Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Kitchen Renovation

One of the hardest things about being 6'1" and 5'10" and living in a country where the average height for males is 5'5" and females 5'0" is coking in a kitchen built for someone who is 5' tall. Bent over washing, cutting, preparing and cooking brings about a lot of back pain which is why when we moved here for longterm I had a kitchen renovation at the top of my list.

We originally planned to stay in one apartment for 6 months while we found another that had only the "shell" of it complete so that we could alleviate the issues of trying to change what was already there. Even knowing that designing everything would be a whole lot of stress. Luckily, day 1 here we were meeting our landlord to pay the 6 months rent and she asked us what she could do to get us to live in her apartment longer. Because Americans are known for taking good care of their homes and she had experienced that with her previous renters, she was willing to do almost anything to keep us around.

So, we made our list:
1. THE KITCHEN! It's countertops hit us both about mid thigh and there was hardly any storage. We had purchased a desk and used it to bring in some drawers and a storage area for our oven but that was about all the storage we had.
2. Paint the apartment! All the walls were white and we asked if she would let us paint it and told her we would pay for everything involved.
3. Bathroom changes. Our guest bathroom's shower head is above the toilet and our toilets don't hold any water in them. We also have low sinks.

She talked to her husband and agreed on the painting and kitchen and said she'd look into bathroom issues in the future. That was not as big of an issue to us and so we agreed and signed a 3 year contract to stay here and make it our home long term. I was so excited! Now I could start hanging pictures and not thinking about how everything has to be packed back up in 6 months because now it's our home for good!

She jumped on the kitchen renovations and had someone come measure and draw our design 2 days later. We were so excited and honored that she asked for our input. Of course our only Americanish option was white cabinets and we chose the only stainless steel countertop that didn't have flowers or polka dots on it. We ran some paint colors by her and bought our paint to paint before the kitchen renovation.



12 days later we had our dining room and living area painting complete and it was renovation day!!! We both rescheduled our classes for the day and anxiously awaited with Harrison's friend Caleb. 2 pm was the set time and our landlord showed up with her husband at 2 excited for the new kitchen and shocked by the paint. She literally told us 5 times that she loved it and couldn't believe we had painted it ourselves so quickly! We waited and waited and finally 2 1/2 hours late the kitchen renovation team arrived.



They said it would take 2 hours and I couldn't believe it so I had my timer app on my iphone going just to see how long it would take. The demolition part took only 20 minutes and I was so shocked, they were so fast. They installed the cabinets and everything was going smoothly until they realized the oven wouldn't fit in the hole. They hadn't taken into account where along the wall in the kitchen it would be and because of the gas pipe it couldn't go all the way in and stuck out about 3 inches.




Now in America we would probably send back the cabinets and have them rearrange the order of things to move the oven but here our friends were thinking on their feet and not wanting to come back another day. So, they took the cabinet doors off another area and put the oven there. Using a spare door that they cut in pieces they framed the oven, covering the gap between the oven and walls. They then cut some off of one of the doors to make the two cabinet doors fit where the oven was supposed to be.


It was impressive how they were able to make it work but it also slowed them down a bit from the quick demolition and start of the installation. They cut the stainless steel there in the kitchen and out in our stairwell with sparks flying and an oxygen tank blowing oxygen into the room because of all of the strong fumes. It was a sight to be seen that's for sure and surprisingly it was all still complete in just 3 1/2 hours (cleanup and all).

 Before and after.... the best way to tell the difference is in the window.

We are so excited to now have our counters at a decent height and tons of storage and our favorite yellow desk still fits in just fine!


Now, back to more decorating and our DIY furniture projects. Stay tuned for more....

Monday, August 19, 2013

Our first DIY!

So we have moved across the ocean to east asia and we can update you more on the moving and settling-in process. But first, I (harrison) want to tell you about a little DIY project we did this week. While out shopping for some furniture for our 9th floor apartment at the used furniture market, Lauren found this gem of a desk. This yellow, rustic-y, vintage-looking home decoration caught Lauren's eye and there was no turning back. It didn't hurt that it was only about $25 USD (US dollars).


We got it home, along with our other items we purchased and put it in the corner of the living room until Lauren figured out exactly where she wanted to put it.

A few months ago, we had some other american friends who were moving and needed to sell their stuff. We were able to purchase their (nearly) american sized oven which is like gold in these parts for women who love to cook. Most ovens here are the size of a toaster oven or a small microwave.

Well, the large oven was sitting in its place, on the floor in the kitchen for lack of counter space and that's when it hit Lauren. "Why don't we move the desk into the kitchen to give us more counter space and put the oven in the hole (where the chair usually goes)?" So she got our her measuring tape and measured... and wouldn't you know it, the desk was about 4 inches too short.

Well, after being inspired by (and I'm ashamed to say it) Pinterest and other blogs like www.ana-white.com I wanted to build/create some way for Lauren to have what she wanted there in the kitchen and me feel like a man in the process.

I went out to this pile of old junk that the builders and movers throw their scraps into and found some pieces of wood that would be perfect to use to elevate the desk, after some work. Lauren and I put our heads together and brainstormed what we wanted to do then I went out in search of somebody with some power tools.

I found him.


After he watched me measure out what I wanted and drew lines for him to cut, he got to work cutting. He finished cutting the wood into strips for me then we worked together hammering nails into the blocks to keep them together. (all of this service cost me $9USD!) I hoped that this would be what we needed.


When I got home, Lauren was waiting eagerly to try them out. And guess what...Perfection! the blocks gave us enough room to slide that oven right in there.




After 2.5 hours of digging through a scrap pile, brainstorming, measuring, cutting and nailing, now the oven has a home and Lauren has more counter space and drawers (which she had none of before the desk).





Friday, June 28, 2013

Transitions and farewells

I feel like this past year has been a huge transition year for us, and even as hard as living in transition can be it has been such a great year growing together and being around family for a year. Even though we've spent most of our year living on the road and out of a suitcase, I am beyond thankful for what this year gave us, especially with family.
My first niece Evelyn (Kalee and Dillon's first) was born 6 weeks after I arrived in East Asia, my first year there. A super early comer she was as she wasn't due until mid December and came September 30. So, living overseas for two years, we didn't really know each other, other than by our skype dates and the summer I came home and held her nonstop. This year of being home has been such a blast with her. She started walking just in time to walk down the aisle for our wedding, we got to celebrate her 2nd birthday at the beach, and we spent many days with her playing on her new bike and pretend cooking eggs. (She has a fascination with eggs)


This year not only gave me time with Evelyn but also time with her sister, Collins, my second niece. She of course also came early but not quite as early as Evelyn. I remember getting the call while at a Bible study with some friends of ours in clayton and immediately getting on the computer booking my flight home to be there for it all. I didn't just get to be there when she entered the world, but I also got to spend about a week there in the hospital with her and kalee! I will never forget the joy of holding her in the nicu and getting to feed her each day. I know she doesn't really know much about me yet and her view of knowing me will be from Evelyn telling her about me and our Skype dates, but you just can't take away the joy and connection I have to her by being there and being a part of everything.


As hard as farewells are and are becoming for me here lately, they bring experiences that I don't think I would have ever intentionally had with these two girls if I wasn't leaving them for several years. Just last week, we went to stay with the Peaks before flying to Colorado and Kalee let us come take the girls out of daycare for the afternoon. Words can't express how fun it was to go sneak into Evelyn's room and pick her up from nap time. Now, her excitement was very limited when we drove off and left mama at work, haha. But, after about 10 minutes of screaming "ba ba" she fell back asleep and awoke very excited to see her larlar and shushu!


We spent the afternoon having tea parties, cooking in Evie's kitchen, dressing and undressing our dolls, pointing out colors, and just having fun together laughing and hugging. By far the best part of it all was after dinner when she crawled up on the couch beside me and we watched Mickey Mouse clubhouse on my computer for about 2 hours straight! That experience was a great farewell as my time with her from here on is more limited. I hope for more time of cuddling on the couch watching shows but if it doesn't get to happen again, I have a great memory to always remember with her.


Another great thing about my last year with Evelyn is that she is now becoming a phone talker where even when I would be in North Carolina sometimes and she would be staying at my parents house, she would call to talk. Most times it was just a hey and a I love you but about a month ago it was a conversation! She told me she was at her papa and hoddie's house and told me a few things she had done that day and that she loved me. Now talk about melting my heart! That was when I realized that my not being here with her for 3+ years isn't going to stop our relationship together. Even though I will be a world away from her she can talk to me and it will grow to be much longer than I love you! We can still watch Mickey Mouse together one day, maybe not laying on the couch together but as she grows more and more she can tell me more and more about her new school and new home in Tennessee and most importantly she can tell Collins about larlar and shushu! I long for the day when she is older and we might just be able to convince her mama and daddy to let her come spend her summer with us at camp larlar and shushu! What a joy that will be!
Now, as great as this farewell stage has been so far, I know that come the end of July it will be heartbreaking. We are excited to meet our first nephew and Mallory (my sister) and Ron's first child, Hudson, and to spend a week with him. But, we know of all the kids, he will have the least memories of who we are. So, as hard as it will be to say goodbye to someone we just met, we will trust The Lord he will not forget who we are through the years of Skype and phone calls and he will love us just as much as Evelyn and Collins do. We won't be there in person for his big milestones but we know we will be just as much a part of his life as everyone else around us. I am most definitely already extremely partial to him as his name is so great! And I pray for him that he will one day be known for great works for the kingdom much like the Hudson who went before him many years ago. I long to one day be able to tell him stories of Hudson Taylor's work for The Lord and to have him come experience the life he lived with us. Hudson Davis Kelley you are and will always be very special to me.


Thursday, June 6, 2013

13,000 miles of our life

So, we've been very MIA on the blog and so I figured the best way to show why would be a map of all of our travels these past 5 months. Halfway into mapping our travels I ran out of destinations on google maps so I had to improphize to show the journey just not how many times we took it or our stops in between points. Since Christmas we have put over 13,000 miles on our car and this is what that looks like....


So, now I think you will know why my blogging opportunities have been slim, ha. I will have to say that as much as I might have complained along the way from living "out of our car/suitcase" at times these past 5 months have been such a blast and incredible time, seeing the Lord work in incredible ways and growing closer to each other in our marriage.

No, I will not bore you with the details of each journey but I will share some highlights from these trips with you all....

While in Florida for the month of January and beginning of February we met some incredible friends who we are incredibly blessed to now have as a part of our lives. I love having friends who can relate completely to this stage of life that we are in now as they are living it too.


We got to celebrate our first Valentine's Day together as a couple by cooking some chinese food while back home in North Carolina and I got to experience the life of living in a state that gets SNOW! These you can read more about in previous blogs where I was better at sharing.

We got to visit Lenoir Rhyne and see the impact Harrison has had on the students there as he is a legend that lives on with many of the guys there. And, go to a wedding in Johnson City of one of those college friends!




We also got to visit Harrison's college roommate and wife in Knoxville,TN and spend a few days there with them. It was incredible to see how many people we met who were excited to hear about what we are doing in East Asia!

From Knoxville we returned to North Carolina to have the pleasure of the arrival of my mom and sister and 2 nieces for a youth spaghetti dinner fundraiser held for us at our church in Clayton... and man was that an incredible weekend! The youth have all become such a huge part of our lives and it was awesome being honored by them as they acted out a skit about us. And, we got to take my nieces to the Marbles museum in Raleigh which was an adventure for sure!


The weekend before Easter, we rushed to Alabama for the last few days of my "memaw's" life. Sitting by her bedside singing hymns as she prepared to meet the Lord and my Pawpaw in heaven was a memory I will always be thankful for the Lord blessing me with. She was such an incredible influence in my life as she most definitely spoiled me rotten!

Our wedding was at Memaw's house
While in the Alabama area the month of April we spent a lot of our time on the road. Visiting family and friends in Birmingham several times as well as Montgomery and Auburn.

We bought baby chicks for Easter that lived about 3 weeks until the dogs attacked one night
Celebrated the soon to be born Baby Kelley!
Got to spend lots of time with this cutie and on her new bke!
We also ventured to Louisiana to visit a church there to share and to get a mini one day vacation in New Orleans while on our way back to Alabama!


Then on to Nashville to meet with friends there and Harrison ran his first 1/2 marathon! I ran the mini marathon too. In the cold rain but it was lots of fun!

From Nashville we headed to Montgomery to celebrate my mom's birthday!


Then it was on to Dothan, AL then Destin, FL where we got to visit with our East Asia friends and see friends we had not seen in years!



After Destin we had a daycation with Kalee and Dillon and the girls at the Georgia aquarium and then at the braves game! Chop Chop!



 After the braves trip we were headed North stopping in Norcross, GA for a 3 day conference with our great friends from our life group in FL and many others!


Once back in North Carolina we spent Mother's Day at the beach with Harrison's parents!


And.... Harrison got his braces off!!!!


And then the packing-up-our-life week began as we packed or sold all of our belongings!


After the packing and selling was over we headed back down to Alabama for one of my best friends' wedding and some family time.


Thursday, February 28, 2013

Opportunity Cost

In economics class in college we learned about a term that economist use when studying how people make decisions. This term is opportunity cost, which is defined as "the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the next best alternative forgone (that is not chosen)." You could say that it's what you have to give up in order to get or do something else.


Twice a week, a group of men at our church, Hocutt Baptist in Clayton, NC get together for prayer, encouragement and accountability. Every Wednesday at 6am and Saturdays at 7:30am men gather in community to share prayer requests: hardships at work, struggles at home, loved ones with illnesses or people that we have bumped into throughout the week that are in need of the Gospel. Also shared are encouraging stories where we have seen the Lord work in our lives, answered prayers or revealed himself to us through His word that week or through a situation. These are times of great 
encouragement for me. 

 I am usually the youngest one there, with the least experience in marriage, no experience with children of my own and only a little experience in the working world. This was rarely the case growing up, where most of the time in my peer group I was usually the one who (at least appeared to) have it all together and was always ready to counsel others, but never needed help. But I have been learning over the past few years how broken I am and the more I open up about needing a) the Gospel and b) a community of believers (especially other men) around me to build me up and encourage me there is freedom in vulnerability. These men at the meetings who are elders, deacons grandfathers or new dads are willing to be honest about things that are hard in their lives and how they need advice, prayer and encouragement.
This has been a blessing for me to experience this community and the willingness of these men to share and let others into their lives. I have been reading a book by Crawford Loritts called Leadership as an Identity and the first section of the book is labeled "Brokenness" and he defines it as "a conscious, core awareness that you need God in all things" and he spends a third of the book on this subject. Randy Alcorn, another writer says that brokenness is "more than just periodic times of intense emotional experience, it's an ongoing sense of inadequacy." The more time I spend around these men at church in these prayer groups, the more I see brokenness in their lives and in my own, yet where that brokenness abounds, healing and salvation through the Gospel abounds all the more.



So for the men in these groups, on these Wednesday and Saturday mornings, they could probably choose to get an extra hour of sleep, an extra hour of SportsCenter or maybe knock out some some yard work around the house, but they choose to spend it communion with the Lord and other men and experience the Gospel in community. They have counted the costs and to them it is worth what they have to give up. And I am grateful to be a part of it.


 
 

Monday, February 18, 2013

Micah, my MVP!

Last night Lauren and I got to attend a basketball game between the Grizzlies and the Celtics. These weren't the two NBA teams but in the local Clayton rec league, they're just as serious. On Sunday, the ring bearer in our wedding's father told me about Micah's basketball game on Tuesday night. The were one of  four teams left and we wouldn't miss it! So we made arrangements to surprise him and attend the game. 



 When we showed up at the gym toting a bright green poster saying "Go Micah!" and sat down on the front row, Micah looked over and saw us and smiled and said "really?" We were excited about getting to watch him play.
 This was a win-or-go-home game so the stakes were as high as our nerves as we cheered on every made basket or blocked shot. The opposing team (the Celtics) shot a lot. They made a good deal of shots early and took the lead and held it basically the whole time, even at one point up double-digits.



 However, the Grizzlies came back and made it a nail-biter and pulled it to within one-point. They got a rebound off of the front end of a one-and-one and the coach called a timeout...with 1 second left. They in-bounded the ball with a heave to half court and the time expired by the time they got full control.

I was proud of Micah and enjoyed getting to watch him play!