The Kitchen is DONE!!!! Wohoo!!!

Ok, so the kitchen is really really done! Here are some final pictures.

The first set is from the opposite end of the kitchen than the other pics I've been posting, but I think it gives you a better picture of the countertops and my new fabulous sink and faucet!

In other exciting news, it looks like I will be getting a new car here in the next couple of weeks. BJ is working Saturday morning, so I think I am going to ask my dad to go test drive a few small SUVs with me. I'm sure he'll be thrilled since he loves to look for cars for other people. My sister, Jill, and her husband, Sam, are going to buy my car from me before they move to Illinois in 2 weeks, so we are kinda under the gun as far as getting a new car goes. The conference this week was great! God really moved and I'm glad I could be a part of it. God is just so good.

Busy Weekend

This weekend has been very productive and it isn't even Sunday. Kitchen cabinets in - Check Plumbing done/sink in - Check Conference Done - Check I'm exhausted, and will update details and pictures later. Right now I'm trying to do some touchup paint work in my kitchen and need to clean out the sawdust from my cabinets and drawers. Then I'll start putting things back in my kitchen. I'm just ready for normalcy (is that a word?), but too tired to get things back to normal today. Maybe I'll get somethings back in the cabinets tonight, but I don't think I'll be able to get enough unpacked to be able to cook breakfast for my class tomorrow. We'll see.

More Pics

I had a friend ask for pictures of the progress since Monday, so here it is. Basically the difference between these pictures and the ones a few days ago is the lighting (much better than the previous pics), the hardware, and you can see the little cabinet to display my cartoon character glasses.

The Process

I thought I would write a little about what is going on and where we are in this whole kitchen remodel. The cabinets are up, most of the hardware is on, and the spice rack is being installed this afternoon. The cabinets really are white, even though they don't look it in the pictures. The kitchen makes me feel very small. I think I'm going to need to get some new things for my kitchen once it is complete like things to better organize inside my cabinets. So, for anyone out there that plans on buying me something for my birthday, and hasn't yet, maybe a gift card to Kohls or Bed, Bath, & Beyond would be a good idea. On Friday morning, our countertops will be installed starting at about 9. They came yesterday and measured the new cabinets so we would make sure the countertops would fit with the new additions. On Saturday, the plumber is coming to install my new sink, fixtures, garbage disposal, and reinstall the dishwasher. Thanks Dad for agreeing to sit over at my house while the rest of us are at the conference in Addison! By the time I get home on Saturday, hopefully my kitchen will be done and ready for me to move back in. I will post more pictures once the countertops are in and then again after the plumbing is all completed.

Progress

Out with the old...

And in with the new!!

If you missed what the kitchen looked like before, see this post.

Freedom in the Spirit of God

So, I've posted about freedom before and dancing in the rain and that whole thing, but today at church, God showed me something totally different about freedom that I had never thought of before. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom." II Corinthians 3:17 Usually when I think about the Spirit of God bringing freedom, I think about me being free from things that weigh me down and keep me bound spiritually, but today in Sunday School we talked about being full of the Spirit. So, the Bible says that when you are saved, the Spirit of God lives in you. So if the Spirit lives in me, there is freedom in me. What God showed me is that when His Spirit is in me, I don't just have freedom in Him, but God has freedom to do what he wants to change me into his likeness. That's my prayer: God be free to do whatever you want with me. Your plans for me are always best, so come in me and do a remodel and renovation. Get rid of what doesn't please you and have complete freedom in my life.

Tomorrow!!!

The day has finally arrived. Tomorrow our kitchen remodel gets started. I finished emptying my cabinets this evening and am so excited to see then whole thing come together. I promise to take pictures throughout the process so I can blog about them and scrapbook about them later. If everything goes as planned, my kitchen will be ready for me to move back in on Saturday afternoon. So, we are without a kitchen for about a week, but it is such a small price to pay for a kitchen that is not straight out of the 80s, which is what we currently have. Maggie is coming to sit over here at the house and let everyone in for the next couple of days and we are sooooo thankful. If I need to come home, I can, but hopefully everything will run as planned. I made a list of things that Tom, the cabinet guy, needed to know and am ready for the mess to begin! Also going on this week is the ladies conference I have been working on for a few months. After Saturday, I'm not sure I'm going to know what to do with myself. We got our passports in the mail on Saturday. BJ and I are going to Cozymel to an all-inclusive resort for a week starting August 17th. I'm looking forward to a vacation. It feels like I haven't gotten a break in a while. I totally accept responsibility for most of that since I tend to keep getting involved in more things every week. You know what they say. If you want something done, ask someone who is busy to do it (or something like that). I guess people who are used to being busy are used to prioritizing their time and not procrastinating. That's how I feel right now. I'm not really stressed (today), but I am ready for some true down time. Honestly, it's not like I haven's been watching TV every evening or never doing anything fun, but I am really ready to sleep in as long as I want to for a few days. I guess that's the main thing I am not getting so much of right now. I have been going in to work early in order to work some extra hours. The problem with that is that I do not do well going to bed early. It seems like I finally wake up about 9 at night and then my mind is going a hundred miles a minute until at least 11 or 11:30. Part of my problem today is that I took a nap for a few hours this evening and after I emptied my kitchen I am awake. Ok, I'm going to do one more quick post about something God is showing me and then I'm going to go try and sleep, I promise.

The Countdown Begins, or Continues

Our kitchen remodel got pushed back to Monday and Tuesday the 20th and 21st. So, we are down to 5 days until our current cabinets are taken out and the new starts going in. I'm very excited, but I've been too busy with the conference and work to think about it, honestly. That is only a week and a half away. Wohoo! And I haven't updated in over 10 days, so I'm very sorry for anyone out there that cares and feels like they need an apology for my absence. So here's an update: short and sweet and to the point. I would guess that my next post will be pictures of my new kitchen, so I'm sure you are all waiting anxiously for that.

A Little Competitive

So if you know me at all you know I am competitive. My friend Stacy who now lives in Alabama was inspired by me to update her blog more often. With that being said, she has updated twice since I have, so I have to update about something. Sometimes I am too competitive for my own good. I am off today so, Alissa came over this morning and we packed everything in the cabinets except for what I anticipate will be used between now and July 16th, when the kitchen remodel will begin. The kitchen cabinets are definitely a little bare, now. Wohoo!! Then we went to Angelo's for lunch and ate spaghetti casserole and got strawberry cheesecake to go. It was very tasty. She had never been there and it had been a while for me. Tonight I need to go grocery shopping and cook some desserts for Sunday. We are having an all church cook-out after church Sunday morning and I am bringing Italian Cream Cake and Frozen Strawberry Pies. Yummy! Tomorrow we are going to Bop's for the day and then I need to finish my Sunday school lesson tomorrow. Then it's back to work on Monday. Next Friday and Saturday we are having a campout for our church kids, so I'm sure that'll be fun and hot. God, a nice breeze next weekend would be greatly appreciated. I hope to get some pictures to post and write about. I know that a post is so much better with pictures, so I'm working on it for my few faithful readers.