House update, happy weekend, and ramblings

Hello, hello!

Sorry to disappear for a few days, it's been nuts around here, as I'm sure you can imagine! The move went off pretty smoothly, but with very little sleep, several crazy appointments, two weeks of obnoxious contractor problems, and a few fun adventures, I haven't had much time to think, much less blog.

I am so grateful to you all for your sweet comments on my last post, it means the world to me to know that you are thinking of and praying for me. I will definitely be praying for all of you and thanking God for you!

But now, on to other things!

Here's a small portion of my mantle. I painted it shiny black one day to get rid of the horrible horrible 70's brown paint that was there before. I think I like the black, and I'll like it even more once I get this room painted white instead of circus peanut yellow. 

The mantle is HUGE, going all the way across this end of the room, so decorating it is going to be a chore - I'm still learning a lot when it comes to styling the mantle, since I've never had one before! There was an old nail in the brick, so I hung up an old empty frame and threw up a plant and a tiny little picture from the thrift store. At least it's no longer empty, progress I guess.

Also, there's this. This is my "kitchen" right now. 

Dishes and food are thrown willy-nilly on those shelves, the little drawered cabinet holds utensils and such, and there's a place for the coffee pot. Cooking has been crazy lately, we've grilled almost every night and I've managed to steam veggies and make rice in the electric rice cooker. We don't even own a microwave, but we did get the fridge plugged in (all the way across the house in the dining room) so we haven't been suffering too much! Doing dishes is a pain in the bathroom sink, but I have a new plan to destroy the environment and use paper plates for a while. I know. I'm lazy.

I'd show you the kitchen "progress," but there hasn't been any visible change, except that they took up the floorboards, moved around the pipes and gas lines etc, and put them back down. Also, there are more holes in the walls. However, we should be able to start putting the drywall back up this weekend and maybe even lay down the flooring! Hurrah! 

My in-laws are coming to town this afternoon to help us work on the house, and I'm very excited to see them and grateful that they're coming to work! I like helpful people ;) 

I hope you all have a happy weekend! I'll be working on the house, hopefully make enough progress to show you something next week, and then probably spending as much time as possible in my back yard. That's where the real magic is.