Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

     After much begging and pleading to my builder, and some of the subcontractors, and the housing inspector, I finally moved into my new house on 12/22/11. There are still a few minor things to be done but it is very livable. Its gorgeous, its beautiful and I love it! My daughters have both been able to be at home with me. They did a marvelous job of helping me get things unpacked and putting up Christmas decorations. I never knew that it was possible to be in love with a house, but I am in love with mine.
Enjoy the pictures!


The beautiful living room with Jeff and Kathy



The beautiful dining room

In my new kitchen with Alena, Cindy, and me

Mom, Dad and me--they are so happy for me!

Colleen and the beautiful decorations that she put up

An unseasonably warm end of December: no ice!

Neilsen Manor

The Well

The Well Rig used to dig my well

Its been a tough couple of weeks for spending money. There are so many expenses to building a house that you do not fully appreciate until you are in the midst of the process and cannot turn back. One of these is the cost of the well. Way back nearly two years ago when I decided to tear down the house and rebuild, I was told I would need to cap off my old well because the new house would be covering it over. This cost about $900 to do. The cost for the new well was contracted in to be about $5000. I was told that sometimes they needed to dig a deeper well, and I would have to cover that cost. Being, by nature, an optomistic soul, I figured I had a good chance of getting a well that was the approximate depth of my old well which was 108 feet deep. What no one told me was that the DNR (the Department of Natural Resources) in Wisconsin instituted some new regulations regarding wells in Winnebago County where my property is. This a happened a few years ago. In one township of Winnebago County, there has been a problem with arsenic in the water. I would agree that this is a bad thing. However, in my area, near the lake, which has a high water table, there has never been a problem with arsenic. In fact, I remember getting the well tested when this problem first cropped up in the county (it was required), and the water was fine. The new regulations allow for shallow wells, less than 100 feet, but no wells are to be dug in the acquifer that is 100-200 feet, if there is sandstone because it can potentially cause the formation of arsenic. The DNR did not want to have to designate only one township as being bad, so they decided to make the ruling for the entirety of Winnebago County. So they dug my well. There is no water at less than 100 feet, and there is sandstone in the aquifer at 100-200 feet. This means they had to dig down to the next aquifer. Mind you, they charge per linear foot. Want to guess how far down the next aquifer is? Answer: 400 feet! So...my $5000 well has turned into a $15,000 well. I was talking to the well guy on the phone a few days ago while I was riding in a car, asking about the final pricing, etc. I had been nauseated and sick that day and so my sister was driving. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach again, told her to stop the car, handed off the phone, and started vomiting out of the side of the car. My sister explained to the well guy that I would have to call him back later. He apologetically said, "I hope she is not getting sick over what we have been talking about...".  In actuality no, but it was nice to feel that I caused him some anguish too! I am hoping, after spending $15,000, that I have great tasting water without a lot of iron it. My prior well had bad tasting water with lots of iron in it that caused rust in the toilets and baths.

My Travertine Stone Flooring

Pre-grout stage, bathroom

Front Foyer (with grout, mosaic border)

 I also love my travertine floor. Being a neophyte to the house building arena, I had never heard of travertine stone before. I had started to look at tile for flooring almost a year ago now. I had some good possibilities, but none that I was totally sold on. At one point, I decided I should just use what Lowe's or Menard's had in order to save some money and to dress it up with some type of special tile or mosaic border. That brought me to Ann Sacks which is a specialty tile store that they have in Kohler, Wisconsin. I was visiting Kohler one weekend and decided to stop in. There I met Todd Graf, a salesperson at the store. Ann Sacks has some very expensive tile and I wasn't even thinking that I could afford it. However, I figured that I might be able to find some interesting mosaic tile border that would be more affordable and match with a low priced Lowe's tile. Todd showed me a beautiful mosaic, but at the same time he said, "I know the perfect stone that would go with this." He pulled out a piece of cream colored stone that was about 4"x 4". I thought the two looked great together. I showed him a copy of my house plans (which I always carry in my car during this house building process). He loved the house plans and asked who was building the house. I told him, "James Mathusek, from Gallery Homes." Well, lo and behold if he didn't know Jamie and Billie Jo and thought highly of them. He also knew the feng shui person I had consulted, Jackie Patricia. Its a small world. He offered me a great price and I decided to buy the mosaic and the travertine stone that went with it. This was maybe in January or February with the idea that it would be done in April. 
     After a few weeks, I ordered a couple of larger pieces and was quite shocked at how different it looked from the 4"x 4" sample. I wasn't sure how it would turn out or even if  I would like it. Travertine is a soft limestone that is formed underground by rivers and hot springs. It is known for the pits and holes in its surface.  I did not know this until I had already purchased it!  My first thought when I saw it was, "It looks like it has a disease!" It had been a spur of the moment purchase, and I was having some buyer's remorse.. When I brought my concerns up to Todd, he assured me that they would fill in the pits and the holes with grout. There was a choice between gray and brown, and Jamie showed me a finished tile with both colors. I chose the gray. Below you will see the tile in its natural form (which my friend, Kelly, loves and wants to do her kitchen in the travertine after seeing mine in it unfinished form), and you can see pictures of the finished floor. Since it is a natural stone with a porous surface it will need to be sealed periodically in its lifetime, but, on the other hand, it should last a lifetime too. For trivia buffs: Travertine stone was used to build the coloseum in Rome--look how long that has lasted!


The natural state of Travertine stone




Natural Travetine stone




Travertine with grout



The Front Door is In!

     At long last, after being ordered a couple of months ago and being on back order for at least 4 weeks, my front door came in!! The side lights, door, and transom window come all as one piece. The door is made by Thermatrue and is a fiberglass door that will be stained a walnut color. Luke, the mason, also showed up after a hiatus from working on my house. He put the stone on the peak of my house (which was a bear of a job, according to him, and precarious).  Life is looking good. I am hopeful that the house WILL be completed after all! (Still not sure when exactly, but soon, I hope!).