Christmas at The Church House

In the beginning of December, we were ready to bring in the Christmas spirit and break out our beloved Christmas chest. This big, antique chest holds everything of ours that has to do with Christmas....lights, ornaments, candles, decorations, etc. Well, everything except for our imitation Christmas tree that is tucked way up in the attic.

We had such a great time last year picking out a real tree that we decided to do it again this year. So, first things first, we went up to my brother's land in beautiful Garden Valley and picked ourselves out a great big tree......

It was so big with such a large girth that we had to get a running start to shove it through the front door! Ellie got to put on the star.....

I decided to go with the color theme of golds, whites, and red. I came up with the idea of using these old handkerchiefs (that used to hang in the guest room of our previous home) to make little angels for the tree. I just stuck a cotton ball in the middle and tied some yarn around and poked out the corners to make wings. I didn't know what I was doing, I just "winged" it....but thought they turned out pretty well. And so quick and easy..........

I added fabric I had on hand to make garlands and some old decorations that matched the color theme I was going for........

......along with doilies that looked like our paper snowflakes.....

On the 9th of December we had a big program for our woman's church group. Here, 45 chairs were set out (the most people we've had in our home since we moved in!), and the Christmas tree and stage were ready for the program................

During the program......

The program was great. It seemed like the perfect setup with piano, stage, pew for the performers, and enough room for all the chairs.

Here's what the house looked like at night. Dustin hung the wreath on the bell tower and I put out some strings of lights all the way up the stairs and along the path to the door. This helped with people being able to see coming up the stairs on such a dark night.......

Our staircase......

My mom painted this tree a year or so ago and I loved it here above a doorway with a splash of red berries........

Last Sunday night we had our much anticipated "Christmas Music Soiree". A few weeks ago, Dustin threw out the idea during a church choir practice of having a night of talented musical performances. He immediately got some enthusiastic responses so we decided to go for it.

We made and gave out some nice invitations but also told people, word of mouth, so we were not really sure how many people would actually come. When Dustin and I sat down to figure out a possible number of people we started thinking, "Uh oh". Was there going to be enough room? We have lots of chairs but still had to borrow from friends and the church. 76 chairs were set up and we had plan B and C if more than that showed up.

Well, over 90 people showed up! Even during a snow storm! You can see below there were lots of kids sitting on the carpet in front and there were also a few people standing in the back too......
The program was fantastic. I think it exceeded my expectation. Here are a few pictures......

The Pinder family performing some bluegrass Christmas tunes....awesome!.......

Sis-in-law, Sara Simpson, performing the song Breath of Heaven. Beautiful, goosebump producing performance. The acoustics made her voice sound amazing.......

Loved this quartet of talented young men in our ward. They sang Angels We Have Heard on High.......

Dustin did this great song called Christmas in The Trenches with Randy Pinder on guitar and Spencer Madsen on the cello. It's a true story from World War I about how the fighting and bombs stopped on Christmas Day and the opposing troops ended up spending the day together. It was very moving and more than a few in the audience were drying their eyes afterward......

There were about ten other great performances.....a fun piano duet, a poem reading, and even a couple of rapped Christmas tunes. Very fun night! Thanks to all the performers! It was so fun to see friends we haven't seen in a long time too. I think we had so much fun we just might make this an annual tradition! We'll be sure and figure out how to set up more chairs! :-)

So, I forgot to take pictures of the food and drink tables last night so here's the aftermath this morning......

We set the dining room table up in the kitchen and it was FULL of yummy goodies that everyone brought last night!........

Good times!

The Skeletons in Our Closet

One of the biggest issues of living here is not the lack of SPACE.....it's the lack of closet, cupboard and shelf space. I love organization and order so this has been a challenge for me but this is how a handy hubby meets the challenge.

The room next to the living room is being used as an office/ guest bedroom / "junk room". It's the only place we've been able to stick extra furniture and boxes that we haven't been able to unpack....boxes of sewing supplies, wrapping paper, pictures, scrapbook materials, photo albums, etc.

We decided that a closet would be the best way to tuck everything away. Here's a picture of Dustin getting started. Note all the boxes and junk everywhere....that whole back wall was stacked boxes with no place to go!...........



Luckily, we had a lot of leftover materials to do the job.........




Here is Dustin painting the inside of the closet......


After a hard day's labor, Dustin finally came out of the closet....(I just had to fit that in somewhere). And then my work of organizing began.

This is what it looks like today. It still needs to be painted and closet doors put on, but that's going to have to wait until AFTER the holidays. YEA! A place for everything and everything in its place! You can't tell, but there's even another shelf way above, and hooks in the front corners to hang things too!.........

So, the closet organizing shelves came from where else???? Craigslist!! Brand new, never opened, way cheap!

Ahhh, love going right to that needed Christmas paper now instead of the writing on the side of a box that is of course at the bottom of two other boxes! hee hee. Thanks again, Babe!

Dining Room....ready for a feast!

So, as promised, the dining room area is complete just in time for Thanksgiving...."thank" goodness! The slate put up, cracks caulked, walls and molding touched up, vent painted,....and even the thermostat painted to blend!

Here's an overall look..........

Here's a closer angle. Note, the goldish thermostat on the slate. It was bright white so I spray painted it to be less conspicuous. When I got done with that, the only thing Dustin said was, "I think we'll be the only ones with a gold thermostat cover." I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good thing........


I must add a bit about this piece. This antique was my grandma's who had very fine taste in her day.....she only bought the best. We believe she bought this back in the 30's and it might have been an antique THEN! Not sure about that. The only thing it has on the back is an old sticker that says "Made in France". I should do some research on that. Anyway, it's on loan while my parents serve as missionaries for a couple of years. Thanks Mom!


So, what do you think? Did we make a mistake doing this slate project? I guess there's no going back now but we'd love to hear some comments!!!! Thanks so much.

Dust Makes More Dust!

Yes, Dust....meaning my hubby Dustin....is making more dust! I didn't mind so much this time (even though I had spent a few hours cleaning earlier this week) because we haven't done anything for awhile and I'm excited about this new endeavor!

So, we had an ugly corner of our living room with walls built up to cover the recently added heating & air duct work. When I say "recently", I mean within the last decade or two. Before that, I imagine they heated this place with space heaters. And even before that, they heated it up using the two fireplaces that are now covered up.

We decided awhile back to conceal this vent wall with some kind of tile or stone. One of our clever designer friends, Kristi Mower, gave us the idea of making the wall an architectural element of the house....like a feature that had always been there, possibly an old chimney. She suggested covering it with slate tiles. We weren't quite sure about slate....we were leaning more toward an old brick or even river rock to match the walls in the front yard.

Well, in the end, we found a great deal on some beautiful slate, felt good about it, and decided to go for it.

For reminder's sake, here's what it looked like during the move in. The little red room was an office area where they dropped kids off at the daycare/preschool. They covered the corner unit walls with super bumpy drywall mud and painted it black. At the bottom, (I should have taken a picture of this) was a painted picture of a fire burning in a fireplace.......


Here's Dustin taking off that bumpy drywall. When we re-textured the walls, we tried to even out all the deep grooves. We didn't know we'd end up just taking it down anyway.......


After we got it down to the main plywood, Dustin put up the cement board......

And then started tiling.....

Pretty good for an afternoon/evenings work.....

Per some requests, I'm posting this now without the "after" pictures because Dustin had to go out of town this weekend and wants to finish the grouting when he gets back. Stay tuned for next weeks blog to see the whole dining area completed!

Privacy Issues

Something happened this last week. Something that finally prompted me to want to blog about it....maybe for therapy after the trauma (ha ha). This wasn't the first time this has happened, and it certainly wasn't even the boldest, but I guess this is the price you pay when you live in a building that was formerly a commercial building.

A lady walked into our home while I was cooking dinner, yelled out "hello", but was already to my kitchen before I could respond. There was no apologies for walking right on in (without ringing the doorbell) and after realizing this was a home.

Evidently she had taught here for many years when this was a school and wanted to come back and check it out.

She was pleasant enough, even telling me how things used to be way back when (a couple of doorways that we didn't know about had been covered up, etc.). But it was difficult to be my open, nice self with this disconcerting feeling of being violated......especially after she started peeking her head in to rooms and trying doorknobs of closed doors!

The funny thing was Dustin had just gotten out of the shower and locked the door of our master bedroom when she tried the knob to peek in. I didn't find this out until later because I was still trying to check on dinner. When Dustin told me that he had heard the knob, I wish so badly she would have walked in on him, birthday suit and all...maybe then she would be embarrassed and apologize!

This has actually happened a few times....the worst one being a Middle Eastern man coming right into my bedroom as I was hanging up my clean clothes (fully clothed thank goodness). He came right in with his young daughter and the only thing I could understand through his thick accent was "school". As if that wasn't bad enough, he wouldn't leave out of my bedroom....apparently, he wanted to drop his daughter off whether this was a school or not.

I think it's time to get a sign that says something along the lines of "Simpson Residence".

So, even aside from that, being on a busy intersection has been one of the hardest things about moving here. I've gone through what I call my "fishbowl syndrome".....I very much dislike being looked at or the feeling of being watched.

I think I've had a pretty good attitude about it though....especially considering how far I've come. It was mortifying for me to have everyone who drove by watch us move in. It's embarrassing to admit I would wait until it was dark to move things in. I would even wait until cars went by to hurry into my house so I wouldn't be seen.

We've always lived in places where we could walk around in our underwear if we wanted to. I could go outside in the yard without feeling like I needed to put on my make-up or brush my hair. Now, living here, the chances of walking out to our car without being seen are very slim. But, like I said, I've come a long way. I actually go to the mailbox now without a stitch of mascara on. And, I don't really think about it as cars go by and I'm balancing my purse, gym bag, phone at my ear, and stuffing breakfast in my face as I'm walking down the flight of stairs to my car.

Here's a picture I took in the spring of our yard and our busy intersection....


We talked about getting a new front door some day but I sure like the light that comes in what would otherwise be a dark entryway. My solution was to put up some cute, thick drapes to close when it gets dark and the lights are on......


I can't tell you what a nice cozy feeling it is to be able to walk around now without feeling like we're living in a fish bowl.....



Here's a close-up. I think they are really cute and match perfectly......

I think they'll also be great in the summer as the heat of the sun blazes in on some of those extra hot summer mornings.

Our favorite view (and luckily private too!) is all the farm land behind and to the side of us. This summer they grew potatoes and it was so pretty. We love the view of the old farmhouse too....

Oh, and BTW, the kids gleaned the fields after the harvest and we have potatoes coming out our ears.

Some benefits of living on a busy corner is 1) getting rid of stuff. We've been able to set lots of junk out with a "free" sign and it's usually gone within a few hours. 2) We get lots of waves and honks...even friends pulling over to say hi.....makes us feel popular. hee hee 3)Selling stuff. We had a big garage sell without even advertising. The kids also made good $ selling lemonade and cookies. Here they are with a friend selling their goods....

Historical Photos

The other day, I took a little jaunt down to our very own Eagle Historical Museum right in downtown Eagle. I couldn't resist purchasing some copies of historical photos of what our place looked like way back when. I also bought a 2010 calendar with pictures of other historical sites in Eagle and surrounding areas. Our home (back in 1912) is sportin' the cover!

I thought it would be a good idea to have them in our entryway on display. Seems like good conversation pieces as well. What do you think? I received a suggestion of putting up a couple more pictures on this ledge of some cool architectural elements of the house now. Would that be too much? Keep it to 3 photos?

You can't see it very well, put I also have the old antique key that we found in the wall, hanging from one of the knobs. I'm still debating whether to frame that too.


Here's some close up's of the photos. I'm not sure when this one was taken, but this was the original building on this site (we still have the original basement). It burned down in 1911......

Within a year the 7th Day Adventists worked to build this "much more modest" church/school. It was completed in 1912 and this photo was taken soon after. This original wood siding is still in our kitchen pantry underneath the stairs. You gotta love the kids out in front...
This picture was taken some time in the 1960's after the north side addition was completed in 1958. The kitchen, bathroom, classroom (which is now our master bedroom), and the whole upstairs (which is now the kids rooms and bathroom) was added on. Notice all the trees in front that are no longer here.....
Also, note the two little brick chimney's coming out of the roof. The one to the left is still in tact up in the attic. It just looks like someone cut it down below the roof line because it was no longer needed. Also, the one to the right is in Ethan's bedroom. We found this out trying to nail pictures on his wall and it was as hard as, well, bricks!! There was a little panel covering some kind of opening so, of course we couldn't resist opening it. Our suspicions were correct....black soot and an old stale smoky smell. I'd love to find out if this goes down to the basement and maybe some day make this a laundry chute.....somehow covering the walls of the inside with metal sheeting or something? I don't know, I just know it would make life a whole lot easier. :-)

Food Storage Bliss

I have found my new happy place! The food storage room of all places. I'm not sure why but I think I've been more excited about this project than any other so far! Is it my protective motherly instincts to always have food for my family? Sense of security? The great joy it gives me to look at totally organized shelves? Whatever it is, I've been finding any excuse to go down to the basement (located right at the bottom of the stairs) to be in my new happy place. Last night, I just went down to stare at it. ha ha. I've ALWAYS wanted one of these rooms and now I've got one! In the basement no less (where temperatures are always nice and cool)!

Thanks to my super, wonderfully handy hubby, some left over scrap wood, and a couple of hours labor, I've got an entire room dedicated to food storage.

So, well, okay, it's not the most beautiful room in the most ideal setting. It's got our huge state-of-the-art heating and air system with lots of duct work (and yes, it still stays cool down there even when the heater is running all the time). But I'm certainly not complaining, I'll take what I can get.

Here's the before picture. Notice the paint with the wallpaper border falling off............

And here's the after...............

A good close-up................

Here's a better shot of the side wall. I've organized the shelves by Fruits & Veggies, Soups, Protein & Meats, Rice & Pastas, Baking, etc. We also have lots of dehydrated prepared meals but I'm hoping to eventually have everything I need to make 30 meals...at least 3 times to have a 30 day supply of meals......

A couple of weeks ago, Dustin and I picked peaches out in Caldwell and then I spent a couple of days making jam and canned 21 quarts of yummy sweet peaches. It will be nice to keep building up our storage now that we've got a place to put it. I must have patience though.....it's just hard to see so many empty spots on the shelves!! Thanks for reading.

CRAPMAN

So we hit our first major "snag" with the house this last week. We thought it would be a good idea to have the septic tank pumped, since we found out it had been well over a year since it had been done last. When the guy from "P.U. Septic Service" went to do "his thing", he informed us that there were tree roots that had grown into the septic tank, and they were now getting in the way of him pumping his "stuff" out. The tiny roots inside had grown together like a layer of grass/sod, and he had to bust through it to get his hose down there. He managed to get most of it, but said something would have to be done, or we would need a new tank altogether. He told a story of a guy who had the same problem and how he got down into the tank with a chainsaw and cut it all out. Then there was a long silence as he looked at Dustin and said, "but I won't do that. I just can't do it." Not even the poop pumping guy would resort to that!! It may as well have been a dare to Dustin...and thus was born a new superhero....Crapman.

Here his trusty sidekicks prepare him both physically and mentally for the mission ahead....(yes that is a double layer of Hefty bags and duct tape......

I don't even know what to say to this.......

The battle begins. Equipped with a Sawsall and a 12" blade, Crapman lowers himself into the Pit of Despair and goes to work cutting through all the thick roots. ***WARNING*** this next picture is not for the weak of heart. Please feel free to skip to the end......

Believe it or not, the smell wasn't bad. It was mostly mud....or so it seemed. Ethan helped the whole time, lowering a big bucket, then when Dustin filled it with big root balls, he would lift it back up and dump it. When I came out to take pictures, Ethan was having so much fun and couldn't wait to tell me, "Dad is Crapman One and I'm Crapman Two"!!!........

Crapman Two....

Some of the roots......

Here's the big, pretty culprit of whose roots are lovin' our septic tank......

All I can say is Dustin has always been my superhero but he went up a bunch of notches in my book that day. I know it wasn't easy for him.....bravery is a fine quality to have. Thanks Babe!