Trusting

It'll be three weeks tomorrow since we've been on the market. And we've had zero walk-thrus. We are trying not to be anxious about it and I've made it a consistent matter of prayer. I have been praying that a Christian family would buy our house and they would be a godly witness in our neighborhood. Perhaps my request has narrowed the field too much? I know that God has someone for our little house, but we may have to wait a while for them to show up. That's typically how things go on our little street. Houses sit for long periods of time before they sell. Our house was on the market a year and a half before we bought it. Hopefully it won't be that long... We are supposed to close on our new house in July, so we at least don't have to rush in the moving process. Well, except for the fact that Little Brother is due in the beginning of September, and I'd like to be mostly settled before he gets here... And I'd like to at least have Joshua's new bedroom painted from pink to blue before we move. I think if his room looks as much like his does now, it'll be an easier transition for him, though I still expect to have him climbing into bed with us for the first several days in our new house. (How comfy will that be for me, at eight months pregnant, sandwiched between a sweaty husband and a squirmy little boy?)

This is time for us to trust God (isn't it always?) and commit the transition to Him. He knows all the details and He knows each and everyone affected by our move. Even my young neighbors here. And how my commute to work will grow by a half hour after we move, even if it is only temporary. Maybe it'll be good to stay here a little longer. I'm not looking forward to the 50 minute commute, though it'll only be until the end of August. See? God knows.

A Bit of Painting

This past month, I have been a busy girl. I had some extra time off of work during January, and I took advantage of my slower schedule by redoing some rooms. We started with the bathroom. We painted, and painted, and hung a new mirror, chose a new decor and got excited about it. When the room was finished (with the exception of finding shelves to hang on the wall), I set to work with a little creativity of my own. I used Modge Podge and old magazines to cover four canvas pallets. Then, parking myself on the bathroom floor so I could see the trees on the shower curtain, I painted. I'm not very good at painting "free-style", but I think I do okay if I have something to copy. I was very pleased with the results and cannot wait to find a proper shelf so I can hang the remaining two pictures on the wall. I cannot help but smile...

A Busy Bee

What a week! I think I am ready to stay home for the next month. I have been just. that. busy. We have been making pies, prepping for Thanksgiving, visiting with friends and family, shopping during the wee hours of the morning, throwing my friend a baby shower, eating too much and enjoying the people that God has brought into our lives. And now Adam is fighting a fierce cold. I am wishing for one more day in my long weekend that I could actually stay home and get to know my house again. But tomorrow I have an appointment in the city and some things to return, so I will be off and running again.

On a happy note, I bought a new shower curtain for the bathroom. It makes me smile every time I walk in there. I also bought paint and will begin painting hopefully this weekend. Doesn't my shower curtain make you smile too? The way I see it, I have free license to decorate my bathroom in a kid-friendly fashion, since I have a small kid myself. (Did you see my matching bath mat? Yes, that also makes me smile. I also will be attempting to paint some matching wall art.) More news about my busy week/month to come later. Nothing too exciting, so don't get your hopes up.

Some Time at Home

I have had a simply lovely week off. I am wondering to myself why I don't do this more often. Oh yeah, cause I have a job. I have cleaned my house, hung wall hangings, fixed up my front flower gardens and visited my sister-in-law. Big "wahoo" on the cleaning the house part. I had really fallen behind on that... *gross* Even though I had five whole days off, I still didn't have enough time to get everything done that I had wanted. I didn't sort through my clothes or Joshua's clothes. I've been meaning to go through my little guy's things for a while... I also didn't get my peas, lettuce or radishes planted, which I want to do real soon. Adam tilled the garden for me though, so now it's just up to me. I had wanted to have two mulch bins built, but I would need some help for that. And I need to stake up our baby fruit trees soon, before they are perpetually bent over. (Poor little trees.) Having this week off just reinforces my dream of being a stay-at-home Mom. I love it just that much. I have more time to be creative and I feel like a much better housewife if my house is actually somewhat clean. Being creative to me merely means doing what I love, like gardening or hanging random windows on my walls as decorations. That is my creative outlet... Oh and as a side note, I hope to have a yard sale real soon.

I "Created A Table"

It was suggested, so I tried it. I'm not sure if we sat any longer than usual, but the pleasure of seeing such a presentation was obvious for all to see. I may not have many spectacular pieces, or even the properly matching sets. I am short one black mug and my only bowls are chipped and cheap. I'm not complaining or asking for replacements, but merely stating that a beautiful table is not necessarily matching pieces of china or extra fine glassware. I believe it is the arrangement of the settings, lit candles, place mats (whether colorful, plain or made from napkins), a tablecloth, and knowing that someone took the time to make your dinner special. The dinner guests were pleasantly surprised, my husband told me I was silly (in a loving kind of way) and the pleasure of going the extra mile was all mine. And Josh thought it was someone's birthday.

*See Jessica's blog for my inspiration*

Confessions of an Obsessive Compulsive

I'm pretty sure that I have a few OCD tendencies. Why else would I do the things that I do? For instance, up until last week, I had saved every. single. receipt. since Adam and I have been married. I had them tucked into envelopes, organized by month, hiding in my file cabinet. Literally 49 envelopes of receipts. I mean, that's sick! Who does that? Last week, I finally had enough of myself and started shredding 2006 and 2007's receipts. After all, who needs to keep receipts from three years ago? I'll keep two years worth, but anything over that, forget it! But I've got to tell you, shredding is such a pain, because the paper bin isn't big enough and constantly needs emptying. You have to stop shredding every three or four envelopes to dump the shreds. Ugh. What is wrong with me?!?

Meeting an Old Friend

I wish I was more devoted. Facebook preoccupies my online time. Not that it is excruciatingly fun at the moment. When I declare myself to be in a facebook fast, I blog more. Perhaps I should facebook fast more often?

Last night we moved my piano from Joshua's bedroom to the living room. We redid our basement and took a couch down there, clearing a space for the piano to go into. I very rarely played the piano when it was in Josh's room, but after Josh was in bed last night, I was able to sit down and play for the first time in a long time. I have missed it. I used to play quite often before I got married. When Adam and I got married we lived in an apartment where our neighbor didn't like it too noisy. So I got out of the habit of playing. Yes, my fingers are quite rusty now, as it has been nearly four years since I played regularly. But I plan on sitting down to play much more often, now that it is more obviously situated. I can't wait to get to know those notes again.

I Think a Kid Lives Here

You'd think a kid lives at my house or something.

Good thing his Mom lives here too, don't cha think?

Oh, and on a side note, our coffee "table" was $5 at a garage sale. I love cool, old, bargains.

Home at Last

Greetings and salutations! Well, here I am in NY, blogging from my parents computer. (Mine is still busted...) The wedding was beautiful! We were decorating the cake up until an hour or two before we left for the wedding. Gramma made roses all Friday evening to put around the base of each tier of the cake. She makes lovely frosting roses. I tried to make them too, but mine weren't nearly as lovely. But they were okay, seeing as it was my first try.
On Friday, Ann and Renee took me with them when they went to get their nails done. They even paid for me to get a manicure and a pedicure! It was SO self indulgent. Quite nice. And my nails looked good too!
Anyway... The weather was perfect for an outdoor wedding and Annie looked so pretty! They got married, we took pictures, we ate orduerves, they ate orduerves, they danced, we danced, they drank, we sipped punch, they ate the cake while we served the cake, they partied the night away, we tried to sleep before I had to leave at 6:00 in the morning... It was fun, but I did miss my honey. I was glad to be going home on Sunday. I had a great time, but home is where the heart is. So wonderful to see family I haven't seen in years, but I couldn't help but grin when I got off the plane in Syracuse and knew that my love was right around the corner. Hugs and a kiss. I missed him... when your gone you appreciate when your not gone a bit more... I think :)
Still busy this week. Didn't have much time to recover from my vacation... you know... when you need a vacation from the vacation? I went right back to work and have been working since. I'm looking forward to my weekend when I can think straight... Maybe by then I'll have my computer back from the fix-it shop and can blog from home. Pics coming.