Grover, Home Makeover: Update #2, and Friends

Grover

Today our church was visited by a man named Grove "Grover" Norwood. He came to share his story and his ministry with us. Please, please, please click on this link and read his story. There's no way I can sit here and type it. I'd cry again. I've already cried three times today when thinking about him. This man and his family lived through a devastating tragedy, trusted God, and turned it into an amazing ministry. In a lot of ways his tragedy reminded me of our loss. God made miraculous things happen from their grief, as He did by bringing Sarah into our little family. A testament to what God can do with lemons. Cheers to lemonade!

More on Grove Norwood

Home Makeover: Update #2:

As I mentioned in my last post, when we moved into our new house it was pretty much a blank slate. The previous owners maintained it very well, but much of the house is original from what we can tell: paint colors, tile, carpet, light and bathroom fixtures, and ceiling fans (it was built in 2001). As I've been unpacking boxes I've also been slowly but surely making some updates to the house to put our personality into it a little bit.

I started by updating the fireplace screen. Most of the metal in the house (fans, door knobs, light fixtures, etc.) are gold, which isn't quite my taste. Rather than replace the screen (which runs about $250) I updated it with a few coats of heat resistant paint.

Before:

After:

The original cabinet knobs were white porcelin, and I updated with some brushed nickle ones I found on Amazon for 97 cents! (Glad they were so cheap, because the kitchen has 58 knobs.)

Before:

After:

Close-Up:

I forgot to take a before of the downstairs half bath. It had a Broadway-style bar light with exposed bulbs, a chrome and glass vanity shelf, and a hexagonal plate-glass vanity mirror. I updated it with a new light fixture, a framed mirror we already had (just painted it to match), a wall stencil, some artwork, and some new brushed nickle hardware (again from Amazon for less than $30). And of course a new paint job.

I'm really enjoying doing these do-it-yourself projects. It can be pretty frustrating at times, but I get satisfaction out of finishing a job. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper than paying someone to do it!

Friends:

Sarah and Caleb enjoying a snack together:

Jack at Kelly's mom's lake house going down the slide:

Aiden and Sarah rub-a-dub-dubbin:

Sniff sniff, me and my gal pals Val and Tammy, who recently moved to Florida and Mississippi. Miss you girls!

And another sniff sniff: Our church praise team, before 4 of them moved away. Miss them like crazy too. Had such a great time worshiping together with this crew.