Visitors from the North

We had visitors for the 4th of July this year, Mike and Sandee and kids. We got to spend a couple of days enjoying Alabama Adventures and the beach at Lake Guntersville State Park. It was really cool having a weekend to just chill out and spend time with family. It has still been pretty hot down here so we have been to the pool a couple of times. Mostly we just hang out at home in the a/c. I have bid several jobs but have not heard back on any of them yet. I could use some prayer for that. Sandra and the kids have been doing well. The kids started a new Wednesday group at church. They get to do some worship and lesson, and they play some "messy games" to wrap it up. They are looking forward to coming back to Michigan at the end of the month. Their cousins are excited to see them again. I met another contractor from Michigan today at the laundry mat. he just moved here 6 weeks ago. It was cool to just talk about work and what's been happening in our industry. He has already started to build a house so I gave him some business cards and maybe I'll get some work through him. It just takes time to really get a word-of-mouth business going. It's really about marketing yourself to as many people as you can to try to generate those phone calls. Here's some pics.

Chillin' in the pool!





Messy games at church



Life group cookout with a little Cornhole!

One Hot Summer

It's been hot down here in the south. It's been over a month since the last time I posted, with Sandra on Facebook now it seems like the day to day events get posted as soon as they happen now. I still like to blog about some of the other things that don't make it to Facebook.
We went to the hot air balloon festival in Dacatur a couple of weeks ago. They winds were too high so they wouldn't allow them to launch, but they did fill several of them. It was cool. This was the first time the kids got to see balloons up close.






It's summertime here and besides all of the frogs, crickets, coyotes, owls, and other unknown critters that make noises all night long, we have numerous snakes. These are my favorite. I love to shoot them when I find them. I shot two this week. I cut the rattles off for souvenirs for the kids. So far I've only encountered timber rattlers. Usually about 3-4 feet long. I've been told there are copperheads and black snakes around but haven't seen one yet. I saw this turtle on the side of the highway. It has to be the biggest dad-gum turtle I've ever seen outside a zoo. He had to be over two feet long, maybe three from head to tail.





Work has been slow but consistent. We have been really blessed. It always amazes me how God provides for all our needs. In spite of being slow with work, we have always had enough work to take care of all our expenses, never been without a roof over our heads, or without food on the table. I did another roof last week and bid two more in the past two weeks, both of which were very large jobs. I have no doubt God has a plan for my life and for my family here.

One of my favorite passage is Matthew 6:31-33 says So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

As for now, we are trying to save some more money to put the electrical in or possibly finish off the inside of the pole barn. We go back and forth on this one. On one hand it would be nice to have power all the time without having to run a generator. We could have all the nice conveniences that come along with that. But on the other hand, it would be nice to have more space for us and the kids to spread out. We would have a little more privacy and be able to bring some furniture from storage. Some of the decision will depend on if I can get permission from one of our neighbors to run utilities over the easement, it's a long story, but we are in litigation with one neighbor about a couple of issues with the property lines and where exactly our easement is. Not much to tell right now, but more to come when I know more. Just pray that God will work on everyone involved in this situation and no matter what the outcome is I know that nothing can stand against the will of God. He will use what was meant for our harm and use it for our good.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we moved! Most people get tired of their living room layout and move furniture, but when you live in a camper on wheels you can move you entire house! We get to change our entire view. We moved our camper down next to the pole barn where we can connect to the water. Plus I was getting tire of the view. We don't have a lot of windows in the camper so your view is limited to begin with.

Storms in the South

I thought I would title this one Storms in the South because three weeks ago we got some pretty heavy storms including a few tornadoes. Albertville got hit hard. This is the town Guntersville borders. Our church, shopping, gym, ect. are all there. So we are in Albertville everyday. Fortunately, only an isolated area got hit hard. It destroyed many homes, knocked down trees and power poles, and damaged over 400 homes. We volunteered for a week at the church. Sandra and the kids worked all day making and serving meals to those affected. I worked with the guys cutting trees off of houses. It has been crazy around town. The police had the city cut off and you had to have a permit to even get in. They were trying to keep traffic down and allow the roads to stay open for the power company to reinstall new poles. It really brought they community together. It's amazing to see people from different churches and other organizations step up to give of their time and resources. Many took off work, donated saws, food, diapers, and other items came pouring in to the church. It's too bad that it takes a catastophe for this to happen. Imagine if people did this everyday. There wouldn't be any needs that couldn't be met (sounds like and Acts 2 church to me).
We installed our water line two weeks ago. What a job! It took longer than I thought, of course, but it's done. We have water pressure but I think we may still need a pump to help it. It's a little weak. It's fine if you only need to run one thing but I don't think it's enough for an entire house. We also did a few improvements to the road. I brought in 6 more loads of stone to help smooth it out. When I dozed the road last summer I did not dig any ditches to control water run off and over the past 8 months it has taken it's toll on the road cutting in some pretty big ruts. I fixed them and added some new drainage ditches. Hopefully this will minimize the water damage to our road. I installed 3600 feet of piping with 180 connections. Only 8 of them leaked, mostly due to damaged sustained during backfill. I fixed all of them but I think I still have one that is still leaking slowly. Thankfully the waterline only has to be about a foot deep here. No ground freeze.





Yesterday we took the kids to the beach at the Lake Guntersville State Park. They loved swimming in the lake. they have not had a chance to go swimming since last summer and it's been hot here for a month. Afterwords I toke them to McDonald's for a bite to eat and some ice cream.





Here's a pic of a roof that I did last week, I will post finished pics later, we put steel on it. The back is 32 feet long with a 12/12 pitch, and it has a 4 ft skylight. FUN!!

A Mini Vacation

Last weekend we went to the Tennessee Aquarium for the day. The kids had fun. We got to go to the IMAX movie too. Work and weather have been great, with the exception of yesterday. We had major tornado producing storms all afternoon. We were fine, but there was a tornado that touched down about 10 miles north of us and another about 15 miles south. Many homes were destroyed and the schools were damaged. They cancelled school for a week. Here are some pics of the aquarium.





I have been working on a job in Ardmore, AL, which is about and hour and a half away. It was a bit of a drive, but worth it. I am working on a roof right now here in Guntersville. I have another day to finish it and then I am going to try to rent a backhoe at the end of the week to do some road repairs and install a water line. Depends on work this week and the weather. A couple of pics of the addition and steel roof.

Hangin' With The Family

Praise God! What a glorious day, and not just because the weather is awesome here in Bama, but because He never fails to continue to bless us everyday in so many ways. I signed another contract to do a roof today and I am starting another one next week. I am, for the most part, done with the church painting. I still could probably fill another week of touch up and some other minor things they want me to do. A month ago I was at the gym with no work at all and I had bid other work but did not get it. I was a little bummed because I really needed the work. I believe God had this church job planned for me. It really gave me a chance to bond with the staff at the church. I really feel God has big plans for me and my family here at Lifepoint. It's amazing what God can do in your life if you just let go of the wheel and stop trying to steer your life in the way that YOU want it to go, and just let God implement His plan for your life. Sandra and I are going to start leading a small group in the next couple weeks. We would really like to lead a marriage group similar to the one we were in at Metro. Our church only has sermon based small groups right now and I would like to add some special interest groups. The greatest part in all of this is that I have an employee that has started coming to church and is going to host the small group that Sandra and I will be leading. His name is Kyle and his wife is Sheena. They have three kids. He came to man camp with me and I think it really stirred some things in his heart. Pray for Kyle and his family for me. So many people start going but end up leaving the church because we done keep them involved and invest in them. The amazing part is the perfect timing and will of God. When you look back at why things happen the way they do you can see God's work.
Sandra is brushing the Carrie's hair right now and we are getting ready to go check out the local library. Later we are going to the mall with our small group to see Clash of the Titans. It's really our first "get together" outside of a church function. I will post a video from the Easter egg hunt later.

Here we are Easter Sunday at church.

Spring is Here

It's been a while since the last time I posted. The last three weeks have been really busy. God has really blessed me with alot of work recently. I was at the gym one day and ran into my pastor so we talked for a few minutes. I told him that I was available to do any handyman work at the church or available to meet a need that someone in the church may have and he said they were getting a loan to do some changes in the church and repaint the entire inside. So I ended up with the job. I have been there for the last ten days with another employee of mine working long hours trying to get as much work done between Sundays. We completely remodeled the auditorium in 6 days. This week we are working on the foyer. I'm not sure if it will be completed by Sunday because I am leaving Friday to go on a men's retreat with the church. We are going to "Man Camp". I'm told that it's a little rustic and they do some hiking, fishing, fellowshiping, and eating! We have 55 men signed up as of today. Sandra is going to be here at the property with just the kids. This will be the first time she has stayed here alone. Hopefully soon I will be able to resume work on our own property. I have a few jobs to do first and if I can save a little cash I might be able to get some things done around here.
The weather has been awesome. An occasional storm, but mostly sunny and & 70's. I can't wait for the trees to be in full bloom. I think I am going to work on a garden bed for Sandra. She wants to plant some vegetables this year. It's getting warm and I think it's time to get the seeds in the ground. Sandra and the kids are doing well. The kids are doing well in school. They really look forward to going to our community group on Tuesdays. They have gotten to know a few other kids and lots of other adults that attend church. Here are some pics of the work I have been doing at the church.

Playin' in the outdoors

We got a small taste of spring the last week. It was 50 degrees today and they say we are still 15 degrees below average. After seeing the weather over the last 3 weeks up north, I'll take 50 and sunny any day of the week. Too bad for y'all in Michigan! We spent today outside enjoying the sun. The kids decided to rake my quad trail. Cody has been riding the dirt bike on it but there are large rocks and many limbs to watch for. I did get to bid on another job this week and I am going to bid on painting the inside of our church this week. So far I haven't had any calls to actually do the work. I believe work and the economy will be much better this year. Here are some pictures from today.

Here's I am with Becca riding on the quad.



Cody and Carrie raking the trail. They spent hours out there. I don't think they know just how big 85 acres is until you have to rake it!





A campfire sure makes all the difference. There is just something fun about having a campfire. Carrie was really excited about the fire, she said it was like camping only we owned the entire campground. The kids hauled firewood for a few hours over the past 2 days while Sandra burned it.



I introduced Cody to an axe. He got a good workout chopping a couple of logs into smaller logs. After a while I broke out the chainsaw to show him how to work smarter not harder. Of course, maybe this is why so many people are overweight these days! Makes you wonder...is it really smarter?!

Looking forward to Spring

It was 63 degrees and sunny today. It was a nice change from the last two weeks. It's been decent during the days, usually in the mid to upper 40's, but just below freezing at night. Our weather is definitely improving. Birds are out everywhere. The kids got a chance to break out the four wheeler and dirt bike the last couple days. They love to ride. Sandra's parents were here for a day last Tuesday. They were on their way to Florida to visit friends. The kids had fun visiting. It's only been 6 weeks since we last saw them. Doesn't seem that long to me yet. I'm still checking out leads for work. I have a job to bid on Monday, so hopefully I can get some work this week. We kind of put the pole barn on hold for a little while, just until work picks up and gets a little more consistent. We have to be frugal with the savings we have. I don't want to spend money that we need to pay bills with on home improvements. The kids are doing good in school. They are looking forward to spring. Six Flags over Atlanta opens March 6. It's basically like Cedar Point. They are looking forward to a trip to Atlanta. Maybe we will take a trip over spring break.


The kids celebrated the first 100 days of school with a small party. Here's a couple of pics. Sandra's mom brought a lot of goodies for the kids. I think they have enough to last them until Easter.

New Plumbing

Sandra says we need to make some home improvements around here so I'm thinking about doing some plumbing. What do ya'll think?



Actually I think she was referring to finishing the pole barn. It rained all day yesterday and today. The driveway coming up the hill is really slick and I was not able to pull my work trailer up the hill last night. My truck and trailer are stuck on the hill at least until it dries up later. I worked in Huntsville this week for a couple selling their home and they had a lot of small repairs that needed to be done. So right now I'm sitting here in the camper while the kids are doing school. Maybe it will dry up later and I will get my truck unstuck. We need water and my truck is the only way to get it up here right now. Still no word from the lawyer about the utilities. We are supposed to get rain throughout the next week, but the temps are in the 50's. It's better than SNOW!

Update

I wasn't sure what to title this post since I really haven't made any progress up here on the mountain. That's not to say that we haven't been busy. Sandra is still teaching the kids everyday and I did get a roof job last week. I have been out around town trying to find some new work. I gave a few bids but haven't heard back yet.
We got a letter from my neighbor's lawyer the week we returned informing us that we did not have the right to run utilities from the road up the easement. So I had to hire a lawyer to see if we can settle this little dispute. I'm not sure what her problem with us is, but she seems to have a thing for us. My driveway is only a legal easement across her property for entering and leaving our property. When it was originally written it should have included utilities, but someone made a mistake. We may have to go to court to ask a judge to grant us permission to install utilities. In the meantime, we are checking into other possibilities.
We are supposed to get some more rain tonight into tomorrow. The temps have been great the last two weeks. It's been between 45 and 65 degrees during the day. We also started a new life group last week. We are looking forward to getting to know some new people from church. Many of them workout at the same gym that I do and I get to see them on a daily basis.
I did finish the roof on my pole barn and now I have to finish installing some windows and the door, then I will start on the siding. I hate starting any work on it when I don't get more than a couple of hours at a time to do anything. When I do have a day or two, the weather doesn't cooperate, like today and tomorrow! Sandra is telling me that the television has to go off now so she can get started on school. I have to go into town and get some more propane, hit the gym, rent some movies, stay out of Sandra's hair for a while.

Kickin' off the New Year

Roll Tide Roll! Alabama kicked Texas' butt for the National Championship a week ago. If you don't follow football, that's ok cause I don't either. But when in Rome....or I should say Bama, you follow football. Since we don't have a pro team we follow college ball. We got back home on Sunday and it has been an extremely cold two weeks. Our lows were down around 20 degrees at night. Tomorrow it's going up to 60. I winterized my pipes before I went up north for the holidays and I'm lucky I did. I did not expect it to get below freezing but it did and a lot of people had problems with freezing pipes. My water pump did spring a small leak and after messing around with it I was able to fix it. Sunday my generator went out. Fortunately, it was under warranty and I got it replaced on Monday morning. Not a lot works around here without electricity. We use propane to heat so we are ok there, nobody froze to death.
We continued to work on the roof of the pole barn. Sandra and I finished the front yesterday and started the back today. It's difficult and slow moving when working with no extra help, but I have more time than money right now. We have to save anywhere we can. I received a letter from my neighbor's attorney when I got back and apparently my easement (driveway) does not allow for utilities. She is not being very cooperative in this area. I had to hire an attorney today to see if we can make some headway with her. We have other options if she really stands firm on this issue, but running utilities to my property along the easement is the easiest option for me, not to mention the least expensive. This lady has had a thing for us since we got here. Actually, the seller had issues with her before I purchased the land. The lawyer thinks if we had to go to court I would win, but it might be easier to just run them another route, maybe get permission from another neighbor.