Doin' the Happy Dance!!

Woohoo!!!!!!!!! The counter tops are in!! I am doing the happy dance around my new kitchen. On Wednesday the kitchen store called to set up the appointment for Monday. I gave a huge groan because we leave tomorrow for vacation. But, I told her I would make arrangements for someone to be here so they could do the job. There was no way I was going to wait until after our return, lol!! While I was on hold for something else, she spoke to the installer and he was willing to come today! Maybe it was the HUGE GROAN, lol, but since I didn't ask for that I felt especially blessed. When the two men were here we chatted and it turns out they are both Christians and we had a lovely conversation. God is so good isn't he? I love those little blessings he showers on us for no reason. Dad is hoping to come out while we are away and install our sink and faucet. It could be fully functional very soon!
As you can see, we still have a few doors off, Greg needs to put up the wood valance in between those cabinets so the doors are off for easier access. Now that the counters are in we can put on the back panel of the island as well.
Did you notice the floor? I just love it!! Greg and I were up until 1am Sunday finishing it up. (I don't do 1am very well anymore but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do) Again, the Lord just blessed us because our budget for flooring was not huge and everywhere we looked materials were easily twice our budget. We have a Big Bob's flooring outlet near us and they sell discontinued/overstock items. They had exactly what we wanted and it goes perfectly with all the other elements in the room! It is a tile looking laminate and was manageable for us to install ourselves. We installed something similar in our bathroom last fall and have really enjoyed it.
And how about those stools by the island? Have you ever just known what you wanted but couldn't find it, or at least not at the right price? I looked on-line for a place to purchase them and discovered they averaged $60-80 a stool. Not gonna happen. There must be another way! I spent a couple of hours on the internet looking for cheaper solutions and finally found one pair, new in the box, on Ebay. The seller stated they were from Ikea. Great! I will check out Ikea myself. Soooorry, discontinued. I am not easily detered so I emailed the seller with the hope he had a second pair of stools. He did!! Including the shipping, I got 4 brand new stools for $128.00!
If you need to know how to do a kitchen on a dime (well, not literally a dime ;)) ask me. I have tricks upon tricks. I even purchased 10% off coupons for Home Depot on Ebay. Did you know you could find a coupon for just about anything on Ebay?? It saved us hundreds of dollars. It almost hurts me to spend full price so I avoid it if at all possible. I have said it before but let me say it again, this kitchen would not be possible without searching out deals, using sales and coupons, Mom and Dad and the countless other people who helped us along the way. Oh the ministry that will take place in this space. I can't wait to write and tell you about it.
A silly little thing, but I cooked pasta for the first time in 9 weeks and boy was it good! Bill, the hubby of the lady I job share with, installed our gas line last Friday. He did an awesome job too! We were able to hook up our old stove that had been resting in the garage for the last year. Greg thought it would never see use again. I am grateful for microwaves but boy was it good to cook on a stove again.
We will leave in the morning for our vacation. This will be the third year in a row we have rented this cottage on Cayuga lake with Chris and his family. This year we have the added additions of my mother and little Logan so I pray for little to no rain. We would be stuffed like sardines if we all had to be inside at the same time. I am sure Greg will sleep in his usual spot, out on the dock. But the best part is...we get to relax and be together. It will be a good week.
I will be sure to tell you all about it when we return.
{{{Hugs}}}

Check it Out!

I don't have any new photos of the kitchen but we did finish putting down the floor and the appliances are in. I am hoping counter tops go in by weeks end. It looks great! Greg leaves tomorrow to direct a Teen Leadership Conference at Roberts Wesleyan College. Josh is at Boy Scout camp. Kaleb and I will be getting ready for our week at the cottage.

I thought I would share a bit church news. I think the last update I shared was our Celebration Sunday. Since then we have had a few baptisms. One of the ladies requested to be baptized at her family's cottage on Lake Ontario. A second woman asked to be baptized at the same time so we headed to the lake last night. Pastor Bill and Greg both had the honor of performing the baptisms. Most of the people in attendance are part of a small group that has just experienced amazing things. This is a group of people that has come together to support one another through many difficult trials and the changes that God is making in them are visible. Have you ever seen someone who has been restored and their physical appearance changes? Not just their countenance but their actual appearance? Skin that glows, eyes that aren't dark anymore. Cool, I tell ya! Anyway, they baptized the 2 ladies and Greg asked if anyone else wanted to be baptized and before the night was done we experienced 5!! It was an awesome night. I am hoping PB is able to get ahold of some of the photos and will post them on the church website.

George and Karen are the couple that host this small group. Karen is our ladies Sunday School teacher and George is one of the church's delegates. Two weeks ago he had a terrible fall off the deck of his pool. The x-rays showed he had broken his neck and some ribs. Greg and some people from church went to George's house and prayed over him and anointed him with oil. When he went to the spinal specialist last Wednesday the doctor said he could not see any evidence of his neck being broken. God is so good! The Lockport newspaper featured an article today on George and I thought you might want to read it, it is such an awesome testimony. Today a Buffalo news station is doing story on it as well and Greg and Pastor Bill are headed over to the house. http://www.lockportjournal.com/communities/local_story_204015806.html?keyword=topstory
Toodles...

They're In!!

Just a quick update with pictures to show you the cabinets are officially in. Obviously, not the counter top or the trim, but all in due time. My friend, Holly, and her husband came out today and Paul from church also came over for a bit. In six hours it was all done... amazing! It appears they shorted us on the materials for the crown trim so I will need to stop into the store on Monday to look into that. They will come on Tuesday night to measure for the counter tops and I am praying they can install them before we leave for vacation! In the mean time we have the floor to put down, lights to install, gas line to run, dishwasher to install, ect. Plenty to keep us busy ;). This is a good day!

Cabinets!

We have a good start to cabinets! After 2 nights of work, this is what we have. We knew this wall wasn't going to be easy. We were working around a chimney and the walls weren't straight but they have worked through all of that. If you look at the top of the cabinet you can see the chimney wall peeking out. Once the crown molding goes up you won't see any of that. From the front it is just one nice wall of cabinets. Once you open the doors you see that not all is the same, we have one 24" deep pantry with pull out shelves and one 12" deep pantry with fixed shelves. The refrigerator will slide back under the end cabinet and we have an end wall piece that will finish off that end. I have been given the green light to fill my cabinets so that is what is on my agenda this morning. Of course cereal had to be the first thing to go in, it is the most eaten food in our house!
On Saturday we have people coming back to help with the wall cabinets that will go over the sink area. The base cabinets and island cabinets shouldn't be so difficult so with any luck this process will be done at the end of the weekend. I have to say this installing process is much more involved than I ever thought! But as long as it will all be solid and straight they can take their time.
Greg and I are in search of flooring. There are so many decisions to make in this whole process, I am a little tired of all that stress, lol. Trying to find something we like in our budget is proving to be the difficult part. We went to Lumber Liquidators yesterday but I don't think they have what we are looking for. This afternoon we will try a couple of other places.
I am off to fill my cabinets! Have a great day.

Monday Update Time

Greetings from humid Upstate NY! I shouldn't really complain, we have had gorgeous weather, lots of sun and not-so-hot temps. Perfect for those of us without AC in the home or in the car. (insert muttering under breath) For the third time the AC in our van is broken and we can not justify repairing it yet again. Show me the genius who designed aluminum lines for cars that are on salted roadways! Each year a new section of the line pits out and each year it costs several hundreds to replace. It's a conspiracy I tell ya!
On to more pleasant topics...the kitchen. We painted the first coat of the final color, don't you love it? Warm, buttery yellow. Tonight at 6 we have some helpers coming to start getting the cabinets up. Yippee. One of my friends' husband does carpentry and knows how to install cabinets so he will be our guide for the process. We hope to get the wall and pantry cabinets up tonight. Greg and I may be able to handle the rest if we have to. It is nice to be in the reconstructing phase of the project.
We took the day off on Friday and spent much of it catching up with old friends. We went up to family camp to get the boys and wandered around chatting it up with people we knew. The boys had a great time, I think they enjoyed the opportunity to be with old and new friends at the same time. On our way back we stopped to pick some cherries. I don't think I have ever seen cherry trees dripping with so much fruit before. They were clustered like grapes. In no time, we picked 8 pounds of sweet cherries. Last week Kaleb and I went strawberry picking. I love that the boys are into U-pick, it makes for a fun family outing.
Joshua finally had a chance to set up the lathe he won at the woodturners convention. He proudly gave us a demonstration, covering all the safety rules, tools and techniques. He really knew his stuff, I was impressed.
The boys are off at Covenant Acres camp this week. We dropped them off yesterday. Each year they get more independant, you have to beg for a good-bye hug now. We made arrangements for them to go the same week as friends from Rochester, they were so excited to see them. The house seems especially quiet but it is okay with us. By Friday we will be ready for a reunion again.
I will be back soon with more pictures of the kitchen. Things are getting exciting now.

Happy July!

Wow, time flies sometimes. So the last time I posted Joshua was at the woodturners convention with mom and dad. The night before they returned home dad was admitted to a hospital in the area and liked it so well he stayed for more than a week! I am sure he wouldn't agree that he like it so well, lol. It was several days of up and down news but I am happy to report he is now home. Since I am sure he doesn't want me telling the world his troubles, you will have to call him to chat about it. Since they had Josh with them, Greg drove down to the DC area to pick him up. Since it was such a long drive, he spent the night with cousin Jennifer and family and had time to visit with dad at the hospital. Once he was reassured it was okay to return, he and Josh made the 8 hour drive home. It is never fun to be in a hospital, let alone when you are away from home. Being able to stay at Jennifers house was a huge help. (all of us up here are waving hi to Caitlyn and the gang)
We continue to make slow progress on the kitchen. I am trying hard not to set my expectations too high for a completion time. Every turn brings some new challenge. Greg and I added a textured finish to the ceiling partly in an effort to give uniformity to it. The kitchen had a flat painted surface but the bedroom we opened into did not. Add to that the very slight seam where the wall was and it seemed best to do a textured thing. Greg put on the goop and I used the texture brush and all was going along so nicely. You know there is a but here, don't you? But then large portions of it came down. UGH!!! It seems one of the layers on the bedroom ceiling at one time must have been wallpapered or painted with glossy paint so it wouldn't stick. It was so frustrating. What should have been an afternoon job turned into 4 days of patching and fixing. As I write this, it is all done except one corner that needs a final coat of paint. We painted the walls with one coat of tinted primer. The final color will be a darker, warmer yellow. We will probably cut in with the first coat of paint tonight after Greg is done with work.
Just for fun, I thought I would show you the sea of boxes in our garage. This folks, is the cabinet puzzle that we have to solve! We are hoping to start installing them this weekend but like I said, I have to be careful about setting plans. At this point it is unlikely we will finish in time for my mothers arrival on the 16th. Oh well!

The boys are off today to hang out with Pastor Bills family at LCC family camp. We will pick them up on Friday. They will most likely see old friends there and will have a fabulous time.
If you need Greg or I, you know where to find us ;).
Blessings to you and yours this week!