Decisions, Decisions . . .

I think you never fully understand the intensity of gigantic decisions unless you're living in the midst of them--actually, I think that is fairly true of any stressful life experience; it's hard to commiserate with someone else, and it's hard for the someone else to explain what they are experiencing.

So, here's a look at our world: we met with the first sunroom fellow. His quote for our complete, everything-on-the-wish-list four-seasons room: $49,500. GASP!!! Okay, so let's knock off 6 feet on one end, one foot from the length, ditch the pretty gabled roof, remove the electrical package, remove the heating and cooling system, we do demo, install our own stairs and concrete pad, and . . . $26,500. Well . . .

Recap: Sell house! Don't sell house. Build school in backyard! Don't build school in backyard. Build sunroom! Don't tie up finances for the next four years in what was going to be an additional 264 square feet, but is now 176. So, what's next? Build a BARN!!!

Yes, on yet another night of just four  hours of sleep, perhaps the idea that is going to best fit financially and stress-level-y presented itself. And it's funny how God works when you finally get it right :)

Buck had been thinking, I had been thinking, and in the morning we shared our thoughts with each other. As we decided to go out and do some "window shopping," a new Lowe's card showed up in the mail. Now, we've had a Lowe's card for probably close to a decade, but only use it for buying appliances, etc. at zero interest. We were going to Lowe's anyway to look for a large storage shed (but less than 120 feet because then we'd have to get a building permit with the city). To our surprise, the sheds were on special and they had a cute little wooden barn 10x10--but with an additional loft to provide 40 more feet of storage space. This means--we get a 140 square foot storage space, but don't need the permits! Having Lowe's install it added $1000, BUT they build the floor, supply the shingles, and like four other things we'd have to buy on our own to complete the project. How's this for numbers: sunroom addition 176 square feet--$26,000; barn 140 square feet--$2,600 . . . that's quite a savings on those last 36 feet :)

We realize this doesn't fix our floor space issues as neatly as an addition would, however . . . with the garage cleared of storage bins, kid stuff (toys, soccer goals, bikes in the winter, etc.), lawn equipment (mowers, snow blower) . . . we can use part of the garage for all the exercise equipment currently taking up floor space, there will be open karate space for the kids to practice, they'll have a place they can actually build their with their giant blocks without jamming up the downstairs or their rooms (we'll get some of those squishy floor connecting pads probably), Buck will have his work space back, and we can even park two cars in there sometimes if we want/need to.

Here's another cool thing--all purchases get an 11% gift card back. Buck is going to replace the deck himself, and ordered all those supplies yesterday. Between the barn and the deck, we'll already get back almost $400 for other projects.

In the meantime, we also pursued the idea of replacing all the carpets in the house (original upstairs, as far as we know, from the time of building). In some places, the pad is so worn out that we can feel the tack strips when we walk on them! In addition to the 11% back, Lowe's has a special going right now--they move all your furniture, rip up the old carpets, haul them away, recarpet the whole house (including the stairs!!), put the furniture back, and all you pay is the cost of the carpet. All that installation, haul away, and furniture moving is free! We also had another giant company come out to measure--they can't even come close to a deal like that (for the exact same carpet). We've had the house measured, we've chosen the petguard (seemed like a good idea :)stainmaster carpet plus pad we want, and now we're just waiting for the numbers to come in (but have a decent idea from the measurements the other company did :)

And since we're moving all the furniture anyway . . . :) I think we're going to repaint the upstairs. It's still that not-so-lovely "Builder's Beige" in most areas. This is still in the thinking stages, but I'm excited to get rolling. Our room will also get a paint makeover for the first time in who knows how long? I don't have any extra of that from the previous owners, so dings and scuffs are just there waiting to be disguised.

Summary: build a barn, clear garage, move big stuff to garage, rearrange furniture (we found a great deal on a bunkbed with futon couch and wardrobe for the girls' room; their big bed goes to the classroom for guests), recarpet, repaint, tear down old deck, build new deck, use old deck material to fence off garden next to barn!

AND on top of all this, I saw last night a young lady we know from church breeds bunnies and will save us four from her next litter (possibly this fall), so we can get bunnies as the kids were hoping. AND we can put a chicken coop on the back of the barn sometime down the road too (if we are not overwhelmed by our current farm community :)

The nice thing is, we have a do-able budget that can be paid off completely with Buck's fall bonus as a back-up if the refi comes back differently than we expect. Right now, we're feeling like God kind of paved this path for us, and was just waiting for us to try all the others before stumbling on to the right one. The shed is ordered, the deck supplies will be delivered this week, and I'm hoping to get the carpet decided today or tomorrow (just waiting for them to call). The kids are excited to help with the temporary packing process, and with all the painting and building--we'll get the family summer project I was hoping for!

Now--we just have to turn our focus a smidge, because VBS starts, basically today with meetings and practices, and will take us through the next week--which is going to be a busy one with karate testing, Father's Day, and deck building at the other end (how convenient that Buck just happens to have a 3-day weekend, good timing or God timing? :)