House Remodel Part 3

I forgot that I had photographed the 2 guest bedrooms and the guest bath, so here's another post today.

Guest Bed1 Before

Guest Bed1 After

We have not found a comforter for this room, so the bed looks lame

Guest bed 2 Before

This room was a cute little boys room before. It had clouds on the ceiling along with glow in the dark stars. Our painter had a lot of fun sanding and scraping the walls. 

Guest Bed 2 After

Guest bath Before
It was cute for a kids bath with painted animals on all of the walls and ceilings.

Guest bath After

Home Remodel Part 2

This post will feature pictures of the entryway, family room, kitchen and nook areas. I still need to photograph my office, our master bedroom, closet and bath, den and laundry room. 6 weeks of remodel and 2 months of putting the house together was a lot of work. There are still a few more projects that we will be doing down the road. It's that time of year where we need to refocus on the outside that needs some TLC in the landscaping and curb appeal area.

I don't know if anyone noticed in previous pictures, but our entire house was covered in brass. It was great in the 90s, but not for now. There is only one thing that is still brass in this house and that's the fireplace insert that will be replaced in the near future.We replaced everything with oil rubbed bronze door nobs/hinges throughout and made all of the bathroom faucets, towel bars, and paper towel holders chrome.

Entryway before

Entryway after

Family Room Before

Family Room After

Kitchen Before

The thing I hated most about the kitchen before was the florescent light that was over the kitchen island. It was the only light in there and it was dark. We added 6 can lights removed the florescent and put in 3 pendants. We also replaced the kitchen nook chandelier. We still have a few other projects down the road. Granite countertops, backsplash and making the upper cabinets taller. We're still debating what to do on that front.

Kitchen After

Home Remodel

So I gave a sneak peak on Instagram the other day of some of our remodel projects. I thought I would put some bigger pictures in a blog post and explain what we did in each room. This will be in multiple posts as I need to take more pictures of the finished look. (I've been a slacker)

Before (Living Room)
Walls were pale Yellow
Windows had sheer cream curtains
Small Baseboards
Old Carpet

Living Room (After)

Walls Dark Grey/Green

New window blinds

Added 6 1/2" baseboards and crown molding

New carpet with paterns

Dining Room (Before)

Dated Chandelier

Red and Beige Walls

Wood floors were brown/red

Dining Room (After)

Replaced Chandelier with modern light fixture

Painted the walls a deep blue

Add 6 1/2" baseboards and crown molding

Add Wainscoting

Blinds and new curtains

Refinish the wood floors with a non-red tone and no gloss finish

Add vinyl artwork trees

Women's Divine Worth

What an interesting time we live in. A select group of women, that shall not be named here, have taken it upon themselves to create a group demanding to be ordained to the priesthood.

As an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I strongly oppose their viewpoint. It feels to me that they have lost sight of their divine role in the plan of our Heavenly Father. Women have so many wonderful gifts, talents and abilities. Our spirituality is deeply woven into our beings.

The Women's meeting this past weekend was filled with many great inspired messages. We are daughters of a Heavenly Father, who loves us. We are more alike than different.

I've posted the link below to the official letter from the Church to their organization as they wanted tickets to the priesthood session.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-asks-activist-group-to-reconsider-general-conference-protest-plans

Life Lessons

Besides family and close friends I don't usually talk about our struggle to have a family of our own. It's a very personal thing and it sometimes hurts to talk about.

This past Sunday in Sacrament meeting, one of our newly called bishopric member's bore his testimony that at times when we are going through huge trials, some of the greatest blessings can be received. He also mentioned that when he was laid off from his job, he was able to serve more people and experience his growing family.

After the closing prayer, I headed off to Sunday School. The teacher gave each of us a piece of paper asking us what some of our trials have been and questions on how we felt. What blessings have come of it, etc... As I started to fill out my paper my heart swelled with pain/joy and about every emotion possible. The teacher asked if anyone would like to share. I felt this nudge inside of me, like when I need to bear my testimony, but I sat silent. A couple of people shared some experiences and then the teacher asked again, anyone else, and I blurted out, "Alright, I'll share." I can't really describe the feeling that I had overcome me, but by sharing a small tidbit about our lack of children, I gained an insight that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I have had my eyes open to all of the people that I have been able to help that have had miscarriages. I have been able to be there to listen, to cry with them or to comfort them. If I had not gone through my own experiences of loss, I would not have been able to fully help them in the capacity that I have. God has helped me be his servant in this capacity.

As I was driving home from lunch with Ben today, I realized that Sunday's lesson is still resonating in my mind. In my darkest deepest times a line from my patriarchal blessing pushes into my thoughts. You will have many trials, tribulations, adversities etc that will make you like your Heavenly Father. This little glimpse into the "why" I'm experiencing this trial, doesn't make it easy, but it helps me to endure.

I am thankful for this ongoing trial and know that the Lord is mindful of me and my needs.

Wrong Roads

Yesterday, I received an email from Mormon Messages with a video entitled, "Wrong Roads".  Below is the link, if you haven't seen it.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2714780496001


This video completely sums up what our family has been through over the past several months. After Ben was a casualty to the merger back in March, in July he was offered a good job in Texas. We prayed and felt that we should move back.

Ben moved into a hotel and I finished packing up our home and moving our things into my parents' basement and garage. I arrived down in Texas a couple of weeks later. We looked for homes to buy, rent, even lowered our standards and still couldn't find something suitable for us. Ben's job also wasn't what we thought it would be. We stayed at the hotel for a few months and by the end of September, Ben had been moved to a consulting position for the company.

Down in the dumps with no place to call home, we prayed again and we felt we needed to head back home to Illinois. My in laws were so kind to invite us to stay in their basement temporarily.

The 1st week there, Ben was interviewed by a company in Crystal Lake and while we were on vacation the 2nd week, he was offered the job. When we got back we started looking for homes to rent for a year and then buy. After looking at the budget and being better off to buy, we started looking for a home. We looked at several homes in the area and we found the one that is just right for our family and under budget. We have a signed contract and should be closing in the next 30 days!

I know we had to take the wrong path to be guided to the right one. It was a hard path to follow, but in end, we are so happy to have found a good job for Ben and our forever home :).

We are growing to love the area and are close to our families, which is very important to us.

I'm looking forward to the remodeling projects we have planned for our home down the road and getting settled in before the holidays (Fingers crossed).

Here's a picture of the new home.