{So Much} Jane and Eugene

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Start the countdown.

Lately, every time my sister calls me and asks what I’m up to, I only have three answers (1) working, (2) painting, or (3) at a baseball game. I’m okay with that, it’s just funny that it’s gotten to the point she doesn’t even have to ask what I’m doing, she just knows it’s one of the three answers. :)

Speaking of baseball, Eugene’s team had a big win last night.

I realized a bit too late {oops} that Espn wasn’t just chewing on the baseball yesterday, he was actually ingesting the leather & stitching. Lovely. He was not happy when I stole the ball away from him; hopefully, he won’t get sick from it.

The weather was gorgeous yesterday. Much more like baseball weather than the snowy freezing situation we were in the day before.

And especially in that weather, I really enjoy watching baseball. That is, except when my husband’s running out to argue with the umpire about a poor call. Yes, the call was terrible, and he was arguing with good reason & not cussing or being disrespectful to the man, BUT if he gets thrown out of any game, we have to pay a $100.00 fee because of some high school baseball regulation. {Uh, no. I’m not okay with that.} Luckily, Eugene stopped arguing just shy of getting tossed, so we’re safe this time. {You can translate that to mean that Eugene’s safe from my wrath.}

Despite that close call {pun not intended}, it was a good day for Eugene in general. His team won, the Red’s won, we had his favorite homemade French fries with dinner, and we actually had time to relax together without painting or grading papers! Good day, indeed.

So now for the explanation behind the title of this post. I’m gonna go ahead and start the countdown until I get to see my sister, her husband & baby Cate. Woohoo! It’s been over four months since I’ve seen my best friend & my beautiful niece, so I cannot wait to see this pretty girl celebrate at her first birthday party later this month. She’s changed so much & growing great.

It’s crazy that just almost a year ago, Cate was a tiny newborn….

Here’s two pics I edited for my sister. What a big girl she is now!

And a rare occasion captured here…

This girl’s got too much to do to waste her time sleeping! {I love her lush lashes in the picture.}

Mmm, can’t wait to see her soon & give my sister a great big hug. :)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Opening up a bit.

So yesterday I was bragging about having a bathroom without a hole in the ceiling, but today I’m gonna flip that on ya & brag because another room has a larger hole now. When Eugene & I first toured our house, we both agreed instantly that we wanted to change this…

This weird shaped opening is between our living room & our kitchen/dining area. These 1/2 wall shelf unit was probably super cool back in the day when our little ranch was born, but we’re really not diggin’ it in 2011. I even took the liberty to rip off the frame around the shelf thing back when I was painting the kitchen & living room, taking it to this…

Well, I handed the baton over to the great guy who is masterly replacing our bathroom ceiling. He worked his magic & I came home from work giddy to find a great big opening in our two main rooms.

Check. It. Out…

The picture above is looking from our dining area in the kitchen towards the living room. Don’t mind the mess of kitchen items stored under the blanket on the chair, cookie sheets under the chair, the dog chewing a bone on the folded-over rug, the parfait bowl & mini crock pot on the ottoman, the hole created in the wood floor, the terrible faux brick in the kitchen, or the dusty dirty flooring. {Other than all that} isn’t that doorway a beaut?!

Here’s the view from the living room to the kitchen. Oh so messy, but that opening’s great!

And a closer view of the nice work being done.

I’ll do a real before & after comparison once it’s finished and once I have the place somewhat back in order. I’m pretty much pumped about the improvement.

We had another baseball game yesterday. It was freezing out, and we lost, but nonetheless I managed to snap a few pictures of the game because it was a bit odd in appearance. We’ll see if you can figure out what I mean…

Notice anything unusual?

Yeah, Eugene’s team was the away team, but they were wearing white uniforms – and so was the other team. Eugene ordered new uniforms this year, and they failed to arrive on time. So we had a white out baseball game! {They arrived today, 24 hours too late.}

I’ll limit myself to just 3 more baseball pics today.

I like this pic for artistic reason, not related to baseball. ;)

I’m still painting cabinets & will be for the rest of the week, if not longer. Hang tight, I’m hoping the after picture will be oh so worth it.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

We have a bathroom ceiling…without a hole.

Remember back when I detailed my wallpaper woes {I still cannot believe they stamped coyotes on the walls}, and I explained that, since our house sat empty for almost two years, the old roof started to leak, causing this lovely hole in the bathroom ceiling…

Well since we finally had a few days of good weather & got our brand new roof, we are now ready to have our ceiling replaced in the bathroom. {Praise the Lord!} So even though the hideously ridiculous ever greens & coyotes/horse/moose things are still haunting my bathroom walls, we’re one step closer to a major revamp. Look, ma, no hole!

Ohhh, ahhhhh!

And because it’s so nice to not have a gaping hole in my bathroom, here’s some pictures from this morning…

We had to channel our inner MacGyver to shower last night, since we didn’t have our curtain rod up anymore {and I didn’t have time/energy/will to go get a tension rod because I just bought a nice new permanent rod to install.} Our solution? Packing tape. It looked so janky, and it was a challenge to get in and out of the shower, but it worked and it was free. {Ha!} This bathroom looks so gross, I know. But it’ll look so much better some day…it better.

We’re having a local guy doing the work for us, and so far he’s doing great work! I also discovered where the previous owners cut a large rectangle opening in the hallway wall, and instead of repairing the hole, they decided to put a vent over it & pretend it was an air duct. Hmm. {Seriously?!} So Ray kindly patched that hole too.

I had an hour and a half to paint some more cabinets after work & before I left for small group. Here’s what they look like primed…

And after the first coat of paint. Already looking so much better!

Since I didn’t show you a fully primed picture yesterday, here’s what my kitchen’s looking like these days…

Whatamess.

Oh well, we’re making progress I guess. I was up until 4:00 am this morning super sick with a violent stomach thing. It was terrible & I still feel rotten, so I’d love some prayers for health & that things in our life can look up a bit. {Thank you.}

Monday, April 4, 2011

Cabinets are primed.

Three short words, yet hours of work. I am happy to say that from Friday to Sunday, we have every inch of our cabinets primed. With the suggestion of a Lowe’s associate, we used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 water-based primer. The can said that you don’t need to sand before applying, but we wanted to make sure we got the best application possible since the cabinets will likely get lots of wear & tear. It also said that it takes 7 days until the primer’s fully adhered, so I’m not able to give reviews just yet. I will say after a day of drying, I was not pleased to realize that my fingernail scratched a mark in one of my cabinets. Hmmm…hoping the full seven days of drying does the job.

Some friends of mine came & helped us prep for this process by emptying, sanding & cleaning all of our cabinets. So Eugene & I painted some of the base cabinets late Friday night.

The final plan of attack we decided on was to first roll the paint on with a small roller & then follow quickly with a brush to smooth out the roller marks. Seemed to work well.

Eugene had what seemed like the longest double header in history on Saturday {over 60 some runs scored…crazy!} so I tackled the cabinets in the morning, headed to his first game, and then painted for the second game only to make it back for the last inning.

I worked out a nice system for the doors. I used paint cans, buckets, and even a mayo jar to hold my doors up so that I could paint the edges and they could dry without getting stuck to the floor. I also transferred cabinet labels to the pain can so that I could paint both sides & still {hopefully} keep track of where the door goes when it’s ready to be hung again.

Nineteen doors, all primed.

And Sunday after church, I even got about half of the base cabinets painted with the first coat of white paint. {Yes that’s an empty Corn Flakes box. I’m telling you, my house is a complete wreck of a mess.}

We’re using the same brand of paint we used for the walls. Zero VOC {love} and it goes on great.

I feel like I didn’t get as much done on the cabinets as I wanted, but there’s only so many hours in the day. I’m really hoping to have the painting completed by the end of the week.

I snapped the picture below around 11 pm on Friday night when Eugene & I finally stopped for the night. We were watching 24 online, and I looked down to see our paint-covered hands. This is a perfect picture of our marriage right now. Chipped nails, paint covered skin, the dog-chewed coffee table & boxes of baking pans in the background, sports on mute on the TV & a TV series on the laptop, a pen in Eugene’s hand while grading papers. We’re pretty bogged down with life right now. It seems like we just keep finding out about a new trial we have to endure. But you know what? We’re still holding tightly to each other. And because of that, it’s gonna be okay.

On another note, my two verses for today are both from my morning reading in Philippians chapter four. {Emphasis added is mine.}

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Phil 4:11-12

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:19

I like that the second verse about God meeting all our needs and also the commonly referenced Philippians 4:13 comes right after the verse about learning to be content whatever the circumstances. That’s no mistake. Contentment is so hard to have in the world we live in, yet it’s so critical to getting to the place where we can see that God’s meeting all our needs already.

I need to strive for that contentment on a daily basis. And so much of that hinges on trusting that God will meet all my needs, without a doubt. He always has. He always will. He knows my heart & He knows what I truly need, so if it doesn’t happen, then I didn’t need it.

My daffodils finally bloomed this morning. I brought the two blooms & my fav. Ikea vase in with me to work so I can enjoy their happiness all day. {Lovely.}

Friday, April 1, 2011

A great start.

Eugene’s team won their season opener yesterday against a good team from the Dayton area. And, his team didn’t just win, they run-ruled the other team. {All you non-baseball peeps out there, that basically means his team scored so many runs they called the game early because the other team didn’t have a chance to come back.}

Cause I love taking pictures & I love sports shots too, ya’ll are gonna have to look through bunches of baseball pics for a while. P.S. If you stick with it, an exciting house update should be coming next week…hopefully.

Team huddle before the game…