February Photo Ops: Day 7 - 9

[February 7 - Button]

I didn't realize how many buttons there were to choose from until this topic came up.  There are phone buttons (many of which are now touch screen), remote control buttons, buttons in the car, all over the kitchen, etc.  And then there are buttons on clothing, furniture, etc.  For this challenge, however, I chose this button:

Ohhh Disney World... how I miss you so.  I spent many a-weekend there with my girlfriends before getting married and one of those weekends fell on my birthday.  In a word, it was perfection.  Mostly because if it's your birthday, you get a "free" button.  That only costs the price of your ticket.  Yes, I am a sucker.

[February 8 - Sun]

This side of Kentucky did not see the sun once yesterday, which is odd since it had been sunny all week.  I'm cool with the dreary weather as long as that means it will clear up in time for our church launch this Sunday.  So instead, I took a picture of the little plastic sun that I hung on Lilly's bouncy seat:

Well, now that I look at it, it looks more like a flower.  Po-tay-to Po-tah-to.  And yes, those chubby cheeks belong to my own little ray of sunshine.

[February 9 - Front Door]

Ummm... nothing special here.  Just a blue door that's not even decorated.  Me thinks I need to step it up.

Seeing this makes me miss this door [sigh]:

Which reminds me... have I mentioned that we sold the world's greatest house?  It was one of the saddest happiest moments of my life.  And it is proof that God's timing is perfect.  When setting out to plant a church we had budgeted up until this month to cover that mortgage.  I surprisingly did not stress like I thought I would and as He always does, God was faithful and stepped in when we needed to.  It reminds me to never be surprised, but to always be amazed by Him.  

"Now glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

(Ephesians 3:20)

Home

I have to admit, when Josh and I got married, we hit the jackpot in terms of our first home.  While most couples spend the first season of their marriage in a tiny apartment or condo, our first years of husband and wife have been spent in a beautiful, and very large, Victorian house... complete with the picket fence.  Upon first seeing it we both fell in love.  Josh has even called it his dream home on more than one occasion and I could honestly be happy staying in that house forever.  But alas, it is now adorned with a For Sale sign in the front yard.

This past week we spent about two solid days looking for a new house here in Lexington.  We knew the area we wanted to live in, had our "wish list" of criteria, and moved very quickly in order to find something that would be available for us starting in August.  Rental houses in this area, particularly in the neighborhood where we want to live, go quickly, so we knew that if we found anything we liked, we would need to act fast.  We were this close to settling on a house that would certainly be comfortable for us, but still not everything that we needed it to be, when one more ad caught my eye.  We were on our way to drop off our rental application on the first home when we swung in and toured what will be our new home for at least the next year... if not longer.  Again, it's more than we could have ever imagined and is perfect for our needs.  We feel blessed.

As we were debating the pros and cons of the houses we toured, it occurred to me that at this stage of my life, I could be happy anywhere.  Sure, space is nice to have and we would love it if the kids could have their own rooms, which as it turns out they will.  A fenced-in yard is ideal and room for a home-office is important, but if we had to do without either one, we would survive.  As I compared the options, I was just struck by how at this point in my life, my home is wherever Josh and Jake are... and that's why those first shoebox-apartment days for many married couples work out just fine.  As long as I have them under one roof, whether that roof be big or small, all is good in the world.  Sure, I'll miss our big Victorian, but as we transition here it is feeling like much less of a home and much more like a house.  And if anyone would like to buy it feel free... haha!  But seriously.

To that point, I would be lying if I told you that we don't have our concerns about having a mortgage, rent, and two sets of bills.  My maternity leave is right around the corner and it's a lot to prepare and plan for.  We have been saving for this situation for months, but as the start date on our lease draws closer, the reality of our situation becomes more and more apparent.  I am typically someone who worries about money, and was particularly bad about it when we got married.  I've always been used to having somewhat of a "reserve" saved up and do not like to see it dip below a certain amount.  With all this being said, I have been truly amazed at what God has been able to do in this area.  He truly started working on me as I became a diligent tither, and time and time again, He has provided and honored our giving.  Our prayers are still for our house to sell, but even though that hasn't happened, He has continued to bless me with a great peace about this move.  I expected to be a total and complete stress-ball right now, and instead I am nothing but excited about the move, our new home, and most importantly, the new work we are doing here.  While we did not see a large number of people come to our first meeting, the right people certainly showed up and have the passion and connections that we needed them to have... God definitely provided once again (as He always does) and things are moving in the right direction.  It seems like the more we continue to diligently and joyfully give, and the more we step out in faith, the more peace I have filling my soul.  I know I should not be surprised by this, as it is what His word says, but His love never fails to amaze me.  We are feeling tremendously blessed.

We're heading back to Illinois next week to pack up our first home and prepare for the move to our second.  So come August first we will be going from this:

To this:

Truck not included  :)

We're giving up a bedroom (as if we needed them all in the first place!) and quite a bit of square footage, but we are gaining more closet space than I could have ever dreamed of... Josh and I will actually be able to share one and have room to spare!  We have quite a bit of painting to do as every wall in the house is white (and Kim does not do white!), but it is nice to have a blank canvas which gives me the opportunity to pick out all of the colors.  We'll be paying for that upgrade, even though we're just renting, because my hubby knows how important the "cozy factor" is to me.  I am one lucky woman.

It will be bittersweet to pack up our things and leave a house, town, and friends that we have grown to love, but as the details of what we're moving toward continue to unfold, I am so very excited to be home again... in Kentucky.

 ³ Trust in the LORD and do good;
   dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
⁴ Take delight in the LORD,
   and he will give you the desires of your heart.

{Psalm 37:3-4}

Somebody Stop Me...

My name is Kim... and I am in full-blown, OCD, crazed nesting mode.

I do remember this happening to some extent when I was pregnant with Jake, but this time around it has taken on a whole new level of crazy!  Take today for example... let's see... today (aside from working from home and taking care of Jake) I cleaned all of the kitchen appliances and then wiped down the washer and drier which reside in our creepy basement.  Our front porch also got a nice little sweeping and clearing of some cobwebs and then I added "deck paint" to my shopping list so that I can do a fresh coat on the railings tomorrow.  Speaking of paint, there has been a patched portion of a wall upstairs that has been driving me nuts for some time, so today I finally sanded it down and put a coat of paint over it.  Hmmm... what else?  Oh yeah, I started cleaning all of the downstairs windows, but that is still a work in progress.  I can thank my friend Chelsea for that since she mentioned that she likes nothing more than sparkling windows.  Until that comment I had probably never noticed dirty windows.  Thanks, friend... now that's all I can see!  Then I decided to Murphy Oil our kitchen cabinets.  But why stop there?  If you have ever been to this old house or have seen pictures, you would know that it is covered in wood.  IN. EVERY. ROOM.  We're talking window frames, baseboards, cabinetry, and intricate woodwork in every doorway.  So yeah, what did I do?  I oiled all of it!  My back may not forgive me for that one.  But now that I had shiny wood, shouldn't I have floors to match?  Which brings me to ten o'clock at night when I started sweeping and mopping the floors.  Can we say psycho?  Someone just needs to tell me to go to bed already!

I guess the good news is that if our house shows again any time soon, it should sparkle like the Emerald City.  Part of me wondered if this behavior was due to the helpless feeling that comes when your house is on the market, but then I look back at the past three weeks when I haven't been at my own home and really do blame it on the nesting.  My sister, Angie, is a bit overwhelmed at the level of psycho-organization that has been going on with me as her houseguest.  Our big project was cleaning out the playroom, painting it, and organizing the closet, but the rest of her house is getting small changes as well.  I even dusted the other day!  When is the last time I dusted?  And it wasn't even my own house?I   just hope that this is not a reflection of my sweet baby Lilly's personality.  I am a mom who appreciates tidiness, but I don't think I need to give birth to Monica Gellar.  One in our household is enough.

Other than that, I guess I haven't given a bump update in awhile, so while I'm thinking about it, here are my confessions from 26 weeks:

• Nesting is my middle name.  I guess you've gathered that by now.
• I am not proud to say that I have gained almost as much weight as I did in my total pregnancy with Jake.  There have been three occasions now when someone finds out I'm due in September (and I fail to tell them that it's actually late September... or October 2nd if you want to get all technical) and they gasp in shock.  Two of them actually told me that they thought I was due in the next few weeks.
• Based on the above, I am trying to walk more and eat less crap.  When you're moving though and temporarily living in a household with two growing boys, it's impossible to get away from it.
• Speaking of food, I do crave fruit a lot and am loving Mexican food this time around, which is funny since I despised it with Jake!  I'm also liking popsicles and thankfully Minute Maid makes them without sticks.  Random fact #264 about Kim: she hates food on wooden sticks.  Just the thought of it makes my teeth hurt.  But my biggest (and worst) craving?  Coke.  Oh yes, there is nothing like a Coke, especially one from a fountain and a bonus if it's of the cherry variety.  I try to stay away but it calls to me.  Ready or not, Lilly might just be a ten-pounder!
• Overall I feel really good.  Lifting and carrying Jake around is getting a bit tiring, but it's probably because our little beefcake is a whopping 27 pounds and 11 ounces!  He had an appointment the other day and I was quite impressed with that stat!  He's in such a lovey phase though, so I take advantage of the cuddles.  He doesn't seem to mind the belly much but has recently discovered and taken an interest in my belly button.  He will lift my shirt, poke it, and then cover it up again.  It's pretty funny.
• My biggest surprise has been that Lilly is quite a mover!  I didn't feel Jake until about 22 weeks and I felt her little bumps at around 18.  And then even crazier, I could see her move starting at about 21 weeks!  Josh saw it, too, and now several other people have seen her roll across my belly!  If you want to feel her kick you're guaranteed a show around 3:00 each afternoon and lots of movement before bedtime.  I love it, but wonder how bruised I'm going to be when she's more than just two pounds!  Ouch!

I have no belly photo to post today, but perhaps tomorrow I'll take one and add it to this post.  Nobody needs to see the mess that I am after all the cleaning I've been doing!  But for now, I'm going to take my own advice and get my booty to bed... after I fold the laundry and clean the bathroom of course.  Kidding!  Yeah, I'm not convinced either.  So belly pictures to come... goodnight for now!

Unfinished Business

Lately I have come to realize that I have gotten really bad at finishing things that I start.  Take this blog for example... I used to post on here regularly and now it seems like it's once in a blue moon.  Granted, I don't feel like I have much blog-worthy stuff to say, but surely I can find something!  Or my Project365 which lasted all of, what?  Three weeks?  Awesome.  Or the P90X workout that I started last summer... let's see, that ended up being about P3X since it lasted a whopping 3 days.  Now I do know that having a kid puts a whole new dimension of time demands on a person, and that comes on top of working a full-time job from home, keeping house, and trying to serve the church a bit as well as my husband, but how much of this slackerness is acceptable?  Let's take a look around the house, shall we?

Ah yes, my office-slash-playroom.  See the curtains on the right side of the room?  Yeah, well I ordered one too-few panels and was supposed to either find someone to chop the existing panel in two and hem the edge or (more likely) get online and order a second panel.  Yeah, neither have been done.  Not to mention that I had grand plans to organize this mess and that hasn't happened yet either.

Which leads me to another room in the house- the spare bedroom and possibly Jake's room when the new baby comes along.  It's hard to see in this tiny picture, but when we painted the room blue, there was a shelf up that I couldn't get down.  So when my father-in-law last visited in December, I had him take it down, fully intending to spackle and paint those spots.  Yup, it's now four months later.  I think it may be about time to "get around to it."

Moving on... our beautiful remodeled bathroom.  By the time we had completed this we were both over it.  Especially Josh.  So I told myself that I would do the touch-up work later.  Yeah well, that was last fall... long before that shelf in the above picture came down.  And there is still orange on the white and the ceiling still needs a top coat of paint.  Just don't look up when you're in this room, okay?

This one actually makes me laugh a little bit because it is a room that is finished, just not in this picture.  I took this picture ages ago as a "before" picture for the blog, have since repainted and redecorated and still have yet to take and post the "after" picture.  Seriously- how hard is that?

 And it's not just house stuff if you're wondering that by now.  It's little things, too.  For example, this is a photo of my Nana's birthday card, still yet to be mailed.  My Nana's birthday was in January!  Not to mention that she's been in the hospital over this past month and I'm sure a little mail would cheer her up.  Ridiculous.

And while I'm on the topic of birthdays, not only did I totally forget to do birthday blog posts for both sisters in March, but both are still waiting on their gifts.  Well, they're not really waiting because we don't expect anything from each other, but I still have yet to get anything in the mail to them (along with some money I owe one of them).  This bag has been sitting on my dining room table mocking me... I just need to get it in a box and mail it already!  And I know exactly what I want to get the other sister and just haven't gone out to pick it up yet.  Another thing on my ever-growing "To Do" list.

As a mom, time really does get away from you more often then not, but when surveying my surroundings lately I've realized that I use this "lack of time" as an excuse!  Even when it comes to the important things such as my daily Bible study, which is now weekly if I'm lucky.  It took me months to finish Numbers, and granted, it's not the most exciting book in the Bible, but it should not have taken nearly that long!  So I've decided I need to hit the "Reset" button and start finishing these things that I've started... no more excuses.  In fact, I'm going to rid my life of excuses all together.  Some things are unavoidable of course- I mean, I can't go to Hawaii if someone asks me because I don't really have the funding for that, but things like that aren't excuses but rather reality.  But when I can, I plan to start being more proactive and persevere until I finish my projects.  We'll see how it goes... I'll keep you posted.  In fact, I think I'm going to start right. this. minute.  So here's my commitment for tonight... this project has been calling my name for some time now:

Gotta go!  Can't put it off any longer!

What projects can you get finished this week?

Undeck the Halls

The holidays are here and gone... can you believe it? And usually with the return of January 3rd or 4th comes a little bit of let-down. The family has left town or you have traveled home, the cookies and yummy treats that you've allowed yourself to indulge on for the past month have all been gobbled up, and those Christmas decorations that were fun to put up are now just taunting you with the task of taking them back down. But for some reason this year, I actually enjoyed taking them down. Christmas and New Year here in Mauneyland were spectacular, and it was a nice break from the norm, but I realized as I "undecked the halls" that I love the norm... the norm is good. Often times I can get so caught up in checking out other blogs and reading about other lives that I forget how good I have it here. I have blogging friends that seem to have it all, do it all, and have perfect hair and cute outfits all the while I sit here in my sweats and continuously figure out a way to squeeze in three minutes of me-time to blog or workout or whatever!

But then I think about the things I blog about... my wonderful family, our fun vacations, our beautiful house... and I realize that anyone reading my blog might think the same about me. I wade through our mounds of pictures to find the ones where I look the cutest, regardless of how everyone else looks (oh come on, you do it, too!) and I talk about our happiest times. With this, I do hope that I never sound like I'm boasting or bragging, because I certainly do not want to come across that way, but looking back over the past year of posts, I can see how much joy we've shared here. Regardless of whatever other struggles we are going through, and believe me, we have them just like everyone else (as to my perfect blogger friends), there is so much laughter and an abundance of joy and I love that it has been captured here in my own little blogoshere. I used to keep a journal about all of the things that I am thankful for day-to-day, but this is so much better, and it makes me excited for the "norm" of 2011. It's a new year, and with that comes such hope, such excitement, and such a feeling that anything can happen. So as you take down your ornaments this year or get beat up by pine needs as you try desperately to unwrap the lights from its grip (yes, this already happened to me), just keep your eyes focused on the promise that is to come. And most importantly, fix your eyes on Jesus and the promises of His father. I find that my years are full of joy and happiness because I continue to keep my priorities straight. And just think... if I focus even more of my day-to-day norm on Him, 2011 will be more blessed than I can even fathom. I can't wait!

And just because I love posts with pictures (and because I never got around to it in December), here are a few snapshots of our home before the undecking. Our home is truly more cozy at Christmastime...

Our snowman and woman guard the candy, but don't ever seem to do a good job. These two lucky fellows were forgotten about when we put away stuff in 2009, so they got to stay out all year long, even through the summer!

The lighted garland up our banister is always my favorite!

We don't have one- but two!- mantles to decorate. I contemplated leaving the lighted garland up all year round because it looks so bare without it!

And let's not forget the stockings!

My mom has made all of our stockings over the years. As we got married, she lovingly crafted each of our husbands their very own. And then came grandkids and of course she did the same. I searched everywhere for this one as it was a "vintage" kit (meaning they don't make it anymore) and found it on eBay. I think it's now my favorite.

And here's where the real fun begins... and a quick story. This is our living room... or was our living room until the week before Christmas. When my sister and her husband were here, they asked us if we had ever considered putting the pool table in this room and our living room furniture in the room where our pool table resided. We had always felt like our living room was pretty cramped, and the room with the pool table really served no purpose as we rarely play and it is smack in the middle of our house. So within two hours the four of us had made the switch- light fixtures and all! So for Christmas we not only got lots of presents... but we got more space! I don't really have "before" pictures of the rooms before the change (aside from this one) because it all happened so fast! So here's the old living room decorated before...

The tree in its new spot in what used to be the "billiard room"...

And the room undecked! This picture is taken from the old living room, which is the new home to our pool table... confused yet? Our new living room is so much bigger. Thank you, Mike and Mindy for all of your help! We love it!

And one more shot from the dining room. Our living room is now in a much more central location in our house and much more conducive for family and friend gatherings. Why didn't we think of this sooner? Plus (and ironically enough) our furniture actually matches the new rooms better... I never liked the green with the red pool table and the old living room was too beige. Problem solved!

So that's our extreme home makeover for 2011... new year, new living space, new hope! :) I wish you all the best for your 2011, too! Make everyday count!

Five to go...

It kind of goes hand-in-hand with yesterday's post, but today I am thankful for my home sweet home. We literally had one day to find a house when we moved up here, so after weeks of scouring the Internet, we visited about ten in one day. This one was on our "yeah, right" dreamhouse list, but we took a look anyway and fell in love. Our timing was perfect as the previous owners had just closed on a smaller house across town and were in a bit of a bind, so with our first offer, it was ours! We closed in record time, moved in, and have made it our own through many, many wonderful projects and changes. After bringing our son home to this house, I can't imagine ever wanting to live anywhere else. In fact, I have told Josh that if we ever have to relocate we will have to find a way to put it on the back of a truck! So it looks like we'll be staying put for awhile. We bought a home that was much bigger than we need in the hopes that we'll fill it up in the coming years.

On another note, I am posting a picture of myself for little Jake to look at over the next couple of days. Tomorrow I am boarding a plane and heading to Florida for business, sans Jacob and Josh. Let me just say that it's less than 12 hours before my flight and I am still in denial that I have to go. So Jake, if you miss me, here is a picture of me and you to remind you of that mommy-lady that you love so much. I know that your daddy will take great care of you, but please do not grow or learn anything new until I get home on Wednesday. I love you so much!

I hope you're all having a great weekend! If I can't post tomorrow due to my travels, I will make sure to post two things on Monday.

What You've Been Waiting For...

It's FINISHED! The bathroom is finally FINISHED! (Okay, okay so you caught me. I still haven't done the two tiny jobs that I have left to do, but I just couldn't wait for the reveal).

From start to finish, our bathroom renovation took just under a month. Not bad considering that we (and by we I mean Josh and his dad... BIG BIG thanks to Dad by the way!) did it all ourselves. And I can honestly say that I am in love with the room. It's more beautiful than I even imagined it would turn out when we were spending our life savings on picking out all of the elements. So without further ado, here is our big reaveal!

BEFORE
cute but not functional

AFTER
updated, expanded, and elegant


It's easier to see the change when they are side by side. There is not even a glimmer of the old bathroom in the new one!

I'm loving all of the details. The shower stall is a custom size so I had to order a window treatment to fit. I chose the Linden Street Grommet Panel in Chocolate from JCPenney and love the way it looks with the tile.

Josh laid all of the tile and did a beautiful job. The floor and the shower stall are made by the same manufacturer, but the shower is much lighter than the shower. It really makes the shower feel bigger than it actually is.


This picture probably shows the most accurate depiction of the paint color. It looks very orange in some of the photos, but it's very much a burnt orange. We weren't sure about it at first, but once we installed the wainscoting (one of the two things that I knew I wanted in the new bathroom), we all knew it was perfect. I ordered a valance to match the shower curtain to tie it all together.

Our vanity was on sale at Home Depot and we got it for a steal! It's a $400 vanity that we got for under $200 including tax. The mirror was purchased separately at Menard's. Major props to my husband for picking out the faucet. He knew exactly what he wanted and it goes perfectly with the look and feel of our house.

As for the other thing I knew that I wanted in the new bathroom... we installed a chandelier and it's by far my favorite feature! With the crown molding and those corner pieces, it really accents our tall ceilings and creates more elegance and glamour. Every bathroom needs glamour, right?

And just for fun (and for the sake of seeing just how much work Josh and Dad put into this), let's take a look back at the progress:

Here it is completely gutted with the wall torn down between the bathroom and the closet that used to be behind it (which is still there, but is now only about a foot deep rather than the entire width of the bathroom). The frame for the new wall behind the toilet goes up:

Shower stall formed, dry wall installed:

Shower tile installed and paint goes up. What was I thinking? The orange is SO MUCH BETTER than that horrid purple I tried first!
And here she is now. What a beauty.

I absolutely cannot thank Josh and his dad enough for all of the time and work they put into this. Dad did all of the plumbing, which neither one of us knew anything about and saved us a bundle of money. I think we hit a home run and it's almost too pretty to use!

HGTV, eat your heart out!

It was a good idea at the time...

Until we realized that we still have to clean this mess up:

Yes folks, this is our backyard right now. Actually, it's the remnants of our old bathroom in the backyard (as if you couldn't guess due to the lovely new seating we've added). It was nice and convenient to just dump everything out of the window while we worked, but now comes the fun of hauling it out. Thank goodness it's in the backyard at least because between the dog that wanders the neighborhood, me screaming like a banshee in the front yard as the other dog taunted a squirrel, and getting a call from the neighbor that one of them was on the roof one morning (oh, have I not told some of these stories? This makes for some great blog material coming to you soon!) we are becoming the weird neighbors. I never thought until recently that we would be them. Not to mention that those two pesky pups are now having a hey-day rifling through the pile and finding new things to drag out into the yard and chew on. It just gets better and better.

On the upside, aside from a few minor details (yes, honey, I know that I still need to repaint the ceiling and touch up the crown molding... it will be done sometime in 2010 I promise!) the new bathroom is D-O-N-E! More importantly, it is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. Don't ask me why I'm spelling these things out. I'm not even sure. But anyway, it seriously is the prettiest and most elegant (yes, I said elegant) room in the house and it's a bathroom! How funny is that? And since I'm sure you're wondering why this isn't being followed by a picture of this new beautiful space and it's simply because I'm waiting on the shower curtain to arrive so that I can post the completed look. The shower stall is so tall that I had to order actual drapes and I cannot wait until they get here! They should be in tomorrow so I promise a big reveal over the weekend! Well, I promise that if I'm not too busy cleaning up the disaster in the backyard. Or chasing a dog around the neighborhood. Or rescuing squirrels. Or... just when I think I have seen it all I am sure those pesky pups will figure some other way to make life just a tad bit more interesting. I'll keep you posted.

If you've ever considered painting a room purple...

DON'T !!!

These pictures don't even do the color justice. Just think Crayola:

On the upside, here's a sneak peak of the tile work!

It's coming along... we're just days away from being done! Woo-hoooo! Granted, we'd be getting done a whole heck of a lot faster if we didn't have to do everything multiple times. If I have to paint the same corner one more time, I think I might just go crazy. Josh would say the same about mudding and sanding that same corner. But anyway, pictures of the completed bathroom to be coming soon, and yes, it's a different color!

Progress!

WE HAVE WALLS! Well, drywall anyway.

It's certainly starting to look like something. It's slow going during the week since Josh works, but he has come home every night and done something to make this little bathroom look a wee bit better. I look forward to Mondays now (who does that, right?) because that's his day off and a huge chunk of the project gets done. I'm sure he doesn't look forward to Mondays right now!

Next on the to-do list includes putting the drywall on the ceiling (we're just going to cover up the old one... we learned our lesson with Jake's room), tape and mud on that, a second coat of mud on the drywall, sanding it all down, pouring the concrete for the shower floor, and then we get to the "fun" stuff... tiling, painting, and finally all of the things I can help with! Although, to my defense, I did rock at putting liquid nail in the screw holes and seams of the shower. A week ago I did not even know what liquid nail was. If you're pondering the same thing, you can find your answer here. It can be the one new thing you learned today.

With all of this going on, my Project365 has been put on the back burner (after two full weeks... what an overachiever I am!). But aside from an evening at the county fair (which is pretty much the same as last year, so if you want to see pictures you can check out last year's post) and several trips to Menard's (which is our Midwestern version of Home Depot for those of you who are wondering), the bathroom has pretty much consumed all of our time. In fact, after standing in the tile aisle last night and stressing about our choices, we left the store and made a beeline for Buffalo Wild Wings. Nothing says stress relieve like playing trivia and eating Buffalo Chips... it was a good call indeed. So just let me get through this weekend and I'll start back up next week. And hopefully by then I'll have many new bathroom pictures to post.

Before the Bottom Falls Out...

I had heard the expression before, but this week, it took on a whole new meaning!

Mondays are Josh's days off. He typically likes to sleep as late as possible (which is only until about 8), watch SportsCenter, play all day with Jake, possibly take a nap, and generally, if he didn't get to it over the weekend, he'll mow the yard. So this past Monday started out like any other... my husband woke up, got his cup of coffee, and since it was about time to give Jake his morning cereal, he volunteered to feed him so I could get some work done. Our son, being the calm, cool, and collected kid that he is (insert voice dripping with sarcasm here), decided that he needed to smear his cereal all over his face and in his hair. Okay, so I have to be honest, it was pretty darn cute. He was still in his pj's and hadn't had a bath the night before, so I recommended just giving him a bath. Jake loves bath time anyway.



So into the downstairs bathroom they went. Josh leaned over to put our son in the bathtub and his foot literally sank into the linoleum (Josh's foot- not Jake's). Since linoleum is one of the world's most flexible materials, it didn't crack or anything, but he knew there was trouble underneath it. After bath time (and before I could even wrap my mind around what was happening) half of our bathroom floor was pulled up. That's okay, I thought, I didn't even like that old blue linoleum anyway. What I didn't realize, and what Josh had to point out to me, was that the linoleum wasn't the problem. The subfloor (which is a new vocabulary word for me this week) is made of wood and had completely rotted out. Our toilet has been leaking for only God knows how long and the floor that holds up our bathroom was basically a big, spongy mess. After further investigation, the water damage had spread under the toilet (obviously), under the 350-pound cast-iron tub, and even under the closet that is adjacent to the bathroom. In a word, our bathroom would have eventually fallen through the floor and into the basement! Could you imagine???

So after discussing our options, we decided that the smartest thing to do would be to renovate the entire room- including knocking out the wall between the bathroom and the closet to make it bigger and add a shower. This is an idea that we had been toying with since moving into the house, but it was a project that was pretty far down on our wish list. But sometimes these things have a way of happening more quickly I guess!

So on his day off, Josh spent hours demolishing the old floor, walls, and prying off every last inch of old plaster. It was quite an extensive job! He also generously sacrificed two of his vacation days to stay home and work on the project so that we won't be without a bathroom (no worries... we do have another one upstairs seen here) for too long. And the added bonus is that his dad was coming up this way anyway, so he just came up sooner to help out. Thank goodness they are handy!

So here is what we're dealing with to help you visualize our mess:

This picture is taken from the study. The door on the left is where the old closet used to me (seen in the next picture). It was a pretty good sized closet and as deep as the bathroom. The door on the right is the bathroom door. There is also another door that leads into this bathroom on the right of the bathroom (not seen) that goes into our kitchen. Because we don't need three doors going into the same bathroom (a bit of overkill, don't you think??), we are rebuilding a very shallow closet where the old one used to be and using the rest of the old closet space as a stand up shower.

It's hard to see how deep this old closet is here, but this will be our new shower when this is all said and done. This picture was actually taken when we looked at the house and we didn't have nearly this much stuff in it, so I'm not too worried about what will be displaced. Those old drawers are original to the house, however, so we're hoping to keep them and eventually build something that will utilize them

And here is the bathroom before destruction as seen from the unseen door to the kitchen mentioned above. The toilet will stay in the same place, but the wall behind it will only be about 2 feet wide from the left. The rest of the space will be open and will be the entrance to our new shower. We are losing the tub, but we're okay with it since we have one upstairs.

Now here's the same space seen above plus the added space from the old closet:

This is the subfloor. You can see where they had to pull up some of the diagonal planks of wood to replace them. before the new wood went down, you could see straight into the basement. The hardwood floor that we left in there (on the left upperhand side of the picture) is the depth of the closet. The rest of the space in the back there will be the shower.



As of the end of last night, the planks had been replaced, the concrete subfloor (that we will tile over) had been laid, and the new wall for the closet had been built. We've decided to not make the wall go all the way to the ceiling to make the room appear even bigger. Our ceilings downstairs are very tall.

So that brings us to today. Today's projects included a lot of working in the basement to reroute the plumbing from the old bathtub to the new shower. Fun fun! And I am just staying out of the way as to not throw in my two cents. I feel as if I'm an expert because of the amount of time I spent watching HGTV!

I will definitely post more pictures as our project progresses! It's just always an adventure here in Mauneyland!

Home Sweet Home

Last night I was sitting on the couch and Josh walked in with two champagne flutes. Clearly sensing my confusion he said, "One year ago today we didn't get married, but we..." expecting me to fill in the blank. Instead, he got a blank expression. "We closed on the house!" he exclaimed. Actually, that's not exactly what he said. He actually reminded me of how he drove 27 hours in a Uhaul to get our stuff up here, which I am truly thankful for. You see, we were getting married the following weekend and it was really important for him to have a home to bring me to afterwards. I stayed back in Florida to get all of the last minute wedding details taken care of and he moved all of our stuff in so that I could officially come home after the wedding. It was one of the most thoughtful, generous things he has ever done for me- and he has done many.

So last night we sat in the living room and reminisced a bit about the first year in our home. The changes we've made, the obstacles we faced (although we had surprisingly few), and the good times we've had here. I don't think either one of us would have ever guessed that our first home would be in Small Town, Illinois, but man it's been a good year! The funny part about it is that the first time we ever visited this town for Josh's job interview, I was 100% convinced that we would not be moving here. I was under the impression that we would be right outside of Chicago, but "right outside" meant about two hours west. Think Iowa. We had an interview with the elders at the main campus, which was pretty standard and not unlike any of the other interviews we had been to, and then we drove down to the town where our campus would be. On the drive I sat in the backseat with one of the other pastor's wives and while she chatted my ear off, I stared out the window at the rows and rows and rows and rows and rows of corn! Field after field, barn after bar, farmhouse after farmhouse, cow pasture after cow pasture, and corn as far as the eye could see. Well actually, the corn was between harvest and replanting so they were mostly empty fields with chopped down cornstalks, but you get the point. When we finally arrived into town, I was blown away by how small it was! I spent a few of my childhood years in a small town in Louisiana, but this one seemed tiny in comparison! Aside from Main Street, which I thought was adorable, there was nothing to see! There was not a mall, much less a department store, and hardly any place to eat aside from Dairy Queen (which I am a fan of, so that might have been a plus) and a Hardee's! On the drive back to the main campus, my mind was made up... there was no way we would be moving here.

That evening we attended the church service at the main campus and everything turned around. The music was outstanding, the energy was electric, and the message was literally written just for me. I think I've told this story before in a previous post but I will tell it again because it was one of the most powerful moments of my life and one of the few times that I knew without a doubt that I was listening to the voice of God. The question at the end of the message was, what have you ever sacrificed for the kingdom of God? And BAM! Just like that I felt so convicted and absolutely certain that this was where we needed to be. We walked out of service (after I managed to clean up my face after bawling through the last two songs!) and we were bombarded by a group of people who had driven an hour and half to come to church from the town in which we would be planting our campus. They were SO excited to meet us, so enthusiastic, and genuinely happy- er, ecstatic rather- that we were there. It was incredible to be surrounded by so much love from a group of people we had just met.

I flew home the next day (Sunday) and Josh would be staying until Wednesday. Before I left I told him that if the job was offered, he had better take it! He felt the same way (way sooner than I did actually, but he let me make up my own mind before pressing his opinions on me... see? Isn't he the best?). And so when he came back to Florida, it was with the news that we would be heading northwest in the near future.

A couple of weeks later we both traveled back to look for a house. We literally had one day to find one because I couldn't stay long. We had whittled down our list from the Internet to a manageable size and Josh drove by a few of them the day before my arrival to narrow our search further. When he passed by our house, he called the realtor and wanted to see it immediately! It was in the next town over, which is a little bit bigger (meaning it has a McDonald's and a Wal-Mart) and was basically on the list as a far-fetched wish. Upon touring it, Josh was in love. When I got into town, it was the first house he took me to look at. Because of this, compounded with the fact that he told me not to act too excited about any of them (for negotiating purposes... which we have since learned that I'm the much better negotiator than he is due to the fact that he can't hide his excitement the way I can) I walked through it stone faced. In all honesty, it was at the top of our price range, so I didn't want to get my hopes up. He was so disappointed that I "didn't like it as much as he did," but again, I was just trying to act cool and did not have anything to compare it to. For the rest of the day we visited jackpot after jackpot, not finding anything that would even come close to the one we both loved. After sleeping on it, we decided to put a (fairly lowball) offer on it the next morning and spent the morning doing paperwork with the realtor. That evening as I sat on a plane waiting to depart (again, Josh was staying an extra few days), a text message lit up my cell phone screen and it said, "THEY ACCEPTED OUR OFFER!!!". At which time I was told to turn off my cell phone and had to wait a whole three and a half hours to call him and scream with excitement. It all happened so fast, and very easily, and was just meant to be. And now we joke that we can never move because we both love this place way too much. I guess we'll be in Small Town, Illinois forever!

Just for fun and in honor of this anniversary, I searched through our photos and pulled out some of the improvements that we've made over the past year. Here they are, in no particular order:

For insurance purposes (and aesthetics) we were told that our porch needed a railing. Here is the front of the house before:

And after. Thanks to our brother-in-law, sister, nephews, and mom for helping us out!

Due to the dogs (well dog (singular) actually) running rampant in the neighborhood, a fence was one of my top priorities. Here's our yard before:

And after. Remember this post? I love our yard now! Granted, Teeny is still finding every tiny spot she can squeeze through to escape, but aside from that, it really has completed our backyard.
This purple bedroom had to go (note: this is a picture from when we looked at the house... it's not our furniture but I forgot to take a before picture with our actual furniture):

And here it is now. We think this will be Jake's room once he's out of the nursery, but for now it's one of our guest bedrooms. It still needs some decor, and I've already figured out what that entails, so it will get there eventually.


I did this post awhile back... our upstairs bathroom before:

And after. The colors did not come out in the picture, but you get the idea.

And the biggest project of all? Jake's room! Oh my gosh, it was such a mess and took us months! One project led to another from wallpaper removal, to patching and spackling holes in the walls, to putting up an entirely new ceiling and crown molding. Here's the disaster before... check out the awesome paint color combination:

And after... now my favorite room in the house by far!



So we've come a long way and there is still so much that we want to do. Eventually we'd like to build a deck out back, plant some raised gardens along the fence corners, plant flowers in the front flowerbeds, and redo the gutters just to name a few. I also have my own long-term wish list which includes updating the bathrooms (although Josh would choose to update the kitchen first) and turning an upstairs bedroom into a master bathroom, closet, and laundry room. I doubt we'll ever see that last one happen unless we live here for thirty years, but a girl can dream, can't she? Regardless of what gets done from here, we feel so blessed to have this place to call home. It's the place where Josh carried me over the threshold and it's the first home of our little Jake. But the part I like best is the two people and pups who live inside of it with me... now that is what I call home sweet home.

Feel free to come visit us anytime... if the door-knocker says "The Mauney's" on it (thanks, Mindy), you've come to the right place.