A Barrel for the Powder Room (God Answers Prayers Part 2)

          Last week I told you I would tell you about this little beauty. 

If you know my husband, and yes, I know I have wrote that statement before, but if you do, you know he has some awesome ideas. The problem is, he usually thinks he is the inventor of the idea, like it is something that has never been done before or seen before; a true original. Now, some of the time it is something that he has come up with on his own, and others have as well. Sometimes though, he see's something, thinks oh, I really like that, take that idea, run with it and build on it, and then forget he saw it somewhere before. Well, I think that is the case in my barrel. Remember, I told you I was an avid pinner from Pinterest, and that when we started into this process, I made up a board for all my ideas and thoughts. Well one day I saw this and pinned it.

I adored this idea, and I pinned other variations of this on my board. I can remember Dan seeing this and he said "Oh wow that is really cool."
Until we got into the build process that was about the last of it. But then we started building and planning, and we both loved the thought of it in our powder room. A room that would not get a lot of humid steam from showers and tubs. So it was decided that is what we would do. So all for months while we were in the planning and beginning building process, we would be looking at Craigslist and their were literally tons of them around here. Then it became time for us to look to actually buy one, and Nothing. The ones we did find were several hundreds of dollars, not exactly what we wanted, AND sometimes several states away, and shipping costs were going to be tough.

So, I put several people on the prayer warpath. I was really starting to think about what we might need to do if we could not find what we wanted, and Dan was as well. We did not want to give up on our idea for this room, but....... One day, in my Craigslist and internet search I felt compelled to search under "Used Barrels" I had searched under everything under the sun, and nothing. So to Craigslist I went, put in used barrels, and I found the beauty above in the Amana Colony area, and they only wanted a little over $100.00 for it. Jean and Steve went to pick one of them up, the guy had a few to choose from. Dan wanted the darkest one, with the most rusts on the bands. They picked it out and it still had quite a bit of liquor in it, so they dumped it and brought it home.
Now this thing was a whiskey barrel, used for whiskey, Jack Daniels to be exact. But the people we got it from had used it to hold a brewed beer or something in it. Can I tell you, this was the smelliest thing we had ever smelled. So when we got it we washed it out, and then let it dry out, and it still was rank. We did a number of things with it, and then Jen had a thought to maybe just spray it with polyurethane on the inside. So Dan tried this one night. This worked. He sealed the outside and then started working on making it into a sink. I also had done some research on ways people had accomplished this. Dan made use of several ideas. Now, for the sink. We had found a hammered copper sink at Menards that we liked, but it had to fit the barrel. So after we got our barrel, we went back and checked out the dimensions. Our sink would JUST fit. Here is our barrel, with sink and faucet in the "dry fit" stage in the garage.  

                                       

And here it is in the powder room. 

                                   

We absolutely love it. 

There were so many items that we were needing to use during the process of this build, that when we went to need them, and look for them, they were GONE. God has brought so many things to us through prayer. It has truly shown Dan and I that God is taking care of us, and that he is listening to us, and more importantly that he supplies things in his time, and not Dan's. Oh did I write that out loud, ah yah. Mr. Dan is one of those who want things to go on his schedule, and there have just been many times through this that God showed him, he was in control and not Dan. 

With this sample of a picture, I am going to start a continuation of this blog, called Making it home. In this other blog, this will be more about how I decorate it, how I pull it together, and make it more than a house, but home. I am excited at this thought, because I am finally starting to get to the things I really love to do, CREATE! 

Steel for the ceiling (God answers prayers part 1)

Not long before we left for California we had a heart to heart with our electrician. He needed us to focus on the Greatroom so that he could get his final inspection, and with the wiring that was exposed that might not go so well. Dan was not wanting to hear that, because he likes to do things in his own timeline. (That is always fun to live with when you build a home. NOT) So we started looking for the things we needed for our greatroom. First the ceiling. We need corrugated metal. So while we were gone, Dan and Grant found what we needed on Craigslist, and called the guy. Now fast forward to when we get home, and Sunday the guy brings the metal to us, and we find out he is closely related to one of our neighbors. This was one of those God things, because we had been looking for this stuff a year ago, and it was all over Craigslist, but this year, not much out there. Then the guy lives not far from us, and brings it right to us. It was exactly what Dan was wanting, and in the end, we had just enough, with a little left over for a few projects.  

So the next weekend, my driveway looked like a parking lot. We had Jake, Grant, Duanne, and Dan down working on the ceiling, and we had the electrician and several of his guys down working on electric. 

My electrician working on pendant lights

Next time, we will talk about this little beauty

Bathrooms and Plumbing

Pictures of our main level bath have been hard to take. It's not a huge room, but it is also very awkward to try to get a lot of it in. I had originally wanted to use furniture as vanities. I searched and searched, but did not really find just the right thing. I had been watching this one for my main level bathroom. It stays with the mission style cabinets that we used in the kitchen on this level, and more of a traditional feel for this level of our home. Where the basement is much more rustic old west, this will still be rustic, but also classic.  This will not be the bathroom Dan and I will call our master bath for now though. This will serve as guest bath room, for my folks, who live in Branson, but visit frequently, for kids or other family and for friends who want to stay with us for a visit.

This bathroom will hopefully wait for a good long while before we have to call this our permanent master bath. I know many of you have watched your parents and other family have to sell their dream home because the did not have facilities to use on a main level. Our goal with this home, was to build it so that if we needed to be on one level, we could. So, this is my growing old, and decrepit bathroom. But I am excited to have it, and love how it has turned out.

The vanity here though is for my master bath now. This is as Dan calls it "MY"(meaning me) bathroom. This is the room I really wanted to use a piece of furniture in, but just could not find what I wanted. I scoured all the home improvement stores for weeks, then one day last spring this one popped up at Menards. I continued to look, and showed this one to Dan, and he liked it as well, others liked it as well, because the company who builds them was back logged for weeks with orders. One thing we did not know when we purchased it, was that it came already assembled in the box. With the other ones we installed, the granite was separate. This sucker weighs in at almost 300 lbs, and it had to go upstairs. Now Grant and Dan did most of the work with this one, but Jen and I had to help a bunch as well.

It is though absolutely perfect in this room, and I cannot wait to use it.

This though is why Dan refers to this bathroom as mine. Yes, the soaker clawfoot tub. The tub has had several plumbing issues though. And although we have had the tub for several weeks, it is still not complete for use. The issue is with the faucet. The faucet is a floor mount set up. This would not have been an issue years ago when you used hard lines to plumb, but now with flexible tubes, this is an issue. If we don't secure the faucet just right, it is going to get wobbly, and might knock out the tile around it. Dan has finally secured the plumbing, and now the tilers need to come back and finish tiling around the supply lines and the drain.

Mandy trying out the tub

Jen trying out the tub

We also needed to enclose the covered patio ceiling. We had had a nest of baby robins on our porch before we started, but Dan had checked before starting this project and there was no sign of them left, until, we got closer to closing in the porch and we found a new next of robins. Dan told me that if he took them out, they would get eaten by a predator, so he was thinking he would have to kill them himself, but he came up with an idea to help save my little sweeties, So he fashioned a new house for them. 

Here is the house he made for them. 

Here is the enclosed porch. <3

Tales of a California Wedding

 So our little Kelli was planning a July wedding, and Jen and I were going. I had not flown since high school, and Jen had never flown. We flew Spirit Airline out of Kansas City to LA..

 The flight, although a little turbulent at times, was non eventful. We arrived in LA at about 11:30 their time, found our Starbucks, found our suitcase, and then found where we needed to find our shuttle for our rental car. No problems. We found the shuttle, and Jen said she literally thought we might die. The driver had on highly offensive gangster rap, although to some (me) any type of rap is considered offensive. (LOL) I have never seen traffic like this, and this is in the middle of the night. The driver would jump in front of others, and take off fast and then brake hard. We got to the rental car place, lives in tact, and had another half an hour wait on people checking in. Half of these folks had not reserved cars, and were being told they had no cars available without reservation, and then the people proceeded to argue. We had a reservation. For a compact car. Cheapest car to rent. BUT, something happens in the middle of the night with the rental place is out of cars. They upgrade you. So Jen and I are driving around in a brand new Jeep Cherokee SUV.
We now have an hour long drive north, in the middle of night to Claremont. Did I mention the Starbucks, they have one open 24 hours at LAX.

We arrive at the hotel, and crash. It is now like 4 in the morning to us. We got a few hours sleep and then got up and found some breakfast. In all the chaos the night before, we had not even eaten dinner, so we are now starving. This was our first view of our new California surroundings, and it was just beautiful. Not entirely what we expected, but we were not exactly sure what to expect.

We found our way to the shower they were holding for Kelli, and a Target and a TJ Max, two of my favorite places. We got something to eat, I got to get acquainted with Jake's family, (Kelli's groom) and got to get reacquainted with my sister in law Phan, who is now married to an awesome guy (I got to meet and get to know him as well) and she has two additional, beautiful children.
After this, we did a little shopping with Grandma Jean and Amy Lay, and then we headed back to the hotel. Kelli put us on a mission so we had to hit a local mall. darn! :) Then we headed back to change for the rehearsal, and dinner afterward. When I dropped Jen off, I got to take a drive up into the mountain range behind the theater that Kelli was getting married at. Back to the rehearsal and it was off to Dave and Busters. Where Jen was able to race Grandpa!

The next day, Jean and I enjoyed some shopping, I was looking for some sort of western souvenir to take home, but found nothing. We did find a couple of cute little shops, and we looked at aprons, and took a couple of mental pictures.

I loved this little pillow, but could not fit it in my suitcase, and was not going to pay the hefty price for this. I will make one though. It will be perfect for the barn. We also loved this apron.

We also found a bakery, which at the time I did not know was world famous. We just forgot to take something back for my father in law. Oops! While we were there, Jean and I sampled something they call a Almond Drop. This is how I found out the bakery is famous, I Googled the recipe, and Some Crust Bakery is really the only thing I found. We will attempt to make some of these. 

Almond Drops

Well, then it was back to the hotel and off to a wedding, that was the reason we were there! 

Josh makes his appearance

Josh decides a little help from Grandpa might help

Nope, help from Grandpa is not going to help. 

Kelli and Jason's Zoe

She looks so much like Kelli, it is scary

Jen earned the title the "white" cousin

Phan was absolutely stunning as mother of the bride

 Kelli had an awesome photo booth at the wedding. Another great thing I got to do at the wedding was spend some time with another of Dan's cousins. This is Kiersten Warren. Kiersten is an actress in LA, and always loads of fun to be with. I wish I had gotten a few more pictures, and few of her daughter Scarlet.

Lip sync battle

                                         



As we left that evening, I took a few shots of the grounds all lite up. This was a truly breathtaking theater.

So, in the AM, we quickly packed everything up, and headed back to LAX, and then back to home.

When we got home, I found that Dan, Grant and our electrician had been hard installing all the rest of our appliances, so I finally had my oven. The family all came down the next evening for our first ever meal out of the new oven. Pizza.