At Home in Slovenia

Our bathroom

2011-03-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

Seems like a lot of my most recent posts on the house blog have been of bathrooms! Well, they do say that a person who lives to be 75 yrs old spends 819000 mins// 13650 weeks// 568.75 days in the bathroom. So I guess the bathrooms in this house deserve a little attention! Especially since there are 6 of us so we're looking at 9 years of our lives being spent in these rooms!

Our bedroom originally had a little kitchenette in it. As did many of the rooms in this house. Here's the bedroom the way it looked when we first visited the house.

Josh and Blake got rid of the tile. Then Josh and our pastor Zvonko built walls to make an ensuite bathroom.

Then Josh hooked up a toilet and we lived with it like that for about a year.

Last May my brother Matt came to put in the tile. It was a very difficult job and he really knocked it out of the park for us! Plus it was great to get some Uncle Matt time!

Here's the final product! We LOVE it! It's a small space but Josh really planned the space out well so we now have a very pretty bathroom and have maximized our space!

Guests!

2010-08-28T05:02:00.000-07:00

One of the things about our lives is having guests in our home. Take this week for example. The Mormance Family was living with us while they looked for an apartment this past month. We loved having them here and are grateful that the Lord has given us a home to host people in. After they moved out on Wednesday we got ready for Josh's brother Dave and his family to arrive on Thursday and stay a few days. On Tuesday my cousin Stacia and her daughter will come for a 10 day visit. Because of this we started work on a bathroom

for guests. And you can't believe the difference! This doesn't even show the worst since Josh had already taken out the icky soap scummed shower doors and you can't see all the gross stains and mold spots. But take my word for it.... not a place you want to invite guests to shower up in!

Here is the remodeled effect! New painted ceiling, new fixtures and a newly tiled floor.

Here's another shot from the shower area looking towards the door.

Not bad huh?

My brother's help

2010-07-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

My brother came to visit and help us with the house; and oh wow did we need him!
He's a great tile layer and has loads of experience, building, painting, pretty much anything you need he can do. He also lives in Costa Rica so he's accustomed to doing things a little different than we might do them in the US. All that to say that we knew he could roll with the punches.

But I don't think any of us had a clue of how long this project was going to take! I would take the kids to school in the morning and then he and I would drink coffee and visit for awhile. Then he would head upstairs and get to work, often barely stopping to eat and then working late into the night. We started joking that I would tell people, "My brother came to visit but he's spent the whole time in the bathroom."

The other thing that slowed stuff WAY down was that we'd pictured Josh and Blake working alongside him to get the project finished. But 4 days into Matt's time here we found out that Blake and Josh had pneumonia! The whole family had been coughing, sneezing... it was a miracle Matt didn't get sick!
Originally this had been a little kitchenette since all the bedrooms were being used as apartments before we got the house. But our pastor came over and he and Josh had built some walls to give us an en suite bathroom. Since they tile all the way up to the ceilings in Europe it makes getting everything to line up a bit more difficult. But if anyone could do it, it was Matt.
It really came out nice! Now all we have to do is install the shower and sink and we won't be fighting with our teenagers for a turn in the bathroom!

Guest bathroom

2010-07-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

One of the things we prayed for when we were asking the Lord if he might want to provide a home for us, was space for guests. We have a nice size guest room in the basement that we've painted and is looking nicer all the time. It's a warm yellow color and we are currently getting it ready for our new co-workers Matt and Sharon Mormance. They'll be staying with us while they apartment hunt for a place of their own.

Having a bathroom that is specifically for guests is such a nice extra! I'm grateful to be able to offer that to our guests so they can really spread out and not have to fight their way into the line of the 6 of us to get a shower!
But we've been plenty busy just getting our family set up so now we are working to get this bathroom finished before they arrive on Thursday! And I will say that this is one of the rooms that has been the most difficult for me to envision being something less than icky.
It was covered with mold and bathroom scum when we arrived. Josh took out the shower doors and he and Brad Jenkins sanded mold out of the grout and repainted the ceiling with primer.Brad repainted the radiator and we got rid of the leaky toilet.
So these are the before shots. I'll be posting the after shots soon, hopefully!

Hidro izolacija!

2010-07-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

One of the things we realized this winter is that it's cold in our basement! Before the main floor was finished we had set up a kitchen in the basement. I have "fond" memories of stirring the spaghetti sauce, wearing my winter coat and seeing my breath while I made dinner!

So we had some guys come out and dig around our foundation and put in some insulation. It's one of those things that you hate to spend money on when it's something you won't see. But I'm sure any of you coming for a visit will be glad for the extra bit of warmth since that's where the guest room is located!
On this backside of the house we're hoping for greater drainage down the side of the hill. And I'm hoping that the many ants who had built their ant hills right next to the house and seem to be seeking a food source in my basement will relocate. Hey! A girl can dream can't she?
Summer intern and all around great guy Nate came over and pushed wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full of sand up the hill to dump into the grand canyon the tractor had dug earlier!
I do sometimes wonder how our neighbors feel about the seemingly endless supply of giant trucks that are pulling up to our house! Josh really enjoyed meeting the owner of this truck who is shoveling with him. He's believer that attends another church in Ljubljana. He was a great worker and a joy to be around.

Laundry Room

2010-05-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

As any home owner will attest to, there's always more work to do on your home! And in our case that's particularly true. Josh has really had to keep on top of things to get our home in a functioning order. Our most recent project was getting the laundry room moved from the basement to our living room floor.

I think the laundry room will be a place I'll spend a lot of time! It houses my desk, my exercise bike, the chest freezer (for my once a month cooking) and the washer and dryer. Not to mention, the storage spot for the vacuum and other cleaning supplies. It's not that big of a room but Josh is maximizing the space and I couldn't be happier!
"The guys" came over one night and in just a matter of minutes they had lifted all these essential machines up into the room that Josh had just finished tiling to get ready for use. This was the old kitchen that we used last year but now is a storage room making up for the fact that we don't have a garage.
Terry always seems to get the short end of the stick when it comes to lifting up these stairs that lead to our basement!
David and Tomi pulled the machines in through the window while the guys below used a rolling system to get the machines to the window! Very ingenious!
We took a ton of photos but I'm not posting all of them here. But I will just tell you how blessed I felt when this army of friends showed up to once again, push us over the top into really living in this home! Every time that happens (and it happens quite a lot) I get such a thrill! Must be what the guy who got lowered down on a mat thru the roof to see Jesus must have felt! Thanks! (L to R) Blake, Kendra, Gorazd, Josh,David, Terry, Tomi, Meagan

Laundry Room!

2010-04-05T05:22:00.001-07:00

When we first saw this house and the kitchen I told Josh I was really not interested. The kitchen was small and pretty icky. I spend a good portion of my day in the kitchen and cooking for 6 people on a normal day. We often have guests and I just couldn't see how we could make this work. But after Josh and his brother Dave brain stormed how we could make things work he asked me to trust him. He thought he could do it.
What we ended up doing was making the kitchen our laundry room and turning the old living room into our kitchen and dining room. And finally combining two bedrooms and a bathroom to make our living room! I tell you, I'm not a person of vision so as Josh described it I couldn't really see it. But I have a lot of confidence in Josh and my man delievers!
In the end, Josh put a wall up between the old kitchen and the new one and shaved down a portion of the wall to give us more space on both sides. Here he is finishing up the tiling in this room. This is one room I can't wait to have finished! We have plans for this room to hold some of our overflow, like backpacks and extra winter gear. Not to mention the laundry, freezer for once a month cooking and my desk! It looks small for all that but Josh says it can be done. And after all this, I'm thinking if anyone can do it, it's him!

The kitchen

2010-02-27T12:17:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy living in and loving my new kitchen that I haven't taken the time to update this blog with photos. But the time has come!This first shot is Josh and Johnny building a wall with some demolition help from Blake's friend Klemen. We turned the old kitchen into our laundry room and the old living room into our kitchen.
But before they built the wall between the two rooms they had to get rid of this wall that stuck out too far into the kitchen. Brandon Gentry was here for that work as you may well remember.
This shot is taken from where the wall was built and looks at our kitchen table. I LOVE having an island. We do so much cooking and entertaining and it is the place that I work from the most! Notice the outlets on the island! Happy thought indeed!
Here's the view from the hall between the kitchen and the living room. I just can't believe this is my kitchen! It's a joy to work in! And probably all the more knowing that my husband put so much thought into designing a place that would suit our family needs and our ability to minister from our home!

The big push

2010-01-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

On the 23rd of December we had our living room furniture in the house and the wood stove up and running. The kitchen still needed to be built and the last crews showed up to finish stuff off so we could celebrate Christmas on the middle floor. One crew came to hang doors, another to finish painting the hall and another to clear away the scaffolding. With three sets of workers in the house all at once I decided to take Mom and Dad out for coffee, while the kids stayed in their rooms and watched Christmas cartoons! This is a shot out our bedroom window!

The break down begins

2010-01-03T02:23:00.000-08:00

For about 5 days here I'm missing photos. All of a sudden, the plates we had been throwing into the air and kept spinning came to their full force! Kids were going to play practices for church, for school, for music lessons, then they were going to shows, my dad's flight had messed up by weather, then he showed up and we began the Christmas holidays with celebrations and shopping.
Peter called to say the guys who were laying floors were booked and we couldn't get them until the Monday or Tuesday before Christmas. That was a real disapointment. We'd asked our friends and teammates if Saturday they would help us move our furniture. But if the floor wasn't in then we couldn't do it. And there wasn't another Saturday before Christmas. It looked like Christmas would be celebrated in our bedrooms. Peter said, "I'll make some calls." Josh said,"I'll pray." On Friday the workers showed up and laid the wood floor!I don't have all the photos I should have because it was just such an overwhelming experience! But here's Dad helping Josh move the kitchen cabinets onto the newly laid wood floor!
Josh in the kitchen and the window for over my kitchen sink that had been installed just days earlier!
In the hall between the kitchen and living room. We've got card board down to keep the floors from being too scratched up as we prepare for the next days move of furniture!

Moving Forward

2010-01-03T02:07:00.001-08:00

Josh just kept pushing the whole process forward. He had so many plates up in the air spinning so that when the floors were dry we'd be ready to do the final pieces to move in. I was starting to really get overwhelmed. One night a bunch of our friends came over and just got to work! Johnny and Brooke showed up and stayed until after 1 am laying the IKEA flooring for the guest room. Brooke is pregnant with their first child and had already had a full day but there she was with a happy heart! They laid the whole floor that night!
Peter had sent workers one day to lay the wood floor but they got to work and found the cement still wasn't dry even though we'd had 4 dehumidifiers running non stop. Peter called Josh and told him to go get our wood stove and install it and crank it up! So Josh and Hondo brought it in. It was warm in our house for the first time this winter! And we felt like seeing the wood stove in, we were seeing our home! I was starting to picture what Josh had been envisioning!
Hondo called Brad and he came over to help build the IKEA kitchen cabinets. They worked late into the night even though they both have very full schedules. They couldn't mount them to walls or anything but this way once the floor was in we could move forward with getting the kitchen in.
Josh had to solve the puzzle of an IKEA kitchen many times. First in the design of it and then with all the pieces being put together! You can't believe how many times we were pleased when something slid right into place despite our crooked walls or funny oddities of this old house!
Luka busts some moves in the basement make shift kitchen for our entertainment!

Guest room

2010-01-03T02:01:00.000-08:00

While we were waiting for the main floor to dry we got to work on the guest room. My mom had been staying in the girls room but Dad was on his way and it was about to get squishy! So Lori Jackson came over and we painted the guest room with Devine paint that we'd brought from the states. We used Oat with a bit of white in it to soften it and it came out beautifully! Thanks for the help Mom and Lori!

Floors

2010-01-03T01:38:00.000-08:00

Well, things really picked up the pace in December. Our builder was comitted to getting us in to celebrate Christmas in that living room! So one Saturday the workers showed up and poured the floors so everything would even out. One of the things about this house was that on the main floor there were three different levels of floors. So this was a big job! This is the view from the stairs that lead to the bedrooms. So the window on the left is the bathroom and the window on the right is in the living room. Because we are living in our project as we work we had to work out how to get the kids to the Sunday School Christmas play practice! Ladder off the upstairs balcony! Very exciting!

Walls and floors

2009-12-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

Before:
After:When we came home from celebrating Thanksgiving we found the workers had been hard at work! They had poured flooring to level things out. They'd also put stucco on all the walls to prepare them for their final coat. As well as built the entry way to our section of the house in order to separate it from the basement that will be used as a guest apartment for interns and other longer term visitors.
Since we first moved in there have been multiple piles of trash we've had to deal with. One by one we've gotten them cleared out. Last week a big truck came and carried away at least 4 if not 5 truck loads of the rubble that has been taken out of the house. Josh says our house went on a diet and is a lot lighter now!

Electricity, E-lec-tricity!

2009-11-25T01:25:00.000-08:00

Josh and Zvonko took on the project of electricity and finished up this week! That and the plumbing were kind of our big last projects before we have to just wait for our builder to take over. It was a big job just figuring out where outlets and light switches should go! Never mind all the wiring! We're so grateful to Zvonko and his expertise! This is a shot of Josh in the kitchen with wiring all lined up and ready to go! After they finished our builder Peter came over and told us about just how buried he is with another contract. He said, "The very best thing for you would be if it would just dump rain. Then I'd send all my guys over here and we'd get your place done." Well you know that I just started praying for rain. But it has been the most beautiful weather for this time of year. I mean, it's been down right balmy!
I guess God wanted to bless Peter and us at the same time because Peter has been faithful and last week he started sending workers to get us finished and hopefully in by Christmas!
I read a verse in Hebrews 3 and was so struck by it. It says something to the effect that the builder is more important than the house and God is the builder of everything. I started praying that whatever the Lord would like to stir up in our builders heart that he would use our house to do it because our builder is more important than our house.
We'll keep you posted!

I'm trading my windows!

2009-11-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

This week we made some more good progress. Josh and our pastor Zvonko worked on the electricity for the living room and dining room. Zvonko brought a another guy Gregor who worked two days just helping out. And Brad and Hondo came over after school Wednesday and Thursday to take out the old windows before the company came to put in the new ones on friday. It was awfully cold for a couple of nights upstairs since the downstairs was open. And I think the grandma next door was a bit surprised!

The beginning of a kitchen!

2009-10-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

When we first looked at this house I thought it was a definate no because of the kitchen. We often have people over for dinner, host guests, have staff meetings in addition to the fact that there are 6 of us. So many times we are gathered around the table. The kitchen in this place was a tiny little galley sort with almost no room for a table that opened into a living room. It was the right idea but just didn't quite meet our needs. But Josh started working on a plan. If he closed off the former kitchen and turned it into a laundry/storage room, then turned the living room into the kitchen/dining room and then opened up two bedrooms into the living room. All of a sudden the main floor became our living space with all the bedrooms upstairs! So last month while Brandon was here they started work on getting rid of the old wall that stuck out into the kitchen too far and getting rid of the walls dividing up our new living room.
Today the workers are putting in support beams to hold the ceiling up and a couple of days ago Josh and Johnny built the wall between the kitchen and laundry room! Yeah! I am celebrating the way the Lord has gifted them with craftsmen abilities! Josh pointed out that was the first day that we started putting something into that middle floor rather than just taking out! That's a step in the right direction!
This will now be the laundry room. So next week we're looking forward to a visit from the plumber and our pastor turned electrician! The picture below is the kitchen and that wall will hold cabinets and the refrigerator. Right now it looks kind of like a garage! Gotta love concrete houses!

Brandon at work

2009-10-19T03:22:00.001-07:00

I put some of these shots on Facebook but just have to blog about them. I would say that we had sort of stalled on the house project for awhile. Our builder was tied up with some other projects. We really are glad because Josh has been praying that the Lord would bless him with good opportunities. But we were waiting for help and Josh was stuck on a few things that he was wondering how to handle. Brandon came along and really jump started us back into motion. You can see here how the living room is opening up nicely from what used to be a bedroom and a bathroom.
The former kitchen was just not workable for our family of 6 and all the hosting we do. So this wall had to come down to make way for a larger kitchen. Ultimately the former kitchen becomes my laundry room and the former living room becomes our kitchen and dining room.
Through out this process Josh has really been asking the Lord to give him wisdom. Even in the demolition phase! Sometimes it's come from good ol' Josh Patty know how, other times from how to videos on YouTube, as well as just God's goodness! One was this floor.
The floor isn't even all around the house. So Josh had been puzzeling over which floors to get rid of or should we lower or higher different rooms. Josh had really asked God to lead him in this decision. As it turns out the bathroom and hall floors were made of lower quality concrete so they took those out. When they did that they also found that they were not insulated. But the floors they'd left were! We are so grateful that the Lord really is our project manager in this!

Getting to Work

2009-10-19T03:07:00.000-07:00

Our friend Brandon bought tickets back in the spring to come and help with the house. We weren't sure where we'd be at in the process but the Lord did! Brandon showed up at just the right time for demolition of the middle floor. Brandon came and worked every day from 9 to 5 and he worked hard! First he started with the wood paneled ceiling in the room we're turning into the kitchen. Luke kept saying, "Dis room is upside down!" Because the ceiling looked like a floor. Just to avoid any confusion, Brandon also ripped out the floor in that room!
The next day I left while Josh and Brandon were working on the bathroom on that floor. It was such an icky room. Every time Josh wanted me to go in there and visualize the new floor plan I found myself holding my breath and not really listening....just waiting until he'd let me leave! But Brandon got right in there and took out the toilet (yuck) the bidet (also yuck) and all the other bathroom appliances because this room will one day be a part of the living room.
When I came home from running the kids around to all their different things I couldn't believe the change! The guys had taken out the wall and were working on the tile! I could finally see what Josh had been talking about! Ok. And here's just a little something extra for all those inquiring minds. The bathroom for this floor will just be a little toilet bathroom. It's going to be small as it will be located where there used to be a little supply closet. Also, don't you think there is something wrong with the fact that the previous owner had used the same tile for the kitchen as he did for the bathroom?

Terry's back in town

2009-09-14T03:04:00.000-07:00

Josh and Terry have been friends since college. So it was no surprise when they jumped at the chance to work together with JV in Slovenia. Well, when we were getting into the new house just a few days before Jacksons were headed to the states for the summer they expressed sadness at not getting to be a part of the renovation. So we decided to hold things off and wait for them. Ha ha! Terry came over the other day an pulled out the cabinets that the old owner left in what we want to turn into our kitchen. After that, he and Josh moved them into the storage room that we are using as a kitchen right now. Now we have boxes sitting on shelves down there and the room for the kitchen is cleared a little bit.
I have to find my "before" shot of this room. It was filled with dark cabinets. Now it's filled with spider webs! ick! Every little bit that we do ourselves (or our friends do for us!)saves some money and also makes us feel like we're getting closer to not living exclusively in our bedrooms. Next Josh hopes to tear out the wood paneling on the ceiling. Bad news is there was never a real ceiling so there's another thing we weren't planning on. But the good news is that we never liked how low the ceiling came down and it looks like we'll be able to have a higher ceiling once we pull down the wood paneling!
Thanks Terry! Not just for the help but for being the kind of friend who has always been standing right next to Josh and ready to do what needs doin'!

Blake's room update

2009-09-02T02:42:00.001-07:00

Things are always changing here at the Patty house! One of the things about living overseas is that we've often had hard wood floors. I like them. Easier to keep clean. And usually look cleaner than they really are! But Blake has inherited his father's love of American carpet. Whenever we go to the US it's sure to be something that Blake comments on. "I just love the carpet! They have carpet! I wish we had carpet!"
So when we moved and I mentioned to Josh that the 13 year old living room carpet had seen it's fair share of action; Blake was quick to speak up and ask for it in his bedroom. As soon as we moved it into his room he's enjoyed it. Even vacuuming without being asked!
But Josh and I could smell the dog permeating his room and sometimes the upstairs. So we found some carpet that qualifies with Blake on "feeling American" and with us on cost and put it in this week.
I have to say that now I'm wondering if maybe I might be wishing for carpet in my bedroom.

Blake's room

2009-08-25T02:17:00.000-07:00

Right now Blake and Luke are both living in Blake's room while we use Luke's room as a living room until the downstairs is finished. Hopefully September 1 that project will get underway. So here's a shot of Luke with his little bed, bookshelf and toys. Not sure why he's making that face!Blake chose his wall colors. I'm pleased with how they turned out. We did tell him only one blue wall because we didn't want it to be too dark. He's just glad they aren't hot pink like they were when we bought the place.
And here's Blake's side of the room. Since we moved to Slovenia when Blake was 5 he's had a bunk bed that was passed down from our cousins Tyler and Caleb. Well we said good bye to that so Scout can finally jump on his bed and sleep with him.
We'll keep things in boxes until the downstairs is finished. Just too much to try to find places for otherwise. Blake is really looking forward to getting his framed print of the Seattle Space Needle on the wall along with his newly begun license plate collection. He's got a couple from his grandpas and the newest addition is an old Yugoslavian one we found in our backyard. (the trash back there is another story!) So if you have any old license plates just send them his way!

The front door step

2009-08-25T02:09:00.001-07:00

We keep laughing about all the idiosyncracies of this house! The door frames aren't straight. Many doors upstairs are warped. The radiator in Blake's room is huge while the radiator in the living room is tiny. One of the first things we wanted to do when we moved in was get a grate to cover the hole you step in before entering the house. Well, now we know why the former owner lived here 30 years but never put one in. The cement isn't lined up. So grates are too big on one side and too small on the other. I'm glad I've married a man who is so capable! My dad used to watch the Red Green show and the guy would always say, "If the women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy!" Luckily for me Josh is both!

Christopher Robin rides again

2009-08-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

Josh hung a swing and an old hammock we have from years ago in the backyard for the kids this week. Even though there is still a lot of work to do inside and outside the house; it's great to see the kids enjoying this place. The former owner sent someone to pick up this giant pile of trash he'd left in the back yard but there is still half of it there. We decided not to wait for that to start enjoying our yard. So we've been raking, pulling weeds and picking up fallen apples. The yard actually is not part of our property. We only own the land the house is on. But this square of a grassy tree covered slope squeezed in between us and the neighbor belongs to the city. We've decided to make use of it.
So the swing went up in the apple tree and the hammock next to it. Blake has plans for a tree fort as well. Luke turns towards the hillside and swings and sings to his hearts content. The older kids turn towards the down hill slope and scream as the earth falls out from under them when they swing out! The best of both worlds!

The door saga

2009-08-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

We figured that buying new doors for the upstairs would be about 200 euros a piece. Since there are four bedrooms, the bathroom and the hall door that's starting to add up. Josh felt convinced he could whip these ones into shape. So he started sanding and I started working on the door frames. Several coats of paint were required and we had problems with bugs being attracted to our shiny white doors. After all that work Josh realized our door was warped and wasn't going to work. But he's gotten a bathroom door up and a door for the girls. And although our door doesn't close we've got one too. He's off again at KRIZ our theology program for young leaders for these two weeks. So once he gets back we'll be back to our project. Until then the kids and I are enjoying being in our new place.
And I thought you'd enjoy this shot of Josh. He was trying to hang the doors and the sparks were flying but we couldn't find the protective glasses so Kendra volunteered these swim goggles!

Camping out!

2009-07-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Ok so! At our new place we don't have phone or internet yet. Looks like it'll be 2-3 weeks until that happens. So our good friends and new teammates the Wynns invited us for dinner and suggested we come early, be anti social and get on the internet and make calls on the vonage phone!Here's Josh cutting the grass for the first time. You can see the balcony and thru those windows will be our diningroom/kitchen. There's so much to tell but thought I'd post this shot of the kids in the moving move the day we moved most of our stuff over. We're imposing on the Wynns with our garage and storage stuff still left at their place while we took a "break" for Jr. High camp. Hoping to get the rest of it over soon. But that pesky ministry stuff keeps needing attention!
Here's a shot I took this morning of the make shift kitchen we've got going in the garage! It's actually working just fine. On the other side of the room is our kitchen table and a stack of boxes waiting for the new kitchen!

I forgot to take a pic to show you the upstairs! next time! Anyway, things are coming along. Although all the doors were pretty beat up and a dark oppresive brown. Josh has been sanding away on them nights and painting them white. So we haven't had any doors on our rooms or bathroom. The kids just call out "My door is closed!" And no one is supposed to go in the hall while they get a minute to change. The bathrooms been the most awkward but I just keep telling them, "Just think. We'll remember these days and laugh about them for the rest of our lives!"

Moving Day!

2009-07-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

Well! We have moved! We never could have done it on our own though! It's seemed like the craziest timing all around. We had hoped to get the upstairs completed, box up things at the rented house and move in all before camp season got underway. But it's been a race against the clock and one that at times I thought we would lose!We bless the Wynns, the Stevens, Miso and Sarah oh, and Klemen too! They pushed us up a hill that felt impossible!

As we started working on the upstairs we realized there was more to do than we origianlly planned. You know they always say that happens and yet you hope you'll be the exception. Not so! So we spent most of our time getting the upstairs livable for our family so that our friends and new teammates the Wynn's could move into our rented home. When they arrived in country we were in the middle of chaos. But they jumped right in with us! Hondo was at the house from the first night they arrived working alongside us! While Trisha prepared food and kept the moving process going at our old house! What a HUGE blessing!

There's more to tell and more pictures to post. But it'll have to wait. Just wanted you to know that we are living in our new home. Still a few projects to finish upstairs and hopefully the middle floor remodel will start in the next 2 weeks or so. Josh set up a kitchen for us in what will be our garage later. (this is us having a late night pizza snack in that room!) But it'll have to wait until we return from Jr. High camp July 5-12. Pray for us!

Lookin' Good

2009-06-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

I was telling someone the other day that although we have done a TON of work I sort of have the feeling like I did when I was pregant. At first you know you are having a baby but it doesn't look like it to anyone else. Well our house has gone from the "just looking fat" stage to the "we're having a baby" stage!

The chimney guys came yesterday and moved the chimney location. Josh finished replacing the tile on Luke's floor with wood to match the rest of the room. Three of the girls' walls are painted. The door frames have been cleaned up and the tile for the bathroom is in place!

That's all good news because our new teammates Hondo and Trisha Wynn landed in Munich Germany on Thursday. They are busy buying a vehicle that they found there and will drive it into the country on Monday. Or there abouts if they don't run into any more glitches. (another story) And they plan to take over this house during their language school days here in Ljubljana before they head to another part of the country to do youth work.
Here's the before and after of the upstairs bathroom. Still need to buy our toilet and sink but quite the change, huh?
Me and Meta painting the door frames.

We get by with a little help from our friends

2009-06-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

We are in the big push week! Hondo and Trisha Wynn will take over renting this house from our land lord. We've still got a lot to do and I really would like to welcome them to the country with a house that is tidy and not covered in the junk that comes with moving!

Friends from church and teammates keep coming by to give us a boost and we are seeing progress....Johnny and Brooke came from Celje and brought Sarah to get the work started on painting Blake's hot pink room with a primer and sanding doors to paint them white. I have no idea what tool Brooke is holding!

Josh, Zvonko and Daniel take a break from mudding ceilings to eat. Zvonko is making a joke that I'll post this photo and it'll look like they aren't good workers. I told him not to worry. I'd mention that his preaching is better than his house building skills!
Meta goes after the bright red pipes in the basement. Just that was a big difference. And she's coming back today to help me upstairs.
Zvonko built the walls for the bathroom in our room. With 3 kids headed into their teenage years and 2 of them girls we decided that one shower just wasn't going to work for us.

Helping Hands

2009-06-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a work day at the house with our new interns. Welcome to Slovenia! We are very excited to have this group here serving for the summer and their willingness to help us personally with our overwhelming work project was a real blessing. I love this shot of Rachel! She pulled up all the edging on the floors so we could paint walls and sand off the old gunk from the past.

This is the back of Chris's head and you can see Tim working at sanding the edges off the ceiling to make it smooth for painting. I thought my camera lens was dirty and tried to take the shot again, only to realize that the air was just so thick with the dust!
Another Tim and his wife Kayla took over the basement room that will serve as our garage. There's no garage at this place so this will be the site to house Josh's tools, camping equipment etc. It was painted a deep blue and the pipes were painted bright red. Mold was growing in a couple corners as well. Yuck. But Tim and Kayla got right in there and it looks like a totally different room!

The Renovation starts now!

2009-06-03T04:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I think it's going to take us longer than a week and there's no vacation to Disneyland in the meantime! But we have gotten things underway!Most of the time Josh is at the new house working on his own or with Blake and his school friend because of our life schedule. But our friends have joined in to push us over the top so we can start "camping" in our upstairs while we work on the kitchen/livingroom/dining room. The upstairs bathroom is totally demolished as you can see and today the plumber will come to take a look at the pipes that we suspect are rusty.

Josh got out his chain saw and put a big hole in the hall roof for a set of attic stairs. We heard a story that a friend of ours called up Josh's brother Dave when he was doing their house and said, "Without seeing your house plans I can tell you already what your problem is. You don't have enough storage!" So we are making use of the attic space!
Our pastor Zvonko came and worked hard for three days. Josh said he couldn't even get him to stop and eat anything! He built the wall between Luke's room and the girls' and then reconstructed the walls that had been torn apart from kitchen tiles and helped Josh plan where to put light sockets and drilled holes in walls!
And Robi also came for three days and worked like crazy! He and Josh covered the wooden ceilings with dry wall in three of the four bedrooms. I think their "guns" got a workout. How do you repay friends like that? Oh and by the way, the room Robi is working in for this photo is Blake's new room. It's painted hot pink! His friends all laugh when they come over to help with the work. Poor guy!

The Work Begins

2009-05-24T03:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been working for a bit actually but finally here's some things to show for it! Josh has been planning and crafting a way to make this house work for mulitple purposes and now the work is getting underway!Luke's room was used as a kitchen so we've been chipping away at the tiles there. Today Blake knocked out the rest!
The girls' room was the upstairs living room that connected to the kitchen a.k.a. Luke's room. So Josh built a closet for the girls that serves as a wall between the two rooms. I didn't even know he could do something like that! Not bad!
The girls window and balcony door before.
And after with new windows and some paint on the walls!

There's no place like home!

2009-02-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

It's true! The owner has accepted our offer! Here's the little bit longer story... over the weekend we had our typical interaction with the owner. "Not today. Tomorrow. Later." Finally we were to go over to the house.

From the way he talked on the phone it sounded like we might finally be moving forward. After we had tromped in with all 4 kids and sat down the owner just stared at Josh and finally said, "Well?"

Josh asked him if he had considered our offer. He hemmed and hummed and then again asked, "Well?"
He wanted us to make a higher offer. He shook his head at Josh and said, "It'd be a shame to lose this place for just 5 or 10 thousand more euros."

Josh sagely answered that you can't offer what you don't have!Then he went on about what a great place it is and how we won't have to do anything but give it a little paint in order to move in. (I decided not to jump in at this point and tell him that when we showed photos to my mother she started crying thinking about her "babies" living in such a place.)

A business friend of ours had told Josh that after you make an offer the next guy who speaks loses ground. I guess someone had said this to the owner as well because there were awkward moments of silence as he and Josh waited each other out.

Finally he told us to go home and think about it. Josh said, "We've done our thinking. We'll go home and pray." He promised to call in the morning but not before Luke asked innocently in English, "This our new house Daddy?" Josh translated and the owner chuckled, bent down and told Luke, "It will. It will. You're the boss aren't you?"

Well, the morning came and went and no phone call. Finally while I was making lunch we discussed the possiblity of sending a text message. Josh was scheduled to get on a plane the next day for a JV board meeting and we really were hoping to know before he left. After we prayed we felt the Lord leading us to really wait for Him to lead the charge. I went on with making grilled cheese sandwiches and not 10 minutes later the phone rang and it was the owner saying he would accept our offer. Josh got off the phone and gave us the news! I couldn't keep from shouting out! We danced around the kitchen and then took the kids bowling to celebrate!

I'm reflecting now on just how personal the Lord has made this. A year ago I was so impressed by the verse in the feeding of the 5,000 that says, "Jesus already had in mind what he was going to do." That really went into my heart and I've held onto it. I know you have something in mind Lord. This is not about this man or the economy or my doing things right or my husbands ability or anything else. This is about You. This is about me trusting You to provide in whatever way You see fit. And this is a chance for me to practice resting peacefully as you decide what is best and not fight against you but receive whatever you have for us.

Oh, there's more to write but that's all for now. We'll keep you posted as we start painting and preparing our home to be a safe place for our family and a place of ministry for whatever else the Lord has in mind!

Believing God

2009-01-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

I keep thinking that soon I'll be updating this site with the news that we've gotten the house. But the Lord has his own time line and I want you to be along with us as we see what He does. Every day there are ups and downs and I hardly know what to write because although things are happening it seems like there's nothing to report. The owner can be wishy washy as to price and whether or not he'll even sell. The dollar rate fluctuates. Interest rates are remarkably good these days. Many people have given specifically to our house project. Eastern European paperwork keeps sneaking up on us. One minute it's good, then it looks like it's never going to happen.

The most recent news is that we've made the owner two offers that he has turned down. Josh made him a third offer last Wednesday and we haven't heard back from him. Not unusual as we normally have to call him back for his answer. We aren't going thru a realtor which will make things cheaper in the end but it slows down the lines of communication.

Real estate in Slovenia has dropped off by 70% in sales. But remarkably no one is lowering their prices.

What we do know is that God set us on this path. We've been very content in our home and yet the Lord opened these doors and we've been following him all along. Learning so much about faith, waiting on God's timing and actions that express faith. Thanks for praying with us!

A dear old friend

2008-11-24T03:45:00.000-08:00

A dear old friend sent us a gift towards our house and a letter this week. I've read this letter several times already and every word is so precious! If you'd like to read it in full I'd love to send it to you. But for this post I've just taken some snipets to share the story.

"First of all I want to apologize for not telling you who I am. I have prayed about this and feel that the point of this gift and letter is to honor Him and not to draw attention to myself.

This story starts back when you emailed us about wanting a home. I was reading through the letter and felt God asking me to give a sizable donation. To be honest I kinda blew it off as just a passing desire and that God really wasn't asking me to do it. If you had known my personal finances at that time you would have probably laughed out loud as I did.

During my visit I had the chance to talk with Kristi about your needs for the ministry and your desire to have a home. I left that meeting with that same desire again. And again I met it with a, "You've got to be joking... I still have no money." Almost exactly when I was visiting with Kristi my husband was having a discussion with his father while driving home from their trip. The family bussiness was selling and he planned to give our family a large gift.

During my same visit I was given a copy of Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle. Again I was struck by this overwhleming sense that I was to give you a large donation for your home. This time I met it with an 'Okay God, if you want me to do this then you are going to have to figure out how.'

After I was home I shared with my husband my thoughts and it was then that he shared with me the conversation that he had with his dad. 'Okay God. I guess you have the money part taken care of.' I was so excited I was giddy. I was almost bursting with excitement to send you a check.

I feel that Randy's book came at the right time. We are now 100% debt free in our lives and plan to stay that way. We plan to live in a way that won't look any different than it did prior to this financial difference so that the extra money, that we would have spent on house payments and other debt can now be used for His Kingdom.

It was the chance to see God work even when it made absolutely no sense at the time.

I decided to write to you and tell you this story because I wanted you to know that God was looking out for you all along.

I pray that the home you get will be a blessing not only to you, but to the lives of countless teens who need to know Jesus or who have lost everything by taking up the cross. I love you both and am excited to hear what new stories unfold in your lives over the next few years. As for this story, it is God's.

In His Wonderful Name!
Love, a dear old friend"

That was the letter that came last week! We haven't guessed who wrote the letter. And each time we wonder we think, God gave us that gift...through our dear old friend. Thank you Father!

One building block at a time

2008-11-24T03:35:00.001-08:00

We are very aware that this process with the house is something God is using in our lives. He continues to place one block on top of another to to create a structure that we see has less and less to do with the house itself and more and more to do with building our faith in Him. So much goes into the place and timing of each piece. Here are a couple of them. We thought we'd try to buy in the fall... The owner couldn't get his paperwork together and now is thinking of selling in the spring... Our rent on our current home has gone up nearly $500 dollars a month... The world's economy is under duress... A feeling of discouragement and wondering what our next steps should be... And then the US dollar is presently bouncing back and becoming stronger. The wait means that we've just "saved" $100,000 on the house price! We are confident the Lord is moving, we're just praying we'll follow Him well.

God knows the neighbors!

2008-10-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

We had just gotten the kids off to school when Josh said, "I'd like to take you to see something." He had a sort of smirk on his face that got me wondering. We jumped in the car and he headed off in the direction of Bizovik; the village we've been praying about. He drove past "our" house to a different part of town and wound his way towards a piece of property that we had looked at 2 years ago.

I got a sick feeling in my stomach. This parcel had been our "first crush". It was adorably situated with a little stream running just down the back of the property line, pushed up against the Golovec forest with another vacant lot next to it giving it a pristine and quiet atmosphere. We had decided to make an offer and see what would happen when we learned it'd already sold 2 days and earlier and we'd missed our dream spot.

Was he taking me to see how cute the cottage was that the new owners had built? We had been so dissappointed but we told God we believed that he was doing this in our best interest and that even though we believed that location would have been best for us he must know that it was not. And so two years ago we thanked him for protecting us, chose to believe him and started looking again.

We turned the corner and I could hardly recognize the land. The foundation of a house was started on the parcel we had considered but the immediate attention getter were 2 giant structures on the previously vacant lot. The neighbor had built apartment buildings! They weren't even finished and you felt squeezed in just standing on the street! A giant cement wall seperated the property from the river bed to prevent erosion and actually the stream was now enclosed in a cement pipe!

We drove away from there light hearted and praising God! Not only did he know best, he protected us from getting what we wanted! We thanked him again as we did 2 years ago but this time with more enthusiasm. Today it is reminding me that we can trust him to protect us in regard to this new place we are considering. We're depending on him to move things forward or shut it down completely!

Look who is staying for dinner!

2008-09-04T04:02:00.000-07:00

After we'd been home for a couple of days Josh was on the computer and was checking into our ministry accounts. We'd traveled around this summer sharing stories of what God is doing in Slovenia and in the lives of many people who have become dear to us these past 7 years. We also shared personally about our longing for a home. A place to really put down roots as people who aren't temporarily living here. And a place where we could take on guests, teammates and others who find themselves in need of housing.

When Josh checked into the new account set aside for our home he said, "Well, no money in that account yet." I felt a wave of discouragement. Blaming it on jet lag I told him I was headed to bed. I couldn't stop the thoughts of "We'll never have a home here." And decided to read my bible a bit as a distraction. I turned once again to the feeding of the 5,000. It's such a familiar story but in the last 6 months the Lord has used it repeatedly to remind me that he provides however he sees fit.

This time as I read I thought.. You know Lord, if I'd have been there on that day I don't think I would have stayed until dinner time. I could just see myself around 3pm saying to my family, "Listen. It'll be dinner time soon and there's no way they can feed all these people. Let's leave now and head home for dinner, or to a shop to get something so we won't be hungry." And I'd have missed the miraculous feeding.

Once again, I had to say, 'Lord, you haven't promised me a house but you have promised to provide. Help me stay until dinner time and not hurry myself and my family away for fear of being hungry."

The next day we were sitting around visiting with friends when Josh's mom called. She'd been to lunch with some ladies and one woman walked up to her. She said, "I forgot to send this in May but I wanted to show this to you."

It was a check to go towards our home for $18,000!
I think dinner time may be sooner than I thought!

2008-05-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

The Hope
We’ve lived in Slovenia now for 7 years. During this time the Lord has provided a great rental house. There were a couple of reasons we felt led to rent for these first years instead of purchasing. One was that it gave us the flexibility to adapt as we discovered where would be our most strategic investment in the national ministry. The other reason was that the costs seemed prohibitive in the capital city. 7 years on and prices haven’t dropped, but we are convinced that this is the best city for us to minister in and the best hub for a national movement. As the ministry has grown we’ve found an increasing desire to not be just visitors here, but to establish a more permanent living situation where we will be better equipped to lead our expanding team and minister to Slovenia.
We’ve been looking aggressively for 3 years for affordable housing or property. We’ve just never found anything in our price range. Because Ljubljana is a capital city, the prices are similar to N.Y. City or L.A. but we have an Idaho paycheck. Recently we found a house that will be for sale later and is significantly below market prices. It is still out of our reach – especially because of the low dollar, but we feel the Lord is calling us to step forward in faith and think creatively.

The House
For 5 years Kristi has been praying that we would someday be able to live in Bizovik, a small village attached to Ljubljana. This house is in Bizovik and sits in an amazing location with a great view and is easily accessible to students. It has 4 bedrooms for the six of us and a small apartment in the basement in lieu of a garage. It is in need of fairly extensive interior remodeling and is selling for 300,000 euros. I know that sounds like a crazy amount of money, but there is a smaller house 1 block away, in a bad location, selling for 680,000 Euros. (And in our search we’ve found the latter to be the norm. So, for Ljubljana this house that we're looking at is an outstanding deal.) We anticipate it will take ca 50,000 euros to remodel and finish much of the house. Many parts of the house were never completed and the present kitchen is about the size of my car. You can look further down the blog to see the floor plan and plans for remodeling.

(House Prices in Ljubljana)

The Financial Plan
Right now the US dollar is worth only 0.63 Euro cents. One of our plans is to mitigate the effect of the low dollar by borrowing between 60-75% of the money in Euros. If and when the dollar strengthens we will refinance the loan in dollars. This allows us to lock in the exchange rate when conditions are more favorable. Part of the down-payment we can pay from our savings, the rest we are going to need to somehow raise. This could come through someone wanting to invest in the project or through donations. The Josiah Venture board wants to support the longevity of missionaries on the field and has approved a way for people to give towards missionary housing without any administration fees being taken out of the gift. This money will come to us as salary and will be taxed, but the donor receives a tax deduction for the gift. If you, or anyone you know, want to be a part of the project, you can contact us or JV at http://www.josiahventure.com/

The Apartment
One of the things that really excites us about this house is the possibility of having a small separate apartment within the house. Right now we are leading a team of 16 missionaries and local nationals. In the next couple of years we anticipate adding at least 12 more to that number. This will spread our team farther around the country and increase our need to care for team members in our home. Even as I write this, one of our couples is living with us as they prepare to open a new work in a different city. We estimate that up to ¼ of the year we have people living with us.
There is another need that has emerged during our time here. We have found that many of our new believers experience strong opposition and persecution at home for their faith. Several, in the last year, have been threatened and even kicked out of their homes for their faith. We would love to have a place to offer to some of these students during these times of crisis.

Remodeling Plan
(More to come... Check back later)

The View

The Present Kitchen - We'll make this the laundry room.

The upstairs bathroom