I love this place. I love waking up to my giant window and watching the sun change the sky. I love seeing the mama deer with their babies munching on grass in our pecan grove. We have the cutest set of twins that will come within a few feet of us! I love that I know this is where we are supposed to be and that it is a gift.
In a previous post I talked about how I see this as a metaphor for what God has been doing in my life. Healing, re-building, changing things. I still hurt from loosing my sister in law, I still ache knowing my child chose divorce over working out her marriage. I wonder sometimes if it's normal to feel that pain so intensely. But, I am a person who feels intensely. Highs and lows. This morning in church they talked about suffering and how it is a part of everyone's lives. Suffering takes two forms - one towards God, the other away from Him. I've seen what happens when people run from God. I don't want to go there. I want to run TO Him every chance I get. If I had the choice I would change events of the last year. I am thankful I do not have that choice. I have no doubt I would just make things worse. Scripture says God is "jealous" for us. We misuse that word and think of it as a negative. I realized this morning that means when we hurt, He hurts more. When we run away, His heart longs for us to return. Imagine that. The maker of the universe longing for little old, wart covered me. Remarkable.
I choose to make this place I now live a daily reminder of God's love and jealousy for me. These last months had so much less to do with a house than it did with a temple, the one inside my heart.
And so.....here are some after(ish) pictures. After all, if we're going with the metaphor, are homes (people) every really finished? Be sure to go back and compare to the first posting! I wish I could figure out how to post pictures beside each other, but I haven't. So you'll just have to scroll. Sorry about that ;)
Our room got the most reno. These windows were all part of a closet originally and were covered with sheet rock.
This dresser came from a hotel in Chicago that was built in the 20's if I remember the story correctly. My brother in law had it for a while and then it sat in our garage for a while longer before finding its home in our room.
I do love my bathtub. One day I'll get proper window coverings. For now it's Lowe's paper shades but I still love it.
We were tempted to buy a vanity at Restoration Hardware but were not impressed with their prices, even during a sale. We found this one online and think it's a great "immitation".
We only did a facelift on the kitchen. Painting the cabinets was the main thing - thanks to our wonderful friends Dan and Jana the paint masters - we got all the interior painting done ourselves, including all the new walls and ceiling. My right shoulder still has not forgiven me!
The countertops and backsplash were done by the same tile guy who did our bathroom. He is quite the artist with tile!
These shelves and the built in pictured below are things we added. They guy who did them was amazing.
This was what we referred to as the Blue Room. Remember the pink mini blinds and blue walls? It's Samuel's room now. Although as little time as he will be spending in it I think it will soon be called the guest room.
The only real change to the family room was that the wall that has the clock on it was originally part of the blue room. If you look at old pictures there was a french door there that went between these two rooms. We made a closet out of that space so the family room is about 5 feet shorter than it was. It is a still a very spacious room.
Can you tell my dog followed me around the entire time I was taking pictures? This is our other living area. We love our back porch and spend so much time out there. Mornings and evenings are wonderful.
This picture gives you a little better idea what we are dealing with where the floors are concerned. Oh well, as I said...is anything every really finished?
This was the previous owner's formal living and dining area. It is also about 5 feet small than before so we could enlarge the master bedroom. It has become our sunroom, dining room and office. It's different, but it works for us. Everyone who comes into the house ends up sitting on the yellow couch staring at the view. We keep binoculars there to watch the wildlife.
And so....there you have it. The demo on the cottage should start in the next week or so and we hope to have my parents living in it by early fall. The pecans will be ripe then so that's a whole new adventure to look forward to as well. I will continue to update and add a few pictures as I have found this enjoyable. I have no idea how many people are reading but I pray you are blessed in some way by my words and enjoy the pictures. And once again....COME SEE US!