2016 in Review

Let's see. In January Bob and I closed on a large double wide sitting on 10 acres that we purchased from HUD. It was a total fixer upper so we played Chip and Jojo Gaines. I tell people all the time "Yes we have the courage to take on a fixer upper". Quite frankly we did it without a large crew. With the exception of the exterior work and floor covering and drywall textural, we did everything ourselves (oh and some friends helped us paint some). But, all the rest was done completely by us---and mostly Bob. It took 6 months. 90% of the subfloor needed replaced. Insulation under floor. Pretty much all the plumbing had to be re-done, and also the electrical wiring. It was a lot of work! It is not perfect but it is home. Living in a two room apartment for 20 months was hard but we made it work. (we were living in the church's mission apartment inside the church) It had no windows. Also, during the rehab process, I had a neck injury. I found out I have a bulging c5 disk and a ruptured c6 disk. I tried chiropractic first and  it helped but only so much. He sent me to see a surgeon and he had me do neck traction instead of surgery. It helped the pain and numbness and tingling. The surgeon actually gave me permission not to do any household chores! I laughed and told him that was not likely to happen. He did say that the chores would aggravate the problem areas but I am not able to pay for someone to come in and do them for me, and would not be comfortable with that anyway. I must do traction at least three times a week to keep my neck in repair. 

We got to go to both of our granddaughter's, Addelyn and Lucy's, first birthdays. Also, got told each of them will become big sisters and we are now awaiting the arrival of Ronan (Feb.) and Emberly (May) this year. 

Bob and I learned a lot about hiring staff for help in the ministry. (I won't discuss the details of this) 

Bob got to quit his full time job as a lineman which was 50 hours a week back in March. (BTW, we did the work on the house while he held that job the first three months and he was the pastor of a church). He is working also now as a bus driver for the local school district. 

I worked hard at getting healthier over the year. You can see other posts labeled "health journey" for more information. I plan to continue this journey into this year.

I also this past fall had a cancer scare. I had found a lump in my breast and had to have extensive testing. It was a fairly long process before I got a clean bill of health but the scare for me was very real and helped me to focus on some things I needed to in my own mind. 

I think that covers the high notes. It was a jam packed, extremely busy year but it seems like every year is this way.