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Progress on the house...

Before-- kitchen... 

After- Kitchen... closed in the window that overlooked the carport and moved door.

Before- Den looking into Kitchen

Current state... :) Den looking into kitchen

Dad has pulled all of the old caulk out and has re-caulked my bathrooms. He is awesome!

OH... and mom painted my door black!

The door that was once green is now BLACK to match the shutters... who would have ever thought of such a brilliant idea- to have your door match your shutters. :) Or at least coordinate!!

On we go! To paint the living/dining room!! :)

What fun it's been to spend this time with family (and friends) who have GRACIOUSLY helped through the process! Oh did I mention that my family has become a family of electricians? We changed out all of the Outlets and switches on Monday...

Learning lots! Having fun! GETTING CLOSE!! (HARDWOODS go in next week... AH!)

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Happy Anniversary, Dad and Mom!!!

I'm so thankful for my parents and their example over these 31 years (though I've only known them for 24 years :)). I pray that one day I have a marriage like theirs. I've watched them over the years and I'll tell you I'm amazed at their love for the Lord first of all, and then their love for each other. Marriage is every day... it's ironing clothes, cleaning the house, changing the oil in the car, putting up ceiling fans, etc. And I'm thankful that my parents have continued to work together and have chosen to prioritize Christ, each other, and our family through the routine aspects of life. They are best friends- they really are, and it's evident every day.

LOVE my parents and want to wish them a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

This is the art work left in my living room last night... Bert Campbell loves Gretchen Campbell.
Some things never change. :)

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For those who live far away and want to see the progress... this is a little of what's happening at the house this week. :) Lots of changes are starting to take place... fans to be installed today and new outlets and light switches throughout the house. They should be fininshing the sheetrock project this week and next week the floors will be installed and refinished.

SO, this week we will stay busy in the evenings painting the house and getting the kitchen and bathrooms ready. We've re-caulked everything and are trying to get all of the surfaces painted so that when the floors go in we are DONE! The goal is for them to sit for a few weeks and have a REALLY hard finish.

This weekend mom and I stained the kitchen cabinets. I need to take pictures so that you can see them, but they look so different and I'm really pleased with them. We have considered painting them a darker color and re-staining, but I'm not sure we have the time to get that done. So for now, antiqued white will have to do. :)

SO... here are a few pictures to see the progress!

Dining room... patched and ready to prime and paint!

Moved the door from the kitchen to the dining room over a few feet...
Going to give alot more space in the "dining room" and make the long room in the front not feel quite so awkward.

Den looking into the kitchen. This is the room that has the paneling
that we are having sheet rocked in.



Before... gross... (it wouldnt have been bad except it
was just peeling away. The previous owners had covered up the ugly by
wall papering over the mess. Ingenious but not an acceptable fix for me.)



Sheetrock is in, door is moved!

Moved door... from the dining room to the kitchen.

Just need to show you the blue in the guest bedroom
Thanks to the Cutliffs for giving us the paint
for most of the house. WHAT a blessing!!!

This is my bedroom... green. SO excited to change the fixtures (fans, outlets)
and have the floors refinished. Love the color!!!

This is the "office"... the floor had a significant sag, so they have been
cranking it up to get it as level as possible. We think a heavy water bed overloaded the floor for too long and caused
the sag just in this one area. I feel like I've learned so much during this process... easy fix.
Neat to work with the contractor from First Class in Sandy Springs (Jeff Cutliff's business). They have been a HUGE help!

Just wanted to show you I got a new Thermostat!! I've been pretty excited about this. All of our ductwork under the house has been fixed and sealed, the air vents will all be replaced, and they installed this new little night light in
my hallway. :) We've been working with Hagan Heating and Air and they are incredible- if you have HVAC needs, call them!

That's all of the update you get for now. Lots more to come... loooots more! Been pretty exciting- if you're in the area, come by and see! Thanks to everybody who has pitched in to help in the project!!

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Got to spend some time with Sarah in Columbia last weekend. Ronnie and I went for a quick trip on Friday morning-Saturday morning. We had a blast and got to catch up with Andrew!! Ronnie and Andrew did what the boys always do... they found coffee and got some studying in. Meanwhile, Sarah and I painted a bathroom!! :) We had a great time exploring the restaurants around Sarah's townhouse and then making a killer breakfast on Saturday morning. (and we got in some laundry, homework and a movie...)

SO thankful for time spent with Sarah, her roommate and sister, Ronnie and Andrew!



Flowers for our table at breakfast... they have a cute little backyard patio and it was a GORGEOUS morning
to eat outside!

BEFORE of the nasty bathroom

Getting lots of work done!

Not complete, but kind-of after shot. Anxious to get everything else hung and the knobs put on the
cabinet. I wish you could SEE how much just a little paint on the walls and the cabinets
changed the feel of this little gross bathroom. :)

Just wanted to make sure you saw a picture of Ronnie... proof he was there. :)

Thankful for our time in Columbia... I actually sort-of liked it. Hmmm....

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Spent the morning in Greenwood, SC saying goodbye to our dear friend and sister, Stephanie Jones. She is going to be gone for about a year, and we were able to go see her off. So very thankful for this lady and how God has worked in her life over the last year, and for how God has used her in MY life and many others. So proud of her and thankful for her service to our country.

What a sacrifice. Please commit to pray for her over the next year as she will be facing things we can't even imagine. LOVE HER and am so proud to call her friend.

Steph and all of her families. :)

The cute little one is Steph. :)

Ellie needed to stretch after a long, emotional morning...
such a cute little American doll!

Love you, Steph! Praying for you and with you!!! Come back safely!

Thankful for the sacrifice of all of these men and women.

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Thankful, honored and privileged to take engagement shots for Sara Margaret and Will this week. It was a fun, quick little photo shoot due to heat, mosquitoes and an energetic puppy! I've never done a "session" with animals (just children, which is a close tie) but I learned that you don't have much time to snap once you finally get them situated. :)

So happy for my sweet cousin and Will, and can't wait to be a part of their day in November. Lots of great celebrations to come leading up to their wedding day and today was a great start in the fun!

So, to Sara Margaret and Will... Cheers!

Little Ruger

This is my favorite series of pictures to come... watch them try to get the dogs to cooperate...

Still not cooperating!

Still... not... cooperating!

End result. They licked our little crafty prop!

So, we opted to take the picture with Hank. :)

GORGEOUS Rock (s)

Love these two... Congratulations!

Just a few months away... and you'll be
Mr. and Mrs!

 So very thankful for my sweet cousin, Sara Margaret!

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For those of you who've been curious what this house business is all about, I am posting some pictures of the pre-destruction phase of my new little abode. :)

First, let me say that the Lord has been so kind to work out all of the details of this house. I haven't been anxious to buy a place of my own and have loved living at home, and actually will continue to do so for the next little while. But the Lord just provided the right place at the right price (thanks to Jon Vosburgh for finding this for me!) and has worked all of the details out from start to now... and I know He will continue to do so as we complete the process.
SO, with that said, thank you to all of the friends and family who have helped me in this demolition (kind-of) project. Who knew with one little change there would be so many changes to follow... once you start, you just can't stop! It's been exciting!

Obviously, the front porch... with very large, overgrown shrubs. :) This is one of the
first things to go when spring hits. I hate to wait that long, but the boss (dad)
says there is a time to pull and a time to plant. :)

Living room/dining room:
 The door on the left far side goes into the kitchen. It will be moving
more towards the center of the room to create a natural separation between the two "rooms"
and to give a little more wall space in the "dining" room.

Den/small eating area/awesome room:
Gotta check out the GORGEOUS tile... Ronnie and Jon spent many hours peeling this stuff up (well, they bent
a really big metal tool taking it up... along with the original lenoleum underneath). Then we
had a big party and a few friends came and helped pull up the sub-floor. (some kind of party!!!)

Den:
Thanks to Josh for ALL of the help! He's been so sweet to let us borrow his truck to haul all of the
tile, cabinets we've destructed, carpet, sub-floor, etc... AWAY! Thanks, Josh! Right now
we have a nice insert in the fireplace, but we're going to be replacing this with gas logs for ease. Very
excited about that!!

 

Kitchen:
This is my cute little kitchen.
We will be doing some sort of fun something to the cabinets, replacing countertops, replacing the
gas range ... minor changes here until the demolition down the road. Hardwoods will
be installed here. . . can't wait to see them installed!

Kitchen:
This is the other side of my kitchen. As you can see, there is very little wall space for cabinets therefore
there is VERY little storage for kitchen items, so we will be doing al litte work here. The door  will be moving about 4 feet to the right, and the window will be sheetrocked in (along with the whole kitchen/den area) to allow for more cabinet space in the future. This is all in
preparation for the next phase of the remodeling process (which will not be an immediate change... give me a couple of years) :)

 

Master Bath: :)
This is by FAR my favorite room in the house! (haha... kidding!) I am learning to appreciate tile of shapes, sizes and colors, and the blue is starting to grow on me. (just wait till you see the yellow towards the end of this post....) This bathroom will eventually be remodeled completely, but until then we will simply be changing out the light fixtures and ceiling fan, installing a base cabinet where the pedestal sink is located, changing the mirror above the sink and then installing a medicine cabinet above the toilet. Mom and I have been taking a furniture refinishing class and have learned all sorts of neat finishes, and she has re-finished a base cabinet from Carrie's bathroom (they just remodeled...) and a matching medicine cabinet. It's going to be snazzy!



"Office":
The bedrooms are all very similar... but this gives you an idea. This room will actually become an office... but for the time being it is a furniture warehouse. The previous owners actually called and asked if we'd like for them to leave these things for us, so we were very thankful. Sarah has actually refinished the dresser and bed for grad school- I'll have to post pictures of what she's done- such a creative sister!

Guest Bath:
Yes, if you come visit me at my house, you will more than likely get a close-up of this gorgeous yellow. :)
This will also be staying for now but eventually compeltely remodeled. For now, fixtures will change... and we'll
enjoy a bright, yellow bathroom. I'm actually a little excited about working with the yellow!!



Guest Bedroom:
Day 1 the family was over helping pull carpet out of the bedrooms, trim bushes, trim trees, pull up flooring...
just the beginning of the work. :) So thankful for the family and friends who have already been
a huge help!

 

Note that the paneling will be sheetrocked in, and the desk that Jon is standing at has been removed... ceilings
have now been painted white and the beams will be painted the trim color.
All of the walls will be changing color, outlets replaced, fixtures replaced (not one fixture matches
another right now... it's pretty humorous!) , hardwood installed in the den and kitchen, other hardwoods refinished,...
LOTS of work to be done! (along with finding a new gas range, installing gas logs in the fireplace, . . .)

Never a dull moment during this process... never a dull moment at all!

This gives you a glimpse of what we are looking at right now. We've actually begun painting the bedrooms/hallway, we've removed the chair rail in the living/dining rooms and worked on patching those walls, the subfloor in the den/kitchen has been removed. . . and the contractor will begin his part in the next week. Lots of changes soon to come. . . very blessed and excited!!

(I apologize for those who read this earlier today... I just went back through and found SO MANY misspellings and type-o's. :/ That's what I get for trying to get a post up early. :))