Hello, Goodbye.

Goodbye Old House

Hello, New (temporary) House


I am about two months late writing this, but we have moved! We put our house on the market in late February, and by the middle of April we were in our new house. God truly was in all the details of the sale. We received a full price offer from the second people who looked at the house, and everything else went as smooth as possible. We feel truly blessed to have such a quick and easy sell, especially in this housing market. God is good!

We are now living in Base Housing until Keith retires from the military. This is by far the nicest base housing we have ever been in. It is a brand new 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath two story home with huge windows and more closets than I know what to do with. =) It is a beautiful house, and we are thankful for it, but it is not "home" for us. We don't know how long we'll be here, but no more than a year. We have hung a few pictures and a few curtains, but that is it. I plan to spend our time here cleaning, organizing, and purging what we do have and getting ready for our next *big* move.

Over the course of our marriage, we have lived in one room "apartments", tiny houses, big houses, really old houses, and brand new houses. None of those things really matter though. As long as we have the Lord and each other, we have all we need.

Worth Mentioning

Life seems to have kicked into high gear for us lately. I guess warmer weather is to thank for that. We have been on the go almost non stop for almost the past 3 weeks. Most of it isn't worth mentioning, but here is the part that is:

- Jack fell outside (while picking me flowers) and busted his chin, which required 7 stitches. Poor little man!

- We had a fairly major scare with a tornado last week. We were driving to a neighboring town when we heard the sirens going off and had to quickly take shelter in a church basement until it passed. The tornado ended up destroying several homes and businesses. It was a little scary, but I am so thankful that the Lord gave us shelter from the storm.

- We are almost done with our home renovations. We decided to hire somebody to finish most of the work that needed to be done. There was just no way we were going to be able to finish it with a new baby and Keith's work schedule. When he is done, we will be about 90% complete and the rest will be things we can finish as we get the time. Soooo glad to be wrapping up this chapter of our lives.

- We took a little day trip to Missouri Town 1855 last week. It was a really neat place, and we all enjoyed it. Unfortunately it is all outdoors and it was cold and raining. I would like to go back and visit again when the weather is nicer.

- I had a major scare with my neighbor on Monday. To make a really long story short, she fell and broke her leg in 3 places and completely tore the ligament in her other knee. I had to rush over there with all 3 littles in tow and try to help her. Scary!

- The boys now have a trampoline. They love it! I am praying that no serious injuries come as a result.

- Cole is very, very colicky. Bless his heart (and mine too)! He screams every night starting between 7 and 8 and lasts for anywhere from 1 to 5 hours. I am desperate to find something to help. I feel like I have tried pretty much everything at this point. Colic is very heartbreaking and frustrating. I feel like I am being sanctified via a crying baby. =)

Well, I guess that's about it. At least that's all I can think of right now. I will have lots of pictures to share soon. =)

The Days Are Long, But The Years Are Short

Well, it seems as though the end of another year is upon us once again. I suppose I, like most people, have begun to reflect on all that has happened the past year. This has been an interesting year for us, to say the least. But looking back on it, it is amazing to see the hand of God in it all.

Here is a little summary of our 2010:

-January was spent preparing for Keith's upcoming deployment, as well as finishing up some renovation projects before he left.

-February-the Hubby left for Guam. I'm pretty sure most of the rest of the month was a blur. I did start my own remodeling projects to help pass the time.

-March- I was in full renovation mode. I tore out our master bathroom fixtures and began a major remodel.

-April- Had a yard sale and then took a little trip back to the mother land (TN) to visit my family. It was good for all of us to get away for a while.

-May-back to reality, back to work. This month was spent choosing tile, carpet, paint colors, etc. I had to rush to get all my projects wrapped up before Hubby's return.

-June-New carpet goes in. Tile goes in. Painting is done. And at the end of the month, Hubby was home.

-July-was filled with Daddy's return, a quick trip to Paducah to visit with family, and saying goodbye to a dear family in our church who moved away. Oh yeah, and we were blessed with baby #3 this month.

-August-Normal summer business. Another yard sale, Lots of gardening, and playing. I got my usual first trimester sickness around the first of August and that was about it for me for the rest of the month.

-September-for Hubby's birthday he requested a trip to Branson, so that is what we did. For the rest of the month I was too sick to do anything...except check myself into the hospital for a few days. =( We also had to say goodbye to another great set of friends.

-October-both boys had their birthdays and I was too sick to do anything about it. It was another hard month. Hubby was out of town for a week, also.

-November-the sickness fog began to lift...Praise the Lord! Hubby had a very busy month at work. We were able to make another trip to TN to visit our families. It was a great, but hard, trip. The boys loved every second of it and were truly heart-broken when we had to leave.

-December-Well, this seems to be the month where a whole year's worth of activity is crammed into a few weeks. Is it like that for everybody? We are having a revival at church all this week. Next week, one of the missionary families from our church are returning for furlough. We also, have a celebration dinner at church on Friday night. Oh, and the Hubby takes his promotion test next week. The week of Christmas, Hubby has his PT (physical fitness) test. We are hosting a going away dinner at our house for another family in our church. (This seems to be the year of goodbye's.) And then there is Christmas...I have done nothing to prepare this year. I see it being another year without a single present around here. I am fine with that. We are so blessed, and need nothing. But, you certainly do get a lot of strange looks when you tell people that your kids didn't get anything for Christmas.

So, there we are. It has been a busy year, but a good one. God has certainly sustained us, and we are looking forward to what 2011 has in store.

My Two Friends who left me in 2010

Hubby working on painting the front door

The new carpet



My Biggest Little Man feeding the ducks



Ice Cream Date with Mom

Summertime Fun

Back Yard Camping with Daddy

4th of July fun with friends

Sweet Little Man

Me and the Bub

The Boys and Papaw checking out the view in Paducah



Little Fishermen



Somebody got a little clipper happy =)

May you all have a very happy Christmas season filled with the love of the Saviour!

New Carpet

On Thursday and Friday we had new carpet installed in the bedrooms, hallway, and downstairs. I usually know what I like and what I want, and am confident in my decisions. Not so with buying carpet. I was a nervous wreck and was extremely indecisive. I got 5 different quotes, got advice from a realtor, and looked at countless pictures and articles online.

I decided on a brown frieze style. It was actually my favorite sample of all the ones I saw, and can you believe it...it was the lowest quote too. But still, I had a knot in my stomach for a whole week before it was installed. I just wasn't sure I would like it.

But now that it's in, I love it! It makes the house look so much different...and smell better too. The previous two owners both had pets, so you can imagine. Yuck!

I am hoping the new carpet will help us sell the house easier when we put it on the market. It sure is a vast improvement over before.

We got the carpet from a local business, Dugan's, which has been in business since 1871! They were awesome!! I love supporting local small businesses. I think it's vital to the economy to shop locally whenever possible. Not only did they have the best price, but the service was unbeatable.

The List

Sometimes people ask me what all we have left to finish the house and I usually don't have a good answer. There is so much to do, but most of it is little stuff. Most of the major renovation is finally over. But all those little things often seem overwhelming to me.

Today, I made a list room by room of everything that needs to be done. There are about 55 items on the list. Some are really small and can be completed in 30 minutes or less. Some are several day projects. My goal is to work on at least one item per day. I am going to share my list with you, and hopefully I will be able to share some pictures as well as things get crossed off the list.

Okay, here goes...

MASTER BEDROOM
Finish cutting in paint around ceiling
paint closet trim
new door knob
clean air return vent
paint air return vent

MASTER BATHROOM
remove framing from old wall
patch sheetrock
stain vanity
paint walls
tile floors
paint baseboards
new door and knob
install toilet

BOYS ROOM
paint trim
new door and knob

SPARE BEDROOM
paint trim
clean/ remove tools
stage as bedroom
door knob

HALL BATH
paint trim
door knob
cabinet hardware
hang pictures
remove towel bars ??
add hooks ??

DECK/PORCH
replace roof
replace screen door
new linoleum
make curtains

KITCHEN
scrape and retexture ceilings
trim on island
trim on cabinets
paint walls
toe kick
baseboards
paint island !!DONE!!
beadboard wallpaper trim !!DONE!!
change light fixtures

LIVING ROOM
prime where needed !!DONE!!
paint fireplace wall
patch hole in ceiling
baseboards

GARAGE
touch up paint
clean
organize tools


LAUNDRY ROOM
fix leaky pipe
repair hole in ceiling
repaint walls
new door and knob

FAMILY ROOM
repaint walls
retexture ceilings
baseboards

MAN ROOM/ OFFICE
baseboards
flooring
repaint walls
new door and knob



And there you have it, "The List". Who wants to come over???

I Feel Like A Proud New Momma =)

The cabinet doors are finally on. Yay!!!


Overall, I am really pleased with the way they look. I was hoping the workers would be able to put the beadboard around the peninsula as well, but they ran out of time so they will be back on Tuesday to finish that. The will also the adding the trim to the upper cabinets and installing the baseboards on Tuesday as well. After that, the kitchen will be about 80% complete. The last few things that we need to finish up are changing out the fluorescent lights, painting the walls, and texturing the ceiling. But those are all relatively minor things.

Can you believe with all the changes we have made in the kitchen, the total for the remodel is still going to be under $4000?? Praise God for that! I am so thankful that my husband already knew how to do much of what needed to be done. What he didn't know, he either learned or got help from men in the church doing. What a tremendous blessing!!!

I am so happy to have this kitchen, which has so much counter space and is so easy to work in. Before we added the peninsula, the only counter space I had was 3 2-foot sections. That is not a lot to work with. But now there is so much room to spread out. I love it! I think I will plan a big welcome home meal for hubby whenever he gets back and invite everybody who has helped us work on the house. =)

We are getting new six panel doors all throughout the house too. I will show you those next week.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and don't forget to set you clocks forward an hour tonight.

Yesterday's Fun

I am sitting in my bedroom with the door shut trying to keep the boys contained. We have workers here working on the kitchen cabinets, and I am trying to stay out of their way.

While I'm waiting, I thought I'd share my little project from yesterday with you.

For some reason, I have trouble tackling one project at a time. Right now we are still in the middle of the kitchen remodel, painting the master bedroom, painting all the trim and doors in the house, and now I have decided to gut the master bathroom.

Yesterday afternoon, I took the boys over to my friends house and then got to work on a few projects around the house.

The first thing I did was make sure everything was in place for the cabinet door installation, then I went to work on the bathroom.

I removed the horrible, nasty, smelly carpet that was in the vanity area. I really don't know why anybody would want carpet in the bathroom. Yuck! The linoleum wasn't any better, so out it came too. And the toilet went with it.

I was quite the sight dragging a commode through the house, down the stairs, and out to the curb. I'm glad today was trash day. I'm sure all my neighbors are glad too. =)

After I picked the boys up, we went to Lowe's to buy replacements for all the stuff I had just destroyed. For about $300 I was able to get tile and all the extra stuff I need for that, as well as a new commode and all the stuff I need for that as well. I am hoping to be able to do the work mostly by myself, but we shall see.

So yeah, fun times! I think once these projects are done, I might take a little break from remodeling.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love You, Tomorrow

This time tomorrow, Lord willing, all of my cabinet doors will be reinstalled!! YAY!!! =D

Notice my temporary food storage in the photo below.

Oh beautiful cabinet doors, how I've missed thee so.

I am so sick of looking at the "stuff" inside my cabinets. I am also excited to have the food out of sight, out of mind of the little ones.

We have been without cabinet doors for months now, and I really don't think I could be any more excited about having them back.

I'll post updated pictures tomorrow.

*squeal*

*happy dance*

Day 160 of the Big Remodel

We are finally making some real progress.

Last night Hubby and a man from church installed the new countertop, sink, and faucet. I love it and I can't believe how much better I feel having that done. We got a good deal on the countertops from a local home supply warehouse, which is also where we got our new cabinets. We were going to splurge and get granite, but given the cost and the amount of time we plan to be in the house we decided it wouldn't be cost effective. Granite is not standard in our neighborhood. Even most of the $300k houses that we have toured in this area don't have granite. I like our new laminate; it is the new updated kind.

I love the new sink! *Love* it! It is much wider and deeper than my old "mini-sink". It makes me want to wash dishes. =) Here's a closer look at it and the new faucet.

After much trial and error with the cabinets, we decided to paint them a really pretty white called "Statuesque" from Valspar. Neither of us wanted to paint the cabinets; we both prefer the look of wood. However, we just could not find a way to match the old cabinets and the new cabinets without staining them a really dark mahogany color. It looked almost black. I did like the look in general, and I know that dark cabinets are very in style right now, I thought a whole kitchen full of dark cabinets would make the space seem to dark. Now that the paint is one and almost done, I love it. I have been looking for inspiration pictures all over the net and have found some beautiful kitchens with white cabinets. I'm actually really excited about decorating now. Our walls will be a light blue/gray color called "Lunar Eclipse".

Just a few more finishing touches and some polyurethane on the cabinets and we will be done with the kitchen. I have lots of little projects I'd like to do down the road, but the major renovation upstairs is coming to an end. =)

Now, on to the downstairs...

Proof of Global Warming

This is our 7 day forecast...

and this is our yard after about 8" or so of snow.

Brrrrrrrr!

House Update

I have been without a computer for several days now, and I feel like I am so out of touch with everything. We don't have TV, I don't listen to the radio, and I haven't been to church all week because Jackson was sick...so I really haven't had much contact with the outside world in a while. =D I am back now though, and I thought I would share some pictures of the updates to the house with you all.





Things have been very slow going with the repair due to Keith's work schedule, and then we had a few unexpected things come up that had to be fixed as well. On Friday, he took the whole day off to work on the house. The kids and I made sure we stayed away from the house most of the day so he could get a lot done. He was able to get a lot accomplished, for which I was very thankful. It is so hard living in chaos and construction, and we have been for 3 months now. I'm ready for it to be done, he's ready for it to be done...we need it to be over with soon so that we can regain some semblance of normal before he leaves in a few months.





I'm not sure if I ever detailed what we are doing in the kitchen, so I may be repeating myself here but this is what we have done. We took down the wall between the kitchen and dining room and added an island/peninsula of cabinets. We also got new countertops, a new sink and a new faucet. Also, all of the floors had to be replaced. We are almost 100% complete with the structural things that had to be done and are about 40% complete with the cosmetic changes. I am loving the way it is turning out and in a way I am thankful for the flood, because we never would have made these improvements otherwise.






Here are a few pictures of our work in progress.

A hole in the ceiling

The cabinets before they were installed. I was having to store all the food on the table. =)

The new island/peninsula with the wrong color of stain. Oops!

This is where the rooms used to be separated by a wall.

Is It Really That Bad??

I know things are kinda strange for the little guy right now. Where there used to be shiny wood floors and beautifully painted walls, there are now plywood floors and bare studs. But, is it really so bad that the 2 year old thought his dirty underwear would pretty up the place??

=)

Complete Randomness

My life feels like complete randomness right now, so this post should fit right in with that theme. I feel like I'm in a bit of a blog rut right now, which is a bummer. I really enjoy blogging as a way to stay connected with my friends and family, and also a way to meet new people. Frankly, I just haven't had much motivation to be on here much this summer. We have been having a great time with friends and family, enjoying lots of informal fellowshipping and just general summer fun. But alas, whether I like it or not, summer is quickly on its way out and fall is coming. I'm trying to have a good attitude this year (cold weather is NOT my thing). Hopefully I will get back on track with blogging very soon. =)

Today is the one year anniversary of when my step-dad died. I'm sad today. I've had many, many sad days over the past year. Although it is never easy to lose someone you love, his death affected me like I could never have imagined. I still cannot walk through the fabric section at Wal-Mart because that is where I sat and had the last conversation with him that I will ever have on this earth. I know that he is in Heaven rejoicing before the Saviour in his new perfect body, but I still can't help but selfishly wish he were still here with us. His death has reminded me to never take relationships for granted. I believe a loving family is the closest taste of Heaven we will see here on earth.

In other news, our house is still a wreck after the Flood of 2009. Servepro came and did all the clean up and dry out, but told us it would be a month before they could have a crew out to start the repairs. We told them never mind, that we would do it ourselves. Hopefully we will make some serious progress over the weekend. Right now we are living with sub-floors, bare studs, exposed wiring, and nails everywhere. Did I mention that I have a baby and a toddler??

Well, it's almost birthday season here again. Keith's is in September and both boys' are in October. I can't believe my babies are going to be 3 and 1! Wow! I think for their birthday I am going to buy one of those inflatable bouncy houses that we can blow up in the garage this winter. They will need a way to release their energy beside driving me nuts (did I just say that?), so hopefully that will do the trick.

In Tyler and Jackson news, they are both doing great. Tyler is potty-training (oh what fun!) and we will be starting "preschool" when our house gets back in order. He is such a smart little booger, but very strong willed. It should be fun! Jack is 10 months old now and growing like a little weed. He is just a precious little baby, a little on the spoiled side though. He is definitely a momma's boy and rarely goes to anyone else, even when he is happy. It's sweet, but certainly makes cooking and cleaning a challenge. =)

I better get off here and make myself presentable. My hubby is taking me on a date to Home Depot tonight. =)

I'll leave you with some pictures.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven

Ecclesiastes 3:1

An Update

First of all, thank you to all of you who prayed for us when my grandmother passed away. It is never easy to lose a loved one, but it is so much more comforting to know that she was saved and is now at rest with the Saviour.

When we came back home, we walked into a mess. A pipe in our kitchen burst while we were gone and flooded our house. We are one week into clean up and the end seems to be no where in sight. We lost all the flooring in our living room, dining room, kitchen, and all the downstairs flooring. We will also have to replace 1/2 or more of all the sheetrock in the house.

I believe the Lord must have a lot more confidence in my ability to handle stress than I do. Right now I am just taking things minute by minute. This is a lot more stressful than I ever could have imagined. I am the type of person who likes things neat, orderly, and structured. Right now our lives are pretty much the exact opposite.

While this is by no means ideal, I am still trying to look on the bright side and stay positive. There were some things we wanted to remodel anyway, so this is just the jumpstart that we needed. And Praise the Lord for insurance and having an Emergency Fund set up. Otherwise we would be in serious trouble. God is still soooo good and we feel truly blessed even in the mess. =)

Here are some pictures of what is going on so far.


Kitchen wall knocked out
Carpet removed

Wood floor removed

Some of the damage

Our "new" floors