Today I’m going to tell you a tragic story. But don’t be scared. It ends well. Really well, actually. But it’s still pretty tragic.
Here goes.
It’s the wee hours of Easter morning. The sound of water wakes you up. Weird. You get out of bed to find that your bathroom is filling with water. Downstairs on the main level, water is raining through the fire alarm hookup in the ceiling. It’s everywhere and starting to seep through the drywall. Obviously, you shut the water off–but things are already out of hand. The ceiling bows and eventually caves. Water is standing all over your new floor and the furniture. Slowly it drains through the floor vents in to the basement where it proceeds to ruin your freshly hung drywall and soak loads of things you had in storage. The damage reaches from the culprit bathroom upstairs, through the hall and carpet on the stairs…through the living room, part of the kitchen and most of the basement.
It’s crazy, but it’s true. It happened to Katie and Sam. But as I said, it ends happily and the journey from flood to finished is a great testament to the body of Christ. But first, meet Sam and Katie.
This is Sam and Katie. They are super fun and awesome. Pretty much as soon as I met these two during the incredible summer of 2013 I knew that I loved them and wanted to be friends. Maybe it was the way they eagerly consumed the bread sticks I’d made for dinner and had no qualms about carbs. Maybe it was that they are quirky in a way that I totally dig. Or their vast Biblical knowledge and passion for serving youth–hey me too! Regardless of what initially told me deep inside that we’d be friends…I was right. We did become friends. And I’m so glad. I’m so glad for these two and the hours we’ve spent serving together, playing games, carving pumpkin carving, and making gingerbread houses. I always say…”It’s fun to have fun, but you’ve gotta know how.” And these two definitely know how. {As you can see from the images above.}
Okay…here’s a more professional image. And a couple more facts. Sam is our church‘s youth pastor. Katie has a day job that I don’t understand…and also owns a WAY COOL singing telegram business. {Told you they are awesome.}
And just to prove that we really are friends…here’s some photographic evidence. This is Katie and me–in the dorkiest helmets we could find–going horseback riding; and Derek with them at the annual pumpkin carve.
Just weeks before the big indoor flood {the root cause was traced back to an issue with the toilet–but I don’t have all the details, since I was home asleep at the time of the crime} Katie and Sam took me out for Applebee’s half-price-apps to discuss hiring me to finish up a few projects and do some decorating at their home.
Since they’d moved in {about a year ago now} they’d done some home improvement, but were looking for a savvy DIY-er with time on her hands to finish the job. They’d painted and installed some cute paneling and put in new flooring. They asked if I’d finish up the odds and ends of previous projects and spend some time pretty-ing and homey-ing it up for them.
At the time Derek was gone, already living on the Surface of the Sun {NM} and I was still in Practically Canada waiting for our house sale to close. I was fresh out of projects, no longer working, and going a little stir crazy. It was a match made in heaven.
After the flood, I was still up to help…but the project was now on a much larger scale. {Which was so fun for me–but a huge bummer for them.} Here’s a few photos from the house.
The photos above are from the living room on the main level of the home and a couple of the basement {because I was confused when I made the collage.} The bathroom that caused the flood is directly above the half bath on this floor. As you can see, the drywall had to be torn out from the ceiling and some walls.
The walls that were only cut away half way up the floor are in the basement. The yellow walls are in the living room {looking toward the front of the house and away from the half bath.}
The house was cleaned up and sanitized by Servpro. And as the Lord would have it, a friend and fellow youth group volunteer works there. The drywall was installed by our church’s tech director, Brandon {who does drywall professionally–and about a million other things on the side. Seriously, he’s amazingly talented in everything from sound boards to woodworking and plumbing.}
See? I told you. The family of Christ working together.
When I arrived on the scene the drywall was up and our fist order of business was getting the upstairs bathroom back to working order so Katie and Sam could start living at home again. Second order of business? Picking paint colors {see the swatches?}
But we’ll get to all that later. For now I think that’s enough. I’m so very sorry that this happened, but I’m so very grateful that I had something so in depth to fill my final months in Minot…not to mention that I saw Sam and Katie just about every day, since I was at their house every day.
I learned a few new skills {you know I love that} and I sharpened a few others. And {my favorite} I had the honor of turning a house into something better than a building. It’s cliche to say that I love turning houses in to homes. But it’s true. There is nothing I love more than creating a space where people can feel totally comfortable and secure. A place they love spending time and love coming back to. A place that they like taking photos in and are proud to invite others in to. A place that is lived in and tells a story about the people who reside there. I love it. And I’m so happy to have been able to work a little magic {okay, a lot of magic} for people who are so very dear to me.
Spoiler. You won’t believe how amazing it turned out. I won’t show you the whole thing…but here is one more photo–to prove that this really, really does end happily, beautifully, and cozily. {This is in the living room!! Who is wanting to steal that couch?!}
