First Anniversary with our Church!

One year ago today we received possession of our church.  Today when I should have been working on uni stuff but couldn't (I forgot the key to my office, my wallet and a text I needed...get organized Victoria!) I looked through some pictures and realized just how different the place looks in one year.

These are from one of the first pictures taken of the basement to a picture I took tonight.

It has been a bit of a transition from living in the city to a smaller town.  One being when you forget things at home.  Going to need to be much more organized.

So what does the next year look like for renos?  Well, we found out last week after the bank appraisal what the church is worth.  BUT the bank then told us that they will not let us take out some of the equity to continue with the reno.  The short reason... they still think of it as a church.  BUNK!!  I guess we are working with plan B...

This blog/journal is going to have to take a detour as we complete some minor renos at the house in Regina so we can rent it out.  The plan is the extra money coming in will help pay for the church reno. 

So another renovation from the beginning... just what the doctor ordered for stress. ;)

Kitchen Countertops are Installed!

When the countertops were ordered they told us it would be around two weeks until they would be ready.  The issue when they came in was how we would get them safely out to Indian Head since one piece was around 14feet long.  We couldn't just put it in our truck because if we hit a good size bump the piece could bounce and break.  The day my dad picked up the sand for the stucco, we also picked up the countertops.  It worked out perfectly as the sand almost worked as a cushion and my dad's trailer is much longer than our truck.

Now that they were actually in the church, we needed to install them.  William asked his brother David to help.  This is the long piece and the side by the stove.

This is by the pass-through.

Here it is installed.  As you can see there is no hole for the sink.  The guys had to cut the counter for the sink.  A little issue was that William's father had given us an extra sink he had but it did not have a template for cutting the countertop.  This made things a little more difficult but the guys got it done no problem.

And putting in the sink.

A few days later William's father came over and help attach the plumbing for the sink.  The last thing we need to connect is the dishwasher.  For now I am just happy to have my double sink.  Here is everything all done.

It's so nice to have the kitchen all put together.  Now to decide where everything is going to go.  With so much space I am having a hard time deciding.  A nice problem to have!  Thanks David for all the help!

Front Entrance Chandelier

Since we have 13foot high ceilings upstairs, we decided ages ago that we wanted proper chandeliers not just simple light fixtures. We have the space so why not?! One for the front entrance and one for the space by the bells.  My father-in-law came over to help William figure out how to wire them in.

It was more than just connecting the wires so it took some figuring out.  A difficult task on a very tall A-frame ladder but it was worked out.  Dad had to go, so the rest was up to William.

Once the main box/frame was up and connected, the outside panel needed to be put on.  This needed to be aligned with the spaces for the bulbs.

As William was getting that done, I opened the crystals to see how they were to be attached to the chandelier. 

 

Each one of the crystals had to be put on separately.  They came with little wires that had a triangle in the middle.  As with many things I over thought how they needed to be placed on the crystals then onto the chandelier.  We stopped for the evening so I could ask at the lighting place how to place the wires.  It was as simple as it looked to be.

So that night we could finish the job.  Me putting on the wires and William putting them onto the chandelier.

And here is the finished product.

When Allan and Rick were working on the upstairs hallway, they would tease me all the time saying "All this work for a F-ing chandelier...All this work for a F-ing chandelier!!"  Well guys well worth the work!! :)

We purchased a matching chandelier for the area with the bells.  After over an hour connecting/putting it together did we then realize that they had given us the wrong one.  It was TINY compared to the one we ordered.  Always something!  William returned it, and the new one won't be here till the end of September.  Other than the hiccup with the wrong chandelier we are so happy with how it looks!