House Progress

We had our second meeting last night with Chris, who is doing the drawings for our new home. The meetings have been kind of grueling, as we've been going over every inch of the future house in painstaking detail. This is good, obviously, because we know exactly what to expect, and can have the opportunity to make changes to anything we don't like. It's been fun, too, to think about all the different options that are available. Here's the latest drawing of our house:

From the front

Left Side View

Left Rear View

Front Right View

Right Rear View

We've seen some pretty great drawings of the inside, too, especially the kitchen, but I don't have digital versions of those at this point. It's so cool to see it take shape. Now I can't wait to see them actually break ground! We're getting closer to that point, but we still have to meet at the lot to decide the placement of the house, septic, etc. Then the land will surveyed, the permits will be applied for, and THEN we can look forward to seeing some progress on the ground. Yay!

Journey to a New Home

It's been a LONG time since I've made any blog entries here. So much has gone on that it's difficult to know where to begin. Last December we made the decision to move half way across the country from bustling Chicago to the quaint little town in Maine where I grew up. Within a matter of about 3 weeks, we packed up all our worldly possessions and made all the other sundry arrangements that go along with moving. Then, four days before Christmas, we loaded up our trusty little Corolla and my Handyman's work van with our two cats, Sweet Pea, and my mom (who graciously flew out to Chicago just so she could make the LONG drive back with me and Sweet Pea). With two U-haul trailers in-tow, we set out for Maine. My sister and her husband have showed us immeasurable generosity in opening their home to us and allowing us to live life with them for the past year while we got established here. It has been such a blessing, and part of me isn't sure I want it to end (although I'm sure they will be happy to have their house to themselves again!)

Now my Handyman has a new job working for a home building company, and we've begun looking at our options for having a home of our own. We checked out a cute little house that was ultra cheap but in desperate need of renovations, but traditional banks are leery of that sort of thing, so getting financing was an issue. After looking at several different options, we've decided to build a new home on the land we bought from my grandfather several years ago. There are many factors that weigh into that decision, but a major one is the desire to live close to my sister and her family (did I mention we'll be right next door??), across the street from my grandparents, and just up the road from my parents. It's such a blessing to have family close! That's why we made the move in the first place, and it has been so. good. The thought of Sweet Pea living right next door to her three cousins, who have been like siblings to her for the past year, is really exciting.

We've decided to have the company that my Handyman works for build our home for us, and they will allow him to do a lot of the work himself, which will save us some cash. The process of choosing a house plan was 3 parts fun, 1 part overwhelming. There were A LOT of plans that we really liked the looks of. In the end we sent 4 plans to the construction company. They came back to us and very bluntly told us that our number one choice was way out of our budget. That was fine. Actually, we really appreciated their up front communication. Our second pick was ruled out too, since it had a garage incorporated into the design, and our budget doesn't allow for that right now, either. That left us with the choice between a really cute cape or a really pretty ranch. We went back and forth a hundred times between the two, with my Handyman leaning more towards the cape and me more toward the ranch. In the end, this is the one we decided on:

We came to the conclusion that the ranch would give us more finished space than the cape, and it is a lot closer to our target price, as well. And I LOVE the floor plan. I think it's going to suite are family really well. It won't have the garage, which, I know, changes the look of the whole house, but someday we'll be able to add that too.

We just told the builder this morning that we've decided on this plan, so now he will work on getting a contract proposal drawn up. There's sort of a time crunch, because the town will post the roads the first or second week of February, meaning they can't bring in the heavy machinery excavate and dig the basement after that happens. So, if we can get everything together (get the drawings, bank appraisal and all paperwork done) in the three weeks or so, they can start to dig before the roads are posted and we'll be well on our way to a new house! If things don't come together fast enough, then we'll have to wait until April when they open the roads back up. That wouldn't be the end of the world, but it sure would be nice to start sooner rather than later!

It's kind of surreal that this is actually coming together. I'm already having so much dreaming of how to decorate our new home! (You might have caught that if you follow me on Pinterest...)

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Bragging on my Handyman

Have I mentioned how talented my Handyman is? He can do just about anything with his hands. His boss asked him build a front desk for a new business he's opening. This is what he came up with.

Can you believe he made this? Stunning, isn't it? He really enjoyed doing the project. He'd love to design and make furniture for a living. Maybe some day... Here are a couple more shots.

I think he could sell something like this, don't you?

Garage Sale Bargains

My Handyman and Sweet Pea went out for a walk on Saturday morning, while I was off for a luxurious visit to the fabric store all by myself. Sweet Pea has it out for that store, and so I dread trying to shop there with her in tow. It was really wonderful to spend a couple of hours wandering around and looking to my heart's content. {ahhhh...}

Anyway, back to the point of this post. While on their walk, my Handyman discovered a moving sale at a home a couple of blocks up the street from us. He liked what he saw, so as soon as I got home he insisted that we go back together and take a look. Here are some of the "treasures" we found.

There was a whole table of Tupperware, most of which was quite old and yellowed, but I picked up this box for storing cookies and bars for $0.50.

I've been wishing for a second loaf pan, and I found these two for $0.25 each.


We bought these three Christmas ornaments for $1. I can't wait to see them hanging on the tree!

We picked up these two thermoses for $0.50 each. They'll be great for picnics and even for my Handyman to take to with him to work.

One of my favorite finds of the day was this sweet little rocker for Sweet Pea. It was only $5, and it's really in pretty good shape. My Handyman plans to refinish it if he gets the time, but even as it is, I'm happy with it. We plan to give it to Sweet Pea for Christmas, but when we brought it home she fell in L-O-V-E with it. I finally hid it away today, and I'm guessing she won't remember it when she receives it for Christmas.

My Handyman's favorite find was a set of china. I've never really been interested in owning a set of china, I'm content with simple, inexpensive dishes that I can use every day, but my Handyman REALLY liked the set that they were selling. They were asking $175 for it, though, and I didn't feel like we needed it at all. The lady saw how interested my Handyman was, and was obviously hoping to make the sale. I told her it was lovely, but I really didn't think we needed it, and she came back saying that they could take $150 for it. I said thank you, no, and walked outside to look at other things. My Handyman asked me if he couldn't offer her $125, and I reluctantly agreed. She came down to $135 and my Handyman couldn't resist. So, I am now the {proud} owner of a set of china. It really is pretty, and when we got it home and unpacked it all, I had to admit I think we got a really good deal.

I like the simple design, and the pretty silver ring around the edge.

The flowers in the center are a very pretty light blue, but you can't see very well from the picture.

The brand is Noritake, and it was made in Japan. I don't know anything about china, but from what I can find online, this is a company that has been around for nearly 100 years, and they still are making china, although this set seems to have been discontinued.


It's a HUGE set. There are 18 place settings, with a dinner plate, salad plate, dessert plate, and tea cup and saucer. Plus there are 6 additional tea cups and saucers (24 total), a tea pot, 3 sugar bowls and 3 creamers. There are 10 serving dishes (various large bowls and platters), and two gravy boats. Many of the dishes are still in their original wrappings and seem to have not been used. In all, there are about 130 pieces, and only one has a small chip.

For now, I don't have any place to put it, so it's all packed way in boxes, but some day, perhaps I will have a bigger home and a china cabinet to display all of these lovely pieces!

Close Call

I very nearly had to call 911 today. I suppose it was just the first of many close calls I will face in the world of parenthood. Thankfully, no harm was done, and all is well.

My Handyman had mentioned offhandedly several months ago that he hoped Sweet Pea would never lock herself in the bathroom. I brushed the idea off with hardly a thought, because the chances of her being in the bathroom alone, and then finding and turning the the little lever to lock the door seemed pretty remote.

Not so remote. Today I was getting a package ready to mail, and Sweet Pea was playing happily from room to room. I heard the bathroom door shut and should have immediately reacted, but it didn't really sink in until a few minutes later. When I went to check on her, I found that I couldn't open the door. Ok. Deep breath. Don't panic! I could hear her playing happily, and was hoping that the play was restricted to her bath toys, and not the toilet brush which has fascinated her since she was about 9 months old. Then I heard her sucking on a tooth brush. Ok, could be worse. I tried coaxing her to the door to turn the lever back so I could open it, but she was enjoying her private playroom, and wasn't at all disposed to even come to the door.

I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a screw driver. Maybe I could take off the door knob and some how get the lock to open that way. Four screws later, I quickly realized that would do no good. The doors in our apartment are old and wooden, and there's no access to the lock from the outside, not even a key hole. The position of the door jam makes it impossible to jimmy the lock with a knife or credit card, and the hinges are on the inside of the door, so taking the door off it's hinges wasn't an option.

I could hear Sweet Pea climbing on the sink, and did my best not to envision her slipping and crashing to the floor. Yikes. Bathrooms are no place for curious toddlers. I continued to talk to her, and finally got her to come over to the door by wiggling my fingers through the opening at the bottom. That was apparently very entertaining; I got a good squeal out of her. Still, she didn't even reach for the door knob, let alone seem to comprehend my instructions to "turn the little lever by the handle."

At this point I was envisioning the fire department coming and hacking the door in half in order to get her out. I finally gave in to my impulse to call my Handyman. I was really hoping to resolve the issue without his help, but I was running out of ideas. He was surprisingly calm, probably because he could hear the near-panic in my voice. He decided he would come home with his van full of tools, and surely something (drill, crowbar, saw...) would be able to get the door open. There's only one catch - he works an hour away.

By this time Sweet Pea had decided she really didn't want to spend the rest of her life alone in the bathroom, and was starting to whimper to come out. I got off the phone with my Handyman and continued to cheerfully ask her to turn the little lever. I have no idea if she had a clue what I was talking about.

As soon as I had realized she was locked in the bathroom, I started praying that the Lord would guide her little fingers to turn the lock back so the door could be opened. She understands more and more directions all the time, but we'd never practiced those instructions. As I slumped against the wall and prepared to keep her entertained for the next hour by playing with her under the door, I heard a *click*, and my heart leaped as I grabbed the door knob and the door swung open. What a sigh of relief as I swept my little girl into my arms and held her close. She was none the worse for the experience, and seemed a little baffled at my response to seeing her again. Praise the Lord for answered prayers!

Needless to say, there are plans in the works to remove the lock on the bathroom door.

Time for an update

An update of our living room decor, that is. Here's a picture of our living room before:

It was fine, but I was ready for a change. I found an idea for some fabric wall hangings on this blog, so I thought I'd give it a try.

My handyman made me these lovely frames (it's so handy to be married to a handyman!):


Then I stapled the cloth that I had picked out at JoAnn Fabrics to frames. Here's how they look on the wall.


I plan to hang them all on the same level, but I was so anxious to see them on the wall, that I just temporarily used the existing nails. It was pretty simple to do, and I think it's spruced up our living room nicely!

1,000 Gifts

46. Plump, red tomatoes, hanging on the vine.

47. Continued health, in spite of little girl's lingering cold.

48. Menu plan hanging on the fridge, making dinner something to look forward to, rather than to dread.

49. Poetry, pure inspiration and enjoyment.

50. Washer and dryer, working hard so I don't have to.

51. Mounds of clean clothes, folded and put away.

52. Tender Father, longing to give good things to His children.

53. Almighty God who hears my prayers.

54. Contentment in the waiting.

55. Connections with sisters and sisters-in-law, even thousands of miles away.

A Little Time = A Big Savings

I spent about 45 minutes on the phone yesterday, talking to our phone company's customer service. My handyman and I have talked about canceling our home phone line for quite a while, and yesterday I went ahead and took the plunge. I had actually called to cancel two other times in the last year, but each time they offered us some deep discounts if we would keep it, so we did.

A couple of weeks ago we mysteriously started getting FLOODED with phone calls, everything from car insurance quotes to college recruiters, all responding to a request for information that my Handyman had supposedly submitted online. (Which he absolutely did not!) During the first two days we must have gotten 5o phone calls. It was insane! Thankfully, nearly two weeks later we're only getting one or two calls a day at most. I have no idea how they got our number, but I'm very grateful that it's mostly subsided.

The influx of phone calls prompted me to reconsider canceling our home phone line. We use our phone very rarely, anyway, since my Handyman and I both mostly use our cell phones. For a while we kept the phone line just so we could have DSL internet service. Now our provider offers DSL without a phone line, so we're able to make the switch.

The best part of my 45 minute call yesterday was that I was able to upgrade our internet connection to a speed 4-times faster, and we'll pay less than we did before! My former boss once told me that you should call your phone company (or internet provider) at least once a year to make sure that you're getting the best deal they have to offer. She is so right! I'd also add to that that you should check out their website for deals before you call. Yesterday when I made the switch to just internet service, the rep was wrapping things up, and hadn't mentioned any change in speed or price. I had seen online that they were offering a 4-times faster speed for less than we were already paying. When I asked him about it, he said he didn't see that as an option, but he put me on hold so he could check. Five minutes later he came back and "Yes, you are absolutely right! I'll sign you up for that discount." Wow - if I hadn't checked out the online offers, I would have had no idea! That one phone call should save us $276 over the next year. I'd say it was worth my time. Maybe you should try it!

Neck Pillow

My Handyman and I are preparing for a 20+ hour drive to visit my family in Maine in a couple of weeks! We're so excited to spend time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!! I'm sure Sweet Pea would be really excited too, if only she knew what is in store!

I noticed the other day though, when I was out running errands, that when Sweet Pea fell asleep in the car seat, her head kept bobbing all over the place. That's manageable when she's only napping 15 minutes here or there, but not so good when she'll be sleeping for hours on end (please, oh please!) on a car ride across the country. So I decided to make a neck support/travel pillow for her. I found the inspiration on the Make It and Love It blog here.

First, I drew a pattern on an old sales flier and cut it out. (The cats are never far away when there's a project in the making!)



Then I cut out two pieces of the material and pinned them, right sides together.


I sewed around the edge, leaving a small opening to turn it right side out and fill it with stuffing.


Then I filled it with stuffing (which I robbed - I mean recycled - from an old pillow) and hand stitched the opening closed. Ta-da! A neck pillow which will hopefully reduce the head-bobbling and make for a more restful trip.

A Bow Holder

A little while ago I found this fabulous crafting blog, and saw a cute idea for a bow holder. Sweet Pea has lots of bows, which I have usually kept in a little box on her changing table. Lately she's taken to grabbing the box and dumping out all the bows every time I change her though, so I thought it was time to give this project a try. I didn't think to take pictures as I was making it, but here's the final result!


I picked up some pink and green ribbon at JoAnn Fabrics the other day, and for the backing I used a leftover scrap of white cloth that I had used for Sweet Pea's baby quilt. The frame is an extra picture frame that I had laying around the house. I hot glued the fabric to the picture frame backing, then glued on the strips of ribbon, and Voila! A bow holder. Sweet Pea was very fascinated to see all of her bows on display on the wall. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it makes picking out a bow that much simpler!

My Afternoon Project

My handyman and I use the cash envelope system for our groceries, eating out, and clothes. Each month we put the budgeted amount in the appropriate envelope, and when the money is gone, we stop spending money in that category. It works really well for us and helps us stay on budget.

Several months ago I stumbled upon a link to a free envelope template on this blog, and have been itching to make some for myself.

Today I finally got around to buying some pretty paper so I could make my own envelopes. I had so much fun!

Here is the paper I picked out.


I cut the paper down to 8 1/2" so it would fit in the printer,
and then printed the template and cut it out.


And repeated times 6, and used a thin bead of glue to hold them together.


They fit perfectly in my envelope system from Dave Ramsey.


I "stitched" the envelopes together with some pretty silver ribbon.
Now that will make paying with cash more fun!

Dreams really DO come true!

I have dreamt of having a garden ever since I got married. Living in an apartment in the city has not allowed me to do much toward this goal, however. I've tried my hand at growing herbs on my window sill, and even tried some potted tomato plants one year, but I haven't had much luck.

The neighbors in the home just in back our building have a beautiful garden area all fenced off. It has gone untended for several years, and my Handyman and I have eyed it longing, wishing we could put it to use. Well, a couple of nights ago we were outside with Sweet Pea. My Handyman noticed the neighbors out on their back deck and got up the courage to ask them if they would be willing to let us plant some things, and offered to possibly rent it from them. We'd never actually met these people before, but they are so nice!! They were thrilled to have us care for the garden - they actually said that we would be doing them a favor. Can you believe it?!

In the densely populated metropolis we live in, land is like gold. I think we hit the mother load!! The space is about 20' x 30', with a lovely picket fence all around it. It's seriously as big as some people's entire backyard! Oh, the possibilities!!

We're planning to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, zucchini, green beans, and several herbs. Maybe some other things, too. I'm afraid we're a little late in getting things started, so we'll see how we do.

The wilderness of our garden

It's just across the alley from our apartment

The weeds were tall and thick!

The work begins...

Progress!

We uncovered a small patch of rhubarb!

My Handyman did a lot of the work - Sweet Pea was not thrilled with gardening...

She did let us get a cute picture, though!

After 5 hours of work, we'd prepared about 1/2 of the space.

There's still a ways to go...

The robins are thrilled with the feast we uncovered!

The pile of weeds we pulled out was enormous!


The transformation is amazing!