So, what’s new in our lives? Well, starting with moving into our new home! YAY!  

This was from a website, I didn't take this one hence the copyright.

When we first got this house, it was a total miracle. We had put in an offer on the home the day it went on the market. We walked inside and saw the kind of work it would need and realized it’s potential. After 60 days of fighting with 2 lien-holders on the property and countless frustrations, we managed to secure the home and close on April 14th!  

When I talk about the “work” it needed, see for yourself!  

My Future Office.... Only one question... Why?

 This room was the worst. The owners bought the house with an unfinished main-level bedroom and bath and attempted to finish it themselves. The short of it is that they managed to mud all the drywall without taping it first so it was entirely cracked on every seam, the electrical wiring was, in places, holding up the 2×4′s they used to frame parts of the room, and nothing was straight. It was the worst finishing job I’d ever seen in my life!  

Entrance to my Office

Family Room - Just LOVED their choice of GRAY

Our Kitchen - BEFORE

The Bathroom - BEFORE

 And so the work began! We started ripping and tearing and spending every spare moment at the house trying to get it ready to move-in in the two weeks we had before our lease expired at our town home. We couldn’t have done it without the help of a multitude of friends and family!  

Dad White in his Element

Painting Par-tay!

 And we made it! We painted all the ceilings, all the walls, cleaned the carpet, cleaned the bathroom (it was disgusting) removed hundreds of boxes and trash the old owners left behind, installed all new appliances, and moved in in 2 weeks. Phew!  

Well, at that point the fun at just begun. I never really understood how much work is in just keeping up a house let alone bringing it back to its full glory. Aside from the dozens of projects that are still left undone, I’ve been working on getting our front lawn to come back to life and trying to keep the weeds from invading our back yard! All of you fellow home owners know what I mean when I say the work is never done. But I must admit, there is a sense of accomplishment each and every time I complete even the smallest task that improves the house or fixes something. It must be something built into us guys that we want to work with our hands to make things work… I am seeing the image of Tom Hanks dancing around the fire in “Castaway” shouting Me Make Fire! Yeah, I feel that way sometimes like when I managed to bring our front lawn back to beautiful green-ness for pennies – or one of many other countless victories.   

I can’t not (yes that’s a double negative!) mention that my wife has contributed in so many invaluable ways with her eye for decorating and colors. Me make things work, she make things pretty!  

Our Living Room - NOW

A New Addition to our Kitchen

Partial view of our Kitchen

White Railings (Still in process)

Our bathroom

So on top of having an 8 month-old baby who is the love of my life….  

And from having an amazing wife to spend time with who is the Love of My Life!….  

And from having a relationship with Jesus Christ who is the LOVE OF MY LIFE!….  

I now have this home to take care of. And that means that this summer I have not gone fishing, climbing, or hiking. I’ve been camping once with a couple of guys, and that’s it. But it’s strange. As much as I miss those things, when the time comes or the opportunity presents itself, I find myself wanting to either spend time with my family relaxing or working on the house. My family will always come before anything else, but now all my other hobbies have kinda lost their luster and my new hobby is working on my home. Strange… Never knew I’d be one of those guys who enjoys work  

Well, anyway, time is getting away from me and I need to get up early tomorrow morning to hit the gym (try 5:00am!) Goodnight blog-land! I missed you and I promise this time I’ll be around a lot more often!