Alternative heating sources

It's been a while since I've posted. I guess I just haven't been in the mood. ;-)

Somehow we've gone straight from summer to winter! It's been cold here. Today's highs are only in the 40's. Hubby called the other day to see about ordering some propane for our gas logs and it was $4.14/gallon! Um... no thank you. It's just as cheap to use our central heat than to buy propane at that price!

We have 2 gas logs fireplaces, a wood stove (but it's in the basement, doesn't do much for the main living areas of our home), and central heat/ac, but we're considering another alternative. Hubby is gone today to look at an outdoor wood stove or boiler. They are a little costly in the beginning but we would more than make our money back in just a few years! We've thought about it for some time and with heating costs what they are we are probably going to go with this alternative. A wood stove like what we are looking at can be found here.

We aren't ones who keep an 80* home anyway, but we would like the ability to warm our house to a desired temperature without having to worry over the cost!

In other news we are closing in on getting our kitchen finished. I'm really hoping it will be done by Thanksgiving. The counter tops are supposed to be here the week before Thanksgiving! That's cutting it a little close and I'm hoping there are no hold ups! Hubby has the bottom cabinets set and now he's working on the top. They are mostly built and then they need sanded and stained. We're close!

I've been doing some stocking up lately. We can't predict where the economy is going to go and only God is in control of our future anyway, but I do believe in doing what I can to provide for my family (at least for the short term) and try to save us some money. Each time I'm in the store things are costing more and more! I don't believe I can stock up for an infinite amount of time. I can only do so much and the rest is up to God to provide, but I believe I should do what I can.

I am interested in what others are doing. Are you stocking up at all or taking it as it comes?

An Update

Hubby is still diligently working on the kitchen! What started off being a job to replace the floor turned into a complete gutting and rearranging of the kitchen! LOL I can't wait for it to be finished!

He nearly has the bottom cabinets set. We have the counter people coming on Wednesday to measure for the counters. I think they said it could be up to 3 weeks after measuring before they come back to install. I pray that it will be sooner! It's not a very big piece, so maybe it won't take that long!

We also have the dishwasher and another refrigerator coming on Wednesday. This will be the 4th time they've had to replace the fridge! Every time they bring it here the delivery people ding it or scratch it. We brought it home the first time and it had white marks on it from the styrofoam rubbing against it in the box. Sears replaced it and it was delivered the second time. That time it was scratched by the dolly belt when they brought it in the house. Not a little bit, but the finish was scrubbed off all across the front. The third time they brought it in it had big dings in the side from banging around in the truck. Not just a slight ding, but deep gashes all the way down to bare metal.

On the upside, since they've had to replace it so many times, they've upgraded our fridge to one with water on the inside of the door and a filtered ice maker for free! Let's just hope they can get it here without doing any major damage!

Our new floor is in and I love it! It's so nice and clean! LOL I could never get my old floor to look really clean. It was 21 year old linoleum.

Cooking is proving to be challenging, but we're managing. We're eating a lot of sandwiches and things that don't require too many pots. I'm having to do dishes in the bathroom. Wednesday I'll have my dishwasher so that will make things easier.

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I recently had a very bad week where I had to lean heavily on the Lord. I had a big health scare and soon discovered that the only things that matter are my faith in Jesus and my family. Everything else is fluff. I truly don't know what unsaved people do when they are faced with a crisis. Where is their hope?

I realized that I had very little to take to the Lord when I die. I want to be pleasing to God and I haven't worked hard enough at that. When it comes down to it, only what we do for God will last. There's nothing in this world more important than our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Mat 24:35
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mar 13:31
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Luk 21:33
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Hmm... it's there 3 times. Think it means something? I do.

Some pictures for you!

This has been a very trying and stressful week, but with God's help I made it through!

Until I'm ready for more blogging, here are some pictures of our kitchen remodel.