We're IN!

We are finally in our house! We moved in November 4th. It has been so nice to stretch out a little, enjoy the hard work we put into it. I would love to share pictures over the last 3 months. So much has happened since my last entry (which is why there haven't been more entries!). But, this computer is mega-slow and uploading photos is torture. I will try to post new ones asap. In the mean time, you are more that welcome to stop by for a tour!

In Color

Finally, color on the wall!!
This is one coat on in the Living Room. And Claire in her "tent."

The mantle almost complete.
There will be a second mantle with accompanying trim work around the t.v. box.
Also, marble tile around the fireplace.

Garage doors installed.
They need to be painted and the hardware needs to be installed.

A lot of things almost done. Laura will start our tile on Saturday. Our air should be running by the weekend. More pictures (in COLOR) to come! (The colors in "color" are sort of like the colors I picked--hee-hee!)

Cops and Robbers

Sheet rock finished, trim on top

Things have been going very smoothly at our house. The sheet rock is finished, the trim is in (except the mantle), and the painter is getting started. Color preview: Prairie Grass, Hampshire gray, currant red, apple blossom, and wedgewood gray. I'm nervous about that much color! Everything is not taupe and that is a little frightening!! But, I think it will look nice. I really like the trim work, too.

We did experience another break-in. Kathie and Jason called us Sunday morning to report that our front window was broken. They discovered a cement block had been thrown through it. In summary, our dining room window was broken out; the front door unit had been pried at, hit with a cement block and kicked until the entire unit was knocked loose from the house (may I recommend a very strong door unit to you?!); our microwave and laundry pedastool were stolen ($500 total); and the back door was left wide open. We're not sure in what order the vandalism occurred, or what their intent was (copper again?), but they left a big mess behind. We're still waiting to hear from our insurance adjuster to determine if we should even file it. Van at Discount is taking care of the window for us. Ronnie re-set the front door but it does have a few scars from the attack it suffered. We may be able to fix the cosmetics there. That would leave the appliances which is about the cost of the deductible. We'll likely eat this one!

Door knocked around a bit

Welcome to Grant!

I keep thinking back to the minor prophets that we've studied in Sunday School this Summer--talk of justice and God's wrath. Part of me wants to see God's wrath poured out in full on the people who keep doing this to us (and several other new constructions in the area). Then part of me knows that I should forgive, even if I never know who it is or if they receive justice this side of eternity. They need to know Christ; he loves them as much as he does me. That's the thing about the minor prophets--they speak of both God's justice and his mercy. That's why he is God and I am not. He can be both at once, where I tend to struggle more with the mercy and love side when it comes to being victimized. After being rejected, forgotten, and hurt, God says to his people: "Now return to me, an I will return to you" (Malachi 3:7). He also says, "The LORD is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished" (Nahum 1:3). I guess my prayer is that the perps (too much "Law and Order?") will get caught--not to satisfy me, but so that they might be prompted to repentance and come to know the forgiveness and love of God.

In the mean time, we've taken action. The flood lights are up and on all night. The phone lines went in this week so the security system can be activated as soon as the paint is done. The Holy Spirit has been faithful to help calm my fears.

"The LORD is good. When trouble comes,
he is a strong refuge. And he knows
everyone who trusts in him."
Nahum 1:7

"For the LORD you God has arrived to live among you.
He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with
great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will exult over you by singing a happy song."
Zephaniah 3:17

Coming next: put the finishing touches on the garage doors, paint the house, the tile in the shower will start this week, build the mantle, hook up the heat and air, and install lights. Then floors, cabinets . . . time to start packing!!

The Latest

Sheetrock going up in the living room.
You can see the speaker holes in the top left and right corners.

A (crooked) view of the "entertainment" area. The t.v. box is above the fireplace. The desk will be in the inset area to the left. The 5.1 surround is in that top 4 feet of wall.

The sheetrock guys are finishing the finishing work this week. Not sure how long that will take. Next will come trim, then paint, then floors. The pictures should get a bit more interesting over the next few days and weeks. I think we are about 6-7 weeks out! The countdown to moving day should begin soon!!

Driveway

Exciting events this week . . . The siding is practically finished. They will finish the last little bit in about 10 days when the special order arrives. The sheetrockers started and will work some more today. David, David, Brad, and Jason installed 5.1 surround sound in the living room, and speakers in the kitchen and screened porch (I pitched in a little on that project, too). The most exciting thing to me is the yard and driveway. Vernon built our yard up, spread some topsoil, and built our driveway. We decided to do a circle drive (and are currently taking donations for concrete--we will honor you with a nameplate in the driveway!). It looks a little more like a real house now!

Cypress

Here's a first look at the siding being installed this morning. We should have the outside done (except accents like shutters) this week!

Of Men and Mortar

So much has happened with our house in the last month. Plumbing and wiring were roughed in, the brick finished, then the wiring was ruined by some thieves.

We were the victims of copper theft. Some one or ones cut all of our wires at the circuit box. As a result, our entire house needs to be re-wired. For about $30 of copper, they did about $1000 damage. The electrician had not billed us yet, so it will be at his expense. But, he is an old friend of David's, so it makes it difficult to see him bear the weight of this vandalism on his own. They also took 3 boxes of tile that we purchased at a very discounted rate, which we replaced at the not-discounted rate. Must have been 3 of them!

So the last bit of work done on our house was the trim guys putting in locks and Ronnie's crew boarding up our garage. It's secure now! It's really amazing at the things people will do for $30. That's about $10 each. The officer who took our report commented that they could have made more with one shift at McDonald's and gotten a free lunch out of the deal.

Tomorrow, Jerome starts with the siding. We're very nervous about seeing our colors up on the house. I'm hopeful that we picked the right ones! We've been second-guessing ourselves since we placed our (no-return) order. I'll try to post pictures of that soon. We're also in the process of picking out interior details. We have all of our lights, most of our tile. We are planning a hardwood/carpet trip in the next week or two. And I have the wall colors in my head, I just have to find the right chip to match.

Keep us in your prayers!

Progress and Adjustments

Sorry for the delay in posting! It takes my computer so long to upload pix, I put this off. But, thanks to Mom for setting up a new computer for us (and for generous Jimmy-Adam for giving it to us) I'm hoping tonight will go faster : )

Things are really hopping now. We've met with plumbers, HVAC, electricians, cabinets, floors. We've made so many decisions, I dread pulling up to the drive-through because I know I'll have to make one more. David isn't always with me, so I make a lot of decisions for the both of us. He's so trusting and never once has he questioned my judgment. That instills a lot of confidence in me and I really appreciate him for that. I still prefer to discuss everything with him, given the chance.

We are agree on most everything. We picked out a brick in about 10 minutes! 100% agreed, no compromise needed! I would say the biggest stress of this entire process has been trying to stay on budget. Due to a complicated roof and perhaps a goof on the part of building supply guy (estimated too low), we are significantly over on our framing. The storm shelter put us over initially. Now we're digging out of a hole, so to speak.

This predicament, along with our desire to keep our mortgage payment manageable, and to honor the Lord with our finances, led to our decision to nix the rock in exchange for brick. Ronnie worked hard to find the best price for us, but it is almost three times as much to rock the front than it is to brick it. We would all love to see it in rock, but it is hard to justify spending $6000 more for an aesthetic when it doesn't add anything structural to the house. And, as I was reminded in our Sunday School lesson a few weeks ago, it's all going to burn one day anyway! "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives. . ." 2 Peter 3:10-11 And build sensible houses! Hopefully this decision will help us to enjoy the process of picking out the rest of our house. We are entering the phase where we get more say in how much stuff costs.

Speaking of fire, Mom & Mark experienced a house fire this past week. Please pray for them as they dig out from under the soot and wetness! The laundry room was destroyed and the rest of the house has smoke damage. Praise God, no one was injured badly! Mark escaped and is down to 7 lives (stranded on a capsized boat in the ocean last summer)!! Fire pictures: http://www.nehp.net/~svmrestoration/fire/

Recent photos from our house:

dining room window
(and Sarah Kate sleeping through incredible noise--about 10 roofers above her pounding away)

kitchen

the boys discussing details (David, Ronnie) in the manly discussion posture

the back of the house with screened in porch

Here it is! Looking more like a real house every day. We have most windows and doors in, shingles are almost done. Please continue to pray for us. I've seen a difference when I stop to pray in the midst of the chaos. "Unless the Lord builds the house, it's builders labor in vain" Psalm 121:1. It's funny to me that right after that is "In vain you rise early and stay up late;" that's exactly what I'm doing today! Goodnight : ) Y'all come and see us!

Now and Then

Sorry for the big gap in posts! Computer was down, then time has been short. Here is where we are now and what we have come from . . .

roof going up!

They say it is the hardest roof they have ever done. It is something to see--they are doing a GREAT job!

the guys working WAY up high

the house without a roof

and the foundation with David walking over the storm shelter.

There are a lot more pictures; hopefully I will get them all in a scrapbook . . . one day! We are in the midst of many decisions. I met with a cabinet guy today. When you don't have a "dream house" in mind it makes it so hard to decide what you want. I've thought of about 3 or 4 changes that I want to make to the kitchen cabinets since I've been home. Hopefully we'll end up with what we want when it's all said and done.

Y'all come see it sometime : ) It's looking more like a real house every day!

Neighbors

We have some great neighbors at our new location! The girls really love their Grandmother! She came for a visit one afternoon.

. . . and our across-the-street neighbors.

And just because she's so cute, here's Claire climbing our mountain of dirt! She is enjoying the house-building experience!

Foundation Steps

We're learning more about building a house each week. Work has started on our foundation. Here are a few pictures of the steps we've completed: chalking, digging, and concrete.

Chalked outline of our foundation.

Claire inspecting the trench for our foundation.

The cement is in. Next comes the block!

That is about a week's worth of work. The block should have been delivered today. They will lay the block on Monday (unless they decide to work over the weekend!). The framers will finish up a house right when ours will be ready to frame. Hope to have some exciting pictures for you next week!

Our First Guests

From L to R: Claire, Bailey, Jeanna, Cement Man, Will, Ross, and David

We had the honor of having the Lankfords in for a visit yesterday. They are officially our first guests at our new "house!" They got to see the site and the work going on there. We were thankful to have a day to laugh, play, and shop with our old friends. Claire couldn't understand how we could visit with Will and Bailey and not go to the beach (the Lankfords live in P'cola so a visit at their house always involves a beach excursion!). 2182 wasn't the beach, but the kids still had fun playing in the dirt and climbing the big dirt pile.

As far as progress on the house goes, they poured the cement slab in the storm shelter yesterday. It's the first bit of "construction" for us. Ronnie said that Vernon will dig the foundation tomorrow (Thursday) and they should lay the block next week. So, hopefully we'll have some great pictures to post next week : )

Shelter

We have a big hole in the middle of our "house" now. They dug our storm shelter this week. It will be an 8 x 10 x 7 concrete box for us to hide in when there is a threat of tornado. We will access it via a staircase tucked under our up-stairs steps. They also took down the bank in front of our house, including a huge tree. Now you should be able to see our house from the road. We also have a power pole! We should have a foundation in the next week or so.

I can't resist the opportunity to reflect on the shelter. It will be our safe place when the winds get rough. I'm so glad that we decided to do it. I will be even more grateful the first time I have to take the girls down there during a storm. God is an ever-present shelter from the storms of life. I know I'm thankful that he's there each day, but it's during the rough times that I am the most thankful. We sometimes question why the tough times come. Could it be that sometimes it is to help us remember that God is there? If they do nothing else, the hard times always draw me closer to my Savior. Thank you, Lord, for being my shelter and for the hard times that help me realize that I need you!

"The LORD is my light and my salvation--

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life--

of whom shall I be afraid?

For in the day of trouble

he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle

and set me high upon a rock."

Psalm 27: 1, 5

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD,

'He is my refuge and fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.'"

Psalm 91:1-2

A Beginning

We "started" our house on February 24, 2007. It seems as though it took us FOREVER to get to this point! We moved to Grant mid-December; that's over 2 months to move the first piece of dirt. We spent that time pouring over house plans, talking with bankers, builders, attorneys, surveyors, friends. And we wrote a few checks along the way. But now we're actually doing something on the land. That's exciting!

We met with Ronnie today to mark the corners of our house. They will start the foundation this week. We decided to put a storm shelter under the house. That may add a little extra time (and of course $$) to the process, but it seems well worth it. We are in a "High Risk" area for tornadoes. And in light of the disaster in Enterprise, AL this week, it seems foolish to not take this opportunity to provide the best protection we can for our family. http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/saferoom/residential.shtm

Lord, please bless this process. Direct us in each decision we make. Guard our hearts from greed and materialism. Help us to make financially responsible and reasonable decisions. Guide the hands that will build this house. Minister to their hearts during this time. Help us to show your love to all those we do business with. May Christ be seen in us. We commit this house, our new home, to You.

"Unless the LORD builds a house,

the work of the builders is wasted."

Psalm 127:1