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Jonathan picked out the light switches for his room...
(purchased at Hobby Lobby) |
Life has been busy- too much to recall since the last time I updated the blog. I'm pretty sure you don't want to read all
about every single detail, but here are a few to let you know what's been going on.
Here's what's been happening at the White House and with our life. Since we have chosen to renovate almost everything ourselves (with a tremendous amount of help and knowledge shared from my father-in-law (and a few other family members)), this house project has been a long drawn out ordeal. After digging in, it turned into "If we are going to do this, lets do it right".
Our kids keep saying we will never finish.
I keep seeing the amazing lessons in this experience.
Life isn't about getting everything now.
Life is about long term investment in things that are worth investing in- your faith in Christ, your family, your home, your fellow man.
Working on an old house has shown me that I am spoiled and self indulgent. That some days I hate hard work, and most days I would rather get everything just the way I want it, and RIGHT NOW. Isn't that typical human nature? "I want it now." Guess what? When you have all of this work to do all by yourselves and the other things in life MUST go on- home schooling, extra curricular activities, pet care, church involvement, family activities and holidays, community outreach- you simply can't have it all right NOW.
That's one thing that I've learned again and again through this process: patience, endurance, and tolerance.
Tolerance of things being uncomfortable.
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| Jonathan's other light switch |
For those who pester me continually about our move in date (it is non existent because we are doing this one day at a time), please know that we would not have signed up for this project is we couldn't see it through. We could have hired to have this house finished for us, we have chosen together do the work ourselves, when and as we can. That means there is no move in date, so here's a nice direct hint: please stop asking us if we have a date to move in. We don't, and we probably won't. But I promise that you will know it when we move in because I will be so excited that the whole world will know.
Lamp Decoupage Project Before & After:
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| Lots of magazine snippings |
Most days I feel that this experience has been worth it, even though some days I have complained until I'm blue in the face because I am so tired of white paint. how about just tired of paint in general. Or just fill in any other thing that I don't like doing (sanding by hand- ugh!). If you had not guessed, I'm the main complainer around the place. Waylon has patiently abode, working along silently for the most part, plugging away in his consistent manner, and reminding me of the value of doing things right the first time.
As
of this week, I would project that the White House renovation is about two thirds of the way completed. What I am currently working on has been painting (white
paint, grumble) and
filling holes, sealing and trim, etc. I'm about to paint the kitchen,
which will be green. Yay! Almost all of the priming downstairs is
complete- bring on the color! We have chosen mostly neutrals on the
downstairs walls, except for the kitchen and laundry rooms which are
both shades of light green. Our colors for the kitchen are minty
green and bright red (I'm throwing in a few accents of peach, pink, and pastel turquoise).
This old rose painting that I snagged while thrifting will go nicely in the laundry room.
Waylon and his Dad have been
laying unfinished wood flooring upstairs, they have also installed a
new front and back door most recently. Waylon has plans to put up
more trim downstairs, and work on laying wood flooring in the kitchen
next. We have a cabinet maker lined up to give us quotes on the
kitchen cabinets. Things are moving along nicely, and that makes me
happy.
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| Julia's room before new floors & trim |
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| Julia's room after (not yet finished) |
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| Jonathan's room after new floors (still unfinished) |
Something that has changed is that since I last posted Waylon has taken
a new position at work. He's a captain in dispatch now, so instead of
fighting fires he is answering and directing calls. He has been happy with the
change as it is more mentally challenging which fits life now. It is significantly less dangerous, which is something that I
appreciate. The schedule is crazy though, and something we have had
to get used to, even though we knew getting into it that this would
be different. He has continued to work on the house renovation
whenever possible, but not as frequently as before- so this was a
downer to taking on the new position. Still the positives (more pay,
less risk) will outweigh the negatives (less time to do extra
projects) in the long run. God has been good to bless him with this
opportunity, and we are thankful for it. I am so thankful for a hard working husband who supports our family financially.
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| Pic snapped of us at a wedding in the fall 2015 |
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| Kitties! |
We gave away the last of our quail last week and acquired five bantam show
hens. These little chickens have been laying an average of one egg
each, every other day. They are small enough to be staying in the
quail cage for the time being. I will adapt one of our other cages to
be a larger pen for them eventually. (No pictures of the hens yet)
You are blessed! I noticed some pretty little white cats. :)
ReplyDeleteYes! Thanks to you all. :)
DeleteLove reading about this adventure Beth! I love your honesty! (And I'm jealous of the bathtub!)
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you! :)
Delete