Starting to Shingle

After church this morning, we drove by the house.  All of the windows are in and they've started the shingles.  (We heard a rumor that ONE GUY...not one crew...is doing all the work because all of the roofing crews went to Alabama after the tornadoes.) So it's been a slow go this week between the shortage in workers and all the RAIN!

 But look!  They have delivered the brick!  *Fingers crossed that they get started on that this week.*

 Some of the shingles

 Drew dreaming of where the imaginary pool will go...

 Here's a pic of the garage...just because I haven't posted one of those before today. We have a little storage area!

  They can't do anything inside the house until the roof is finished, so let's pray for some roofers this week!  I can't wait until it's finished.  Every time we go and look at it, I get so excited!!  I think we're really going to love it here.

Ogle's Come to Pensacola

Being in Florida in the summertime means we get to see lots of our friends.  Last weekend my college friend, Kellye, came to town.  We had so much fun that I totally forgot to take any pictures.  This weekend the Ogle's came down and stayed at the fabulous Margaritaville Beach Hotel & Resort.  (What a nice place!  They gave the kids complementary sand bucked and shovel upon check-in and the snow cone lady walked around the pool handing out free snow cones.)  Erin is one of my oldest and dearest friends and we were looking forward to seeing them!  Andrew and I drove down to hang out with them on Friday.  He and Maggie enjoyed the pool!

 Maggie chillin' in her float.

 After playing in the pool for a couple of hours, we went down to the beach.  The waves were so high because of that tropical storm out there, that I forgot where I was.  It looked a lot like Hawaii!  So, there was no playing in the ocean...just the sand...which was fine with the kiddos.

 A little cheese while dumping sand.

After hanging out on the beach for a while, we went upstairs and got cleaned up for dinner.  We ate at Frank and Lola's in the hotel. (yum)  Drew drove over after work to join us.  

 Family photo of the Ogle's

 Maggie entertaining us with some in booth gymnastics. 

 Drew and I took the opportunity to get a pic of just the 2 of us.  (Plus, Andrew was busy talking to Maggie)

 Andrew and I indulged in the bunt cake with dulce de leche sauce.  It was fabulous.  Can't you tell by looking at Andrew's mouth?  I would have licked the plate had I not been in a restaurant!

 After dinner we browsed the Margaritaville gift shop.  Andrew and Maggie had their picture made in the "welcome to Fin Land" sign.  Aren't they cute?

I'm so glad we got to see our good friends while they were on vacation!  So remember friends, when you come to the coast, call us up.  We'd love to see you.  And hopefully very soon we'll have an actual house for you to stay in on your trip!

Dora's Baby Shower

A friend of mine from Hawaii moved back to Florida a few months before we did.  She sent me an email welcoming me to town and telling me about their ladies' Bible Study group that meets on Friday mornings. I loved our group in Hawaii (Dora actually led it) so I was thrilled to learn that there was a study group in place here.  The group meets on Friday mornings and for the past 3 weeks we have either been out of town or Drew had a day off so I haven't attended yet.  So today was my first opportunity to go.  This was a special meeting, as we were in between studies, so what better day to have a baby shower for Dora and her sweet new blessing, David!

We were asked to bring a "dish" so I volunteered to bring the cake!  Andrew helped me decorate it.  He cut out the little buttons and begged and begged to put on the shoes.  I told him we'd do that right before we went to the shower.  The first thing out of his mouth this morning: "Mommy, is it time to put the shoes on the cake?"  Finally, it was. 

He actually put the shoes side by side, but I wanted them like this:**I would also like to add that my awesome friend, Kellye, cut out most of the baby clothes!  Thanks Kel...you were a great help!**

Dora opening some gifts

The man of the hour!  He's such a cutie! 

 I love baby yawns!

The cake among a delicious spread of goodies. 

The shower was a lot of fun.  Dora got some great gifts.  There were lots of kids for Andrew to play with.  He had so much fun and I got to meet all the ladies that will be in our study.  The best part...the girl who hosted LIVES ON MY STREET!  So I met 2 of my future neighbors and friends.  Moving is hard and it takes time to meet new people, but God was looking out for me and put some great ladies very literally in my own back yard.  :)  Isn't God good?  So I'm looking forward to our new study starting next Friday!

And since the shower was in my neighborhood, it made my daily/weekly drive-by to stalk the progress of the house pretty easy.  Again, it was raining so I didn't get out.  But we have some windows and the shingles are on the roof.

And Just Like That...A House Appeared!

For about 2 weeks, our house sat like this:  Ready for a floor to be poured.

 Finally, last Friday on our way to Albertville, we stopped by to check on the progress, when lo and behold, the concrete truck was there!

 Drew checked the house on Monday and they were done with the framing!  This is what it looked like when I got back in town.  (It's POURING)

 We went back today so I could get inside it, since I didn't want to do that in the downpour the other day.  

 This is our entry way.  The two columns separate the foyer from the dining room.

 Andrew's future bedroom. (He had to wear his rain boots in case of mud at the house.)

 My future kitchen with the master bedroom off to the left.

 Andrew's future play room over the garage.

 master bath

I'm so excited that the house is FINALLY coming along and looking like a real house!  I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

We stopped working on "the green house" early on Friday to celebrate Annah's 26th birthday.  Our family, along with some of Annah's high school friends all went out to eat at Ichiban.  (Andrew was more than amazed at the hibachi grill!)

After dinner we headed over to Granny and Granddaddy's for the real "party."  Andrew had been there earlier in the day and helped Granny "decorate."  Here was Annah's cake by Emily @ Granna's Goodies. (Emily is Jefforey's cousin and also did their wedding cake)  Isn't it adorable?!

 Andrew told Gracie when she could come in.  We all said "Surprise!"

 We all wore party hats and had horns!

 That china cabinet has served as background to many a birthday party!  I'm pretty sure Annah has celebrated all 26 of hers right in that chair!

 Sisters in party hats.

 Andrew took the next couple of pictures of Gracie and Granddaddy.

 They're both pretty tired of smiling at this point because Andrew was being just plain silly while trying to take the pictures.  

Happy Birthday, Gracie!  I hope it was a good one!

Operation: Green House

This past weekend, Drew, Andrew, and I drove up to Albertville for a wedding.  The bride looked gorgeous and the reception was stunning.  I pulled out my camera to take some pictures, but alas, my battery was dead.  What a bummer!  So you'll just have to believe me when I tell you how gorgeous it was.  This wedding made me feel extremely OLD!  All the friends of the bride were there.  Several of these gals were my dance students when they were in FIRST GRADE.  (like I said...OLD)  It was great catching up with all of them.


Our trip had another purpose as well.  My sister and brother-in-law are moving back home.  They'll be living in an old farmhouse on our land, known lovingly as "The Green House."

My Great-Grandfather bought this house back in 1954 (I think).  We don't know exactly when it was built, but it was long before electricity, central air, or BATHROOMS.  So over the years a bathroom was added on, as was electricity, and a window A/C unit.  This house is OLD, but very charming.  My Dad along with his brothers and sisters lived in this house until they built the house my Grandma lives in now.  Over the years, the Green House has turned into a storage unit for our family's unwanted furniture.  But all that has been cleaned out now and we're renovating/updating it for Annah and Jefforey to live in.
I love remodeling projects so I asked to stick around and help out.


The first couple of days, we were working on things that you couldn't necessarily "see" but needed to be done.  Dad had started working on the plumbing before I got there, but wasn't finished.  So we finished up the plumbing. I should have taken a picture of poor Dad covered in mud from crawling around under the house all day.  We got that finished up on Tuesday and now there is running water!  Hooray!    We also had to support some floorboards under the house, and reframe a couple of outside walls.


This room was an afterthought on this house.  It was originally the back porch and you can actually see the white porch post still there in the middle of the wall.  We gutted these two walls to reframe them and add insulation.  We also did away with the one window to maximize storage space.  (This will be the mud room/laundry room/half bath.

 getting ready for the new window

 Eventually all the windows will be replaced but since we were doing framing in this room, we had to replace this one now.

 making the new frame

 In the coming months, they will be replacing the siding on the exterior of the house as well.

Moving on to the bedrooms:  Jefforey had already primed all the rooms so all we had to do was paint.  The carpet will be coming out in both of the smaller rooms.

This will be the office. (before)

 (after paint)

Mom and I like to call this one the "imaginary baby room" because IF Annah and Jefforey ever make me an aunt, this is where the lil one will sleep. :)

 If they have a boy it'll be blue and brown....girl means pink and brown....so we painted it brown.

The master bedroom needed to have the walls washed and the ceiling painted.

We didn't do anything to the kitchen except wash half of the cabinet doors.

 We have no idea what the orange/yellow streaks are coming down the walls in the dining room?!  Don't worry...they came clean.

The living room got a fresh coat of paint.  It will also get new floors (at a later date in time)

 Let me know if you'd like to buy this piano!

And now the bathroom....that's really what I came for...to tile the bath tub.  If you remember, I told you this bathroom was added on to the house sometime in the late 50's.  The walls were covered in this black fiberglass stuff.  Jefforey had already done the demo and got that stuff out of the way.  We had to reframe the walls, add insulation, and add sheet rock.

(This closet used to house the hot water heater.  It will now be a linen closet.)

 Annah loves the retro feel of the mosaic tile, so it's staying. (It just needs a little cleaning)

 Finally the cement backer board went up so I could start tiling!

 At 11 pm that night, we stopped right there...

 The finished product...minus the grout.  I didn't get to totally finish before I had to leave. :(

 And I made sure to get out of town before they started the tape, putty, and sanding of the sheet rock...NO THANK YOU!  Count me out!  lol

I love the blue accent tile because it matches the cabinet top that will go in there. 

I can't wait to show you pictures when it's all said and done.  It's going to look great!