kitchen renovation
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the (new and improved) back porch.
Our kitchen and dining room were finished by the first week of September, and the crew immediately started on the back porch. It was finished within a month, and the final porch inspection happened on David’s birthday, October 7th. I really wanted to wait until our string lights were hung before making this blog post, but that may not happen for awhile, so here you go! First, some before pictures. If you’ve been to our house, especially with a toddler, you probably remember our wonky and rather precarious back staircase. It’s downward slope was something we hadn’t previously seen on a set of stairs before we bought…
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the kitchen is finished!
Before: After:
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kitchen renovation: august.
Hello there, dear blog friends. I’m still here, I promise! We just finished Week 12 of what was supposed to be an 8-week kitchen/dining room renovation. I really can’t tell you when it will be finished. I’d say in two weeks, but Judah reminded me yesterday that I’ve been saying that for about six weeks now. But what I can tell you, is that we’re one more week closer to the end. I have some really fun progress pictures to share with you today, so here we go! First of all, the ceiling beams: David gets all credit for the vision for vaulted ceilings and wood beams. He calls…
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kitchen renovation month two.
We’ve entered month 3 of our kitchen renovation, and like any other person I know whose undergone a kitchen renovation, it’s running behind schedule. Our original August 2nd move-in day came and went last week with some feelings of discouragement at how far we have to go, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now we’re saying “It should be finished by the end of August.” Here’s a run down of what happened in Month 2. David and his dad painted the walls, new back door, and trim. The hardwoods were stained to match (as close as possible) the floors in the rest of the…
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limits.
“Lord, grant me the courage to feel, to pay attention, and then to wait on You. You know that everything in me resists limits, humility, and the cross.” – Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality These words sum up the struggle of this summer: being frustrated with my limits. Lots of props are stripped away. Normal routine, the comforts of cooking and baking, a clean house, space, natural light, predictability, alone time, hosting friends and family, control over my environment. I’m not a person who likes perpetual busyness — when I’m over-busy, I don’t have time to sit and reflect on my inner state and commune with God — and…
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kitchen renovation month one.
Hi friends! I’m all caught up on North Africa posts, and have so much else to fill you in on. But first: kitchen progress. We’re one month into our renovation. Scott estimated that we’d be back in our kitchen/dining room after 2 months, then it will take them another month to build the back porch. People have been asking if they’re on schedule with the project, and the truth is, I’m scared to ask. I think we’re about halfway there, though. So in my last post, we were wrapping up a week of demo, and things looked like this: David’s parents were true heroes for sleeping here…
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week one recap.
We survived Demolition Week! David was able to talk off work some on Tuesday to help out, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to both sets of grandparents and our friends’ pool, we were able to stay out of the house as much as possible. Here’s the progress: Here are a couple pics to remind you of what our kitchen and dining room looked like before: And here we are now! Doesn’t it feel so big? They weren’t able to save any of the original hardwoods like they hoped. That’s okay, it will look much nicer to have…
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kitchen renovation manifesto.
I typed up this little Kitchen Manifesto to post on our fridge (the fridge that’s currently in our living room) this week when my eyes were itching from fine dust and the house shook with demolition. Elisabeth Elliot said that a beautiful thing about God’s power is that He’s able to use any and all of our trials, no matter how small, to refine our faith and prune us to bear more fruit. I can’t tell you what a comfort this truth has become to my heart. Over the course of my life, I’ve spent far too much time trying to talk myself out of my trials, saying, “Well plenty…
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day one: demolition.
Well friends, it’s officially begun! Scott and his crew showed up at 7:30 this morning, ready to roll. Actually the kids and I were scrambling to finish clearing everything out of the way so they could start demo. We couldn’t believe how much they got done today. Then David came home from work and decided to lend a hand by removing all the kitchen cabinets. We all had to laugh, because truly a renovation is like childbirth: you forget a lot of the process. We were stunned by the amount of noise and dust today’s work generated . . . even with our careful organization and tarps over the doorways.…
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let the adventure begin.
Hello friends! We wrapped up a great school year and jumped full steam into summer with Gabe’s 8th birthday on Memorial Day weekend, which was also the weekend our new assistant pastor and his family moved to Columbia from St. Louis. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here on the blog, but David and I leave in about a week for 10 days in the Middle East. He’ll be teaching at a conference, and we’ll visit some friends who work there. In addition, we get to spend three glorious days at the Red Sea celebrating our 15th anniversary. This spring we got vaccinations, updated passports, and coordinated childcare for…
