Are we there yet?

We have a lot of balls up in the air right now and things are feeling a bit chaotic, but, I'm sure this will all be behind me someday...when I'm dead.  Will you all abandon me if I continue to show you ugly stuff?  If you do, I understand.  Progress isn't always pretty so I'll try to ease you all into what's been going on around here.

We've put in a ceiling fan and a few light fixtures.

These lights make me giggle with delight every time I look at them!

I made some curtains from canvas drop clothes and I'm pretty sure I hate them.  And you don't even want to know what's going on behind the curtains!

We had other plans for the bathroom vanity but Jeff found a furniture style vanity with a granite top and under mount sink at Lowe's on clearance for only $111.  We decided not to pass up that deal which gives us more time to get everything together for what we really want to do in there and then we'll move this sink to the bathroom upstairs.

It's pretty like it is, but I think it's a bit to formal for my taste so I'm going to paint the wood a creamy white.

It didn't come with a faucet but we had on hand another one of Reggie's give away's to us!  It's very nice and excellent quality.  He also gave us a new faucet for our tub.  The one we had was brass and we weren't planning on changing it out any time soon because they're so dadgummed expensive.  This one from Reggie is perfect!

In the corner of the tub you can see what we're working on for the shower surround.  Yup, galvanized, corrugated metal.  Obviously we aren't finished with it yet, but we got the idea from this picture.

Country Living

Yesterday, Jeff got started on my kitchen cabinets.

It's going to be a big project that won't be finished for a while because he's building them himself, but tonight...tonight I get a kitchen sink.

Hallelujah!

I love this kitchen.

Coastal Living

 That's the new version of a retro stove similar to mine (same color anyway)  and I'd love to have that fridge!!!

There's a lot going on around here and a lot of it is far to gruesome to share so...  What's that?  You want to see the dirty, ugly truth?  Are you sure?  Okay, but I'm warning you, you might not want to come back after you see it.

Where do I begin?  How about the mud.

Jeff had to work outside in the mud because the building is a whole other days worth of work which really needs to wait till the mud is gone.

Naturally, the mud winds up on my boy's new pants and Jeff's boots which then wind up in the bathtub next to the dirty crock pot from last night's dinner that's waiting to be washed.  The good news is that now that I have a bathroom sink, the fresh from the chicken eggs, also waiting to be washed, can sit in a bowl in there until someone finds the time to deal with them rather than in the tub next to the boots and dishes.

And, of coarse, there's my oven, still waiting patiently in line for it's turn.

We also have the...  What?  Stop?  It's too much?  Shoot!  I knew it.

All future posts, from here on out, will depend on the supply of St. John's Wort I have on hand at the time of said future posts.

Happy days!

I'm on a bit of a blogging hiatus but I'm stopping in to wish my mom a happy birthday today. She's the best mother a girl could have. No matter what life throws at her, she keeps marching on with a loving spirit. She's tender and sensitive but you just can't get her down! I appreciate her love of God and family and the example of godliness she sets for us all.

Jennifer, Brittany, Mom, Erin

My sisters, niece and mom playing house in my grandma's kitchen. Aren't they cute?! (Quit drooling JB!)

And just in case I'm still on hiatus in a couple more days I'd also like to tell my parents Happy 40th Anniversary on the 23rd of this month! A long lasting marriage is a remarkable thing in this day and age!

And last, but certainly not least, my father-in-law Jerry's birthday is also on the 23rd. He's a wonderful man who had to work really (really, really, really) hard to do his part in shaping my husband into the man he is today and I'm so grateful he did! Thank you for always cheering us on!

Jerry and his sweet wife Marilyn.

Jerry sent me a very inspiring email this morning that I have to share with you all.

And if that's not enough, listen to him play and sing!



I'll be back before you know it and hopefully have a few projects that we've been working on to share with you all!

Rabbit breeding.

NO, I'm not pregnant again.  Very funny.  Keep reading.

I feel like things are finally settling into a comfortable groove.  I've caught up on my sleep, I think I have the upper hand on the boxes and now when Jeff works on the house, the kids and I are right here with him instead of an hour away.  The kids have adjusted well too.  They're getting back to some of their regular routines like their animal chores.  They're in charge of feeding and watering all of the animals, gathering eggs and breeding rabbits.  That's what they've been doing every morning this week.  Breeding the rabbits.  Every morning the girls put a new female in with the male and keep an eye on the pair to make sure they're "successful.".  There very familiar with the process since we've been doing this for a while but this year we have a whole new set of breeding rabbits so they've had to keep an extra close eye on them.  They're first timers.  This morning, shortly after the girls got started on their chores,  they both came running in to tell me how good today's female is at "it."
Gracie:  "She's really good at it!  You should come watch her!"
Me, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable:  "Oh yeah?"
Madison:  "Yeah!  She lays down and even snuggles her head under him."
Me, unsure what to say to that:  "Really?  Huh."
Gracie:  "Yeah!  They're doing it a lot."
Me, trying not to look them in the eye:  "That's good."
Gracie:  "The boy's really good at it too!  He's even doing it backwards!"
Me, just before the sudden tunnel vision and hearing loss render me dead on the floor:  "What the???"
Then they turned around and rushed back out of the house to get back to supervising.  Should I be concerned?  Don't tell me.  I don't really want to know.  Then I might have to supervise the rabbits myself while they breed...like rabbits.  gasp! 

I don't know why I feel so compelled to share this with the world.  Maybe the solitude out here is already getting to me.

 Aaacckkkkk!  Flemish Giant.

Whew! That's more like it.

Cottage progress report:

I have closet shelves and clothes rods!

Amen and amen!

My little walk-in closet is approximately 6.5'x5'.  And was designed to accommodate this.  My tanning bed wall.  Again with the priorities.

(Jeff made it for me a couple of years ago for $480.  I told you he can do anything!)

He wanted to build the shelves himself but we don't currently have anyplace for him to set up shop and do that and we needed these now so I can unpack some more boxes.

(I'm a real neat freak.  Can't you tell?)

We've all had a touch of the plague and have been wrapping up things at the old house like gathering up the last little bits of junk and deep cleaning it, so we haven't done much here at the new place but that's fixing to change.  We're all on the mend and Jeff finished every last thing that needed to be done last night at the old house, so we're free to focus on this house now.  This weekend we're going to start shopping around for furniture for the bathroom and kitchen.  I'd like to use a piece of furniture for the bathroom vanity and last night we were discussing ideas about the kitchen, as well, like possibly using furniture in there too rather than just traditional cabinets.  Or possibly, a restaurant style sink and a commercial, stainless steal island.  There are so many options to consider and we'll have to remain budget minded, but I don't just want a finished house, I love houses too much for that.  I want to take my time and find the things that I'll enjoy living with for a long, long time.

Oh goody!  The mailman just came and delivered the last parts I need to get my 1950's oven going.  That will be a nice evening project for us Jeff.  I've been using a hot plate and I don't think I'll be too sad to see it go when the oven is done.

And just because...

Sophia Renee aka Soapy Feet.

Old Drinking Fountain.

I'm taking a quick breather to say hello to you all and give you a sneak peek at one of the many things we're doing that I'm SO excited about.

Need I say more?

Alright, for those of you who may not get it...yes, it's a drinking fountain.  I, of coarse meaning Jeff, plan on putting this in the hallway near the laundry closet.  Isn't that exciting???  I'll never have to wash a single cup again or walk around the house with one wet sock after stepping in a spilled drink that never got cleaned up when "I don't know" spilled it. It's going to be a dream!  That, and having a drinking fountain in the house is just plain cool!  I'd like to have a second one outside next to our outdoor shower!  We don't have an outdoor shower yet but that's on our list that has quickly become known as our "this spring" list.  As in, we're going to put siding on the house "this spring" and we're going to finish painting and install the window and door trim "this spring" and going to add a large front porch "this spring."  You get the idea.  Last night, Jeff, informed me that at the top of his "this spring" list is to finish his rat rod.  As long as the house is functional by then, that sounds good to me.  I'm not the kind of wife to nag at all (seriously) but, right now, I'm pulling a Kramer.  Remember the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer does everything while shower, including cooking?  Well that's where I'm at, except Kramer had a garbage disposal in his tub.  He's so lucky.  Anyway, cooking in the shower isn't as glamorous as they make it out to be on TV but that's all I have right now.  A shower.  Oh, and a toilet.  I'm not complaining, mind you, I'm just keeping you updated.  We knew from the beginning that the house would be far from done when we moved in, but I would prefer to at least have a sink and possibly a bathroom door by then.  Not that a door alone would do me that much good.  We'll also have to finish the transom above the door and the upper part of the wall between the bathroom and bedroom in order to really have privacy.  Right now I just have a shower curtain thrown through the transom.  Here, I'll show you.

It's visually private enough, I suppose, but a few more of the senses are in need of some privacy too, if you know what I mean.  Not that I do that.

This is taken from our bedroom and the glow in the ceiling is the light coming from the bathroom.  It gives of a nice ambiance at night as long as light is the only thing wafting over the wall, if you know what I mean.  Again, not that I do that.  My point is, I'd like for EVERYONE to get a little more privacy in the bathroom.  before "this spring."

Notice the light bulb dangling from the ceiling?  I can live with that for a long time.  Not that I'll have too.  Jeff hasn't given up now that were in.  He's still working.  If I remember right, the day we moved in, I only had a toilet to begin with so I'm really grateful for the shower too (which came around 11pm that night.)

Back to the drinking fountain.  I'd like to get it installed just as soon as possible because I've never been one to have my priorities in right.  It will attach to the wall with screws and only stick out about 9" and the bowl is 8"x4".  Perfect!

This brings me to where we got the water fountain.  One day last week, Jeff and JJ went by "the shop" that JJ's plumber boss, Reggie, owns.  Reggie and Jeff also know eachother from back when we were in the building business which is also how Jeff and JJ originally met.  Anyway, Reggie was at the shop and had some things around that he was getting rid of and offered them to Jeff.  This was one of those things.  He ended up giving us a bunch of great stuff that we were in need of.  (No, we didn't need a drinking fountain.  It's just the icing on the cake!)  Not only that, but all the items are even in styles that we love.  I'm going to save them for individual posts though, because they're all so awesome.  I can't wait to show you each one!  Thank you Reggie!!!!!

Move in time

Where do I begin?  I guess I'll start with last Friday.  It's all kind of sketchy now, but if I remember right, Jeff, JJ, my dad and Eddie were working on finishing up putting up the pine boards on the walls and plumbing stuff.  Then once that was done, Jeff was going to paint the walls and ceiling Friday night.  Notice I said was. 

I spent most of the day packing and around 5:30 pm the kids and I headed out to the land to take Jeff his paint sprayer.  I taped off everything we didn't want painted while Jeff and JJ hustled around, working quickly to get things ready.  By 1 am Saturday, we were ready to spray but Jeff discovered we were missing part of the sprayer so we decided to drive back home, (one hour drive) get the part then head back and  paint it.  We were rushing because we were loading up and moving at 10 am.  Period.

We got home and couldn't find the part anywhere so we went to bed with the plan that Jeff would get up early to get the missing part from Lowe's then go back out to paint.  After three hours of sleep he was off again and left me behind to coordinate the moving process.  My parents, Erin, Rick and Jeff B. showed up at ten to move us and they really barrelled their way through the house.  You know how you have all those last minute things to pack, like the junk hiding under the furniture, curtains, computer...well, I had to work insanely fast to keep up with them.  Then after lunch, my Jeff, JJ and Eddie showed up to help us finish up.  That's when it really felt like it turned into a whirlwind.  (Sometimes I feel like I married a tornado.)

No time for gloves or glasses!

We got to the new house to unload and the guys all started transforming into Heman and the Hulk!  They unloaded that truck so fast my head was spinning!  Once it was unloaded, they began putting things upstairs, minus the stairs, just up.  They just started tossing up 300 pound boxes and hefting large pieces of furniture straight up over there heads into the second floor opening to the guys on the second floor who were catching and pulling the stuff right up!  They even commented that they were glad we didn't have stairs because it would have taken a lot longer to get stuff up there.  All I could do was sit in the corner in my little rocking chair and stare...and occasionally gasp.  And when they were done, none of them were even hobbling or holding their backs! I wish you all could have been there to watch so you could share in my amazement.  Can you imagine women doing that?  Me either.  Manly men are amazing!  I'm so glad to be married to one!

We went to bed that night in our new house, totally exhausted, and then it started to snow.  Jeff and I laid in bed watching the huge flakes drift through the dark sky to the ground through our big bedroom window.  It was beautiful. Then came Sunday.  Oh, Sunday.  Terrible, awful Sunday.

We woke up to four or five inches of snow, which was a wonderful looking sight, but we still had moving to do.  We had to go back and load up Jeff's garage.  We planned on meeting everyone again at our old house at 10 am but had to push it back to eleven because the roads were so bad.  Once we got to the house, Jeff went to start up the moving truck and realized he must have left the keys for it at the new house because they were no where to be found.  So, once again, he headed out to the land and let the others work on the garage.  Jeff's a gear head and was a builder for several years so this was no small task.  Clever, isn't he.

It continued to snow all day as well as never get above 22 degrees.  Once we were finally loaded up and ready to go, it was 6pm and dark.  Did I mention the snow?  What about the road conditions?  Have I told you they were bad?   The moving truck was from yellow line to white line wide and we live off a couple gravel roads.  Our gravel driveway is kind of long, narrow and on an incline and the eight million, tightly packed trees that run right along to the driveway are all wildly overgrown.  It's like we live out in the boonies.  Now imagine what happens when this caravan we were in, including a huge moving van finally make it to the driveway.  Yep.  We get stuck.  It wasn't too bad, though, for anyone except Jeff and the moving truck.  I can't give you details on the whole ordeal because I had to keep my eyes closed until it was all over, forty minutes later, but I hear it was a little scary at times.  Especially for Rick and his pickup, who almost got plowed over by Jeff who was driving the huge, 26 foot van like he was being chased by Satan.  It was necessary, I hear, to make it up that hill and around the corner at all cost.  Sorry, Ricky.  I would have stopped for you.  Madison and Grace were in the truck with Jeff, and when they finally were freed, the two jabberwockies were speechless and their eyes were the size of silver dollars.

Even though the floor of the moving truck had turned to a sheet of ice and everyone was slipping and sliding with each step, the truck got unloaded pretty quickly.  Then, after another moving truck stuck in the snow incident, we were on the road again to return the truck which was due back before 11pm.  We made it with one hour to spare.  Then we had a victory dinner at the only place open besides the Waffle House, Arby's.

Here we are now.  Finally!  The worst is over, but there is still so much work to do.  I have some exciting things I want to show you and I'll update you on our adventures in pioneering as soon as I can finish digging my way through this mess or need another break, which ever comes first.

One last thing.  Yesterday was my sweet little boy's 5th birthday.  Because it was our first day in the house and we were exhausted, we didn't have a party.  I did however, make him a microwave mug cake and snow ice cream for a little celebration.  Don't worry though, we won't deprive him of a party.  My mom is making him a rocket cake, at Isaiah's request, and having us over for a little birthday party one night this week.

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

I'm still alive!

We survived.

Barely.

I've been on the verge of a melt down since 2:30am Saturday, but I've been pushing my way through, keeping it together the best I can and now, at last, I have the Internet back.  (Big sigh!)  So today, for this moment, all is right in the world once again.  I have much to tell you all so I'll be back later today...or tomorrow.  Maybe.