...and so it begins

For those of you that we haven't talked to yet, we had our pre-build meeting with the project manager on Wednesday. During the meeting, we met our project manager (Trent) and went over all of the options we ordered to make sure they all made it into the prints and the job package. We also found out our address and got our dig date. They started digging yesterday!! I stopped by and took a picture in the morning, before they started.

Early morning: Day 1

I stopped by for a picture on the way home from work:

Afternoon: Day 1

They dug the entire basement and got started digging the garage in just one day!

This is what things looked like this afternoon. There is not much difference from this perspective, but with no excavator in the way, you can see how much dirt they actually removed.

Afternoon: Day 2

It may not look like much, but today they finished digging the garage and poured the footers for the basement walls.
The lumps that you see covered by tarps would be our footers. They also put up our lot sign. I guess that means they are officially building our house.

If all goes according to the construction schedule, our pre-closing walk through will be February 27. We don't expect everything to go according to schedule, so we should realistically be closing in early March. The earlier in March the better. That way, we can keep this shoebox until the end of March and take our time moving stuff to the new house. That will also give us an opportunity to put up some paint before we put big, heavy furniture in front of the walls. Anyone reading this who doesn't want to help move or paint should probably not answer their phone for the entire month of March. You may want to think twice about answering the phone in April, too. :-)

Next week, they should be putting up the forms for the basement walls, pouring the concrete and might even get started putting in the first floor.

Now that they have started building our house, I should be posting pictures and commentary a lot more often. My intention right now is to stop by every day after work and take a picture of the house from roughly the same spot. That way, when they are done, I will be able to do a slide show and see a time-lapsed representation of our house going up. Thanks to my brother-in-law for the idea.

BUSY!

Okay, so you all know, I have had a busy week. It's not over yet. I did not get called back, but that doesn't mean anything, just that they want to see them again. We find out the cast list "next Monday." I don't know which Monday. That's the confusing part.
I have a concert tomorrow. The tickets were $10-$20 a piece because we have to pay each soloist $300 a song! The pressure is on. We start Rehearsal #1 at 3:40. Then, at 5:00, some kids get picked up, while others (like me) will be staying to eat there. At 7:25 is Rehearsal #2 until 7: 45 when we take the stage. Then, at 8, we go back, relax, and rehearsal #3 goes on. Then, at 8:30 we go on AGAIN. It is in Rochester, so I won't be home until 10:30. I have a fun day of school tomorrow.... Joy to behold!
~Rayanna~

I am a TAG MAGNET!

I always love filling out these "You've been tagged" things. This is one where I post 7 random things about myself. Here it goes.
1. We found out our new address today, and they are starting digging tomorrow!
2. I have seen Twilight twice. The last movie I saw that many times was long before the rising gas prices.
3. Showboat Call Backs are tomorrow (Thursday) but I may or may not be called back. But it's okay because that doesn't mean anything. It means they just want to see them again. I think I might be called back because my audition lasted 4 minutes... we'll see.
4. I have a lot of homework today.
5. I love curly fries(we had some for dinner).
6. I loved Horton Hears a Who.
7. I am not doing a movie review because it is to hard not to spill anything if I don't just tell you the Dr. Suess book.

Tryouts

Tryouts were today. Well, they were yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but I went today. There were four parts- Dance, Waiting, singing and acting.
The dance part was fun, I missed a step- my partner missed 6, the second time when we did the dance, I was perfect, my partner was... better. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I just got back from the tryouts.
Waiting- was not so great, after the dancing session, we had to get numbers- I was 46. With 10 minutes per person, it took like 5 hours. During that time I practiced, practiced, and practiced. I was pretty confident. In the play, Freshman almost NEVER make it, but that is the play. In the musical, Freshman are rare.
Singing- was exciting. It was all by my self. I walked in, handed my audition sheet where the director marks that he thinks etc. I set down my script, stood on the sticker marked on the floor and sang my heart out- for 2 minutes. I was amazed at how good I was doing, I hadn't sung out loud in a while. I was SURE I was gonna mess up. Just then, he stoped me. "Fantastic! We're done." He bellowed excitedly to me. I know it wasn't out of exhaustion from watching 45 other kids in front of me because of the look on the his face! When I was done, Mrs. Story left for a quick minute and the director asked me how I was doing. I felt like he was asking me what my name is- and I couldn't remember. I thought of saying the first thing on my mind- nerve racked with his replies. I couldn't say that! I said excited, which I was, and he seemed pleased.
Acting- They brought a very not cute senior actor in and we did our lines. I did well, even great, better than I had expected. In the rush with my song, I kinda forgot to Epractice my lines! Oops! When we were done, I shook his hand and wished them a good night and left.
I was extatic! A FRESHMAN walked in and got a FANTASTIC!! That freshman was ME!!! OMG! Mommy picked me up, and I explained. Call backs are soon, I don't really know when. If not the part of Ellie, I think I got a part. I hope!
Rayanna

Weird words of the day

These are some weird words I have thought about when we drove past a store called Peebles. These should bring you some laughs if you say them allowed.
1. Puddle (Poo-ddddle)
2. Bubble (BUB-ble)
3. Peebles (PEEE-bles)
4. Pudding (POO-DING)
5. Bumpkin (just a weird word from Hannah Montana)
6. Lilac(why is is spelled like that? Lie- lac)
7. Dunno (weird slang)

Well over due/more detailed blogging

Okay, so Monday, last week, we went to Charlotte Russe which is a store in the mall. I would almost NEVER step foot in there, but I was with my mom, and we were looking for the perfect Winter Formal dress, which we found. I also found a really cool hat! It kinda looks like a Nancy Drew hat, but it also looks like a hat I have seen on Demi Lavato, Hannah Montana, one of the Jonas brothers. That's not why I wanted it, not because of the stars having it, but because it is vintage, I make anything look good, and it was really cute. My Grandpa Gordy loves it too! I wore it to school and got stares... their jealous. ;~D I'll post a picture of the dress when I blog about the dance Saturday night.

~Rayanna~

A(n) ___________ time of year

Christmas. Usually a jolly time of year. NOT when you have a Salvation Army bell ringing in your ear every time you leave the house. I saw a commercial for them, and remembered last year... ugg. As I recall, they were low on their expectation meter, so they got cops to pull people over on the street and BEG for money! I totally understand that there are needy people that need help to have a Christmas worth living for. But come on. Really, how much of the money actually helps those who need it MOST. And how much of it really goes to the lazy sons of guns that sit on their butts while they could be working. Then the commercial just irks me because their motto is "Doing the most good." COME ON! Harassing people in the holiday isn't gonna make them feel good about dropping an extra dollar in the annoying bell ringer's red tins!
*** House Update*** We have our "Pre-construction Meeting" on the 19th. We are excited. I can't wait for our new house! It just doesn't feel like Christmas here. The presents, the dinner, the family, the time off from school, the cold, the ice, the accidents, the snow days, it all feels like Christmas, but, it just doesn't feel warm, and fuzzy, and you can't smell the cinnamon. I probably feel this way because we are still deciding where to put the Christmas tree in our shoe box.
~Rayanna~

Photo Tagged

This is a picture of Buddy, and here's the short story behind it. This picture was taken probably around last November, or maybe spring, well, it was before we decided where we wanted our new house to be. We went in to the forest, and he found a walking stick. This is not the property we decided on. However, he decided to play around and pretend that this is his "kingdom" and he is the leader, and to prove his point, he marked his territory. Boys.... I don't get it. Weird.

~Rayanna~

I have missed a whole WEEK of blogging!!!

Well, that's mostly because there has been NOTHING going on! Well, okay, we did do stuff, but nothing particularly note-worthy.
Monday- Long, it was Monday. We went to the mall, and I got a dress for Winter formal, a Nancy Drew hat, Showboat the Musical on DVD
Tuesday- I stayed afterschool to learn the songs for Showboat and had a blast!
Wednesday- I learned some of the dances and more about the characters in Showboat. Again, I had a great time!
Thursday- I got an email from my newspaper editor, she wants me to come back, when I quit a MONTH ago!
Friday-Today, longest day of the week, I've heard that Ghost Whisperer is new, I don't know if it is. I'll watch it and tell you later. Test in AP that I studied until 12:00 A.M. for. It was super easy.
Rayanna

Total Kodak Moment

Sorry, no pictures allowed in school. But, this is an embarrasing story I am about to share that I am sure will make you laugh.
Okay, so I was on my way to Math, and I saw this kid I've know since the 3rd grade. We have never really been friends, unless the whole "Can I borrow your pencil?" "Sure." "Wanna be best friends." kind of thing. Yes, kids did that in my 3rd grade class anyway. So, to the story. You know those moments, like in Mean Girls, where everyone is staring at the new girl, and she trips? Well, it wasn't really like that. He was looking at me, and no, I didn't trip, he walked into a locker. I quickly looked away so he couldn't see me laughing. It was quite hilarious. And for once, I didn't trip over my self! The funny part is, I didn't even look my greatest either!
Rayanna