. I have to get the school work done this week. So that is primary focus for now. A few weeks ago, I did do my first big job on the sawmill. I was able to log and cut up a big cedar that had fallen/broken down. A bit of a project and a learning experience at that. But it went very well. I loved it.

I am so looking forward to getting this house done, so that I can mill more often.

Latest Happenings - My how time flies

I am really noticing lately how time flies when you stay busy. I feel like I have finally hit some kind of groove, which is a good thing. I am learning how to work well on my own for once. It still usually takes some kind of pressure, or deadline, or motivation, but I am gaining some confidence in my abilities.

Take the house for instance. I hired out the leveling of it, because I did not want to mess with it. I thought they would be faster, etc. Well, turns out I was having to supervise the crew 50% of the time anyway, so I could have hired my own guys and did it myself. It made me start to think how I want stuff done, and then just do it. Figure stuff out on my own. So this past week I have been doing that.

The house now has a partial bathroom floor, toilet installed, and hopefully a kitchen floor by the end of today. I sidetracked and replaced the landmark mailbox of 2808. Yes, the sunflower mailbox is gone. And in its place a new sleek mailbox mounted on a custom cut, cedar post. The first practical use off the sawmill. I was excited.


Much better.

I took a mini-vacation over Memorial day with friends to Austin, and came away with a portrait, forever etched into a tree. Forever at least until some guy with a sawmill comes and cuts it down for lumber.

Thanks, Pedro. Pleasant surprise finding out about your talents.

Speaking of trees, I found one of my own for the mill. Just drove past a crew cutting this one down, so I pulled out the chainsaw, asked for the big stuff, and with Brent's help got it loaded. Even made $30 in the process. (Of course trailer and expenses were more than that, but I got the wood.)


Seven big pieces, and two trailer loads I figured to be about 11,000 lbs. of wood. 2800 board feet. Now I just have to figure out how to get them on the mill!

Well, things coming up - finishing the house, bathroom and kitchen immediately then exterior siding, finishing/catching up on schoolwork, finding a job, milling wood. There is also a group of us getting together to avoid debt. Whether that is eliminating current debt, or saving up to pay for school or house. It should be very exciting. I know I am. The potential is staggering.

Anyway, got to get to work. 50% chance of rain today.

The Latest Addition - Ethan Tyler

My brother Preston and Christie had their first baby, on our dad's birthday. Pretty cool. Here are some pics...


He was such a good baby. No crying just after being born. Apparently he has a single dimple, just like me. I am the only one that has one until now.

Phase... Ten I suppose.

It has been a busy month plus... I was able to finish my student teaching/observation at Bryan High. It went very well. I was pleased with the teacher I got to work under, and thoroughly enjoyed working with the kids. It was mostly seniors I worked with, and also did some substitute teaching. Now I just have to get caught up on all the paperwork.

This week I have been back focusing on the house. Here is the latest...

Here is my newest experiment, my sawmill. I was able to pick it up, but have had limited time put into it so far. I am so looking forward to getting the house done and finding a job, so I can put more time into it. So far I have gotten new blades for it, and have run it through a couple of logs. So far so good. I cannot wait to go through a big mesquite and cedar log.

Here is the kitchen floor I opened up a couple of weeks ago.
So I lived with it like this for a little while. Got a little more motivated to work and did this to it...
NO MORE KITCHEN!

I am getting a little tired of that. Hopefully I will be able to get it finished before too long. I have been working on the addon the last couple of days...

Yes. Lovely. (said with a tired, what do I get myself into, sarcastic tone) A picture is worth a thousand words. And to get it built back I donned...
a bee suit. A lovely nest of bees took up residence in the addon's ceiling which we could not get to, so I get to frame a wall of a house in a bee suit. It was totally worth the $100, because I have yet to get stung.
So here the wall is framed.

... And done. The wall went very well. I just wish the small finish work inside could go so well. I guess there is always tomorrow.

I am Back!

Back in town. NOT driving back and forth to Louisiana anymore. The big news is that I have quit my job in order to pursue teaching. So now I will be able to focus on getting my teaching certification, finish my house, and finally become a true citizen of Bryan/College Station. I am so excited.

First order of business is passing my content exam for High School History this coming Monday. Second on that front is my student teaching for 4 weeks in April and May. Third is finding a job for the fall after finishing my online work. Becoming a student again after 9 years may be interesting as well.

The house has started being torn apart, (obviously, from previous posts). I need to remove my floors next, and then start leveling. It will be a project. But it must be done.

The fun thing I hope to have as an income hobby is my newest purchase of a sawmill. I have been cutting some mesquite and cedar in the last few months, and cannot wait to see how they mill up into lumber.

Phase Three

I am going to call Phase Three complete. Thanks to Josh, I was able to get the rest of the siding off from the back and around the house.

I even got a look at the attic, which is another project I have been putting off because of being afraid of what I would find. It was not as bad as I was thinking it would be. That is good, since I keep running into things to fix and replace.

We did work on what I am calling Phase Two A - cementing in two posts for the fence.

And things were going better than I was expecting in the few hours we worked, so I started Phase Four - opening up floors in my house. I was not planning on doing this just yet, as it is cold tonight, and I didn't want further ventilation in my house while I was trying to sleep here. But I could seal off that room, so it was a good start to the nitty gritty of leveling a house, gaining access.

Phase Two - Almost Done

So I started Phase Two yesterday, and almost completed it. That was moving all my stuff from the house to the shed. I got some help this evening with the big stuff, so I am going to call it nearly complete. I still have several computers, (meaning 11), to go through, make sure there is not anything I need from them, and then throw them out.

So here is the beginning of Phase Three:


That is the rear of my house that I am pulling siding off of. Thanks to Josh, Tristan, Bashard, and David, almost all that siding is off now, as well as the bad fencing on the side torn down.

Unfortunately this is the only part of the job I am good at - tearing stuff down. It is the building back up that is the hard part.

One interesting thing that I have been learning through this process of downsizing, packing, moving, and storing stuff is a simple lesson on maintenance. I read a couple of weeks ago about library archiving - how digital archiving just doesn't last as long as we think it should. I have had it in my mind that once I get all my old photos copied on to the computer, make a couple of backup CD's, and put them in different areas of the country I would be safe. The house could burn down, and I would still have them.

But this handout said that in the BEST of conditions digital media would only survive about 50 years. Between media decaying and the progression of software, that digital information would have to be maintained and migrated from software to software throughout the years in order to maintain its quality.

That hit me hard for some reason, because I love the idea of doing something all out for a short period of time, and then having that skill, ability, money, or income come in with very little to no effort after that. Kind of like writing a book, or fixing up a piece of real estate for rental.

But it appears that important things always need to be maintained. It is fact of our fallen world. Sin entered into the world, and we now have to follow the law of entropy - everything wears down.

So I have been noticing different things that must be maintained...
my house - obviously.
relationships.
money & investments.
even spiritually we need to be maintaining and growing. I have been noticing in the Bible lately how many times it mentions the present and continuing tense when I am expecting a one time past tense. Such things as sanctification, justification, hope, grace, action.

And I guess I should qualify the term maintenance for me. I see it as more than just keeping to the status quo, but improving and growing what is being maintained.

Anyway, that has gone through my head quite a bit as I go through the pack ratted stuff I have collected and carried through several houses over the past many years, and asked the question "Do I REALLY need this?" And along with those: "Why the heck did I carry those books all the way here?" "How much gas and energy have I wasted doing this?" "This is ridiculous."

Thank goodness our hope is not in this world. This world is falling apart in so many more ways than one. Our hope is in its creator, and redeemer of our fallen world, Jesus Christ.