House Update

We have progress, folks!!  After what seems like an eternity, things are finally happening!  About three weeks after the fire, a company came in and cleaned up all the wet carpet and insulation in order to prevent further damage.

And then the house just sat.  For almost two months.  And it was a frustrating lesson in patience.  I'm no dummy though- I know the lesson isn't over yet!  While it was just sitting, the tarp on the roof started collecting water each time it rained and getting more and more saggy until it looked like it was about to burst through.  It never did burst, but it leaked pretty bad.  Good thing we were getting new floors anyway, right?

The landscaping has not fared well.  I've never claimed to have a green thumb.  In fact, quite the opposite.  But this one vine/weed thing has taken over the backyard it seems.  I'm pretty sure even I would keep things under control a little better if we had been there.  Maybe next year?

However, the daisies have done great.  Even without us being there!  A lot of times when I stop by, I pull a few weeds in the smaller planters we have so that's probably helped.  But at one point in the whole ordeal Danny reminded me that God even takes care of the daisies, and we didn't even have to do anything!  He's definitely going to take care of us, too.

And THEN.  That GLOOOORIOUS day!!  When we got a text from Danny's sister with a picture of the contractor's van in our driveway.  We were so excited!!!  The kitchen is completely gone, as are two walls of drywall in the living room.  I drive past everyday on my way to work and this morning I could see that a big part of the roof was gone too.  I'm stopping by to look at some stuff tomorrow and am excited to see what else has been done!

It would be my dream to get in by Christmas, but I know that's highly unlikely.  It will probably be January or February.  (That patience thing, you know.)  So until then, we will stay in our 

Home, Sweet Temporary Home:)

Moore (get it?) Birthday Fun:)

Sorry for the bad pun in the title- I just couldn't help it!  Saturday morning, bright and early, seven of us headed to Ft. Wayne for the Beth Moore conference.  I was SO excited to have some of my friends come out from IL, and even MORE excited when one who I haven't seen since our wedding showed up!!  She's one of those friends who I told almost everything to.  So to not see her for that long of time was saaaadddd:(  But there she was!  Anyway.  We had to split up at the conference because some of the girls didn't get signed up in time.  But for those of us who did- we found great seats!  On the floor, four rows back from the stage!  It was such an uplifting day- one that all of us were glad we had.

After the conference we had supper at Chili's and dessert at DeBrands.  It was only the second time I was there.  Shameful, I know.

Here's the crew- I love them all!

With my lovely Illinois fair maidens:)

So, so thankful for my dear friends!

My Burfday!

I, for one, still love having birthdays!  I start anticipating it about a month before and I try to celebrate it for a full week:)  It finally came around again on September 3rd, just like it does every year!  That Monday, on Labor Day, we decided to make a cake that we could enjoy all week long. Chocolate cake just happens to be my favorite dessert so of course that's what we went with.  But this isn't just any chocolate cake from a box.  This is Deep Dark Chocolate Cake made from scratch, that even my "cake is my least favorite dessert" hubby thought was great!  We could only scrounge up nine candles which was probably for the better since I still had trouble getting them all blown out in one breath.  I would have been passed out cold with 32!

That morning Danny made me breakfast which was a pretty big deal because he's not a huge breakfast eater and I'm a firm believer in it.  When I picked up my toast, I saw a picture of Beth Moore!  I had hinted a few months back that her conference in Ft. Wayne this Saturday might be a good idea and he pulled through!  He even convinced some of my IL friends to come out for it:)

Since my actual birthday was on a Wednesday we waited to go out for it until Friday.  We went to Takaoka Japanese Steakhouse (don't have pictures), did "the bookstore date", and came back to watch Mom's Night Out.  Even though I'm not a mom it was still really good!  All you girls that are in the trenches of motherhood right now should definitely see it!

The bookstore date was one I got from the Dating Divas website.  A lot of their ideas I think are kind of cheesy, and this one was too, but I did enjoy it!  The idea is to go to a large bookstore and find things in different sections you each like.  We each picked out a recipe that looked good in the food section, a vacation we would like to take in the travel section, a kids book we liked in the children's section, and so on and so forth.  Something a little different to do!  And of course you have to read the kid's books out loud:)

The only problem with getting so excited over a birthday is that you're let down again after just a short 24 hours.  But there's always next year!

Bits & Pieces

I Got A Job!

That's right folks:)  Sarah is finally employed!  A couple weeks ago I started working at a preschool here in town.  I'm there Monday through Friday from 8:30-12:00.  The hours are great, the kids are cute, and it's good to be back in that atmosphere!  It's definitely taking a little getting used to though.  Sometimes I wonder how I ever did it for eight hours at a time!  It's getting better, but the first few days I was completely wiped out after that short amount of time.  I felt like such a wimp!  I have a theory though.  I've always been in more of a daycare type setting, where there is a lot more down time.  This being a preschool, not a minute is wasted and we cram a LOT into just a couple hours.  I don't really know if I like it better or worse, it's just something a little different.  But I am very glad to have a job though.  I was starting to get pretty bored at home all the time!

House Update

Well, it looks like it's gonna be awhile at this rate.  We are pretty much at a standstill.  Waiting, waiting, and more waiting on insurance!  Our contractor got his estimate done, but we still don't know about the estimate from insurance.  For three weeks, the wet insulation and carpet just sat, which made us worry about mold growth.  So there was a company that came and cleaned that mess up, but we can't get started with the actual reconstruction process until the insurance approves everything.  Danny's grandma is moving home from the nursing home on Saturday and we're not sure where we're going to go after that!  We will most likely be living here with her for a little while, but do plan to move somewhere else once we get that figured out.  There are days when I really am okay just waiting everything out, and there are days when my frustration with the slow process runs high.  But then God helps me get my perspective back in check and life moves on.

My Grandpa

 A few weeks ago my grandpa passed on from this life to his eternal home.  We were out in Illinois for a wedding that weekend anyway, so when he died on Saturday night, I just decided to stay until the funeral and everything was over.  Danny came back to work a little bit and then back out to IL.  He was ready to be done being on the road!

My grandpa was an extremely kind and generous man who touched so many people.  He lived what he preached and always treated people with love.  Growing up with that, sometimes I didn't realize how much he meant to people because to me, he was my grandpa and I guess I just didn't know any better.  But seeing how many people came through the visitation and funeral gave a glimpse of how many lives he touched.  And seeing my grandma say goodbye one last time before they closed the casket was heart-wrenching at best. Per grandpa's request, all the grandkids sang a song together at the graveside.  That's something him and grandma love- listening to us sing together.  So much that we all got together and made a CD for them a few years back which they they passed out to all their family and friends like it was the greatest thing ever recorded!  But anyway, it made singing at the funeral pretty special.  #239 in the Hymns of Zion will never be the same for me!

He always went on and on about how much he hoped and prayed I could get married.  I don't think he realized that I really was okay, and would have continued being okay with being single!  I wonder if it's because he loved grandma so much and wanted me to be able to have that too.  But regardless, I'm so thankful he could be there to see that:)  He will be missed, that's for sure!

Six Months!!

We've made it to the six month mark as of today!  Trust me- I know six months really isn't very long at all.  But we feel some sense of accomplishment or something.  I guess I'm not exactly sure what it is.  It's been a joy sharing life with Danny!  We're kind of hoping the next six months is a little more uneventful that the first:)

My First "Lakes" Experience

Last week we went with Danny's family to "The Lakes".  I put that in quotes because I always thought it was weird to make it plural when you actually just go to one lake.  But I have had it explained to me how there's a bunch of lakes close together in that area and maybe some are connected or something like that.  Therefore, it's the lakes.  I can understand that.  But I don't however, say stones.  They're rocks.  Plain and simple.  Anyway- I think that might officially make me a Blufftonite.  Going to the lakes I mean.  Regardless, we had a great time!  

Cooking breakfast on our day to feed everyone

Lots of cute kiddos

Taking a bike ride to a small, nearby pond for a little peace and quiet away from said cute kiddos

My first ever ride on a jet ski.  It wasn't horrible but it wasn't as fun as everyone said it was.  I'm just not real adventurous!  (Much to my hubby's dismay.)

Also my first time ever golfing.  The day before we went we went to a driving range to practice.  Since the only golf club I had ever held was while playing putt putt.  I was terrible.  But I liked it good enough to go again next year!

iPad time:)

Princess of the boat

Watching Danny and Ryan ski together and show off have fun together

Enjoying a dip in the lake

Showing the red and pink candy that was in the pinata that we had, saying that Aunt Cassie is going to have a GIRL!

Putt putt- way more in my comfort zone than the golf course:)

Lots of turtles were caught (and released) throughout the week!

And a few fish were caught too.

Trying to learn to ski for the first time!

What a great week!

Our Smoke Detectors Don't Work

So I'm sure most of you reading this have heard by now that we had some unplanned and unforeseen events in our lives.  Our house got struck by lightning very early Wednesday morning.  I was in Illinois visiting family but Danny was home.  It jolted him awake and after a little investigation he saw smoke and flames and called 911.  I try not to dwell on the fact that I wasn't there when it happened because I really wish I was.  

We know we probably have a big headache and hassle in front of us but we really have nothing to complain about.  There are so many what ifs that could have made it so much worse than it is.  What if Danny went to IL with me?  What if he just decided to stay in bed after he woke up rather than going to check things out?  What if it hadn't been pouring down rain?  (The rain really helped keep it in check)

The contractor said we would be out of our house for 4-6 months.  BUT we have insurance.  We are safe.  As far as material loss, we are not loosing much at all.  Really the only thing we will lose is our living room furniture and kitchen table and chairs.  Maybe a few other things but pretty much everything that was inside the cupboards is perfectly fine.  And well, I kind of wanted new carpet anyway.

The day it happened, there was a family in my community back home that had a car accident.  Both parents and one of the sons were killed with the other son in critical care.  My heart goes out to them and my perspective is kept in check.  I'm sure there will be days in the coming months where my attitude is not great.  But for now, I just feel like praising.

We are staying at Danny's grandma's house for now.  She had heart surgery last week and will be spending several weeks in the nursing home while she recuperates.  Once she comes home we aren't sure where we'll go but we know something will work out.

All the debris in the kitchen.  By the way, I think those are sarcastic thumbs up:)  

Where the worst of the fire was, it burned through completely.

Part of the ceiling collapsed under water weight.

Our bedroom was basically untouched but we could see where it was starting to spread and head that direction.

This is as bad as it gets on the outside of the house.  A few smaller areas around the outside but not much!

And as we walked through the basement with a flashlight we saw this wall hanging and were reminded:

Why Women Live Longer Than Men

Have you seen those pictures on the internet of men accomplishing tasks in a crazy dangerous way?  Well, we may not be quite that extreme, but at our painting party there were a couple times when the words "Be Careful!" were uttered by multiple people.  But hey, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.  Right???

 

 

At least Paul wasn't standing on the very top of the ladder like Aaron was....

 

Oh but wait.  He had one side of it on a step while Aaron held onto the other side as steadily as possible!

 

No worries.  Nobody crashed and burned!