November

It's been a while since we've updated anything here and I thought that today was as good as any. So what's been happening in our lives since our last post? Oh so many things.

First, my temp position with BlackBox resale came to an end on November 2nd so we were once again left with only one income. But as always, we are amazed at God's faithfulness in these situations. Two weeks, to the day, later I started a job working in the Technology Finance Department at Thomson Reuters. This too is just a temp job but I get to make my own hours and the pay is excellent.

There is a position in the Accounting Office at Northwestern College which has opened up and I have applied for. From everything we can tell, it would be perfect. We would both work at Northwestern which would have many benefits both financially and personally. So that's something to pray about. Northwestern is notorious for being slow in their hiring process but it's an exciting opportunity on the horizon.

Katie is still working for Student Development at Northwestern and loving it. It seems like every day she tells me that she's been given more responsibilities which is great to give her more things to work on to pass the time.

I realized that we haven't put any pictures of our newly updated, finished basement. We're adding the final touches to the stair landing this weekend and then maybe we'll remember to get some pictures up here.

It seems like every weekend we become more involved in our church. As Katie said in her last post we started a couple's small group with some friends and some new couples from Eagle Brook (who have quickly become friends also). That has been great for all of us. Having other couples to talk with and having friends who are in the same stage of life as us has been great. Additionally, Eagle Brook has decided to open two new campuses (in Blane and Woodbury) over the next three years and that is very exciting for everyone involved.

One of our funniest and maybe most stressful stories from our house happened in early October. As the weather started to get colder we decided it was finally time to turn on our furnace for the winter. So I went and lit the pilot light and tried to get the furnace to light. After several days of fiddling and trying I still couldn't get it to light. Eventually we bit the bullet and called a furnace repair guy to come look at it. After several hours, many phone calls and a second repair guy they decided that they could fix it now and probably be back several times through the winter to keep fixing it since it was so old or we could get a new furnace. We decided that because of tax rebates and other things, now was as good a time as any to get a new furnace installed, especially since we knew it was something we needed to so sometime soon anyway. So the day comes to install the new furnace, the guys spend just under 8 hours removing the old one and installing the new one and it comes time to turn it on for the first time. It won't light. Sounds like the same issue the old furnace was having. They replace the thermostat. It still won't light. Eventually they decide the only option left is to re-run the wiring from the thermostat to the furnace. When they're running the new wires they find the problem. As it turns out the wire from our thermostat to the furnace accidently got cut when we were remodeling the basement. The old furnace would have worked just fine!! Oh well, we decided that was God's way of getting us a new furnace before our old one broke in February and we had to get it replaced then. There are two morals to this story. If you ever do remodeling, DO NOT remove wires unless you are absoutley sure where they come from and where they go to. Second, if your furnace isn't working, check the wiring!

Well that probably covers most of our life changes for the past month or so. Hopefully we'll get those basement pictures up soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Phil

Can you believe it is almost October? As I was sitting at work today I realized that we have had many life changes since this was last updated, so I though I would fill you all in.

Phil as many of you know has been working at Shoreview Community Center since he graduated back in December. We have been so grateful for this job but decided early August that he wanted to move on due to different circumstances, the major one being the hours that he worked. So Phil started applying to other jobs and we started praying that God would make it very clear what we were to do. Well, to say the least our prayers were answered very quickly… On August 20th I came home early to find Phil home when he was supposed to still be at work. For reasons we are still foggy on Shoreview laid-off Phil without notice. Though it was shocking and unbelievable frustrating, we both knew that God answered our prayers, just maybe not exactly like we would have wanted!

After our initial shock we both were reminded of how faithful God has been to us every step of the way in our lives and marriage and were able to give the situation over to God. Though I will not say we were even close to perfect it was awesome to be able to trust God with our future and know that he has the big picture.

After only two weeks of Phil being unemployed the temp company that he was working with called and said that they had an opening at a company and could Phil start the next day!! I am completely blown away by Gods complete provision of us! He started working as a temp for a company called BlackBox exactly two weeks after he was laid off from Shoreview. While Phil and I both know this is not a job he wants forever we are so grateful for a job. Phil is continuing to job search in the accounting/business field and has made some great contacts. So we continue to trust God with the future, but this is the best place we could be and it is teaching Phil and I how to lean into God more everyday and strengthening our marriage in great ways. Also with this new job he works Monday-Friday 8-5 pm! I can’t explain how amazing it has been to have the same schedule and to spend weekends together again!

As most of you know I applied and was accepted into a Masters program at Northwestern College awhile ago. Through Phil losing his job we talked a lot about where we want to be and how we would like to get there. Phil and I both came to the realization that this masters program is something that we both really wanted to do, so Phil also applied and was accepted!

We started class a few weeks ago and so far are enjoying being back in school! It is awesome to be doing this together and also know that what we are learning is going to greatly help us in the future. The program is a Masters in Organizational Leadership; it is very similar to the MBA but has a wider focus. We will both graduate May 2011, only two years!

Phil has also decided that it is time to get his CPA (certified public accountant) license. This will greatly help him with the job search and also give him more qualifications. The test is very hard and is in three or four parts that you take over the course of a few months. I know he is not looking forward to all the studying that will go into this, but will be great to have done and will help him a lot in the future!

On the home front… In August we completely remodeled our basement. We tore out existing ceiling, wiring, paneling and many other things and replaced it all with a beautiful new ceiling, walls, lights, a new stairs going down to the basement, new electrical, doors and I’m sure other things I am forgetting! As usual when Phil and I are doing a project we go at an insane pace because we both hate having things done partially! So from the date we tore out the ceiling to completion it was three weeks. My sister Emily is now renting from us and living in the new space! I will post pictures soon!

Phil and I are continually involved with our church, Eagle Brook. Though we are not able to help our with youth group any more due to grad school being on Wednesday nights, we are starting a small group of couples our same age. There are a few that we knew from college and a few we are still to meet! But we are both very excited for new friends and community with others! Since Phil’s work schedule has changed he is able to run lights again for weekend services! We are normally on the same weekend so it is awesome to serve together! This weekend we are both involved again.

Well, I believe that covers the big stuff for now, I am hoping my next post will not be quite as full of changes!

Katie

Update

So much has happened since the last time we wrote. First of all a huge blessing has come through and Katie is now officially Full-Time at Northwestern College which means better benefits, pay and vacation. Phil is still at the Shoreview Community Center as a Building Manager but if anyone knows of any open accounting and/or finance positions in the Cities please let us know. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated as Phil is having a really tough time with his job right now.

Katie has been accepted to Grad School at Northwestern starting this fall, she's pursuing a masters of organizational leadership. After some consideration Phil decided this was a great plan and is just finishing up his application for the same program.

We just celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Monday. We went canoeing down the St. Croix River and did we get sunburned or what. It was an awesome time spent together remembering how much we love each other.

On Sunday the last of our summer renters moved out of the basement and we started construction of a new living area in the basement. We've already put up a bedroom and closet wall. Last night we replaced our stair case with one that has longer treads and is a shallower angle which makes it a lot nicer to walk up and down. We're hoping to be done with the whole remodel within the next couple of weeks because Katie's sister Emily is moving in the 1st of September.

We are constantly busy with our house and our friends and family but we love every minute of it. We're always open to company so if you're ever in town let us know and we'd love to have you over. Hopefully we'll get some of those basement pictures up here soon so you can see our progress.

Love to all,
Phil and Katie

The FINISHED Kitchen!!!

Here are the pictures of the kitchen finished!

KITCHEN!!

After three weeks of hard work and waiting, our kitchen will be finished within the next few days. The contractor who is making our countertops is coming tomorrow (Saturday) at 10am to install them. Katie and I are so excited, we kind of wish this wasn't our weekend to serve at church because we will be there all weekend which means that we have less time to install the little things like the faucet and outlet plates.

We got a new table for the kitchen yesterday that fits the setting really well, it will be great to have in there. I need to install a few more outlets for the under cabinet lights to plug into but that's a little thing that doesn't have to be done immediately.

After the countertops are in and we get the sink and faucet installed we will take a bunch of pictures and post them for everyone to see the before and after. The change is amazing, it's hard to believe that it's the same kitchen we bought just over 2 months ago.

We've been getting a lot of people saying that they got our "We've Moved" postcards, if you haven't gotten one keep an eye out for it. If we don't have your address (like if you've moved in the past year or so) let us know and we'll send you one.

Here is the post card we are sending out to let people know we have moved! They will be in the mail soon, I am hoping this week! If I don't have your address email me so I can send you one also!

This past weekend we almost finished the kitchen! We have many photos but I want to put them all together when we are done.

Two weeks ago Charlie and Phil tore out the cabinets and discovered that our ugly yellow floor was all on particle board so they were able to tear that all up as well. I was at youth group when this all happened and was very surprised to come home to a completely gutted room! Even with nothing in there and just sub floor the kitchen seemed better than what was there before.

The last two weeks have been spent putting up the new cabinets, tiling the floor, ordering and getting new appliances and a million other little things to finish the kitchen. The last thing to be completed is the counter top being installed. So are far as Phil and I are concerned we are done and just waiting on the contractor to install them!

It has been so busy the last few weeks and both Phil and I are glad another project is coming to an end. For a while we didn't have a stove, fridge, or a sink. Needless to say we are both very grateful for some decent food after not being able to cook at home. Now having a kitchen sink will be amazing.

Well that is all for now. I will post pictures as soon as everything is done!

Katie

Yesterday we finally took some pictures of the house all moved in (mostly!) We are really enjoying being in the house, it is still so exciting to not share walls with neighbors and to have our own yard! I am still amazed at how God lead us to this house and time and really brought so many pieces together.

Earlier this week it was beautiful outside so we went through the garage and organized everything. Phil was super excited to put up the old kitchen cabinets in

the garage so now he has a nice place to put all the stuff out there. While he organized the garage I worked on our three season porch. After moving in, it became the place to put empty box's and all other things we did not know what to do with right away so it was awesome to put everything away and get it all cleaned and set up with out patio furniture! Once it gets a little warmed I will re-paint and decorate out there.

PD, our dog, and I have really been enjoying finding great places to go for runs. There is a park called Reservoir Woods that is a block from our house that has beautiful paths that go through some beautiful woods and is about three miles long. Even on warm days I only see a few people on the path and it is so secluded you can't hear any traffic! Earlier this week when I went for a run PD was pulling me for about two miles, then he decided that he was sick of running, so I pulled him the mile home! I am really enjoying having a dog to run with, I feel much more safe and it is great to have the motivation to get out there.

This last weekend Phil and I worked with a few kitchen designers and figured out exactly what we are going to do for the kitchen. It all turned out so great and we really can't wait to get it done. After we worked with the designers we went and picked out new appliances also. This is something that I really can't wait for. The fridge and oven in the house currently work but are very old and in need of replacement. So our hope is to be done with the kitchen by middle of May!

Well, that is all for now! I'm sure we will have more updates soon!

Katie

PICTURES!!!!

About time right? I know sorry for the delay but here's a couple pictures. Also, if you click on the slideshow on the left you can see all of them.....

Goodbye apartment

Well, we spent about 4 hours at our apartment for the last time yesterday. No one had been there since moving day and it kinda showed. There was a little smell from being closed up for a week. Anyway, we got everything cleaned, washed, vacuumed, painted, etc and turned in our keys to the apartment. It'd exciting and sad at the same time. Exciting because we have a house now and that's great, that's something that we've been wanting since the day we got married, but at the same time it's sad because that was our first home, we had been there for more than a year and a half and we had a ton of awesome memories there with each other and with friends and family. But I guess everything in life changes at one time or another and this is just part of that revolving cycle of change.

We bought a new faucet for the kitchen yesterday. I know, boring right? But the one that was on there was clogged somewhere making the flow of the water barely a trickle so this is an amazing change especially since we are our own dishwasher now, at least until we redo the kitchen, or get a renter :-)

On Saturday, we spent most of the afternoon finishing unpacking our bedroom and hanging the rest of the pictures on the walls. Then we went to church and helped with their food drive. We were supposed to be the adult supervision over the youth group kids who were taking the food and packing it into the U-Haul truck. As it turned out there were way more adults than there were kids.

Well, that's about all I can come up with for now to talk about. I'm sure I'll have more later. Oh, I am still working on getting pictures up both here and Facebook. Katie's brother Leif took a ton of the before pictures on his camera, then went to New Mexico for three weeks. Good news is he's coming back tomorrow and his car is at our house so he has to come to our house. I'm hoping to get all those pictures while he's around and then I'll see what I can do about posting them.

-Phil

We're There

Well, it finally happened, we moved into the house on Saturday. It was really great, we had about 20 friends and family there helping us. It took two trips with the U-Haul truck from the apartment but we got it all and since there were so many people we got everything into the house in about 4 hours. At one point we had a line of people from the truck all the way into the living room passing boxes down the line, it was a great way to speed things up.

After everything got into the house we had some amazing sloppy joes that Katie's mom made for everyone. Then a few people started to leave which was fine but quite a few of our friends stayed around for the rest of the day/evening. We spend the next few hours setting everything up and organizing.

It's hard to believe that we only moved in two days ago if you were to look at our place. Katie's dad and our friend Charlie spent quite a while putting up some bookshelves on the walls in the office. Most of the pictures have been hung up on the walls. I spent about an hour setting up the TV, DVD Player, and stereo system in the living room. Katie's mom spent a ton of time putting things away in the kitchen. Jen and some of her friends from school put all the books on the shelves in the office. It's just amazing how well we are unpacked considering the amount of time that we've been there.

We are working on getting some pictures on here for all to see and enjoy.

Phil and Katie

MOVING DAY!!!

The day after tomorrow, Saturday March 21st, is moving day. We're starting at our apartment in St. Anthony at 9am. My parents generously offered to pay for a U-Haul truck so hopefully we'll only have to take one trip from the apartment to the house.

Katie and I counted an estimate of the number of people we're expecting and it's close to 20 so far. That means that it'll be quite a party. Katie's mom is making sloppy joe's for everyone and anyone who stops by.

We'd love to have anyone who wants to come and help move things or just stop by and see the house. We've been waiting for this day for three weeks. Three weeks, wow, it's hard to believe that it's only been three weeks since we closed on the house. We have had so many people helping out that the change from what it was to what it is today is unbelievable.

So if you're bored on Saturday and looking for something to do or some really cool people to hang out with, come on over. If you don't know how to get there give us a call and we'll tell you but it's real easy. Take Hwy 36 to Lexington, go south on Lexington for 3/4 of a mile and turn left on Roselawn (it's the third stoplight after you get on Lexington), go about 1/2 a mile and we're on the right hand side of the road, corner of Roselawn and Algen. I'm sure it'll be pretty easy to find, just look for the massive amount of cars and a U-Haul truck.

Hope to see you there!! :-)

It's been a while since I've written and things have changed a bit since then. By the time I'm done this evening with working on the house it'll be ready to move in and believe me we're anxious.

I spent yesterday redoing the door out of the garage. It was very crooked and the only thing that held it closed was a padlock which was very inconvenient. Obviously if the door is padlocked you can only use it from one side when locked. Therefore, I put a door handle on the door which took some time being as how the door is probably about 50 years old and I don't think it ever had a door handle on it.

Once that was done I contacted the garage door company to get a new wall button. I spent about 20 minutes on hold and was able to get what I needed after talking to someone for about 2 minutes.

I then spent some time measuring all of the closets and figuring out what I needed for shelving and clothes racks. I'm going to head to Home Depot after I'm done with work today and pick that up and hopefully get the shelves up tonight or tomorrow morning.

Once the shelves are up I can't think of anything else to do before moving in. We ordered a moving truck today (thanks Mom and Bob). We're very excited to get to move in about a week from now.

Well, that's about all I have for now, more later.

Phil

Almost Ready!!

We're so close we can almost taste it. Last night Katie and her mom and brother spent hours cleaning all of the woodwork in the house to get rid of the tobacco and smoke residue from the previous occupant. After the woodwork was cleaned we spent about an hour putting up curtains on all of the windows (except for one of the kitchen ones because I apparently can't count and didn't get enough). This afternoon when I get off work I'm excited to head over there and replace all of the old, grimy, now paint covered outlets and switches with new ones. After that there's two more light fixtures to replace and it's ready to move in. Katie also spent a ton of time last night replacing all of the heating vent and return covers with the ones that were there before but have since been repainted so they look new again. Everything is so exciting!!

I am still amazed every day by the amount of help that people have given, everyone wants to help. Emily has been there every night helping us paint. Alex and Drew have helped out on several occasions and have stopped by just to see what's happening even more times. Charlie was a huge help with installing the garage door openers and taking the kitchen cabinets out. It's just so amazing.

I'm hoping to get some pictures from Katie or Leif soon so that everyone can see what's going on and understand how much has changed since we closed a little over a week ago. It's hard to believe that all this work has happened in just 11 days. It's been transformed from very dirty and hard to look at to very pretty and very livable.

As always if anyone wants to stop by feel free, we're there a lot.

Thanks again to everyone who helped so much making this transformation happen so smoothly and quickly.

-Phil

Day 2

It's been 4 days since we closed on our new house and things are starting to get finished. Yesterday my friend Charlie and I were able to finally finish installing the garage door openers. We started installing them on Saturday, didn't expect it to take this long. Turns out that installing garage door openers, while not extremely difficult, is pretty entailed and takes some time. Then once we finally had them all secured in place we had to wire the opener buttons and the safety sensors on the doors which took some time. Even after all of that there is still one of the buttons that doesn't work so I'll have to get a new wall button to replace the existing one.

We also spent a long time painting yesterday. Katie's brother, Leif, was at the house all day while we were at work and painted the entire kitchen, two coats of a very deep red, it looks great. (Thanks Leif!) We also got a one coat of paint in the dining room, bathroom and office. Tonight we're going to do second coats in the bedroom and office, and the bathroom and dining room if needed. Things are starting to come together. Don't worry there will be pictures of all of this.

We got the kitchen operational yesterday after Leif finished painting it. The stove and refrigerator are plugged back in and are working, which is great. That means that we can cook the frozen pizzas that Emily bought for us and we don't have to use the three-season porch as a refrigerator/freezer anymore.

I am still amazed at how many people want to help us. Katie's sister, Emily, has been over every day since we closed helping us clean and paint, so have my good friends Alex and Charlie. Katie and I both are amazed every day when we think of all that God has given to us and what a wonderful place we are at in life right now. It's been great to have everyone over helping, while it's a lot of work it's still a lot of fun.

Well, that's all for now. I think I'm going to enjoy this whole blogging thing.

-Phil

Day 1

Good morning to all. This is our first post on our site. We decided that rather than sending out updates about our lives to everyone all the time this would be much faster, easier and environmentally friendly :-)

So if you haven't heard yet, Katie and I purchased a house this past weekend (Feb 27th to be exact). The purpose of this site is to keep everyone updated with our progress and our renovations of the house as we go. It's a 1.5 story rambler in Roseville, MN. Pictures to follow.

We will do our best to update our site frequently with pictures and updates. Let us know what you think.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped this past weekend tearing out the kitchen and painting EVERYTHING, we have the best friends and family!!

Love,
Phil and Katie