A Trip to the Building - Update!

James and I ran errands over my lunch break today and had some fun while doing it. We went to finalize the application for insurance and that makes me feel much better. After we left the insurance office, we went to the building and looked around. It was so fun to see the building's interior with light coming in. It felt like a whole different place! I'm so excited about all that is coming our way! :)

Getting Started on the West Side
This One Cracks Me UP!

Getting Started on the East Side

This One Is My Favorite!

An Idea from Erin O.

My friend Erin sent me a link to this blog and I think it will have some great ideas to draw from for the pre-school part of the school!

http://preschool-daze.com/

And this is a school that the Blue Man Group started in NYC that I have to see! I want a school for kids in OKC that looks and acts like this!!!

http://www.theblueschool.org/

Laying Bricks

So the workmen at the building are not only finished taking the bricks off of the back of the building (one by one). They are now putting the bricks back up! So excited!!!!

One more picture for the day!

A "Big" Idea!

I'm going to have to get James to tell me about this project again, but I know it was some kind of challenge on a website or something. I can't remember right this second and it's too late to call him and ask. So I'm just going to place these pics in here as a reminder to ask him more about it. I took these pics off of Facebook and don't even know who really took them. This was a project that he did while he was still in college at USC. I just thought it sounded like a lot of fun and that this project could be tied to so many great art concepts! The kids at the school would love it!

Working on a Sunday!

This is CRAZY dedication to getting the job done!

Progress!

Check out the images from day one of the brick work and from today! I can't believe these guys work so fast!!! And even more impressive is the fact that Mario's workmen took down each brick, one at a time, cleaned it off and placed it in a pile. It's amazing!


END OF DAY ONE


END OF WEEK ONE

An Adventure Right Here at Home

This entry may be a little more personal than the others, but I think it's worth including. Recently, I have been thinking about the fact that James and I are creating the space that will hold our dreams. Now a normal person would be really excited about this, and I am! I'm more than excited. I'm grateful. I am having visions of what it will be like and I can tell you it's going to be magical. But there is also a part of me that is scared. What if I fail? What if I don't live up to James' expectations? What if I don't live up to my own? I am sometimes my own worst enemy.

I have been looking around at people who are younger than I am because that is the group that I choose to be around. They are in a stage in life where they are exploring the world, continually learning about themselves and figuring out how they view the universe. (Some of them have it more figured out than I do!) It's inspiring! It's where I am as well. It's where I chose to put myself almost 6 years ago when I chose to leave teaching and go back to school. I was too afraid to ask the hard questions of the universe when I was in school the first time and that attitude just carried on through into my adult life. When I made the big change, I decided to change more than my vocation. I wanted to change myself. Ironically, I think that all of the adventures I've been on and all of the things that I've learned (and continue to learn) are going to lead me right back to teaching.

I've been seeing people travel to far off and exotic places and I've been jealous because I remember all of the things that I learned when I traveled and how I grew. I have feared that staying in one place has caused me to forget about the lessons. But I'm realizing more and more every day that because of what James and I are doing, I'm on an adventure right here at home. I'm still meeting new people from different cultures. I'm still getting lost and finding my way back to home base (just like I did every time I moved to a new city in Italy). Now it's more of a getting lost when it comes to figuring out how to solve a problem that I have with either a friendship or figuring out what to do next with plans. And I am learning ALL KINDS OF THINGS about myself and life. So why would I compare myself to others? Why would I do that to my peace of mind? Well, I'm not going to allow it anymore. I know that I have everything I need to be happy and I always will...whatever happens. I am not on someone else's journey. I'm on my own and even though I admire other people, I need to remember that I am special too. There is nobody else like me on the face of the earth and I am so grateful for that because I love my life.

The really funny thing is that on all of my previous travels, I have wished for a friend to share them with. I have wished for someone that I truly cared about to see what I saw and experience what I experienced. I knew that I was meant to see those things on my own then and that's where the learning took place. I needed to find inside of myself the strength and courage to find my way back and to be ok on my own. And I found it. But now that I'm on a different kind of journey here at home, I've found the perfect friend to share in these adventures. In fact, I think we found each other. I know that it is fate or serendipity or whatever else you want to call it.

James is one of my best friends now and through our many conversations and time spent together, he has helped me to see the world in a way that brings peace and balance. I know it sounds crazy, but the things I've heard other people say that have brought so much stress to a relationship during a renovation are the things that I look forward to. I want to pick out tile with him. I want to see what kind of a good deal we're going to find on appliances. I want to solve problems with him. Every little detail is important to me and figuring out the solutions to issues that will come up will only help us to know each other better and to be more in tune with each other, as well. That can only bring good things for the project and our friendship.

Every choice we make relating to this building and the school to come will be made even more special because we're sharing the adventure. And this adventure is pointing us in a direction of creating something that will not only improve our own lives, but the lives of people around us. That is our shared destination and I couldn't be more grateful for the fact that I get to share this journey with James.

Big Day!!!!

Today is a big day at the building because work is going to start!!! Mario and his crew will be heading over soon, if they aren't already there, to begin work on the brick. I am so excited to see progress begin! I need to get the insurance in place and am a little mad at myself for not taking care of that last week when I was home so much with being sick, but I will take care of it today!

I'm really thrilled to see what James and I have planned and worked on come into being. It's a new beginning!!!

Camera

The video camera that we ordered came in tonight! We're going to use it to create a documentary about the renovation of the building and how it relates to the Paseo and the city! James finished the plans and the budget and sent them in to the bank so we should know something tomorrow as to whether or not we're finished with our application.

EVERYTHING IS COMING TOGETHER!!!!!

Plans

James called today and said that he's almost finished with the initial plans for the building. These plans and the detailed budget are the last things we have to turn in to the bank in order to complete our application for the loan. I'm so excited and ready to find out what will happen. James also said that the man who is going to do the brick work will be able to start really soon, so it could be next week!

Now for the icing on the cake. Today James told me that he got a call from the HP architect and that she is really interested in our project. She's going to help us with the National tax credit application and hopefully, she'll help us with communicating with the rest of the board as well! I'm really grateful for this.

I can't wait for James to come over and show me those plans!!!

First Shots!

Yesterday after work, I met James and Ed Nguyen at the building. Ed is a friend of ours who is an awesome photographer and he took some still shots for documenting purposes. We'll use the photographs for the Historic Preservation and Landmark commission requirements and for the before and after shots of the project.

While Ed was taking shots, James and I walked through the building for the first time since we bought it. It was so exciting getting to talk about how we wanted to lay out the space and how we want things to be. I can't wait for the work and progress to get started, which should be in about three weeks!

James has been looking into the idea of having a green space on the roof and I would love that! I can't believe how lucky we are to have the building we wanted and to be able to do so many cool things with it! It's going to be the most awesome building in OKC!

I'll post images of the shots when we get them from Ed.