Our new house

May 19th, 2014

A home in the St. George area - What began as a brief thought several years ago then became a possibility this spring is now a reality. We have bought a new home! As of today, all the paperwork and financing is done and it is ours. I am so excited to go see it. When we came down to look for a home we walked through about 5 homes but when we saw this one, I knew it was just what I had been hoping to find. 3 Bed, 2 bath in a wonderful location. We walked through it for about 15 minutes and then went down to our realtors office to work on putting an offer in on it. (Goodness, I've spent a lot longer than that when I'm trying to decided whether to buy a $100 pair of shoes.) That's the only time we saw the house. The MLS listing said it came fully furnished but we were so excited by the house we didn't even really look very closely at everything and we didn't know exactly what that meant.

Mindy has suggested we give the house a proper name. Her suggestion was Dragon House as in St. George and the Dragon. Dad recommended Vernon as in Mt Vernon. I have been trying to think of something to do with Cats Paw way - like Feline, or Cougar (there are some of those down in the area), or Simba or Bagheera. Also we could go the direction of what the house will hopefully be, like Oasis. Or Launchpad for the starting point for many southern Utah adventures. Any suggestions or thoughts.

May 21st. 

We arrived here at about 8 PM. So EXCITED!

So we took about 50 photos but I will try to choose the best 10 or 12.

May 22nd - Happy Birthday to me

 We must have gotten sidetracked in our exploring and forgot to take any photos of the master bedroom before we disturbed it. I took the rest of these this morning. The bed doesn't have the big spread or 4 other pillows on it.

 The previous owners must have really enjoyed golfing.

I've enjoyed sitting out on this back patio this morning while I write this post. Dennis is busy doing some repairs and trying to figure out how to get all the locks changed on the house. 

So, now that you've seen it, what is your idea of a good name  or title for it?

Bathroom Remodel

For years I have been wanting to remodel the main floor bathroom. The layout was really bad and there was a lot of wasted space. Dennis said the bathroom was still functional so why do we need to do it. I spent little bursts of time in 2012 thinking, pondering and sketching many alternatives. Due to the pain I was constantly in later that year, I spent many sleepless nights weighing pros and cons of different designs and trying to figure out what would make the most efficient use of space and cost.  In January 2013 I had my knee replaced and spent six weeks watching DIY channels and beginning to really get some solid ideas of what I wanted to do. I think by then Dennis was getting tired of all the "big ideas" I'd come up in the wee hours of the morning that he started to give in and said I could begin getting bids, etc. I talked about the bathroom remodel to just about everyone that I thought would listen or give me good feedback.

Original layout

Many years ago when we remodeled the kitchen, we used Cache Wood and Design for the cabinets. Lee Atwood was really helpful and good to work with then so when I began looking at the bathroom remodel I gave him a call. He came out in April and looked at what I had in mind. He gave us some pointers and things to consider and then worked up a bid. I kept talking to neighbors and friends and trying to make sure that what I was planning made the most sense and would work the best.

We didn't want to start any actual work until after Jessica and Chases open house here at the end of May and then Dennis and I were off to Europe and then Atlanta for Jessica's wedding. By the time we got back from all of that, I had two more floor plan options for the bathroom that I was liking even better than the one I had already shown Lee. At the Briscoe 4th of July picnic, I presented all three options to everyone and had them vote on their favorite one. It ended up being the last one I'd come up with and in some ways the most complicated.

New bathrooms

This new plan involved closing in the existing doorway from the bathroom to master bedroom and opening a new doorway in what had once been an exterior wall, meaning that it was think and filled with bricks. It was August when we really started getting going on the remodel. This was a good time to rework all the electrical, plumbing and HVAC so everything had to be moved out of the basement so that there was access to all of that. Samantha and Tyson Hull moved in with us and they provided many hours of labor, both in getting things moved and in the demolition of the existing bathroom.

We had thought that the old bathtub might could be repurposed into a pond but it was so glued to the floor that it had to be cut into pieces to get out. We only got out one of the mirror tiles without breaking them. It was a big messy job and took almost a month.

The new master bathroom -

 One of the best things about this remodel is the new walk in closet. It is pretty huge and I love it!

And the new guest half bath. This room is so cozy in the winter. I love, love, love how this turned out. I really dislike bathrooms with no daylight so we put in a leaded glass window to let in some light. It turned out so beautiful! I love the look of the subway tile. It adds such a touch of class.

This bathroom remodel was brought to you by:
Annette Briscoe - Design and General Contractor, Inspector
Dennis Briscoe - General Contractor, Electrician, Demolition supervisor, Master Funder
Tyson Hull- Demolition assistant, Electical Assistant, Assistant Project Manager
Samantha Hull - Design advisor, project assistant
Brent Fredrickson - Master Carpenter
Seth Israelsen - Assistant Carpenter
Dirk Henningson - Electrical Assistant
Tyler Ward - Master Plumber
Mike Christensen - Tile Layer
Lee Atwood - Cabinet builder, reality checker, advisor
Todd Giles - dryway and painter
Evolution Design Crew- countertop and shower designers

Washington DC

Dennis had his annual Medical Devise Manufacturing Association in Washington DC this past week.  Now that I'm officially an empty nester, I went along. It's been about 15 or so years since I've been there and in previous visits, we always went with at least a couple of kids. This time I was able to pick and choose the things I wanted to see and do. It was nice. I walked a ton!! (I had my first 25,000 step day.)

 It was National Police Week in DC so there were thousands of police and their families in the city. At National Law Enforcement Officials Memorial Park there was a set up for the officers killed in the line of duty. It was very sobering and touching. The poster for officer Cory Rider who was recently killed here in Utah was very easy to spot. It was the one with a beautiful bride and a happy groom in front of a temple. Their family did a really good job on the poster showing what kinds of things were important to Officer Ride; his family, his church, his friends and his fellow officers.



Dennis had to go to meetings but I stayed out and watched the police officer parade. There were police battalions from all over the US and some from Canada. It was very touching.

It

I kind of wish police cars still looked like this. 

At least you could spot them and recognize them long before they start flashing their lights at you!

Needless to say, I felt very safe walking around the city all week.

 I love sidewalk cafes like this one. It was a bit to cold for this one to be busy yet but I'm sure on a warm summers day this place is a very welcome oasis for tired tourists. If I remember correctly, it is not far from the White House.

 One of the places I wanted to see was the National Cathedral. I love going into the great cathedrals of Europe. They are always so beautiful and have so much history to share. I was curious to see how our cathedral compared. I have to admit I was disappointed. I don't know if it was the slightly overcast day or what but the stained glass windows were okay but not spectacular. I know that there have been special events held here but if there were plaques, statues or tapestry marking the event, I didn't see them.

I think I found the embassy of the Netherlands on embassy row.

 I needed Dennis with me on that little tour since he is a wealth of knowledge 

when it comes to country flags.

Me and Abe

Andrew worked with Devin Wiser to get me a tour of the Capitol Building. Devin was busy so I got a personal tour by a new intern from Ogden. It was still very interesting and fun to get to have a one on one discussion about the things that make the capitol so special. After we got back from the Capitol, Devin was at able to come out visit for a bit. It was so great to see him being all grown up.

I'm so glad I was able to go. It was a great trip. Thanks Dear.