Home Sweet Home

Hiya, all!

It's been awhile since I have had a computer at my hands.

We officially moved last Thursday! Leading up to that day, I was too busy to sit down and blog. Now that we are in the house, I'm still busy, but more than that, I am internetless! We should have internet next week.

The house:

I am in LOVE with my house. Especially my kitchen!!!!!! It is my dream kitchen :-)

There are still many unfinished projects because we desperately wanted in for Christmas and opted to move in and finish while living there AND (main reason here) my husband has been working 70-100+ hour work weeks. Since we have moved home, I think he has slept there twice (I think) and been in the home when he wasn't sleeping, maybe 12 hours. I really don't know. That may be pushing it a bit. Maybe more like 6 hours. LOL. Seriously, after a year of unemployment we are in a big hole and desperately need out. That is why I don't mind him being gone SOOOO much. He is working his tail off to provide and get us in a better place financially. I am grateful he is willing to work so hard and tirelessly for us.

The biggest things that are work in progress that aggravate me the most--

*Not having a dryer. (A friend's husband offered to work on it, but we are gone out of town today and tomorrow) and then my FIL had a good idea for fixing it (under the house instead of attic) and Brent seems to think that will work. As long as he is home long enough, or home at all, to fix it, I may have one this weekend!

*My dining room light. Brent hasn't been able to get it wired correctly and it doesn't work. I LOVE light and I really can't stand not having a light over our table at night.

*My main doors not being installed. The ones we have a yucky and I am just ready for our new ones! PLUS-- I cannot finish the baseboards until they are installed and as soon as they are installed, I can start touching up paint. I'm going to wait until those or in or otherwise, I will be touching up paint twice.

*Our linen closet not being put together (the shelving). We have all the materials, I just need Brent to hang it all. Right now, I have bags of towels and linens (I want washed since they have been stored, but I'm waiting until I have a dryer)  in the floor of the linen closet and I stack clean, folded towels and linens on top of that. It just goes against my organized ways ;-)

*My closet! It was hung up with all my clothes hung in ROYGBIV order (you know, color coordinated, like the rainbow!) and then on Tuesday night it collapsed!!! We had bought these big, sturdy U-HAUL boxes that have the metal racks in them for "closets" while we lived with my MIL. Thankfully, Brent said we would keep them since we spent quite a bit of $$ on them. So, they were outside in our building and I got those and put them in our office and that is officially my walk-in closet :-) It really isn't that big of a deal since I do have somewhere to put my clothes. I was just ready to organize the shelf in my closet, so that just postpones another project.

*Our bathroom door. It is still messed up even though Brent thought he was fixing it a few days ago. Now it won't shut completely. So, if Brent is home and sleeping or Webb is sleeping in my bed, at night when I'm in there drying my hair or whatnot, the light shines through to the bed and you can hear what's going on pretty good. Definitely something we can live with for awhile, I just felt bad one night when Brent was trying to sleep and I was in there late.

*I want my pictures hung. I am super OCD about crooked and strategically placed pictures, so I really want Brent there to help me. Plus, I have lots of things that need anchors and all. I want him there because he is just as OCD as I am (just not about what hangs! LOL. So, it can be a stressful environment when I'm like, "No... to the left.... No... go up... Now down just a hair. Wait... Maybe we should put this there instead of that." He is just ready to hang them anywhere and be donea! But, he will make sure it is done right). Tape measure, level, and anything else  that might assist.

*The laundry room door not being up. Brent was waiting until we moved in b/c the appliances wouldn't fit through with the door up and we are going to be putting in an exterior door that leads to the backporch in a few months (that is why we didn't change the size, if and when the appliances need out, we will use the exterior door, not the interior door). That room is so disorganized (because the door is laying in there taking up a huge amount of space and I have this huge drying rack in there drying clothes. I also have the shop vac and the fans in boxes that need to be hung taking up space). In the back pantry is all the paint I am leaving inside until all the touch up paint is complete. But, once I am done with that project, I can use that back pantry for bulk things (Costco buys) instead of my floor space! So, this room is stressful to me!

*Fridge water hooked up. We drink ONLY water and a lot of it too. I hate tap water, so I am buying tons of gallons of water. I am ready to not have to do that.

Other than that, projects that still need to be completed that aren't driving me as crazy:

*The living room fan needs to be put in our room. The boys fan broke and needs to come down and be replaced and the correct living room fan needs to be hung.

* I want a new kitchen light :-/ We bought one, but I have decided I don't like it!

*The rest of the outlets need to be changed in the kitchen where the backsplash is from beige to white.

*The boys bath needs the hardware.

*The boys bathroom needs a mirror. I don't want a standard one. I will be buying one of Kirklands or someplace like that.

*All of my curtains hung up (living room and kitchen finished).

*The kitchen window trimmed.

*All the boxes that are empty and filled up my entire backporch that need to be broken down and hauled off!

*Fixing the mantle and hiding all our electronic cords.

*Cleaning off out our home gym space and organizing that so it can be utilized.

*Boys closet organized.

*Dishwasher hooked up.

*DUMPSTER REMOVED!!! Happening in 1 week and some days. Thank the LORD!


I think that about sums it up. I am sure I left out some projects.... but oh well :-)

In other news, my vans transmission is going out. I felt it the first time the day we were moving. Now, it does it everyday, multiple times. Yesterday, I pulled out of Bible Study onto a main road. I was pressing the gas and all the sudden, my car was only revving but not going accelerating. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw 2 cars flying up behind me. I let off the gas and pressed again which had been working when my van did that. This time, it didn't work. I kept trying and trying. My RPMs were soaring and my MPH were down to 20. Finally, I was able to get my car to go. I thought that my transmission was completely gone. We were headed to Costco. I called Brent and told him what had happened. He is at work and is trying to help me over the phone. He told me I needed to park it and not drive it until we had the money to fix it. He said to definitely not drive it to Costco because chances are we would have a tow bill on top of having to replace the transmission. Being vehicleless is not even a possibility. I have a mom due any day and this is my week to clean. Plus, I am a mom and have errands to run daily. Brent being gone so much means he is no help transportation wise and us sharing a vehicle isn't realistic. He leaves the house around 6:30am and leaves the station at the same time only to go to another station most days. That would just be too hard with the boys.

So, my van is parked at my in-laws, my husband is driving my FIL's truck (it has no backseat) and I am driving my husband's truck. Fun stuff. Hopefully we can just get the transmission rebuilt which means I would have my van back much sooner! Pray that we can and we can find someone affordable to fix it.

When all of this was happening yesterday, I felt discouraged and on the verge of tears. Then, I looked in my rearview mirror and saw my angels. They are so sweet, so innocent, such gifts. If they were all I had in the entire world, I would still have more good in my life than bad. It's Christmas time and everything in life seems to be going smooth and wonderful other than a few minor (in the big picture, they are minor) things. I know the devil is out to rob me of my joy and to try and create havoc in our life and more importantly to get my focus off my Lord and Savior JESUS during Christmas. I REFUSE to let that happen. We have been blessed and all of this did not take God by surprise. I could cry out, "WHY WHY WHY???" But the real question is, "Why not?" Bad things/unfortunate things happen everyday to people. I am not immune or exempt from them. So, why not me? Why not now? Thank the Lord my transmission waited to fail until Brent had a job. Otherwise, I seriously would be vehicleless for who knows how long. At least now, we are in the position to save and have this repaired. God is good and His timing is perfect. Yes, we would love for that money to go someplace else (debt, house projects, etc), but it is what it is. Getting upset about it and having a pity party will not change one single thing except my outlook and I want my outlook to be joyful and optimistic. It really is a choice. Sometimes, it is a choice that takes work and truly forcing myself to not go there, other times, it is a choice that comes easier. 

Today, we are in Ringgold. I am a doula and I have a mom due any day. Last night, she had a false alarm (she is in Chattanooga). I am scheduled to clean in Ringgold tomorrow anyways, so I am just staying the night again. No big deal. I am actually enjoyed having nothing in the world to do. I slept late and I am still in my pajamas. Nothing is on the schedule today (except possibly a birth!) and it is relaxing and enjoyable.

I pray you all find peace and happiness today and time to relax! Pictures of the new house coming soon.