Extreme Home Make Over Becca Style

I thought I'd show you a little of what I've been working on so frantically for the last couple weeks:  before, during and after...plus my son's reaction!

Here's the welcome home sign my mom's friend made...you might have seen us on national TV.  His unit was the first to come home after the news broke that the last combat unit was leaving Iraq.

That's my boy with my mother...don't they just look so happy to see each other!!

That's it...and I can't wait to get back home and work on small things like cards and scrapbook pages!!

Until next time,

Becca

Crash and Burn

I have known I was living in denial since the day I dropped my husband off in the parking lot and kissed him good-bye for a year.  I went home, finished packing for my own trip, and was on the road within an hour and a half.  I've been working myself silly since then, but yesterday was my crash. 

Thursday, my son came home.  We celebrated, showed him his new house, ran around getting things he felt were essential (let's just say I should have bought stock in Best Buy!!), and yesterday we went to church where the kids spent their elementary years.  It was great to see friends, but Nathan should have been there.  And it hit me...Nathan will not be around for another 11 months to see and share the things I'm experiencing.

Cried like a baby inside but tried to hold it together outwardly.  Not sure I succeeded.

I've not been reading the Psalms like I said I would.  Instead of berating myself, I just went back to the beginning and stared reading until I felt comforted.  It only took until Ps. 3.  God is the lifter of my head!

Until next time,
Becca

House Work

It has been a very busy couple of weeks.  I've been shopping almost every single day, actually developed a blister on my feet from all the walking through showrooms, and am sore everywhere from painting, cleaning, furniture assembly, and anything else related to home decoration you can possibly imagine.

My son comes home from Iraq any day now.  Before he left in May, he made an offer on a home.  It was a "short sale" which, in the end, was neither short nor a sale!  After nearly 4 months of back and forth, we finally gave up with three other homes in the same area dropped their sale prices low enough they fell into his price range.  So...my husband, who was still here at the time, and I made an offer on a home he now owns but has never seen except in pictures.  Over the last week, my parents and I have been working feverishly to paint practically every wall, buy furnishings and decorations, and get the weeds out of the yard.  We are almost done...just need one more day to add some finishing touches and it's as ready as it's going to be.

We took a much needed break today and I treated my parents to dinner at Bahama Breeze.

I've barely had enough time to read e-mail, pay bills, and take phone calls from my sweet husband in Afghanistan.  WHEW!

Well, that's all!  Just wanted to let you know what I've been up to.  Pictures will be posted of the house after Steven gets home...wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!!

Until next time,
Becca

Fifth Wheel

I'm currently out at Cannon Beach, OR with my family.  For the past 22 years, my side of the family has met here for a week of refreshment and renewal at the Christian conference center on the North end of town.  We have not all been able to come every year, and sometimes we only manage a partial week, but there have been "Smiths" here consistently.

This year, my parents are here with all three of their children...me, my sister and my brother.  My sister's entire family is here.  Her married son lives in Cannon Beach with his wife who works at the conference center.  Their college age son is here.  My brother's entire family is here complete with two teenagers.  And then there's me.  My husband is in Afghanistan, my son is in Iraq, and my daughter is in Wenatchee, WA with her husband, so it's just me.

I've been doing pretty well with the whole "husband deployed for a year" thing.  My first week was full of driving and working on a house my son has purchased but never seen.  His first house deal fell through so he let me and my husband (who was still home at the time) pick a whole new house for him.  He's seen pictures but that's all.  I signed papers to close the house and am now working on getting it painted and furnished in time for his return from Iraq later this month.  Busy, busy, busy.  Literally got a blister on my feet while wearing fully broken in shoes from all the walking around furniture and appliance stores.

Now, I'm here in Cannon Beach taking a breather from all the busy-ness and, although I don't exactly wish I was back building blisters, I'm having a bit of a tough time being the fifth wheel.  I don't want family sympathy or my mother arranging nephews and neices to take me for walks, nor do I want to be left entirely alone.  What I want is my entire family here and nothing short of that is going to feel quite right.

The speakers this week are discussing the importance of staying encouraged through tough times and embracing change.  Hmmm.  You think God might be trying to tell me something?

So...that's it.  Nothing profound; no spouting of spiritual wisdom; no creativity; and I don't even want you to KNOW what I've been eating.  Yep.  Pretty much a waste of your time and effort today.

And yet, I'm not a complete mess.  Somehow, despite all of this, I've got this deep-routed, solid as a rock knowledge God is with me and has something important for me...just me..me.  But whatever it is, I'm also getting the feeling the antidote will be about you...all of you...more you's then I can possible imagine.

Until next time,
Becca