Haiti

I am going to Haiti over Spring Break.

More information to follow. Life is very busy at the moment.

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.