The waiting game isn't over yet!

Well, we did close on our loan to build our new casita on February 14. However, that doesn't mean we break ground February 15, not even 16! Why you ask- well, it's because we still lack the permits from the City of Houston. Here has been our process:

1) Get plans from architect from house and site plan for the lot (basically it says, on our lot, our house will be here, our garage here, and the driveway here. And we add a few trees here or there.) - this took months and months. We began in November/December.

2)Submit the plans to the City for permits - we did this on January 31.

3)We received only a few of the permits we needed. We had to make some corrections which required going back to a few technically talented people. And we needed to get some letter from the Flood district or Storm drainage. I have no idea what that means. Once we had the changes and the letter, we gleefully submitted yet again to the City on March 7. We're thinking we should have all the permits by the end of the week, right? WRONG!

4) While the plans are still getting reviewed at the City, we can check the status online with our claim number. We see AGAIN that there are changes needed- this time a drainage plan which we need a CIVIL engineer to draw up. We contacted our engineer who is of course, on vacation all week long, but thankfully he gave us a number for somebody. We have yet to call him today and beg him to spare 10 minutes (because you know, in my mind, I believe our stuff is so minimal these experts can do it with one hand tied behind their back and their eyes closed) to draw up our simple drainage plan.

So, meanwhile, we wait and wait and wait. We are at the mercy of the city. At least I have enough to keep me busy. :)

Get our signing hands ready!

So, we have progress, people! We close on our loan on Monday to build the house. But wait a minute, that doesn't mean we build JUST YET. We have to wait until we get all the permits which is taking just a little bit longer. I have a good feeling that we will break ground before this month is over.

Stay tuned for more regular posts as the building commences.
P.S. Found some stretches we can do to prepare our hands for signing.

Are we there yet??

So, we should be breaking ground now in February. Date TBD. Here is a picture of our lot (taken in July) and we hope to finish it in June (hopefully).
I say "are we there yet" because we've been trying to start construction since November I think... or maybe December. It feels like it's taken forever!

So, I'll try my best to upload photos to this site as it comes along so you can see the progress.

Making potty room pretty

New look for the potty room

So, since we are planning on selling the house, we thought we should dress up the restroom a tad. We've had the towels for quite a while and the rug was looking very worn so it was about time. We went to Marshall's and found a lot of stuff that we liked. Photos to come....

Compost success!!

I'm not sure if I informed you, but I have been working on a lazy version of a compost. A while back, a coworker informed me of a simple and affordable way to start to compost. Instead of purchasing a $200 compost bin or figuring out power tools to construct an outdoor fenced in bin, I bought a plastic storage tub, drilled holes all over it and set it in my back yard. I started with some soil I had just to have something to start off with and then I added my kitchen scraps, coffee grinds, and some sawdust from my husband's ever growing pile in the garage. All of this, in the right measurement, breaks down and makes a material that your garden and flowers will love. It's not even hard work! The easy part about buying the bin (with the lid) is that you can just flip it over to turn it.... you don't even need to stick your hands in it!

Common misconceptions are that it stinks but I am here to tell you my sensitive nose did not turn away once I learned what NOT to put in and to always cover it with a layer of sawdust. What is it, you may ask, that I refused to stick in my pile of decomposing vegetables and fruit? Banana peels. I read that they take too long to break down and it ends up stinking up the pile. No good for me. The layer of sawdust that I mentioned helps ward away flies. It really works!

Anyways, there's my recent story I wanted to share. Now I need to figure out where I want to put the compost now that it's ready to throw in a garden or flowerbed.

I haven't given up!!

Well, I bet you were just thinking... "Celise has thrown in the towel... she's given up!" But I'm writing you today to say that I have not. Laziness has not won this battle.
Friends, I recently purchased a second-hand treadmill and it was the best purchase to date. Starting yesterday, I have woken up around 5am and hopped on for a morning walk. It's not easy but when I focus on the long term goal, it makes it a little better. They say after 21 days, habits are established if you keep it up.

Anyways... it's given me more energy lately. I hope I can keep it up.
I'm figuring out if I should start to document our building plans. Wouldn't that be neat?