Round One Done

Well that wraps up round 1 folks!  We got to a place with the kitchen and living room transformation where we could take a break for awhile.  Sort of by choice, but mostly because we ran out of the start up money we had for the project.  Which is totally fine, because we were pushing it really hard on the weekends and it has been nice to have a break while we wait and save up money for the next project. 

God has really used this whole experience to grow us in a lot of ways. He used it to bring Chris and I closer together in our marriage. He used it to bring many of our friends and family together who wanted to help and it created fun community. And he is using it to teach Chris and I to be patient and trust God's timing and plan and not our own...easier said than done for us lol.

So while the house projects are at a stand still, we are setting our focus to different things.  Some friends and I are going to try our hand at gardening out back, and Chris is focusing on woodworking to start building his business.  We are also getting pretty pumped for this nice weather - because in Roth world this means BONFIRE SEASON! 

All the time. Anyone invited. Let's have so much fun. And eat s'mores. 

Check out the pics below of how things turned out!

 The sunlight and breeze that blows through this room is so 

delightful to come home to after a long day

Kitchen Shelves!

So about a year and a half ago Chris signed up for a Pinterest account.  It was about the same time that he was getting into wood working and I showed him that it was a great tool for getting inspirations and how-to's for projects.  At first, him and his buddy spoke in code about things they saw on Pinterest because they were embarrassed that they had their own accounts.  However, Chris and Alex Dieckmann (Yes you heard me right!) have now moved past the embarrassed stage and have embraced their identities as fellow pinners a.k.a. winners. 

When Chris and I first looked at the house and discussed ways to make the space fit our lifestyle, we frequented Pinterest quite often.  We both discovered that we had similar taste in just about everything! Who knew?!  This made designing our remodel much much easier, and way more fun because no one had to ever compromise!  With all this being said, we were both really drawn to the open-concept shelving instead of cabinets.  We like the look, and we also like the idea that it forces us to refrain from stuffing clutter into cabinets and it forces us to keep things clean.  

Our kitchen/living room remodel was a really organic process.  We basically started with the idea of knocking out the wall, then the ideas continued to evolve and change as the project progressed. Once the beam went up and the dark wood turned out so nice, we decided to go with the open shelving and match the shelves to the beam.  Plus, with the white walls I knew the dark wood would just pop! So we went for it!  Mr. Carpenter got to work and got the shelves up where the cabinets used to be.

Painting and Planking

Technically, we are a few steps ahead of this now - but I don't want anyone to miss out on the progress of the living room/kitchen project.  Other than knocking out the wall initially and dreaming up possibilities for the space a few months back, this part was one of my favorites. From the get go I was not a fan of the color scheme in the living room or the kitchen.  Kitchen was a little more obvious - faded bright yellow paired with old dark wood cabinets was just not my taste.  The living room was much better, but it still just felt like a tan bomb - tan ceiling, tan walls, and tan carpet. To me if felt dreary and dark. I knew that a fresh coat of paint would dramatically change the space, so I was very excited to finally be able to slap some new color on the walls and ceiling!

Painting the Kitchen

The kitchen before

Cabinet Slaying

Well I am a week and a half behind on this much promised post - sorry, but sorry I'm not that sorry - life has been so crazy!  My project manager (aka Chris) has set a tough agenda and I'm just trying to meet the deadlines!

Back track to two weekends ago.... We delightfully had roommates for the weekend.  The Riccolos had some unfortunate stuff going on at their apartment, so they bunked in our guest room with little miss Lu (the dog) and jumped right into our projects!

Chris and Pat got after the mudding on the drywall, which I was glad because I was not looking forward to that!  Instead, Jenna and I occupied ourselves with some mudding of our own - bentonite clay mud mask and other beauty concoctions!

House Renovation: Beam Install

Beam Day

Because we wanted an open floor plan, and because we didn't really want our roof to cave in on top of us, we knocked out a wall and put up a beam instead.  

Since we are hippie naturalists, we went with an open beam to show off the beauty of the wood and use it as both a functional piece and a decorative piece.  (ok slightly kidding on the naturalists/hippie thing...but only slightly)  Chris and I debated over color, and decided to go with a dark wood theme.  Eventually, the shelves in the kitchen will be stained to match the beam - which should be happening soon(ish)!

The prep for the beam was not as exciting or fun.  Because of the old electrical in the house, many of the wires had to be discovered and re-routed...yeah or something like that, I don't actually even really know to be honest.  All I know is it took forrrrrever. Luckily, we had some experts join us for the day to help figure out the electric riddle.

Tearing down the Wall

Well we had the energy, the resources, and the will power - so we decided to start to make the vision for our home a reality.  We invited people to come over ("hey want to come help with some stuff on Saturday?") for our day of destruction.

The vision was (and still is) to create an open concept living space.  In order to do this we needed to tear out the cabinets in the corner of the kitchen so we could move the refrigerator to a less space consuming location, thus opening up the kitchen floor plan a little more. 

Kicking off 2016 with a Bathroom Makeover

Thanks to some wonderful and very generous house warming gifts, Chris and I were able to take on our first home owner project - a complete bathroom makeover!  

The project began January 1st bright and early, as per usual #rothlife.

Before

Small Group NYE

First Official Roth Small Group Hangout (at 401 s. 15th street that is!) - NYE style

Small group is a time where we can share community by being in each others lives, enjoying food together, having fun, talking about Jesus, and being a family. As all the churches in our network, Valley Springs church here in Corvallis also has Small Groups.  Most Thursday nights we begin with dinner and conversation (in the Roth group this conversation typically revolves around the woes of Pizza lovers in Corvallis and whether the Bears or the Packers are the best NFL team), then we have a discussion on a certain topic in the Bible and our experiences in our everyday lives, we finish by praying for one another and enjoying dessert!  Sometimes we switch things up and have a game night or other activity for the evening, and conveniently NYE fell on a Thursday night!  We enjoyed popcorn, yogurt covered pretzels and some gourmet hot chocolate while an intense game of cards was played inside and pyromaniacs were having fun outside.  

Here are some highlights from the evening!

Our First Home

Many of you have already heard the story of the new place, so I will spare the details - 

but here is a quick overview:

September - We are pre-approved for home loan and Chris is casually looking

Chris finds this place on a Friday evening, we view it Sunday morning, make an offer Monday and it is accepted on Wednesday.  We begin paperwork, closing date is set to Oct. 21st

October - The week before closing Rachel (who had been applying for full-time jobs since April) finally gets a call for a job interview and is offered the job on the following Monday.  Her first day is Oct. 21st.  Everyone freaks out - a.k.a. the realtor and mortgage broker.  We re-do paperwork and set new closing date.  During the waiting time the original appraisal expires. 

November - New appraisal is booked, new closing date is set for Monday of Thanksgiving week.  Paperwork gets delayed, Monday comes and goes.  Last day in apartment is November 31st.  Roth rent a Uhaul and load everything up.  We move in with the Luczkiws for 2.5 weeks.

December - Uhaul rental expires, we unload everything into Anguiano's spare room.  Two days later we sign paperwork and get the keys.  We then load everything back up and move in.  We take a break to go home for Christmas and finally unpack all the boxes the day after Christmas!

So yeah, quite the story!

The front

Christmas 2016

It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with the Polacks, Roths, Stutzmans, and Sandgrens this Christmas!  Here are some of the highlights from the festivities!