My Hard Work Paid Off

Well, all of my HARD work paid off!  We were so happy when we got our appraisal back and it was $22,500 more than the one done a month ago!  Here are the projects that have been consuming the greatest portion of my time.

Sanding, staining, re-sanding, and re-staining balusters.  I still need to sand and then wax.  I also did the handrail and other parts of the railing that are already up.

The old stairs.

Our neighbors, Mike and Anna have been awesome!  

Mike showing me how to saw out the old, ugly stairs.

I must admit, it was not my favorite part.  My entire body was vibrating, it even felt like my brain was. 

Hacksawing the old stairs was better, I guess.

A night without stairs.  Jason was very sad that he couldn't be down working with us.

  Anna was keeping Keira company.

The new stairs!  I did the sanding and staining and then Mike built them for me.  He's spent about 16 hours working on them so far.  They look awesome!  Soooo much better!  It was much more difficult to get them in and took longer than we had hoped.  As you may see, we had to cut out some of the drywall, which is one of my current projects.

Some other things I did to get ready for our appraisal are:
Changed outlet wiring from aluminum to copper
Changed all of the vent registers upstairs
Filled holes, sanded, and painted trim
Cut floor trim for the TV room (May I just say that this might be my least favorite part.  You have to be exact to the 1/64th inch or they don't work.  Plus you have to remember if it turns in or out, etc.)
Hung pictures and decorated
Spent HOURS cleaning and de-cluttering our entire house
And I guess that's about it.  I couldn't have done it without my sweet brother and sister.  Laurie spent a day watching Keira and helping me clean.  And John hung closet doors for me and sanded trim.  I have such wonderful family and am so thankful for them and my neighbors for helping us do all of this work!

And I'm so thankful for Keira.  She was soooooo good and understanding while I was so busy working on the house.  One day she spent over an hour on the couch watching TV!  That was the first time she spent more than five minutes watching something.  (But her and I don't watch TV.)

While the house was being appraised, Keira and I got to hang out with my friends from freshman year in the dorms at Brooke's cocktail party baby shower.  

Maria, Brooke, Gretchen, Alyssa, and me

So now, not only is my deadline done with getting a lot of the work done, so much that I've been wanting to finish for years is done!  And as of last week I'm working less!  I'm back to working 36 hours every two weeks! (Except I picked up an extra shift this week.)  :-(  And hopefully our refinance will be going through soon.  :o)  This experience has made me realize that I can do anything I need to do.  :o)