Answered Prayer When You Didn't Pray In Faith

A couple of days ago (Oct.31) we had our 4 year anniversary here in Idaho! 

Time goes so quickly and yet, in other ways, it seems as though

we have been here for a very long time - maybe 

the 4 moves in four years have something to do with that!

We started in Boise where we lived in an apartment for 4 months.  
Oh yes, I even painted a couple of walls in that place!

Then we bought a house in Boise by the foothills.  

It was built in 1973.  

Although I painted like crazy the year we lived there we didn't do any major things 

and it is one of the few houses that didn't get the makeover that I had dreamed for it.

During the time we lived there Warren started a cabinet shop in Caldwell 

that made for a much longer commute than what we wanted for him.  

We found a foreclosure in Nampa that I fell in love with and Warren decided was a good buy.

Made an excepted offer.  Bought that house.  Started the "big" remodel.  

What I didn't get to do in Boise I made up for in this house!  It was major.  

I love a good before and after!

After a few months of having it set idle with little work being done on it 

(we had other irons in the fire) 

we put our house in Boise up for sale thinking we would have some time to work on the "project"

before it we would have to move into it.   

We had multiple offers the first day!  

Yay for good realtors!!!!  (Monica & AJ Lehman)

I wish I had been better about taking pictures of these houses.  

I'm just not the best with a camera....

The house in Nampa took about 4 months of really hard work 

and two years of work now and then.

It was an old house, built in 1923, that I would call 

about as close to my dream house as I have come.

I love old houses.  

I spent a lot of time praying that Warren would come to love it too 

so we could retire there and finish out our years!

 In all fairness to him, he had told me before we made the offer on that house 

that we would not being staying.  It would be a "flip". 

He wanted to be out of town on a small piece of land.

It was a fun, beautiful, old house with enclosed windowed porches,

a built in buffet with leaded glass doors and beveled mirrors, 

enormous cast iron tub with a rounded foot, 

inlaid wood floors and built-in closets.  

And we made that house proud.

 She sparkled when we moved out. 

And God knew my heart because she went to new owners that maybe even love her more than I did.

I must tell you now that even while we were working on this wonderful house, 

Warren had his mind on property.  

And I LOVE to look at property!  

We looked at several and actually made 2 offers.  Both rejected.  

We were not so much disappointed as we were surprised.  

We thought we had made good offers with excellent terms.  

BUT we had been praying and we didn't want to be somewhere where we weren't suppose to be....

Then one evening, when Warren and I were praying together about what was next, 

I added

"and you know how much I love water views, Lord"

My faith is small, let me just say that, and I really didn't have any expectation of some great "view"

as a matter of fact we were praying about another foreclosure at the time 

that I just couldn't wrap my brain around.  

"if we were younger",  "if funds were unlimited",  "if it wasn't so far from EVERYTHING"

were a few of my concerns. 

Let me interject here that between our last rejected offer 

and my prayer there had been some changes in our lives.  

Warren had been asked to be the worship leader for a church plant in a little town

outside of  Caldwell called Homedale.  

I had been praying for a ministry opportunity for Warren.  

Having left Brazil and then Tennessee we had had a hard time connecting with a church 

and we missed fellowship.  

However, a church plant wasn't what either of us had in mind yet it felt like the Lord 

and we thought it was temporary..... !   

We love our church and that happened quite quickly SO our two rejected offers?  

They would have been in the wrong location!!!!  

It's almost as if God knew!  (sarcasm)

The day after my "water view" prayer our piece of property was listed.  

We happened to have our realtor (as our friends!) over for dinner that night and Kellie was visiting.  

I mentioned it after being asked "are you still wanting to look at property"   (well, by the way....)  

We drove out to look at it that evening.

Warren still says I didn't even notice the old, crappy mobile home

that smelled before you even opened the door.  

Or that the garage was one of the uglies things ever that sat smack in the middle of the property.  

No, I didn't notice that it didn't have my old, dream kind of house with glassed in porches and wonderful built-ins....   

I just saw the river.  The water view.  And I think I cried a little.

More to come.....

3 Houses - 3 Years: This and That

Wow - I've been lazy!  

We have moved 3 (yes, you read that right) times since I have posted!!!

First we bought a house in Boise that was built in 1993.  

We didn't get to do all that was in my heart for that house before we moved exactly a year later.

Then we moved to Nampa 

where we bought a house that was built in 1920.  

Love that house.

We pretty much redid that house and, I must say, she's looking pretty fine these days.  

Yes, we still own her but we are planning to put her on the market soon.

Now we are living in Marsing.  

In an old double wide mobile that stunk so badly 

that a person literally couldn't stand to be in it for long....

well, we have remedied that :) 

and we've done some fun, cheap things to make it livable until we build.  

But I must say, it's just not a bad little place to call home 

and I have had a lot of fun with her.

So....I thought I would just post some pictures 

of some of the random things I have been up to. 

Enjoy!

I just bought this old industrial storage shelf unit.  

Warren and I reconfigured it for this entertainment unit.  

It was more time consuming then we though (of course) but it turned out to be a fun piece.  

I'm loving it for now but when and if I get tired of it, it can be used in multiple other ways.

My brick wall - in the mobile!  

Bought some of that brick board at Lowes ($27 for a 4x8 sheet) and painted it white.  

It looks really great and it covers a hole where the hood vent had gone through the wall!

The kitchen 

Warren made melamine cabinets for this room because the old ones were so gross.  

A cheap fix - when you're in good with a cabinet maker!  

The "tile" is actually painted on the wall - grout and all. 

 I thought I would do this for two reasons: 

1.  would I get tired of so much pattern?

                  2. I would never buy tile with color because it's too 

             permanent and styles colors change to fast.

  

This way I could try out both and I am so glad I did.  I love what it adds to the kitchen.

A close up of the "tile".  

You can see in this picture where I have started

 to cover (edge) the butcher block laminate

with marble contact paper!  

It works and so far is holding up well.

Here you can see where we are putting down our "wood" peel 'n stick floor! 

We got it for .59 a square foot.  I ordered it from Lumber Liquidators.

We just wanted a quick, easy fix. 

When we started putting it down we were surprisingly pleased.  

It really does look great and is easy to clean.

OH, YES I DID!

I have been wanting a herring-bone floor so what better time to try it out but on a quick, cheap floor!  It wasn't "quick" but it was fun and I am so glad I took the time to do it because it makes me smile just to see it  AND  it breaks up all the flooring in otherwise a boring hallway.

Of course, 

 there has been more project than what I am showing you here

AND

I know you would probably rather see pictures of our 1920's house!

Maybe those will come....

or maybe this is a once every 3 year post!!!!

A New Place

Most of you probably know by now that we've moved!  

A little over a month ago we packed up our Element and a little u-haul trailer 

and made the trip acrossthe states to Boise, Idaho.

I must admit, it was harder to leave Cleveland, TN than I expected.  

Of course, we left kids there, and that was brutal, 

but also we left many good friends 

and a church body that we had come to love.  

We still miss them all....

With that being said, we are settling nicely into Boise living.  

We have a little 2 bedroom apartment that is right next to the greenbelt.  

Even though it is cold here right now we have taken advantage of it for walks. 

It goes along the river and a small lake just steps from our parking lot!

  Just beautiful.

 We are looking forward to spring weather so we may take even better advantage of living so close.

Our apartment itself is nothing special but it was plain and neutral with a good floor plan.  

Since we hadn't brought any furniture with us, 

I spent the first week shopping antique and used stores with my sister.  

Such fun!  

I'm not finished with the whole place yet

but enough that we are able to enjoy being here.

Today I'll show you the most completed room:

The living room

This isn't entirely the before but it is the beginning! 

The bookshelf is the only piece of furniture

we had brought with us.

  And that was because it went in the first!!!! 

 Everything else got taken off the

list as we filled the trailer up!  

My Mom and I had already painted the wall on the right.

it had been a dark brown-green color

and the room gets very little light because of a huge tree

outside.  It made such a difference!

I'll show you the "after" of the stand the TV is on in a minute.

The office chair is just that - in our office now

as is the "wood couch"

looking down the hallway.

the kitchen is to the right.

Here is the TV stand after!

I sanded and then lime-waxed the top

so that the oak is more gray instead of orange

and painted the base.

The living room after.

This is what you see as you come in the door.

I ordered the love seat online from Home Decorators.

It has a natural linen slipcover.

The two chairs are from World Market

and they are called "The Vanity" chair in flax.

The wicker coffee table is vintage and naturally grayed.

Here I am standing by the hallway....

The basket in the corner holds the TV components.

The picture is "Goodwill".

The lamp is from Target and the shade is World Market.

The curtains I had bought several years ago in Twin Falls, Id.

at a second hand store for $6 a panel!  

They are crewel, lined and amazing!

Here is a closeup of the two things I based the living room on.

The pillow I took out of our master bedroom in TN

and the curtains.

looking toward the hallway

I bought the bench to go outside by our front door

and then liked it here :)

The locker baskets are ones that I had brought along.

Our carpet looks orange in these pictures but really it is a nice

medium brown...

a closer look at my area rug...

I'm sure as time goes on I'll tweak it now and then

but for now this is our living room.

We are feeling right at home.

Let's visit Joni again!

This time we will take a tour of her backyard.
It's been the most recently done
and I didn't help much!

hmmm.  What are they trying to say to me?!

Joni and I had talked about things but when the patio came out
(they decided not to do as much of the work themselves this time)
he had some good ideas.

Joni and I had designed and plotted out her garden shed.  

Isn't it so cute?!

From there she knew she wanted a place for vegetables, entertaining, and flowers.

AND she didn't want it all in block shapes but rather she wanted to weave from here to there

-taking it all in.

Her patio guy came up with the fire pit

and they have been known to use it even

on hot summer days!

They have also hosted Boise Bronco parties outside

as they have the area wired for TV.

As a matter of fact, 

we are invited to one the first weekend we are there!

It's a wonderful place to hang out.

And the deck.

I've got to enjoy many a meal out there.

Relaxing with a capital R.

(do you have plant envy?!!!)

You're looking here from the garden shed with the house to the left.

coming from the side gate you would walk past 

these wonderful raised beds.

It used to be Joni's vegetable garden 

until trees grew up and blocked the sun

so....

They incorporated a new one into the plan. 

Don't you love it?!

It's not a large yard but it is so well planned out

that it lives large and can entertain many.

I think I'll drop by for a visit and maybe just stay.....

Out of Sight - Not IF I Can Help It!

The Pantry.

Not something we had planned to do.

I mean, we were building it and we hadn't planned on having a pantry.

It was going to be a place where the refrigerator was recessed 

and the rest of the space was going to be outside storage.

Then I came home and saw it framed up and said

"this would be a great pantry".

And Warren laughed.

He had just told his visiting friend that when I got home and saw it

I would say exactly that.

And so, a pantry it became.

And we are so happy for that decision.

Flexibility.

Key word in remodeling.

There aren't really before pictures to show as there wasn't a pantry before

but this is the back door where the pantry door is now.

I knew that I wanted to put excess (yes, I have some of those) dishes

in the pantry and while we were planning it out

a friend mentioned that she had this hutch that she wanted removed from her house ASAP.

It was perfect.

It had lighting inside of which Warren wired to go on with the overhead light in the pantry.

We worked the shelving in the rest of the room around the hutch

and it worked out perfectly.

Finally all the old jars I have collected have a home

along with the baskets - both wire and wicker-

and my old brass jello molds....

Warren did an unbelievable job on the floor

(I kept telling him that details matter as he was laying the tile)!

And then there is my "beloved" door...

he's so hard to leave behind....

The Heart of This Home

They say the kitchen is the heart of the home.
Well, if that is true, this house didn't have much heart.

It was small and ugly and yellow!  TOO MUCH YELLOW!

The walls, the cabinets. the countertops.  Yellow.
I use to like yellow now I can't imagine having a yellow kitchen ever again!

See what I mean?!

And look at the floors....

I had started to strip them of the old wax in this picture

and I was thrilled with the difference.

(I did it the day before we left on vacation to Oregon 'cuz that's how I roll :)

The new dishwasher and refrigerator

are already installed in this picture.

When we bought the house the dishwasher was portable

and the fridge was small. 

The stove was big. 

And there was a "wonderful" folding screen between the kitchen and dining rooms.

I had forgotten that until I saw this picture.

It came down immediately.

The kitchen looked like this for far too long!

Just this spring we decided it was the "next room"

on the list

and I was ready to jump in.

We were unsure at this point if we were going to stay in this house or move

so we both thought it best to make due with as much of it as possible.

We had already added on the pantry

(I'll show that in another post)

so we had plenty of storage.

Warren revamped some of the cabinets and made new drawer fronts and doors.

We had a new apron front sink installed, 

a polished brass faucet (of which I removed the lacquer so that it could patina), 

appliances, floor (this was installed just a couple of weeks ago),

the walls and cabinets painted white (my job),

and the most wonderful of all?

New quartz countertops and carra marble backsplash....

oh ya, new hardware and hidden hinges,

an antique schoolhouse type light fixture

and Warren covered the exhaust fan with style!

(I so love how that turned out)

The shelves came down on either side of the sink, instantly updating the look.

The cabinets to the left of the sink were then left looking strange as one bumped out weirdly.

Warren took the side off and changed it out with doors.

Almost looks like it was designed that way!

The cabinets over the fridge were added onto for depth as were the ones running

along the right side of it.

In this picture you can see the door to the pantry.

I chose an old door, with character.

I want to take this door with me.

It's staying.  Subject closed :)

On this side of the kitchen we cut a pass thro into the dining room.

Warren, again, added onto the depth to these cabinets and put 

pull- outs in all the lowers!

The cabinet to the left of the opening was made to fit the microwave.

I chose quartz countertops in a solid gray so they would go with this:

My tile!!!

I am so in love with it.

Warren installed it himself and did a great job.

It's a basic subway but the small details make the difference...

and this is the new floor.

We didn't change it much.

Before it was a black and cream colored check

and we switched to a dk. gray and white check.

The new check is a little bigger and softer looking.

I'm loving the new look of this room
 and the function is an added bonus!

Believe it or not, I actually have empty cabinets here and there 

since I have the pantry.  

It's got plenty of counter space I need 

and it feels airy and spacious.

And it's not yellow.

That alone is huge.