show, not tell

a gray day at the house

it was a gray, rainy day here in bloomington...but i came home to a little gray on the house, too!

have i mentioned that we are doing gray siding? maybe i have. i forget.


it's pretty light, but we're doing darker vinyl shingles on the two peaks, along with white trim around the front windows. nothing crazy, just classic. and the light color will look good for a while, we hope - less fading.

it's looking like maybe the siding and roof will be close to done at the end of next week. heck yeah!

as for ben and i, we are on a serious schedule. we pulled up a google calendar to map out exactly what we have to do each night/weekend in order to finish the projects we've started by mid-october. our social lives are pretty nonexistent, except for church and bible studies. we're missing our beloved dg conference this weekend, too, which is kind of an anniversary for us. we "met" at this one in 2004. "sex and the supremacy of Christ" makes for a great story. five long years ago!

north oaks rummage sale

hi! yesterday was a fun day. i had heard about the north oaks rummage sale from ben, so i got up bright and early (after a late night of surprise partying for my mother-in-law) to head up to shoreview. the sale started at 7 - i got there a little after. it was pretty crazy. police directing traffic, people parking and practically running to the door...a little preview of holiday shopping.

but it was so worth it. first, on the drive up, the sun was making beautiful pink and orange patterns in the sky, and i was listening to a bruce ware sermon about the self-sufficiency of God. second, i left with some good stuff! i had intended to look for some living room chairs - perhaps ones that could be reupholstered or painted. i also wanted to look for dining chairs or a coffee table.

but i also got some clothes - pieces were $2 or $3! i found a white sweater that is super '80s, a beautiful pair of ann taylor dress pants, a fun a-line skirt, a crazy sequined top (i'm a sucker for sparkly), and two bright scarves.


but there were many other things to look at, too.

(housewares galore.)

(for the kitschy kitchen.)

(loved this chair - sold.)

(these chairs were amazing. the wood was beautiful. but they were only selling as a part of an $850 bedroom set. bummer.)

(sorry for the blurry picture - i was in line for my purchase and it was kind of a mob mentality. but this huge tufted blue ottoman was really lovely. in great shape, too.)

(many things to see!)

and finally...what i bought. when i first walked in, i went straight to the furniture. i was looking at this chair and a worker asked me if i wanted to put my name on it to hold it - then i could have 30 minutes to decide and pay for it. i said yes! i was kind of nervous because it is such a crazy green...but it is actually in really good shape. but who am i kidding? i love a good green. and those arms...beautiful! i'm not sure if i'll paint it, but i could. i'm keeping it in the back of my suv so i can get some bids on costs for reupholstering it. it is in really good shape and is comfortable to sit in.

(tufted back+beautiful arms=definite potential.)

when i was in line, a few people came up to me and said how much they liked the chair...i was glad for the affirmation because i was kind of waffling. we'll see where this project lands.

until the future!

there's a hole in the bucket...

coming home from work these days is super fun: i walk around the house and see what the guys have been working on while we've been away!

today, i got home and did my usual roundabout. then i walked upstairs to change clothes. now, our upstairs is usually uncomfortably hot due to poor air flow and a small air conditioner, but as i walked up the stairs today, the change in temperature was quite intense. when i walked into our "bedroom" i saw this.

(sorry about the dark photo...but it sort of masks the little-boy two-tone paint job the previous owners left us.)

love it! plastic sheeting for a window. let's be adventurous and say we're living in a tree house...that's what it feels like with all this scaffolding outside our upstairs windows. :)

tearin down the house

this has been a big week in the life of our home. many drastic changes! the thing about doing projects ourselves is that they take a long, long time, but this week, we called in the big guns and had the pros get to reworking the entire exterior of our home. they started tuesday, and when they're done we'll have new windows, siding, and a new roof.

as mentioned, we started tearing off the siding ourselves a few weeks ago. we continued on labor day with the help of beth and crissy. i'm not gonna caption all these photos, but basically, the siding came off (revealing large amounts of hideous dead creatures), the brick came down, new windows and a door went in, and our house was wrapped in tyvek homewrap love.

having help doesn't mean we're off the hook. we'll be a trim-painting factory for the next few weeks.

a blessed day

today truly has been a day where i feel the weight of grace. just a few moments ago i was standing in the NEW kitchen, smelling the zucchini bread in the NEW oven (nutmeg is a new favorite spice!) and watching through the gorgeously huge kitchen window as our hired helpers wrapped tyvek on our home. i was struck by the immense blessing this whole experience has been. God has made it all possible.

in the past few days, friends and family have reiterated to me how awesome it is that we are so young and able to truly customize our home like we have. and they are right - this is a blessing we don't deserve. i am thankful to God for this opportunity, and hope that i never take it for granted.

i just got off the phone with my neighbor. she is such a gem. she offered me encouragement and Scripture for a situation i was struggling in. then she called me with a situation that needs prayer. ben and i looked for houses for two years and this is where God put us..."0h, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!" He is so good.

as for house work, we are in the final push! i'll post some pics soon...we took off the old siding last weekend and the contractors have continued the work...we're getting there!

house styles

today, i wanted to know exactly what makes a house a bungalow. i honestly had no idea. i've heard the term tons on hgtv and other places, but i had no clue what a bungalow's characteristics are.

so of course, google came in handy. i found this explanation - along with tons of descriptions of other types of houses! i got kind of hooked.

architecture is interesting. it is fun to look at all the different styles of homes in minneapolis: cute tudors, colonial revivals, and cotswold cottages. (i learned that from the site!) and then to drive south through richfield and see the one-and-a-half stories. bloomington is ranch land. you can really see how the house architecture changed as people moved out of the city and into the suburbs. narrow city lots meant people built up, but wider suburban lawns meant people built out.

our house is a mystery. from the front it looks like a ranch, but there's a large half story on the back of the house. hmmm. in a class of its own? we like to think so. :)

(the front, ready for a major re-do. that's one long ranch!)

(the back, before we ripped the porch off. looks almost like a two-story from here!)

anyone out there have a house with a specific style of architecture? any french eclectics or richardsonian romanesques?