House Updates

Here are the pictures of the updates we have done to the house over the last two weeks. I love the results in all 4 rooms!

DIY: Photo Gallery

I have wanted to do some sort of photo gallery in our house with favorite pictures, but I was not sure where to begin. I have a friend who recently did this on a large wall in her living room and she inspired me to try it on the large wall in my dining room.

Here is the before:

Here is the after:

I used cheap black frames and printed black and white photos in 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and 8 x 10. I stuck them to the wall using picture hanging strips (Velcro for the wall). With a lot of patience, measuring, leveling, and some help from a friend, I was able to accomplish the whole project for less that $60.

Life Update

I am not even sure where to begin tonight. I think I have a lot to say, but I am just not quite sure how to get my thoughts out into words on the screen.

Life has been busy with all of the construction on the house. They finished up the last little bit of odds and ends yesterday and everything looks terrific. I really appreciate my brother-in-law and the guys that he works with. They did a great job on the house and they were patient with Lily and Wyatt always being underfoot asking a hundred questions. The first thing Wyatt asked me this morning was if the workers were here yet. I will not miss the noise and mess, but I might just miss the entertainment they provided for Lily and Wyatt. The busyness of the construction was also a nice distraction from "real" life.

I must admit that I wish the loneliness aspect of grief would take its leave. It continues to be a frequent battle for me. From about 4:00 on each day, it starts rearing its ugly head, reminding me that Ryan will not be walking in the door in an hour. Dinner time is hard. I am always at a loss for what to make that is both healthy and not too plentiful. I am constantly Ryan won't be sharing a meal with us and he won't be excited to be taking leftovers to work the next day (and leftovers of the same meal for an entire week is just not that great!). Then there is the whole bedtime routine when it would be so nice to have an extra set of hands!

I am trying to press on. I am trying to keep moving forward in life, but I feel like I am stuck in a rut. There are days when I feel really down and overly emotional. There are days when I am just ready to be done. But there is no "done" button in life. So for Lily and Wyatt, I keep going. I will keep getting out of bed each morning to fulfill the purpose God has for my life. I will keep asking God for the strength to get through each day. I will keep trusting in His promises and the HOPE that He alone can give, because, to be honest, without God's help I would not make it through many days!

House Progress -- Week 1 in pictures

My Favorite Place

This is my new favorite place in our house, my new recliner! It is the perfect place to read my bible, have my quiet time, and drink my coffee each morning! Ahh, I LOVE IT!!! I imagine that I will spend many cold and snowy winter afternoons in this chair with a good book and a warm blanket! :)

First Week In the New House

We have enjoyed our first week in the new house. The kids have done excellent sleeping in separate rooms and they love having a lot of room to play and run. I love the house; everything turned out as I wanted. The biggest thing to adjust to is the size...more to clean...more places to feel the loneliness. (Pictures of the "finished" rooms are at the bottom of the post...blogger won't let me move the pics around, so they are a little random.)

Here is a picture of Wyatt helping me clean at the townhouse.

This is Lily's favorite place to sit and play in the new house (living room steps).

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Yesterday, I was able to go to Val's house to spend some time with her for her 30th birthday which is on Wednesday. It is always good to spend time with a great friend! I enjoyed getting to know Dave a little bit better as well.

Val had a bunch of friends over last night for food, fun and fellowship! Good times were had by all as we played "Pit" for about 2 hours.

Happy (almost) Birthday, Val! Love You!!!

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Here are two pictures of the kids enjoying meals in the new house...one at our new table and one at our bar.

Wyatt and Lily's rooms finished with curtains and furniture (Lily still needs her bugs on the wall, but we have to wait for the paint to be on longer).

Spare room/office with furniture. I hope to eventually paint in here, but that is a project for the future.

I love how my room turned out!

Bathrooms! The main bath still needs a new counter top, but it is now beige instead of blue and yellow.

Living room

Two views of the kitchen and dining room.

The finished pantry!

Family Room with furniture.

Updates on Life

The move went GREAT! There were over 20 people at our townhouse to help us move. They had everything loaded, moved, and unloaded in less than an hour and a half. By the time I went to bed last night 99% of the boxes were unpacked and put away! YIPPEE! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all those who helped with getting our house ready and with the move!

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We have something new to look forward to -- we are going to Disney World! This is not something that I ever thought I would say, especially at this time in my life. We got a fantastic deal that was too good to pass up (Thank you, Jenni!). My parents will be joining us in early May for a 5 day vacation at Disney. We are planning to only go to Magic Kingdom and only for one day, but we will be staying at a Disney resort that offers many opportunities for fun and some much needed relaxation!

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It is crazy to think back to one year ago and see where we have travelled. It was one year ago today that I was bringing Ryan to the ER in Grand Rapids to be treated for influenza and pneumonia. (He was only home with us 10 more days after that hospital stay.)

If you had asked me one year ago if I could be where I am today, I would say no. God is good. God is faithful. He has taught me much in the last year; some lessons I wish I did not have to learn, but I am thankful for the way he has helped me to grow. Our sermon this morning at church was on the secrets of being content with life. Listening to the sermon brought tears to my eyes, because I could feel and see God's blessings in my life in spite of the difficulties I have faced in the last year. I would not and could not be where I am today if it were not for him. Thank you God for your provisions and your promises!

(I will probably be rather quiet on the blog over the next few days, we won't have the Internet at the new house until Friday.)

Almost Done!!!!

The painting is done! The light fixtures are hung. The carpets are being cleaned this morning. The insulation was finished last night (I think, hope, and pray -- they weren't starting round 2 until 9:30 last night and I must admit I was already in bed). Much cleaning was done yesterday and will hopefully be finished today. The pantry is stained and in the process of being "finished". Packing will be in full effect this afternoon.

I am so ready to be done; to be moved in, unpacked, and enjoying our new home.

I cannot say thank you enough to all the people who have donated their time and services to help turn our house into a home!

New Pics of Progress

Here are a couple pictures showing the paint and back splash in the kitchen and dining room. You might have to actually click on the pictures and make them bigger to see the difference.

Close up of the back splash: before = sticky bricks/after = Formica to match counter top.

We didn't get all of the kitchen painted. Here is a picture that shows the actual difference in color between the before and after greens.

A Rough Day

I shed more than a few tears as I began my first Valentine's Day without Ryan. My emotions hit me harder than I expected, but I made it through. Having the house is a good distraction. There is so much going on there, I don't have time to focus on my hurt for too long.

Speaking of the house, that made for an interesting day as well. We had our first work injury. My dad cut his finger while cutting out the Formica for the back splash and ended up needing to go and get stitches (which lead to my kids needing a different babysitter than my mom, thanks, April). Thankfully, my dad is okay, just in a little bit of pain.

• My brother-in-law was able to finish the back splash and it looks terrific -- so much better than the sticky brick!
• My friend was able to come and install the exhaust fan in the bathroom and do some other electrical stuff around the house.
• My father-in-law came up for the weekend and was able to do a bunch of "little" things around the house that needed to be done, but sometimes get pushed to the back of the list (new light fixtures up, blinds and curtains hung in 1/2 bath, new mirror hung, towel rod and toilet paper holder back up). He also helped me prep for painting in the bath upstairs.
• And, because my dad hurt himself and was unable to work in the kitchen on the pantry, we were able to get the first coat of paint up in the dining room and most of the kitchen.

There are still quite a few things that will be done during the week this week, but the house is really coming together and we should be (mostly) ready for the move on Saturday.

• Insulation is going to be put in Monday or Tuesday night
• Electrical will be finished Monday or Tuesday night
• Pantry stained and installed (it looks BEAUTIFUL and I can't wait to show it off!)
• Second coat of paint in dining room and kitchen
• Paint in main bath
• Gas hook up to the stove
• Curtains and blinds hung
• CLEANING!!!!

I think that is about it...I am sure that I will always find little things that can be done, but it should at least be live-able by next weekend!

Pictures of Progress

Here are the pictures of the progress that I had promised on Sunday. I am feeling a little less overwhelmed today. I have worked in the house for a few hours the past couple of days which has allowed some rooms to be "complete". I also had some volunteers give up their night last night to help make that possible -- THANKS!

Here is a before and after picture of what the kitchen/pantry currently looks like. My dad loves doing woodwork, so he is in his element now actually building something out of wood rather than painting or demo-ing.

Here is the before and after of the half bath. I really like the red, although it has a touch of orange in it. I was able to put the third and final (I hope) coat of paint on it this morning.

Here are a couple of before and after shots of the living room. I chose to have the front wall painted a dark brown. We were able to put the second coat of paint on that last night. The peach paint that was in there is now either brown or beige, but the beige is hard to see in pictures so I didn't take any pictures focusing on that. (You can kind of see it on the bulk head in the first "after" picture).

Progress

Some good progress was made at the house yesterday, unfortunately I was busy helping and I haven't taken any pictures yet. We had wonderful volunteers (Shane, Terry, Steve and my dad) who enjoyed giving me a hard time about the new colors going up around the house. Seriously though, THANK YOU for giving up part of your Saturday to help me out and thank you to your wives as well!!!!!!!!!

• The half bath on the main floor is "hot apple spice" (red), almost, it needs at least one more coat, probably two.
• The hallway upstairs and most of the walls in the living room have been painted "shabby chic" (beige) twice and is complete as far as painting goes.
• The front wall in the living room has its first coat of "classic brown" but needs at least one more coat.
• The ceiling in the kitchen and dining room has been sanded 3x's and painted 3x's...there are still issue, but at this point I am just going to live with it.
• The main bath has been sanded.

Here is what still needs to be done (with only one work weekend left...ahhh!!!):

• Backsplash in kitchen: sanded again, primed, and laminate put up
• Kitchen, dining room and back hall way painted "Galapagos green"
• Main bath needs both the ceiling and walls painted (white and "shabby chic")
• Half bath needs another coat or two
• Front wall in the living room needs another coat or two
• Painting the inside walls of the cupboards
• Pantry finished (my dad is working on this...thanks Dad!)
• Sub floor put in for the new stove (which I purchased and then found out it was missing its electrical cord..ughh)
• Gas hook up for the stove (being done by a plumber I know)
• Electrical hook up for the stove (110 ???)
• Insulation blown into the attic (thank you to those who have already volunteered!)
• Baffles??? put into the attic before insulation
• Exhaust fan but into the bathroom before insulation
• New counter top in the bathroom upstairs...maybe, hopefully, probably not...
• Curtains hung in Lily's room and Living room
• New light fixtures up in dining room, hallway upstairs, and entry way
• MAJOR cleaning!!!
• Tons of packing!!!

Please be in prayer that we are able to get these things done and that I don't get too overwhelmed. I know much of it could be done while we are actually living there, but I would rather not do them with two 2 year olds running around. :) Thank you to all who have offered to help, I may be asking for a lot of help over the next two weeks (move in is schedule for the 21st)!

Catching Up

It has been a busy few days, so I thought I would update with some different pictures that I have taken.

Everything went very smoothly with the closing on Friday; I think the whole thing lasted about 30 minutes. I got immediate possession, so I went home, got the kids, filled the car with stuff and went to the new house with my parents. My dad got to work right away on Friday and we had lots of wonderful helpers on Saturday!

Signing papers...

My dad took out the old counter-top stove and in wall oven (too small for me!). He cut out the counter top for a regular range and he will be building me a pantry where the old oven was.

Sticky brick is GONE!!!

Lily's room is PURPLE! (Maybe a little more purple than I was anticipating...)

Other tasks accomplished: new faucet in half bath; garabage disposal tightened; insulation in basement and wood box; ceilings painted in Lily's room, hallway, living room and entry way; banister post tightened; drawer glides fixed in the kitchen; bath tub re-caulked; hallway cut-in with new paint; kitchen drawers painted (inside)...

Thank you so much to my dad, Terry, Trevor, Geoff, Aaron and Lori for all of your hard work in the house and to my mom and Erin for babysitting!!!!!

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Sunday as I was getting ready for church, Lily was with me in the bathroom. I was able to capture this picture of her in my mirror as she was pulling faces at herself in the full length mirror.

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I have written before about Maggie Moo's Mom~Alison Harris. Alison is very talented and she makes adorable kids clothes. She made these awesome shirts for Lily and Wyatt. I LOVE THEM...they are so cute! Go check out her site!

THANKS, ALISON!!!!!!!!

Wyatt got a Monster Truck shirt!

Lily got a LOVE shirt!