House Dedication

Tonight we invited our small group over to our house.  It was dusty and getting dark.  We ordered pizza and didn’t have any plates.  We brought some lawn chairs in and lit some candles.  And in this dirty, unfinished space a dream of ours came true.  We had church.  In our house!  WE HAD CHURCH! And it was beautiful.  Because, church can happen anywhere.  We gave everyone markers and wrote scripture on the walls.  We prayed over this house and our time here and that God would bless it and use it.  Our friends prayed over us and our family and our stress.  We made declarations on the walls with sharpies.  We worshiped and the sound echoed and carried throughout the rooms with no walls.  Our kids were there and my friend’s son even played the tambourine.  All of the things we have prayed for with this house..our dreams and hopes of what it could be…it happened tonight.  It’s not always going to be beautiful.  Sometimes it will be messy beautiful.  But God is here and He makes all the difference.

Holy Spirit, you are welcome here.  Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere.

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Farmhouse Sink

My sink is here! My sink is here!  Can you tell by my dorky face that I am excited?

I went back and forth about whether or not to get this sink.  It was {surprisingly} one of the hardest decisions I have made about the house so far.  I love the look of farmhouse sinks, but I wasn’t sure about the practicality.  I have always had a stainless steel sink.  I also wasn’t sure if it was a trend.  In the end, I knew that I just had to get it.  Our house definitely has a farmhouse vibe and I knew this kind of sink would be perfect.

I also debated a lot about whether or not to get one with a single, large basin or a double basin.  It came down to how I wash dishes.  I typically load the dishwasher with everything I possibly can.  Then, I wash my pots and pans in the left side of my sink and let them drip dry in the right side.  I knew that it would bother me not to have the option of the right side to let things dry.  Some of my friends have the single basin and they love it.  They would never go back to the double.  When I asked them what they love about it, most say the size.  They can fit everything from long-stemmed roses to babies to dogs in their sinks and it is so nice to have that.  So, I decided to get the largest double farmhouse sink I could find.

We landed on the Alfi 39.5″ farmhouse sink from Blue Bath.  I am so glad that we went with the big one!!  I can’t wait to wash dishes. For real.

 

3/8/16 Update: I love this sink!!!  We have been in our house a few months now and I couldn’t be happier with how this sink functions for our family.  I highly recommend the metal grids for the bottom of the sink.  This has been key for us.  I can easily wash pots and pans without fear of breaking anything or scratching the bottom.  Clean up is a breeze.  Just make sure you get a sprayer on your faucet.  I have a few tiny scratches on the front of the sink that I’m pretty sure happened during installation.  Or maybe from Jonathan’s belt buckles??  I haven’t tried everything to get them off, but my normal cleaner doesn’t work. They don’t bother me enough to do anything about it yet, but I might eventually try a scratch kit if they don’t come off.    

 

The only GC for me

It’s Saturday. Most husbands would want to sit around and relax.  This guy would probably want to do that, too.  Instead, he got up early to go and register the boys for football.  Then he did some work (Financial Planning – his actual job!).  Then, he strapped on his tape measure… {I have to add that I was cracking up at that part.  I had to take a picture.  He looks so official.  This picture just screams “general contractor”, doesn’t it?  haha!}

But anyway, he strapped on his tape measure, grabbed another cup of coffee and headed over to the house.  He doesn’t stop.  He has basically been working two jobs this year to help make this dream for our family come true.  He continues to amaze me at how hard he works.  If he didn’t have all of these amazing God-given gifts like intelligence, determination and drive, this house thing would not be happening.

I told someone the other day that I feel like we are a good team.  But in another way, I feel super guilty because my part in this teamwork is doing all of the fun things like picking out light fixtures, paint colors, etc.  He has all of the hard work like figuring out the finances, working with sub-contractors and problem-solving.

This guy is amazing.  He loves us so well.  He works so hard. And, just look at him!  He is also super hot. Tonight we get to dress up and go to a wedding.  I can’t decide which I like better…this picture of him with a tape measure or him in a suit and tie!