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