It seems like forever since I've posted, but I promise to make up for it with this post if you read all the way to the end...

We moved into the house the last weekend in January, and have been working hard to finish settling in. It's coming along well and we love our new home more and more each day! The only downer is the longer work commute for me, but it's well worth it. Here are a few pics of our new digs:

Welcome!

This is the hand laid tile mosaic that our amazing tile man created based on a pic i found online

A view of the den from the front of the house - I'm so glad Rick wanted to tear down the center wall between the two smaller rooms!

Our dining room with view of the front yard (and my neighbors/in-laws' house across the street!)

My "play ground"  (smile) - It's amazing how much more fun a kitchen is when you can fit m ore than one person in it and don't have to pack everything into the cabinets like a jigsaw puzzle!

Guest Bath

Guest Bedroom

(Sorry, but no photos of the study yet - it's still a bit of a tornado...you'll just have to come and visit to see it in person once we've finished getting everything in its place!)

Master Bedroom

Master Bath - I'm very proud to report that I hung the towel bar and tissue holder (blue boxes on top of toilet) last weekend...and they're still hanging!!!  (the guest bathroom, sadly, had an entirely different outcome)

We're so thankful to finally be in the neighborhood with so much of our family. And we recently learned of something new to be thankful for - the Lord has said "yes" to so many requests for a child. That's right, we're havin' a baby, y'all!!!  We'll go to the doc for an ultrasound next week to detect the precious heartbeat (wow!). I'm feeling remarkably well so far, despite a few mildly irritating symptoms like extreme thirst (who knew?)...I have felt generally "icky"  the past couple of days and I'm praying it doesn't develop into dreaded nausea (please, Lord).

So that's the update on the Nortons...we'll have a home computer pretty soon so maybe, just maybe I'll get back to posting more regularly?

Y'all!!  We're really getting close. We've even talked about tentative move in dates in just a couple of weeks!

This will probably be the last post of "in progress" pics...weeellll, okay, I might just maybe be too tempted to take a shot of our new entertainment center being delivered on Friday and post it. but other than that, I'll make my next major photo post after move-in!

The big kitchen reveal - I uncovered the granite and travertine floors...Rick installed the cooktop and dishwasher...Richard plumbed the sink and faucet...and I added the little "chicken pox" dots to most surfaces in the house to let the painter know what to touch up:

I'm playing around with some ideas to cover the interior of this neato brick oven...this copper tile is the winner so far:

Wood, glorious wood!  We're so happy we took the plunge and chose wood floors in the front of the house to match the existing wood in the bedrooms:

More wood and the cheapest chandelier ev-er! (not sure why this photo rotated when I uploaded it?)  Thanks to so many lovely folks who gave PB gift cards for our wedding, I was able to purchase this little gem for $30. That's right, folks, 3-0. We were immensely thankful and overwhelmed by our wedding gifts when we first received them, and we're thankful all over again now that we're cashing in many of our gift cards:

Tile tub surround in guest bath (in progress). Did you know you can't use standard cleaning products on travertine?  I didn't until I overheard an employee at the tile store telling another customer, at which point I promptly stepped away from the natural stone section and selected a very nice and very cost-effective ceramic for the surround. It was actually a great match to the travertine we have on the floors and it saved my hubby a few bucks (you're welcome, love):

I guess that's it. It has been so much fun to watch the transition from the house's original state. Rick and I are thankful to the Lord for it, but much more thankful for His presence that will make this house a peaceful, loving home.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of thanks and full of family and full of food and just plain full - it was great. But Christmas is my fav, and I'm loving the season, even if it did seem to just appear out of nowhere this year. I think the house remodel has kept us sort of tied up mentally and physically lately and I feel like I'm chronically a page behind on the calendar! Still, Christ has come! and that's way more exciting and important that how far behind I am on gift-buying and the fact that all my Christmas stuff is packed away awaiting the move and all the other lesser stuff.

I was touched by the childlike faith of a prayer request on our church's weekly email, submitted by a 9 year-old:

"I would like to pray that the whole world has a Merry Christmas."

Isn't that just precious? I thought about it for a while and decided it was also challenging. I think in some ways I've settled for the Christians having a "Merry Christmas" and everyone else having a "Happy Holiday." But today I prayed that the whole world would have at least a single moment this Christmas season when they worshipped our King. That's a hefty request, I realize - but the Lord himself says in Isaiah 44:6,

"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts : 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.'"

Come let us worship and bow down...