It’s hard to describe our home right now.

There are several rooms in the middle of work- we’re trying to live in the middle of it all- and though there is progress, there is also just a big mess.  Every single place you look.

I’ll be so glad when things get settled.  In the meantime, the pile (or bag, or bags), that normally stay on the end of my porch, headed for the thrift store, have turned into enough that Jacob’s main job has become making thrift store drop-off runs for me these past few weeks.

I feel as if I can’t breathe when we are buried in stuff we don’t use.

Yesterday’s big run came from our root cellar.  When we moved here, it was floor to ceiling with dishes and appliances, and photos, and just all sorts of things that belonged to the previous owner.

We collected all the photos and mailed them to her within the first months of us living here.  We quickly went through everything else.  I decided it might be best to delay making a decision on what to do with it all, so we thrifted what we knew we would never use and re-packed the rest.  Needless to say, now it’s been there for a few years.  It was pretty obvious none of it was something we needed, so that was Jacob’s thrift store trip yesterday.

At least one room is clean, (well, almost!).

Here are some quick pictures from the last week:

Jacob removing a header from across our family room ceiling. This USED to be weight bearing but our contractor has worked the last couple of weeks to place the weight-bearing beam on the outside of our home (where it should have been to start).

(I’m so proud of this young man! He works all day at his job and comes home each evening to help for a while on whatever house project we are working on that particular day.)

The house wrap and wall almost ready for siding:

Obviously, today is New Year’s, so the contractor isn’t here but will be back to finish the siding on this part of the house (hopefully, before the end of the week!).

Today we are drywall mudding the new closet and bedroom downstairs. I’m teaching Courtney, Joshua and Jessica. (Many hands make the work light and all, you know….)

I’m growing more and more excited as I know we are reaching a place where it won’t be total chaos and things will start to be placed where they go (it feels like it has been SO long since things have really had their place!). I would like to say (the Lord willing), in two weeks, the resource closet downstairs and our new little boy room will be FINISHED. Ahhhh….