Studio Moving Forward

I want to take a moment to share an update on the Art Studio. As many of you know, our contractor took a very large sum of money from us and skipped out on completing the studio and carport that we hired and paid him to build.

Since the day we finally went to the police we have only discovered more deceptions and criminal activity in this man's past. He has operated under dozens of different company names across the country and conned people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and is still under investigation and has been charged in numerous counties in different states for fraud and theft in addition to a long string of contracting violations.
Good grief!

I just yesterday had to inform the District Attorney's office (as they are pursuing our case against him) that he has started up yet another fraudulent company online and is using photos from our house as advertisement!!! UGH!!!!

If there is one thing I can learn and share from this I would say please ALWAYS check references, background, research online and be vigilant about knowing who you are hiring to do a job, especially when it is something big like this. And especially if they are a fast talker and make everything sound too good to be true....big red flag warning!

Ok, enough ranting.

I do actually have some good things to share today.

First, the "Before" photos:
here is the unfinished mess the contractor left.....

 So much trash and construction debris we could not park our cars under the carport.

We had a braced up ceiling inside the studio because of unsafe header beam. Piles of debris inside and out. Not to mention unfinished siding, no insulation, no sheet rock on walls, unfinished electrical, unfinished bathroom, jack hammered concrete in the bathroom, no heating and air conditioning unit, unfinished interior loft decking, no flooring, no interior bathroom door, no deck around the studio, and the list goes on......

Well. Enough of that. Here is the good part.

The part I want to sing praises about from the top of my lungs!

YOU!

Yes, you......
all of you wonderful friends and family who have reached out with words of encouragement and support, offered hands on help if we need it and helped us have a forward thinking mentality!

And most recently, a BIG, HUGE, BEAR HUG OF THANKS to my husband, my father in law, my brother in law, my mother in law and my mother! You guys are super Awesome!

While I was away in China. These guys came together and started cleaning up, sorting, and hauling off all the debris and mess (after we got approval from the DA and documented everything, of course). Now we can park under the carport.
They worked an entire long weekend gathering together what resources and supplies they could to fix, cleanup, repair and make progress. They replaced the header beam and now the studio is structurally sound and safe. They worked on fascia board and siding closing things up under the eaves of the building and carport.

And the in laws even stayed after Jeremy had to go to work Monday morning and they put insulation in the ceiling before having to drive several hours back to their own homes to go to work. My heart is so full of gratitude and appreciation for the acts of selfless service and love here. 

And Jeremy has been working in the evenings and on weekends wherever he has a bit of free time to go out there and finish the insulation in the walls. Now I am antsy to have a job I can do to contribute. Maybe I can try my skills out on the drywall. :) Oh boy!

So there you have it. The Art Studio is officially moving forward and we are going to get this thing finished thanks to the help and support of YOU - our family, our friends. We appreciate you all.

#feelingencouraged

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