List Time

Last night I made a list of all the things we need to do to finish the house. I just want to make it clear that Jere asked for this so we know what needs to be done. I made it so that it's a step by step list of what needs to happen in order for other things to happen. It looks daunting but I will start out having faith that we can be done before school starts in August...Maybe our list will make you feel better about yours. :)

Work By Room

Kitchen

1. Paint Vanity (replacing work table)
2. Remove Corner Cabinet if Fridge is too Tall
3. Install New Refridgerator
4. Paint Trim in Kitchen (trim already up)
5. Find/Paint Floor Trim
6. Install Floor Trim
7. Install Shelves & Cabinet Next to Microwave
8. Finish Electrical for Dishwasher/Microwave
9. Finish Plumbing for Dishwasher/Microwave
10. Install Dishwasher & End Panels for Countertop
11. Install Counter Tops (3 areas)
12. Install Sink
13. Install Faucet
14. Install Light Fixtures (Located in Attic)
15. Remove Gas Pipe Behind Stove
16. Paint Ceiling?
17. Fill Wall Anchor Holes
18. Paint Filled Holes
19. Fix Electrical in Back Part of Kitchen?

Front Bedroom

1. Find Door, Closet, Floor Trim
2. Prime/Paint Trim
3. Install Floor Trim
4. Install Door/Closet Trim
5. Caulk All Trim
6. Spray Paint Doorknob
7. Install Doorknob
8. Fix Mud Coating?
9. Stain Vent Cover Same as Wood Floor (Espresso)
10. Prime/Paint Built-In's

Back Bedroom

1. Find Door, Closet, Floor Trim
2. Prime/Paint Trim
3. Install Floor Trim
4. Install Door/Closet Trim
5. Caulk All Trim
6. Spray Paint Doorknob
7. Install Doorknob
8. Fix Mud Coating?
9. Paint Ceiling
10. Stain Vent Cover Same as Wood Floor (Espresso)
11. Buy Curtains, Move Red Curtains to Baby Room

Living Room

1. Find Floor Trim
2. Prime/Paint Floor Trim
3. Install Floor Trim
4. Buy Trim for Vents (Quarter Round?)
5. Buy Trim for Front Door Header
6. Prime & Paint Door Header Trim
7. Install Door Header Trim
8. Fix Mud on Ceiling (Ceiling Hole) /Fix Other Mud Areas?
9. Paint Ceiling
10. Caulk Door Trim
11. Paint Door Trim

Bathroom

1. Caulk Floor Trim & Door Trim
2. Paint Floor Trim
3. Recaulk Bathtub/Surround
4. Cut Hole For Vent, Put in Metal Vent Cover

Basement

1. Shopvac Webs & Dirt
2. Tear Down Room Walls
3. Add A Light?
4. Fill Cracks in Walls/Floor
5. Paint Walls

Attic

1. Bring One Box Down at a Time to go through/organize
2. Install Fixed Attic Window/Check Other Window
3. Install Light?

Front Yard

1. Roto-till Roots on North Side of Front Yard
2. Up Keep Front Yard (grass seed, water, mow)
3. Remove Flower Bed Border on N Side of Porch and Seed w/ Grass (Spread Stones on N Side of House)
4. Border Tree w/ Cobblestones and Mulch

Back Yard

1. Remove Swing Set
2. Build Steps Out from Back Door (Brick/Stone)
3. Build Patio Out the Back Door (Brick/Stone)

House Exterior

1. Buy Paint
2. Prime Exterior of House
3. Paint Exterior Trim
4. Paint Exterior Walls
5. Paint Porch

Work By Project
This is basically from the list above, just organized by project so that we don't end up doing the same thing four times such as painting trim.

Organize Trim
Kitchen, Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom, Living Room

Prime/Paint Trim
Kitchen, Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom, Living Room

Install Floor Trim
Kitchen, Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom, Living Room

Install Door Trim
Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom

Install Closet Trim
Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom

Caulk Trim After Installed by Room
Kitchen, Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom, Living Room, Bathroom

Spray Paint Door Knobs
Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom

Install Door Knobs
Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom

Stain Vent Covers
Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom

Fix Mudding on Walls
Front Bedroom, Back Bedroom, Living Room

Paint Ceilings
Kitchen, Back Bedroom, Living Room

Explore the USA Roadtrip

The planning begins.

Anybody who is close to me knows that I get restless pretty quick. Restless, in the fact that I get depressed when I'm stuck in one place for too long. Reagan noticed it one morning when we were driving together on highway 40 and I was staring out the window, longing to delve into the forest. She said that I looked really sad, but I had no clue I was doing anything.

In order to keep me enthusiastic, she encourages me to get out and do stuff (I have a great wife). The past month of traveling has been awesome, and I am so thankful for the opportunities I've had to holiday. After this weekend, we will have almost a two month lull in our vacation schedule. This could be trying for me, but Kansas has a couple of places that I can explore on Saturdays to keep me refreshed until the summer. I am starting to plan out these summer vacations, one of which is an Explore the USA Roadtrip.

There are two objectives in an Explore the USA Roadtrip:
1. Go places where we have never been before.
2. Hit the beach and sleep in a tent.

The first objective is always fun. Our good friends wants us to visit Ohio, so we will. However we will also be visiting for the first time some other fun states:

State	First For
Indiana	Both of us
Ohio	Both of us
Pennsylvania	Jere
West Virginia	Jere
Delaware	Both of us
Kentucky	Reagan

Reagan and I have physically been to some of these states, however, we won't count them as "visited" unless we do something besides sleep, drive, use the restroom, eat, or wait for an airplane in them.

The second objective, is harder than it looks. I love backpacking, but Reagan loves the beach. So, when we do an Explore the USA roadtrip, where we both are stuck in a car together for a week, we probably should please both of our desires. It is awesome to have a wife who is willing to go backpacking with me. I'm thinking about hiking in the Shenandoah National Park or around Harpers Ferry, along the Apalachian Trail or some other side trail. Reagan has been there before, so she could show me around. For the beach portion of the trip, I'm wanting to stop at Virginia Beach, Virginia. The coast line looks nice, and there are some hotels with reasonable rates. There is also a small amusement/water park that might be a lot of fun.


The pink dots are still tentative. They are places where I am thinking we will spend the night. We are planning to go the week holding the fourth of July.

The first day we're planning to drive straight to Indianapolis on Friday, stay the night, see a couple of sights in the morning, then drive through Ohio (seeing some stuff of course), to Harpers Ferry, WV.

We are hoping to stay in Harpers Ferry Saturday night. If anybody has a recommendation for a chapel in the area to visit, shout it out. Harpers Ferry is important to us because Reagan lived there during her childhood. She wants to show me the house her family lived in and some of the places around town that she remembers.

After Harpers Ferry, we will drive to where we were hoping to camp and stay Sunday night. Either the Shenandoah National Park, which just south of Harpers Ferry, or some other state park in the area.

After camping we will drive to Washington DC and stay both Monday and Tuesday nights. That will give us most of Tuesday to go around to some of the Smithsonians and some of the memorials (both are totally free!).

Wednesday morning we would drive up to Philedelphia to stay the night in Pennsylvania and watch the fireworks. Thursday morning we will see some of the sights (hopefully the liberty bell) then head south to Virginia Beach.

I'm planning to spend Thursday and Friday night in Virginia Beach. Hopefully, this will be enough time to relax and prepare ourselves for the long drive home.

Saturday morning I am thinking that we will wake up and drive all the way to Kentucky to stay in either Lexington or Louisville. Reagan has not been to Kentucky before, so I will need to hunt down some fun things to do along the way. Which brings us to getting home around Mid-Afternoon on Sunday.

We have not set anything in stone, besides Harpers Ferry. If you have recommendations, please let us know. We are all ears if you contain the knowledge of a better beach, a better place to camp, anything that we HAVE to see, or if you know of places we should stay the night. The planning phase has just started and we will probably change the route completely two or three more times.