And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

 and NO marching seven times 'round was done!  Instead it was a pipe burst in Karson's bathroom.  The weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. day was an eventful one.  Both of our college/post college kids had been home for the holiday break.  It was a treat having them for a few weeks, but I know they were anxious to get back to their lives away from home too.  Isaac was set to begin classes at EKU on 1/21, and Karson was to begin her full-time job on 1/20.

We decided to celebrate Isaac's birthday on Saturday morning because he had plans to return to school later that afternoon.  His actual birthday is on the 25th, but since he was leaving, we wanted to have a quick celebration.  It was a small, family gathering but a fun one celebrating our 20 year old.  We're so proud of him and cannot wait to see where he lands after college!  He is set to graduate next spring, an entire year early.  Last week he received a letter in the mail and made the Dean's list for the College of Business.

 

We're so proud of him and cannot wait to see where he lands after college!  He is set to graduate next spring, an entire year early.  

  

I've heard him mention a handful of times wanting a large check.  Anyone who knows Isaac, knows he's a character.  I decided to get one off Amazon and surprise him with it on his birthday.  He got a kick out of it - especially since it was stamped by Dr. Evil himself.

The Indoor Waterfall

With everyone gone, Matt and I were getting settled back in our routine.  Miles, of course, is still at home but since his life is in Bowling Green, he's not home much.  He works at Meijer a lot, works out a lot, and stays busy.  We semi-empty nesters decided to celebrate our day off of work by heading to town and making a few pit stops prior to eating an early dinner.  We left around 3PM, and Miles left to work out not long after.  His workout facility is right up the road, and he hadn't planned to be gone more than hour because he was meeting some friends for dinner.  Matt and I ran our errands and had sat down for our early dinner around 4:30.  Right after our order was placed, I got a phone call from Miles who was panicked telling us there was water gushing through our ceiling and he didn't know how to stop it.  The source of the leak was in Karson's bathroom which happens to be right above our kitchen.  He'd gone up in her room and said a valve behind her toilet was spraying, and he couldn't get the valve to shut off.  We later noticed that the water pressure came out of the wall so hard that it had bent that valve.

 

B-E-A-UTIFUL!  I quickly found our waiter so he could pack up our food to go and settle our bill.  Our main water valve is outside and requires pliers to turn off.  Plus, it had snowed, and the ground was covered.  Miles had no idea how to cut off the water, and Matt started calling our neighbors to see if someone could get to the house to shut it off.  No one was home sadly, so we rushed to get there.  Matt had also called ServPro because we knew there would be a lot of damage.  With it being a holiday, they had to assemble a team and promised to get there as soon as possible.

 

Once we got home, Matt got outside and got the water shut off.  Miles and I worked on moving as many things as we could off of soaking wet floors.  I think we used every towel in our house to soak up water, but it was enough.  Our neighbor came over with a shop vac.  Our insurance agent showed up with even more towels.  It was pure chaos!  ServPro finally got to our house and started working on drying things, and Shane Elmore plumbing arrived to fix the plumbing problem in the bathroom.

 

ServPro had vacuums and humidifiers running in our home for at least seven days.  They checked on progress daily and made notes.  By day seven, they weren't really happy with the levels and wanted to start taking out some ceiling and floor portions to see if drying was happening.

Good times.

Matt had already arranged to meet with a contractor for the work needed in our house, and we also needed to get our insurance claim processed.

Now all the decisions are happening - floors, paint, carpet, fixtures, etc.  I loved our hardwood floors and hated that we weren't able to save them.  You can tell the people that originally built this home (which was a "Parade Home") put so much effort and energy into the details of everything.

 

Had to take one last photo of our amazing hardwood floors.  I am thankful for new floors, but these sure were lovely.

We are currently sitting on week three (3) since the incident.  This whole experience has been a process. Working with insurance has been a process.  Picking out lots of new things for our home has been a process.  I guess there's that part of you that thinks...it would be nice to change __X__ in my house, but I would never spend the money on it.  THEN, something like this happens, and all of sudden what seemed unlikely, is now possible because of a crazy circumstance.  

Other fun highlights:

Won some cash at Indian Hills Bingo night!

Matt and I did some karaoke/DJ-ing at South Warren's winter formal!

 

Spent some time with my bestie at Price Is Right LIVE at Skypac!  

 

 I was shocked by how amazing the Price is Right LIVE was!  The host was incredible and tons of prizes were given away to the audience and participants.  It was a much-needed night away from home despite the fact my nametag got majorly stuck to my puffy jacked.  Took over an hour to soak and scrub the sticky off.  

Our daughter is fully immersed in her full-time nursing gig!  With her permission, here is a picture of her adorable nursing feet.  That's all you get!

Today I am celebrating 28 years with my forever Valentine!  I love him so!