Farmhouse Update- Week 16

This week’s update isn’t quite as exciting as the others. But, that also makes it exciting. We are down to small projects to finish things up, so I don’t have a lot of pictures to show changes.

Something fun- we have apples at the farm! Scott made this discovery one evening while I was at work. The tree hasn’t been cared for in years, so I will be looking at how to make it healthier so we get more apples! It is really tall and there are quite a bit of dead branches. I’m sure there is a time of year thats best for pruning.

On Saturday, my mom watched the kiddos so we could go to the farm and help the farmer with some of the projects. We painted trim for 3 or so hours.

Unfortunately, the floors in this room aren’t able to be restored. I’m really fine with that. While it obviously would have been beautiful, I’m excited for the carpet that will muffle the noise. Vacuuming carpet is 100 times easier than sweeping the hardwoods– especially with a dog that sheds like mad.

The farmer got a quote on carpeting the school room, the living room/office, AND the two upstairs bedrooms! He will get carpet samples within the budget and we get to pick which one we want. That feels like SO much pressure. I’ve never picked carpet. I’ve picked out rugs before, but carpet is permanent.

We went to Rural King yesterday for a few things. They had the sweetest farmhouse decor, which I never expected. Some of it brought me to tears (big shock). I keep getting so overwhelmed with gratitude. It feels like a dream. (Side note: I picked these pretzels up at Rural King and they are SO good.) The kids also keep asking for a bunny and had fun talking about the possibility of getting chickens.

We are SO close and I feel giddy with anticipation. I’ve been packing and cleaning during the day. There are some things at the house we live in that I need to get cleaned up and painted.

The projects left at the farm that I can remember:
– paint the big upstairs bedroom
– carpet in main rooms
– sand and stain the upstairs hallway
– flooring in half bath
– finish painting trim and hang up
– clean

Good Neighbors

We have been listening to the Little House series on audiobook whenever we are in the car. We have all been LOVING the stories. This quote from On the Banks of Plum Creek sunk into my heart and hasn’t left.

“There’s nothing in the world so good as good neighbors.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder

We met the man who will be our “neighbor” a few days ago. He is the one that currently farms the land and runs the operation. He was so incredibly kind and welcoming to us. Our closest real neighbors are a decent distance away. That’s farm living. But, I believe that a neighbor can be anyone that you interact with on a regular basis.

I know I sound like a broken record, but we really cannot get over the kindness of all of these people. God put them in our path and has used them to heal our hurting hearts. We have been shown first hand how much a good neighbor can make an impact.

I want to also be that good neighbor. I remember in college, one of our neighbors would come by our apartment to borrow a cup of sugar or flour. It was so fun! In Oklahoma, we had a neighbor that would come by to help Scott if he saw him working outside. He would also come by and ask Scott for his help if he needed it. It felt good to be neighbors like that. In Michigan, we lived next door to our pastor but they were the same way. We were always lending each other a hand.

What happened to those days? Are we just too busy to notice when people could use a hand? Are we so buried in our own problems that we don’t want to take the time?

Lord, help me to be a good neighbor to everyone around me.

FIVE

My baby turned FIVE last week. I’m not sure how time has moved so quickly, but move it has. She is sweet, spunky, and full of life. She starts K4 this year and is still full-on obsessed with Paw Patrol.

1. Who is your favorite person ever? you
2. What is your favorite color? umm.. all the colors. But, my best, best, best favorite color is blue.
3. What is your favorite show? Mighty Pups
4. What’s your favorite outfit? Umm.. this one that I am wearing (pink shorts, tank top with a hula girl)
5. What sport do you like the best? umm.. soccer
6. What song do you love? This is the song to remind me
7. What’s your favorite cereal? hahaha you probably know.. cheerios
8. Who is your best friend? Umm.. I don’t have any friends. (I don’t want any friends!)
9. What is your favorite book? this book (Holding this book she got for her birthday)
10. What are you really good at? umm.. painting
11. Where do you wish you could go on a vacation? at the donut shop
12. What is your best memory? Mighty pups
13. What would you buy if you had $1000? The giant unicorn
14. What is the yuckiest vegetable? (She couldn’t pick one.. and she does like most of them!)
15. If you have a wish, what would it be? A mighty pup wish
16. What is your favorite ice cream? chochit (chocolate)
17. Who is your biggest hero? umm.. you
18. What do you like to do with your best friends? to play with my best friend
19. What do you hope you’ll get to do before your next birthday? play
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? nothing.. (homegirl doesn’t want to grow up.)

Farmhouse Update- Week 15

Hi, friends!!! I know I keep saying this, but we are SO CLOSE! The floors are being worked on! Hooray!

Goodbye nasty carpet on the stairs! Ok, the carpet was actually in amazing shape for its age. I just can’t help but think about the dust that accumulated. It looks so much better already!

The upstairs bathroom is put back together! The floor needs to be finished, but then this room is done! He put in a heat lamp so the room will be nice and warm when baths are done. So kind.

The master bathroom is also all painted. Last minute touches are all that’s left in this room. Putting the drawers back in, trim back in, etc.

This is super cool! The carpet in the school room got pulled up. Underneath was 1950s style floor. He said it was tar-backed linoleum. He was so sweet and asked me to come look at it so I could see. He knows my love of old houses and learning the way things were done, and I appreciated this so much. He pulled it all up, and is going to attempt restoring the ORIGINAL floors to the farmhouse. It will depend on if problem spots were found.

Just imagine these cleaned up and re-stained. So pretty! If carpet has to happen, then I will welcome the muffling of sounds. I feel like it’s a win-win situation.

Here’s the most fun part– A fun discovery was made in the master bedroom.

The farmer did not know that these were hiding underneath the carpet. He said this was done before his time, so he had no clue. This is what I love about these old homes. There are so many hidden gems waiting to be discovered.

We still have to paint the rest of the trim so it matches throughout. The kids’ rooms upstairs also haven’t been touched yet, but those will go quickly.

Scott and I will finally be off together this weekend, so we will be able to go and get work done. Everything is coming together quickly. The farmer said he doesn’t take a day off of working– he was even there through the heat advisory. I truly am so thankful that these kind people were placed in our lives. God has so clearly been in every step of this crazy process, and we can’t wait to see what He does with this.

Any guesses on what week will be the final update? I’m hoping week 18, but we will see. 🙂

Farmhouse Family Room

I really love creating vision boards. We won’t have the budget to completely re-do our family room. But, I love getting an idea of what to save up for. Here is my vision board for the family room!

\\ Leather Couch // Grey Couch // Blanket // Rug // Media Center //
\\ Throw Pillows // Pouf Ottoman // planter //

I always felt like I didn’t really know what my personal style was. A great way to find your style is to create a Pinterest board for whatever room you are thinking of. Go through and pin the pictures that you really love. Once you get that done, you can go through and see what the common themes are. I always thought I wanted a lot of color.

It turns out, I find the neutral color schemes to be really soothing. When you add in great natural wood tones, brick, and plants, it just feels like such a cozy space to me. I love the LOOK of the leather couch. I think I’d rather the comfort of fabric though.

What is your style? Do you love tons of color or neutrals?

Promise

Tropical Storm Barry made it’s way up here yesterday. We got some rain that resulted in such a beautiful double rainbow. I drove out to the farmhouse after work, and it was the most beautiful sight. I’m reminded of God’s promises so often.

I am so excited for this to be my normal commute home. Walking through the house in the quiet last night was so nice. Standing in the kitchen dreaming of cooking with the girls.. meals shared around the table. It’s just so peaceful.

Tomorrow, my sweet Harper turns five. She is our rainbow baby… the healing brought after a painful loss. She is sunshine and joy. I had a really difficult pregnancy with her filled with so many tears and prayers begging God to keep her safe. Finally, the rainbow came calmly into our lives.

Rainbows are such a beautiful reminder of God’s love for us. Seeing one in the sky feels like such a gift. I have so much to be thankful for, and I am so thankful for God’s beautiful reminder last night.

Farmhouse Update- Week 14

We are getting so close!!! The farmer said we should definitely be in by the beginning of September– most likely before then. We had a picnic dinner on Friday at the farmhouse. It has been brutal with the humidity. We had a little bit of a break and took advantage of it.

When we went inside, we talked to the farmer. He had painted several of the rooms and the area above the stairs! The carpet guy will be coming soon to replace the yucky carpet.

The light is at the end of the tunnel! Woohoo!!

We finished painting the kitchen. The color we chose (color matched Shiplap) makes it hard to see where you’ve painted over primer until it’s dry. We’ll go back in this week to do a second coat in there.

The school room is all painted. I think I’m going to paint over that green also. The carpet in here will get replaced soon and trim will get painted and go back on.

The kids were with us and playing in the room with dry paint. Pony rides for life.

Here is the master bedroom all painted. Look at the view out the windows!

Sick of white? haha! We really are just trying to be budget friendly with this process. The farmer insists on paying for the paint because he doesn’t believe that any of our money should go into the house. I think that’s nonsense because paint isn’t necessary. Either way, we are going to do this color throughout since 5 gallon buckets are much more affordable. Once we add in our furniture and decor, it won’t feel quite as sterile. This color is a creamy white, so it feels much warmer than most whites.

The detached garage even got a new roof.

If you are new here, this is the before of the farmhouse. There is no other way to describe how this all came to be than it’s all God. I just “happened” to meet the farmer’s wife and tell her our dream of living on a homestead. I just “happened” to bump into the farmer when I went out to look at it. He let me walk through it and everything has “happened” to fall into place. We get to rent this beautiful farmhouse while we are here, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

The farmer said that they feel truly blessed to have us. I told him that words could never adequately express how much they mean to us.

I can’t wait to sit outside and read my Bible with a cup of coffee. The sunsets are incredible. The wildlife is so fun. The quiet is bliss.

PS- It’s Prime day. Are you shopping it? I’m not shopping, but I am sharing some of our favorite things that are on sale in this facebook group.

Homestead Prairie Farm

Homestead Prairie Farm is a beautiful 1860s farmhouse in central Illinois. They open the home up for free tours from June- October. They also host special events during the year.

The house is a part of the Rock Springs Conservation Area, which is one of our favorite places to visit. Next to the house is a huge vegetable garden that is kept using practices from the 1860s. It is so fascinating to see and walk through.

The parlor was a place that only adults were allowed in. The wood stove is so beautiful.

I love the simplicity of all of the bedrooms. The corn husk dolls make me think of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

My favorite room was the kitchen. I’m fascinated by heritage cooking and the way things were done in the past. We’ve lost a lot of the art of cooking.

Then, there is the garden. I could have wandered through here for hours.

If you are ever in the area, you should definitely stop by. There is so much to do in the park that you won’t get bored!

Farmhouse Update- Week 13

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we painted quite a bit. Before I show any of that, look at the difference primer made in the kitchen!!!

It is so bright and I love it!! Here is a before.

The kitchen will be getting pained the color-matched Shiplap color that the rest of the main rooms are getting. We got the wall behind this picture painted. The drawers are all getting re-glued so that they are sturdy for us.

We painted the school room and master bedroom. The air is not on right now, and our heat index has been 100+ degrees. Surprisingly, it wasn’t unbearable inside with the windows open and fans on.

The upstairs bathroom has been primed and is ready for paint as well. We have to pick paint colors for the two full bathrooms, and the girls’ rooms. Chloe and Addi like this color for their room. I love it, too. Harper’s bedroom is currently navy blue, and I really love it. But, wonder if we should do something different.

The upstairs floors are possibly going to be sanded down and stained, which will be so pretty. The carpet in the school room will be torn up and new put down. The baseboards and trim will all go back on when we are done painting. The farmer has said that he’s close to helping us paint. He has been so incredibly kind. He even offered an extra vehicle to us if we needed it. I was fighting back tears while thanking him for that unnecessary kindness.

Scott was saying how he is so thankful for the people that come into your life and you can honestly say that you are a better person for knowing them. That is how the owners of this beautiful home have been. We were strangers to them, and they have treated us with so much kindness and generosity. Lord, help me to be that kind of person for others.

The crops are growing pretty well despite the intense amount of rain we’ve had this season. There are soybeans planted all around the house, and corn in a field across the T in the road. It’s so amazing to see the way it all grows. And, of course, I can’t leave you without another picture of this beauty. I still pinch myself…

Loud

Hi, friends!

It’s been quiet here in blog land because life has been incredibly LOUD. Almost two weeks ago, things started falling apart. Literally. Our van window fell apart. The window itself was fine, but the mechanism that rolls it up and down broke. The timing was not ideal because we kept getting random downpours. Something in the rear axel was also broken and had to be repaired.

If you don’t know, we are a one-car family. We have to take really good care of our one car. The day after the repairs were finished, we were driving to see my mom-in-law and return her car. She let us borrow hers so that we didn’t have to rent a vehicle, which has been such a blessing. I was driving our van, and right when we got into her town the van quit. It would move in reverse, but the moment you put it in drive it jerked, puttered, and died.

Of course it died 30 miles away from home. We left it parked in a CVS parking lot, and I cried. The next day, a trailer was rented and my dad towed it to the place that had worked on it before. Fast forward to Monday after they look at it, and the whole transmission needs replaced. We still owe on this van. A USED transmission is thousands of dollars.

Let’s just say I have cried a LOT. We have been in the situation where we had to eat PB&J sandwiches for days while waiting for a paycheck. We have moved in with family because of job loss. We have hit really low points, but nothing has felt as hopeless as this situation. We either put thousands into a van that’s not worth all that much anymore, or we buy a new van and still pay for the old dead one. Go ahead and look at the cost of a used minivan..

We are so incredibly frustrated. We have been working really hard to get out of debt. We just took on MORE.. We are getting our old van fixed because it’s really the only option. We are also praying that since it’s a remanufactured transmission, this van will last for many more years for us. (Side note: if you live in Oklahoma DO NOT buy from this dealership. They sold us a terrible car. They won’t even return calls and just pass us around.)

My mother-in-law had the kids over for a slumber party this past weekend and took them to a play. She graciously picked them up early and allowed us to finally get the car situation squared away. We were also able to go to the farmhouse and paint several rooms, get Harper a birthday present, and just get a little time to breath. Scott and I are passing ships most days, so figuring out a plan is not the easiest. We had been texting back and forth and leaving notes for each other. We’re glad to have a plan, but still so very frustrated and overwhelmed. We are clinging to God’s promises and what we KNOW is true, even when it doesn’t feel that way.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28