So humbled.

I was so moved by this. I was on yahoo and this story came up on the little news feed thing. This 9 year old girl had requested that for her 9th birthday, everyone donate to "Charity Water" instead of give her a gift. Charity water works to provide clean water for developing countries. Her birthday was June 12, and she had only raised $220 so they shut the site down. Last week this little beauty was tragically killed in a car accident that involved 13 cars. Her preacher opened the site back up, and last I checked it was up to $460,000. It is bitter sweet. Such hope in the middle of such a sad situation. This little angel has done so much good with her short life. To me, it's so amazing to see complete strangers to this family rally together for them and offer their love and support in the form of donations to Rachel's cause. It gave me a boost of faith in humanity and made me so proud and thankful to live in a world where people like Rachel are around.

Anyway, just wanted to share. She is such a reminder of God's love.

Rachel's Donation Page

And now, color

Our painters started last week. In less than a week they painted the entire outside of the house. It looks great! These guys are so affordable and so very thoughtful in their work. And, they clean up their mess (WOW). No cans, food wrappers, nothing.

Anyway, they will begin painting the inside next week. We are using 4 different colors.

Below are the colors...I just found the pictures below from random websites. Couldn't find a picture of one for the last one, so it's just the color swatch.

The one above is Wheat Bread. This will be in just about every room of the house. I was looking for a gray/brown neutral. In our house it looks like that in the front, but in the back where there is less light, it actually looks darker.

This is Sandstone Cove. We're going to use it in the bedroom. Right now we have a chocolate brown bedroom, and this time I wanted to go for something light and airy. I think we're going to use blue accents.

The top left is Dolphin Fin. We're using this in an upstairs bedroom and downstairs guest bathroom.

This is Perfect Taupe. It actually looks much darker than this on the walls. We're using this in one of the front rooms of the house, and an upstairs bedroom.

So, not a lot of ACTUAL color. I wanted to stick to neutrals this time, and accent with fabrics and stuff. I'm getting really excited to see the final product! I'll post pictures of it in a couple of weeks. They said they'll be done in a week in half. Oh, and our trim will all be the color of the cabinets. It's called Oyster White, so a little bit of a neutral rather than bright white.

Current decisions...

I go from consistently being terrible with posting, to overly posting.

So right now my mind is reeling with house thoughts. There are so many decisions to make. During most of the process, we were organizing 1-2 people at a time. Right now, it seems like we have a different group of people on a weekly basis. From the cabinet guy (fitting doors for the built in) to the painters to the flooring guy to our main builder peeps. I sorta get lost in what's going on, but I like it because it means things are moving! I know we're in limbo (negotiating) with the tiling guy right now for the shower because it's so expensive. But, so is everyone else that gave us a bid, so maybe we have to suck it up, but my thrifty side is in pain. Matt and David are hesitant to do the shower since there's more complicated parts to it, so we want to let someone else tackle it.

What I'm trying to pick out now is the remaining lighting. It's fun until I read the price tag. Ha, I sense a theme...i'm a cheapo. It was much easier when the builder guys would just bill us each month and it came straight from our loan..now that WE are the purchasers for lighting and appliances and such, it's harder to watch.

Also, I'm on a mission for a pedestal sink. If anyone knows of where to get a good deal on one, please let me know. The issue is it needs to be pretty small (like no longer--wall to middle of room--than 16-19 inches...most are 22-26).

On a woop note, the AC is fixed! wha wha? THAT was a huge blessing. It just needed a $40 part. woohoo! So, I'm chilling with Lar-Bear in the cool. Mattigua already went to bed in the main house this time, ha. Last night he slept on an air mattress in the detached room out back with the window unit. He came in this morning saying, "I froze last night." I thought he was being flat out mean, but he was serious. He didn't take more than a sheet and that thing has no medium coolness...it's full on. So he froze and I sweated.

Okay, so thanks for listening to my rambles. I needed to pour out my mind for a minute. whew! betta now. Off to bed, now with Larry. Wally is in protest and stayed outside. She probably still thinks the AC is broken so she's on indoor sleeping strike.

Popsicles, ice, snow, 32 degrees...

These are things I'm dreaming of right now. Tonight is the hottest night of the year so far. And. Our A/C is out. We came home to a sauna. We went to Lowe's, almost convinced we were going to buy a window unit, but we came home with a Vornado because window units are pricey! It's pretty nifty, but just blowing this 90 degree heat around the house.

Right now it's 10:45, and 88 degrees, feels like 98. I believe it. I would post pictures of this event, but both Matt and I are too inappropriate for pictures. He's in boxers, and I'm sports bra/panty-ing it. Yeah, maybe TMI, but whatever it's summer. People wear bathing suits. Which gives me the idea, maybe I should go for that...but, it's not cotton I bet. Dang. Anyway, I'm desperate. Matt's on the floor where he says it's cooler, and I'm on the bed with the vornado right at my face. Larry and Wally keep looking at us like, "turn on the air conditioner, weirdos!" Poor animals.

I just took a cold shower hoping that'd help. It helped for a little while, but the heat is creeping back again.

Anyway, we live in the South. I should be used to it. Tonight, I have a new appreciation for air conditioning. When we walked in Lowe's I really wanted to just stay longer because it felt so good. Oh well, I'm going to continue dreaming of cooler times, and be thankful that the air conditioning guy will be here tomorrow. And, I think I'll say some extra prayers for the folks out there who don't have AC, and who have to "Time to Kill" it 24/7. I'm really tired of sweating.

Good night, and cold dreams!

A little closer....

My blogging has been so infrequent lately. Sorry, I really lack consistency. I need to get better on that.

A lot has been going on with the house. We (David/Matt) tiled the upstairs bathroom. That was AWESOME because the tiler dude said it would be about $1000...for labor only. yes, labor only. So, we went and got materials for less than $200 and they went to work. I think it turned out perfect! Very thankful for the skills in the family.

workin hard with Larry

Also, we got countertops! yay! It's starting to look more like a real life kitchen.

woohoo. Check out the tile!

That's the update. We also got the mantle done, and the rest of the built ins. They are finishing up some of the trim work, and then comes painting. Then, lighting, floor refinish, plumbing fixtures, installing the kitchen appliances, and then...we can move in. AH! we'll still have details, but I'm pumped. Those are the main categories I can think of. Much smaller list than 6 months ago!