The Basement.

Yes, I realize it's been almost a year since I've written, but considering yesterday was "Day 1" of a new house project, I feel like it's time to write again. But - I also feel like I have a little bit of explaining to do about the nearly 1-year hiatus.

Since May 2011, life in our house has been a crazy, sometimes heartbreaking, but a mostly happy journey. In the summer, Andrew and I went on our yearly summer trip to Minneapolis. We tried sweetbreads and foie gras and loved them both. I think there is already a theme established in this blog - we don't know what we're doing when it comes to working on our house, but we do know good food. We did a lot of farmer's market shopping and vowed to get a freezer in 2011 so we could enjoy good food in the winter, too.

Late summer meant our annual dueling marinades party - a wonderful celebration with family and friends. We both live for summer in Iowa. It truly can be confused with heaven. That gathering with our loved ones was also the last time my grandfather, who readers may remember as being a big part of our first major house-related projects, would ever visit our house. In the fall, within just a few days, Andrew lost his grandmother and I lost my grandpa. Both deaths were unexpected, but in the end, a blessing that neither suffered long and both were able to live full, rich, amazing, and active lives. This past autumn was the most difficult season I can remember. We loved both of them very much and miss them both daily.

In the winter, Andrew and I headed for the sunshine of the south with my parents, and we had a wonderful pre-Christmas celebration in Mexico. A couple of weeks after returning from Christmas break, I interviewed for a new job at the college and accepted that job a few weeks later. It's a great fit for me, and I love the work I'm doing - but it's also meant that life has been pretty hectic since February.

Now that things have "settled" for a bit (I know that life never settles), we decided after our tax return came, to re-finance and use the savings to invest a little more in our house. Looking to the long-run and trying to keep ahead of the housing market, we figured that we either needed to make our current house what we want, or move to a house that is what we want. I hate moving. We called a contractor. Three, in fact. I sketched out everything that we wanted.

Here's the list:
-the entire basement waterproofed.
-a second bathroom. If we achieved nothing else, we wanted this.
- a pantry for food storage, a freezer, beer-making supplies and also storage for crafts and tools. -a third bedroom. No, I'm not pregant. No, we don't want kids any time soon. But - we have a 2-bedroom house, and someday that second bedroom will be a nursery. And I assume our parents will want to visit us and need somewhere to sleep.
-a finished laundry room.
-a den/study.
-storage.

I figured, like the house itself, things get cut from your list. I remember when we were househunting I wanted:
-a house with lots of character
-3-4 bedrooms, 2-3 bathrooms
-huge kitchen
-dining room
-walk-in closets
-built-in bookshelves
-2 car garage
-patio or deck
-hot tub
-nice-sized yard

We compromised with a house that had lots of character, but 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a huge kitchen, dining room, and a 2-car garage. So I figured I get half of my list this time, too.

I have to say this: God bless contractors. Our list was met with hardly a bat of an eye. The contractor we selected finished a basement and re-did the kitchen for friends of ours, and we know he does solid work. Solid character, too.

That said, there are things I'm nervous about. Staying within budget is the biggest thing. I have champagne taste, but I'd like to keep to a PBR or Natty Light budget. The other thing I'm nervous about is the height of our ceilings. They're low. I counted up how many friends we have who are taller than 6'4" and decided what the heck...tall people will just have to hang out upstairs with the vaulted stuff.

But when I say that, my voice isn't all that confident. I'm also afraid that the vision I have is way more grandiose than what the finished product will look like. Our current basement seems huge! But will it seem like a tiny maze when all the walls go up? And will we be able to move furniture in and out once the staircase is walled in? The first step toward the new basement began yesterday. We'd been trying to haul things upstairs and to the attic for over a week, but it's a slow process. Andrew finished the last couple of bins right as our contractor was arriving to rip out the ooooold drywall so that the waterproofer can come in early next week. It was completely painless on our end. We got home, and the walls were gone. The waterproofer comes next week, and shopping will begin sometime around then for the fixtures and vanity in the bathroom (yippee - shopping!!).

Stay tuned...and let's hope it doesn't take me another year to update.