WE GOT EVICTED!! How We Built A New Studio in 30 Days | Royalty Soaps - YouTube

Channel: Royalty Soaps

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- So basically the city of Terrell kicked us out.
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Hey there!
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My name is Katie and if you've never met me before,
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I am happy to make your acquaintance.
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Here's a brief history of me and my company Royalty Soaps.
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I started making soap when I was 16 years old
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and launched Royalty Soaps the business on
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September 15th of 2011.
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So it started as a hobby in my parent's shed slash
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my bedroom sort of and then I moved it to a nice little
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building about a mile away from their house
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on a kind, elderly woman's property she was so nice
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to let me stay there rent free!
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And then Royalty Soaps moved back to my parent's land.
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My dad built from the ground up, Butterfly Cottage
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which was gonna be a transition house for their kids
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between childhood and adulthood so they could feel
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some freedom before they move out.
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I didn't actually end up staying there long however
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because I married the love of my life, Caleb
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and we moved 45 minutes west so about five minutes from
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DFW Airport and Royalty Soaps lived comfortably
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in our spare bedroom for about a year.
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A year later we moved from our apartment to our first
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rent house in South Dallas, we had a lot more space there
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for the business to spread out and another year later
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we decided to move closer to my parents
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we're comin' full circle right back to Terrell
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and we bought a home with a 500 square foot out building
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that my dad and my brother Elisha completely renovated
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by themselves in six weeks.
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And what started out as being just me,
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grew to be me, my husband Caleb, my brother Simeon,
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my brother Kenny, my sister Shelly, my mom who works
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as customer service, my dad who works as finances
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and also clearly on construction
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and our really good friends Garrett and Mallory
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who I have known since they were literally babies.
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For reference here's a really cute picture of Garret
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and Simeon when they were teenie tiny, so cute!
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So if you weren't counting, what started off as just me,
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is now nine people.
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And with all of this growth, we were looking to expand
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the original building in my backyard.
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So now you're all caught up,
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there is the history of Royalty Soaps
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and we can get into the current day Royalty Soaps.
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Like I said, we were looking to expand.
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Here is the outside of the original studio
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and my dad moved this storage building from right here
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so that we could build the new extension right
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in this corner and since I'm inside Terrell City Limits,
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the concrete guy who was gonna pour our foundation
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told us of course that we have to get approval from the city
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We finally scheduled the time for them to have
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a city official come and look at our project in the backyard
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and on July 9th, I was sitting at my kitchen table
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and my brother Kenny said,
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uhhh, Katie, why are the cops outside?
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I looked out the window and said I really wish that were
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the cops, but that's the fire marshal.
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Both the fire marshal and the city official
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went into my backyard, they required my dad to show them
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the soap studio, they had a big long conversation
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and before leaving, they scheduled another meeting
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with my dad for the very next day.
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Obviously we scheduled the city official to come,
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but why was the fire marshal here?
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That's the real tea.
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The fire marshal was there because one of our neighbors
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filed an official odor complaint.
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Yes, that's right.
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An odor complaint.
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Apparently the occasional smell of
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lavender and strawberries was
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disconcerting
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and a public nuisance
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so the city had to come check us out.
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My dad came back from the meeting
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and it wasn't great news as many of y'all can probably guess
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According to the city of Terrell, Royalty Soaps doesn't fit
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into what would be considered cottage industry
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because of the chemicals that we use.
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In Terrell, you can have an entire beauty shop with
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aerosols and flammables in your backyard.
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In Terrell, you can have a bakery with large industrial
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size ovens in your backyard.
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But you cannot make soap in your backyard.
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We have 30 days to vacate.
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The city also told us we couldn't move and manufacture
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in a retail space, so the only place for us to go
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was an industrial facility and while the industrial
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locations available to rent in Terrell are very tempting
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for an artist of soap shop,
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we were still gonna be in the city limits,
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we were still gonna be heavily monitored
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and it was really expensive so we had to get outside
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of city limits we really needed a place that was gonna
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be inexpensive and we had 30 days to do it.
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So let's hop into the timeline.
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I left for VidCon the day we got the eviction notice.
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So for the first four days, my ability to troubleshoot
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the situation was very limited.
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Also, emotionally I was a bit messed up.
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But right now, I feel pretty numb.
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Lucky for me, I'm not a one woman show anymore
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so the team lept into action immediately.
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While I was gone, my dad created a building blueprint
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and a budget, my mom created a shipping and fulfillment
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schedule with Simeon and over the phone on day two
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at VidCon my parents pitched me the plan.
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They suggested we build an addition only Butterfly cottage
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because you guessed it, my parent's house is outside
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of city limits, Caleb and I were over the moon,
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we thanked my parents for their generosity,
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like seriously my parents are so flippin' cool
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and we flew back home really exhausted from all the work
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we had done over the last four days in LA
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and anticipating all the work we were
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about to do here at home!
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The first two weeks are kind of a blur and I don't have
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a lot of footage because I was really busy shooting stuff
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for secret projects that you guys will find out about later
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and doing a lot of things that just couldn't be put off.
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They put the concrete beams in,
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they placed the wood flooring down,
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added insulation into the flooring
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and did all those little odd jobs that you have to do
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when building an addition onto a house.
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On day 12, it was time to start framing.
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This was when a wonky deck starts to really look
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like a building and it took a solid week,
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with all hands on deck, no pun intended,
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to get the walls and the roof up,
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the electricity pulled and the pipes put in.
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This is where I actually had some time to start
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filming a little bit more.
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So basically they have the walls on
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on the outside, they have the door in,
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they have the window in and all the electrical
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has been pulled on the inside and today they're puttin in
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the insolation, everything is completely framed up
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and then from this line on the floor all the way
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to this back wall that already has the insulation
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is gonna be the curing room,
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so that's gonna be a completely separate room.
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This is where the two windows used to be on the exterior
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of the original cottage and eventually a door will go here
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to connect the bathroom and the bottom cottage area.
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I'll take you guys to the inside of the cottage
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and basically my two grown brothers have given up their
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life and their entire downstairs area
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is just a completely trash heap, just trash.
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There is the man that has been working his buns off
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every single day, this is Elisha Paul,
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I don't know if he's been formally introduced to the channel
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so he is number five, he's right after Shelly
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so it's me and then Kenny, Simeon, Shelly and then Elisha.
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- Oh yeah! - Yeah!
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Day 17 was my 25th birthday
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and before all this eviction stuff started happening,
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I had planned to throw myself a pretty decent sized party.
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I ended up throwing that idea to the wind of course,
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but my mom and my best friend Caroline weren't having it
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and told me, oh no girl, we are throwing you a party.
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Now I knew they were throwing me a party
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but I didn't know exactly how they were throwing me a party
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and I was--
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well you'll see.
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(soft music)
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♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
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(crowd cheering)
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- It was a night I will truly never forget
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and I feel like everybody was kind of relieved
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to just have a few hours that we could just kick back,
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enjoy some good food, enjoy our friends and our family
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members and just breathe for a quick second.
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The next day everybody was back at it
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and before we knew it it was time for the August
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Soap Collection Release.
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Today is August 2nd, tomorrow is the August Soap Release
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for all of the drink months.
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Daddys about to cut the door out so let's go watch.
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(lively music)
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What a marvelous 20 minute display of strength and fortitude
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(Katie laughing)
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- Well I don't know about all that.
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There it is.
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There's the rest of it.
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- There's the rest of it.
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Most of us were starting to get a little bit tired,
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we had been working for 25 days
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and it was the very last release in our studio.
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I specifically got a little emotional.
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So today's the day that I'm filming some insures and oushers
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and honestly it's just been really really hard.
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I just don't want it all away from me
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I want those items here,
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some of the items, I know this is so sentimental
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please just bear with me,
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some of the items that I've had,
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I've had since I was like just starting.
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Like certain aprons and things
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and like I just don't want those to be away from me
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it's just sad.
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But we pressed on!
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The release went pretty great
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and while everyone was shipping,
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my mom, my dad and Elisha were doing basically everything
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else over at my parent's house.
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In preparation of course for day 30 through 32
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when we would actually be moving.
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The door is now completely cut out.
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Then when you come inside,
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the walls have been painted,
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they're doing another coat.
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Hi Ma, hi Penny!
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- Hello!
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- [Katie] Doin' another coat of paint,
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she's using her very favorite valspar
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swiss mocha - Swiss mocha
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- [Katie] Yes, swiss mocha which is such a nice color
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it's on the outside of the original place
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and then here's all the windows,
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they look super nice.
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They have the flooring all picked out and ready to go
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and that's gonna be put in a little later
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and they still have to put in this final board
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up here at the top so this is kinda what it looks like
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right now and basically everything in here is being used
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to finish up the details like the caulking or putting on
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the trim around the edges of the floor.
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And then, these nice countertops that my dad made
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have already been painted and then they're gonna get
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sealed tonight so that they're ready to go tomorrow.
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This flooring is so beautiful, we got it from Home Depot.
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It is life proof vinyl planking and it is so beautiful,
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it absolutely looks like real wood.
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We've got the AC goin' in this room and we have more shelves
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that are being put up, we're gonna have three rows
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right there, there's gonna be some on this wall as well
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and there's some on this wall.
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Here's the transition between the two rooms
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because this area which is Old Butterfly Cottage
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is gonna be turned into a place
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for everyone to kind of chill out,
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hang out, it's gonna have some office space in here
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but it's also just gonna be a place where people
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can eat lunch and stuff like that.
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What's also really great is that there's a full bathroom,
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there wasn't a full bathroom with our last studio,
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there wasn't a bathroom at all so people were havin'
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to come into mine and Caleb's house all the time
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to go to the bathroom, so we're really grateful for this.
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By day 32 we had more friends over coming to help us
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put internal doors in, my brother Elisha and his best friend
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with my dad's oversight built the curing racks
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all by themselves this is one like super impressed
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big sister right here.
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There was stuff to be painted, people were culking around
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the border of the room.
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It was a very very productive Sunday and we met our deadline
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Yesterday was day 34 so Kenny and my dad were up on the roof
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getting all the shingles put on, while the rest of the team
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was organizing and setting up the inside of the workshop
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and also trying to get sort of used to it
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since that's where they're gonna be working from now on.
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So there's the entire eviction story from day one to today,
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day 35, there's still a lot to do on the exterior
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of the building but the interior is totally workable
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at this point and we're all catchin' our breath a little bit
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A big thank you to everyone who gave us Grace,
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sent thoughts and prayers our way, and helped us move!
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We greatly appreciate you!
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And to the Royal Court, you guys are why we do what we do.
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I know some of you have been here from the very early days
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and have essentially watched me grow up on this platform.
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And having all of your cheer us on makes us strive
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towards excellence and wake up every single morning
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with a passion and a purpose.
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And to the neighbor who filed a formal odor complaint,
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I'm actually grateful for you too!
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Because of you, Kenny and I get to move our filming room
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slash creative room out of my spare bedroom
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and into the old studio which is way more spacious
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and way more convenient.
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The majority of my family has a faster commute to work,
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a ton of money was saved because we built
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a pier and beam extension instead of a concrete slab
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and we grew way stronger as a company and a family.
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So thanks again, neighbor, I'll be sure to send you
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a free bar of soap!
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Thanks to everyone who watched today,
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I hope you guys enjoyed the video and I'll be seeing
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you soon right here on the Royalty Soap YouTube Channel!
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Bye for now!
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Nee-yow, pshhh!