New Old House

Hi! We have internet!  The world can go on!  I guess we live in an internet dead zone.  We had to get satellite internet!  The most expensive kind.  And we have a daily allowance!  How terrible is that? 

Well, at least I have an internet connection and I can feel normal again.  

These were all the pictures from my camera.  I guess I haven't taken pictures in awhile. 

 We have drywall!  That was a beautiful sight!  I was so tired of looking at empty bare studs.  The drywall was hung perfectly.  The finishing?  Well, I saw a lot of things because I've painted this entire place.  But I won't focus on the imperfections.  I'll be thankful for drywall!

Here is Darrell working on the electrical panel.  Before this we only had one outlet.  There were cords everywhere.  This was before we had new windows and doors installed.

 Painting 12 foot ceilings is hard even with a sprayer.  I couldn't imagine doing this whole place with a roller.  It is funny how you remember certain things from pictures.  This day was so incredibly hot.  (We still don't have AC just in case you wanted to stop in!) We were in a hurry to get the ceilings done because the floor guy was coming Monday.  We lost power the Friday before.  This day was Sunday.  The power had come back on here at the house and that was a praise!  But anyway, it was hot, Darrell was stressed, and we had to sit and watch him.  The sprayer was acting up too.  Not a fun day.

 Obviously Liberty was trying to have some fun.

 Who knew those beautiful pine floors were under that ugly carpet glue all this time?

 Take a good look because you won't see them scratch free when you come to visit!

 This is the kitchen.  I love my kitchen.  I need to clean clutter and fingerprints and take a good one with my appliances.

 Sorry, I don't know how to shift this picture.  This is our new front door.  Darrell said painting it wasn't a priority.  So it is still boring white.  But here really soon it will be candy apple red.  I can't wait!

 This is the master bathroom.  Tiny, but functional.  We have gone from one bathroom to 2.5 now.  We don't know what to do with ourselves!

 Windows you can actually see through!! They still look like this.  We haven't put up the trim yet.  Although the walls aren't white anymore.

Care to guess my wall color? 

A quick note...

We are moved in! 
Between losing power for a week, packing, painting, moving, painting, unpacking, and painting I haven't had much time to post.  We don't have internet at the house yet. But I made a quick trip to my parent's this weekend to pick something up so I am using up their internet until it is time to leave.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post of the house.  I am trying to decide if I want to post them in order so you can see the progress or if I should just post the final pictures.  If I post them in order, then by the time I'm caught up maybe the house will be 100% done.  Right now it is just a big pile of mess and we have more work to do. 
Thank you for your prayers to get us through this long process.  We still have work to do but if feels good to live there. 

Hard At Work

School might be out, but we have been hard at work.  Well, I guess checking progress everyday isn't considered hard work but it sure feels like it.  Yes, I said progress!  I'll let the pictures do the talking...

There is more to come but I will save them for another post.  In the meantime here is a picture from Easter. 

In a few days I will update with more recent pictures from the house.  Its so close.  We are hoping to move in the middle of July!! 

Mountains

Does it get any better than this?  This is from our back porch.  I never thought in a million years that I would have a view like this on a daily basis for over a year now.  I love it.  But I will gladly trade the view if that means I will be living in my own home and out of the "fishbowl" of the valley we live in now. 

I call it a fishbowl because we could have any number of eyeballs on us at any time.

Our apartment is directly across from the church.  We have another three church families that live in and around the church.  This doesn't include a staff member that lives on the side of that mountain and is very fond of his binoculars.  

The best things in life aren't free.  And this view certainly does come with a price!

It is called privacy and one day soon we will have that privacy.  

More pictures

 Because there aren't really any new words to write.  The house is getting there.  Still teaching. The monotony of everyday is wearing us thin.  The only thing to report is that I turned 32.  I like this time of year because there is only 11 1/2 years between me and Darrell.

Long sleeves in May?  You bet!  One of the things I love about Virginia is that there are some days when you can wear long sleeves and enjoy hot coffee even in the summer months. 








This is Darrell's favorite ride at Dollywood. 

 Daddy and Liberty had to ride most rides together since Mommy has a weak stomach for kiddy rides.

                                                                         On the trolly

Here are some pictures of the house.  I know they must look the same, but there really has been changes.  That pipe is where the kitchen is going to be.  Just beyond that is the master bedroom.  We had to add that recently when we found out we couldn't use the two rooms we were previously going to use as bedrooms.  Our new master bedroom was actually part of the big room and was previously going to be our kitchen.  We just moved everything out a bit.  Beyond our room is a small room and the laundry room.  The good news is that the bank wanted to loan us more money to finish up.  And we will be able to use those other two rooms after all since we will have the money to do a special kind of insulation that met the code.  So now instead of Liberty having that small back bedroom she will have a huge room and the other side room will now be a formal dining room.  The only downside is that we added our master bedroom and bathroom unnecessarily.  It just takes up more of the living space when we really didn't need it.  But that is just looking under God's tapestry in our life.  I believe that if we were to look from above in a year or so we will find out that adding another bedroom will increase our chances of adopting two children at once.  Only God knows the outcome of little stressful things.  I had a feeling it would turn out for good and I pray I was right. 

 This is the new electrical service that Darrell put in.  He passed the inspection!  He is so smart when it comes to things like that.  He worked so hard and this is a big accomplishment!

 It started looking really good when the electrical and plumbing was completed.  It almost feels like home now.

 This is the new hallway that was made when we framed out our master bedroom.  I wanted a hallway so bad for some reason and new it would be impossible.  In a few short months that hallway will be filled with pictures.  To the left is our bedroom.  To the right is the new dining room and further to the right will be Liberty's big bedroom.  I joke with Darrell that we will be able to fit at least 4 sets of bunk beds in her room.  We can turn it into a dorm for all of our girls!!

 The bank was nice enough to loan us more money to finish up.  Praise the Lord!!!  We get that money on Friday.  Then we get new windows, doors, insulation, sheetrock, paint, and floors.  It really should only be a matter of months now.  Seriously this time.  I really mean it!

Just a few pics

I actually had my camera with me the other day. I decided I needed to get a few pictures of the family. You can see that these are very exciting pictures. but at least you know we are still living and breathing.





And on top of that, of all days to have my camera...

I present to you......

My dream car.....

James 1:27

Ever wonder how you can put James 1:27 into practice? Lets talk about the orphan side of that verse.

Well, there are several ways. But I warn you! Searching out a way to live James 1:27 will make you responsible.

1. Know an adoptive family? Support them. Pray for them. Hold a fundraiser for their adoption. And please don't question their sanity.

2. Go! Actually find a group that supports an orphanage and go visit them! Hold them! Hug them! Be the hands and feet of Jesus in their lives!

3. Shop meaningfully. Find a website that supports orphans or adoptive families and buy their products. They make cute gifts and they will change a life.

4. Read this post. These are not "photo-shopped."
This is real life in a real orphanage. This woman's blog is a perfect place to start learning about the least of these. She knows. She has been there. She heard the call and walked right into the perfect will of God. And while you are there please click on the links to her other posts. Like this one, or this one, and please read this one.