With the She Shed and the He Shed renovations just about wrapped up, Gary moved to the next phase – making his work area more useful! First he needed to make a solid work surface for his ongoing projects!
(That’s Lizzie parked outside of our RV cover. Our neighbor who owns the lot next to ours let us park Lizzie there while we were getting started on these renovations. We have the best neighbors!)
Next up he tackled the walkways – upgrading from concrete pavers
to a wooden walkway.
This also involved new steps –
And although I have used those stairs regularly for the last two months – I don’t seem to have taken any pictures. But they’ll show up in some future posts. Because you know he isn’t done yet!
The adventure continues…
Tag Archives: Renovations
Jam Packed
Sometimes our projects end nice and quietly. This month finished with a bang! This past week has been jam-packed with so much goodness, I hardly know where to start. So I guess I’ll start at the beginning!
Sunday
Sunday we drove up to Yukon to worship with our friends Pam and Eric. It was lovely to celebrate the third Sunday with them, and then we enjoyed some delicious Japanese Curry and lots of good conversation!
Yea for catching up with friends from our ‘previous lifetime’!
Monday
Monday was a workday, of course. These three ladies painting bunk beds with brown oil-based paint need to take all kinds of precautions!
That evening we were invited to join the staff for a Christmas party! The food was amazing (all of the chefs’ specialties), and the evening wrapped up with a lovely time of caroling.
We even managed a festive group picture!
(We clean up pretty nicely, don’t we?)
Tuesday
Tuesday after work we ladies had a little crafty afternoon. Tammy, our fearless leader, does something called Chalk Couture. It reminded me of stenciling, but on a whole new level! Tammy had all the supplies and was an excellent teacher!
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So.Much.Fun.
That evening we took our final trip to InterUrban Restaurant in Chickasha for their Tuesday $8 burger night.
Eight dollars. And crazy good!
Wednesday
We moved to another building and tackled another batch of bunk beds!
We got them all sanded and ready for stain.
And then it was time for more fun! We ladies took a classic “Ladies’ Day Out,” and headed into Chickasha for lunch and a bit of Christmas shopping. Great fun – and we ended the day with a visit to the Leg Lamp.
Because, why not?
That evening, we finally got over to The Ridge – a “fancy” venue that the camp uses for weddings and other small group events.
We had our final meeting at the Ridge and then ended the evening with some fun games. So lovely!
Thursday
Today we left the bunkbeds behind and helped out with preparations for the upcoming Winter Retreat for the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree children. We were honored to be a small part of making Christmas special for those kids and to help them understand what being part of the family of God means!
See what I mean about Jam-Packed???
But just like that – our December project is over. We’ll be hanging around through the weekend, but the first of our team is already on their way home.
It was such a lovely month! We’ve made some great new friends, got to hang out with our buddies here at Oakridge (it’s one of the few locations we’ve returned to several times), and were able to help out with some long-overdue renovations*.
And got some bunks painted!
Thanks for stopping by!
*Update on the bathroom reno will have to wait until tomorrow. This is already Way Too Long!
New Things
It’s always fun to get new things, isn’t it? Here are a couple of new things that have happened recently in my world.
My Kitchen Renovation
Now let’s be real, there’s not much to my kitchen. It’s about 6 feet long, and in that 6 feet is a double sink and my range top.
As you can see, when I’m actually cooking (a rare lemon meringue pie in this case), my kitchen can get quickly overwhelmed.
But that pie was great!
As you can see once I uncover my range, I have exactly 6.5 inches of usable counter space between my sink and range. It’s been a problem from the get-go.
Several years ago I started using a stand-alone single burner induction cooktop which, while limiting in how much I could cook, did more than double my prep counter space.
Also – I have not used my propane oven in about 17 years. It was hard to light (like groveling on the floor hard) and since my microwave is also a convection oven – it just never got used. Except for storage! We’d talked about making a change, and finally this spring we took the plunge.
While I was in Vermont, Gary got busy with the ‘demolition’.
The die was cast – there was no turning back!
We purchased a two-burner induction cooktop and installed it front-to-back instead of the traditional side-to-side position. It was about gaining counter space, right?
And then my guy built two spacious drawers.
Added a bit of trim – and Voila – my kitchen reno!
A full 16.75 inches of counter space. And big deep drawers. So.much.new.storage.
And that, my friends, is how you do a kitchen reno in an RV. Or at least, it’s the way we do it!
(It was fun rehashing that meringue pie episode – you can check it here – When the world gives you lemons)
Jewelry organization
If you know me, you know I don’t wear much jewelry. I hardly remember to change earrings from my standard little blue balls to something to match my Sunday outfit. However, that does not seem to stop me from buying jewelry. Especially earrings. They’re small (don’t take up much room in our tiny house), and surely I’ll remember to wear THIS pair of cute earrings. But although they are small, they also lived in a jumbled mess in a small container. Even finding a matching set was sometimes a struggle. Counter space in the bathroom was also at a premium, and there wasn’t much wall space to speak of either. I used a lovely woven fabric small wall hanging for some of my more dangly earrings
But I was still on the hunt for my plethora (for me anyway) of posts and smaller earrings. Pinterest had lots of ideas, but it wasn’t until I came across this option that I actually found a solution!
It’s kinda on Gary’s side of the room (that’s his clothes cupboard to the right), but he graciously gave me permission to hang it there.
It’s so fun to see exactly what I have, it’s a good reminder to change out those blue balls for something more interesting, AND – now I see there is room for more!
Repurposed towel rings house my collection of necklaces.
Now I just have to remember to wear them!
New Do
When I decided to ‘go short’ with my hair about six years ago, I knew I was committing to having someone different cut my hair every 6-8 weeks. Generally, when I get asked, “What are we doing today?†I just reply – “this haircut, about 8 weeks ago.” I’ve had some good cuts, some ‘eh’ cuts, and some “Well, it will grow, right?†cuts. This past week I was well overdue for a haircut, and while I think she did a good job, she also did a very short version of “this cut, 8 weeks agoâ€.
Let’s just say I’m good till well after the holidays! =)
Know what else is new? Our Lord’s mercies! They are new every morning, and for that, I am eternally grateful!
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
The Great Bedroom Shuffle Update
This basement renovation – finishing off space in the basement for a bedroom, small bath, and closet – started back at Christmas time when we were last here in Ohio.
With a family of 7, one of the biggest challenges was rearranging all the stuff just to make an empty space! 10 years (and two kiddos) ago, that very space had been made into a big storage room –
And trust me, it was full!!
Other parts of the basement had been finished off in 2013,
and has been well used as extra family space.
(It got ‘all the way’ finished after I and my camera left!)
But to add an official bedroom and bath entailed challenges over and above just figuring out how to rearrange the family ‘stuff’.
Like an egress window.
It was a big job (especially during a pandemic), but it was in by the time we arrived. Yay, Toby!!
As you can see, it was no mean feat!
The other big, needs-to-be-done-before-Pops-arrived, task was moving the plumbing to the correct spot for the bathroom. Thankfully there WAS plumbing already there, but of course, not where it needed it to be.
Yeah, that was a BIG job!
By the time we arrived last week, all the walls had been constructed, the shower had been roughed in –
and, the drywall had been loaded into the basement! Pops was all set to go!
With Toby home over the weekend, the ceilings went up and the walls were starting to take shape!
(for perspective – I’m standing in front of the window, and Gary is standing in the closet.)
Toby always heads to the basement when he gets home from work to lend a hand –
and sometimes the prospective occupants also show up.
To help. Right!
Hallway done –
(bathroom on the left)
The last of the drywall in the bathroom will be installed once it stops raining long enough for the guys to pick up the green board at Lowes-
So at this point, with the exception of the inside walls of the bathroom, all the drywall is up! The mudding has begun, and you never know, but maybe there will be painting accomplished by the middle of next week! The list is still pretty long to get the area Teenage Girl Ready, but it certainly has been exciting to see all the progress made in less than a week!
With the weekend coming, Toby and Pops should be able to get lots done by working together. But since it’s also one of the last weekends before the baby arrives, I think there will also be some Family Fun time too! And that’s a good thing!
Thanks for coming along on our Renovation Trail!
Changes
Anyone still there? Did you think I’d go from a post a day to almost nothing? It really wasn’t my intent, but life got pretty busy here and somehow this little blog kept getting put at the bottom of the pile. (Truth be told, it was busy towards the end of November too, but a commitment is a commitment and I was determined to finish strong. And then it seems I fell off the map!)
OK – things are busy here in Waco. We’ve decided to put our sweet Waco house on the market. I know – crazy, right???? There were a lot of factors, but the bottom line was the realization that at much as we love that house, we just aren’t ready to hang up the RV keys and settle in to a non-moving home.
So our goals for our time in Waco became a bit more pressing. Since this would be our biggest opportunity to finish up the projects we’d started over the last year – like that shed and upgrading the electric service – we knew the clock ticking.
Here’s how we left the shed in the spring –
As you can see – Gary’s made some great progress –
Windows and doors in, trim almost completed, and really it’s just that upper access door to the ‘attic’ that will make it complete. He still needs to fix the garden area (the part in the front that looks like it could be a deck), but it’s really coming along nicely!
With the shed nearing completion, he moved to the electric upgrade.
Ooooo – so fancy!! When it came time to install the new smoke detectors on the second floor, he ran into an unexpected glitch. One that will require a bit more work. And the first step of that “bit more work” involved being able to actually GET to the wiring in the attic. And that required getting all of the insulation out of the attic. So…..
Gary worked in the attic, feeding insulation down the access door
while I smooshed it into giant contractor bags.
Yes, I wore a mask and gloves. Gary even had a dust mask on!
It was an all day event, but by the end of the day –
the attic was empty of insulation and deck was full of bags to drop down into the trailer to take to the dump!
(Have I ever mentioned that there’s this sweet second floor deck off one of the bedrooms. Check out this birds-eye view of the backyard-Â 
Nice, right?)
This morning it was off to the landfill for us!
(Some unknown person dropped off a box spring and a recliner in the alley behind the house last week. Although it’s pretty rude to do that, the box spring was helpful in securing our jumbo bags. The recliner will have to wait until the next trip.)
You know you’re doing house projects when the guy at the landfill recognizes you and offers to help you unload. Or when you think taking a picture of “The View from The Landfill” might be interesting.
So much trash in this world!
My plan was to get the upstairs painted and all sparkly before we leave next week, but between the electric glitch (making a general mess of the second floor), Christmas sewing, being Gary’s helper, and baby holding (hey, that’s my job too!)
I’ve pretty much made lots of plans and picked up paint chips.
But while the SAD news is that we’re selling the house, the GLAD news is that it looks like we’ll be selling it to a sweet family that we’ve been friends with since we’ve been coming to Waco! It’s just at a handshake stage at the moment, but we’re excited about the possibility! Everything still needs to be done, but if nothing else, maybe she can help me pick out those darn paint colors!
We’re going to miss this place, but if things go as I hope they do, we might just be able to enjoy a couple more nights like this in the future!
Ahhhh……..