Another hurdle...

You know... as I think of this project and how it is refining me, I think also of how Christ refines us as believers, through the "bumps" in the road that cause us to lean more on Him, trust more in Him and lay this project continually down at His feet. It truly is His, He graciously entrusted us with this new home and new ministry of our neighbors and it's just funny how frequently He reminds Caleb and me of that! God works in marvelous ways, ways that are so blazingly obvious sometimes that are like flashing lights for His direction and sometimes in smaller ways that cause us to appreciate how He desires to be involved in even the most tiny yet precious ways in our lives! Praise God, regardless, that He has chosen us as His children and that He is allowing us in this season to experience Him in a very real way!

On a different note, here's the latest hurdle..ahem..blessing regarding our house (call it what you'd like....). On Monday our plumber began the completion of demolition. It was kinda funny because when I talked to them prior to the project, they seemed so nonchalant about the whole thing, like it was no big deal. Well, Caleb and I knew otherwise having spent two weekends of dust boogies, and sore bodies but we thought, "Maybe since they are laborers by trade, it won't be the pain it was for us to complete." Haha... Well, I spoke to the plumber on Monday after they had demo'ed the rest of the bathrooms and the tired was obvious, even in his voice. He told me they were exhausted and that it was really hard work. That takes one of two things for him to admit that: he felt quite the pain and suffering through the project and he's an honest guy, or he's a pansie. Well, I choose to believe the first because I met the guy and his crew and they weren't small weaklings. It made me feel proud that I actually did some of the work that these big burly men found so complicated! Those pink gloves did me good! And that's about where the good, pink and lovely things end... On Tuesday morning the plumber met with the City of Richardson to pull the necessary permits to do the work and that's when lowered the boom on us. The inspector told our plumber that he could not begin work, nor could anyone else because we were going to have to pull a general building permit that would take 3-5 business days to process. Basically, the inspector decided that they wanted to be all up in our business for our project. So, we got on the phone with the city and found out it wasn't going to be AS BAD as we thought when we considered having to do this from the get go, but it is still going to be a thorn in my side.

Kinda fun though, that I get to add General Contractor to my resume as I am the acting person in charge! And everyone who reads this who knows me knows just how happy I am when I get to be in charge!! WOOHOO!! Katie, The Boss. Perfect. Well, so far, as the boss, I am very nice and thoughtful, having bought my crews cookies. I will continue to buy their love and low prices with all things edible as long as their prices stay low and their work stays quality. The mean side of Boss Lady Katie will hopefully stay far away on this project. It's not hard: keep me happy, I'll keep you fed and paid. Simple.

Soo... back to the topic of the general building permit. I applied for that today and hopefully it will be processed SOON so we can get back in business. Pray that they don't have any questions so that we can at least get the ball rolling and get the plumbing done! That's about it for now. Within the next month an a half, we should have these things done: plumbing, kitchen cabinets, walls moved, new windows, gutters on the house and maybe a few others. Very exciting times!!! Pictures coming soon of the completely gutted bathrooms. If you want to tear out some kitchen cabinets, maybe you didn't have a date for valentines, maybe you're in the doghouse for not doing anything for your honey for valentines, or maybe you want to be our valentine by helping us... let us know! We will be doing this on Saturday! Happy early secular holiday, money-scheming, excuse for a date, don't forget to make-up fun conversations with the candy hearts Valentines Day!!