Looking back....

I just put Anna down for a nap, and looked outside to see Justin preparing to paint the door to her room.  I had one of those moments where I was acutely aware of the blessings in my life - sweet little girl, handsome & hardworking husband, and a nice, safe house.  Then, I realized it was the 4th of July and thought about what was happening 3 years ago on this day.

3 years ago, I was off from work in Harrisburg, and up for a long weekend of our inaugural home projects.  It was over 100 degrees, and the kitchen ceiling looked like this:

Note it didn't actually look like that because there are a few steps between bare joists and drywall, but you get the idea!

It was the longest, hottest, most difficult day of renovation that we had.  Hanging drywall is never fun - it's even less so when it's the thicker (heavier) sheets required for the ceiling, when you're working above your head, and you've never done it before.  Oh, and did I mention that was 100 degrees outside and more inside?  I remember that we went to Taco Bell at some point (completely filthy and sweaty, haha) and reveled in the air conditioning and cold drinks.

It's a far cry from today, when I'm sitting in our beautiful kitchen, it's cool (thanks to our window air conditioning unit!), and looking outside I see our finished patio (and not the pile of debris we removed from the kitchen - this time 3 years ago there was literally a pile of 2+ tons of trash out on the concrete waiting to go to the dump).

Anyway, I've said this before, but it's nice to look back every once in a while to reflect on how far we've come.  A few days after the drywall hanging, Justin was all moved in - with everything he owned here in the kitchen (the bed and his easy chair were on the other side of the room).

Things are looking a little different these days!

I have some other recaps to give (looking back on the last month since my last post!) but I need to get working on something besides a blog post while Justin's hard at work outside!

 Happy 4th of July!