Jubilee Anniversary

Last weekend was our church's 50th Anniversary party! It went very well. We had over 100 guests.



And I was part of two choirs that sang. This is our College and Careers Bible Study group.

This is the Jubilee Choir.

The photos are courtesy of Chris van Popta.

On Sunday, we had even more guests (we believe) and held our services in the Ottawa Christian School gym. Funnily enough, the church had services in the 70s at OCS so it was a familiar place for a lot of people. I also went to elementary school there. We served lunch to all the people as well. By the end of the day, I was pretty exhausted but it was worth it.
We are selling t-shirts, buttons and mugs to fund raise for our school (that we are hoping to open in Sept 2011). If you'd like some of these products, let me know. I'll try to put up some pictures of them soon.

Hi

Our house is looking a little more sane these days as we prepare to host my sister and her family this weekend. Since my last post, we have all the drywall put up that we want to put up and all the tape joints mudded. The next step is for Reuben to go over every wall with a fine tooth comb looking for depressions and ridges that will show up when we paint. It's amazing the imperfections in a wall that are really accented when you paint. I am so thankful (though I don't always show it) that he is such a perfectionist in this area because I know it'll make our home just that much better when it's all said and done.

In the meantime, I had my birthday. Reuben took me to the Urban Pear for dinner and bought me a lovely bouquet of pink lilies. And the next day, my sister arranged for a group of ladies to go out for drinks. I had a great time!

This coming weekend is going to be a busy one. We have been planning for a big party for our church's 50th Anniversary for about 8 months now and on Saturday night we'll be hosting 100 guests(plus our own church members) for a dinner and program. My mother, husband and I along with another couple in our church have been the main organizers. I'm excited but nervous about how it will all play out as it is a pretty big event. We are also organizing church services at another venue on Sunday so we have to worry about the details for that, as well. Yikes! The good things will be that there are many guests coming that I am excited to see not the least of which is my sister and her kids (and her husband;)) and also one of my fave aunts and uncles and one of my fave cousins (along with her husband and kids). Also, our former ministers and their wives.

So, our plans for the next couple of weeks include priming and painting all the walls and ceilings that have been redone and then start thinking about our kitchen!

More craziness

Over the last week, Reuben has been working hard on the walls and ceiling in our house. I have been working hard trying to keep my sanity. Patience is a virtue and I'm learning the hard way. Some advice to those in the same boat...if your husband is trying to finish the drywall don't try to talk about hanging pictures, gardening, paying bills etc as it will only remind him that you should be helping him sand. You don't want to have to help him sand...it's not fun.
Our drywaller came on Saturday morning (after our week of prep work) at 8 am. No sleeping in for this girl. He quickly and efficiently retaped all the drywall joints we had exposed by noon. I tried to stay out of the way but at one point, while trying to make Tiramisu for a party, I had to move all of my stuff to the other counter. There isn't one area of my house that doesn't have drywall dust or mud tracked through it or on it. I thought my livingroom would be a sanctuary but now all of the shoes and coats from our front hall closet are strewn about it. Last night, Andrew came again and did a second coat of mud and then they put up drywall on the ceiling in our dinette and front hall. I had to help hold it up while it was being screwed in place.
Despite all of this, the Tiramisu turned out and was enjoyed by all.
I haven't taken any pictures recently to show the progress.
Oh and also, our tulips have started blooming!!! And isn't it so cool how they close at night and open during the day!:) Amazing.

Wainscotting and drywall joints

This is what we've been working on the past week. In the picture below you can see what else has been taking place in the stairwell area besides potlights and a new ceiling. We've (Reuben) been scraping away at all the joints; taking off the old mud and tape. It's a thankless job and creates a huge mess on the stairwell. I wish I could sleep downstairs so I wouldn't have to walk through it every night/morning.
And on Friday last week, I had a day off from work, so I proceeded to take off the old beadboard/wainscotting in our front entryway. It was easy-peasy. It came off with little trouble. Now, all of the nail holes have to be filled and sanded and then we can paint! It looks like painting will take place in 2 weeks...to coincide with my birthday.

part 2

Here are the pictures...
First there are some from a party we had 2 weekends ago. Then of Reuben working on the house and then of the finished livingroom, well, the main wall anyway.

renovations and in-laws (or How I Spent My Easter Weekend)

I want to tell you all about our renovations...but I have no pictures...
So, I'll keep it short and add pictures in when I can...
Reuben's parents came to visit for the long weekend so lots of work got done on the house.

1. They(Reuben and his Dad) put up crown moulding and baseboards in the livingroom and diningroom....it looks amazing!
2. They also put 2 potlights in our stairwell...there was much fiddling around with 3-way switches!
3. They installed drywall on the ceiling in the stairwell and part of the hallway upstairs.

While they were doing that, my mother-in-law and I organized our basement mess. We had been chucking stuff down there ever since we moved in and it was really starting to bother me. Now, it's all organized and there's actually room to move around down there!

We also really started thinking about our kitchen and so we went to Ikea to get one priced out and then also to a higher end place...the price difference is pretty big. I think we're going to go with Ikea just because we don't want to spend more money on renovations than we'll get back out of the house when we sell it. Any improvement to the kitchen is going to be significant, that's for sure. We're planning to do it in the Fall.

So this week is looking like the beginning of more dust and construction in our house for awhile. We have to rip out all the tape joints in the stairwell, upstairs hallways and 2 bedrooms and then it all has to be taped and mudded. At least we're not doing both floors at the same time. While the livingroom was being done I could retreat to my bedroom and now that the upstairs is being done I can retreat to the living room. You should come over sometime and check it out!

My handsome nephew, Nethaneil

I knit that vest for him...

Renovation Update

This picture is a little old already as we now have everything cleaned up and our furniture back in place. It is such a relief to come home to a normal house. I know that Reuben is going to start working on drywalling again soon but I'm loving it for right now. Anyway, this is a sneak peek of our paint colors ... you'll just have to come over to see what it really looks like.
Actually, last night we bought all the crown moulding and baseboards for this room and Reuben's father is coming at Easter to help him install it. After that, we will be fixing the drywall joints going up the stairs and in the hallway upstairs including the ceilings in our 2 other bedrooms (our bedroom was done before we moved in, thankfully).

Mont Tremblant

Last week Thursday and Friday, Reuben and I and 2 other couples went to Mont Tremblant for a little getaway. We shared a 2 bedroom plus loft suite right in the village! We left at 6:30am from Ottawa and were in Tremblant around 9am...with a little detour at Timmy's/McDonalds on the way. Here are some pics of the suite....

This was the view...Reuben is wearing the coolest goggles of the weekend...they have pretend bullet holes in them....don't ask me why...As you can see, we were just a hop, skip and a jump away from the bottom of the hill. The weather wasn't the greatest the first day as it was pretty drizzly. While the boys snowboarded, we shopped and looked around the village and went to a delicious creperie for lunch. In the evening, we took a dip in the pool and the outdoor hot tub and then had dinner at the local microbrewery, La Diable. Here are our friends, Heidi and Bryan Feenstra at the pub. And this is us at the pub.And that evening, my brother-in-law, Josh drove up and joined us as he had a one day ski pass to use. In the morning, the boys plus Carrie hit the slopes at 8 am and got 3 runs in then came back to our suite for breakfast. Heidi and I made waffles and bacon with strawberries and whipping cream. It was delish!Then we had to check out of our hotel so we loaded all our stuff into the car and everyone continued snowboarding/skiing except for Heidi and I. We grabbed our books and found a nice, cozy couch to sit on in the lobby of one of the hotels right at the base of the hill. We read for about an hour and a half and then Carrie called and we met her for lunch. The rest of them stayed on the slopes. We wandered around the village some more but then as the weather was so warm and sunny, we joined the crowd at the bottom of the skihill watching people go off of jumps. We had a grand time people-watching. At 4pm the lifts were closed so we watched the boys end their final run right at our feet. They enjoyed their final run in their t-shirts because it was so warm. Then we packed up and headed home after agreeing to do it all again next year.

Quilting

This morning,while flipping through my usual blog readings, I spied this lovely quilt with instructions. It looks totally doable, even for a non-quilter like myself. But maybe my sister can help me.
Doesn't it just make you thankful for Spring? It's my favourite season by far!

Elyssa Walking

Just wanted to post a cute pic of my niece, Elyssa. She's walking a lot now and is very sweet. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to remember to take my own pics of her so this one is borrowed from my sister. Enjoy!Click here and you'll see what she looked like a year ago.
Oh and the painting is coming along but I'm recovering from the flu so I can't get it done fast enough. The first coat is done but it needs another coat. I promise to post pics as soon as the second coat is done. It's so hard to know when to post pics because I want it to look beautiful and it's just not done yet. Do you want to see it part way done?

Paris When It Sizzles - the movie

This past weekend, while convelescing, I watched 2 Audrey Hepburn movies that I hadn't seen. One was Funny Face and the other, Paris When It Sizzles.
Funny Face is a musical with Fred Astaire. It has lots of neat choreography and singing. I watched it for the beautiful clothes and scenes of Paris (suprisingly both movies were set in Paris). I did not watch it for the plot. It was hilariously cheesy and usually I like cheesy but I was pretty bored by the end of it.
Paris When It Sizzles on the other hand is just one of your everyday romantic comedies but so much more than that because of the classiness that Audrey Hepburn brings to the movie. The storyline is that of a screenwriter who hires a typist to write out a screen play that he hasn't written yet and is due to the producer in 2 days time. So, the movie jumps between the story of the movie being written and the real story of screen writer and typist who get written in as the main characters of the movie. I won't give it all a way but I do recommend it. Oh and Reuben liked it too so if your partner is as endearing as mine and will sit down to an old film with you than go for it!

Update 3 or 4

The ceiling is done! It did need another coat but it looks amazing and I love the color:) We also primed the walls on Saturday. Reuben did the rolling and I did the cutting in although I had this awful headache and sore throat. I really wanted it done though so I worked on it as long as I could and then collapsed into bed for a nap. I'm still feeling sick but I really want to get this done so I'm persevering.
Tonight, I'm going to paint one wall with a tinted primer and the other walls with a neutral color that is called Monroe Bisque. Over the tinted primer we will be painting the wall Vintage Wine. These are Benjamin Moore colors so if you're curious you can go to their website to check it out. There will be one more color in the room which will go on the exterior of the kitchen walls that face into the living/dining area. We are waiting to paint these walls because we still have some more prep work to do and also because when we do the kitchen reno the walls may be reconfigured.

There is still a long ways to go.

Of painting a ceiling

Painting our livingroom/diningroom ceiling takes me approx 1.5 hrs. Last night I did one coat of color...actual color...not just plain ol' white. When I first put it on I was shocked by how dark it looked and was sort of nervous but I kept going. This morning, although it was still pretty dark when I left the house, it doesn't look so bad. It's going to be cozy. I also can't tell yet whether I need to do a second coat although I have a feeling it's too streaky to leave the way it is.
Reuben is also done with the walls so we'll be priming them on Saturday!!! Woohoo....there is an end in sight. At least I'll be able to move the loveseat back into the livingroom by this weekend.
We'll probably keep the rest of the stuff out so that we can move around more easily to paint the walls.
I'll take pictures as soon as I can. Reuben took one of me painting last night but I'm sure you don't want to see that ....!

the state that we are in

I'm sure you're all curious as to how the renovations are coming. Well, I'm here to report that there has been progress! Today, I took up the drop clothes and swept the floor. Tomorrow, I will put them down again and paint the ceiling. The ceiling needs a coat of drywall primer because it is now all new drywall and then a coat or two of ceiling paint which will be tinted Muslin from Benjamin Moore. You can look it up on their website if you're curious. I'm not sure when the walls will get painted because Reuben plans to do a few more coats of mud on some stubborn spots. This will ensure that our walls are as flat as humanly possible without having to re-drywall them all.
Anyway, I still can't navigate my kitchen too well and there is dust everywhere!! I'm so thankful we can go to my parents to escape the insanity!
More updates to come....

Why I Can't Cook....etc

The reason I can't possibly cook right now is due to the fact that I have a couch in my kitchen, blocking my cutlery drawers and pots and pans cupboard. This is my front room...This is what I see when I walk in the front door. The plastic sheet hanging down is to help prevent dust from getting into that part of the house.And this is the livingroom....if you look really close you can see paint samples on the wall...we are having trouble deciding on a third colour. To get upstairs you have to squeeze past the piano and under the plastic sheet. Nice.

Busy Weekend

phew! What a busy weekend...we had my sister,her husband and 2 kids visiting this weekend plus I had my choir concert which included a rehearsal on Saturday. Here are some pictures I took on Sat. evening while the men were skiing/snowboarding.
I knit some thumbless mittens for Hadassah to wear with her Sunday coat.
I tried to get her to stand still and show me the mittens but the girl is a whirling dervish!!!
Here's my sis reading her daughter a book.

And here is my mom feeding Nethaneil a bottle.
I'll try to take pictures of our renovation chaos tonight to show you all why I can't possibly cook right now;)

Daily News

Well, my readers, I have begun a new job here at Carleton University. I am the Administrative Assistant to the Program Coordinator/Mentor at the newly formed Science Student Success Centre. This centre is designed to target Science students who are doing poorly in their studies during their first year at the University and to offer them guidance. Right now, I am waiting for my colleague to return from a Conference so I don't have a lot to do. Part of the job, though, is setting up a database which will contain all the student info and their grades in their first year Science courses. As some of you know, I did a lot of database work when I worked on Parliament Hill so I'm excited to get back into that a bit. My office is in the same hallway as my old one so while I am starting a new job, there won't be a huge amount of change which I am happy about. Working at the University has been really great so far and I'm really thankful that I can continue here.
As far as our house goes, we were in a lot of chaos in the last couple of days as we tried to get as much furniture out of the livingroom as possible. Our love seat ended up in the kitchen so that I couldn't get at my pots and pans or cutlery drawer. This was actually fine with me as I had a great excuse not to cook:) Andrew has finished two coats of mud but is now on a bit of a holiday so Reuben has arranged with him that he will come after school on Tuesday to finish the third coat. After that, we will be doing a lot of sanding and then priming!!! And then painting. So, for now, we've cleaned up a bit so that we can get upstairs more easily and my kitchen is more usable but by Tuesday it will all be chaotic again.
I'm also working on a pair of mittens for my niece, Hadassah...I finished one last night and should be able to do the other one tonight. After that, I plan to make a pair of fingerless mittens for myself...I just have to get to the yarn store.
And last but not least, the Broersma's are rolling into town tomorrow. Here's a picture preview from the last time we saw them.

Construction and Knitting Photo UPDATE

My Sunday project....mittens for my sister, Diana....completed.

As of this afternoon, this is one coat done. Not paint, taping drywall joints on the ceiling and wall. Two more coats to go and then a ton of sanding and then ...I can paint!! We picked out colors ... they are outrageous! I won't give it away until they are on the walls. One is the name of a fruit and the other is the name of something to drink. Those are my hints ... have fun guessing!:)

Construction and Knitting

As some of you have seen over on Reuben's blog, we have started some more renovations on our house. The last thing we did was put up a shed in the backyard. I really shouldn't say "we" as Reuben does most of the work. He had his dad's help though. Now we are starting a major project which requires our living room and dining room area to be uninhabitable for probably close to a month and if it's like any other renovation project it will be longer. We are replacing the ceiling (or covering up the ceiling with new drywall) and re-doing most of the tape joints (where the two pieces of drywall that make up a wall come together) with tape and drywall mud. Not only are we doing this in the living/dining area, Reuben feels that we should also redo the tape joints along the staircase and upstairs hallway.
I have been trying to help but it's hard work. It's kind of fun chipping away at old, dried up drywall mud but when you scrape your knuckles as I have already done a number of times, it's not so fun. I don't pretend to be any good at construction type work. I'm far too wimpy. The best thing I can do is make Reuben laugh because it's a frustrating process and he gets really serious about it.
We do have some help coming in. One of our friends from church is in University right now and has a Reading Week coming up. He grew up helping his father and grandfather in the drywalling business. We figured we could pay him a few bucks and have a semi-professional help get the job done better and quicker while staying within our budget.
Tonight, we are going to our friends' house for dinner. Church friends who recently moved here from BC. She is a certified Interior Designer and I'm bringing a couch cushion so we can talk color .. paint color. I'm so excited!!!!! I love dreaming about what colors we should paint our rooms. I love bold, rich, dark colors! I hope we can find something that will match nicely with our ugly teal couches. We will no longer have a stipple ceiling and I"m planning to have a hint of color in the ceiling paint as well which is also really exciting!
Anyway, so today the thing that brings me JOY is color and renovations! Seeing the good amongst all the drywall dust.
Oh yeah...and about the knitting. Yeah, not getting much done these days as I help with the deconstruction. I'm trying to get a pair of mitts done for next weekend when my sister comes down. I also wanted to have a pair of mitts done for Hadassah by then. We'll see.

Days of Joy - Day 4 - 7

Oops ... I'm falling behind already.

1. Warmer weather ... it's going up to 9 degrees tomorrow.
2. Seeing long lost friends.
3. The star treatment at the Cheshire Cat pub ...Reuben's firm is doing an addition for them so the owner knows Reuben. When we walked in there on Saturday night we were greeted personally and given one of the best seats in the house.
4. Singing the Beatles hits at choir practice last night.
5. Even though it's frustrating...starting some more renovations on our house. See Reuben's post here.

Legwarmer UPDATE

Here's the sweet girl sporting her legwarmers...

Elyssa's Legwarmers

365 Days of Joy - Day 3

1. A free ride to work and home again.

2. The news that we're halfway to seeing leaves on our trees.

3. A home-made exchange ... one pair of leg warmers, size 13 months for one knitting needle holder ... thanks sis!!

4. I just read some more information about that plane that went down in the Hudson River after a bird strike ... I'm so glad I wasn't on that plane.

5. Dinner plans with just the two of us.

365 Days of Joy - Day 2

1. Fresh cup of coffee.
2. Warm boots.
3. Freedom.
4. Hugs.
5. Blog updates.

365 Days of Joy

Ok ... so I've read this on other blogs and I think it's a great idea. I mean, who doesn't struggle with discontentment ...honestly, I'm not the only one, right? Anyway, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon to turn my thinking around. Everyday, for the next year, I will think of 5 things that give me Joy. Starting right now;

1. Sunshine ... finally some sunshine.
2. The days are getting longer.
3. Hanging out with my niece and sister last night.
4. Red hair.
5. A good job.

Mittens

This is my latest completed project. They fit perfectly!

The Pride of America

Without malice, I've been fairly cynical about Barack Obama's election and inauguration. This article articulates what I've been feeling.