It is about time

I wouldn't be lying if I said that the last year has been particularly stressful for us.  But even while deep in the stress, the Lord has ways of putting little miracles and tender mercies into our lives.

We have felt over the last couple of years that there needed to be a change in our lives- Joseph has been gone so much and our greatest desire is to be together as a family. Spencer was the first grand change that moved us in this forward thinking. He has wedged himself into Joseph's heart with a fervor unimagined, and Joseph is tired of being away all the time missing out on his family who are growing up before our eyes. Time is precious!

Joe got in contact with the President of Organ Supply Industries several months ago, just as we were fervently praying for a way to make this change. We went to Erie and interviewed for the job which seems like it will be a perfect fit. He will be dealing with sales and design and overseeing some of the production process. He will find out tomorrow exactly what he will be doing. He left this morning and still has a long drive ahead of him tonight!

We had a lot of trepidation going into this just sheerly from the fact of the stress that it would put on Quimby Pipe Organs to loose him and how challenging it would be to move our family across the states, even farther from home. However, things have worked out better than we could have ever imagined, and all parties are on good terms (it is a little tricky with such a small industry and everyone so inter-connected).
He gave his 2 weeks notice on our anniversary Dec. 16th and we were hoping that his 2 weeks vacation time would be able to be used to finish all the projects on the house, but alas "it was in his best interest" to finish Walnut Gardens in Independence- so 2 weeks of supposed vacation turned into 4 weeks of work to complete the organ, which he did mostly by himself. He would take one of the kids with him each day for company and to have some extra hands to fetch tools and the like. Anyway, it is done- our time at QPO has come to an end and a new life is emerging in Erie at OSI. We are thankful to a new boss who has been very understanding.

Joseph is going to be staying with a wonderful couple from church- they have been so gracious and kind already. We are looking forward to making new friends and having new experiences. Joseph is particularly excited that they have an organ and piano in their home- this housing situation is just one more of those tender mercies!

Not that the next several months is going to be easy, it is likely to be some of the most difficult times yet, but we are going forward in faith that this is the right move for our family at the right time and that all will work out for our good... eventually!

We have been overwhelmed to finish the ten thousand projects on the house that we have started over the last 3 years. It has been daunting to say the least and we are still not finished. Yes, I am feeling a little overwhelmed, and as much as Joe says I can totally do it all, I really wonder, not to mention that my skill level is significantly lower than his! Anyway, it will all work out and eventually we will be together as a family and he will have a job where he will be around all the time. Well, not all the time, but the travel will be fairly minimal and I can handle that!
The kids have been pouring over the magazines that we have of Erie and are so excited about our destination! I say bring on the snow and we will all snuggle by the fireside, together as a family!

Here is a taste of what we have been working on...

 In the beginning there was nastiness- you can kind of see that the floor joists were 24 on center, so we had to start by adding more support. Joe would not bring a baby grand piano into a house with so little support. And you can see the poles that were holding up the house! But hey, the house has been good and solid for nearly a century, we are just adding to the strength of the whole!

Joe got the staircase mostly done and the hallway sheet rocked.

This is the long addition room that was added to the house 20 or 30 years ago- picture was taken after we gutted it! Admittedly I am much better at demolition than construction!

This is the back half of that room that leads to the exterior.

All the junk removed from the basement!

I think Bella was questioning the wallpaper in this photo, taken shortly after we moved in.

This is when we were taping it off getting ready to lacquer the cabinets, somewhere around Thanksgiving.

Just finished the flooring yesterday.

Joe built the mantle to match all the trim throughout the house- glad to have that done finally!

So we have redone the support structure, all the electrical, all the plumbing and remodeled bathrooms, kitchen, stairs, bedrooms, added wood burning fireplace bla bla bla. We figured we would be in this house for a long time, and would have time to do all the things that we wanted. Note to self, things never happen as you plan!! What we really wish is that we could take our house and property and have it happily situated in Erie, too bad we can't snap our fingers and make that happen!

This one is out of order and not finished yet, but we got the shower tiled finally and got the sink and toilet installed in the basement bathroom. Joe built the sink, the mantle and several other things out of old organ parts- but as he likes to say "it is real Honduras mahogany"! And we can't let that go to waste- Reduce, Re-use, Recycle!! He is so clever with organ parts, in Lawrence he built a rather large and fantastic mantle out of wooden pipes and walk boards. We look forward in the future to having a cool kitchen table and benches out of more mahogany organ innards!  

We will have to add more pictures later, but at least you know that we haven't just been sitting around, unfortunately that is just what I want to do right now and for the next few days- I am tired and we are all sick this weekend. The stress has caught up with us, officially! And poor Joe has to drive in his current state- I fear he might be a zombie at work for this first week- we have worked him to the bone and he is exhausted! I am grateful to have such a wonderful husband, this should be a good time for him to get into the new job and environment and just have to deal with that for a little bit, it is probably best that he can have a little time to himself to reboot! We will come along just as soon as we get the house figured out and sold- hoping that it will be sooner than later!

Just have to put out a big thank you to all of our family and friends who have been helping us out lately- we couldn't do it without you!