Remodel Kickoff with the Family

Have I mentioned that I have the most amazing family ever? Or that I have the most supportive, helpful family ever? Or that I'm from a family of machines who have made this remodel possible? Well if not, now you know. Seriously, words cannot express the gratitude that Jeff and I have towards everyone 
who has helped us thus far.

It started last weekend with Ben (who might as well be part of the family), MeMaw and Mom. Ben and Jeff ripped out carpet and tile and Mom, MeMaw and I de-wallpapered our entry way (such a pain).

MeMaw won the machine award that day for shoveling smashed tile and trucking through the wallpaper. She refused to stop stripping the walls because "we had to finish what we started"... so we did.

But that help was just a small pre-cursor to the help we received this past weekend. Over a month ago when Jeff and I chose the date to kick off our living room remodel, I reached out to my family for help by texting them the plan and letting them know that their presence for the remodel would be graciously appreciated, if they were available. Following that one and only text and over a month later, Jeff and I had over 10 of my family members at our house swinging sledgehammers, destroying walls, lifting beams, painting trim, stripping wallpaper, installing paneling and whatever else possible.

Even my 8 year old brother was in on the action.

The dogs... not so much.

I'm not normally one to ask for help and definitely not one to beg, so the fact that one text message pulled that much support is beyond a blessing.

And speaking of blessings, I must say that my uncle Larry is definitely one. Our go-to framer who had helped Jeff scope out the beam lifting project had something come up at the very last minute (literally at 11 p.m. the night before), and Jeff and I thought the project (which was a clutch first step to our remodel plan) was doomed. There went our expert, our supplies and our entire plan... so we thought. Lucky for us, Larry came to help, took the lead (even though his initial reaction to the project when walking in was  a big "not possible"), and led to us to a SOLID victory.

Not only did Larry win the gold medal, but he won the savior award, courtesy of me and Jeff. Who won the hustler award though? That'd be my cousin Ginny, the girl who started working five minutes after she walked in, was the last to put down her tools and spent the night only to do it all over again the next day. I'm pretty sure she didn't even take a bathroom break.

But please let me not discredit ANYONE who helped, especially considering how hard we all worked and how much was accomplished. If I shouted out to everyone for every single thing they did, this post would never end.

In summation, big thanks to Mom, Dad, Jimmy, Haley, Larry, Karen, Andrea, Christina, Ginny, Cory, Ryan, Travis and Dylan for everything this weekend....... including opening our dining room by cutting walls and lifting the beam, prepping for painting, removing the bathroom tile and the awful tile thin set that was stuck to the floor, priming and painting the fireplace, trim and bathroom cabinets, removing wallpaper, converting the fireplace from ceramic to wood-burning, cutting and installing wood panels, ripping out baseboards, cleaning, shopping at Home Depot, and for providing expertise, knowledge and advice in general.... I'd say it was quite a success.

Team Day 1 - Ginny, Jeff, Cory, Larry, Karen, Andrea, Me and Christina
(missing Dad, Haley, Dylan, Ryan and Travis) 



Team Day 2 - Me, Cory, Ginny, Mom, Jimmy and Jeff

Since Jeff and I are SO lucky to have such a handy family, we are now ready to tackle the rest of this remodel this week. Keep posted as I'll have many more updates to come.