Rot Repair, Ceiling Rafters and a Stop Work Order!

I should be studying for a test in Middle East History right now, but I've had about all I can take of school, so I figured I'd distract myself by updating you all on the progress of our house! Good idea, huh?

The one hangup lately has been the kitchen floor. There was some rot in the floor joists, so they all had to be replaced...plus some rot around one of the kitchen windows. So all of that has been more of a headache than Steve had foreseen. But it's almost done now.

Some of the guys in our caregroup helped Steve on the house last week and they removed the ceiling rafters in the dining/living room. We're going to make it a cathedral ceiling to open it up more.

Steve and some other guys got there Saturday morning ready for a long day of work when they found this not-so-friendly notice on the door. It's not that big of deal..hopefully we'll have the permit they want to see in a day or two, but it just prevented them from working on the house over the weekend which was somewhat frustrating.

Steve is over at the house tonight with Steve Schwartz. He is running all the electrical in the house for us which is a huge blessing! Thanks Steve!

So that's the scoop! Also some of you had heard that we may not be able to extend our lease for our apartment at the end of April until we get the house done, but come to find out we will be able to stay at our apartment until the house is all finished! This is a huge relief, and it really takes pressure off Steve feeling like he has to get it done as fast as humanly possible. Now he can take time to do things in good order and enjoy the process a little more :) We are so thankful for the Lord showing his faithfulness in this situation! He is so good to us!

Alright, it's back to the books for me :)

I LOVE THIS PICTURE...

Steve went on a couple of missions trips to Haiti during high school and college. This picture was taken during one of them. I think the little boy's expression is priceless. I love it. And it's of my favoritest boy ever...Steve of course :)

Lookin a little better...

Steve had help Monday night cleaning up all that nasty debris from the walls and ceiling. Thanks to George, Donny and Kevin (out-of-town Integrity trainees), my Dad, Brock, and Brian!! You guys are awesome...it would have taken Steve a looong time to get all of that stuff into the dumpster without your help. We really appreciate it.

So it's looking not quite as scary as before, but there's still some more demo and clean-up before they can start putting up the new stuff...Steve and Brian are going to reframe the bathroom and rip up the kitchen floor and put in a new subfloor...i guess it's a little uneven the way it is now.

living room and into kitchen

bedroom 1

bedroom 2

another FULL dumpster!

Home Renovation Part One: DEMOLITION

Exciting news in the lives of Steve and Abbey: we bought a house!!!! Yes, we will soon be moving to our new little home on the corner of Rokeby and Hazel in Chesapeake, VA. The Lord has been so good to provide such a great opportunity. We are very excited about this adventure. Leslie Crosby helped us start looking a little over a month ago and has been SUCH a huge help and blessing to us...couldn't have done it without her! We love the house we got...but there are a few little things that need to be done to it before we can move in...you know...minor things like rip down all existing dry wall, rewire all electric in the house, put in all new plumbing, insulation, new dry wall, lighting, cabinets and countertops, flooring, appliances...nothing that can't be done in a couple of months Lord willing.

No seriously, as adorable as this house is on the outside, it is pretty much gutted inside...nothing in it but the walls and they tore those down yesterday. It's pretty much down to the studs with mountains of debris covering the floors. The previous owner bought the house to renovate, but ended up needing to sell it before it was finished. He had already put up new siding, a new roof, new windows and a new heating/cooling system...so all that is left is the inside. We were able to get the house for a great price and, thanks to the assistance of Wayne and Les, will be able to finish all the renovations before we move in. So Steve, Brian, my dad, Brock, Jonathan Aumen, and Jeff Bradford worked on demolition most of yesterday morning and afternoon (Thank you guys!!!). We took pictures of the process for your enjoyment...but I'll warn you, these aren't for the faint of heart.

Here's a little video tour with Steve

Thanks for staying all day to help Dad! You're the best!

Steve, with the help and expertise of Brian (his brother) and many others I'm sure, will be working on the house over the next 2-3 months. We are sooo excited about this house. The sweet thing about it is that it will practically be a brand new house when it's all done...and we get to pick everything out just the way we want it. But there are a couple of unique things that give it that old house charm...like a tall brick chimney in the kitchen. It used to be attached to a furnace under the house, but now it's not really serving any purpose. But we love the look of it so we're going to leave it there. Also there are old hardwood floors in the living room and bedrooms that we are going to restore. They are one of my favorite parts of the house.

This house is such a blessing from the Lord and we are so thankful for it. I will be posting pictures of the renovation process as we go...should be an adventure!!