A Roof Over Our Heads!

We are getting a new roof! FINALLY! Well, we are getting one on our house, too, but the one I'm talking about is our little church building.  A few years ago, God gave us a church building. I'm not kidding. We'd asked to rent, borrow, lease, buy, and the answer was always no. The people who had it always said, no, sorry, they couldn't do it. This building was hardly ever used and it was in great need of some repairs, mainly the roof. We had been looking for a church home, had not found one we felt the Lord telling us, "This is it! This is home!" in, and finally, after about 9 months search, we found a local church that we all felt at home in, the kids found friendships in, all that.  Well, after we were at our new church home for about 4 months, we got a call from the people in charge of the little church. They wanted to give it to us. They instructed us to go get a lawyer, have a deed drawn, we pay for it, and they signed the deed. Gave it to us! Wow! Now what? We had a place to go, now what do we do? We felt like God was the one giving this to us, so we just followed through, and yep, for the last 4 years or 5 years, we've had a church.
Our first thought, was how do we use it? We decided to just open it up on Wednesdays for a Bible study, and we would still attend our other church on Sundays. Well, little by little, we've got a faithful group of friends attending, and it is something we just love! Yes, it's work, it's responsibility, it's commitment, but it's been a real blessing.

See the guy up in the belfry? That's my sweetheart!

It's above the road, so it looks way up there, doesn't it? This is one side view.

We actually had a vintage sale one Christmas in it, and have been asked MANY times if we would do it again. (Haven't actually got an answer from the guys over that one yet! They had to move a lot of pews!)  It was beautiful, all lit up, so old fashioned. We used the proceeds of funds to go towards a roof, but it wasn't nearly enough. Well, we finally were able to take the tarp off of the roof, and we are now waiting for the final 3 days of straight sunny days so that we can get it finished roofing. We'll probably even have a potluck or barbecue to celebrate. But in the meantime, I thought I'd show you the progress so far. We still have to paint the building, can't wait for the blue to go! It's going to be beautiful, don't you think? It's very primitive, very old, built in the late 1800s, and very well loved by us all. The neighbors are appreciating it's facelift, too, by the way! 
I am still amazed because I've always had a "thing" for this old church, and still feel really blessed that God would answer such a request!

Fun Funky Junk!

I think I get it from my mother. I sometimes pout. But today, I didn't have to pout, or beg, or anything! My husband is actually pretty good about junking with me. In fact, sometimes, he takes too long in a place junking, like he's gonna miss something. I complain sometimes, because I tend to think there's something better at the next stop. But he has been known to find some pretty neat things underneath something I walked right past!
We decided to finally finish our little bathroom, but I'm on a budget. We got a good deal on a regular type of vanity (but it has doors and drawers, something we never got finished on the one we had, and he got tired of putting it off). It has a golden oak finish, but we're going to darken it up with some stain. I decided that, since he's putting in the vanity, we may as well paint (which is a whole other job, because I had put wallpaper up and it's pretty much there to stay, so we are going through a recommended process of sealing, mudding it spackle, THEN painting.) He's taking it pretty well, so far. So, my daughter and I were sealing the wallpaper, and decided the medicine cabinet has to go, too. To shorten this story, yesterday, I got to thinking, "I believe the Junk Sisters are in Hillsboro this weekend!" I checked, and sure enough, they were. So before bed, I asked if he wanted to take me up there to look for a medicine cabinet. We had just looked the day before in some shops, and came up with nothing.
I don't know if it's because he got to take the day off from working on the bathroom, or because he was just as anxious as me to go junking, or if it's because we consider junking a date. He was awake before me and asked, "Are you ready to go?" Seriously, we're going to drive up? Instead of working on the bathroom? Well, sure, let's go!
And we were pleasantly surprised to find what we were looking for! Twice. And he bought both of them! Oh well, I'll be able to use the other one on my hot tub porch. I want it to look like a bathhouse anyway!
I had so much fun at the Junk Sisters Junk Salvation show! I am definitely dragging him to Puyallup (can't believe I had to look to see how to spell that!). It won't be too hard now! I've so far only gotten him as far as Uncovered Ruby and the Vintage Gathering sales, and that was only to help Kristin and I set up! But now, I think I've got him hooked! I love to broaden his junking scope a little! Hopefully, my daughter, Kristin, took my advice, and went up (since she was already heading to Beaverton) because she would have just melted over the vintage trailers at the show! So cute!
And you know what I think I love the best? The people! I saw some familiar faces all around, got some hugs, too. Once in a while you come across someone at these shows who've never had the opportunity to smile (I'm just assuming), but for the most part, everyone is very friendly, smiling, and happy to be surrounded by like-minded junk lovers and junk! (For some great photos, check out the Girl In Pink"s blog, she's got some awesome photos!)
So, what do you think, my favorite of the two cabinets is the dark one. I laughed when we got to the car with it, because we were standing there admiring it in the back of the car, when a man walked up and asked, "So, was it worth going to?" YES!! It was packed with all kinds of fun stuff, I tell him! He admired my cabinet, then said, "Looks like you'll have to replace the mirror though." Huh? No way, I'm not replacing the mirror! I like it like that! He just looked at me kinda of like I was a little kooky (which I am, but so are you if you read my blog) and shook his head. He just didn't get it. Maybe when he got inside his life changed! You think?