pictures, as promised...

The weekend's already over...why is it they always go by so fast?? We had a great date Friday night at Carrabbas! We also went by the house and took a video of the way it looks now - before the drywall goes up - even though that's still a little ways off. Then we watched a movie at home. It was so much fun hangin with my boy, as always :)

Saturday was a long day of work for Steve, Steve Schwartz and Brian! They made some good progress though!

Steve-o running wires up in the attic

some of their handiwork

They ran strapping across the rafters to make sure the drywall would go on all even...that's what I understood it was for anyway?

Brian's a lil distracted..probably talkin to his girl :)

Chris L.'s handiwork...he ran all our internet, cable, phone lines! Thanks Chris!

The backyard hasn't been mowed for a while...today it was covered in these little flowers! So cute!

Church was so good (when isn't it?)! Keith continued our series in Matthew with chapter 6, verses 19-24 on laying up treasures in Heaven! It was excellent. It's amazing that no matter how many times we hear teaching on a familiar passage like that, the Spirit never ceases to convict and reveal areas where application is needed. Praise the Lord for his sanctifying grace! After church we got Chinese, went to the house to wrap up a few things, and then went to the Coolong's for Brian and Jess's party. It was so fun! We ate lots of food and enjoyed some great fellowship out on their deck that overlooks the lake. Brain built a fire that we sat around and roasted some marshmallows. And what a beautiful night for it! It was clear and cool, but not too cool...just perfect around the fire. Thanks to the Coolongs for hosting a great party! We love you Brian and Jess...Happy Birthdays :)

awww..they're too cute. Jonathan made them matching tshirts :)

Annie Johns made them a beautiful and of course delicious cake! blowing out the candles...

This one cracks me up!
My parents :) aren't they cute? love you guys!
they both look kinda zoned out...guess it was nap time!

almost done...

Things are finally starting to wrap up for me with school!! I'm in that calm before the storm of finals. But it feels great right now. I just have one last paper to turn in next thursday, but that's all as far as assignments go. I had a Shakespeare presentation on Tuesday and a couple shorter papers that I turned in yesterday. I really can't believe it's almost over! I thought I'd never get to this point. It's funny remembering the beginning of the semester when I had this huge pile of books to read and 6 syllabi full of assignments and deadlines, and my overwhelming feelings of anxiousness and dread. I am rejoicing in the Lord's faithfulness to me during this semester! He gave me grace upon grace each and every day. There was never an instance that he didn't give me everything I needed to make it through, to accomplish the tasks he set before me. Thank you Lord for your great faithfulness and kindness!

I can't believe I'm just a little over two weeks away from being a college graduate!!! Woohoo!
It will feel so good to read books that I want to read, when I want to read them :) And no more essays and book reports and presentations and TESTS! Sorry, I'm just getting excited thinking about it :)

It'll probably be 2 more months before we can move into our house. Steve has been working so hard lately. I know it can't be fun to work a hard 8 hour day, and then go to the house and work another several hours...and then to spend your weekends working as well! He is very dedicated, and he does it all with a great attitude. But it does make the work easier knowing that it will pay off with an awesome house! We can't wait to move in. Dad Crabb will be coming next week to help with the house. He has mad skills when it comes to construction, carpentry, plumbing...basically you name it, he can do it. So he will definately be a huge help! We can't wait to hang out with him.


In other news, a friend blessed us with a Carrabbas gift card, so we're going out tomorrow night! We're both looking forward to that. Then Saturday we'll spend the day working at the house and then go to ACCESS that night! Those meetings have been so encouraging, and Steve and I feel very blessed to be a part of that ministry. Can't wait! Sunday afternoon we're celebrating Brian and Jessica's birthdays at the Coolong's house. Looking forward to a great weekend! I'll try to take pics and post them later...

framed!

All day Saturday and part of Sunday afternoon Steve and Brian were busy framing up the bathroom walls and the ceiling of the house. They got a lot done this weekend! It's all starting to take shape and it's becoming easier to envision what it will look like when it's all done.

This is the original front door. It's pretty beat up, so at first we thought we would just buy a new front door. But we really like the look of this one, so Steve decided he is going to restore it and keep it.

the breakfast bar that divides the living room and kitchen.

the dormer window in the living room. it lets in lots of extra light!

Brothers :)

The sweet cathedral ceiling. It really opens up the room.

The bathroom is all framed up! We even have the shower in place :)

The pedastal sink for the bathroom. Needs to be cleaned and the faucet needs to be replaced. other than that it's sweet!

Brian hard at work...thanks for all your help bro!

weekend of craziness...

This weekend was an extremely busy one, but it was so fun and full of God's kindness to us. Friday afternoon, after class, I headed over to watch Emma and Peter B. Keith and Joanna were away for their 10th anniversary! Joanna's parents had been with the kids all week, and I took over Friday/Saturday. We had a great time hangin out, playing scrabble, running around outside, going on adventures to Starbucks, playing Webkinz...all kinds of crazy stuff. Emma and Peter are so cute and lots of fun to watch.

Unfortunately, Steve wasn't able to join us much of the time because he had the annual Weekend of Excellence with Integrity. That included Thursday night, Friday all day and evening, and Saturday til about 4. He had a great time hanging out with all the guys and was encouraged by the whole experience. But we were both pretty tired by the end of the day Saturday!

Sunday after church we had lunch with some friends from Church/Caregroup, Chris and Natalie. We went to Red Robin. It was delicious and we had a great time of fellowship with them. Thanks guys!

Then Sunday afternoon, we went home and cleaned the apartment and I made brownies for our community group last night! Which was, by the way, an incredible time of fun fellowship and interceding in prayer for people in our group. Thanks to everyone who shared struggles for your humilty and openness! The Holy Spirit was definately moving among us. I know that everyone left encouraged and uplifted by that time of prayer. It was amazing! I love our group and am so excited for all that God will do in the future!

I am so thankful for our church body and all of the amazing friends God has blessed us with! A crazy weekend like that turns out to be so fun and filled with God's blessings because we were surrounded by people we love and who love Christ and are seeking to serve him! Instead of being drained and overwhelmed as I start this new week, I am encouraged and refreshed by God's kindness to Steve and I. He is so faithful and gracious to us. I hope you all start this week looking to Christ and recognizing all his blessings and kindness!

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!!