tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-198403002012-01-27T19:15:10.929-05:00Join me in the fun as I document the day to day thrills in a life with my hubby, Dave.Katienoreply@blogger.comBlogger9841100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-78014408391691851312011-07-25T16:42:00.000-04:002011-07-25T16:42:01.269-04:00

Hello Everyone! I've created a new blog where I focus mainly on design related topics. I'm not sure if I will continue to keep this current blog up to date or not. For now, I'm definitely focusing on growing the other one instead. Just wanted to make sure you're all in the loop on the new blog!

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-59781420266258445602011-06-18T15:04:00.002-04:002011-06-18T15:04:50.354-04:00

gamma and auntie came out right before my birthday and brought me some new dishes and a blow up swimming pool for levi. here we are enjoying it. did you notice our disgusting water? it's back....apparently this is a summer thing here....?

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-8406687585593370512011-06-18T14:59:00.000-04:002011-06-18T14:59:48.964-04:00

last Sunday I tore out our brick paver sidewalk and hauled all the pavers out to the end of the driveway. then we posted this photo on craigslist and within 2 hours they were gone. thursday a friend of a friend came and poured a new concrete sidewalk in its place along with a large concrete patio out back. here's a photo of the barstools dave made the other weekend. we still have to paint them

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-22184986889738009582011-06-06T16:36:00.000-04:002011-06-06T16:36:18.928-04:00

Here's a photo of our "new" computer armoire that I scored on craigslist today. Isn't it great? I was determined to put our home office in the great room so that we could watch movies on the computer (no TV) and so we could listen to music after Levi went to bed (cuz it used to be across the hall from his room and was too loud) so I scoured the internet and found this great piece of furniture to

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-24293209136202984982011-06-03T17:29:00.000-04:002011-06-03T17:29:33.347-04:00

It is June 3rd and we are oh-so-close to being done with our home. It's taken 3-4 years but we've remodeled and replaced nearly everything in this home. And we've paid cash for it. I'm praising God about that. Because it has cost us about 5 times what I originally estimated. Ha! We were so clueless when we started... But anyways, I estimate we have 2-3 weeks left till we list it. Of course I

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-21592962554993365062011-06-03T17:17:00.000-04:002011-06-03T17:17:09.703-04:00

lately i've become more and more obsessed with interior design. i love homes and everything about them pretty much. as a child I would draw house plans relentlessly and wanted to become an architect. somehow i found myself with a civil engineering degree designing water lines, interstates, storm sewers and wastewater treatment plants. just not what i wanted to do with my life. so now that i'm a

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-83458323433815573522011-05-25T21:41:00.000-04:002011-05-25T21:41:20.766-04:00

I had the opportunity last week to draw up some sketches of possible kitchen layouts for my in-laws' new kitchen. I absolutely love that type of work. If I could do that kind of thing all day long I would....why, oh why did I not become an architect like I wanted to? In every spare moment I've had lately my mind has been swirling with decorating ideas. I have devoured magazines and blogs, etc,

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-72164991188355503712011-05-10T10:31:00.001-04:002011-05-10T10:39:21.460-04:00

so it's been almost 2 months since my last blog post. basically we are in a very busy season of life and i haven't felt like blogging. we are feverishly working on getting our house finished and on the market sometime this month. roundabout April we realized we'd never meet that goal working alone so we enlisted some help. that's when "Drywall Daryl" (as Dave affectionately refers to him)

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-60485899646561771342011-03-16T18:06:00.000-04:002011-03-16T18:06:26.470-04:00

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death Your perfect love is casting out fear And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life I won't turn back I know you are near And I will fear no evil For my God is with me And if my God is with me Whom then shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear? (Chorus:) Oh no, You never let go Through the calm and through the storm Oh

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-36324127560121808902011-03-11T21:21:00.000-05:002011-03-11T21:21:43.524-05:00

i've been reading a couple books lately. crazy love (our sunday school class is reading it together) lick the sugar habit (our midwife recommended it) in lick the sugar habit i learned all kinds of facts that i sort of wish i could pretend i had never learned. for that matter, i'm getting the same thing from crazy love! ha! anyways, it just seems like it is easier to not change and these two

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-29456427729966782662011-02-16T12:50:00.001-05:002011-02-16T12:52:51.101-05:00

Click on the link below. I found it fascinating viewing these photos since I'm living in a time where breastfeeding without a cover in public would be considered totally offensive. Neat blog that includes historical breastfeeding photos I think it is interesting how our views as a culture of breastfeeding have been changed/shaped so drastically in the last century. Something that is only

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-8462036571990214682011-02-14T15:47:00.001-05:002011-02-14T15:49:16.531-05:00

That is all I have to say about this...click below: Post about Hormonal Birth Control But I will warn you there are some curse words and may be mildly offensive but so, so true. Someone I'm friends with on Facebook posted this link the other day, I opened it up then walked away from the computer and I just got around to reading it. I wish I could remember who posted it. But anyways. I saw this

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-27477339693832687732011-02-12T12:40:00.002-05:002011-02-12T13:26:19.023-05:00

Christmas Eve morning at our house. Way to start our little family's tradition of Sticky Bun and presents, huh? Levi was pretty tired but he did enjoy opening his stocking and getting his wooden blocks. We found them on etsy.com. We put Levi down for a nap then Dave opened his Saint headlight from me. And he had already gotten his Bosch reciprocating saw a few days before. It was an awesome

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-12173933914573351482011-02-05T12:08:00.000-05:002011-02-05T12:08:13.956-05:00

Levi turned 6 months old this past Monday and he has been getting into all sorts of "trouble". I am often surprised at what he can do for a guy who can only "scoot" around (not actually crawl). Here are just a few highlights of our past few weeks together: While standing in his exercauser (that has a rounded bottom) he managed to scoot it across the room by lunging in the direction he wanted to

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-32087695080779977612011-01-31T17:38:00.001-05:002011-01-31T18:21:31.514-05:00

while browsing the internet saturday for fun design blogs, i found this blog. she posted pics of real life messes in her home then 75 other people linked up pics of their messes in the comments section. click here to see for yourself. i just love this. as someone who has actually posted pics of my remodeling messes for your entertainment purposes, i'm glad to know i'm not the only one with a

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-49481414270269267192011-01-06T18:50:00.000-05:002011-01-06T18:50:10.882-05:00

just went thru a stack of papers that i've been hanging onto for 5 years not sure what to do with. that was fun! it is amazing how hard it is for me to make a decision on whether to keep something or not. each item takes valuable time to deal with. just another reason not to keep this stuff in the first place!

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-19636858561951863532011-01-06T17:19:00.002-05:002011-01-06T17:30:32.422-05:00

i was thinking of having a swap party but the idea of sending out invitations, cleaning my house, having people over, etc. was stressing me out. so then i had a great idea. ... see, i have several items to give away that i do not want to just give to goodwill. i would love to see friends and family and blog readers acquire them if they're interested. and i also have 2 missionary families on my

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-55636737966590737872011-01-06T17:05:00.000-05:002011-01-06T17:05:05.733-05:00

someday i will post an update about christmas complete with pics of levi's first christmas, etc. but for now i'm on a roll with other stuff and i don't want to take the time to upload photos, etc. with the new year i've been scrambling around trying to make our home more homey and less messy. (of course this will be a lot easier when we hang up a coat rack, and cabinets in the laundry room, etc.

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-3715342195076507312010-12-23T12:09:00.002-05:002010-12-23T12:17:29.454-05:00

our cabinets still need stained and the doors and crown mold hung but we've decided to go ahead and move in because realistically it will be a while till all that work's done and we have to live in our house...eat, etc....so here's a fun post about organizing our cabinets. but first...some before shots to remind you of what this space once looked like :) always had stuff stacked on top of the

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-1664156211627976322010-12-22T15:43:00.001-05:002010-12-22T15:48:18.953-05:00

over the weekend i picked the paint color for the laundry room. it's a little more gray than this blue color shown above. but this room is kind of my inspiration for our laundry room. i can't wait till the drywall is totally done so i can paint (rod made great strides with it this past weekend but dave wants to "massage" it with his "particular" tendencies which is fine with me and rod...hhhh...

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-3950924985888008472010-12-20T10:59:00.002-05:002010-12-20T11:04:15.972-05:00

the upper kitchen cabinets have been sitting in our front room since sept 27 or something like that...long enough that i started using them more as a table to store stuff on...(my poor david has been working 12 hour days/6 days/wk for the past few months...not a lotof energy/time left to work on the kitchen...) here's a close up of our gorgeous granite counter... this is what our kitchen looked

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-49169703757247463192010-12-08T17:04:00.000-05:002010-12-08T17:04:53.672-05:00

I am thankful for the time I spent with my mom Thanksgiving weekend purging stuff from her attic because it got me back in the mood to declutter. And I am slowly learning that the things we accumulate in our home can either make the space inviting or suffocating. Things somewhat have the power to alter our emotions, etc. Of course we're ultimately in control of our emotions but our environment

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-51515194656323846322010-12-07T13:44:00.000-05:002010-12-07T13:44:44.946-05:00

Levi showing off his "push-up" skills a couple weeks ago...aren't his little cloth diapers adorable? David finally let me get rid of his disgusting foam pillow that he's had his entire life...ew! It was comfy but over the past year it had developed "lumps" and it smelled bad and when I found "new" pillows in mom's attic, we could let it go. Levi going after the spoon of rice cereal :) And Mommy &

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-89833836369350968272010-12-07T10:17:00.000-05:002010-12-07T10:17:19.749-05:00

1. We got our Christmas tree Sunday evening. That's the first tree we bought since 2006. The last tree we had in our home was in 2007, one we cut out of our front yard. And I think all we did was put lights on it cuz we didn't have time to really decorate it working 5 jobs. The past 2 years we did not have a tree. I'm so happy to have one this year. Decorating it was so much fun. I had completely

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-13858973593496810712010-11-28T17:27:00.000-05:002010-11-28T17:27:01.882-05:00

Dave has been out deer hunting multiple times this year but had no luck...until yesterday! He shot this nice 8 point buck last night. Looks like we will be eating good once again this year. I'm so thankful! He's out hunting again tonight, the last night of season, hoping to get 2 more deer. That would be pretty awesome but we're thankful at least for the 1. Levi & I went home with my parents

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-60259924887715467672010-11-21T15:01:00.001-05:002010-11-21T15:03:00.355-05:00

Levi hiding in Daddy's coat Levi and Daddy wearing "earrings" Levi playing in his exersaucer. He can really enjoy it now that we lowered it. In this photo, I hadn't done that yet. He absolutely loves playing in it because he can stand up and move around and play with his toys. Unfortunately, Levi doesn't like his bumbo quite as well. Maybe our next baby will...hopefully. He will sit in it

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-7069797472449813242010-11-13T15:16:00.001-05:002010-11-13T15:22:22.982-05:00

went to ohio last weekend. our main goal was to help pat & michelle work on their new house. We got a lot done but so wish we could do more. one week later and i'm still recovering...i had a lot of emotions (good and bad) about our trip as always but mainly the final conclusion is that it would be much nicer if we just lived there. we wouldn't have to endure such a process just to go see our

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-18981672145941430082010-10-27T18:33:00.000-04:002010-10-27T18:33:42.394-04:00

I've been daily fighting a battle against the Internet. Basically, I think that it is my biggest problem in keeping the house clean, etc. I get online planning to spend 5 mins on there. The next thing I know, it's 5 hours later and I've wasted my entire day. There are so many things that I love to look at. So many people that I love to keep up with online, etc. But the house needs cleaned. And I

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-57154919258780964022010-10-26T15:17:00.002-04:002010-10-26T15:17:22.635-04:00

I have been wondering lately why whenever I see a DIY show or something and they give the names of the owners, they always list the woman first? what's up with that? I thought it was customary to list the man first...

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-29587190947116451352010-10-26T15:12:00.000-04:002010-10-26T15:12:06.066-04:00

Every once in a while I have a lazy day where I don't accomplish much of anything but it seems like the last few weeks, I've had a lot more lazy days than productive days. And now that I'm down in that slump it's hard to get out. I'm reading a book from my friend Tanya that today pointed out the scripture: Phil 3:13-14... "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-14827204556832688362010-10-22T10:05:00.000-04:002010-10-22T10:05:51.946-04:00

I uploaded some short videos of Levi to youtube. Check them out: Levi playing in his crib Levi enjoying his changing table Yesterday we sold the BMW that we bought a month ago. Dave originally bought it because it was a really good deal and he thought he'd sell the Jeep and start driving the BMW. But then we woke up to the reality that we no longer had an emergency fund (after over-spending on

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-57652355426873869142010-10-20T13:16:00.000-04:002010-10-20T13:16:50.713-04:00

Dave & Brad ripped out our kitchen flooring last weekend. We're down to just the wood floor. Dave hopes to get a lot more accomplished on the kitchen later this week and this weekend. The next step is laying down all the tile backer and re-drywalling half the room. Levi & I have had a busy week so far. Babysitting and grocery shopping at Target (a 3 hour process) on Monday. 11 piano lessons on

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-26134650352570765162010-10-20T13:12:00.000-04:002010-10-20T13:12:56.541-04:00

I've often heard of people cooking for a whole month ahead of time. The idea appealed to me but never enough to do it. Well now that the kitchen is partly out of commission, I decided last Thursday to spend the day making lots and lots of food. I made 3 loaves of bread, a lasagna, chili and sloppy joe meat. It was so nice this week to have some homemade meals already made that just needed heated

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-82662148629464573042010-10-20T13:10:00.000-04:002010-10-20T13:10:43.145-04:00

I am lazy by nature. I always used to think that my house was a mess because I worked full time but ever since I came home, it is still messy. So I've been observing my own behavior, trying to find out why our house is such a mess. And one of the conclusions that I've come to is that I don't see the point in putting something away that I will soon need to use again. That's just too many steps

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-70192186641091335222010-10-13T17:14:00.001-04:002010-10-13T17:14:50.803-04:00

check out this post on a blog that i've recently discovered... http://www.remodelingthislife.com/2010/08/30/where-i-blog/ after finishing remodeling our bedroom dave & i realized that it would have been a good idea for arranging furniture both in the bedroom and the front room if we would have relocated our master bedroom door to the left or south of where it is. and today i found that these

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-27059188009551653902010-10-13T16:58:00.000-04:002010-10-13T16:58:32.941-04:00

i've been thinking a lot about appliances lately since we're remodeling the kitchen. we no longer have the luxury of a dishwasher until we buy a new built in one...probably during the after thanksgiving sales. i've found that i actually find it kind of nice not having one because i can instantly wash the dishes after meals and have the use of those dishes again at the next meal. the dishwasher 

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-4741316025661953652010-10-13T14:36:00.004-04:002010-10-13T14:47:15.068-04:00

i hope that someday we can get Levi some toys like this...or that david can make some toys like this...i found these for sale on etsy. i know that in my childhood i had some of the most fun ever playing with stuff like this. when mom worked at the presbyterian church, emily and i spent HOURS playing with the wooden blocks, ramps, etc. in the preschool area and i remember mrs. fitzrandolph's first

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-29302381732079748002010-10-12T16:42:00.000-04:002010-10-12T16:42:01.126-04:00

i've been enjoying these blogs this month as they each feature 31 days of something... http://thenester.com/ http://beautyandbedlam.com/ http://www.remodelingthislife.com/ And last year I found out about this blog http://glorybeafarm.blogspot.com/  thru Dave's cousin Kelly. She mentioned that they butchered a cow together. I check it every once in a while. I think these are good friends of hers

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-60985044545778241682010-10-11T16:35:00.003-04:002010-10-11T16:47:46.991-04:00

today was my first day back nannying for the family i worked for last year. turns out their new nanny got a full time gig and could no longer work for them at just the perfect time for me to go back to work. it's amazing how God works things out! levi was able to go along with me. everything went really well. levi had a few grumpy moments (like when he decided he was hungry while i was making

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-20992545864526370972010-10-11T16:35:00.000-04:002010-10-11T16:35:09.602-04:00

our garbage disposal installed under our new sink! look at that plumbing masterpiece. a before shot of our kitchen. can't wait till we have the after shot! the plumbing disaster that we call our old kitchen sink. seriously...what is going on under there? doesn't our new set up look better? my husband is a "jackson of all trades" aunt lisa and uncle bob with levi friday night. they brought us

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-3439395427760136882010-10-04T19:13:00.004-04:002010-10-04T19:33:04.153-04:00

patrick, here's the cabinet door we were discussing.

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-27083450540100819472010-10-04T14:43:00.000-04:002010-10-04T14:43:06.962-04:00

for entertainment these days i've been browsing the archives of the younghouselove website. and i found this fascinating post about widening doorways. i think this is a fabulous way to make a ranch home with narrow doorways and many small rooms seem instantly more open without tearing out all the walls completely. so of course i began thinking how i could apply this great idea to our home as

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-65758366726974616862010-10-04T12:15:00.000-04:002010-10-04T12:15:04.510-04:00

just looked at my calendar. the next 11 out of 13 days we have plans in the evening. wow. it makes me tired just thinking about it. you know, now would be a really good time for levi to stop cluster feeding in the evenings! in the mean time, dave continues to plug away at our kitchen. he has finished tiling, grouting and sealing all 3 countertop sections this weekend. and this wed night if he

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-76435054311339664722010-09-29T13:39:00.000-04:002010-09-29T13:39:26.923-04:00

the couple on younghouselove.com announced today that they are moving. they haven't found a new place yet but are looking and are excited about redoing another home. i am very excited for them and very excited to read about their new remodeling adventures in the near future! everyone has been asking us lately if we'll even be able to move after putting so much time, money and energy into

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-52121833107781674792010-09-27T13:33:00.001-04:002010-09-27T14:08:31.272-04:00

the granite tile glued onto the sink base...grouting to follow tonight more discovery channel on our front porch...a squirrel levi enjoying his bumbo at 7 weeks or so levi checking out the mirror in his room levi reading his favorite book at the hotel in chicago. he likes the black and white panda and the orange lion. he's about 8 weeks old here. levi discovering his hand and sucking on it in

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-30095138740539953792010-09-27T12:09:00.002-04:002010-09-27T12:09:53.330-04:00

by the way, the homemade deodorant that i made a couple weeks ago works fabulously! you do have to stir it often as it tends to separate. i highly recommend it. although i wish i had a better method of application than dipping my fingers into it.

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-43181345340718132682010-09-27T10:30:00.001-04:002010-09-27T10:34:35.879-04:00

dave had training for work in chicago last week so levi & i went along. we ate out every meal. it was nice because i did not have to make anything but we were so ready to eat our own food by the time we got home this weekend. we are just not used to eating out anymore and we like our own food better! i did some shopping, which was of course a little more challenging than ever before, since i had

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-58918829266677329812010-09-18T11:44:00.002-04:002010-09-18T12:02:54.612-04:00

just thought i'd go ahead and write a post about cloth diapers while Levi is napping. for those of you who don't know, and those who do...but want more info...this is what we use for Levi right now: chinese prefolds and bummi's super whisper wraps with velcro. we have 36 of the prefolds and 9 of the wraps. i think if money were no object, i'd purchase a couple more of the wraps because

Katienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-86312892348056757132010-09-16T13:38:00.000-04:002010-09-16T13:38:55.522-04:00

just whipped me up a batch of homemade deodorant...haven't tried it yet but have read tons of reviews for this recipe on various websites. should work fine. this is something i've been wanting to try for several months but the recipes i'd found previously said to use coconut oil not EVOO. i don't have any coconut oil and it's like $10 for a little container and i just kept making excuses about

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-62737498689277027732010-09-16T10:41:00.001-04:002010-09-16T10:44:25.492-04:00

i made bread yesterday and again this morning. i think that instead of making it every week or two like i did before levi was born, i am going to start making a bunch like i did this week so i don't have to make it again for a while. we should be good on bread now until november i believe... dave & i have been watching various documentaries on youtube lately. the first was the business of being

Katienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-52167257309288014282010-09-11T14:46:00.000-04:002010-09-11T14:46:21.243-04:00

This week I realized that I have been living in a constant state of stress and anxiety lately. I'm ok if we are just staying home but whenever we are heading out of the house I find myself feeling pretty stressed out. And I'm realizing that I need to just let go because this is no way to live. I'm not sure if this is post partum depression or just adjusting to becoming a mother. Here's how it is

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-12819859845831036532010-09-08T07:51:00.000-04:002010-09-08T07:51:24.352-04:00

spent a long weekend in ohio...10 year class reunion, 3 family get-togethers, visiting with friends, a festival, etc. to say the least, i was completely worn out by the time we got back home monday evening. guess it has to do with the fact that i was still getting over a cold when we left and i spent what seemed like the entire weekend breastfeeding levi in the scrunched backseat of the car.

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-28487960916679944822010-09-02T13:35:00.001-04:002010-09-02T17:06:11.765-04:00

Click here and read about the 3 types of men according to Debi Pearl in this Created to be His Help Meet excerpt. Dave is a good mix of the Command Man and the Visionary Man. Ladies, what type of man are you married to? I am in the process of reading this book for the third time and it is just as convicting as ever. It always reminds me of my true purpose in life. in response to erica's comment

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-74558820988577910012010-08-30T17:15:00.000-04:002010-08-30T17:15:16.795-04:00

here's the hawk on our front porch railing! levi says "i'm 4 weeks old in this photo!" he loves sleeping on our bed and sticking his little bottom up in the air. he doesn't really like sleeping on his back. he starts out on his side and rolls to his tummy most nights. his half smile. this is levi in his favorite place. strapped to our chests. he seems to sleep really well in this sleeper

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-39621582803868453832010-08-30T17:04:00.000-04:002010-08-30T17:04:26.597-04:00

Since Levi is napping, I'll update some more. We have had a hawk lurking around our house quite a bit lately. I am beginning to wonder if it hears Levi crying and that's what drew it to us as it came around the time he was born. And it seems like it comes closer to the house when Levi is crying. Anyways, just as a precaution, I WILL NOT be leaving Levi unattended outside for quite some time now.

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-13645727266763494062010-08-30T07:32:00.000-04:002010-08-30T07:32:44.517-04:00

I should change the name of this blog to "It's always an adventure with Dave & Levi..." :) As some of you may have read on our Baby Blog (link to the left), Levi Reuben was born on July 31st, his Uncle Brian's birthday, at 1:56 a.m. Since then, our lives have been one huge adventure. And of course, I've found little time to blog in the past month. So I figured I should at least give a monthly

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-4596013737953505292010-07-28T14:49:00.000-04:002010-07-28T14:49:01.025-04:00

here are a couple photos of our new white curtains and bamboo blinds in the front room. i think they look really classy. unfortunately, the blinds provide no privacy at night. :( you can also get a glimpse of the spa-in-a-box that we're renting from the midwife. :)

Katienoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-8396920295591686252010-07-27T11:07:00.000-04:002010-07-27T11:07:21.390-04:00

today i'm working on making a good dinner. beef roast and white rice and corn on the cob or something. and i'm working on sanding the dumb front door. last week i painted the inside of it white to match our trim. i attempted to put on a second coat about 5 hours after the first and, boy, that was a mistake. even though i've gotten away with that on our wood trim, it DID NOT work on the steel

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-86309721639440105202010-07-25T13:06:00.000-04:002010-07-25T13:06:41.804-04:00

i added a before pic that i found of our old master bathroom shower to the gallery post from a couple days ago if you want to compare the old and the new. :) quite a change! and i bought some bamboo blinds this week at lowe's. we spent about 12 hours yesterday modifying them to fit our bay window and hanging them up and then we went outside after dark and looked in the windows. and even though

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-77648185265918860302010-07-23T07:17:00.000-04:002010-07-23T07:17:54.884-04:00

we stayed up till 1:30 last night putting finishing touches on the master bath (dave caulked and mounted the TP holder, etc), and i was dusting, sweeping the floors, and we were both discussing and dreaming about what we might do with the landscaping around our front porch later this year or next spring. i love my david and we are getting so excited to meet this new little baby but these last

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-2002639088802523332010-07-20T08:42:00.000-04:002010-07-20T08:42:30.461-04:00

i should probably not even post this. but this is what's on my mind. my friend marla, who is an author, just returned from a mission trip to cambodia and posted this. and it got me to thinking. lately i've been very convicted about how i manage our money. i made a mistake with our checkbook a couple weeks ago. we were cutting it too close and did not have any margin. all in all, i overdrew

Katienoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-23900493971420383962010-07-19T19:58:00.004-04:002010-07-25T12:48:35.534-04:00

After about 2 years of home remodeling, I've decided to make a Before & After Photo Gallery to showcase all of our hard work. And as we finish the kitchen, laundry room, great room, and exterior later this year (or next...?) we'll add more pics. :) I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends and family members who have spent hours and hours slaving away here to help us

Katienoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-83494555281739420242010-07-18T19:42:00.000-04:002010-07-18T19:42:10.630-04:00

i'm going to post a couple before shots of the front room for you to compare to the new version. i found these in some photos taken back in 2007 :) obviously, we still had our TV then. haha! and some disgusting green carpet! keep going down to a couple posts from here to see the after shots.

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-10023999417064532182010-07-18T18:58:00.002-04:002010-07-18T18:58:07.973-04:00

check out the baby blog for an update

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-6943090081262037912010-07-18T18:51:00.001-04:002010-07-18T18:56:53.854-04:00

i love this photo above (just another one of dave crouched down working somewhere...) this week we have been wrapping up a lot of remodeling/home projects. we finished painting the front room (see photos above) we put the furnace closet door back on (after painting it and installing new hardware) cleaned the bay window really, really well (took 3 hours!) dave set up the crib yesterday and

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-61739253507615845412010-07-13T09:00:00.000-04:002010-07-13T09:00:55.697-04:00

scrambling around these days trying to get things done before the baby arrives...last week we finished adhering the marble tiles to the master bathroom walls. now we need to seal, grout, seal and install toilet, sink and medicine cabinet and then it will be done. we are SO close! dave's bro-in-law rod also came out last week and installed our new side door and front door and storm door. they look

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-78415022669794067942010-06-30T23:32:00.000-04:002010-06-30T23:32:12.179-04:00

hanging out in the office while david sands the walls in the front room. he's been at it for an hour and a half. ugh. it's going to take a while to dust all that mess up! found out about this guy who worked 52 jobs in 52 weeks to find his passion. i should have done that when i was 18! ha! http://www.oneweekjob.com/ praying our water is not disgusting tomorrow like it was today as i'd like to

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-19264269345150049942010-06-28T08:10:00.002-04:002010-06-28T08:57:17.649-04:00

with the help of my mom this weekend, i finally finished re-finishing the dresser for the baby's room. doesn't it look very cute?? i ran into a little trouble that first week i was working on it with sanding and the fact that i was working on it outside and it got rained on so i got discouraged and had trouble getting back to it. finally i gave up on everything being absolutely perfect (dave & i

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-42279972511487324682010-06-14T19:16:00.000-04:002010-06-14T19:16:17.557-04:00

unfortunately, we felt the need to move it. we didn't want birds in there all the time. wasn't it cute? we tried relocating it in a nearby tree but i think it fell down. couldn't see it out there last night.

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-8573492432746241532010-06-14T19:14:00.000-04:002010-06-14T19:14:33.647-04:00

here is the dresser that we picked up on our way home from racoon lake saturday. we got it for $20 off craigslist. it was kind of ugly. cream with ugly gold accents. so today i ripped off all the hardware, filled in the holes, sanded it, and primed it.  here it is after 2 coats of primer. at this point i think i will wait and do the 2 coats of paint tomorrow. :) and then we will add on the

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-86322245677100618202010-06-14T19:08:00.001-04:002010-06-14T19:08:40.188-04:00

this is a photo of the master bath at its current state. tub in. heated flooring wires in. no tiles. no toilet. no sink. those will be coming soon.

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-80246604281334362412010-06-14T19:07:00.000-04:002010-06-14T19:07:06.710-04:00

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-60229521052169755742010-06-14T11:10:00.001-04:002010-06-14T11:11:20.778-04:00

haven't posted in a while since we've been pretty busy...here are the highlights... The House: my mom, sister and brother in law came to visit Memorial Day weekend. they helped us work on the house. the guys spent time crawling around in the crawl space and making runs to lowe's, menards and home depot. emily, mom & i worked on priming the master bath and closet and a whole bunch of trim.

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-12129039118135302422010-05-22T16:47:00.001-04:002010-05-22T16:50:19.148-04:00

on younghouselove.com yesterday, they posted a tribute to their thrifty fathers...and they referenced a post (click here) they did recently on money management. i am just so excited to read all their awesome advice. it is always fun when you find a kindred soul out there... we started 2 years ago remodeling our house. we estimated everything would cost about $6,000. we've more than doubled that

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-5938707318921770812010-05-19T18:23:00.000-04:002010-05-20T11:05:14.953-04:00

1. You have 10 dollars and need to buy snacks at a gas station: snickers, pretzels, water 2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be? no idea 3. Whos your favorite redhead? ?? 4. What do you order when youre at IHOP? i try not to eat there. 5. Last book you read? the lucky one by nicholas sparks 6. Describe your mood. frazzled 7. Describe the last time you

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-12740521206858823452010-05-19T15:51:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:51:11.066-04:00

As if I don't already have a ton of other things to organize...in real life...but I decided to organize our blog a bit. It has bothered me lately as I check out other people's blogs how poorly written ours is, how we never have any pics, and my posts are all over the place...not really on a specific topic. So, I'm working hard today to provide you with pics and to categorize all our posts with

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-8508495016722401432010-05-19T14:51:00.002-04:002010-05-19T15:34:03.620-04:00

Last Saturday my friends Amie & Heather threw an awesome baby shower at our church for us. I had such a fun time. It was great getting to see all my friends, some that I see at church all the time, some I hadn't seen for a while. There were some really fun games and we got tons of amazing gifts for the baby. One thing's for sure, this baby is spoiled already :) The lady on the right is Cassandra

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-79716105632725349592010-05-19T14:46:00.001-04:002010-05-19T15:34:29.605-04:00

here's a pic of our bedroom. first coat of paint on walls and trim. disgusting green carpet out. the seeds for our garden :)

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-66335852158043639682010-05-19T14:21:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:36:57.833-04:00

david painted the first coat on the walls of our bedroom last night. it looks amazing. neither of us ever thought that bedroom could look that good. but it does! we still have to put a second coat on the walls and the trim then we will be ready for CARPET! and moving in!!! sunday night dave went outside. our neighbor was out planting potatoes in his garden. since he is traveling a lot this year,

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-84583155305326235262010-05-13T07:58:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:35:21.877-04:00

since becoming pregnant, i love breakfast. and orange juice is high on my list as well. orange juice with pulp, that is. i had a bunch of clementines in the fridge to use up, so i ended up making OJ in the food processor this morning. it turned out amazing! now i'm off to make 2 or 3 desserts for the Fellowship of Christian Outdoorsmen meeting tonight. and if the fog lifts and it gets warmer

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-60122491448585908002010-05-11T09:18:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:35:21.877-04:00

i am feeling more and more pregnant every day. sometimes that's a good thing. sometimes it's not. mostly good though. i'm so excited that i have the privilege of carrying a baby. it's something that i've wanted for so, so long. and so far this pregnancy has been pretty easy and uncomplicated...and for that i am thankful. however, i've started to just feel kind of generally uncomfortable. and

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-85825372635313990742010-05-06T08:37:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:37:10.272-04:00

long awaited scrapblog that I created online of our vacation. I'm having a hard copy printed for myself, but for all of those who want to see our vacation pics, check it out (below)!

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-79147891749880990692010-05-06T08:32:00.002-04:002010-05-19T15:37:10.273-04:00

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-84316212604731196282010-05-04T08:07:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:37:36.248-04:00

new post on the baby blog. check it out! i've got a fun-filled week planned. not working quite as much as last week and i'm glad about that. i'm going to make some homemade hot dog and hamburger buns today. dave & his brother patrick and some other guys butchered 2 hogs this weekend. one thing we brought back were some bratwursts and dave refuses to put them on store-bought hot dog buns. not

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-76536876650643083762010-04-29T08:23:00.001-04:002010-05-19T15:37:52.398-04:00

i just added it up. i'm working about 38 hours this week. no wonder i'm exhausted! i'm not used to this anymore. anyways, i have a big day ahead and i'm already so tired...all i want to do is go back to sleep! watching aiden from 9-4 4:30 piano lesson 5 tutoring in the midst of all that, i need to: make 4 loaves of bread do 6 loads of laundry pack prepare for a financial meeting clear out the

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-13409726151853902332010-04-28T20:39:00.002-04:002010-05-19T15:38:21.419-04:00

this is a picture of the conglomeration you might call our former breaker box. right in the middle of the kitchen. conveniently located over the stove (i'm sure that's some sort of code violation...). mice had built a nest all around it and chewed several of the wires. and when the electric company redid the wiring from our new meter base to the breaker box they found that the main wire coming

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-3150015208255051532010-04-24T15:09:00.000-04:002010-04-24T15:09:28.697-04:00

i've taken on a few extra commitments this week and for the week ahead(babysitting, substitute piano lesson teaching, etc.). as a result, i'm pulling in some extra money. and that is always good considering we have a black hole that swallows up money. it is called our home. i am having a really good day. we started it out spending quality time together and having bacon sandwiches over our

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-86228959817057559152010-04-22T13:06:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:38:21.420-04:00

home decorating so i never really realized that i love decorating until recently. through the process of remodeling/staging our home or whatever you want to call it, i've been forced to look at our belongings thru a new set of eyes. and what i saw was not at all appealing. we have junk everywhere. no storage. what storage we did have was a bunch of stuff from big lots, walmart (like chintzy

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-9661917089054676052010-04-20T07:21:00.001-04:002010-04-20T07:21:32.240-04:00

be sure to check out the updates on the baby blog!

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-5257014997544177332010-04-19T19:19:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:45:44.546-04:00

We had a spectacular weekend. Some highlights include: Friday night...first family night...we made burgers and homemade fries...then walked in the backyard and built a fire in our fire ring. Saturday I mowed the yard. Gives me such satisfaction. And Kirby practically finished wiring our entire kitchen. At this time, we have something like 14 outlets that will soon be live after the switchover

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-56796183201171188052010-04-15T07:30:00.001-04:002010-05-19T15:48:19.441-04:00

we got off track with our bedtime last night. asleep at midnight. not good. i'm so sleepy today and i've got so much to do! here's my to-do list for today: let the neighbor's dog out grind flour store remaining wheat make bread (new recipe that will hopefully be a bit faster) buy gas for the mower and mix it with stabilizer in the gas can mow yard while bread is rising and baking piano lesson

Katienoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-79619304633744121772010-04-14T07:42:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:43:50.203-04:00

sorry for the LOOOOONG post about our vacation. some of the details y'all could have probably lived without. i just wanted to remember it forever and ever.... i'm having an awesome week. yesterday i got quite a few things checked off my list. 1) made some phone calls, ran some errands....continuously let down by local utilities and stores' customer service policies. but i will not bore you with

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-46516766025040868862010-04-12T07:36:00.001-04:002010-04-12T09:53:25.513-04:00

well, we're back from vacation...i'm going to try to sum it all up here so that i never forget the awesome last 11 days... april 1 - woke up feeling rested yet stressed with all we had to do to get ready for our trip...threw in several loads of laundry then headed to the midwife....stopped back home for about 20 minutes then headed out for massages. got home, did more laundry...debated about

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-38934891496771981812010-03-29T19:37:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:43:50.204-04:00

hey molly, i'm so glad you called me the other day too. it's amazing how we can always pick right up where we left off, isn't it? i too wish we lived closer to each other :) the laundry soap recipe i used can be found at:  http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm i have found this same recipe on multiple sights all over the internet. i've been using it for almost a year now and i'm

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-24441963991189028912010-03-23T18:49:00.000-04:002010-03-23T18:49:16.282-04:00

i was overwhelmed this morning looking at my really long, highly optimistic to do list for the day. i've been on the go since then and all i have to show for it is that i managed to accomplish 1 thing on my list...and added probably 5 more things to it! ah! what a day! i did just get a call from dave on my way home from tutoring letting me know that i don't have to make us a big dinner tonight

Katienoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-31791528631318670432010-03-22T19:57:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:41:59.042-04:00

(if this title doesn't make sense, read my previous post) david's schedule of class for his 11th and 12th grade years a card from jud & sara thanking dave for being in their wedding about 10 years ago ticket stubs from the 2002 PMO christmas show a Target gift receipt from my cousin for a wedding gift she gave us an invitation to a ladies happy hour at my aunts that i have NO recollection of a

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-30383206212968536142010-03-22T17:57:00.001-04:002010-05-19T15:38:21.421-04:00

the home office organization continues. i have a bunch of other stuff that really needs to be done. like finish some house plans for a friend's remodeing project, make dinner, sweep floors, put away laundry, make bread, etc. but i have an uncontrollable urge to clean and organize and i just can't help it! every chance i get, i'm in here purging. last night we got some shelves at lowe's and put

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-5605633565801579342010-03-18T22:18:00.000-04:002010-05-19T15:40:09.407-04:00

7 members of dave's family came to visit us last weekend. they arrived thursday night. i had to work friday, but dave had the day off. the guys spent the day drywalling and plumbing. we now have walls around our bathroom and master bedroom closet.and we have lights in there too!! saturday the guys went on a bird hunt and killed a bunch of pheasants. we at them sunday for lunch. meanwhile, we

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-36876290915908421442010-03-08T08:50:00.000-05:002010-05-19T15:42:22.575-04:00

stole this thing from marla. :) 1.What is your name spelled backwards? E I T A K this was Dave's nickname for me in high school 2.What did you do last night? went to FPU and Lowes then made a grocery list, gathered coupons and browsed store ads 3.What was the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? a file i couldn't open with my midwife's cell number 4.Have you ever licked a 9 volt

Katienoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19840300.post-68074837922192840112010-03-04T06:54:00.002-05:002010-05-19T15:42:22.575-04:00

Check out the link "The Tuggles" on the left. I'm amazed at their faith in God at a time like this.

Katienoreply@blogger.com0