Surprises in Remodel

The remodel of the GBH is well underway!  The race is on to have the house done enough for us to move in around June 30.  Translation:  Whenever the moving truck arrives at it's destination! :) 

Last Friday Sep called to tell me about his find in the basement. (unfinished portion of the basement)  So excited...I knew it was a secret treasure box filled with stacks of gold bars!  Boy, I was wrong.  It was a snake.  Yes, a snake.  He said not to worry, he saw where it went back out!  EEKS!!!!!!  New door and filled cracks are on his list of to do's now.  

Yesterday he sent this picture on, ceiling  and flooring has been removed from the living room!  This is looking through the living room.  Standing back near the dining area out to the the front door of the house.  Yes, that's original hardwood, but needs to much patchwork to restore and keep.  Great progress!  

And then a fun surprise!  There are actually cathedral ceilings above that 7 foot ceiling in the living room!  So, they are going to drop that ceiling today and we will have a nice tall cathedral ceiling with a cool beam in the middle.  So so fun!

They're wrapping up demo today and framing in some new additions before electric moves in Wednesday and drywall early next week!

And at home...the packing continues....we are living in a maze of boxes!  What an adventure to get our family back together!  It will be worth the work!

Time for Change

I hope to be much better at updating the blog as this season settles more, but I can't promise!

The packing is WELL under way as our move date is creeping closer and closer!  Just a mere 3 weeks from today the moving truck will pull in!  We have some delightful friends who deliver us hardy boxes multiple times a week.  Last night their black Tahoe pulled in with another load.  I am so thankful for their willingness to serve in this capacity.  What a blessing!

Toby's reaction when he walked in the door Monday after school was priceless.  He walked in and noticed I had taken most all pictures off of the wall and said, "What in the world is going on in here?"  It was his true heart response and gave us quite a giggle.

Today we officially start the remodel at the GBH.
3 weeks of construction to include (but not limited to):

• Remove paneling and plaster and drywall all walls and ceilings
• Remove 1 wall between dining room and living room
• Prime and Paint walls and ceilings
• Remove flooring and of course, replace
• New plumbing
• 2 new bathrooms
• New Furnace and A/C unit

The remodel will continue for some time, but these are the items we would like to complete before moving in the end of the month/early July.

I've decided to change up the decorating a bit and the boys have decided to have their own rooms so they are, with much excitement, designing their own rooms.  So, help a sister out...Tucker wants a wall of army camo.  Hmmmmm....Toby wants 3 murals on three walls, One of Justin Verlander, one of Chris Kyle and one of ... gee whiz I can't even remember.  They (and their Dad) also have big plans to build a secret door between their two rooms AND they are building their own beds with Dad's help.  Fun memories.

It's been fun to dream about the new house...I love this:

This firepit was super cute too!

And then the color scheme for the new house.  I like this.  Sep said he needed more choices.

So, I suggested this one:

 He said he needed more. So this was my final straw.  He is concerned it's not going to have red in it anymore...one of our favorite colors.  So, now I'm torn that I should go with my current colors...but my deadline is drawing in closer and I need to make a firm choice.

I grabbed these cream and blue chairs this week to go with our oak table and a black bench on the other side.  Now how in the world could I add red to that??

The new house has a living room inside the front door that will be the new home to a deep plum sectional currently in the office at The Foundry.  Also, a family room downstairs of the bi-level portion of the house.  This is where the fireplace is, and our current couches will go to keep with the browns, reds, greens color scheme we currently have.  It will also included animal mounts on the walls...eeks.  

Coming next...the BEFORE pics of the GBH dwelling!

Sunrise at the GBH

The GBH, what's the GBH???

(picture not actual; Wildlife calls

Photo by Maxime Riendeau on Fivehundredpx) 

On February 22, 2016 Sep called our realtor down in Richmond, Indiana to put an offer on a house we had seen and fallen in love with.  The home had everything we had hoped for with the exception of one thing....acres.  The home came with 5 acres, but in our perfect dream we had hoped for some acres to roam and hunt and plant and live.  

Sep explained to Rob that we would put an offer in, unless he had heard of any acreage that had come onto the market since we had talked a week or so ago.  Rob told Sep he planned on calling him that day.  Just the night before he had sat down with a family in Northeastern School District about helping them sell their Dad's estate, 40 acres.  As if 40 acres wasn't enough, the Whitewater river runs through the back 10 acres of woods on the property, there is 20 acres of rolling hills, and the existing house and another 10 acres of woods in the front of the property.  And, the house was surrounded on three sides by a babbling brook.  (Is that the same as a creek?  Babbling brook sounds much more picturesque).  

February 23rd, Sep went and visited the home and was sold.  He was so excited, I knew this was the one.  So, the following weekend, the first week of March the boys, Mom, Sep and I went to check it out for ourselves.

The land was dreamy.  We were so excited!  Mom, Sep, the boys and I walked to the back of the property with our fabulous realtor Rob.  What a trooper!  While we walked on our walk to the back Mom noticed what she thought was an eagle's nest in the top of a sycamore tree.  Sep and Rob thought she was crazy!  The closer got to the river at the back 10, the more nests we saw! 

Toby took off on a run to check it out.  "27!", he hollered!  

Mom and I responded with, "27 WHAT?" 

He says, "27 Eagle Nests!!" 

OH MY GOOD NIGHT!  It perked the interest of all of us now.  They were NOT 27 eagle nests, they were 27 Great Blue Heron nests!!!  (And, boy did they think Snoopy was dreamy!  He ran tail between legs to Mom for cover!)  Ha ha

So now, we refer to our new land and home as The GBH.  Isn't that fun.  And of course I'm running with it.  I've been looking for weather vanes in the shape of Great Blue Herons, paintings of herons, color schemes of the blue herons.  How fun!!!    Except those colors don't match the colors I currently decorate with.....Can someone call Chip and Joanna Gaines and have them join us for the intense 3 week remodel of the home?!?!?  

Sep and I had to come down to Ohio Sunday afternoon for some business at The Foundry, another quick meeting with the ATF for Ram Rod Gun Shop and for me to stop and meet and greet with the Dow Chemical folks at the West Alexandria, OH site.  Good visits overall for all three of those items.

But this morning, this morning...we drove to the GBH :) for an peek at the early morning look and surroundings.  

Our site to build a home in the next couple years...isn't that pretty?!  You can't see the nests from this view, but they are down there just past the tree line.  

And, the beautiful sounds in the morning at the GBH.  :)  We are looking forward to our new adventure!

Short quick recap...

Boys in front of the The Foundry shortly after we took over leading this business.
Let's go back to July 2014 when we were sitting down to a nice dinner at our home in Michigan when the phone rang.  It was Sep's Aunt who was calling from Ohio.  His Dad had passed away unexpectedly.  So many different emotions and thoughts flooded our mind.  I was just figuring out who was going to cover my teaching time at church for the weekend when we traveled down for the funeral.  Sep knew this untimely death meant so much more.  He is an only child to his Dad and his Dad owned a business in Dayton, OH.  Yep, you guessed it, it was now ours...

On that day in July 2014 we were both employees of The Dow Chemical Company.  By August 2014 Sep had to retire from Dow in order to run, The Foundry, Inc. in Dayton, OH.  

Here we are May 2016 and are in the final stages of moving south, closer to The Foundry, so our family can be together more.  Week after week of Sep traveling to Dayton was really starting to take a toll on our family unit, the not being together, the stress of Sep not knowing what was happening in Ohio while we were in Michigan. We spent much time in prayer together as a couple and as a family. And of course, in our alone times with Jesus as well.  We both felt a peace about pursuing a move closer to The Foundry and that's when Jesus began to show His power in orchestrated all things falling into place.

Last week, May 10, 2016 we sold this beautiful, fabulous, dreamy Michigan home.

This week, May 17, 2016 we purchased this beautiful parcel of land, 40 acres.  It includes the Whitewater River at the back of the property, woods, tillable land, a babbling creek on three sides of the house, and a house that just needs some LOVE.  We are up for the remodel!  Occupancy to take place the weekend of July 4th...

Stay tuned....