A Work in Progress

I have a million things to do, but decided that I'd fill you all in on my life first... a classic case of doing what I WANT to do instead of what I SHOULD be doing (like painting, cleaning, packing, teaching school, grocery shopping, and the list goes on and on... oh well, eating is over rated right?!).

So... first things first... Several weeks ago I posted a blog on "hope" and showed some pictures that to most of you didn't make any sense... well then I told you we bought a house and at least some of them made sense... But one of those pictures I only posted half the picture, so here is the whole picture....

If you look closely, you'll see Rick holding a bib that says "I love my Grandpa"... yep, it's true, We're going to be Grandparents! We are, of course, thrilled... I won't say much more, but if you go back and read that blog I bet you'll get a clearer picture, now that you know the facts! I find God's timing in this amazingly perfect, but like Rachel said, if you don't think he's got a sense of humor you need to talk to her! She is doing well with the exception of feeling crummy most of the time, but we all know that this will pass and the blessings of a new life will outweigh morning sickness in the end!

So... on to less exciting things... the house....

We got the keys to our house on the last Friday in April. We bought a place in the Collegate area of town. We have met many of our neighbors and have had people ride by on bikes saying "Welcome to the neighborhood, you're going to love it" and I think they may be right! Just behind the houses across the street is a huge park with bike trails, (winter ski trails) lakes and great places to play (not to mention the iditarod ceremony trail goes through there). Our new neighbors told us (as they got their bikes ready) that you can ride all the way to the inlet without crossing a road. Guess I'll have to get in shape real quick to keep up with them!

While we would much rather being walking or biking, we have spent the last 10 days cleaning, preparing and painting. We found the place to be in worse shape (cosmetically) and have done far more cleaning than we thought we'd have to do... i.e. I cleaned the microwave with an S.O.S. pad...need I say more? We've decided we can splurge for a new stove/oven as it is in far worse shape than the microwave was! At any rate, with the help of many dear friends, it is finally coming along and we are starting to get excited! Here are some before and 'during' shots as it is all still very much a work in progress.

Office/sewing room....

The biggest job so far was painting the ceilings... they were in BAD shape, so this has taken a lot of time but has made a huge difference already...

(Yes, Rian got more paint on the walls and ceiling than on his shirt, but maybe not much!) Like I said, we have been blessed in a huge way with help from friends at church and of course Natalie, my neighbor (hmm...do you think she's trying to get rid of us??) The pictures below are just a few of the people who have come to help.

Like I said, not real exciting, but at least you know what's going on in our lives! We have one more full week to get the new place in order, then one week to get this place in order before our official moving date of May 15th. I'll try to update you, but I'm not going to promise anything! Needless to say, we've been working day and night and are exhausted, but very thankful!