Have you ever been amazed at God's incredible timing, how sometimes He lines everything up for you so perfectly and beautifully, you know it has to be Him? That's totally what happened this summer.
We have had a tough summer. Like, one of the hardest I have ever had, except for three years ago when I suffered through my longest, hardest depression. Before the summer, my husband and I looked at the possibility of selling our house. We knew we couldn't afford to finish the basement, and with interest rates as low as they are we could sell our house, buy a house for $40-50,000 more than ours, and not have a higher mortgage payment. After really researching though, we realized that God wanted us to stay right where we were. Our Realtor showed us that we had a great location that would be hard to match, and our neighbors are precious and have become fantastic friends with our kiddos. God even made the money show up to finish the basement! I felt like He was leaving blessings wrapped in boxes on my front door, and it took me awhile to open the door and realize they were there. We made the decision to stay, to accept the amazing gifts God had given us right here, and to enjoy our home and finish the basement. Then the summer hit and it has been very, very trying at times. There are times when I hate where I live, when I want to put our house on the market, to move away and never look back. Sometimes life would actually be a bit more convenient if I could, but then I remember that stack of blessings at my front door, and how they represent that, even when life doesn't make sense, God blesses us and gives us everything we need to get through it. Almost everything He gave us in our location is still here, and when I struggle He reminds me that He loves our family so much and wants us to stay for now.
SO...
My amazing cousin Bonnie designed a beautiful basement layout for us. I have had the plans for awhile, we brought them to supply yards, electricians, plumbers, and mechanics to get estimates on materials. Last week I finally pulled our permit, and it was approved on Thursday! Hooray! (PS Bonnie Blue - your check is in the mail! So sorry it has taken me so long to get it to you!) Yesterday my dad took me to Home Depot and we purchased all of the lumber, tools, nails, and a few other things to get our project started. It took HOURS to get the lumber loaded and unloaded, but we finally did it! Here are some pictures of our beginnings for your enjoyment. I plan on continually updating our progress here on the blog, which should hopefully be a lot!
This is the view after you turn the corner after the stairs. In this space will be the kid's room, bathroom, and part of the living area. Believe it or not, this is the less awkward of the two shots we did. Let's just say the other involved a pole and a very large lack of grace.
This is where the living area will be, complete with built-in media center, bench seat, and table for puzzles and legos. Because ohmygosh I am so excited to not have Legos upstairs any more.
This space is MINE. It's going to be my craft room/office/whatever else tickles my fancy. Oh yeah, the hubs is mine too!
300 2"x4"s MIGHT be enough, we'll see...
About 5,000 lbs of lumber, maybe more. My dad is pretty bad-@$$.
Like I said, it took HOURS to get this all loaded and unloaded. But, I feel like we are finally moving now that there are actually materials at my house! Last night when we came home from dinner, though, the house smelled really strongly of wood. It's a small price to pay to be starting something we have wanted to do for years!
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