YES! The Kitchen appliances were delivered this morning!! I am so ecstatic over this! I hugged the fridge! It's the oven that I am going to kiss - once they remove the wrappings! I can't wait to get my hands on it!! Now all I'm waiting for is the dryer vent to be installed so my new washer and dryer can be delivered and then I'll truly be in appliance heaven!
The pile on the left is the cooktop, with the dishwasher underneath and the microwave/vent hood in front. To the right of the island, the big box is my ovens!!!
More to come! I'll have to go take more pictures this evening after the workers leave. Hint, hint - the plumber came today!!
Life has been really hectic. I've got lots of pictures to upload of house progress, but there has been no internet access. I'm at the library right now, that's how desperate it has become! Hubby's new offices are having terrible internet problems since they moved and networked on a new system. Plus he's on vacation this week so we've not been up to the office all week anyhow.
Let me just say, we're about one and half weeks from move-in, or so it looks! They're laying flooring as we speak! All the painting is done, all the lighting is in. The countertops are in. You've missed so much, I'm sorry! I'll get you updated soon, though, I promise!
Hubby's parents are here until tomorrow. Plus yesterday was our 13th anniversary. Add to that daily trips to the bigger town 45 minutes away to go to L@wes, etc. for this or that and I've not had time to post.
You'll be amazed once I finally get time to post pictures!
A few weeks ago I mentioned in my blog about the Smith family and their unborn daughter, Audrey Caroline. Audrey was born April 7 and lived a miraculous 2 hours and 27 minutes. The Smith family has been an amazing testament of God's grace and mercy even in the midst of a terrible time.
The Smith's pastor, Pete Wilson, is doing a series about "Plan B" when life doesn't turn out the way you'd planned. In his latest lesson in this series he shares the Smith's story.
Please find 30 minutes to watch this video. I promise it will speak to you. It will cause you to hug your children and your family tighter when you get home.
Toward the end of the video, Angie shares how through this she has learned that Audrey's death was not God's Plan B. The way things worked out were always God's Plan A. This was simple, yet profound for me.
There are still days when I long for our adoption of Viktoria to have turned out differently. There is not one day that goes by that I don't think of her and all the "what if's." Just this morning in the shower I was thinking how she "should have been" home with us for two years by now. There are so many times when I cry out to God in this terrible wait to complete our family. But even though it seems incomprehensible to us, it has always been God's Plan A.
Just like Angie cried out to God saying, "Please, please let Audrey live! It will be a testimony to Your wonder and power!" I've cried out to God so many times, "Please, please bring Viktoria home! It will be a testimony to Your wonder and power! Please let accreditation come for us so we can bring home our long awaited child" I have so wanted to show God's strength through our adoption.
Oh I know that the pain and hurt that we've been through in this adoption is not one drop in a bucket compared to what the Smith's have dealt with. But God is teaching me through their experience. I'm holding on to God's Plan A!
It looks like we'll have lots to update from now until the house is done!
They got the desk stained:
The color on the dining area wall:
The beadboard painted and the wall color in D's room:
The vinyl guy came back and has just about got the dormers and final trimwork done:
It's really beginning to be exciting to see many things being finished each day. The painter said they should be done by Friday. He also said that he overheard that the counter tops should be in this week too.
There is good news out in adoption land, though, for Debbie, a good friend of mine and I look forward to hearing more about her wonderful news!
Last Friday we got an updated e-mail from our agency saying that the accreditation paperwork is still in active review, but no official word yet as to being complete.
In new house news, the staining is finally complete as well as the prep-work on all the walls and trim such as caulking and filling in all those hundreds of little nail holes. They’ve got all the windows and doors and cabinetry all covered up with plastic now and have done a primer coat on D’s beadboard. We just stopped by and they were painting in my closet and prepping doors for painting. I am so glad they’re finally moving forward on the actual painting part. It took a long time for the staining and prep-work. Over two weeks for that phase. I wonder if I can dare to hope that they’ll be done with painting by the end of this week??
As I type this, we are on our way to a larger town about 1 hour away to go to Kirkland Home and see if we can find mirrors for the girls’ bathroom and the powder room. I love Kirkland Home! They have great decorative items at a very reasonable price.
I got some photos of the new desk yesterday before it was stained, but now it’s stained and covered up with plastic wrap, so I’ll have to wait to get more photos of that later. I also took some up close photos of the front porch after the railing was painted. Maybe by the time I’m able to post this to the blog, I’ll have some colorful photos of the new paint.
The outdoor shutters were delivered last week, and I’m anxious to see those put on. I think it will really make the outside look more complete. Of course we’re still waiting on the vinyl siding guy to come back and finish the dormers and the trim work over the front porch. I hope he comes soon!
I ordered the cabinet pulls last week, they should be in soon. I was so surprised how expensive those things are. I ordered 75 of them and will do some from L@wes or H@me Dep@t for the girls’ bathroom and the laundry room.
I am anxious to see the colors on the walls. I’m so afraid that the main color I chose is going to be too dark!
Blah, blah, blah.
I feel like I’m sitting here talking about cabbages and kings. Inconsequential things. Pretending the elephant is not sitting right in the middle of the room, or blog in this case.
I so very badly wish I had some adoption news to share. I’ve been kind of down about it lately. It’s just taking a ridiculously long time no matter how you look at it. I guess since we’re coming to the end of the house building it is becoming more evident that we still don’t have our child home.
Good grief! We’re waiting for an already born child (according to our dossier age range!), it’s not like we’re waiting for a child to be conceived and gestated! And here, during this time, we’ve built an entire new house and still haven’t managed to bring this already born, waiting for a family, child across the world and home.
YES! The Kitchen appliances were delivered this morning!! I am so ecstatic over this! I hugged the fridge! It's the oven that I am going to kiss - once they remove the wrappings! I can't wait to get my hands on it!! Now all I'm waiting for is the dryer vent to be installed so my new washer and dryer can be delivered and then I'll truly be in appliance heaven!
More to come! I'll have to go take more pictures this evening after the workers leave. Hint, hint - the plumber came today!!
