Labor Day weekend.

I had a wonderful weekend. Eugene & his dad busted their rears tearing out drywall and frame work all around our basement. I’m so thankful for their hard work on it. Now we’re ready for the professionals to take over & fix the water issues.

Friday & Saturday I got sneak away and enjoy two competitive volleyball matches won by the Tigers. I can practically taste Fall right around the corner now that volleyball has begun. I love this sport.

I also broadened my sports horizon and watched some of my sister-in-law’s mad skills in her high school soccer game…

We had good food with both our families.  We enjoyed a bonfire with our friends from church. I made my favorite salsa recipe, which was a hit with friends & family alike.

…with the largest marshmallows I’ve ever seen – see the normal marshmallow on the bottom and the gianormous one on the top?!

Oh, and our friends who hosted also have a hog farm…

I don’t think I’ll have bacon for quite a while. :(

This weekend, I also enjoyed a huge field full of blooming sunflowers as I took some senior pictures for Eugene’s cousin…

I know it’s obvious since I used them as my wedding flower, but I seriously love sunflowers {so much.}

My weekend was full & lovely. Perfectly lovely.

I am so blessed.

Birthday food.

Eugene’s birthday was Friday. Unfortunately, I worked a volleyball camp all Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday morning, so I didn’t really get to celebrate his birthday with him much. He was so great, encouraging me to coach the camp because he knows how much I love the sport. I miss being around volleyball so much, so this weekend was good for my soul!

Despite the crazy schedule, we still managed to sneak in some steak & his favorite oven baked fries for dinner , and funfetti cake with his family on Thursday.

 

I had to leave part of the cake un-iced {the exclamation point part} because Eugene doesn’t like frosting. He’s not a dessert guy at all, so the fact that he even likes funfetti cake is a major plus.

{I like that the picture above looks like his sister is helping him blow out the candles from a distance!} ;)

Eugene was pleasantly surprised with breakfast in bed on his birthday – eggs, sausage, pancakes with sprinkles in them.

And we also enjoyed a free Griffin House concert late Saturday night in the park with friends…

We got some bad news about our basement on Thursday {very expensive to fix correctly}, so we weren’t in the best mood to celebrate his birthday, but I hope that, at the very least, his stomach was full & happy and he knows how much I’m thankful for the day he was born!

Goldie’s in the house.

We’ll keep with yesterdays tradition of starting with the bad and ending with the good. To update you on the basement inspection from last night, it’s not a cheap fix. Depending on what all we want to fix, we’re looking at anywhere form $4,000 - $7,000 in work from bracing the wall, installing a water release system with a new sump pump, and/or window guards. Um, it’s not what we budgeted for the basement {$600 for new drywall}, but that’s what happens when you buy a foreclosed home that hasn’t been lived in for almost two years.

It’s just a small leak in the basement corner that we thought was from neglecting the downspouts and gutters and such, but after we removed the drywall to replace it, we realized we needed to solve a bigger problem by bracing the block walls before replacing the drywall. Considering we’ve had ridiculous, record-breaking amounts of rain this year, we’re actually pretty pleased with how well the basement held up. While we don’t plan on using the basement bedrooms for at least a few years, we still want to have a safe basement with out any water damage. So we’re left decisions to make, to get a second opinion, pray about what is the wise choice, which to fix now, which to fix later, and how much of our savings we’re willing to part with for a basement corner. {Ugh, I wish all our large ticket items were more exciting – a roof, septic system, bathroom ceiling, water softener – all pretty lame items, but necessary.}

On a much happier note, my grandma Goldie is in town staying with my parents this week, so we had them all over last night so that she could see our house. She has seen pictures of it on the blog, but hasn’t been to see it in person yet. It was a real treat to show her around & share with her all our reno plans. I have a tendency to feel like we’ve accomplished nothing & made hardly any progress on the house, but when I show the before pictures & give a tour to someone who hasn’t seen it I’m reminded of all that we have done. We’ve come a long way, and although it’s frustrating and overwhelming at times to think of all that still needs done, I need to remember where we started.

My grandma has a great decorator’s sense, so I really valued her compliments on what we’ve done so far as well as her suggestions and creative ideas for new projects. I think part of my creative decor jeans came from Grandma Goldie {although she’s got much more style than me!} She even brought us a housewarming gift – such a thoughtful grandma! The gift is a unique piece of artwork in a black frame {matches our gallery wall well}. The artwork is of one tree in the middle of a field and as you walk by the piece and view it from different angles, the tree changes seasons. It’s hard to explain, but look below & you can see what I mean. This is four pictures of the same frame from different angles.

Very different! She said that when she bought it she thought, “You two are young and like to have people over – this will be a good conversation piece!” Love it. She’s too cute & I’m so thankful that we got to have her over to the house & enjoy a dinner with her and my parents.

I also had some pretty flowers leftover from a wedding I worked this weekend. They were perfect to display around the house for our company. Fresh flowers make even ugly, unfinished rooms look pretty.

Lovely daises & baby’s breath.

 

Gosh I love that vintage tin with fresh flowers in a mason jar. Happy, happy.

Darn lights and a pool party.

Let’s start with the bad news and end with the good, shall we? I got a call yesterday while I was at work from Eugene. “I have bad news for you.” Wonderful. Love the sound of that. He told me that while he was sitting on the couch he heard a huge crash sound that scared the poor pup to pieces. He rushed to the bathroom, only to find that the brand spankin’ new light fixture I installed just last week had pulled out of the wall – drywall anchors and all.

 

ARGH! That’s really discouraging! I don’t know why the anchors didn’t hold, but I will definitely be trying a different method next time.Too bad I’ll have to find new globes…that makes two light fixtures that have broken before really even getting much use, well three if you count the crunched shade in the kitchen.  The score is 3-1 and the light fixtures are beating me. {I hate to lose.}

Okay, enough of that frustration. Last night our small group at church got together for a mini pool party. The boys enjoyed some competitive, complex game of who-can-catch-the ball…

While the girls tried 14 ba-zillion attempts to take a picture with an underwater camera. Only one attempt was {slightly} successful…

You would have thought we were all twelve-year-olds playing pool catch & laughing under the water! But we sure did have fun together almost as if it were a Saturday afternoon on summer vaca instead of a Monday work week. {I’m getting good at pretending it’s vaca for a day!}

Tonight, the “Basement Doctor” is coming tonight to look at the leaky corner in our basement. I’m praying that he tells us it’s no big deal and that there’s some cheap and easy way to fix it, but we shall see. Here’s to hoping for good news tonight!

A full cart.

How about a virtual shopping trip to Ikea where you can view what’s in my cart? As I mentioned yesterday, Eugene & I went to Ikea with our friends on Sunday afternoon to pick up lots of items for the house. And I have to admit that I’m now having some serious buyers remorse because I learned yesterday we have to purchase four new tires for my car. We probably spent too much at Ikea {$400.00}, but I will qualify that by saying that everything we got was a good deal.

On our way down, we stopped for a super good lunch at Red Robin with Jake & Sarah.

I was so thankful to have Sarah’s help in making decisions on curtains and other decorating items. I tend to get a bit overwhelmed with choices…especially in a megastore. {I hate making decisions.} So Sarah came in clutch in helping me pick out items. Not to mention that Jake kept Eugene sane. {Eugene hates shopping.}

We made it safely to the West Chester Ikea in about an hours time.

I always feel like I’m a lab rat in a maze when I go to Ikea. I love the items, but the layout of the store tends to make me dizzy!

 

So, what did we buy? The main bulk of the purchase was curtains & rugs.

We already have this rug in our entry way area, but we bought a replacement for $14.99. Our current one’s been through two moves and a puppy, so it was high time to get a new one.

 

We got this rug for one of the bedrooms. At $19.99 I figure I should be able to find something to match the basic gray pretty easily.

 

Then we picked up two of these rugs for $29.99. I plan on using them in the other two main bedrooms. Basic, nothing special, but a good price & we need bedroom rugs.

For curtains, I picked up a few packs of these curtain clips for $2.99. I’m thinking I’ll use them in the kitchen for sure & probably the living room too.

And for the curtains, I bought five or six pairs of this basic white tab curtain. For $14.99 a pair, you can’t beat the price, and I can live with basic white curtains in most of our rooms. I can always jazz ‘em up later with a little creativity.

 

I also bought one pair of the same curtains in khaki color to use with a white pair in the living room

 

We picked out two of these large wall shelves for $19.99 each & plan to hang them in our dining area.

I snagged some of the Ribba frame collections because I want to make a gallery wall eventually. I bought them in black because I didn’t see them in white, but after looking online this morning I think they have them in white, so I’m a tad bummed. Oh well, I’ll make it work. These were on the “wish list” and maybe should’ve gone towards the tire fund, had we know about it at the time. Eh, we have ‘em now & I’ll just enjoy it cause we’re certainly not driving an hour to return some frames!

 

The one thing Eugene wanted to buy was a Wok. Don’t ask me why, but he’s been wanting a wok for our homemade Chinese dinners. So random, but I was glad we could get something he wanted. And at only $4.99, he said “It’s practically free!”

I desperately need a rolling pin, so I picked one up for $4.99. I have been using cups as rolling pins, and since none of my cups are perfectly straight edges, it hasn’t been too successful for me! {Go figure.}

Got this guy for $4.99 for our hallway.

And another one of these lamps {I already had one} for our bedroom. Just $9.99.

We bought five or so of these $0.99 stomach sleeper pillow fillers. We’ll use them for guests and for the shams on our bed.

And we bought some $2.99 Inner Cushion fillers for thow pillows. Probably should’ve passed on this one now that I look back, but oh well.

And for my favorite Ikea item ever: the Snartig vase. I love this dainty little vase. I already have two, but I picked three more up because at $0.79 apiece, they just make me smile! I just love these. :)

And on the way out we bought a cinnamon roll & a hot dog dinner for Eugene.

It was definitely an exhausting day, but it was nice to spend time with friends and get some new things for the house.

Today I’m feeling super overwhelmed. Last night right before bed, I walked down to the basement to turn off a light & realized that our basement was flooded. Our sump pump hadn’t been running and there was almost two inches of standing water seeping from our laundry room through the carpet in the living area & under the bedroom walls. {Oh gosh. It was bad.} I tried not to get too stressed, but poor Eugene had to stay up late to get the sump pump working again and start trying to mop up the floor and decide what to do about the carpet situation. He’s home from work now, being an amazing husband and trying to remedy the waterlog issue. I’m just hoping & praying the water doesn’t ruin the walls. Last night was the first time I’ve ever wished for a second that I still rented. It just makes me upset to think that something we just bought {finished basement walls} might already be ruined.

That lovely issue, combined with the news that I need new tires, on top of our expensive shopping trip {I NEVER spend that much money shopping…NEVER} has me all stressed out. We have the money, it’s not that. I just feel like things are out of control right now, and totally overwhelming Eugene & me. He’s handling it marvelously; I just feel for him that he’s got so much to deal with right now with teaching, coaching, fixing the house, and being my husband.

Welcome to the real world, huh. It’s overwhelming sometimes. And scary most of the time. But it always works out, and God is always in complete control. So we’ll keep on keeping on, and as Eugene always tells me “It’s gonna be okay.”

P.S. Anybody know of a good place to get quality tires that won’t break the savings account?

An appropriate first dinner and a much deserved shout out.

We’ve been so busy with the house updates that we haven’t really had what I would qualify as a “real meal” at our house until a couple days ago. We’ve been eating our fair share of leftovers, cereal, or grilled cheese & tomato soup. But two nights ago, we cooked a “real meal” together in our kitchen. And it just so happens it was a pizza meal. Big surprise. Eugene’s family is notorious for pizza dinners & he’d love to have pizza for every meal if he could. So, quite appropriately, we made calzones together and enjoyed a real meal at our kitchen table {sans wall paper} in our house. :)

I used my handy-dandy Bisquick pizza crust recipe and added some Italian Spices, parmesan cheese, & garlic powder to it to make the the calzone’s crust. I love my Bisquick recipe because it’s super easy, quick, and convenient for nights when I’m in a rush.

To make the calzones it wasn’t rocket science…basically make a pizza, fold in in half, crimp the edges with a fork & bake for 20-25 minutes.

Turned out great & it made enough for 4 pieces of calzone…dinner that night & lunch the next day for the two of us. :)

I should apologize that I’m about to go from food to mold, but, on a nastier note…Eugene had a snow/ice day again yesterday, and while I was away at work, he put on a respirator mask & started the demo on one of the bedrooms in our basement. The drywall had some mold from a downspout leak as you can see here. Ew gross.

And by the time I came home from work, we were mold-less, carpet-less & drywall-less. Much better!

Poor guy has worked his tail off this last week while all his fellow teachers probably got to sit by a fire & sip hot tea. He’s been so productive & helpful as we tirelessly work to make the place livable. Because of that, I just want to end this week’s posts with a shout out to my biggest blog fan, Eugene himself. I’m so thankful that we have a house together to make our home. And I’m so thankful for all the work he’s put into our house already. After over seven years together, lots of working through life, lots of growing up, lots of tears and even more laughs, He’s still my best friend. I know we’ll likely bicker more now that we’re working on the house together {manual labor tends to cause us to lose patience}, but there’s no one I’d rather do this with. He’s my best friend. He’s the biggest blessing God has ever given me. And, I love him {so much.}

Thank you, Eugene, for all your hard work so far, all that you sacrifice for us, and for the way you always aim to love me as Christ loves the church. You make me smile…even when there’s mold in the basement & checkered wall paper in the kitchen. :)