We've taken on a lot, and somehow managed to stay in tact. Living life now as a family of 4!

Hi, everyone. I have been remiss! There is no reason, really, other than that sometimes I just don't want to 'do' things. Sometimes that just means things like cleaning the bathroom or washing the dishes, but other times it means things like writing on the blog. However, a mood like that can't last long around here, so here is what we have been doing:  NEW HOOLIGAN! Did you know you can get a low-flow toilet for $100? Out with the old hooligan (that was half green - never realized that before!) and in with the new one. Installing toilets isn't that hard, turns out. Why is it called the 'hooligan', you may be wondering? Well, I didn't take pictures of the 'bathroom' it's in - which doesn't have a door or working sink, and also functions as our winter shoe storage. But mostly it's the door thing.  Jainin was here! We made her clean the stove - bad us! But then we also let her drink all the wine she wanted, so I guess ...

You know how it is - as soon as one thing is under control in your life, people start wanting to know about the next thing. In our case, since the house and wedding are under way, and everyone knows I'm not a huge pet fan (which pretty much guarantees that my friends' pets make a beeline for me whenever possible), it's BABIES! People want to know when/if we're going to have children. I guess it's a bit my own fault. I'm guilty of teasing others about this topic, and given we are old to be getting married (by Mennonite standards - not by anyone else's I'd wager) it seems like a natural question. There were also all those years I spent hogging the babies at church, much to the chagrin of my church friends who also wanted to hold the babies but were no match for my pushiness (sorry, Kari and Niki!). I always thought I wanted kids. In fact, I was considering the logistics of having kids on my own for a while there (but not very seriously because I like s...

We are addicted to selling our stuff on Kijiji. I remember quite clearly when my cousin Alli first introduced me to this website. She was talking about the renovations done on her first house and some of the deals they got through Kijiji, on the buying and selling end. I was surprised that I did not know about this wonderful site! Now, many years later, we are kicking Kijiji's butt with our sales. You may also remember that I bought my wedding dress on Kijiji. Who doesn't love a deal? So far we have sold: a desk, a coffee table, 2 night tables, a TV and a rocking chair, and just today my first real couch! We are seriously on a roll. We are also selling, in case you are interested: Our Stove!  I know, it's gorgeous, right? I'm sad it has to go. But it's 38 1/2" wide, which is pretty much the width our kitchen will be.  Apparently stoves in the 50's were made by car-makers, which you can definitely see here. This one is made by Moffat, and it still wo...

I was at a hella-boring PD this afternoon (WHMS - I'll grant that it has its place, and there is A LOT I don't know about chemicals, but considering my science 'experiments' involve at the most sugar, air, and water, I REALLY didn't need to be there), and got to thinking about The Name Thing. As the title implies, I'm sort of writing this off-the-cuff, so bear with me. People have been asking me whether I'm going to change my name after the wedding. I think mostly they ask as a joke, thinking I'll retort right away with 'Are you kidding?', or at least the asker expects they know my answer (NO!) and want to see me squirm or belt it out. The thing is, I don't know the answer. At certain points in my life I have had different opinions about it, but now I feel stuck in a grey area. Is this what the 30's are about? Losing the sense of black-and-white/right-and-wrong of your 20's? It sucks! The only reasonable thing to do in this situ...

Things have been quiet(er) around here lately. We even washed the floors downstairs because we realized that we have a few weeks between major messes. It's a strange feeling - not having such tangible projects staring you in the face. Or rather, there are many projects waiting for the right time to be completed, but now is not that time. Moving the kitchen into the sunroom, for example. It needs to be done before Bash'n'Crash, but to do it now means 2.5ish extra weeks making do. Not a big deal, but considering we're planning not to have a real kitchen again till August, I'm not particularly eager to add to that time in any way. Jake has been feeling a little at loose ends - he loved coming home and pulling trim down. It is progress that can be seen. The last bit went in a flurry with help, so now the basement is full of mantle-bits full of nails. Pulling nails and organizing the basement isn't nearly as much fun as pulling things off the wall. One thing w...

Time to take stock of how Spring break fared in terms of productivity. As I said before - it was a break only from paying work, not from everything else going on! So, in order of the previous post, here we go. 1. Cleaning the upstairs and bedroom: DONE! Even washed down ALL the floors on my hands and knees to get that pesky layer of plaster dust off. Except I did commit the sin of washing around things instead of under them. I figured no one was going to walk through the pile of tools or under the sofa. 2. Taxes: All ready to go, except that I have to get my hands on my T4 and T2202a or whatever that one is you get for university. My employer does the T4 online and I have not been able to access it for some odd reason. Many phone calls and emails will be going out next week. 3. Make Candles!: DONE! As with many brides (describing myself as that is so strange), the plan morphed from the original image in my head to incorporate practicality. Instead of dipped beeswax, we made rol...

So. Kitchen. I believe we went to the first kitchen place in February. Now, 2 months later, we have decided who will build the kitchen! My uncle Henry John! Isn't that amazing? Let me tell you about this. HJ is a master-builder and went to school to become a cabinet maker. However, working in a factory is not his style - so he does various projects from home. He builds the most gorgeous bookshelves, rocking chairs, cutting boards - you name it, he builds it. He also built our bed and night tables to match. He is incredible. I hadn't talked to him about the kitchen because kitchens aren't his favourite thing to do. Much to my surprise he suggested that he could do it! So it's a win-win situation all around. He gets the experience of doing a kitchen on his own, we get to have him around a lot, and we get a quality product and the best part for me is that it continues the home-made ness of this whole process and house. I love the idea that we are doing as much of th...