Adventures: Finished Apartment

Stephen spent over two years renovating our Newport apartment, with help from our wonderful landlord, Paul. Stephen catalogued expenses, and we subtracted them from the rent. Also, the rent was significantly raised after we left... ($800 to $1350)

These are the before and after floor plans. (Red walls were removed.)

Many third floor apartments have funny layouts because they weren't designed as apartments! This was orginally an attic/servant's space went it was built in the 1850s. The footage was doubled in the 1920s, and probably converted into a boarding house at that time. You can see how the bathroom and kitchen were afterthoughts to make it an apartment.

Stephen worked on five major spaces: Bathroom, Kitchen, Public Hallway, Sun Room, and Living Room. (Ginger did all the painting.)

Bathroom

 

The first project was the bathroom. Stephen gutted it to clear out water stains and hired a plumber to re-pipe inside of the walls (where pipes belong.)

Next, Stephen re-tiled the floor making his own border design. He found deals on a new sink and toilet, keeping only the clawfoot tub which he painted black. To cover the heater (in left image) Stephen made a cabinet with vents, upper levels designed for display.

 

Kitchen

The original kitchen had a mishmash of homeless appliances and mismatched cupboards. We loved the old barn sized kitchen sink, but it didn't fit the small kitchen. Again, Stephen gutted everything and started over. 

  

Stephen found black kitchen appliances from people who wanted to upgrade to stainless steel. He re-built and re-arranged a set of 60's cupboards from craigslist. This included re-facing the front of each cupboard with beadboard and a frame. He also used beadboard for a backsplash all around.

 

To fit the large refrigerator flush with the wall, Stephen built a niche (taking some space from the living room). Since he was also removing the closet from the living room, he created an alcove for extra shelving and drawers. Below: a painting guide for Ginger

Public Hallway

The house held three apartments, one for each floor. The shared entry hallway had both the most unappealing carpet and wallpaper. When we ripped off the wallpaper, the wall underneath was unfinished and not good for painting. Stephen and Paul applied paintable wallpaper to cover it up.

The entry to our third floor apartment was a door at the top of a narrow stairwell. Stephen borrowed real estate from the second floor to make a new entry and mud room. (below: white shows new construction.) This allowed the third floor to open up with railings instead of walls.

Under the ancient carpet was a lovely wood floor.

(After much scrapping, sanding, and polishing!)

Sun Room

The bonus room, despite beautiful windows, was painted dark purple. Ginger picked a pale green to lighten it. We used cabinets to make space and cover the distressed walls. The sun room became a dining room. Stephen also installed a glass pane door to keep out the cold in winter.

Living Room

Stephen combined the living room with the third bedroom to open up space. These two views are similar- wall on right was removed, also the wall around the stairwell was removed. (Closet door on left remains.)

The sitting room was Stephen's special project. He bought a fireplace, installed it into the old bedroom closet, and built a custom mantel. The cabinets and columns were handbuilt to replace the removed walls. The below left image is Stephen's computer modeled rendering. Right: the final product.

This view shows the entry way where the front door used to be (at the top of the stairs).

 photos also available in a facebook album.

Adventures: Last Days

Much of what has made Newport home for us the last three years has been the friendships we've developed at CrossPoint Church.

Our young adults group, Nexus, met for the last few times for dinner parties and open questions about faith nights.

Left to right, Tim, Ginger, Stephen, Seth, Nicki, Ted, enjoying our newly finished apartment.

Tammy is a wonderful cook, mostly with southern food! She made pot roast, baked macoroni and cheese, green beans and potatoes, and stuffed peppers. Keenan, Kevin and KJ ready to eat.

Our last night in Newport we attend the Good Friday service. Incredible solos, videos, and choir worship for all to join-

A moving skit- Jesus walked up the aisles while surprise actors in the congregation stood up and mocked him. Between a curtain, Jesus was whipped and crucified while a teen spray-painted sins of the world. But at last, the curtain was torn, and the cross stood empty, taking away all the sins.

 CrossPoint announced their own big news: they are in the process of purchasing and redesigning a new property for renovation. The congregation has quadrupled in size since they purchased their current building five years ago, so the new church will be large enough for continued growth, space for new programs, activities and outreaches. We are so excited for them and pray that CrossPoint is a true place of seeking God on the island. Thanks for being a central part of our lives here.

More photos of our last months in Newport in my facebook album.

Adventures: McGowns Visit + Seals

McGowns Visit

Simon and Jeannine took the train from NYC to visit us for a weekend! We explored some beautiful Newport neighborhoods, and a bell tower.

 We took a tour of the post-revolutionary Fort Adams.

We visited the ponies and pony-donkeys.

Another abandoned structure has some cool graphiffi. 

Stephen played old movies on his projector. 

We took the tour of the Elms, and also the "Behind the Scene's servant's life tour" which included the third floor servant's quarters, basement laundry rooms, trunk room, wine cellar, pastry room, and the huge coal furnaces. (The owner of the Elms was a coal baron.)

Seal Tour

Seth and Nicki's son Gabriel had his 4th birthday! We went out a seal-watching tour, right here in Newport. Seals are in Narragansett Bay most of the winter, and some like to hang out on rocks near the Newport Bridge and Rose Island.

Adventures: Springfield MA + Storrs CT

Snowstorm Nemo visited Rhode Island in early February. It snowed all night, and we woke up with no power and several hours of digging to free the cars.

There was a travel ban in RI and parts of Massachusetts. We huddled around the fireplace until about 4 PM when the travel ban was lifted, then hopped in Tim's car and drove to his fiance's house in Springfield MA. They hadn't lost power, and after a night warming up, we were ready to go back out in the snow!

We got to attend Jess' "Valentine Caberet" community theater production. It had songs, skits, and lots of fun!

At home in Newport, we took an acrylics painting class for five weeks at the Newport Art Museum. Stephen painted an old accordian camera from his book "500 Cameras." Ginger painted a lady in a mardi gras scene from an art magazine. 

After finishing our main paintings, we had one day left for a quick painting of Clementine and a colorful depiction of sky and trees found in a local artist's work.

 Ginger got to practice photography with her new camera by doing engagement photos for Tim and Jess-

 Then driving to CT to do photos for Steve and Amy. They wanted nature scenes, so we went to the state park where Steve had proposed, and had fun on the frozen lake.

Adventures: Urbana St. Louis MO

We spent December 26 - January 1 at Urbana, the triannual National Missions conference of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and IVCF Canada, with many others visiting from around the world. Around 16,000 students attended, including ten from RIC (Rhode Island College.)

 

Ginger served on the Prayer Intercession team. (There's also a prayer ministry team with was available for students to come and receive personal prayer.) The Intercessors had smaller teams of 7-8 who gathered to pray twice daily for 3 hours at a time, to keep the entire conference in prayer 24 hours a day!

The team: Amy (NC), Ana (TX), Erina (CA), Evan (PA), Ginger, Chris (RI), Hope (RI)

Ginger was a little worried that three hours of prayer would be overwhelming, or that we'd feel separating from and missing out on the rest of the conference. But it was not so! Spending time in praise, prayer requests, scripture, spiritual warfare, proxy prayer, and general interceding for the topics we felt lead on made the time go quickly. We felt deeply connected to the rest of the conference, getting to watch things we prayed about happen, or previewing situations that were coming. 

It was an unusual week for responses at Urbana. In the first two days, more students sought out the Prayer Ministry team than the whole week of Urbana '09. During the call to faith or re-commitment, over 1,000 students stood to give their hearts to Jesus- we only expected 500! (and ran out of free Bibles!) At the end of the week, a record number of students committed to long-term missions- over 4,000.

Urbana isn't just for students. A number of pastors and people doing mission work in alongside their careers attend Urbana for training and encouragement.We got to meet up with a number of Texas Tech alumni at Urbana! Patrick, Nathaniel, Ryan, Dustin and Andy have all been praying for and supporting Ginger's ministry this last year. They work in engineering, construction, and the medical field. It was wonderful to see them.

Former Tech staff Sara was in town for a few hours to visit! Below, Ginger, Lisa, Sara and her baby Evie! Sara and Josh will be leaving the country soon. 

Stephen was excited to see our friend Daniel again. Stephen once led a Bible study that introduced Daniel to InterVarsity- and now Daniel is applying to staff!

 

With the busy schedule, Ginger only had one afternoon to meet with her students and debrief the week. Back: Michael, Sarah, Shauna, Jeremy, Kelley, Ginger. Front: Ramie, Luke, Lindsey, Charity, Karlie, Matt.

 One student "humbly and joyfully" recommitted her life to Jesus during a powerful call to faith about the prodigal son story.

Another said she "truly experienced God's love" at the conference. She was moved by stories of love in soup kitchens and African caregivers.

A student athlete wants to start a Bible study with her swim team members. She had worried that college athletics was a waste of time, but now feels encouraged that it's a mission field after listening to a testimony about a dance team.

Urbana was Ginger's last days of working with InterVarsity staff. We are trusting God for something new and exciting next.

more photos on facebook

All the Urbana videos!

Even more Urbana audio files!

Adventures: Christmas Newport + Providence RI

These two months were Ginger's last on campus ministering to college students. She's grateful for some extra social time with them during the holidays. At Thanksgiving dinner: Vanessa, Charity, Ginger, Lindsey.

Lindsey is the "Large Group" leader- though many weeks only include praise and a speaker, some weeks are focused on prayer or unique ways of connecting with God. Below, Matt and Sarah expressing understanding and worship of God through art.

We got to connect with students at the other universities. (There are five chapters in RI.) Sarah, Sarah Beth and Caitlin at the RI Worship Night at Bryant University.

Ginger met with student Aaron all year to talk about his struggles and stresses. We explored his Jewish background by studying the old Testament and seeking God in prayer. At the end of the semester, Aaron began attending the weekly meetings with other students and hopes to continue making friends.

The chapter grew at the end of the year. Student leader Kelley opened her home to a crowd- over 30 students came to our Christmas party!

See the whole semester: Fall InterVarsity facebook photos

Last party with the wonderful RI + SE Mass Staff Team: more staff photos

South-East Massachusetts now has two staff and an area supervisor. They're planting new chapters!

At home in Newpost, we sent a Christmas letter with a "family photo" and spent Christmas day with our friends the McMasters. They require pajama wearing for dinner. Stephen makes room for baby Liam and pet Max.

 

Nicki sang and Seth did a monologue skit for CrossPoint Church's Christmas Eve service. Nicki and Gabriel enjoy eating sprinkles while making Christmas cookies.

 

The Christmas season was a special time for several of our dear friends who got engaged!

Tim & Jess (RI & Mass)

Kristian & Amos (Wyoming)

Steve & Amy (Connecticut)