Building Oak Haven – Rocked it

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Jill English Johnston

Rocked

JDR Construction finished up the exterior masonry, both our stucco and our rock. We love how it all came together. As the masons hung the rock we could tell Chunks of flint filled the layer from where our rock was cut. It gives us an authentic feel for the local area (chunks of flint can be found all over our property). Fry Roofing also finished up the last details of the roof.

Camping

We’re now living the camper life until the house is finished. There are  some challenges, but we’ve spent plenty of time in in the camper thanks to many trips to Pennsylvania. The camper creates book ends to our time in Schertz. We lived in it when we were house hunting and waiting to close and now Here we are, living in it once again

Come on in!

Last week we finished packing out the final bit of the house on Mountain Brook. We saved a few things until Friday (like the rug, TV/DVD player and folding table and chairs), because on Thursday evening we hosted our community group for the last time in our Schertz home. What an amazing 5 1/2 years. The house has been an awesome blessing filled with incredible friends who have prayed with us, worshiped with us, studied with us and most importantly shared their lives with us. I know our new home promises more blessings to come. So glad we can continue to worship and share our lives with many of the families. 

Over the weekend, while Jill was away at a women’s leadership retreat, Jon hosted family at the construction site, including his brother Jim, in town for a conference, and his Uncle Charlie and Aunt Michael Anne who are visiting as well. They had a picnic on the back patio. Thank you Uncle Charlie for your tips on staining our cabinets and doors. You’re welcome to come back and visit again in a few weeks when the cabinets are delivered. 😉

Looks like ice/snow formations

Boerne Construction Spray Foam sprayed out the house with foam insulation. They had a few issues with equipment along the way, but we now have a very climate controlled home. For a little extra, they also sprayed out the garage.

Love the imagery

   I took a picture in the attic and it revealed this picture. God’s Word Lies in our foundation and fills our framework and now we have the reminder of the cross above us.

Ready to hang

Unique Drywall delivered the sheet rock. They are supposed to start this week, hanging, taping, floating and texturing (monterey drag).  Before we know it, we’ll be breaking out the paint rollers and brushes and getting to work. 

 Grace & Peace

 

Posted in Hill Country Living | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Building Oak Haven – Sold!

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Jill English Johnston

It’s been another busy week. Have I been saying that a lot?

On Tuesday we closed on our current house. 15 days after listing. Amazing.

Definitely a God thing.  Especially since the new buyers generously let us stay until the 31st to finish moving.  We spent the week packing up the rest of the boxes and I spent hours on the internet and the phone setting up our forwarding address.

On Saturday, Jon’s dad, brother, two of the guys from his youth group, and one of the guys from our community group all came over to help us pack out our furniture and move it to our storage units. A sweet friend of mine also came over and helped me move the rest of my plants to our new home.

Our back patio

The stucco guys from JDR finished our stucco this week. Sherwin Williams Craftsman Brown with a lace pattern. I love how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

our roof going up

The roofers from Fry Roofing were also hard at work and we now have a shingled roof. Oakridge brownwood.

 

 

 

 

 

Our rock was delivered by Brookstone Ranch and will hopefully be installed this next week. It looks grey to me right now, but I’ve been assured it will have some nice red, brown, and cream colors under the layers of dust.

 

 

 

 

This week, we’ll move into our camper, where we’ll stay until the house is finished. It’s small, but its been home before. We’ve stayed in it frequently when visiting family in Pennsylvania and also when we were house hunting when we first moved to Texas back in 2011. Our little dog, Wickie, is a bit concerned with all the activity. He has only known the house we are moving out of.  Thankfully, he has made many road trips with us and is quite comfortable in the camper. Once we get settled, I know he’ll be fine. He’s happy to be wherever we are. Isn’t that what home is all about?

Grace & Peace

Posted in Hill Country Living | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Building Oak Haven – exterior

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Jill English Johnston

As we pack up our current home and wait for the closing, the outside work continues on our new home. Juan from UBuild It continues to keep us on track and provide valuable guidance.

Paul Swoyer installed our septic system and sprinklers and Bell Hdyro Gas set our propane tank in place.

patio doors

84 Lumber delivered and installed our exterior doors, along with the frames for our pocket doors. The front door is currently a construction door, to keep the side lites and glass from being damaged. They will be installed toward the end of the construction process. Both the front door and back patio doors are knotty alder. I love the wood and can’t wait to see how they look when they’re finished.

patio ceiling

Fernando Delgado and his team painted our porch and patio ceilings along with our sofit and facia (Sherwin Williams Fresco Cream) and stained our patio posts and beams (Sherwin Williams Cider Mill). The light ceilings brighten up the area and the beams add rich texture.

 

prep for stucco

stucco going up

JDR Construction prepared the exterior walls with wire mesh and began applying stucco. They will complete it with a lace stucco texture and Sherwin Williams Craftsman Brown paint.

Stone

We also made a quick trip to select our rock from Brook Stone Ranch. The rock will cover the front of the house and also our fireplace and kitchen bar. We’ve chosen Palamino Irregular, a nice blend of reds, browns and creams.

 

Looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. Our excitement and anticipation continues to grow as we spend more and more time at Oak Haven.

Grace & Peace

Posted in Hill Country Living | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

First Verse, a journey through the Psalms: Psalm 67

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Jill English Johnston

God, be gracious to us, and bless us.  May he make his face shine toward us. (selah)

Psalm 67:1 (CJB)

This last week has been quite cloudy, reminding me of the predominately cloudy days of my childhood, growing up near the coast of Lake Erie. A place that gets lake effect snow in the winter often gets lake effect clouds throughout the year.

I love the sun and when she hides for too long, I find myself becoming irritable. Finally, after yet another overcast and foggy morning, the clouds began to break up and the sun broke through. My spirits lifted, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face.

Darkness, shadows and sufferings can create clouds in the skies of our hearts and minds. Even busyness and day to day routines can take on the overcast of grey clouds. The Psalmist calls out for the Lord to shine his face toward us, to break through and allow the warmth of his light, life and love to shine over us.

If I had been inside or not paying attention when the skies cleared, I may have missed it. In the same way, if I am not positioning myself or waiting expectantly, I may miss out on the Lord’s face shining toward me.

Each morning, when I rise, along with checking the forecast, I should also be opening up God’s word and allowing it to shine in the dark places of my heart, to bring hope in the suffering and shadows and to fill my daily routines with joy.

Pleasing is the warmth of the sun on my face, more pleasing still is the warmth of the Lord’s smile on me.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for turning your face toward me and shining on me. Give me a  seeking and expectant heart that I may turn my face heavenward toward you. 

Grace and Peace

Posted in Abundant Living | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Building Oak Haven – spring break

Posted on March 12, 2017 by Jill English Johnston

Our youngest son spent spring break a bit differently than he probably anticipated. He came home looking forward to relaxing and he did get the chance to rest over the weekend. But on Monday and Tuesday we woke up early and “staged” the house for showing, then vacated to allow for potential buyers to tour throughout the day and into the evening.

The work paid off and on Tuesday afternoon we received word we had a good offer. In fact, by Tuesday evening, our realtor had put together a list of offers we received. Wednesday morning, much to our son’s delight, we accepted one of the offers and cancelled all future scheduled showing appointments.

We had an additional request for our son. During the rest of the week he helped to pack out his bedroom and before he left, turn over his house key. Next time he comes home to visit, it won’t be in this house. He’s an easy going young man, so he’s not troubled by the idea. When I asked how he felt about it, he shrugged and said we’ve moved before.

Thankfully, due to our home stager, we’ve had a head start on packing and moving things to the storage units we’ve rented. We close in a couple of weeks and have to move out by the end of the month. We plan to stay in our camper while the house is finished (some of the work we plan to do ourselves).

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past week, Paul Swoyer dug out the hole for our septic and our gas. Unfortunately, the septic hole and future trenching for the “stinklers” will disturb and disrupt my prayer path and I’ll need to make some repairs.

Our to-do list continues to grow as we juggle the tasks of moving out and the increasing work of the new house. Have I mentioned before how grateful I am for Sundays? In the midst of the busyness, it’s good to stop, rest and catch our breaths.

Grace & Peace

Posted in Hill Country Living | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment