More pics from yesterday

This is kind of awesome, now that work is really getting underway, there is more to share!  Here are just a few more pics of the work that went on yesterday.  By the way, it was cold and rainy all weekend so big props to Dan, Patrick, and even Maddie bundled up to get in on some demo action!  Thanks for getting it started guys :)

The camera doesn't do this color justice!  It's like a cross between pink and peach, with God only knows how many years worth of dust and dirt overlay???

Maddie always insists on helping Daddy when he works outside!  Here she's pulling nails.

Hmmm, pink on 1 side, white on the other???

When Your Mess Becomes Your Message

This morning while searching out for some inspiration - and I wasn't finding it on cable news (go figure!) - I flipped on Joyce Meyer's program "Enjoying Everyday Life."  I've come to appreciate Joyce's program.  Along with Joel Osteen, I find these programs inspiring and transcendent of the old dogma's that once drove me away from organized religion.  I really believe that people need inspiration, perhaps now more than ever, and so I appreciate it wherever I find it.  While detailing horrific accounts of sexual abuse, the story became testimony when Joyce declared that God had seen her through this troubled upbringing to have a healthy and lasting marriage, a healthy family of her own, and her strengthened faith.  It was very powerful to hear.  There was a phrase that struck me and reminded me of my own struggles in life - "Turn your pain over to God so He can turn it into gain.  Let Him turn your mess into your message."

*NOTE: While recalling that just now, I'm not sure if she said "your message" or "His message" but I'm going with taking ownership of one's circumstances.

I really liked that "turn your mess into a message!"  I sure know a thing or two about messes.  Our first attempt at home ownership ended up a mess.  Our finances and credit have been a mess.  I see messes all over in the world.  Having ADD, I often feel completely surrounded by the mess in my mind, the mess of clutter that I tend to let pile up in my surroundings.  The one constant that I can rely on to "clean" those messes is when I surrender to the loving presence of God, as I understand God.  The inspiration I then feel to straighten up and take action to tidy up my life is quite an amazing feeling.  The result of which is wanting to share that experience with others = share the message.  Even trying to figure out how best to share a message is somewhat messy.  Since last February, I've been the "point person" for the Coffee Party Movement in Minnesota.  I've struggled for months trying to determine if I'm in the right place and still haven't gotten a clear answer.  I am responsible for bringing the Coffee Party Movement to MN and feel a sense of pride for having done so, but it's been a constant struggle for me.  On Saturday, I will be speaking at the Rally to Restore Sanity in St. Paul as the head of the Coffee Party of MN.  I'm still not sure what I want to say, but I know I want to use my time to tell everyone that as messy as things appear to be, there is always hope.  It gets better.  With or without a movement, that is my message for everyone.

Looking forward to our first "The Stove is Working Again!" meal

Hopefully I can get the electrician in here this week to get our electrical work done asap.  We wouldn't be nearly as excited about having electrical work done except we have been living without a working stove/oven for almost 18 months!!!  This is because there was a real problem with the electricity to the stove.  Dan attempted to work it out and couldn't, so since the day we moved in here we've had to rely solely on our microwave, our frying pan/electric skillet, crock pot, and take-out for our meals.  During the warmer months, we've also enjoyed Dan's grilling.  It's been do-able, but definitely NOT ideal.  Oh my god how I've missed baking! 

Just to give a little back story on this, the stove worked when we moved in.  The lights came on, the burners and oven heated up, which was great because we had to leave our brand new stainless appliances at the house in Rice when the bank wouldn't let us have them :(   So, the appliance worked and we still had our last fridge from Sauk Rapids that Dan kept as a beer fridge in our Rice garage.  Well, the day we were moving into Everhaven, we were going to have frozen pizzas for lunch (an easy meal in the middle of a move) and I went to preheat the oven and ....nothing.  It stopped working.  So, incidentally, did our master bedroom lights.  In the midst of the move, we figured maybe we'd blown a fuse, we made sandwiches instead and went on with the moving.  Later on, Dan changed a fuse or two and as he was tinkering with the oven to see if it worked, he turned the knob for the oven and our bedroom lights came on!  We had discovered a mystery that would baffle every person we know with any electrical experience - somehow our bedroom lights and the stove were criss crossed together and it took the oven being constantly in the on position, though NOT working itself, to have lights in our bedroom.  Dan, Christian, and his dad tried to fix it once but only managed to get our bedroom sorted out and working on it's own.  The oven still has not worked.  We think it will work once the electrical part is remedied, but I suppose we better be ready to buy a new stove.  But whenever we have a working stove and oven again, we can't wait to get back to some of our favorite meals that require a stove top or oven to prepare!

Earlier, I came up with an idea - because this is a pretty big deal to us - that each person will submit one meal and one dessert choice that requires the oven.  We'll draw the "winner" and have our first "The Stove Is Working Again!" meal.  We can't wait!

Color Choices

The colors we decided to go with for siding are:

"Mountain Blue" dutch lap siding on most of the house, "Heritage Blue" hand split shakes on the front gable, and "Victory Red" on the front door and shutters.  I can't wait to post pics when it's all on the house!

Here we go!

Phase One has begun.  On Friday, I signed the contract for the bulk of the work with our friend, Jason, who also happens to be the realtor that helped us buy this house.  Jason is a contractor by trade and awhile back also became a realtor.  He's been a great friend to us and we really appreciate the bid he gave us as he is well aware of our limited resources to complete this phase of our renovations.  On Saturday, I headed out to the lumber yards to place orders on shakes for the front of the house, windows, entry door, and I also picked out the front door color and lock set.  Dan and Patrick spent several hours yesterday knocking down the outside chimney.  Today, Dan is removing our old siding while I am working on cleaning out the front porch - which also serves as my office - so Jason can start on the new entryway as soon as we secure our permits (hopefully we'll get those tomorrow).

Here are some pics of the start of this process...

Jason removing trim.  We were determining what size window we wanted in that space.

Patrick working on chimney - he always manages to look goofy while working! LOL



Nearly done tearing out the chimney.



OMG!  Check out the color this house used to be!  I think I'd call it "Puke Pink" - yuck!

Phase One Here We Come!

Tomorrow, we will "officially" begin Phase One with the closing of an equity loan.  Phase One will include:
Roof
Siding
Windows
New entry way
Electrical updating

I have spent several hours over the last few days taking measurements, comparing color samples of siding (who knew there were so many shades of blue - or that too many of them look like gray :/ ), and getting estimates.  It's fun and very rewarding to know we're finally at this point.  We had the appraisal and while it wasn't as high as we initially hoped for, so far the numbers are working in our favor on supplies and the appraiser was confident that after we make this round of improvements our value will greatly increase.  Not to mention that the house is already worth more than double what we paid for it, so we won't complain!  We will be on a very tight budget, so getting the best prices on supplies will be crucial and we are considering what all we can do as sweat equity - it ought to be an adventure to say the least - and this is going to totally transform the look of our home and boost the curb appeal as well.

I thought I would post a couple of pics of houses that are similar in style and colors to what we are aiming for - hopefully the people that live in these houses weren't home or freaked out if they saw me pull up outside their homes with my camera.

So cute!



Country house with a red, white, and blue color scheme and beautiful accents.


My next post will hopefully be that we've placed our orders and the work is underway!

It's Amazing What a Little Paint Can Do!

I spent the better part of today painting.  The "Dining Room" is now Arabian Sands/tan and  Red, Red Wine/burgundy.  The awful, busy border is gone (it's still up in the Living Room, but I am not finished yet either!).

***Note:  I refer to the "Dining Room" with quotation marks because it really isn't a dining room, it's more like an area - off the kitchen - that is connected to the Living Room but there used to be a wall between the two (we can see where it was cut out and we have a really cute plan to use it in our decor - stay tuned!)  As we move ahead with our design plans, we plan to use the area for dining and keep living room furniture on it's side of the room.

Anyhow....

The Dining Room is now painted.  I was going to paint the trim an off-white, but now I am wondering about stripping the wood and restoring a more natural wood look. We'll see.  I know it will be alot of work but it will be work anyway, as the former residents here applied a texture to the walls and they sprayed it on everything.  I repeat - everything.  The light switches.  The outlets.  The base boards and trim.  There are little plaster type bumps of texture everywhere.  So even when I paint trim, I have to scrape it off if I want a "normal" finish.  Seriously, how hard would it have been to have taped this stuff before applying it!  I had a heck of a time changing out the light switches, the screws were buried in texture!  I painted an accent wall "Red, Red Wine" which was the color we had in kitchen in Sauk Rapids and I painted the two other walls "Arabian Sands" which was the color I had picked for my living room in Sauk Rapids but I never even got it up.  I could have picked new colors, but I liked these choices and I like bringing in elements to this house that gave me satisfaction in my former home.

In our bedroom, we are finally saying "Good-bye GREEN!!!" and making the switch to blue.  The color is called "Harbor" which goes with the symbolism of Everhaven's name.  I only got started though and before I knew it I was just too tired to go on painting.  Hopefully I can complete the job in our bedroom over the next couple of days and then break out the new sheets and comforter I bought months ago (I wouldn't put them out until the whole room was ready, paint and all!)

I've picked a pale, buttery yellow for the kitchen, but I want some of these other rooms finished before I even buy more paint.  I'm pretty excited about the kitchen because I think that room is going to have the biggest impact from changing the color.  I also plan on painting the cupboards and updating the hardware, since a total remodel is not happening in this phase of remodeling and redecorating.  So the cupboards will be white, the walls yellow, and my punches of colors in accessories will be red and blue.  I can't wait to see it completed!

Here are some pics of what's done so far...

Bye-bye busy border!

The "Dining Room" with it's new colors!

Good-bye GREEN!