Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Life's Special Moments

There are moments in life that are so special or impactful that you will never forget them. The day you first laid eyes on the love of your life, the birth of your children or even traumatic events like where you were when your wife has to remind you it is your anniversary. 


I had one of these moments this week. When it happened it brought a tear to my eye and the world stopped for the briefest of moments. At the age of 57, 34 years into our marriage at exactly 3:36pm on February 8th, 2020 Barb said 4 words I will never forget.....“Honey, you were right”. It does not matter the circumstance in which it happened, it only matters that it happened! As it happened though, I was working on drawing out the wood storage area for the fireplace so I immediately wrote the date and time.
Some husbands go their entire lives without hearing these words. I am one of the lucky ones having to only wait 34 years...I am crying just writing these words and is a moment I will never forget.


Speaking of marriage, this past Friday was our anniversary. I may have mentioned it before but it bears repeating again. Barb and I met the fall of ’85, had our first date on Halloween just a few weeks later. I guess that should have been an omen in itself. We were married just over 3 months later on February 7th, 1986. We spent our wedding night in an ice fishing shack on Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota.


So what did we do to celebrate this year? We went to the Rapid City Stock Show and attended the rodeo. The tickets were a gift from Kevin and Cheryl who drove out for the weekend to pick up some wood and stone for a house he is building in Wisconsin.  
Cheryl and Kevin ready for the rodeo!
We had a great time, the pictures are not the best but not bad for our phone given they were action shots.
Calf Roping
Saddle Bronc
Barrels

This is not going to end well!
They stayed with us for two nights before heading back home. It was a short but awesome visit. Kevin walked through our next steps we needed to do on the house; putting the wood up on the ceiling and walls, siding outside, trim around the windows both inside and out. We have enough on our “to do” list to keep us busy through the rest of our time here.

We are super excited to start working on the ceiling as we took delivery of 1300 sq ft of tongue and groove pine for just that purpose. We are going with beetle killed pine also known as bug wood or blue pine. Over the past decade or so, Pine Beetles infected over 94% of the Black Hills killing almost 500,000 acres of trees.
As devastating as this was it left behind a very remarkable kind of wood. Beetle Killed Pine. This wood has a blue discoloration and holes giving the wood unique character as compared to healthy pine. 
The two stacks on either side of the will soon be on our ceiling
We (and when I say "we" I mean Barb) installed flooring and painted the bathroom. Once we get a new mirror (don't ask what happened to the first one we bought) and get the towel holders up it will be pretty much done. All that will be left is the trim which I think I am going to do at the same time as the other rooms. 
Barb putting the flooring down
We also installed our first two interior doors this week. We chose knotty alder 3 panel doors and installed them on the bathroom and upstairs bedroom. Nice to finally have a door to replace the curtain we had on the bathroom door!
Paint, flooring and a door!
Thursday Barb and I went into Rapid City we met with a custom cabinet maker to design the kitchen cabinets. It was a bit chilly on our drive up there, one of the coldest we have seen here.  
We are not in Arizona any more Toto!
The meeting with the cabinet guy and picking out cabinets was a very detailed process. We walked through each of the cabinet designs and decided on rustic hickory.
Rustic Hickory
The design process was very interesting. It is amazing the software that is out there now to help you design the kitchen. We spent almost two hours with the owner; adding, deleting and viewing different versions. Finally we came up with a design that we really like…..
Our kitchen will look something like this
Once the price come back we will see if we can actually afford it. 

Kevin and Cheryl left at 5am Sunday leaving us a long list of things to do. Our first project is going to be to put wood on the ceiling. We are not sure how long this is going to take but we are up for the challenge! Tune in next week to see how far we got!

25 comments:

  1. I think I was right ....once. Nope, apparently I was wrong about that. I just checked with the person that would know these things.
    Good for you though. Now you have another anniversary to remember.
    I love the rustic hickory cabinets. I assume it was mutually agreeable?
    The place is really coming along nicely. Congratulations to you two. Nice work.

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    1. We both seem to have the same taste when it comes to interior finishes. I usually just sit back and see what she picks, very rarely do we disagree on those kind of items.

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  2. Oh, my...I had tears rolling down as I read your beginning. John said you truly are luck to only have waited 34 years. He's been waiting 45 and not sure if he'll ever be as lucky as you!! A fishing shack!!! Barb was definitely a keeper with that wedding night. I love the ceiling wood. Can't wait to see photos of the finished ceiling. Very nice door selection and awesome kitchen cabinets. Keep up the good work!!

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    1. Poor John, why don't you just throw him a bone and say it to him. But then again, you don't want him dropping over from shock!

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  3. On second thought,with that amount of work that still needs to be done, I think we will just ship your chairs to you. It is looking good though. It also looks like you need a bigger garage.

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    1. But think of all the free beer you could drink while you are here!?!?! The garage is quite spacious now that the big rig is not in there.

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  4. Jim you crack me up! lol It's probably the only time you remembered Barb saying it ... not that she has not said it. Your kitchen is going to look fantastic with that colour of wood. Wedding night "an ice fishing shack", well that explains a lot, especially how Barb knows how to catch more fish than you. :) Happy belated anniversary. Ray and I will lift a glass on your behalf.

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    1. I knew when she agreed to go ice fishing for our honeymoon I had a winner!

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  5. Congratulations on being right! haha. We were both laughing! The rodeo sure looks like a great time, we haven't been in awhile! Used to love the Ranch Hand Rodeo in Winnemucca, something about those cowboys :) Love the ceiling wood and how your kitchen is going to look! Can't wait to see how it all will really look!

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    1. Well, I don't know if I share the same sentiment about all the cowboys but it was a fun night, we should go more often.

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  6. Love your kitchen design and the wood for the ceiling! Al only had to wait 30 years when I admitted I was wrong when I was actually right. So I was wrong LOL.

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    1. Thanks, we cannot wait to get to the point where it is actually all done!

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  7. Not quite sure that counts. I know they say Take a picture or it doesn’t count! His do we know your not making it up?! I think I need video proof, sorry.
    Love the wood and hickory is my fave! It all looks beautiful!
    Happy Anniversary!!
    So I love your honeymoon spot!

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    1. I did pull out the camera and asked her to repeat it on video but her response was "Repeat what? I don't know what you are talking about"

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  8. Congrats on your anniversary and the wonderful "gift" Barb bestowed upon you! House really looking like home--great teamwork!

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    1. Thanks, it truly was a wonderful gift. You don't suppose she just said that because of our anniversary do you?

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  9. Happy Anniversary. Memorialized in writing and in a photo. You are a lucky man.

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  10. Don’t gloat...she does have control when you are up on the at skid steer platform, Jim. :) Love the 3 panel doors and the cabinets!

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    1. I have to take the small victories as they come as they are so few and far between.... it was just so good, I had to share!

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  11. When Dianne tells me I’m right I pretend I didn’t hear it so she repeats it and I get to hear it twice...genius I know! 🤣 Nice choice on the ceiling wood. Those pine beetles started devastating our BC forests too back in the 80’s. Any girl that will spend her honeymoon in an ice shack is definitely a keeper!

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    1. It is genius! I don't know why no one is believing me! I realize it like seeing a unicorn or even sasquatch, but it really did happen!

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  12. I read this to my wife of 40 years and she said"he was proably wrong anyways! welcome to my world.

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  13. Congrats on 34 years and for being right, though I agree with Debbie, where's the real proof. Barb claims no knowledge.

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