Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts

My Project 52. Week One.

week one
Happy New Year from California!

Its a brand new year!  And I am going to document this new year, in a new way.  Follow me on a journey of one photograph a week for a whole year - my project 52.  Its a project for meShooting.just.for.me.  Wow.  I remember that.  barely.  I have neglected shooting my own personal work, but no more.  I am letting my creativity soar to new heights.  I am releasing the pressure to please anyone else.  I am staying true to myself and my own vision ~ expressing myself through my photographs.  I am following my passions.  I am documenting my beautiful life.  I am letting the inspiration flow freely and getting back to what moved me to become a photographer in the first place.  I am excited!

At the end of the year, I plan to create a book from my collection of photographs from this project.  I will share my project 52 weekly photograph with you every Friday.  Thanks for coming along on this journey with me!  What new ideas ~ traditions ~ projects are you taking on this year?

Chad Rocks.

Yes. He. Does.
In all senses of the word.
He is cool, and does amazing things - (he is Superman, after all,)
but this summer - He rocked!  
Our house, that is.  
And he did an amazingly beautiful job.


This is our cute house BEFORE.

(the Tanner house BEFORE)
(The very beginning of construction)
(In the back - the start of construction and tar paper and wire)

Our house had siding before... we wanted to update it - give it a NEW look!
So off we went.  Are we crazy?
YES!
You haven't figured that out yet?

The first step was to repair all the siding, take off the wood borders 
and then cover the entire house with black tar backing paper and wire.  
We hired this part out - the guys who did our prep and Stucco did AMAZING WORK.
Seriously.  Amazing.

(Our black house - Caden wanted to keep it black!)

(Under Construction!  Let the mess and Chaos begin...)

Chad had the fun job of painting all our doors - 
as well as painting all of the soffit & fascia, all the trim and rain gutters.

(Me taking pictures and hoping I like what paint color I chose.  Chad is hoping, too!)

(Our Cement house!  One step closer!)

The next step was our stucco cement coat.  
It was funny to hear people ask if this is the color the house would be.  
Um, No.  
This is only the first coat!  
Again, the Stucco guys - AMAZING WORK.

Next comes the color coat!
And let me just tell you - it was HARD to pick a stucco color.
The color of your entire home!
Once you decide there is no going back.
I had a vision in my head - and I really wanted it to turn out perfect.
AND IT DID!
(See, I told you, Chad rocks!)

Now that the stucco is finished, its Chads turn.
Time to ROCK!
 

He spent many, many, many, many, many (you get the idea) hours rocking!


He also had A LOT of people (strangers and people we know)
stop their cars and rave over how good it was looking - 
tons of people asked for his business card!
(Um, I'm just the homeowner, he would say...)

We moved our lives outside, so we could spend time with him, while he rocked.

(The back of the house - FINISHED!)

And so, after 2 months (it seemed like 2 years), tons and tons of long hot days and late nights,
a million trips to The Home Depot, spending hours debating over colors, 
bugging and bugging friends and family for honest opinions, 
lots of sleepless nights, sore backs, broken tools, chaos, messes, blood, sweat and tears,
and pizza for dinner way too much...
Here it is:
 
OUR NEW HOUSE.
(the Tanner house - AFTER)

(Chad's rock work. - Amazing huh?)

Chad Rocks.
YES. HE. DOES.

Closed for Business?

Closed?
Ran Away?
Fallen off the face of the Earth?

NONE OF THE ABOVE!

I know I have neglected my BLOG lately...
and it may seem like I have closed up shop, 
but that's not the case!
I have been shooting (and editing) a lot,
but most importantly I have been soaking up every minute 
that I get to spend with my DARLING family.
I will always be a mom first - photographer second.

Speaking of my darling family...
These little people are the joy of my life!


Events that happened in my family this past summer, (I almost lost my Dad)
have reminded me just how fragile and precious life really is.
We never know how much time we have with each other.  
Cherish every moment.

I hope you all had an amazing summer!
XOXO

Some exciting news:  I am hoping to launch the new website/blog very soon!!
Stay tuned!!

Our Summer Project.

So, do you wanna see what my SuperMan hubby has been up to this summer?  Those of you that know Chad, know that he loves a good project, and it seems like he is always involved in one.  Once he gets an idea, well, there is usually no stopping him.  He is an amazingly hard worker and can do anything!  Yes, I know, I am a lucky girl! - but, back to the summer project...  Our Master Bathroom.  

Here's how it started.  Chad's dad called us one day and said that he had a stack of beautiful slate and thought maybe we would want it.  Chad, of course, says "sure we would love it."  Now, what to do with it?  "How about our master bathroom?" he says.  "I can take out that little shower and make more room for your vanity and I can turn our tub into a shower and slate the walls."  "Hmmm.... sounds like a lot of work" I reply.  Work?!  Has that ever stopped him before?  No, Chad is most definitely not afraid of work.  But he's busy!  And, I wasn't sure how long I wanted to be without a bathroom!  But, I knew it would be amazing when it was finished, so I agreed and off we went.     
      
The Bathroom Before...

Not too bad really.  
Just a little crowded with that separate shower.

Not much room for me to blow dry and beautify.

A lot of broken space and kinda plain Jane.

Here it is after Chad ripped out the floor 
and shower and some walls...
(with help from our awesome brother-in-law Art 
who brought his demolition kit 
and who seemed to me, a little too excited to demolish!...)   :)   
Thanks Art!!

And so it began.  
Chad spent many, many, many hours 
working on the plumbing, 
made many, many trips to the plumbing store, 
and did I mention? -  did A LOT of plumbing work!!!!

Chad does beautiful ceilings!  
Here is our new ceiling primed and ready to paint...

Here is a shot of my new, much longer counter top.  
And, you can see where the big mirror will go!

Oh boy... the day we glazed the walls... 
what can I say about it...
horrible, awful, terrible, hard, frustrating...
you get the idea.  
It wasn't the best day, but we finally figured out 
a technique that we liked the look of, 
and that would show off Chad's 
awesome texture on the walls.  
But, I can tell you that I will not 
be glazing any walls anytime soon...
If you are about to do it, 
well good luck to ya!  
You'll need it.

After about a 10 hour day of glazing, 
wiping it off, trying it a million different ways, 
here is what our walls ended up looking like. 
 It was exactly the look we had visualized.  
Beautiful!
  
And now, 
after 2 months of construction and living in chaos, 
I would like to present to you...
Our new and improved Master Bathroom!

Quite a change huh?



Look at all that space!

Chad does amazing work.
I know, I know!!  I AM SUCH A LUCKY GIRL!