We were in trouble!
Pulling all nighters and working every possible hour during the day just wasn't cutting it.
We had painters coming in two days and weren't sure how we were going to be ready for them!
We had carpet to pull up, baseboards and trim to finish, closet shelves to build, holes to mud, joints to caulk, scrubbing and vacuuming to do... and then we learned that a sub floor needed to be laid.
The bathrooms could wait, thank goodness.
There was definitely a feeling of helplessness between the husband and I.
We just didn't know how we were going to pull it off, especially since we were pinching penny's and JP had to work full time.
It's hard to ask others for help when you know they have very busy lives too.
All we knew to do was turn to the Lord in prayer and ask for a miracle.
I woke up Tuesday morning to a knock at my door.
It was 8AM and I hadn't rolled out of bed yet, because I was overwhelmed and exhausted from working with JP late into the night.
It was my awesome friend Janna.
She yelled at me to get up and get dressed, because the Lord had told her she needed to help me that day.
I looked rather terrifying!
She told me I looked awesome and to put a hat on, that her daughter was headed over to watch the kids while we got crackin'!
I couldn't believe her!
She went with me to shop for appliances, because she's a caterer and knows all about the good stuff, and I was so nervous to figure it all out by myself.
I really needed her reassurance that I had found a good deal before cutting that massive check!
Then she spent her whole evening helping me vacuum up mud out of our house instead of watching Pretty Little Liars.
She was my angel that day, and I'll love her forever for it.
The following morning, I received a phone call from my dear friend Aubrey.
She just felt she needed to check on me and see how I was holding up.
I had just gotten off the phone with JP and learned that he was going to have to work late, so we would have to work on the house through the night.
I was trying to remain optimistic, but as soon as Aubrey asked how I was...I kind of lost it.
The tears just started coming, and I felt SO bad to have unloaded on her, but it also felt kind of good to release all that emotion.
She's a warm shoulder to cry on and always seems to know when I need her.
I've been so thankfull that she's taken on the role as second mom to our kids.
I couldn't get half the work done without her!
Once I got it all out, she told me she was going to beat me for not coming to her sooner!
Her husband Jer has had lots of experience building homes and was home from work for the day, so she asked if it would be okay for him to go over and take a look at our house.
(He was already helping us tile our bathrooms and they were looking SO great!)
Long story short, he walked around with me, made a list of all the things that needed to be done, and told me to get in the car. We were going to Home Depot for supplies.
I couldn't believe these people!
JP was so overwhelmed at work and beyond exhausted to resist any help offered.
He was just incredibly grateful.
Jer took over and made some phone calls.
He said we needed to pull a team together if we were going to pull this off.
Before the evening was up, friends in our ward showed up with tools, water, vacuums, and smiling faces to help.
Even the young men stopped by to help carry wood in for our sub floor and rip all the carpet out!
I was so humbled by their charitable hearts and willingness to serve, with no thought for themselves.
It was really hard for me to accept help at first.
It was a week night and everyone had work, school, and responsibilities to tend to.
I didn't want to seem needy or to put anyone out.
But, these wonderful friends made me feel loved and important to them.
And my very pregnant sister took our two youngest for the evening, then kept them late that night, so I could keep working.
I was SO relieved to not have to worry about them being cared for.
Saying thank you just doesn't seem good enough.
They literally rescued us.
Our hearts are full.
{Jer and Kim laying the sub floor while JP finished the trim and Sam pulled out the upstairs vanities...}
This was the broken sliding glass door and old flooring before both were replaced (see above picture).
These three worked until 1am to get that floor finished...
This picture is for my dad and bro's...
(Kim served a mission for our church in Arkansas. That should answer any questions! HaHaHa)
Here is what the house looked like the night before.
Dirty carpet and trash from construction everywhere!
These young men helped tear out the gross carpet and load it in the trailer.
They also hauled wood in AND out, pulled staples and scraped glue off the floor from the carpet, picked up trash, and helped mud baseboards and trim.
Warm doughnuts just wasn't a good enough thank you!
I hope our boys turn out as awesome as these young men.
My amazing friend Erin is one fast worker!
This girl showed up with a vacuum and didn't stop until the WHOLE place was cleaned up.
She saved my back a lot of pain and made me laugh!
I needed her optimism after the vanity in the upstairs bathroom was pulled out and the downstairs laundry room ceiling started gushing water from a leak (it had been there a long time and had rotted the wood out. I'm glad we found it, but at the time it was a step back I wasn't ready for. Replacing a ceiling just wasn't on my list of "to do's".)
I can't get over how easy she makes serving others look.
Even though her life is very full, she's always making time to help someone!
I just love her and am so grateful she's a part of my life.
I had not met Matt before that day.
He's new in our ward, but lives a few houses down and heard we could use a hand!
He spent hours caulking all the window trim.
Come to find out, he's caulked a lot of trim in his day and did a fantastic job!!
He saved us SO much time.
Now I know Matt and will never forget him!
Jer and the boys working on the tile in the kids bathroom.
It's going to be beautiful!!
Sport helping Jer with the cement...
These two buddies are good little workers!
We had help until after midnight.
Friendly faces just kept coming and going until our house was where it needed to be for the painter.
I went to bed pretty exhausted and emotional that night.
The Lord was aware of us and had answered our plea for help through others.
I felt so undeserving.
These wonderful friends taught me a valuable lesson about service, compassion, love, and friendship.
JP and I woke up at the crack of dawn to clean out the tools and finish up a few things.
Our house looked amazing compared to the disaster it was the day before.
We just said a prayer of gratitude and sighed a big sigh of relief!
{JP finishing up some caulking around the windows...}
I put mud in the nail holes, sanded and admired my pantry (with a door and shelves) that JP finished up the night before...
Then Jer showed up with his little brother after getting his finger stitched up from the cut he got the night before while laying the sub floor, to help us finish up!
That guy is the energizer bunny.
I don't know what we would do without him!
They put the doors on the game closet that JP added to our family room that looks like it always should have been there.
Isn't it lovely?
Eeeek! Look at those wrinkles!
I'm going to chalk those up to dry, cracking skin from sheet rock, mud, and no sleep!
Filling nail holes with mud is not my favorite thing to do in the wee hours of the morning...
Look how clean!
Everything's vacuumed, dusted, and cleaned out.
Windows are covered, and we're ready for the painters...
{Family room}
The painters arrived and did a spot for me to see my color choice.
I kind of freaked out at first because it looked SO much darker then I anticipated!!
But, it lightened up, and I actually love the color.
I can hardly wait to see it finished!
{The streak of wet paint in the living room}
There is NO WAY we would have made it alone.
Miracles do happen.
And we will be forever grateful to all those that were willing to give of their time and talents to be an answer to our prayers.
