Five Year Review - Part 3

     There are two more things I can think of that happened over the past 5 years that were big. The first was that we finished the basement! The second was Courtney and I decided to get healthy and we lost a lot of weight.

    We have been trying to finish the basement for a while after moving into our new house. We were able to frame the whole basement in almost one day 2 or 3 years ago. I invited a ton of people over had everything ready and we went to work. I bought doughnuts and pizza etc to keep people motivated. The funny thing was I had no idea what I was doing. My buddy Brandon, would ask things like "how big are your doors?" or "how big is your tub ?" I had no idea that mattered. that was the only reason we didn't finish everything that day. I had to figure those things out. Plus we had to break out the concrete to move the drain for the tub anyways. It was nice having him and Orey, who knew what they were doing and had the tools., to help. They made it a success.

    Every time after that we attempted to work on the basement more something big would come up and suck all of our money away. Cars would need repairing. Surgeries happened. Finally, at the end of 2019 we just decided to take out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to just suck it up and get it all done. Brandon helped me move the tub drain. Courtney and I finished the framing. My neighbor who is a retired plumber gave me some pointers and I was able to get that whipped out. I did learn, do not cut into the main water line when the hardware stores are closed. I miscalculated something and spent extra time reworking things so I could turn the water back on before morning. Luckily, I managed to work it out. My dad set aside 3 days to come help get the rough electrical done. Unfortunately, on day 2 he got really sick and spent the next 2 days in bed. Just before he left, he came to the basement and sat and explained to me what needed to happen. I was able to get the rough electrical done, with many calls to him to answer the things I forgot or that we didn't go over together. It was fun to learn about circuits and wiring. 

    Around this time the pandemic hit. While for many the pandemic was terrible and a huge burden. Some lost jobs, others lost lives or family or friends. For us it was a blessing. I got to work from home. I spent more time with my family. We saved money on gas. I took less vacation and sick leave, because I could keep an eye on kids when Courtney ran errands etc. It was a great blessing for us. On top of all of this, when it was slow at work I could sneak down to the basement and work on it. We paid for insulation to be installed. Had our 4-way inspection. Paid to have drywall installed, inspected, mudded, taped and textured. That may have been the most expensive part but it was worth having it all done in 10 days. Courtney and I painted everything, including trim and doors. That was fun but also required a lot of late nights. We paid to have the trim, closet shelving and doors installed. Then I went through and finished electrical. We paid to have carpets and flooring installed. At this point it felt done. It was usable! It was amazing. On the down side I had lost all motivation to keep working on it, so I paid someone to finish the bathroom. 

    It is done now! we love having the extra space. The front room on the main level became an office and all of the toys went downstairs, out of sight. I spent some money and got a home theater set up with surround sound downstairs and I love it. I sneak down there when I can just to enjoy it. It has been a blessing to have the extra space during this pandemic.

    Around the same time as the basement all started, end of 2019, Courtney decided she wanted to get healthy and lose weight. We lost about 30 lbs each once before, after Xander was born, but had since gained it back. Courtney had some friends who were getting into this thing called Optavia. She asked about it and decided to give it a try. I, being supportive of her, decided to do it with her. Well, it worked! She, ultimately, lost about 70 lbs and I lost about 60 lbs! She enjoyed it so much she decided to coach others with Optavia and has been doing that since. She has helped many others lose lots of weight and she loves it. Our goal is to maintain the weight loss and stay healthy for us and the kids! Pretty exciting.

This is probably the past part for the 5 year in review. Posts going forward should present time. See you next time!