the first time I cried on the porch

To start things right at the nitty gritty level, I have to say that I had a breakdown tonight on the porch of our new house.

Construction is going at turtle speed (no offense, turtles.) and after work I found myself saying some choice words at how slow the progress was going, followed shortly by a flood pouring out from my eyeballs Noah style.

Mr. B is pretty great at escalating to my level quickly, and then instead of staying at 'crazy' he brings himself down to level headed and mature.

Mr. B: Kallie, tell me what's really going on. Why are you so upset? 

Me: *sniff sniff, inhale snot* No. 

I know, I'm super mature.

After a while of talking, I calmed down, we hugged it out, I wiped my nose on his pant leg, drove home and now I'm posting pictures of our under construction home so all the world my mom can see.

I have a feeling that many conversations like that will be happening on that porch. I cannot wait.

This is what we started with. 

 And this is what is underneath. Square nails and holes in the foundation.

My little brother isn't a huge fan of heights, but he is always willing to climb up on the ladder and pretend that he is. We had a ton of help a month ago when my family/friends showed up and helped tear off siding. What a blessing.

 I cannot get over how pretty the property looks at sunset.

 Back porch, be gone! Aka - the fun part for Mr. B.

 We took out the front door. Before you go all "why!" on me, let me explain:

1- No one uses the front door in a country home.
2- There's a door on the other side of the porch.
3- I wanted a more functional living room layout.
4- I'm the boss.
5- Just kidding. Mr. B is the boss.

Kallie, why did you take a picture of a window?
Well. Day 1 of construction went a little something like this:

Mr. B: "Kallie, I just talked to the contractor. Instead of replacing the windows one by one, we have to do it all at once because they are all rotten and we'd be spending more money in the long run by trying to get by."

Yay! Being a grown up is so much fun.

 Oh! Here's my favorite part so far. We knocked out the dining room wall to expose the stairs. I already love how it makes the room feel 10x bigger and more open.

 The old door opening to the kitchen.

 This is the view from the old kitchen opening looking into the dining room.

 I love it I love it I love it.

Woohoo! The framing for the new kitchen opening. What's fun is that right now you can walk right out that door and hit the ground. But pretty soon you'll be able to walk into a mudroom!

That's where the mud is.

Just in case you were wondering.

And here's where we are right now in regards to the kitchen. Completely gutted.

Mr. B's brother has been the greatest. Stops over almost every night, stays until 10 or later. 

We love him lots. 

And that's that. Slowly but surely it's coming along. 

Turtle speed.