Hallelujah, we have internet.

Oh my goodness.  So much has been happening, and I haven't been able to blog.  And blogging is how I process.  Well, writing is how I process, but these days, writing = blogging.

So...we have internet, after ten days without it.  And much has happened since I last blogged.

I think I will do this in list form.

1.  We moved.  We are moved in, and very nearly settled.  And, we are adjusting very well, all things considered.  Scott and I each had our emotional moments, where the reality of what was happening overwhelmed us, but we moved on from those moments, and we are actually loving our little, 1942, rental house.  The yard is great, the "old house" of it is great, and I actually like the smallness.  It has been so much easier to stay on top of the cleaning because there is so much less to clean.  In fact, every night after dinner, we have a quick family "pick up," and by the time the kids are in bed, the house is in order.  Crazy thought, right?

And, amazingly enough, Ada and John are doing Great with sharing a room.  In fact, I think Ada is doing better at bed time.  I think she is comforted by the fact that John is in the room with her.  We put John down first, and we do our story and prayer routine in the master bedroom, and then we "sneak" Ada into her bed.  It has worked great so far.  Thank you, Lord!!!  We can feel his hand all over this move, and we are so thankful.  Let me show you a few parts of the house...

 This is our front room and play room/ "office"/ place I love to read a book or do my "quiet time."  I usually sneak away to the (freshly slipcovered) love seat during rest time, while John naps and Ada watches cartoons on the couch.  Though that is technically our front door, I doubt it will ever be used as such.  Our driveway takes people around to the back of the house, so I assume that people will always come through the kitchen door.  (which is a shame, because the kitchen is my absolute least favorite part of the house).

 more shots of that front room

 the front door leads to the glassed in front porch, which Ada and John spend hours on.  This is John playing "peek-a-boo."  Scott is going to borrow a pressure washer, because even after vacuuming and mopping the floor of the porch, it still turns Ada and John's feet black.  Years of dirt, I suppose. 

 Really, we spend the majority of our day on the porch.  I thought it would be too hot, but it's really not.  I am very thankful for that extra room.

This is the master bedroom.  There is not much else to say.  It is connected to John and Ada's room by a short hall, with a bathroom in between our two bedrooms.  So, a visitor has to walk through the master to get to the bathroom.  This is great motivation to keep my room clean!!  And so far, so good (other than the obvious "moving" clutter).

And the kitchen.  My old, ugly kitchen.  I don't know why they won't at least paint the walls and cabinets, but it's functional.  It gets the job done, and I am thankful for that. 

And just to give you an idea of the lay out of the house (mainly because I know family might be curious), this is from the front room looking all the way back to the kitchen.  From the front room, there is a door to the master, and from the dining room, there is a door to Ada and John's room (and the laundry room).  And, like I said, we are enjoying the house more than I thought we would.  It feels like home already.  Again, thank you, Lord.

There is so much more to report...

Ada started school, which means I started teaching at CC.  We have started watching a friend's little boy.  Scott starts work next week...etc. etc. etc.

I mainly want to write about Ada starting school, of course, so I will probably be back with a post about that tomorrow.  So much for my list, right?

Overall, we are feeling very, very thankful, and very, very taken care of by God.  Again, this is not how we would have "written our story," but we can feel God directing our steps at every turn.  Praise Him.  Over and over, praise Him!!

Moving Week

It's moving week, so I won't be around the blog much.  I'll see you on the other side of this craziness.

Slipcover on the cheap

I am so excited to share this website with ya'll.

I just happened to stumble upon it this morning, as I was reading a blog that I have never even read before, and the title of a post caught my eye.  And all of a sudden, I had found a hidden gem--uglysofa.com

Okay, we have a white Ikea couch.  We love that couch for so many reasons--comfort, size, and the fact that whenever it gets dirty, I can throw the slipcover into the washing machine with some bleach, and it's back to it's original white.  Based on our experience with that couch, I have wished so badly that I could get a white slipcover for our love seat, inherited from my parents.

We like the love seat--it's a good piece of furniture, but it desperately needs to be recovered.  It has stains, has holes in the fabric, etc. etc.  But overall, the piece of furniture itself is in good shape.  I have been torn because I can't afford to get it recovered (custom, I mean), but I didn't really want to sell it (if I could even get any money for it at all).  Currently, a brown blanket is covering it, but that is annoying because the blanket falls off, and it just ends up looking cluttered.  I have even looked at Target, Wal-Mart, places like that for a generic slip cover, but I have never found anything that would work.

Enter uglysofa.com.  Really, I feel like God decided to clue me in to this website.  They sell quality (Pottery Barn) slipcovers for a fraction of the cost.  And, what do you know, that includes white, pleated skirt, slipcovers for small couches.  Jackpot.  I really have been overwhelmed by the task of deciding what furniture to try to sell, what to give away, and what to store.  Finding this website, with an incredibly affordable slipcover, answered the love seat question.  It is going with us to the rental house with a brand new, white slip cover.  Thank you, Lord.

p.s. We have been blown away this week by the Lord providing for us through the generosity of friends.  More than once I have been moved to tears by the reality that God is carrying us through this whole situation, and he is using friends and family to love us in the midst of this time.  Call me crazy, but finding that website with the slipcovers felt like one more way God was loving me in a very specific way.

Okay, reworking the schedule

The best laid plans, right?

No boxes got moved yesterday; my main focus yesterday was maintaining my sanity.  Things are just crazy, and I am having to take things about 30 minutes at a time.  My prayers mostly consist of, Lord, will you help me get through the next 30 minutes.

We did get the keys yesterday, but the carpets were being cleaned this morning, so we are waiting to move anything over until that is done.  Plus, no boxes are packed, so it would be hard to move anything over at this point ;).

Today is a new day, though, and I have no where that I have to be until 6:30, so I am pressing on towards the goal.  I am also trying to mainly focus on getting ready for Ada's party and then the focus will be more on the move.

I think the most overwhelming part is that this will be such a drastic downsize.  I look at the tiny rental house and wonder how to decide what to keep, what to store, what to sell.  I confess, I like my stuff.  Isn't there verse after verse after bible verse warning against this very thing?  And, yet, I do, I like my stuff.  And where will we put all of our clothes?  I keep telling myself that if I survived in the dorm with that small space and that even smaller closet, and even came to view that dorm as a safe haven, that this house, too, will one day feel like home.  Won't it?  I am having a few days of just wanting to be to the other side of this season of life.  This, ummm...refining?  season.  I trust that God is refining us.  And, even when my feelings scream otherwise, I really do say, bring on the refinement.

And, in the midst of all of this change, I am reading Nancy Guthrie's The One Year Book of Hope, recommended to me by Jessica, and I am, coincidentally enough, finding much hope there;)  In fact, I read this verse yesterday--

While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with loud crys and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death.  And God heard his prayers because of his reverence for God.  So even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered--Hebrews 5:7-8


So, Jesus, perfect Jesus, had to learn obedience.  How did he learn it?  Through suffering.  And I know that what we have experienced this year does not compare to the suffering of others who deal with much more tragedy than this, but it still feels like suffering--just being honest.  But, if this is how we have to learn obedience, then so be it.  Bring on the suffering.

Last night--playing in the yard at the new house (well, new in 1942).  Try not to be intimidated by my amazing photography skills ;)

Sticking to a Schedule

Shelf is finished and ready to be moved to the new house.  I stuck that red tub on top to see how the colors looked together.  I like it.  Whatever toys do not fit in the shelf and the red tubs, will be packed away in a rubbermaid container.  When Ada and John get tired of the current toys, I will switch them out with the ones in the rubbermaid bin.  I really have to stay on top of the toy situation, or we will be buried underneath piles of toys in the new house.  I am trying to be proactive.

So, car is cleaned, shelves are painted, and toy bins are bought.

Today, with Ada's birthday party coming up on Saturday, I am tackling laundry and the kitchen.  What does that mean?  Well, the new house has only two small closets.  Our current house has 5 large closets--big change.  So, we have to store winter clothes when not in use and vice versa with summer clothes.  So today I am doing laundry all day while simultaneously packing up clothes that are not currently in use.

I will also be packing anything in the kitchen not currently in use, so the boxes going over tonight will be unused clothing and kitchen items.  And by unused, I just mean not a necessity over the next three weeks.  The more I get out of here, the cleaner it will be for Ada's party on Saturday.

Okay, here goes...

Let The Games Begin

Operation move into the rental house has begun.

We get the keys on Monday, and I plan to take a load over everyday starting Monday.  I won't lie; I am pretty overwhelmed.  How do I know?  My skin issue is worse than ever, and I'm not sleeping great at night.  I don't feel worried, though, just overwhelmed.

Scott is working a lot.  Well, I guess he's working the same amount, but when he's not working at the furniture store, he is working on finding his next official job, so I don't see him nearly as much these days.

There are things that I normally depend on Scott for, but today I decided that I am just going to have to jump in and do the various projects that need doing--kids and all, because Scott has to work, and I am so thankful that he is working, so a lot of this is up to me.

All of that to say, I tackled two big projects today.  Let me show you.

What you see here is a solution to our toy problem.

In the rental house, the play room will be in full view of the rest of the house.  And there really won't be room for toys in the bedroom, so I am reducing the number of toys we have and figuring out a good storage solution.    I want something that enables the kids to pick up the toys easily.  So, we had the above shelf in our garage.  We have had that shelf since our first year of marriage--someone gave it to us, so zero dollars, and we have been meaning to paint it for forever.  Today I decided, to heck with it, I was going to paint it because we need it at the rental house.  Luckily, Scott primed the shelf months (years?) ago, so the only step left was actual paint.  I decided to go the spray paint route.  Why not?  And I wanted robin's egg blue.  So, I went to wal-mart, bought a can of spray paint for 3.74, and after getting John down for a nap (notice the monitor), Ada and I headed outside.  She was thrilled because we rarely go outside, unless we are at the pool, because the heat is unbearable.  I decided to brave the heat today.  You should have seen me and my five foot self trying to get that shelf moved out of the garage onto the drive way, but I got it done (and was pretty proud of myself).  Then, while I let the first coat of paint dry (I need to go back to Wal-Mart for about two more cans of spray paint), I tackled the next project.

Cleaning out the car.

Our car was disgusting, filthy, and I couldn't stand the thought of loading up our stuff each night on top of the mess.  So, I cleaned and vacuumed and clorox wiped, and now our car is much more usable.  I am so relieved to have that done!!

As for the toys, as you can see above, I have bins to go in each open shelf.  I have categories for each bin, but I am realistic and know that things probably won't stay categorized.  I just want the kids to be able to clean up after themselves.  I also plan to buy two big red tubs (they are actually drink tubs at Bed, Bath, and Beyond) for the bigger toys.  I bought a cute apple green fabric bin at Target for the larger toys, but I think red will go better with the blue, so I am going to return the green bin (and the red tubs are about half the price--the cheapest toy storage I have found, actually) Our walls are very neutral, of course, so I want to bring in color in the furnishings.  Especially in the play room/ school room.

And that is today's progress.  I am sure I will be back as things move farther along.  (this time next week we will be celebrating Ada's fourth birthday, so there is much going on these days!!)