It's starting to look like a table!

So when I was working at BYU, my boss had lots of different responsibility hats that he wore. One of them was "moving crew," especially in the spring and summer terms. When we needed to make room for new faculty or student labs, he'd take apart the desk/cabinet furniture and put it back together in its new office or space or in the arrangement the faculty member requested, etc. When I began working there, I asked him to teach me how to do all of that. So pretty soon, we would have jean days and I would help him take apart and put together Steelcase Series 9000 furniture. I got to be pretty handy with the drill and he'd even ask me to take on projects solo. I know it's silly, but I was quite proud that I could do it. I liked being more than just a nerd behind the desk. Making this table has brought back a lot of those good memories...so I have to say: THANKS SO MUCH AL!!!  This is just ONE of the small ways I owe you!

Me and a drill...lots of fun!

This last week, I spent a few hours here and there, not much progress. Then on Saturday I spent all morning and some of the afternoon on it. And now, I'm VERY proud to say...It's looks like a table! The next parts will be finishing the drawer box with the drawer guides and one final drawer and attaching the top of the table and shelf on the bottom. Granted that seems to be small in comparison to what comes after that... filling, sanding and painting.

This is the front of the table...

The table is much bigger than it seems in the pictures - it'll end up being 5' across, so there will be lots and LOTS of sanding and painting to come. But I'm hopeful that in the end, we'll end up with something that will go with the furniture we have in our bedroom. We're thinking a Target Ebony finish with a little distressing...a very little. Our furniture has it, but you can't tell from the picture on the site.

...and the back

Anyways, it's definitely not perfect - as Mark told his brother, "It's pretty level," which is true...But it's been a fun project and I can't wait until it's all done! Check out Ana's website for lots of plans and ideas and lots of help for those of you who might not know how to get started. This is the first project that I've done that's like this and Ana's site was very helpful. I pored over the different comments, posts, and even spent time recreating the table plans on Google SketchUp so that I knew for sure what went where and how the steps progressed. Over the top, probably, but it helped me feel confident enough to try it out in real life. 


My fingers are still crossed that it all turns out ok!

Update with Pictures

After a four month hiatus, it's time to update the blog. Here's a quick look at what we are up to...

First, we continue to live in Katy Place Apartments. For the two of us, it has worked out well. We have plenty of space, it is fairly close to campus, and located in a good part of town. It has been a good place for us to begin our life together and we plan to stay for another year. One very nice perk of the apartment complex is that it connects to the Katy Trail which is a great place for a walk or a run. Below are pictures from our morning walk. Just a few hundred meters from our apartment the city just completed a wetlands project. 

Lots and lots of geese. I think they are pretty however Daniela warns me that they are mean and will attack it I get too close.

This weekend marked the beginning of a project Daniela has been planning for a couple of weeks. She is a big fan of Pinterest and found this console table that she wants to build. As a bonus, I was able to go to an auction this weekend and pick up a circular saw for $15. And yes I did have to watch a couple of YouTube videos to make sure I knew how to use it.

The cut sheet that Daniela created. On a side note, we took a Strengths Finder test, Daniela's top strength: Responsibility. It really is true. If you want to understand Daniela - that is the key. She is displaying it during this project. 

We'll keep you posted on our project's (mostly Daniela's -- I'm her not so skilled helper) progress. Finally as most you know this is my second semester teaching an undergraduate finance class (Finance 2000) in Mizzou's business school. This past week my students took their first exam. The following is an actual exam answer. It demonstrates that despite my best intentions, I am not getting through to all of my students. Kudos to the student for at least trying...

"To value a company means to really care about a company and to put your trust and loyalty into it. This is important because if no one ever valued a company it would have not character or essence..." - Despite being responsible for making me smile and laugh, it received 0 points.