Our House

So the question Don and I hear the most (besides what gender our baby is,) would be when are we going to be invited to see your house or when will you post pictures of your house up so we can see it. Well, today you get your wish! Well... to see pictures of the house that is. Before we delve into the pictures though I want to give a special thank you to everyone who helped us with this HUGE undertaking thus far. We had A LOT of help so if I missed anyone please excuse my error.

Thank you to Ben Smith for all the plumbing services you have provided for us. Everything from installing our bath tub/toilets, helping Don demo the kitchen and bathroom as well as hooking up plumbing and such. That was such a huge help. We could not have done all that ourselves seeing as we don't know the first thing about plumbing. :o) Ben Smith is currently trying to start his own plumbing business. He is a hard worker and a great plumber. I would highly recommend him to anyone. Once you get your website Ben, let us know and we will post a link to it.

Thank you to Ray Basso for helping us with our A/C. From the first time we turned it on and it leaked all over our kitchen and laundry room floor... you really saved our butts. Thanks for coming over and fixing the condensate lines so it wouldn't leak anymore. Also, thank you for coming over and hooking up the unit properly/sealing the hole the previous tenants created when they tried to install the A/C unit themselves. You were a huge help. Ray Basso also owns his own heating and air conditioning company. Of course we would highly recommend his services too. Everyone we have recommended him to has been very pleased with his work as well. His website is http://www.airflowsd.com/

Thank you to Daddy Don! He provided us with much needed tools and of course knowledge and help. My Don was constantly calling his Dad for advice and help on various projects. We are so grateful to have that outlet to turn to. He also helped Don install the cabinets in the kitchen and the floors down stairs among many other projects we had going on. We didn't know the first thing about doing any of that stuff and he came right in with the right tools and helped his son get the job done. Thank you so much!

Thank you to Willie Carbajal too. Willie is Don's Uncle and he was a huge help when we installed the floors down stairs too.

Thank you to Joey Dene' and his crew for installing the carpet upstairs. We love it and couldn't be more happier with the carpet. The carpet that was in there before was nasty! The first day you guys laid it down I full on laid on the carpet and didn't want to get up. Plus I absolutely love the smell of new carpet!

Thank you to Don's Step Mom Amy Horn for coming over many days to paint, paint, and paint some more! You helped paint so many rooms, doors and molding in our house. You were a huge help. And you were the only one brave enough to scale our vaulted ceilings in the stair well. Even though the boys all chickened out, you said no problem and got up there and got the job done! It looks beautiful too! You were also a huge help when we moved. Thank you so much, you rocked!

Thank you to Don's Mom, Gina Horn. You helped with many things too. From painting, to moving to helping us unpack and finding places for all our crap. You helped motivate us to do a lot of stuff when we just wanted to give up. You were a huge strength for my husband when he was ready to say forget it, I am done. Especially with the painting! I know he was so fed up with it by the time we got to the kitchen. He was so over it and I was so busy with my weddings that it seemed like it would never get done. You came in and said "let's get it done, give me a brush and let's finish this." You also gave us great ideas for decorating. I had a lot of fun going shopping with you and finding things to make our house more "homey." You still are in the process of helping us with that... namely our curtains, downstairs bathroom and soon to be our baby room!!! You are awesome!

Thank you to Don's brother Jon Horn. Jon came over on his day off to help me paint rooms too. Namely the baby's room so your soon to be nephew or niece thanks you too! :o) That room was a pain too since it was all blue including the ceiling. He also helped paint other parts of our house. I am also grateful for you helping us move. Jon went out partying the night before and didn't come home till 4 in the morning and than got up early to come help us move. Now part of me doesn't have much sympathy since you knew you had to get up early the next day and you still stayed out late... but I can appreciate the dedication you had of still coming inspite of you feeling like crap and wanting to just sleep. Most people would have said "screw it, they can handle it themselves, I am going back to bed." But you didn't and you hung in there like a trooper. Plus I think you were still a little buzzed and you were just funny to have around as always. Thank you for hanging in there for us. We really needed the extra man hands for the big items. Poor Mike would have been all alone trying to do all that with Don. ;o)

Thank you to Don's other brother Mike Horn. You helped Don a lot too when you could have been doing other things during your summer break. I know Don really appreciated the help. You were also a huge help during the move too. Don has some great brothers!

Thank you to my nephew Craig Hildebrand. He came over to help me paint our living room too. You were great!

Thank you to Don's cousin Dustin Rowland. You came over as well and helped Don do a lot of painting too. Plus you helped during your summer break, so that was way cool of you to take time out of your summer vacation to help us as well

Thank you to Marcia Parkes, our realtor. She was truly a Godsend! One of the best realtors ever. I would highly recommend her. I can not begin to tell you the roller coaster ride Don and I went through when we bought our house. Mostly because it was a short sale and short sales are basically a nightmare. The only reason we got through it was because of Marcia. She was constantly calling me and updating me on everything. Even when she had nothing to update us with, she still checked in on us. She was just great and she was a fighter! Man it was a nightmare trying to deal with PUD's, the title company and HOA issues from the previous owner. It was a bigger nightmare for Marcia since she was at the forefront of it all. But she had our back the whole time and fought for us. She truly went above and beyond the call of duty. I can't thank you enough Marcia. If anyone is in the market to sell or buy a home in San Diego, I would highly recommend her. Her website is http://www.marciaparkes.com/

And last, but not least thank you to all the wives who sacrificed their husband's time to come help my husband! I know it was a burden on you guys as well to not have your husbands at home, so thank you. It did not go unnoticed and we appreciated it very much.

So in closing, Don and I are just so thrilled and grateful for wonderful friends and family who came together to help us make this all happen. You guys are wonderful! Thank you so much. And now... here are the pictures!

This first link goes to the before pictures/remodel pictures of the house:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mandi.horn/OurHouseBeforeAndRemodelPictures?feat=directlink

The second link goes to the after pictures of the house:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mandi.horn/OurHouseAfterPicturesOfTheRemodel?feat=directlink