City Water in the House!

We've had city water in our house for over a week now!  It's wonderful!  Last Friday I got home from work with Eric on the tractor with his thumbs up!  We have water in the house.  Halleluja!  At first our washer didn't want to work but, with some work, mom and I fixed it!  So, last weekend I did 6 loads of laundry - it was so exciting.  Plus, I get to use my dishwasher, which is hard to get used to b/c I've hand washed my dishes for a long time.

I am so thankful to Dad and everyone that helped with the water line.

Lattice, Landscaping & Water

I'm sure most of you are aware that Eric and I have water issues out on the Kerr Farm. Last year when we moved into our house, the old well was producing plenty of water. Then one day, there was no water. So, for the past several months, Eric has been hauling water on his days off. Sometimes, we would run out & that is a horrible feeling. We got several estimates from contractors to dig a ditch for a water line to run city water out our driveway that is 0.7 mile. We had prices from $10,000 to $25,000. Well, my dad, being the incredible person that he is, found a good deal on a ditch witch and decided to take this task on himself. I am praying that this huge piece of machinery can do the job. I have faith in my dad & I'm sure he'll get it done. The day I have city water running through my house will be a joyous day! This is a beautiful piece of equipment to me!

Eric and I both had President's Day off. I work for the state and it just happened to be one of Eric's days off. Eric had the notion to go to Lowes and buy lattice for around our porch. When we got to Lowes, their wooden lattice looked crappy, it was full of knot holes and wasn't very sturdy. So, we looked to the next shelf at the plastic lattice. It's is guaranteed not to rot away, so for only $40.00 more dollars, we decided to go with it. With the help of Eric's dad, we got it up & I love it. We also put landscape timbers down as a frame for a flower bed. Right now, we only have two stacked up. After all the materials and tools were put away, Eric decided that another row needed stacked up - so we're not completely finished. With pretty weather not too far away, Eric will have flowers and bushes blooming away.

I'm so proud of our little house! It's truly a blessing! I can't wait for spring & summer - are you with me?

Our back porch a few weeks ago.

Our back yard with almost a foot of snow.

This was over a month ago when the snow melted and the turkeys found the corn that Eric fed to the deer. There were 18 turkeys in our front yard and poor Eric slept right through it :(

I just wanted to include a picture of my new corner shelf. My sister-n-law made it and it was my gift from the Yankee gift exhange we play on Christmas at Eric's grandparent's house.

This winter, on the Kerr Farm, it has been blistery....I mean horribly blistery. We had nearly two feet of snow at times, once the snow melts, there's mud and then it snows again. I'm keeping the thoughts of spring time in my head and I'm very excited of the thought. However, it makes me think of house projects. Our #1 priority is getting city water out to our house. I'd like to put up lattice and plaster rock on the outside garage walls. Eric and I also want to prepare a place for a garden, which will include an electric fence and a lot of work to the soil.

I've been stressed lately because it has taken 103 days for Consol Energy to provide Eric and me with insurance. I bought a internet hot spot device that was supposed to be awesome and it really sucks in Clay. Then add to the mix that Eric and I weren't invited to his grandfather's 80th birthday party. I was upset about that but, I'm over it now.

A Little Bit of Everything.....

My lil' cousins, Niki & Taylor at Thanksgiving.

Lexi is looking straight at the camera. Kaylin Marie loves her baby cousin, Taylor.

Mom & Dad got the roof on their house, which is exciting. While we were on the roof, we got a nice view of guys on the cell phone tower, they were to the very top.

This is my niece, Jaidyn at Thanksgiving at Eric's Grandma & Grandpa's house.

I put out a lot of Christmas decorations this year. This is "Kerr's Carriage" given to me by my Aunt Brenda several years ago.

This is an ongoing house project: reupholstering my dining room chairs. Mom scored the new material (chair on the right) at a yard sale for 50 cents, I love it. I have 3 of the 6 chairs recovered.

Well, that was a quick run down of what's been going on in our lives for the past couple of months since I've blogged.

Good Times

Our cookout was a wonderful success. We had great weather, delicious food, and of course, great company. So many of our friends and family came out and we want to thank each of them.

Jeff Gula, Kim, the Wu Family and Hussein (friends from work):
Marshall & Karl (friends from work):

Dad & Uncle Ricky:

Kristi, Jenn & Beth (friends from colleg):

Guy & Shirley Kelly:

Keith & Terra Burdette:

Tommy, Tom & Donna Williams (our neighbors):

The Butcher family & Lexi:

Aunt Valerie:

Diana, Jaidyn, Marsha & Gary, John & Teresa:

Teddy, JB, Madison & Matt:

Dad & me:

Mom, putting hamburgers together:

Doc & Judy:

Basil & Virginia Hershberger

Brantie Nottingham

Justin & Reathal:

Sandy & Len Martin:

Hussein & Noura:

Joy, Yeuming, Faith & April Wu:

Vera & Boyce:

Butcher:

JB, Paula & Matt

Rki (prego):

Lesley:

Thanks so much for Frankie for taking pictures, to everyone who brought food and/or drinks. Thanks to Eric for grilling, Tiny for fixing the grill. And especially to EVERYONE who helped build our wonderful house and helped with the cookout! WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Cookout Time

We have finally scheduled our cookout to show off our new home. Please come and join us on August 7, 2010 at 3:00 PM. The food will be ready at about 5:00. Sorry, if I didn't have your e-mail address (I was going to put the link for the e-vite but, I don't want someone to have directions to my house)....so, please e-mail me at michellekerr25@yahoo.com, if you need directions!

We hope to see you there. You may need to bring some chairs.

The list of things that need accomplished before the cookout isn't too unrealistic but, we'll see.

Eric - just in case you see this - here is the list: (I LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR US!)

buy & install water filter
move dirt pile
install screens on windows
finish ceiling in basement
build walls & install doors in basement
straighten & clean ENTIRE basement
lattice under porches
lay block & rock on outside
landscaping
hang curtains, which I just ordered yesterday, I'm so excited for curtains!

Decorating 101

This is a blank wall in the guest bathroom. Ten minutes later - it's my masterpiece. And the best part - no holes. I used Command hanging strips, they rock! The Wall Words were purchased at TJ Maxx - I love them and they even stick to the wood walls in the dining room.

I should have taken a picture of my shower curtain, it has light purple and green stripes - I swear this arrangement matches it. Frankie got me a shower curtain and accent towels for me for my house warming party at my 2nd to last house.

I had to throw some wedding pictures in too!

I can't show all my decorating styles and tips - you guys need to come see it in person! We have a tentative date for a cookout - August 7th - but, it's not set in stone. I'll let everyone know for sure.