I call it "everyday opulence"

Because I'm such a dork and need to theme things I've decided to describe the bathroom we're planning as "everyday opulence" - a casual mix of elegance and comfort. To that end, here is a photo of the new vanity (currently sitting in my dining room) with the faucet I selected and purchased yesterday.

We still have no tile ordered since the flooring guy won't call me back but at least we've selected what we want. No demo/installation date set either (grrrr) and no work has been done on the house in 3 WEEKS - major frustration.

Oh well - we have a good attitude about it all. In other weekly developments:

- Cooper got shaved again yesterday (and gained 7 lbs since the last one? Someone's been sneaking him treats maybe?)
- I completed another birth announcement project - please visit my "company site" at www.decemberfirstdesigns.com and check out the portfolio
- we teach Sunday school with a group of high school seniors now and they are just so much fun to start getting to know - I love facebook for that purpose!

Here's the vanity photo I promised:

The search continues

It wasnt supposed to be this difficult? I met with the flooring rep from our contractors on Friday (alone since Tim had a work thing come up) and somehow this warehouse tile place didnt have what we had decided we liked and by the end of this 30 minute meeting I had been suckered into agreeing to two different tiles, two colors of grout and I felt like I had somehow been the victim of a scam. Thankfully, Tim was able to call the guy and cancel those plans and demand the name of additional tile warehouses where the contractor does business.

We visited one of those tile places on Saturday afternoon and still struck out. We're not looking for something fancy? I don't understand why we can't find what we want within our price range. In actuality, we can't find what we like in any price range. Tile is a difficult decision and since I can't afford to redo the bathroom myself if I end up hating this a few years from now I'd best get it right while insurance is paying.

After striking out on our tile hunt we went down to the 305 (aka Miami) to watch our college football team barely squeak by a no-name school... but what disappointed me more than the almost loss and crappy play on our part was the way the other school's fans acted, especially when a player from our team lay motionless on the field for 20 minutes and was airlifted to a trauma center - their fans continued to chant "over rated" and other obscenities... our team never went into this game with a sense of being better than them (other than letting records speak for themselves, ahem, the other team had lost 25 of their last 26 games) -- sure, it still ended up as a "w" for us, but that entire experience left a bad taste in our mouths.

Our weekend ended with teaching Sunday school - we had all 25 seniors today but they are all pretty cool and have great comments - and I worked the nursery with the 6 months to one-year group. I had all boys today - 6 of them. Go figure.

We had hoped to shop for tile again before businesses closed but instead we ended up at a gun show near church and Tim purchased a new rifle. Yeah - I'd say he had a good weekend and I'm still holding out hope that this elusive "dream bathroom" will come together quick because our demo/installation was supposed to start the first week in October.

Other side oddities:
-- We celebrated 9 years as a couple on Saturday. wow, we're old?
-- A friend from church who plays Jesus in our Christmas Pageant is featured in a new Bill Maher movie making fun of religion. Not sure if I want to see if since it could put money into the pockets of an atheist harming the impression of my God.
-- Cooper will be shaved again this week - trust me, he likes it.
-- Even with our tragic loss we only dropped a few places in the polls. Phew!
-- I've been on the MS daily injections for 4 months now. Last week I did all injections manually - meaning I didn't use the auto injector contraption and stuck myself with the needles. Ouch!

Here's some pics of the vanity we purchased (sitting in our garage) as well as an accent tile we like to give you an idea of the upscale neutral bath we're trying to achieve.

The progress continues

First, look who's home!
After three weeks at "Camp Scott" it was safe enough for Cooper to come home - although I'm not 100% sure he wanted to. Tim said it took a few running starts to get him in the car. Who would want to leave a house with a pool and 3 loving family members who spoil him rotten! (Thanks Mom, Dad and Andrew for taking such good care of our boy!) I need to schedule him an appointment to have his hair trimmed again. Grows fast huh?

Now, an update on our weekend. We started on Friday taking the day off and driving to Tampa since USF was taking on Kansas - on ESPN no less! Big time. We met up with 2 of Tim's high school friends who have no ties to USF but just wanted to see a good football game - and friends from Fort Lauderdale also drove up. Five guys and me basically. Good thing I know my football or I wouldn't have fit in as one of the guys.

I was prepared with some great tailgating supplies until it became clear my electric grill wasnt going to work with our power converter... blew a fuse and had to go make friends with some neighboring grillers to get our food cooked. But hey, great way to meet people! We had a quick burst of rain, and finally remembered to take pics after we had put away most of our items... but you get the idea, look at those scary skies!

Lastly, the restoration of our home continues. On Friday we got our cabinet, sink, counter and dishwasher back in. It's surreal... our insurance company thankfull cut us a check for the $5,000 we had paid the plumbers to repairs the drain system - it was tough without that cash, I tell ya! And today they called with more good news - the money to replace our wood floors was also deposited so we can start to get that estimated and replaced. All the while, the contractors will be painting all my walls, cleaning, and we met with the tile guy on Monday to discuss our bathroom remodel. I have a vanity/sink/granite counter in my car as I write this :)

They did a nice job and honestly I'm coming out of all this with a better home than we had. We're putting a murphy bed wall unit into the small office so we can increase our guest space AND when all of the repairs are finished we're having a house warming!

And so it begins

There is some good news to report. Yesterday the contractors poured concrete in 2 of the 3 "ditches" that we're accustomed to jumping or straddling as we try and navigate our home in its current condition. They also patched the wall where the first of the water damage started.

On slate for this week - tomorrow they are coming back to hopefully install the sink cabinet, counter, dishwasher and sink so I can have a kitchen again. (insert collective Yippie!)

More great news -- we're getting to redesign the bathroom as a result. WOO HOO. The bathroom (and I say "the" because it is truly our only one!) has never been our style - but baths can be expensive to redo so we've lived with it. Well, it turns out the tiles that were destroyed on the floor are MARBLE (at $5+ per tile!) So they insurance is likely going to pay us to replace all the tile on the floor and shower and since we're willing to downgrade to a nice ceramic we should have enough to actually redo the bathroom with new tub, tile, fixtures, vanity and lighting. Only thing that stays is the toilet because it was new last August when the other one broke.

It's a girl's dream to redo her bathroom but there are so many choices it's overwhelming. I fell in love with a vanity and now it seems I'm planning the rest of the room around it. No sneak peeks - sorry! All I know is I'm ready for a change and I pray this goes smoothly and I thank God for his gracious provisions.

Here's my home as it appears this morning...

Kitchen dishwasher/sink area:
Dining room:

Wall in the lounge
Ok - maybe one teaser, but don't ask for more! (Something similar to this style is my starting off point...)

Reflections

It's been a year - hard to believe. It's been a year since God taught me some very valuable lessons. There has been so much going on in my life lately that the "anniversary" of the onset of temporary blindness came and went without even so much as a momentary acknowledgment. And yet, I'd be remiss if I didn't comment about it now that I've remembered...

This time last year was possibly the darkest time in my personal health. I didn't have my firm diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, but it was clear I wasn't in good health and all signs pointed to MS as the disease I would be facing. Last Labor Day I lost vision entirely in my left eye. I was in denial about my future with an "illness", and really quite frustrated with God. Which ironically enough, was also when I was the closest to God and felt the most connected to His will for my life.

When you're as broken as I was, prayer is often all you have. And the hope that something larger than yourself must have the ultimate power over what's happening. That's where God's lessons come into the picture. In the midst of doctors' appointments, tests, high stress and putting on the happy face for others I learned that God wanted me to slow down. That pleasing others wasn't important - that being who He was directing me to be was the ultimate goal. That I could face anything with His mercy.

The year has flown by - I have my vision back thanks to God's grace and provision. And I have a new perspective on what's important. I started daily MS medication which require me to do an injection to myself each night - something I never thought I'd be able to do. Something I will do for the rest of my life. Something that 3 months later is now just a part of my nightly routine (even though it still stinks!)

I'm not angry with God. I still pray he would rid me of the MS - but I know that if He doesn't I still have to praise Him. Not just because He is God, but because of His evidence in my daily life. You can't look at all He's provided me and not acknowledge that He's merciful, loving, and in full control.

So, there you have it. My journey in a year forced me to learn a lot about God and His love for me. I hope none of you have to go blind to learn those same lessons. :)

Justified Mental Breakdown?

I think if anyone was ever allowed to have a breakdown it would be me... but I'm not going to!

It's been a MONTH since the water damage first started in my home. And, I'm afraid we're not much closer to a life like we had. I submitted bills to the insurance company today for the $4900 we paid to the plumbers to access and fix the drain pipes under our home. That's A LOT of money out of our bank account, over the $1000 deductible and it's hard to not be upset about that cash outflowing... add to it the new water heater and a hefty car repair and we're in a serious financial bind that will be better once we get back what the insurance company owes us and a rebate for the water heater - until then it's hard to feel comfortable financially.

Now, if you look to our right you see a pretty scary storm brewing in the Atlantic. We are watching Ike every couple of hours. when you live in Florida you learn what time the updates come from the National Hurricane Center - I'm awaiting the 11pm update as I type. Please pray for this Ike to not only slow down his approach but for those nasty winds to calm quickly.

We've been blessed this week as we started it Sunday teaching the new group of high school seniors - we're going to learn a lot this year as we teach from the Old Testament.

Weekend Update and Pics

The weekend started on Friday I suppose with our project foreman coming to see the situation at our house as well as a new plumber coming to evaluate the issue with our water heater...

Good news: The project foreman is ready to have his team start to put my home back together. The sand in the ditches they dug needs to dry completely before they can pour concrete, and it seems to be dry as of today. I will be running a few loads of laundry and if the sand is wet after that then we know we have leaks... eeek! So please pray things are ok under all that sand, or the digging will commence again :( BUT he was able to deliver some incredible news... the tile in the bathroom is MARBLE. Who knew We sure didnt. I knew it wasn't ceramic, but I never would have imagined the same gay owner who bought the cheapest vanity and faucet from Home Depot would build the shower and tile the floor with marble??!! So, it looks like the cost to replace the floor might actually fund a full remodel of my bathroom if we're willing to downgrade to ceramic. Uh, is that even a question - OF COURSE we're willing if it means a new tub, better vanity, and getting rid of the hideous (and dangerous) full-wall of mirror that isnt secured well to the wall.

Bad news: The water heater is likely a lost cause. The home warranty company sent a plumber who has been to our home maybe twice in the last 6 months, and just yesterday he noticed the pipes going into the tank werent in the right place and that there was another pipe missing entirely... but the way he worded his analysis basically makes me doubt the warranty company will replace it, so we're trying to find out how quickly we could do this through someone else we trust. It's natural gas - which is the only reason we didnt go to Home Depot and slap in an electric new one. In the meantime, Tim's been brave enough to shower in the cold water and I have been boiling water on the stove and taking brief but warmer baths. I know it's going to be expensive (gulp!) which is depressing considering we're already out more than $5,000 for the plumbing issues (until we can get some repayment from insurance).

Good news: Our college team won its season opener and we were there to see it!

Bad news: It rained pretty much the entire day - so we were soaked, kinda cranky, and so was everyone else so it made for an interesting game. The team was up by such a high margin that we split because we had such a long drive home so we could teach our first Sunday School with the high school seniors (who are super awesome by the way!)

Here's some photos from the fun part of this weekend: