We have so much to be Thankful for this Thanksgiving...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with their loved ones! Shane and I hosted our very first Thanksgiving in our home! Shane's parents, Tom & Sharon, and his sister, Lindsey and brother, Tanner all made the trip out to spend the holiday with us. My turkey actually came out pretty good! It was an enjoyable weekend.

Shane and I are thankful for so many things! First and most important we are thankful for is our Savior and Lord! and next is all of you! We feel so blessed to have all of you in our lives! We have so many amazing family and friends!

A picture of the beautiful center-piece my Gramma Cena sent us the day before! It was a wonderful surprise and a beautiful focal point for the dinner table! Thanks Gramma!!!

Bella napping as we wait for our company to arrive!

(Tanner, Lindsey, Shane & Sharon)
The only picture I got of the family while they were here!

A goofy pic of Shane and I that we took recently of ourselves!

Making Strides...

We have been making long strides in our home-projects this past month. As you will see from the post below, I have my new furnace & c/a. The week after that was in, we had some cement work done that involved replacing a slab in the front of the house, and then pouring a slab in the back between our house and garage. We wanted a place to put the grill, and kinda clean that up back there.

Since the furnace was done, that meant we could finally finish our office. Which included: enclosing the soffit we added for the plumbing to the upstairs bathroom we put in, painting, hanging cabinets, and carpeting, as well as, adding more outlets and moving the cable. Below are pictures of the process.

Drywall is up, and has been sanded and mudded and ready to be painted.

Picture of the room after being primed.

The office finally painted. It was a lot bigger chore than I was expecting. It required 1 coat primer and 3 coats of paint (I was only expecting 2) Plus I had to repaint the ceiling b/c of some patchwork that needed done and I wasn't counting on that. This was the least fun room to paint and one of the most time consuming for such a small room, because of all the edging you have to do around the windows and door ways. I painted it the same color as the living/dining rooms.

Pictures of Shane haning the cabinets. We really needed storage for the office, and with the room being small, we decided the best solution was cabinets. It took a lot shimming b/c the walls are not straight! Shane did an awesome job at hanging the cabinets. I have full confidence that in our next house, he will be able to redo an entire kitchen for me!

Bella checking out the cabinets.

This picture is of the innovative way my husband came up with holding the cabinets up while screwing them in the wall (I am not the most helpful in the heavy lifting department!)

Me painting the cabinets (which also required primer and 3 coats color!). Bella found it necessary to sit on my lap while I tried to paint!

Pictures of cabinets after they have been painted. I chose to paint them the same color of the walls since the room is small, to help the room still feel open and bigger.

Picture of our new carpet! This has to be one of my favorite parts, it is so nice to have that dirty, wood floor covered!

Picture of Shane installing the base-cove moulding.

The finished product! I still need to get curtains for the windows! (I will post pics of those when I get them) All of our office stuff fits in the one desk and a few of the cabinets! Its great! I don't have anything else in the room, and plan to leave it that way for now, b/c someday it will have to also serve as my sewing room! We have more than enough storage! That is one thing that drew me to this house, the possibilities it had to enhance its storage!
It is such a great feeling to have the office done. That wraps up our major indoor projects! Other than shurewalling the basement! Outside, we still have one big project...siding the garage to match the house, and some landscaping! Which we hope to do next summer!

Long Time, No Post...

Well, it definitely has been a while since i have posted! Lots has been going on, and I just haven't had the time.
For starters...I have a new furnace and c/a!!! Courtesy of my awesome dad! He and my mom were here for 5 days at the end of October putting it in. I had a blast having them here, and Shane and I feel very blessed for my dad's hard work! I just love the soothing sound of the furnace coming on, and sitting in front of the vent! (before we didn't have a forced-air furnace).

Me and Dad the morning they headed back home. I am smiling b/c I have heat, dad is smiling b/c he is done putting in the heat for me! Now he doesn't have a reason to come out to Iowa...guess we will just have to think about giving him some grandkids, so he will have an excuse to come back!
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Below are some pics of mom and grandma's visit out last weekend! They made a quick trip out here to celebrate Shane and I's baptism and induction into membership of our church. It was an awesome weekend. We serve an amazing God! I didn't get any pictures of the actually baptism, but basically, we write out our sins, pin them to a cross before we go up to be baptized. There is a huge horse tank with Pastor Dan in it. (yes, the water is warm) Shane and I went into the tank together. We are asked if we believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, and that the only way to Heaven is thru Him, we answer 'yes', and then we are dunked! It was a divine experience. Shane and I were both baptized as babies, but felt led by God to be baptized at this time in our life, to show others our faith and the importance of having a personal relationship with Christ.

Gramma Cena & Mom relaxing!

Gramma Cena, me & Mom - we really appreciated them coming all the way to celebrate something that meant so much to us!