Board by Board...the pieces continue to come together

Every single second; of every single minute; of every single hour; of every single day I am truly AMAZED at how the house is coming together. With each visit a new feat has been accomplished, and there is something new to see/experience/and take in.

Over the last two weeks, my Dad, John, and Jerry, have been fervishly working on completing the siding on the house. Board by board, and wall by wall, they continue to work their way up...and you can clearly see the fruits of their labor. My house looks like a home. Afar, up close, from the front, back, and sides, it is clear that there is beautiful home being built on 2110 Beacon Ave. And it takes my breath away every time I am able to say that home is mine.


















































(I mentioned in a previous post that WSU would be taking over the City of Seattle, and as you can tell it's now happening shingle by shingle! Crimson hardie planks will be put into the peaks of the house to compliment the gray siding that is already in place!)

Is my dad...Superman???

To those not in the know, people have questioned the identity of Superman for many years. To the average human, he is a man of mystical strength, saving the world one damsel in distress at a time.

To those who believe they are in the know, it is common knowledge that Superman's everday identity is that of Clark Kent. A (slightly geeky) journalist by day, and hero by night.

Well, au contraire mon ami!!! In recent weeks I have come to discover that the true identity of Superman is Mr. Doug Small, aka SuperDad!!! If you don't take my honest and truthful word for it, then I'll pose to you the evidence I have gathered over the last couple weeks.

A. He overpowered the evil forces of the City of Seattle (you villians know who you are!) to allow us to finally break ground in August
B. He helps this damsel in distress (aka; me!) every day
C. In a mere 3.5 months, he took of field of nothing, and turned it into something: a home
D. Lastly, he moved a ton of bricks (with the help of his trusty sidekicks) in under 24 hours!



Evidence of item D noted below:









Each of these bricks weighed 70 pounds!

Rub a dub, dub...I got a tub :)

In the words of Mr. Ernie from Sesame Street...

Rubber Ducky, you're the one,

You make bathtime lots of fun,

Rubber Ducky, I'm awfully fond of you;


Woo woo be doo


Everyday when I Make my way to the tubby

I find a little fella who's Cute and yellow and chubby

Rub-a-dub-a-dubby!

I got not one, but two tubs! So I guess that means I'll need two duckies :)


Master Bath








Downstairs Bath

New Career: Window Washer!

Day by day we continue to make so much progress on the house...actually, I should rephrase that and say, my dad continues to make so much progress on the house! Every day that I go by, there is something new to see and be amazed with. The latest feat was all of the doors and (many, many, many) windows were put in! And all I can say is, "Boy, there are a lot of windows to wash!"

Wax on. Wax off :)

Go Cougs!!!

In the city that bleeds (blech) purple and gold...I am going to try and inject a little crimson and great into it! As a loyal coug, and girl who just also happens to adore the color crimson, I am adorning my house with touches of cougness. The first step was putting up the "granite grey" trim, AND more will definitely follow! Stay tuned to see how this coug plans to take over Seattle :)

In over my head?

I define myself to be a rather intelligent person...I graduated high school with a virtual 4.0 (3.98 if you want to get into specifics), got my B.A., and have a good job in Advertising. But I've learned very quickly that being smart in one field does not necessarily carry over to the next, and before entering a project you should have a basic understanding of what it entails.

I scour Google, do research, look up definitions, in an attempt to better understand what it takes to build a house. But that time spent on those activities can never amount to the many years of experience my dad had physically doing the work. In my world, it would be like someone engaging in interactive advertising though they have never turned on a computer!

I can type, but I can't hammer (very well). I can lead a meeting, but I don't know how to pour cement. I can spam the world with banner ads, but couldn't tell you if plumbing comes before mechanical :) Teaching is MUCH more difficult than doing...it's frustrating...and it's time consuming. And for all those reasons, I want to thank my dad for putting up with my relative ignorance on the subject, for listening to my endless array of stupid questions, and thru it all still loving me enough to continue on. So THANKS DAD!

Sweet Dreams

When beginning this project, I had doubts the day would come when we would finally be able to break ground. Luckily, with much patience that day came, and we (or more like my dad) has been working at the most hectic pace to wrap this up. When we began excavating, I didn't think we'd pour the foundation so soon after. And when we poured the foundation, I didn't think the framing would begin so quickly. Yet it all has, and NOW I have a bedroom. And better yet, this bedroom came with a hidden suprise of an even greater view! From ground level, we knew the view was amazing...the sound, the stadiums, AND THE STADIUMS! As we built onward and upward, this view got even more amazing, as it extended to the east on over to the mountains. All I know is that I am very grateful that I have parents who are willing to help me achieve my dreams, and I will definitely have sweet dreams in this room!
View from the bachelor pad

Walking upstairs

In my room!

The great wall of Small, from down the street!

Views on a beautiful Seattle day

Board + Board = House!

My bedroom from outside

Movin' on up!

When writing this I was torn between using the title of "Movin' on up" or "UP, UP, and Away!" because both so perfectly embody the work being done during this phase...and that would going up! The second floor walls and roofing went up, and it is AMAZING to see how quickly packages of lumber suddenly (and very laboriously) turned into a house!









While a dad may be Superman to the eyes of a daughter, I think others would agree if they saw my dad flying around on the roof! Mom, if you're reading this, I swear Dad was very safe up there :)

It's wood...it's framing...it's a HOUSE

After weeks of digging and digging and digging...we finally got to start framing. And lo and behold, it is finally starting to look like a house rather than a desolate field!

Floor Joists



This crane was needed for the picture below!

The Great Wall of Small :)



It's a house!!!

Thank you!

"A house is made of walls and beams; a home is made of hopes and dreams."
~Anonymous

As I enter the month of my birth, and the second month of my home building process I wanted to stop and take time to thank my parents! I feel so lucky everyday that I have a mom who is willing to part with her husband for 4 months; and a dad willing to part with his wife and home. A mom who still cooks enough food for the family every day, and a dad who has to eat every meal out of a microwave. A mom who will watch my dog, because my evenings are spent travelling from work to the house to visit my dad who is working way too late. I truly am blessed to have a family willing to sacrifice all this to help me achieve one of my hopes and dreams.

Thank you.

Photo's of Foundation Pouring (Sept)

The photo's go in reverse order :)

Foundation's poured!!! My dad admiring his work.

Finished product

Custom duct work, from non-other than Mr. Simply Service!

After the boarding was complete!

I was obviously dressed for working on the house!

Cement Truck