As I wrote in my previous post (my first one since having Chrislyn), I mentioned that I sometimes worked on this blog when I needed a distraction or an escape from the sadness. 🙃
That's what today's post is. I’m writing this the day before you’re reading it, officially 6 weeks postpartum and since delivering our baby girl. (Can I just say last night was my first night in 9 months that I didn’t have to give myself a shot in the stomach??)
I started this whole blog during Shane's deployment as a reason to encourage myself to stay positive and focused on the joys that are present amidst all the difficulty, so I guess today's post just exemplifies that. It’s the only way to keep on surviving.
As many of you know, Shane is my handyman-by-hobby husband. He grew up learning how to build and fix many things, but since we've been married, he's taken on a bunch of new projects- many of which he figures out from trial and error or from YouTubing. He has a whole garage full of tools and supplies, so he's usually able to make his latest idea/project work.
Since we've been married, we had been using the little two-person table that I had in my Houston apartment as our kitchen table. It worked well for us; however, whenever we had guests over... that was another story. We knew we needed to upgrade our kitchen table for more seating, but it wasn't one of our most pressing things on our to-do list.
Back when we were in North Carolina, our friends gave us their kitchen table (and seating for it) when they upgraded. Shane decided to work his magic on this table to make it ours and to more seamlessly fit with our decor style and other furniture. (The friends that gave it to us are the friends that recently moved down the street, so they get to now enjoy their refinished kitchen table that had brought them lots of family memories previously.)
This was the table and chairs before. It also came with a bench.
Shane started working on it in North Carolina, and we had many trips to Lowe's together, but he didn't get to make too much progress before it was time to pack up and move to Virginia. Since moving to Virginia, we were busy getting the rest of the house set up and getting ready for baby, so this project got put to the back burner.
A few months before having Chrislyn, Shane gradually started working on it again. Once again, it got somewhat put to the backburner as Shane's focus became fixing up his dresser for the baby...with the strict timeline I was giving him! However, after having Chrislyn and not needing the dresser urgently finished anymore, Shane needed to work through some of his grief by being alone and by being busy. So, Shane devoted some time in the past few weeks to working on the kitchen table and chairs again.
All that to say, it was a long time coming, but Shane finally finished both the kitchen table and seating for it...and it was worth the wait! We both absolutely love it. It took a LOT of trial and error with finding the exact color stain that we wanted, but he did it!
And...here it is all after Shane worked his magic!
I'm not sure pictures really do it justice. The details and the grains of the wood are where it really stands out. Here it is pictured with our old chairs before the new ones were done.
I have to give Shane the credit for setting out the chargers and cloth napkins too, hah! He wasn't happy until his entire kitchen table vision was complete. I've been rubbing off on him a bit too much, I think. 😉
Thanks for letting me show off Shane's work today and for letting me share a piece that helps to make our house a home. As the two of us sit at this table for dinners together, we comment on how we can't wait to fill up the chairs with earthly kids of ours. Please keep that in your prayers and hopes for us.
Until you come to eat at our table, sending love from us to you 💛
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