The Un-Handy Husband Renovates & Celebrates!

A lot has happened since my last post, so I'll try to play catch up.

With the help of our amazing family and friends, we completed our whirl-wind renovation of Jackie's granddad's old place. Y'all know that I'm not that good at being handy, but this experience has forced me to learn. 

So this was the master bathroom before:

As you can see, we had already ripped off the mirror, which was no small feat. The mirror was glued directly on the wall. Other mirrors we took down had a paper backing and came down easily. This one didn't have the backing, so the back of the mirror was stuck straight to the wall. It shattered as Keith Warren (who is Ingrid's very Handy Husband) and I were trying to pry it off, but still wouldn't come down! We ended up peeling it off one tiny piece at a time. It took forever!!!

Next the flowery brass light fixture came down. And this is what went in its place:

Of course, after Keith and I finally got it on the wall, we could only find two light bulbs... and they didn't even match.

Later, I swapped out the itty-bitty shower head for this bigger one:

 

A couple of days later, Jeff, my super-handy father-in-law, helped me hang the mirror.  You can also see that I swapped out the wooden towel ring for a brushed bronze one that matched the light fixture.

Ta-Da! It looks great!!!

All the renovating took it's toll on Jackie, but this picture gives you a look at the laminate flooring that my Dad, Keith, Jeff, and Matt put down. (I helped, but my contribution was mainly standing on the pieces so they wouldn't move as the other hammered them into place.)

She's napping on a patio chair cushion.

 Like owner, like cat:

Just thinking about remodeling and moving made Smudge tired.

In the kitchen, I swapped out the round, plastic fixture for this chandelier. (FYI: The hardest part was opening and closing the stinking chain links!)

Then I swapped out the doorknobs and deadbolts:

My brother came over and helped Jackie put in quarter-round in the living room and bathrooms. They did a great job. The funniest part was that the piece that gave Zach the most trouble was a small 1 inch part!

After all of the renovating was over, we made a mad dash to get all of our stuff  out of the apartment. On our first day of moving, we had a caravan of 3 cars, 3 trucks, and a trailer. And the forecast that day was STORMY!

After dodging the storms, we managed to get everything unloaded just before the storm hit again. As the winds were kicking up, Jeff moved his truck away from the house so it wouldn't be right under some big trees. No sooner than Jeff moved the truck, the wind roared, and we heard the unmistakable cracks and pops of branches breaking. Matt and I turned around just in time to see a massive branch fall about 60 or so feet right were Jeff had moved his truck.

We didn't know that Jeff was already back in the house, so Matt and I took off toward the truck, fearing the worst. We were so relieved when we realized he wasn't there. Amazingly, the truck suffered relatively minor damage because the branch hit a power line just before it landed on the truck, taking out most of it's momentum.

Where the branch broke off.

The dent over the back door.

The force of the falling branch almost pulled down the power pole near the shed and our house!

You can see the leaning pole at the corner of the shed.

And this is our leaning tower of power. ;)

Alabama Power came out that night and fixed both of them. We appreciate their prompt action!

The next day, we celebrated Liberty Day in Columbiana. It was a much-needed day off from the renovation/moving grind. We had a great time, but it was SO HOT during the day! We met up with our friends that night to watch the fireworks show.

The next day, several of Jackie's cousins came to move the rest of our stuff. Dad also brought over a 16-foot enclosed trailer. They moved so fast we were packed up and unloaded at the new house in less than 4 hours!!! We couldn't have done it without them!

After moving, Jackie's cousin Shane cut down several trees that were in danger of falling on our place and on her grandparents. We're still in the process of cutting them into smaller pieces and hauling them off. Here's the video of Shane cutting down the last tree:

Jackie and I spent the week rearranging furniture and unpacking box after box after box...

I went back to the apartment today to get the ice packs we forgot in the freezer and to turn in the keys. I was SO glad to climb those 32 steps up to the third floor for the last time!!!

Our new place already feels like home, and we are so thankful that her parents are letting us live here. We have been truly blessed by the Lord. We look forward to spending the next several years here. And I've already laid down the law about our next move: It cannot and will not be during the summer!!!

I am still awed by the fact that we accomplished a total renovation and move in less than a month. But we owe much of that credit to our amazing friends and family. We owe them big time!

I'm also thankful for all of the handy people that helped me along the way. Maybe this Un-Handy Husband isn't so un-handy afterall.