Some changin' goin' on

It seems to me that we have encountered every single challenge you could think of, as far as fixing up a house in order to live in it.

For example: The kitchen was absolutely horrible. The floor was filthy, previous tenants were smokers so everything was coated with a film of smoke, cupboards had probably never been cleaned, and lets not talk about the faucet, sink, counter and windows. But bless Shane's heart, he went ahead and moved the washer and dryer into their spot in the kitchen and decided to have those up and running at least.

My parents were still here when I decided to try a load of laundry. My dad was in the kitchen scrubbing the ceiling and walls, trying to prep for painting. My mom was sitting on a box somewhere crying, and George was napping. (Not really about my mom, but she probably wanted to!) I put a load in the washer and went to do something else. Pretty soon I heard water pouring out, and realized that the entire kitchen floor (which was disgustingly dirty) was getting flooded because the water was not draining down the pipe. My dad spent HOURS trying to troubleshoot and clean out that pipe....but we eventually had to just stand at the washer and listen for the pipe to fill up, shut the washer off, wait for water to go down the pipe, then start the washer again. Over. And over. And over. Until the rinse cycle was finished.

A few days later after my folks left, I was standing at the washer turning it off and on when Shane's dad George drove up. He comes over every day (which I love) and spends time with little George. He has done so very much for us, helping get this house live-able. He took one look at what I was doing and called the water/sewer people. They were here for over 4 hours trying to figure out the problem. Eventually, it was fixed.

This is just one of SEVERAL incidents and challenges. It has seemed that every time we think something is fixed and working, it really isn't. Things that should be simple are quite challenging, frustrating and time consuming. And the Lord is using these things to change us...transform us.

Some other dear people have been helping us along the way too. And they are like Jesus with skin on (as Glenda Malmin would say) to us. And they DO go to church every Sunday. :) But the bottom line isn't about the Sunday morning shindig. The bottom line is a lifestyle modeled after Christ. And I have oh so far to go in being like Him.

And my kitchen is all up and running now! Although this isn't the most recent pic...

Oh, the titles I could write...

My first blog from Littleton, Colorado!

I'm not sure where to start writing, so I'll make a list:

...It was really hard to say goodbyes to the people I'm close to, and the places I love and call home
...Shane and I are so glad to be together after 6 weeks apart. Those weeks were God-ordained. We grew and learned a lot. But we're glad the separation is over.
...George has done amazingly well - sleeping great, eating fine, doing well with getting acquainted with new people, loving the park just down the block, loving this little house we're in, and especially loving the special family that's over here!!
...My parents came with us and stayed for several days. I haven't let myself think too much about the miles that now separate us...but I'm very thankful for phone calls, texting and video chatting. I know I'll have to face it all soon enough, but for now I just keep busy and try not to think about how much I miss them and how much I cherish the years I had living close to them.

We are renting a house from one of Shane's cousins. The rent is very cheap with the agreement that we fix the house up while living in it. Shane did an incredible job of getting it livable before we arrived. It needed EVERYTHING from floors to paint to appliances and thank GOD for the new toilet. However, there wasn't enough time for him to work on the kitchen. Having the refrigerator in the garage (accessable only by going outside) wasn't near as challenging as having no high chair or table for my 21 month old Monkey.

I'm happy to say that the kitchen is now complete, except the stove we still need to pick up. I'm learning all kinds of new things to cook in the crock pot and there's always the old favorite: toast.

George is waking up from a nap, so I better wrap it up...just wanted to at least get 1 blog out there, and hopefully it will motivate me to write more soon.