This old house part 6,729:)

Its been a humbling week. I have needed to dig deep to remember to be thankful in all things. To search for the positive. And to remember what really matters. Its been tough but we've made it.

I was sharing with my friend about our situation and she gave me the sweetest compliment. Wether she was just trying to give me a pick me up I'm not sure but it made remember that sometimes God isn't just using your situation to teach you. My friend said I always know you Jager's will be fine because you always have an overwhelming peace about you like its all going to work out, faith that spreads over all she said. Now I assure you she sees everything in me I hide no tears from this woman...she is someone I consider not only a confidant but a friend. I thanked her for her words and then I went home and thanked God for using me in a way I had no idea that I could be used.

The truth is Brian and I do have a strong faith. It doesn't mean we don't freak out from time to time or crumble, however I have learned that circumstances are just temporary, money is just money and things are just things. The only thing that matters is my faith in God. Aside from that my little family comes next and if there is one thing that works its is my husband and I's ability to work as a team. Times of stress have always brought us closed and we are always very careful to keep them separate from our relationship.

This last week would be no different when the night before school started we had to move our kids out of our house. I had decided to replace the tile in the bathroom and upon removing a bit of tile found that we had a very large problem. Not only was there a very large leak but it had obviously been leaking for a very long time. And it had created a very large amount of very nasty black mold. Once we uncovered the mold I knew we couldn't leave it uncovered but we couldn't cover it back up. So we moved out. All of us the night before school started. Talk about stress and upheaval. Thank heavens for grandma's and family and friends, this wouldn't have worked without them.

So you guessed it we flung ourselves into a bathroom remodel that we had not planned on in any way shape or form. There were a lot of concerns....number one - Brian couldn't take anytime off of work being in the employment situation he is in right now (with the job possibility),Number two- yeah so this was going to cost a bunch of money and being cash only makes these sorts of situations nerve wracking and it requires a heap of faith, Number three - we only have one bathroom , number four - we do all the work ourselves in our house.

So we spent every moment after work until midnight or 1am ripping out our bathroom and putting a new one in. Yep we had to rip the whole thing out. Joists, subfloor...everything. It was sickening. However we were so thankful to find the problem now rather than finding out from renters or because the bathtub fell through the floor (not being dramatic this could have happened).

And as of Tuesday we had a new bathroom that we could use it whatever way we needed. And it is beautiful.

And I need to mention the money part. We have a couple months a year that grant us an extra pay period which equals "extra money." This was one of those months. At the beginning of August I had about 4 things I needed to spend that extra money on but by the time it came I had budgeted and paid for all of them. God knew already what and when we would need that money. And now its gone:) It was so obvious that God was in charge the whole time.

He granted us safety, time, money, patience and the knowledge to deal.

I was continually reminded how thankful I am for a capable husband. He is my best. He looked at me last Wednesday night and said this wouldn't be the date I would have chosen to take you on. I had literally just been been praying to God and thanking him for such an amazing companion. It doesn't matter what we are doing I just like being with him.

And now for the pics.

Me right before I started the demo. Before the knowledge of the nightmare.



Me with the knowledge of the nightmare.


Where there wasn't wet rot there was dry rot.


Six layers of floor. One of which was cardboard scraps screwed into the subfloor layer beneath.


The wreckage pile was taller than me.


The new floor.


We invented a new olympic sport called joist balancing. It includes a crowbar and rickety old joists.


Not really an OSHA approved work environment.


This was right before we broke that pipe you see towards the bottom of the photo. That was real exciting:)


New subfloor....YAY!


New floor floor. I can't tell you how much you appreciate this after having to rip one out. I think this was at about 1 in the morning:)


New tub. Did I mention the previous bath tub installers bolted the bathtub to the wall. So there was no way to remove it carefully...hence the ripping and tearing of the old one. IT was awesome folks.


Shower doors. Oh and the Brewer he was a big help.


New vanity.


The beginnings of some storage. Welcome to IKEA the land of 6 billion tiny pieces.


I put it together all by myself and it appears that it will stay together.


And a new shelf that is not hanging crooked although the picture makes it look that way.



The one thing that stayed the same was the toilet we managed to save that:)

Oh and what caused the leak you ask? An improperly installed bathtub drain.