Work, Work, Work

Have I ever mentioned that my in-laws are crazy slightly crazy? They wanted to build a house in the next few years that was smaller and had less stairs than their current house. Well, they recently sold their house (much MUCH faster than they had planned) and had no where to move to! To make things worse, they have to be out of their house by August 15th. Commence the craziness that has been our live since we've moved home!

Since they were on such a tight timeline, they knew that they couldn't get the house built before they needed to be out of their current house. So they designed a shed with living quarters. Extremely tiny living quarters. Which both Eric and I and them will live in for at least a few months. We'll see how that goes later....

The "shouse" (shed house), or as Eric and I like to call it, the Guest House, has come a long way in a very short time! I failed at taking pictures of the early stages of the building process, but here are a few pictures of the finished product from our weekend project-hanging insulation and the ceilings.

Here's a view from the outside! Not too bad for being framed only two weeks ago.

This next picture is a view of the garage portion of the shouse. We hung the insulation in here on Friday night. The ceilings and attic ladder went in on Saturday. HUGE thank you to Ray, Kenny and Josh Flood, Mark Hemmen, and Connor Walters for helping hang the ceilings. If it wasn't for you guys, this 12 hour project would have taken all weekend. 

And here's a view of the really awesome insulation job (can you tell I helped hang the insulation in this part of the shouse?) and the ceilings. If you're curious as to what's what in here, I'm standing in front of the double windows you can see in the first picture, which is the living room. The doorway to the left is the bathroom, and the second doorway is the laundry room. The open space to the right is the kitchen, and the bedroom and a closet makes up the back portion of the shouse. Did I mention it was tiny? 

We're all hoping and praying we can get it done by our August 15 deadline. Then we'll be doing it all again (thankfully without a timeline) in about two years when we build their actual house, and then again in another two years or so when Eric and I build our own house. At least we'll have plenty of practice by then, right?

But you can't work this hard without having a little fun! Below is one of the many reasons I love being home- getting to see one of my best friends Ashley (and her hubby Doug. And baby Emery. I just love them all.)! They have been living up by Peoria for the past couple of years, and with us living down in Pinckneyville, we haven't seen much of them. Now that we are in Newton and they are in T-Town, we should be seeing much more of each other. And I'm completely fine with that.

Eric and I are also enjoying doing some target practice with the bows we got each other for our first anniversary. Gotta get practiced up before deer season gets here!

And to top it all off, we get to spend the whole upcoming weekend on the lake with some of our closest friends. Life doesn't get much better than this, folks. 

One (or Two) Weeks In...

I'd meant to write this on Monday, but life got a little crazy with a couple trips throughout the week to visit friends. But that's ok, I like those kinds of busy days :) 

It's officially been two weeks since we've been home, and I can honestly say we couldn't be happier to be in a place that we know and love. And boy is there plenty to love.  Here are just a few:

• Jeep rides in the middle of the week

• Home cooked meals with our families
• Drinking a beer out on the patio after a hard day of work
• Sunsets across the field
• Visits with family
• A HUGE yard

There are a few things I'm not a fan of, like gravel roads right after I wash my car, or poor cell phone reception, but I can definitely handle those. But for now, it's time to mow that yard. (Thank goodness for a zero turn lawnmower!) Until next time!

Bittersweet Endings and New Beginnings

Last week was full of endings. While I couldn't wait to be home for good, I found myself realizing how much I will miss Pinckneyville. 

Pinckneyville was Eric and I's first home. Our entire first year of marriage was spent in that town, in that little house. As I finished packing up the air mattress we'd been sleeping on that week and ran the vacuum over the floors one more time, I couldn't help but become nostalgic. 

I could remember exactly where Eric first told me he loved me in that house. Where we had our first disagreement, our first meal. Where we spent hours talking about what the future would hold for us. 

I also started thinking about our lasts. Our last run to the Pinckneyville Dairy Queen for a blizzard (thank goodness Newton has a Dairy Queen too!). Our last trip to Bottoms Up on Wednesday for chicken and beer. Our last trip to Kevin's Archery to shoot our bows. Our last date night out on the town. Our last night on the air mattress (hopefully!).

Sitting here now thinking about all these lasts only makes me excited for what is to come. No more driving over two hours one way to see our families and friends. Thinking about owning our own house, with our own yard, and hopefully soon, a puppy! Resetting our radio presets to the stations we grew up on. Planning on starting a family of our own.

Leaving Pinckneyville was bittersweet, but I know that the best is yet to come.  

Moving Day!

This weekend we finally moved everything back home! And by home I mean about four different locations throughout Jasper County....

Regardless, our stuff is home, where it belongs. We can't thank those that helped us out on the move enough- Branden Littlejohn for coming Friday night and helping us load the UHaul and then driving it back to Newton, and Eric Calvert, Nichole, and James who helped us unload at every stop. Without you guys, that move would have taken most all weekend, if not longer. We are so grateful for such supportive friends and family.

But for now, this Schackmann family is back in Pinckneyville for Eric's last week of work. Here's to hoping it flies by!