Around The Home

Painting, painting, painting! That’s what our week has consisted of, but we wouldn’t want it any other way! We are pleased with how far we have gotten, especially since our goal was to have our house painted by this summer, which we consider to be around June 1. We are not finished, but are quite a ways. We have to finish up some trim work, paint the deck railings, and then the garage. The garage vinyl is just fine, but we do want it to match our home and not scream that we are THAT diehard of Michigan fans. Ya know?

We know that it is a big project to paint a house, especially a two-story home, but it has honestly been great rehab for me. It has definitely built some muscle – going up and down the ladder umpteen times, but also rolling and painting increases the upper body strength, which I still definitely lack. I was just saying to Dan that my body sure isn’t ready for summer yet, but then he kindly reminded me that my body also went through two major surgeries. That gave me the grace I needed to realize how far I have come! I am in awe of how much strength I continue to gain back WEEKLY. You’d think I’d start to not see changes and plateau, but I had so much to gain back, that even after 6 months, I am still improving. So much to be thankful for!

Here’s a glimpse at what our week has looks like in pictures:

Dan is known for his crazy balancing acts on things to get the job done! Not for me…

A work in progress!

Despite the time we’ve spend outside painting, we still had fun inside too. Licking the spatula and beater plastered with banana bread batter, THE BEST!!

Mazy loves hanging out with one of her “best friends,” Val, at a softball game!

After the game, we FINALLY made it to Chick-Fil-A! Every time we tried to go it was so packed, so we finally made it in with ease…needless to say Mazy enjoyed it too!

Again, Dan doing some crazy balancing acts on a part of our house we weren’t sure was going to hold him! And, I’m pleased to announce that it did!

Hanging out at a track meet for one of our youth group kids!

Sometimes it was a tad chilly to paint, so planting grass seed was a great alternative!

The (almost) finished product! Just some trim work to do yet!

Dan has done some landscaping since this pic was taken, but you get the idea!

Saturday was community day at Dutch Village, where if you donate food, you get two free passes per person! We braved the cold and had a blast hanging out with cousins and sisters!

Photo Cred: Karin (my sister’s sister-in-law). The ferris wheel was a TAD chilly to ride on, but it was totally worth seeing the girls’ smiles and hear their shrieks!

One of Mazy’ favorite rides of all-time – a carouSELF (as she calls it)

Snuggling to warm up after that cold Dutch Village visit!

This next week we hope to get pretty far on painting, but we will see. I am also working hard on our book, which we *hope* will maybe come out this summer! We are VERY excited and humbled to share our story with everyone, though we know that it will happen in God’s timing. You may not see as many blog posts as normal in the upcoming weeks, due to painting and working on the book. Self-publishing sure is a lot of work, especially if you are a rookie, but at the same time, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Like anything, when you can put your own hard work into it, the end results means that much more! Can’t wait to share some teasers the closer we get to publication! The book is written, for the most part formatted, just working on a few little things yet, then a proof copy can be ordered! SO CLOSE! Stay tuned…