Its Finished!!!

YAY!! The construction is completed, and I have a finished bathroom AND kitchen!!! I can't shower in my bathroom until tomorrow because the tub was also refinished and it needs to dry, but I think I can handle that. :) Now I just need my mom to come and visit and pick out paint colors for me, and I will paint everything!!!

Okay, so here is the finished kitchen ceiling:

So much more work was done smoothing out the walls and getting the kitchen ready to paint. It will be really exciting once that is finished too!!

And now the bathroom! Its so small, haha.


The shower curtain is hanging over the vanity until the tub dries. :) There are supposed to be 3 light bulbs in the vanity, but we can't seem to find the right ones yet...

The most exciting part:

an outlet!! Can you believe there wasn't a single outlet in the bathroom??


Here is the new sink WITH storage space underneath (that also hides the pipes!!)

The tub is the same, but its been refinished to make it all white and shiny! (It used to look like I never cleaned it. I promise I did!). Notice the pink tile is all gone! Woohoo!!

The new tile floor! No more cracked and discolored tiles!!


And finally, my favorite part:

HA! A spider walked across the tub while it was still wet and got stuck! I think M said we can just scrub him out after the tub dries. I hope we can, haha. Its funny to me now, but I don't think I want a fossilized spider permanently a part of my tub.

So, there you go!! Now I have an incredible amount of cleaning to do as my entire house is covered in a thin layer of dust. I don't mind at all though, cleaning is something I can actually do!

Thank you SO MUCH Frank and M!!!!!

Work in Progress (Tons of pics!)

I was going to wait until the work was all finished to share this, but I'm too excited!! For the last 5 days there has been some pretty serious work being done on my house, and its almost finished!! By the end of today (or tomorrow at the latest) my kitchen will be FINISHED (2 years after it was started!) and I will have a brand new bathroom!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!

I have wanted this all to be done for a long time. The kitchen would have been finished a while ago, except that the bathroom leaked into the kitchen whenever someone showered, so finishing the kitchen didn't make sense until the bathroom could be completely redone. I honestly wasn't sure if that would ever happen, but it finally is!! And it really came out of nowhere...

There is a guy, M, that Frank Hinson has been working with for several months on addiction recovery. He is VERY talented with construction and last Wednesday Frank asked me if I would be interested in hiring him to do some work at my house. He and Frank came over on Thursday, looked at everything I needed to have done and then gave me an estimate. It was VERY fair (and now that I see just how good he is, I realize that it was more than fair!), so I jumped on it. I will be struggling financially a bit to make up for spending this money when I didn't expect it, but I don't care! Having all of this work finished relieves so much stress that tightening my budget doesn't seem like a big deal at all! (I will need to reread that statement over the coming months, haha).

One of the best parts, for me, is that I am paying someone to do the work. I don't feel like a charity case and I'm not taking Frank away from his family for hours and days. I can see God's hand in this, taking care of me once again in a way I didn't expect, (but that's how He works!) and I feel SO blessed.

At the same time M has been working on my kitchen and bathroom, I have been hard at work on the basement. So, my house is getting a mini overhaul!! Like I said, things are still in progress, but here is where we are so far!!

The biggest project has been the bathroom. (Yes, I realize that it is a very small bathroom! Everything about my house is pretty small, which works great for only 2 people. I still don't know how we did it with 7!)

It's still in progress, so stay tuned for the final pictures later tonight, or tomorrow!

Here is the before picture. Please note the pink tile (yuck!), the lack of mirror or electrical outlet, and the open area under the sink where I could store...nothing. Also, you can't see in this picture, but the "tile" floor was all cracked and being discolored by the leaking toilet.

A closer look at the tub:

The disgusting drop ceiling:

So, everything but the tub (because its cast iron!) has been ripped out and slowly replaced. Its not finished yet, but here is what it looks like right now!


No, the toilet will not stay in the tub, haha. But, that's where it is for now!


The kitchen is getting there too. I don't have a ton of pics because most of the kitchen work is small cosmetic stuff. One problem that suddenly arose, however, was that my sink broke for no apparent reason.

Thankfully, Frank heard about it and quickly fixed it for me! (No pic of the fixed sink..but it really is fixed!)

The main kitchen project was the ceiling. Here is what it did look like (for 2 years!):

Here is the new ceiling!!! There is still some finishing work to do, which you can't see in this picture. But, this is what the ceiling will look like!!
M is doing such an awesome job!

I haven't really done any construction, but I've still be working hard on the basement! :) I have literally ignored the basement for months, only going down to throw junk somewhere. Here is what it looked like:

The view from the other side. All junk (except Gizmo and the treadmill)...

The girls room was full of remnants from moving them upstairs:

My only storage closet, full of Frankie's stuff:

Once everything was bagged up...there were a lot of bags! :)


It took a lot of time to get all that stuff together and out of the house. It looks much different now though!!

The treadmill will move to the other side once I get the chance to scrub the floors and clean it up more, but this is the basement clean without all the trash and junk in in!!

The girls old room is now a whatever room with bunk beds, haha. I still have a lot of cleaning and scrubbing of the carpet (thanks to the kittens!) to do, but it at least looks clean!

The few things that were mine in the basement are now neatly stored away:

And finally, I actually have a little bot of storage space, that will be filled soon as I spring clean my house in the coming weeks:

YAY!! I am so excited, and feel so blessed by all of this work!! My house has the ability to stress me out like you wouldn't believe, so all of this is absolutley amazing!!

The work should be finished today, though some things might not be dry until tomorrow. I CAN'T WAIT!! (Actually, I have to admit I'm most excited about being able to use my own shower and toilet soon, haha).

I will post final pictures as soon as its all finished! Stay tuned!!

New Ceiling!!!

After a weekend of hard work, here is the new ceiling in my kitchen!!Beautiful!!! Okay...so its not quite finished. Turns out that the leak in my bathroom was not a simple fix, so that ended up taking up most of their time. Unfortunately, the leak is still there, but it is much smaller than it was and the major work is finished. They also worked on hooking up my washer and dryer. Apparently there were some problems there as well, so the washer is ready to go but not the dryer. I have to admit I am disappointed. Not about the ceiling, cosmetic stuff doesn't really bother me. I know they worked hard, and got a lot done...but nothing was actually finished...and I can't finish any of the things they started. So, unfortunately I have to ask more favors of people here in order to get things done. Thankfully, my friend Frank V. said he could come over and help me. Frank H. worked with my group all weekend and has already put way too much time, effort, energy and money into my house. I am about to wear out my welcome, if I haven't already. :)

My weekend was really fun, but EXHAUSTING!!! My group arrived around 2 a.m. on Friday morning, so I didn't sleep much. Usually Fridays are not busy AIM days, but this Friday was different. I actually ended up working until almost 5. I spent the evening helping get things set up for our church Thanksgiving lunch today and then headed to all night bowling at 11:30. We had a BLAST at bowling, but I didn't get to bed until 6:30 a.m.!!I took a good nap at my friend Shera's house (there were people working at my house) and woke up feeling a cold coming on. I managed to catch up with the group and spend some good time with them until around 7 when we had a worship night with some of the teens. We didn't have a ton show up, but it was still a good time. After worship a bunch of us went out to eat and I again didn't get to bed until about 2 or 3 in the morning.

Church was good today, but I was so tired. I got home around 3 (after saying good bye to my group) and took a 4 hour nap. It felt SO GOOD!!! I'm still tired, but recovering. I really want to drive home on Tuesday night, so I need to be well rested this week!

It is definitely time for me to go home. To go home and completely be away from Philly. I don't often talk completely honestly about things that go on...but things are really difficult right now. There is a friend of mine that owes me $1500 (he borrowed it over a year ago) and is now refusing to even take my calls much less pay me back...so I am having to pursue legal action against him. I have no idea how to do that...but I have no other options. Several new people have moved onto my block, one of whom is a very serious drug dealer that is also involved in dog fighting. In fact, I was almost attacked by one of his dogs this week. He and his dogs are very scary. Its the first time in 5 years I have been afraid of where I live.

Kids Club has the most kids that we have had in a long time, which is AWESOME, but also overwhelming considering I just started leading Kids Club barely 2 months ago. We are also having more and more girls get involved with our teen ministry. Again...AWESOME, but overwhelming.

Then there's my house, my part-time job, my debt, my lack of support raising...and I won't even go into what goes on in my head throughout the day. :)

I continue to have an AMAZINGLY supportive family, but when things are hard for me, they bear that burden as well. (And vice versa). Sometimes life feels like the 4 of us against the world...which makes living so far away hard. (This does not mean that I have any plans to move!). :)

I don't have an incredibly busy week, other than AIM work and cleaning up the mess from the weekend. I am not looking forward to the drive home, but I am definitely looking forward to being home!!!

Workin on my house...again...THANK GOODNESS!!!

I am once again banished from my house...but this does not bother me at all! A group from my church is here again this weekend finishing up some work on my house (specifically...hopefully...putting the ceiling into my kitchen and hooking up my washer and dryer). They are also going to go bowling with us tonight (its our annual Teen All Night Bowling...and we're not kidding about the all night part...11 p.m.-5 a.m.!) and will host a teen worship night tomorrow night. Its so exciting to have familiar faces around!! And even nicer when they are wearing Virginia Tech sweatshirts! :)

As a reminder, here is what my ceiling looks like right now...

Stay tuned to see the final product!!!

I did manage to get my house very clean before they came. Every inch has been dusted, vacuumed, scrubbed...my house is clean!! (Except for the steps...I did not vacuum the steps; whoops). I don't think the mess from this weekend will be as bad as last time. They don't have to move furniture or appliances, nor is there any painting or sanding...and those are the things that caused the most mess last time. I promise I am not complaining though...I have a FOR REAL KITCHEN!!! :)

As you can see, this is going to be a busy weekend!! The group didn't get in until almost 2 a.m., so I was up pretty late, but had to get up and start work by 9. Tonight we will be bowling until 5 a.m. I am taking a nap at a friend's house afterwards since the group will still be working at my house. Then tomorrow night is the worship evening...which is guaranteed to last quite a while (and I mean that in a good way!). Sunday is one of our biggest church services of the year as we serve a Thanksgiving dinner afterwards. We are expect about 250 people in church!!!

I think I am heading home Tuesday night after Kids Club because I don't want to get stuck in traffic all day Wednesday. We'll see how tired I am at that point though. :) Either way, I will crash when I get to my parents' house...but they are used to that. :)

Productive Day!!

Today was one of the most productive days that I have had in a long time, thank goodness!! Actually, most of my days are "productive" in a work sense, but it seems that things in my life have fallen by the wayside as I work more and more. My basement has been a disaster since my church left at the end of July and I have just closed the doors and not touched anything since then. (I did straighten up the main room so it looked livable, but that really just meant all the crap was behind closed doors). A lot of my kitchen stuff had been moved to the basement during my kitchen remodel and I still hadn't gone down to get it!! Tonight, that all changed!! Let me start with the beginning of my day though...

Saturday is usually my day off, but for the second week in a row I didn't take it. I'm not complaining (yet, haha) because it was a good day (as was last Saturday). I won't get next Saturday off either since my church will be here, but that's okay because right after that I will head home for Thanksgiving for 5 days!!! Anyway, today was the Reload Conference held in Philly. Its a one day conference for urban youth workers that I had never been too but was pretty excited about. 6 of us from Cornerstone went and had a pretty good time. It wasn't great, but it wasn't a waste of time either, and we all had fun together...so over all it was pretty good. We had the opportunity to go to 2 different break out sessions and I apparently chose the same one twice. They had different titles and different speakers, but it was basically the same thing. Maybe God really wanted me to pay attention!! The seminar I went to was about gangs, which I didn't think we really had in Philly...I was WRONG!! I did learn a ton that has really opened my eyes to even more about what is going on in our neighborhood and especially the pressures our kids are facing.

I was a little bummed because the second session I went to was with a police officer in the city and I had hoped it would be about how churches can partner with law enforcement to help better our community (that's what the description of the talk said it would be). It ended up being more about gangs, oh well. I really did learn a lot though. I was also really encouraged because a pastor in the session talked about how his church is reaching out to law enforcement as well. As the daughter of a police officer I know all too well how difficult that job can be, especially on someone who really cares about the people and the community he/she serves. Last year alone there were over 450 suicides by police officers in the US. We need to be praying for these men and women!!!

I got home around 4:00 from Reload and invited Shera and Joy over for dinner. We had fun cooking, talking and eating. I told them that I wanted to clean my basement tonight and Joy immediately offered to help. Shera has been pretty sick , so she couldn't help much, but she provided some much appreciated laughter and fun. The whole process took me and Joy about 4 hours!!! But, it was SO worth it!! I moved Bonita and Linda's room to the basement and set up a full size bed in their old room. So, now I have a for real guest bed room!! (That also doubles as my office). I'm so grown up!! :)

The girls' room in the basement is bigger and cuter than their old one. They each now have their own dresser (although one drawer in each dresser must be given to Monique or Tasha since they are now regulars at my house as well). The also have a computer in their room (not hooked up to the internet) that they can play games on. The rest of the basement is set up as their own space with a TV and everything! (It works but isn't hooked up to anything...I will hopefully get a DVD or VCR soon so they can watch movies). I figure they are old enough now to have their own space...I hope they like it. I love it!! You can see for your self:

My new guest room! I don't have sheets or anything for the bed yet...that is coming soon! (My desk is to the right of the shelves...I couldn't get the whole room in one pic).The wood leaning against the wall on the left is a bookshelf that I need to put together...isn't this a great area for kids to hang out?!? Thank you Jesus!!How cute is their bedroom now?!? (Except for the exposed pipes in the middle...I have a curtain to cover that...I will hang it soon). There is a computer and another dresser on the right that you can't see. Now I just have to figure out how to get them to not be scared to sleep in the basement. Oh well...I have a guest room for them too!

My church is coming in a week and will be doing some work on my house and the church. I am working on getting my house spotless before they come so after they leave I only have to clean up their mess and not my own as well. The basement and guest room were the biggest projects; they involved moving furniture, storing stuff (Frankie still has A LOT of things at my house) and throwing a ton of stuff away. The rest of the house is just some major cleaning. I think I can get that done throughout the week. My house needs SO MUCH work, but its finally at the point where I'm not embarrassed to have people over...and that feels so good!! :)

And its CLEAN!!

The last few days have had some ups and downs, but more ups than downs, so I can’t complain.

Let’s start with the ups. My house is CLEAN!!! The upstairs and first floor are pretty much spotless and I am SO EXCITED!! I’m also 99% finished organizing everything. I just need a few more drawers and storage things, and a cork/dry erase board and I will be ready to go. My basement is a different story however…

Actually, my basement is clean, except for one room…but that room is a disaster. I will get to that eventually though, I’m in no hurry.

The most exciting part about my house is that I am leaving tomorrow and I will be gone for about 10 days, so my house is going to stay clean!!! :)

I have also gotten a TON of other stuff done. I organized everything on my computer and I have Prayer Pals, Kids Club and all my personal finances together and organized. I still have plenty to do (newsletter, preparing for Kids Club, etc), but I am at a really good place to be able to get all that stuff done. I also cleaned my car, got it inspected and I am leaving in about an hour to get the kids’ school uniforms. The only thing left for me to do is a mountain of laundry. I will spend some quality time at the Laundromat tonight. :)

So, overall I am feeling great about everything and my to-do list is not nearly as intimidating. However, I have run into some email problems that are causing me some frustration. I can’t figure out what the problem is, and neither can the Verizon people. I can access my email, but only from their website, I can’t get any of it on my computer. I really don’t want to have to change my email address!!

I am also facing a situation actually similar to one I faced this time last year. There is a person who is upset with me about something but won’t talk to me about it. It is a very frustrating situation and I am again put in the position of just waiting until this person either talks to me or gets over it. It is also a somewhat embarrassing situation because several people know what is going on and are talking about it, although no one seems to know why this person is upset with me. I don’t like people being upset with me, especially when I have no idea why. There isn’t anything I can do about it though, oh well.

Actually, this person isn’t the only person that seems upset with me. I would say that I overall get the feeling that there are a good number of people upset or annoyed with me, or just don’t want me to be around. Good thing I am going out of town for 10 days! J I don’t know if it’s all in my head or not, so I guess all I can do is trust that people will talk to me if they need to. I try to be humble, I know I’m not perfect and I am aware that I make a lot of mistakes, hopefully people can give me the grace I need…even if I don’t deserve it.

Oh, and I caught a cold...what's that all about?!?

Still Cleaning...

My upstairs is clean!! And when I say clean, I really mean clean!!! I rearranged everything, cleaned it better than it has ever been cleaned and organized my "office", so I am ready to go!! I even cleaned the bathroom like never before. I have a VERY small bathroom (I know you are picturing a small bathroom in your head right now...go smaller...keep going...smaller...there, that's about the size of my bathroom), but it took quite a while to clean it. I scrubbed every part of it, including the shower curtain liner, and it looks SO good!!!

I have moved onto the first floor and I hope to finish it before I head to my parents house on Friday, but I am not sure I will. I think I will get it pretty clean, but ideally I would like to move all my kitchen stuff back into my kitchen. However, most of my kitchen stuff is dispersed throughout my basement and I don't know that I will have the time to track it all down and put it in its correct place. I can survive for a while without all of it anyway.

In addition to cleaning a lot today I also managed to get the oil changed in my car, make an appointment to get it inspected, organize all the files and pictures on my computer and shop for some necessary items for my house. It was a pretty busy day, but a great one!!

Starting tomorrow I actually have a few things on my schedule outside of my house. I will be heading to Philadelphia Biblical University (PBU) tomorrow morning to try and recruit some college students to come and help us this fall with our ministries. I think I will be back around 2 or 3 from that, and I will spend the rest of the day cleaning and doing some laundry at the laundromat. On Thursday I am taking all my kids shopping for school uniforms which should be fun, and getting my car inspected. I will hopefully finish up cleaning and organizing my house on Thursday and head to VA either late that night or early in Friday. I am driving to South Boston, picking up my mom and then heading to Washington to spend the weekend there with my parents (and I am taking Gizmo with me!!). I am SO excited to get back to NC, and then to come home to a really clean house!!

(Did I mention that I just got another summons for jury duty? Its my 3rd time in 3 years. I'm not so excited about that...)

And now...

Pictures of my house!!! I had an AIM group over today and they cleaned my basement for me. My house is still messy, but its to the point where I will probably only have to spend a day cleaning, not all weekend. Yay!! So, there might be a bit of a mess in some of the pictures, but you get the idea. Its SO beautiful to me!!! :)

We haven't gotten to painting yet, which is actually a good thing because I need my mom's help to pick out a color. :) The ceiling isn't finished yet either, so stay tuned for that in the coming months. I'm so excited!

I don't have time to do before and after pictures right now, so here are a bunch of the after pictures!

How beautiful are those floors?!?!?

And the surprise they left me was this beautiful mural in the basement...this is actually one of my basement walls!
If you look really close, you can see the girl is wearing a VT tank top...I think its supposed to be Bonita or Linda, but I'm not sure...
So, everything is still a work in progress, but I am so excited about where we are! Next, the bathroom! :)