Not going to lie... I'm freaking out over budget right now. I know that I am selling one of the gallons of paint I bought and ideally after this weekend the extra pipe fittings and millions of shut off values that are extra can go back which will take my renovations/new home budget back under where it is. But we also need to get pad for the flooring, a door at least a bit more paint,   and who the heck knows what else lurks that I may need.
So without the return of extra plumbing parts to date I have spent $1,929.17.  This is including new dishes, dish drainer, mop, cleaning supplies, etc.  Again, I know at this point there is still more paint to be bought and the under pad for the laminant and a door (which I'm hoping we can pick up from the restore.  I learned there is one in Auburn Hills and Novi and even Ann Arbor. All of which aren't too bad distance wise.  If I take out the  dishes and stuff that are just household things I would have had to buy the total so far is $1673.60 which is still reasonable.... especially given the work we've done.

Of course maybe I could have skipped that beautiful cabinet.  But really its a beautiful piece and will be used and loved dearly.   I could have skippd my bike cups but again I was feeling a bit blue and overwhelmed and they spoke to me. I need a space for my kids and I that speaks to us, both as a family and as individuals.    Fingers crossed no more need for big speeding.

I now have the valances up in Bean's "science" theme room.  She picked the fabric.
 about this time I was like WOAH that ceiling really is nasty colored... it wasn't washing clean either. Not that you can really wash that stuff.  So now what?

    no worries to be sure.. I had an idea. I'm sure by now my kids both groan when I say that!  But that 5 gallon of white paint ws coming in handy to be sure.  And yup you guessed it right if you thought "why not paint it?".  so while its not perfect its a million times better than it was. 

only major work left in her room at this point  is to get the broken glass out of the window pane,  flooring down and frame out the mirror.    

So in order to stretch my budget for things I need for the new place I joined lots of facebook swap groups.  This amazing cabinest came up and I jumped on it.  Thank you to my friend who picked it up on his way into town and delivered it to me.  Its TALL .. almost to my ceilings and big!! But OMG I love it and intend to put it in the bike/craft room to hold fabric =) 

a few years back K and I were talking about finding a little cottage that we could run off too from time to time for alone time.   So I found these plates and a big bowl that matches at an estate sale.   They make me smile!  I've never been able to use them before because, well a variety of circumstances, and now I can! and honestly I still love them and smile using them. 

ahhh the music theme room. I asked friends if anyone had any instruments laying around that i could use to create things out of and I was given this gem. Its an old MSU marching band sousaphone. My hope is to turn it into a nightstand for the boy.  Fingers crossed. To be honest what I thought I was getting was actually a baritone... but nope its a  tuba.   Still excited about it! 

And the horrors of the wallpaper continue.. this lovely number is hidden in the backs of my kitchen cupboards.   Im just not even sure. At this point honestly I'm not going to worry about it.  Also my amazing neighbor helped me knock out a shelf in this little cupboard because before really the cupboard didn't do much for me. It was more of a space eater than anything else.  Now my toaster fits on the bottom and my cereal keeper boxes fit perfectly on the upper shelf.  So happy.

So these are our main dishes I bought.  The kids picked them out and they are pretty basic but we can jazz them up with cool placemats and that. =)

freaking stripped screws are the bain of my existance right now!  seriously!

  However,  my neighbor came over tonight to help me and he got all the hardware off all the cabinets for me.  I can't thank him enough!   I am hoping by the end of the week I will have the hinges all painted the red and the doors touched up and ready to go back on.  He also pointed out that the holes in the door aren't big enough for the hardware that has been on the. So when Im ready to rehang them all than he will make them so the handles are in properly.  I can't thank him enough.

Though seeing the doors all down again and seeing the painting on the edges and I guess I might as well do the insides too....  UGH i feel like I just took 2 HUGE steps backwards.

 he came over to help with the screw issue (freaking stripped screws!!!) and I was pulling down the molding that wasn't done properly (are we even surprised at this point??  ) and helped us learn the easiest and best way to remove the million nails used.    I'm so grateful! 

I picked up basically 1000 pounds of flooring!  yeah me! now to get the crew ready and able to lay it.  the time line is now officially gone =( my budget - for even the stress point- is on the verge of being toast.  Deep breaths,  it will be so cute when its done,  most of this is one time only things. 

yeah for new dishes and the first meal as a family in our new home.  I made chicken parmasan, pasta and some veggies. YUMMY!!!

so the Boy wants a music themed room....   off to pinterest I went for inspiration because he was really not liking or being able to find his peace yet.  The new noises "scared" him and I wanted him to have peace and a sense of ownership as well in our new home.   So we found this idea and he loved it. So I have been in cutting fabric strips and sewing... do you know how many strips I need?! OMG  but I'm slowly making some progress.   

The next thing was to find cool uses of things I had that again would make this more of a cottage type feel rather than a manufactured home.  So again in the pinterest vaults I dug around finding this picture...    and then created this

 the shelf was handcrafted by a relative and I love it.   =)  I have a few more jars- including an old candy jar to add to the top shelf.    Again my sense of peace in my home and about my future was coming back.

 oh those ugly little heavily coated with layers upon layers of painted handles.  I didn't know if my budget could handle buying 16 new handles.  I had been pricing them and after all the unexpected things I had to buy it just was to the point of what can we do to make them work.  So I had the stripper. I figured why not give it a shot... 

round one but they needed to lay flatter in it..... 

 this is the paint stuff that came off them as they laid flat....

they aren't too bad now that they aren't covered in nasty paint ... i could if needed live with them for a while until my budget would allow.

 but then I had an idea... rustoleum spray paint!!!

3 coats of paint is what it took. 

but oh how I love how they pop against the white doors! 

now to get those hinges off and do them red too.
and look how amazing it will look with the tiles and the curtains.   AHHH loving it and finding my happiness again.

So amidst the fun of the bathroom renovation we find these 3 gems.   Yes, all the the same room we have unearthed these treasures.   I'm just not even sure I have the words for this to be honest. I'm just glad they are going to be gone and never return. 

So here's where it gets better? or is it worse?   So the color is suppose to be shortbread. I was all excited about this color to be honest. Based on the paint can splotch and that I was envisioning this beautiful warm creamy color with a golden yellow undertone.   Bean had picked the theme of "rubber ducks" and I was so excited.  And then it went on the walls.  Ummm it is NOT a creamy color like shortbread cookies. It can best be described as "baby duck yellow". And while that's very pretty on its own, I had 4 gallons of it that can't be returned. I was going to do the bathroom, bike room and at least 2 maybe 3 walls in my bedroom with this color.  I'm heartbroken and need to regroup. 

so the sunday night of the most amazing weekend I get several calls from people helping me.   I was hoping to come back to so much work done.  That wasn't going to happen.  I was now in a spot where I was just praying I had water running.    That was not to be. =(   Let me just say that I have never been one who likes camping in tents and all that jazz.  I have no issue with others who do but its not my idea of fun or relaxing.    So back I come and I now don't have a working toilet in my house. I am showering at the gym (yeah for my membership)  and using a "camping toilet". this is killing my sense of calm.   I am really getting sad and worried that I made a horrid mistake at this point but I have no way to turn back now.  Its got to be a go forward on faith at this point.

so about this time I had to go out of town for 5 days.  5 days that truly have changed my life for the better.  I can't explain how healing that 5 days in MN were for me and bean.  To be around people who, while don't have the same condition as me, have faced the same sort of things and had to readjust life was so amazing.   My daughter got to talk to scientist at medtronic and meet people from around the world.  Truly my heart is over full at this point I just can't explain it.   I had been holding on to the past me. The me before brain surgeries and the heart monitor being installed. The me before being told i needed a full hysterectomy and them finding cancer cells in there.   I was angry at myself and beyond frustrated that my run wasn't what it use to be.    This weekend  helped me realize that I'm  new me.  And also important that the old me was good enough.  A message to myself that I had struggled hard with.  But the old me was like the caterpillar and now Im learning to come out of my cacoon and spread my wings and fly.   My beautiful amazing wings.    The weekend "highlight" was suppose to be the run and while that was amazing for sure it wasn't the highlight for me.  The highlight was meeting face to face with my new family.  It was seeing my daughter relax and laugh again and reconnect with her.  It was laughing as we ran around the mall of America shopping for friends.   Truly is was a magical experience that helped create a sense of peace in my soul and heart.

they mean stuff but darn if I know what it means.  All I can say is he understands it.

songbird blue it is for bean's room.  I think its really pretty =)

 so the boy said he'd help paint the bathroom.   

trying to mud the walls to get rid of the paneling look. 

ugh the adventure in frustration continues.  I was up on the counter painting and fell down the ground as I was coming down to get more paint and missed the chair.

Random thoughts.. I need a label maker. I love my little place and what we are creating.   I am tired though.

 Yup its getting worse yet.. that's the ground!  I now have a hole in my subfloor near my hot water heater trying to sort out this mess.

that's the leak and the electrical right next to it.   Oh and yeah its not a "real" double wide but in fact 2 single wides they have rammed together.   Doesn't everyone want an exterior siding type wall in the middle of their house?  No, well just panel over it because this totally makes sense.   I think I'm gonna cry some more. Deep breathes.. it will be super cute when its done.

So it appears I have a leak. The even worse part is that the leak is in the wall in the boy's room that isn't far from an electrical outlet.  So I'm lucky my place didn't burn to the ground at this point!   So I'm trying to stay postive there.  But I'm sort of freaking out. Seems everytime I am turning around its getting worse.  When does it get better?

This is my tub facet. We had glued the down spout back on and the cold is just barely hanging on.  The goal is that while I'm away for a few days that it will get changed out.  I bought a new faucet for just under $56.  If i have a happy tub it will be money well spent.

Can someone please explain these lights?? and why would you take the bulbs and globe/covers to them??   I just have no idea how to explain it so that it makes sense.  But in the mean time I have to deal with them and the electrical mess that they create.     I am way way over my head to be honest and the overwhelmed panic is setting in. My budget is going to hell in a hand basket and my approach now is a few steps:
1. deep breathe
2. safety of my family is first priority regardless of the costs at this point
3.  most of this is a one time price to pay or won't need to be redone for a very long time
4. reminding myself that when its done its gonna be super cute

So the paint is called "shortbread" and I picked it up at the Habitat for Humanity store.  I think the creamy color will look really good in the bathroom with the stone tiles and that. It was 10.99 a gallon. I picked up 4 galloons thinking the lovely creamy color will look good in part of my bedroom and bike room as well.

So I went out with Bean to find a homecoming dress and at TJ Maxx we found the cutest dress for her and I found bike juice glasses!  They were $8 but they make me happy.  So I splurged on us and got them. =) I can't wait to wash them and put them away.

I need to backtrack a bit.  There had been that weird "bump out" in the wall between what would be my room and the boy's room.  I had a friend over one night to see the place and because he's told me he was willing to help and is handy I was walking through things with him.  So I explain that at some point I'd like to move it basically so that its flat across rather than this in and out.   I then took a phone call from a client and hear BOOM!    I turned around and down the wall was coming.  UMMM dude I have to have everyone moved in and living here very soon!!!   Now in his defense the logic is that it is easier to move it and that now before we are all in and living rather than painting and getting settled and then moving things.  Plus there was some electric wierdness going on that needed to be address.  Either way.. it was done and over with.