Life Plus Love: Demo & Dear Friends

One of my goals for the year of 2016, is to be more hospitable and/or make an effort to get together. Whether that includes hosting a potluck, having family or friends out for the weekend, inviting couples over for supper, or maybe just a coffee date with friends, it all counts. I find that I really enjoy having people into our home or planning an outing, but at times I lack confidence when it comes to inviting those that I do not know all that well.

We have actually been working on a house project that will hopefully promote more gatherings in the near future. We really did not have a spacious room to set more than one table up or have a singing in, that was until New Year's weekend when my husband needed a project. He had been talking about removing a certain, non-load-bearing wall for some time. I was a bit hesitant for him to get his hammer out and start going at it, especially since there was quite a bit of electrical involved. My husband really impressed me though, he is more of a handy man than I ever realized.

An addition was put on our house several years back. This red room jets off of our kitchen and we used it as a dining room when we would have guests.

There is another room connected, similar in size, that we used as an office. Neither of us spent much time in either of these two rooms, and it felt like wasted space. Although, I'm not sure how much space two people can use. The office would never have made a good bedroom since it had such wide doors, and would have only accommodated a twin-size bed.

Nate made several trips to the attic, removed doors and trim, and did plenty of measuring before he was ready to demo.

Things happen pretty quickly when you give a man a crowbar, hammer, and a wall.

That morning I went to the local grocery store to grab a few things, keep in mind that the wall was still fully intact before I left. I was gone for half an hour, at the longest, and I came home to this. WHAT.A.MESS.

We cleaned things up and soon realized what a difference had been made. We are far from finished, but Nate has made some good progress. He transitioned the carpet and flooring together, put in two new ceiling fans, re-routed all the wiring by himself, and has been patching the walls and ceiling with drywall.

This picture is a bit out of proportion, but it gives you a better idea of what it currently looks like. I cannot wait until we are ready for the painting stage. Goodbye red-colored walls, you are not welcome any longer.

Although my house is under construction, I have tried to not let my perfectionism take free course. It would be easy to use this as an excuse to not host, but it is not worth it.

I invited a few of my single cousins over for supper last Saturday. I did not get any pictures, but when I went to unlock my phone at the end of the night, this picture was welcoming me.

I.HAVE.NO.WORDS.

This past Thursday, I arranged to have lunch with a few of my married friends from this area. I cannot believe that the little girls endured our three hour conversation. They were so good.

This past Saturday, I had the privilege of having four of my closest childhood friends come visit Ohio. We had brunch together, and I enjoyed every minute with them. We are all now married, attending four different AC churches, residing in three different states.

Sometimes I wish that life would not have taken us all so far apart. I also know that if any of them were close by, I would not put as much effort into creating new relationships. So I guess there are two sides to just about everything. We talked about how perfect each of our husbands are for us, which is the biggest reminder that we are exactly where we are meant to be.