Archives for January 2015

When we moved into the new place, there was a fireplace in the back corner of the living room. I detested it. It took up a lot of what could be useful room, and based on our old place, I knew it wouldn’t be worth a hill of beans. We tore it out, which was good since the wood underneath was soaked and rotted. Since then, we’d been planning on putting a wood stove there. We have a heat pump and propane heater for heat, but wood is a bit easier to come by in emergencies. We ordered the stove a few weeks ago, but had to make some modifications to the floor that it sits on. We decided to install ceramic tile under it, so first we had to cut out the floor that we’d put down there. We had to put down a special backing called hardiebacker. Actually, we had to cement and screw it to the plywood subfloor. You can see it here. The lighting on this side of the living room is ridiculously awful, so hubby had to use his work light, which doesn’t seem to be too much better.

I’m so glad to have a handy husband. He measured and marked and cut the tile pieces and set them out how he wanted. There wasn’t much for me to do except stand back and watch. I break things. I love this color so much. I love dark-colored flooring.

After he cemented the floor down, we had to wait 24 hours to grout it, and then 24 hours before we set the stove on top. I think he did a pretty fabulous job, if I do say so myself.

We still have to hook the pipe up, but part of it is backordered, so I’m not sure how long that’ll take. While I’m not happy about how much space this takes up, I am happy that it’ll be more efficient and hotter than a fireplace, so it’s not a total loss. Plus, I’ll be able to cook on it if I need to.

We had our gun safety course last Saturday, and hubby and I both passed! We were there from 9-5, and were exhausted when we left, but it was worth it. I learned a lot of great information. There were 2 things to pass: a written exam, and a shooting range exam. I think we both only missed 2 questions on the written exam, and we both got all of our 50 rounds within the required shooting area of the target. Yay! Now we just have to apply through the DMV to get our actual permits, get fingerprinted, and all that jazz. I’m so excited to be one step closer to my goal!

I decided late last year that I wanted a gun, specifically a pistol, and I wanted to learn to shoot. I also wanted to get my conceal carry permit. With all the crazy going on, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and err on the side of caution. So, for Christmas I got a Charter Arms .38 Special. I had wanted to get a semi-automatic, but hubby and the gun dealer talked me out of it, since the revolver would be easier to use. I must say I’m pretty happy with it. This is the closest I could find to mine, except it’s all black finish. I have it in the shop now, though, to have some purple Duracoat on it. I’m not a flashy person, but sometimes I do like bling. I’ll share a picture once I get it back next week.

Soon we are taking our gun safety course in order to get a conceal carry permit. The class runs most of the day, but I’m hoping it’s more hands-on and not too much sit-down. My attention span is -this big. I’ll post more about it after we’ve taken it.

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Wow! It’s hard to believe that the school year is about half-way over. We started back on Monday. Our first week or so back from long breaks is usually easy work. I’m not one to just dive right in; I like to ease the kids and myself back into working harder. We took 2 weeks off for the Holiday season, and I was very sick for the whole month of December. In fact, I took 2 rounds of different antibiotics in order to knock it out. It was rough. Thankfully by the grace of God, I am much better.
Another big thing that happened is the engine sort of blew up on my car. I’ve only had it a year, and the car is only 5 years old, but it’s been in the shop several times since my husband bought it for me. Thankfully we were offered cost assistance which brought the amount down to less than half the original price, but it’s still going to be costly. At least the car will have a new engine with a new warranty, right? That’s what I keep telling myself, and we are blessed to be able to have the money to cover the repairs.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Wow, can you believe that another year has come and gone? It seems that as I get older, time goes by so much faster. The days are long, but the years are short.

We didn’t do anything fancy for New Year’s. We stayed home and relaxed. My husband actually fell asleep early, but I woke him up for a toast and a New Year’s celebratory kiss. Two out of our four kids stayed awake until at least midnight to watch the ball drop.

I’m so excited to see what 2015 has in store for our family. Do you and your family have any grand plans for the year?