I Do Part 1

March 13th. Will mark 32 years of marriage to my

"Best Friend" and "Soul Mate."

Oh my Sweet Pumpkin I LOVE you so much!!

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Marrying Jay was the BEST decision I ever made!!!!

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I am going to take the next 6 days to illustrate why!

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In 1984 we purchased our first home, a brand new BEAUTIFUL home, in Heather Ridge.

It was the West America Model Home and we loved it.

Our children were all still very small and this neighborhood was the most wonderful start for our young family...

WE LOVED IT.

But.....

After 10 years our little family outgrew our starter home and we needed to move on.

We knew that we wanted to live in Cascade, no other neighborhood would do.

Our kids would not have to change schools and all of their friends already lived in the area. We looked and looked and looked,

but we could never find a home that fit our needs.

One day Jay came home and told me, he had found the perfect home for us right in the neighborhood we wanted. He expressed to me that it was important to buy the "NEIGHBORHOOD" and not to worry so much about the "HOME"

RED FLAG!!!!

After he showed me the house I knew why he made that statement to me..

This was it.

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HOLY COW!!!!

Was he serious?

I'm not a snob but I was not willing to leave my beautiful model home for this UGLY Piece....

Jay knew there would be some resistance and he said to me

"Allie don't worry I will make it BEAUTIFUL!"

I wondered how, the inside did have the perfect floor plan but it was so dated and just as UGLY as the outside.

He told me within in a year he would have it transformed into a house we would all love.

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He was the Marketing director at Cubco at the time and he had made quite a name for himself in the industry,

EVERYBODY owed him favors..

The day after we moved in he started the renovation.

It was time to call in those favors, and that's exactly what he did...

He tore off the ENTIRE exterior facade.. He tore out all of the windows, and doors both interior and exterior. He moved walls, he added walls, and he tore out the entire Kitchen.

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He added brick and stucco, he added a porch.

The roof was brand new but it no longer matched so he re-roofed

I wish I had pictures of the detail on the porch posts, he did FABULOUS wood work.

Yes he did make it a home we all LOVED.

And he did it with his own 2 hands. He would go to work every morning at 8:00 a.m. and return around 6:00 p.m. and then work on the house until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.

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He did triple crown moldings in the living room and dining room, and added the most BEAUTIFUL wainscot complete with frame molding throughout both rooms and in the hallway and up the stairs.

(Below is the wainscot in the entry and up the stairs)

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He worked feverishly on these GORGEOUS moldings, they turned out beautiful..

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The Before and After all transformed by my SWEET husbands hands...Truly a labor of love...

Did I mention he's such a talented man!!

We lived here for another 10 years and when we sold this home and moved out I felt like I left a piece of my heart behind. (Sigh)

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Just one of the MANY reasons I love being married to Jay!

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