Zander's Room...part 1

If you would say that a "handy man" did the crappy job on "fixes" in this house then that's giving handy men a bad name.  Seriously everyday we find multiple things that we just wonder what the person was thinking or if they were even thinking.  We decided that on days when we didn't have extra help from our parents that we would work on simpler projects.  We decided that Zander's room would be the first to tackle.  So after a long day at work Jerry got home and we ate dinner and then got to work.  I have a feeling for a long time that will be our daily schedule.

So Zander's room had a random closet situation.  There was the regular closet and then a second one built in front of it.  It looked crazy and as we started taking it apart it became even crazier.

The closet outside a closet.  And a cute kid :)

 And let me say this guy just threw nails in where ever so we just worked at it.

One seriously hard working man!

Now for the randomness that we found in the closet...

Random light plugged into the ceiling where an actual ceiling light should be, not an outlet.

No need to take the moulding off.  Let's just add a closet right onto it.

Wallpaper...the worst invention EVER!  Oh and let's put it on the ceiling too.

Get ready to see some kitchen demolition coming up :)

Weekend fun.

Our internet is up and running so I'm happy to be able to share with everyone what's been happening over the past week.

Friday...We signed the paperwork.  Which if you've ever bought a house and had a mortgage just wait until you buy one with no mortgage, fastest closing ever!  Then Friday night after the kids went to bed we went up to the new house with a load of stuff and cleaned.  Oh cleaning, it was "fun".  

Jerry unloaded the cars

I got the job of shampooing the upstairs carpets.

The carpets were totally gross, in the picture you can almost see the half that is done and the dirt on the other half.  It was a late night but we got a lot done and headed home for our big moving day on Saturday.

Saturday...we were up bright and early to get stuff moved.  The kids and I took a load to the new house and stayed there all day.  Actually now that I think about it I haven't been at our old house since early Saturday morning.  We had so much help from everyone and we couldn't have done it without our family and friends.  My dad helped, even though it was his birthday.  We also had help from Jerry's parents, Greg, Kristi and Chad.  Be feel truly blessed that everyone took time out of their busy day to help us move.  Here's some pictures I'd like to share from moving day.

Finding hardwood floors...makes me wonder if people were thinking when they covered them up.

Zander taking a snack break

The "boat" that was Zander's surprise for the new house.

My dad cutting carpet up in the dining room

Zander loves to sweep

Sunday...we were still moving stuff and we continued on construction work.  Kristi had spent the night which we all called "camping" and it was such a blessing that she was able to help out again TONS on Sunday.  Jerry's parents came up in the morning Sunday and stayed all day to help us.  We got to give the grand tour to Aunt Diane & Uncle Tom.  Seriously anyone is welcome to visit but just a warning the pictures are as they appear, the house is not in "great" condition yet.  Here's Sunday in pictures :)

The dining room, all the carpet gone and just small spots that need fixed in the hardwoods.

The kitchen that is getting demolished first

The mudroom...or for now storage of all our new stuff (bathtubs, tile, drywall)

Jerry's mom working on the fun task of taking nails out of the hardwood floors

Front porch...storage area for now

Our temporary kitchen while we remodel the downstairs one.  It's really this small

So needless to say Sunday night we were all very tired and went to bed early since Jerry had to go right back to work...no time off for that hard working man.

almost there..

I will spare you all from another picture of our "play room" that is full of boxes since it's...well let's just say FULL.  We still have a path to get to the computer though.

Exciting things are going to be happening in the next days and hours.  First we get the exciting task of going to the bank to get THE CHECK.  This check we truly believe was provided by God.  HE gave us the money and we give credit to HIM.  We are so blessed that we are able to purchase this new home and at the same time bless another family with our home to live in.  (Know anyone looking for a home to rent in Palmyra..call us)  I'm totally not bragging because I give all the glory of what we are doing to GOD but this house we are paying cash for...now again it's not fancy but we will make it our own.  I honestly still am trying to wrap my mind around us laying down a check and they give us keys and we will actually get a DEED, which very few people do.

Ok enough about that back to the fun stuff.  Tomorrow, Friday, at 4:00pm we get to sign the amazing papers that make us homeowners...again.  Friday evening Jerry and I get the enjoyment of going and cleaning the house and moving a few things in.  Then it gets really fun bright and early Saturday morning.

First stop Saturday morning is a trip for Jerry to Lancaster to pick up a used gun cabinet and hutch.  Then back home for the "big move".  We are so blessed to have family and friends offering help.  Thank you to each and every single person who is helping or who has even offered to help.  We truly appreciate it.  Then the DELIVERY comes from Home Depot...ha a 3 1/2 trip to Home Depot order.  Not going to relive those hours.  I'm just thanking God that there were lawn mowers for Zander to play on and that He blessed me with patient children.

We've gotten lots of fun finds at the Habitat Re-Store in Lancaster...a slide, a vanity, tile, a sink and much more.

Thank you all for sharing in this journey with us and I can't wait to share inside pictures with you...the house isn't pretty...yet.  I better go make sure the coffee isn't packed...we are going to need it.

Packing, Glorious Packing

This is our first BIG move and I do have to say it will be a LONG time before we do this again.  How much randomness can one family accumulate in 7 years?  A lot!!

So last weekend we decided to have a very last minute yard sale.  We did pretty good, came out with about $100.  It's funny you put stuff on the curb with a FREE sign on it and anyone will take it.  And now with technology like it is there are so many "yard sale" sites on facebook that we have been able to get rid of a bunch more of our stuff.

So not much "new" news on the home front other than packing, packing and more packing.  The kids go to bed at 7 and for the next 2 hours we pack and clean and then crash.  Zander & Gideon have now "lost" their playroom for the time being:

the new playroom will be a total upgrade :)

Now the planning and shopping for the new house.  First projects are going to be the bathroom upstairs and the kitchen.  But I did make our first purchase which I was going to take a picture of but it's all the way at the back of the packed room...so that's not going to happen.  I bought a ladder off of a yard sale site on facebook to do this:

Excited for the finished product.  Well now that I've wasted some time writing this better get back to attempting to pack along with keeping a 2 year old entertained while 3/4 of his toys are packed.

He ALWAYS Provides.

We've always trusted that God will provide for our family and He has once again blessed us hugely!

Friday, June 21st we are closing on our new house...sad to leave the home that our children came home to and have always known as their "home" but we know that where ever we are all together...that's home.  There are friends that we will be further away from...sadly, and there are friends that we will be closer to...happily.

Let me start by saying this house isn't "perfect" but that's why I love that it will be Our {DIY} Home.  

Featuring the Hardy's new home...

Our {DIY} Home

Because we are...well how do I put it...crazy.  We've decided to move as quickly as possible into the new house so that we can get our house empty and rented out.  Oh and by as quickly as possible I mean, the day we close on the house.  Let the fun begin. PACKING.  I think the definition of packing is realizing how much junk you've accumulated in the past ___ years, for us 7.

This will be your experience if you visit...just a warning

 Well apparently these empty boxes don't fill themselves up I better get moving.  Here's to our new adventure in our new home.  We are praising God for this blessing.

The Waiting Game.

I was told we were looking at 2 houses yesterday, well God and my husband had other plants.  There was a second house near the first one that we looked at that he thought would be worth looking it.  House #1 yesterday...DISASTER, I mean it could be amazing but we don't have the time for that kind of amazing.  House #2 was awesome, livable (which is more than I could say about some that we have looked at) and as an added bonus the yard was huge and it had an above ground pool.  House #3 was a drive from where we were at and it was nice and had lots of income potential (rentals...ahhh my love/hate relationship with rental properties).

We had lots of time to talk and dream about our ideas for House #2.  Driving home after a long evening of looking at homes again we both decided that #2 we needed to try and get.  Well since my mind is going a million miles an hour right now I knew I needed to write this all down to document our journey.

Our realtor last night told us it wasn't a foreclosure and that actually a person owned it so now Jerry knew he had some wiggle room in the price.  Called this morning and made an offer.  Literally 30 minutes later we had a call back with a counter...which honestly was amazing to both of us because we put the mother of all low-ball offers in on this house.  Our theory is that we don't NEED to have the house so we won't pay more than a certain amount for it.  So because Jerry would never pay asking price for almost anything we put a second counter offer in...now we wait.

Challenging part for me is that Jerry is at work and I basically have to wait for phone calls or text messages.  Praying hard and knowing that God will provide all that we need and trusting in Him.  Excited to show you all the house...as soon as we get a YES.

The Search Begins..

The back story.  We bought our house about 7 years ago and it was a fix-er-upper to say the least.  We've finished almost everything and love our home.  Well, 7 years and 2 kids later we are starting to out grow our small 1500 square feet house.  So we began the search for a new home.  Now we are not "new house" people so for us we like to put our "mark on a home.

My husband could go look at houses anywhere...anytime...any condition (and when I say any condition I mean ANY condition).  We've looked at some crazy houses.  I would say to date we've looked at 10+ houses, most are currently not in move in condition to say the least.  We are trusting that God will show us the perfect house to become our home.

Sit back and enjoy the ride as we keeping moving through this journey to find our home.  Looking at 2 houses tonight and getting excited that one of them could be Our {DIY} Home.