Big Guns.

When we bought our house in 2008, it was a foreclosure. We loved that it was a quarter acre lot with a pretty big backyard, but we did NOT love that the back yard and front yard were *entirely* made up of star thistle. We tackled the front yard first, because...well, curb appeal, and then we pulled up the star thistle in the backyard.

From the house listing back in 2008.

Once we pulled up all the thistle, we realized that we didn't actually have dirt in the backyard, we had red clay. Apparently, weeds don't mind the clay, but we could not get anything normal to grow. So, since we were looking at bringing in topsoil and seeding, we put the project on hold for a couple of years (do you KNOW how expensive it is to bring in almost a quarter acre of topsoil?!) to save up. And in 2012, we finally brought in the topsoil.

We (and by we, I really mean Justin) spread the topsoil up to about two feet from the fence all the way around. We also skipped the garden area that wraps around the side of the house (you can just barely see the trellis over in the upper left hand corner of the above pic). We did this for cost reasons, and also because we weren't sure whether we'd eventually do planter boxes along the fence, flower beds, or something else. Then, we seeded. By the fall of 2012, it looked like this:
Womp womp. Not gonna lie, I was expecting a lot more progress at that point! Anyway, last year we planted some trees--we had *zero* when we moved in, and we quickly determined that we needed at least some shade somewhere in the backyard, and so we've planted a maple, a honeycrisp apple, a pear, and a plum tree. Justin also planted a couple of wine grapes that a couple from church gave us, but we're still waiting to see if they survived. We basically left the grass alone last year other than mowing it, and at the beginning of March this year, it looked like this:

A lot more green, but also a LOT of clover in there! It looked much better once it was mowed for the first time, but we still have a good deal of weed and feeding in our immediate future :)
Anyway, this past weekend, we finally started to tackle the jungle that was the border between the grass and the fence. Justin brought in the big guns, and we BOTH spent most of the weekend pulling weeds, shoveling dirt, moving the two raised beds you can see in the upper right corner of the clover jungle photo above.
One of the benefits of having a husband who works in construction? His bosses will often let him bring home the equipment on the weekends. This time, he brought home the excavator, and got to digging. We transplanted our thornless blackberry from the fenceline to the trellis over by the garden beds, and then he dug up that fenceline jungle. Lizzy was *thrilled* to get to take a quick ride with him!

 While he did that, I weeded our 5x20 garden bed and also our strawberry patch, which was no small feat! I may or may not be really sore today, ha!


Now, in the next couple of weeks, we'll be laying down landscape fabric around the fenceline, and bringing in mulch. I haven't quite decided what (if anything) will be planted along the fence, but being that I have a bag of 180 Brodiaea bulbs from Costco, I'm strongly leaning towards those!

source

We sort of hope that we'll eventually be able to buy the empty lot directly behind our house. It isn't currently for sale, but the couple that originally owned our house subdivided their acre lot into four lots. They've developed one of the lots, and have left the others undeveloped. The husband was a contractor and I think was developing them himself, but recently retired. We've been thinking about sending them a letter that if they're ever interested in selling that quarter acre directly behind us, we'd potentially be interested in buying it.

So anyway, we don't want to invest a lot of money in flowers or bushes on the fence line before at least making contact with the owners of the other property, but I wouldn't have a problem sacrificing $12 in Brodiaea bulbs :) It's sort of a dance between thinking about what could maybe-possibly-someday happen in the future, while also making what we've got now a space that we love. Especially since realistically, even if we did buy that property, it would require all the steps we've taken here (weeding the thistle, bringing in topsoil, seeding, etc), so we'd be looking at a long term several year project there anyway.

 Whew. We still have a lot of hopes and dreams for this space, including installing a gate kit where the plywood is in the above pictures (we had to remove part of the fence to bring in the heavy equipment). This will also include moving a fencepost, so it isn't a small project persay, but doable. We'd also like to build a pergola over the patio, and maybe tear out the raised beds for a bigger garden area. I'd love a firepit and a swing set too.

So basically, we have a long way to go, but I forget sometimes how far we've come already!

We ended the weekend with our first time eating alfresco this year, which was a blessing!

I'm hoping this is a space that we'll be spending a LOT of time in this spring and summer--after all, when you're outside all weekend long, it's amazing how clean the inside of the house stays!

Monday Musings

{one} 

So, I only have one pair of maternity jeans. They're actually a pair that I bought AFTER Lizzy was born, in a size smaller than I wore during my pregnancy with her to help bridge the gap while I still didn't fit into normal jeans. Anyway, they've fit this whole pregnancy, so they're what I've been wearing...but they're just starting to feel a little small and uncomfortable. But who wants to buy MORE maternity clothes at almost 34 weeks? With a clothing budget as nonexistent small as mine, I certainly don't.

Anyway, I was complaining to Justin about this on Sunday morning during my 'I don't have anything church appropriate to wear' rant, Justin responded, "Why don't you just buy a couple pairs of leggings to wear under dresses and with longer shirts and stuff?" It seriously cracked me up that J was advocating the whole leggings-as-pants thing....but sold.

{two}

I've not done a single bit of fall decorating this year...it is still in the 70's and 80's around here, so it doesn't really feel like fall yet. That said, I'm starting to really get antsy for mums, and yarn wreaths, and cozy warm blankets tossed over the couch. I feel a little conflicted about doing it--I've always had a hard time spending money on things like decor because they feel kind of frivilous to me when we're on a tight budget, like we always are. But on the other hand, even $20 on mums and a wreath form goes a long way towards making a house feel like a home...and surely we can find that somewhere in the budget.

{three} 

So, Justin's brother Ryan is turning 30 this month. The boys decided that to celebrate, they wanted to do this burger challenge that a local restaurant has--basically, you have to eat 5.5 pounds of food and a drink in 45 minutes. The time limit used to be 35 minutes, but no one had been able to complete it, so they bumped it to 45 minutes. Only one guy has ever completed it. So, the boys went on Saturday...and if you've ever wondered what 5.5 pounds of food looks like, this is it:

{I didn't go to watch, but I think the breakdown went like this: two pounds of burger, 1 pound of bacon, 1/2 pound of cheddar cheese, tomato,pickles,onion and lettuce, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup served on a grilled 10 inch sesame seed bun along with 1 and 1/2 pounds of fries. Plus a drink}

Justin had been telling me for months that he could eat it no sweat...and while I'm pretty confident that I've seen him eat that much food before, he couldn't do it on Saturday. The only one that completed the challenge was Ryan...he ate it all, and in 34 minutes...which means that he now holds the record. Which means that I'm 100% sure that Justin is going to want to try and beat it someday ;) 

{four}

So, I did end up calling my doctor about the vision stuff that I mentioned in my last pregnancy post. He decided that he wanted me to go in for an EKG, blood work, and a few other tests, and so that's how I spent my Thursday afternoon. They said that everything came back normal, except that my thyroid was a little borderline, so they'll re-test it this week and then go from there. Basically though, it just sounds like vision issues and being kind of dizzy are par for the course for me when I'm pregnant. What can ya do? 

{five} 

Lizzy has been getting up ridiculously early for the past week or so. Like 4am early. And I'm just not comfortable with her running around all through the house at 4am while we're sleeping. Sometimes, she'll crawl into bed with us, which doesn't phase Justin at all, but totally wakes me up, especially since she doesn't usually ever go back to sleep. I keep looking at those toddler alarm clocks you can buy that change colors when it's okay for the kid to get up and out of bed--does anyone have one? I'm not sure whether or not Lizzy would actually stay in her room until the clock changed colors, but I feel like it might be worth a shot!

Catching up.

{one} 

We made some serious progress in deep cleaning the house this weekend, which is awesome and amazing, because the next FOUR Saturdays are booked up...which is crazy and surreal. We still have a huge amount to do pre-baby, but getting a good check of the general deep-cleaning out of the way is a huge relief. And it's kind of nice that I could actually invite people over to our house again--it really was so bad, that it was out of the question!

{two}

I have a dermatologist appointment this morning, I think to check on how the place where I had stitches on my stomach is holding up, and also to monitor a mole. Even though I don't think it's going to be a big deal, I have a hard time not getting super anxious any time I have a dermatologist appointment. I freaked most of the night last night about the appointment.

{three} 

I did some housekeeping to the blog over the weekend--I cleaned up the sidebar a bit, and also revamped the pages in the header. Now, you can find all baby and infant related posts itemized in one central location, and also a master list of all book reviews. I'm also trying something new and opening up a limited number of sidebar ads via Passionfruit-- check it out if you're so inclined (and I promise you won't hear much more from me on the subject).

{four}

We went to a wedding over the weekend for a young couple that used to help with childcare for Mom's Group. Justin and I were cracking up because both the father/daughter dance and the mother/son dance were the exact same songs we used for our wedding. I don't think I've heard them at ANY wedding since then, so it was pretty funny to hear both in one wedding. We kept joking that we guessed we were supposed to be remembering our wedding that day ;)

{five}

I get to start Beth Moore's study of James with some of the ladies from Mom's Group this week, and I am so excited. SO. EXCITED. I have absolutely zero doubt that it'll be really good for me to really dig in to the Word in these last few weeks before having a baby...because I don't know about anyone else, but it is so easy for me to fall out of the habit of daily quiet time, and when I do, nothing good comes of it. Also? Totally crazy to think that I most likely won't finish the study with the group because I'll be off having a baby.

{six}

Last night, I had a conversation with Lizzy about dinner that went like this:
Me: Lizzy, would you like a cheeseburger for dinner?
Lizzy: No mom!! I want a hang-a-burger with cheese, please.

If I would have told her that a hang-a-burger with cheese is the same thing as a cheeseburger, it would have resulted in a 37 minute tantrum. Sometimes, it's just easier to call it a hang-a-burger with cheese.

{seven} 

I'm in a book slump. I haven't picked up a book that I was really, really excited about reading in too long. This is compounded by the fact that what I read before bed has recently been directly influencing some absolutely crazy pregnancy dreams, so I'm trying to limit myself to happy, inspirational fluff. But yeah...not excited about anything I've read lately. Any suggestions?

Since you last saw me....

-I've done approximately 20 loads of laundry (yet somehow it still isn't done).

-I've sorted all the clothes in my closet into "newly postpartum" and "pre-pregnancy size" totes, and put them away for the rest of this pregnancy. And cried looking at the size of jeans I wore shortly after Lizzy was born. I really hope I never have to wear them this time.

-I've spent approximately one hour waiting in the 108 degree heat in our non-air conditioned car. Then, I spent approximately three hours watching baseball and wrangling a kiddo in the same 108 degree heat. Happily, Justin's team beat the best team in the league last night, which was particularly gratifying as the manager of the other team kept throwing the bat, swearing, and straight-up trying to cheat. Oh, and did I mention he's the coach of one of the local high school teams? He's clearly an awesome role model. I wish I would have video taped him and sent it to the school district. It was SO gratifying that his team lost.

-I've researched, arranged, and planned to have our internet switched over to a new provider. Hopefully, they're installing tomorrow. We've had Clearwire for years and hated them, but for some reason, it always felt like more of a hassle to switch.

-I've averaged getting to actually speak to my husband for about 10 minutes a night for the past two weeks...he's been leaving for work at about 6am every morning, working out of town with no cell service, and getting back sometime between 6pm and 8pm, though I never really know exactly when. And if he does get home earlier, he usually has baseball. Or there's something, and we're still not home. I'm feeling beyond done with this arrangement. So is our kiddo.

-I've gotten a call from the refinance lady that the USDA's refinance program that they just announced (and we were planning to use) is almost out of funds already. We'd been planning to close in November, but she wants to close ASAP instead. So, I've been spending time trying to figure out whether or not we can make things happen sooner than we planned. Right now, it doesn't feel worth the effort, honestly.

-I've spent lots of time snuggling my sweet girl. She and I both aren't feeling great--there's a few fires going on in Southern Oregon, and the level of smoke in the air is unreal. I think the runny noses and sore throats on both our ends are probably mostly attributed to that.

-I have spent almost an hour on the phone with our insurance, trying to figure out this breast pump business. Apparently, a new law went into effect in August that breastpumps are covered, period. BUT naturally, it isn't that simple for us...and we don't actually get to benefit from that law until January when our plan renews. So, instead, I'm trying to figure out which pump to buy with their old policy, which is that we pay out of pocket and they reimburse 70% up to $200. I'm looking at the Medela Pump In Style Advanced, the Phillips Avent Twin Electric, and the Ameda Purely Yours Double Pump. So if you have any of those and would like to weigh in (good or bad), I'd love that!

-I've spent approximately 3 hours shooting photos, and another 3 hours learning (trying to learn) Lightroom, which has been a lot of fun!

Basically, things have been busy, but not with anything particularly interesting to write about...so I apologize for my lack of posts lately! Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer!

A few random things...

{one}

Last night, I checked on Lizzy before we went to bed. She was happily sleeping while snuggling with a stack of books that she had tucked into bed with her. Attaway kiddo.

 {two}

Slowly but surely, our grass is growing. Here's what it looked like a month ago (after we brought in dirt) and then what it looked like this morning. It seems like it is taking FOR-EVER for the grass to really get going, but I'm seriously looking forward to a month or so from now when it's actually useable. I can't believe that we've never had a backyard in all the time we've lived here! I'm also super excited that Ryan and Renee are giving us their swing set that their kids have outgrown. I think we'd like to build one eventually, but I'm so excited to have one for the time being--Lizzy will LOVE it. And I have a feeling that there will be many an afternoon this summer where I'll love being able to just say, "Lizzy, go play outside!"

('scuse the plywood--we had to take down a part of the fence to get the big machinery back there)

{three}

I think my Blackberry is on it's last legs again. It's started to do this thing where I randomly get an hourglass, a white screen, and then a flashing red light, and it cycles through that for hours until the phone finally dies. Then, sometimes I'm able to charge it, and assuming it actually charges fully instead of only half-way like it often does, sometimes it works like normal until the crazy cycle begins again. Coincidentally, this is exactly the same thing that happened to my previous Blackberry, which was then replaced with the one I have now. Needless to say, if I can help it, I don't think I'll be getting another Blackberry.

{four}

Our garden is in! I'm still on the fence about how it's going to do this year--a few things died right off the bat. A few things seem to be doing really well, like the tomatoes. The weather's been tricky--alternating between cold and rainy to 80+ degrees. So, we'll see.

{five}

I'm fairly certain that our house hasn't either been clean OR tidy in the last.....oh, about 15 weeks. I keep hoping that Justin/the cleaning fairy will just clean the entire house from top to bottom some weekend while I'm napping, but so far that has not happened, despite the fact that I kept dropping hints that it would be the most excellent Mother's Day present. So, it's probably time to buck up and do it...but it's just at that point where I feel like I could clean all day long and still not really make a difference, so it just doesn't feel worth it to even start, ha!

Hello Day.

 

 Hello dinner. I've largely missed you these past few weeks. You really hit the spot! 

Hello purple toenails! I can't remember the last time I bought a new fingernail polish, and when I do, I usually stick to the cheapies (I've never had or used Essie or OPI nailpolish in my life, so I don't even know what I'm missing). This time, you didn't let me down Wet N' Wild. I'm digging this pretty lilac-y color, and the huge oversized brush that made painting super fast. 

 Hello grass seed. Grow baby, grow! We planted almost 6,000 sq feet of grass seed in our backyard this past weekend, and now we are watering like crazy and anxiously waiting for it to sprout. I don't know why, but I'm so nervous that it isn't going to grow! I'm so happy we seeded when we did and didn't wait--because if we had waited until after Justin had gotten paid, I think the money we had allocated would have ended up being used for other things. And we've been talking about doing the backyard for four years, so I'm kind of relieved that we didn't have the opportunity to be all sensible and say, "We can hold off another year...we could really use that money elsewhere." It's done already, there's nothing to do about it now, I'm sure things will work out this month, and I'm super excited to use the heck out of the yard this summer. 

Hello perfectly timed encouragement from a blog friend, Megan. This is one of the things that I love so much about blogging. You all are a BLESSING, and such an encouragement to me on so many occasions. 

  Hello OB appointment and ultrasound tomorrow. I'm still super nervous. But today, I noticed for the first time that it's on the same day as the National Day of Prayer, and that kind of made me smile. Lord knows I'll probably be praying up a storm that morning! 

Hello day :) 

BQOTD: Last Thing

I feel like I can't ask this set of five questions often enough--I LOVE seeing your answers every time! So, today's Burning Questions of the Day are:

1. What was the last thing you ate?
2. What was the last book you read?
3. What was the last movie you saw?
4. What was the last thing that made you smile?
5. What was the last thing you pinned on Pinterest?

My answers:
1. Some ceasar salad last night
2. Part of 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp, but it was due back to the library so I haven't finished.
3. Hunger Games! It's been maybe 2 years since I read the first book, so it's not incredibly fresh in my mind, but I really liked the movie! I really did NOT like how many 3-5 year olds were in the theater though.
4. When Justin woke me up to say goodbye this morning.
5. An entry-way photo from BHG. Love everything about it!

Source: bhg.com via Meredith on Pinterest

What about you?!

The Home Organization Binder

I'm not a naturally organized person, and I REALLY hate spending money when it comes to organizing things. Organization doesn't come easy to me, and I'm definitely not an expert at it. That said, the Home Organization Binder that we made at Mom's Group a few weeks ago has been a big help to me, and so I wanted to talk about it here.

I'd seen similar binders all over Pinterest, but hadn't actually made one because (a) I hadn't seen one configured in a way that I thought I'd actually use, (b) I hate spending money on that sort of thing and (c) I don't have a lot of craft supplies, so it would probably end up being very expensive for me to buy scrapbook paper and all those other goodies necessary in order to create a binder that I wouldn't mind having just sit out on a day-to-day basis. That's the beauty of my Mom's Group--you pay annual "dues" and part of that dues money goes towards providing all the materials needed to do the craft of the day. It's awesome.

Anyway, we were instructed to decorate the outside of the binder however we wanted. Again, my goal was to have something that I wouldn't mind sitting out on the desk all the time. Then, on the inside, we were supposed to create divided sections based on something called a "brain dump" that they had done the previous session. I missed that one, but from what I gather, you basically take a blank piece of paper, give yourself an allotted amount of time, and then just write down everything on your mind until the time is up. The suggestion was that you then review your brain dump and see if there are any themes or categories that might help you decide what your divided sections should be. Here's what I ended up with:

1. Finances: Included in this section are two zippered pouches--one for receipts that need to be entered into our budget, and one for receipts from the month that already have been entered. We enter most of our financial info directly into an Excel spreadsheet, but I also printed out a copy of our monthly budget for easy access. It might also be a good place to keep track of due dates for various bills, interest rates for credit cards/student loans, and that sort of thing.



2. Prayer: I mentioned the Inspired to Action website a few days ago, which includes some great e-books that include monthly calendars for praying for your kids and spouse. I have them printed out and in sheet protectors in this section. I also added lined notebook paper so that when I hear about prayer requests, I can jot them down and (hopefully) actually follow through later.

3. To Do Today: Exactly as it sounds. It's a section of lined paper. I fold each piece of paper vertically, and write two days worth of to-do's on each side. Another great option is the Weekly Overview (again from Inspired to Action) which allows space to write your Bible Study plans, a menu, and a to-do list.

4. To Do Later: This section is also filled with lined paper and is for things that I want to remember, but don't necessarily need to do that day. I also have a few sheet protectors for fliers/brochures, and my brain dump is also here. I really liked the brain dump and I think I may do it more often.

5. Meal Plan: My plan was to print our my meal plan and keep it here, along with a master list of the recipes that I can cook. That said, I'm finding that I actually end up looking on the computer (I keep the meal plan in a Word document and also look on Pinterest a lot) than in the binder, so this category may turn into something else.

6. Toddler Activities: Awhile back, when I was venting about the parenting/cleaning balance, Emily commented that she tries to do three activities with Thomas each day. I really liked that idea, and have implemented it a lot with Lizzy with my own little spin. I keep a list of activities to do with Lizzy in this section. This isn't anything fancy...typically I just take toys that we already have, and couple them with developmental stuff. So, one activity might be to play with Legos with Lizzy, with me focusing on counting as we're playing (or colors). It isn't anything structured--just while we're playing, I make an effort to count the Legos as we stack. Sometimes, the activities are just going to the library or to the park...but the key for me is that it helps me to be more present and to really feel like I have some freedom to clean, or read, or whatever doing the day because I know Lizzy is getting some quality time. And as a bonus, it helps me remember to rotate in books and toys that we haven't read or used in awhile. This would also be a good section to keep lists of free things to do in your area, printouts from places like www.icanteachmychild.com and more.

7. Notes/Other Info: Since the binder typically sits next to the computer, I like to just have lined paper where I can scratch notes as necessary. Justin's been working on an inventory of our DVD collection, so that may eventually go here, as may schedules for baseball/softball, etc.

8. Emergency Info: This will probably just be a place to store phone numbers of our doctors, Justin's work, our insurance agent, etc. Phone numbers that I may need quickly, but probably don't know by heart or necessarily want/need in my phone 24/7.

Other ideas for divider sections that I've seen are things like cleaning, take-out menus, sports schedules, etc. The bottom line is to do what works for you...do the brain dump, identify what is stressing you out, and do what you can to make yourself a bit more organized in those areas. I know, it sounds so simple, right? Well, it's not that simple, and you won't do it perfectly (I don't anyway), but doing something is better than doing nothing I figure!

I know this post is getting long, but I also have to mention that our mail is stored elsewhere (in the living room post, I showed you the inside of the flowered box--it's in there). We have sections in that box for incoming bills, things to be filed, cards/notes, etc. But, all of those categories would probably also work in a Home Binder if you think that would work best for you--I just already had a system going for that and figured there's no sense in messing with what's already working.


Also, does it drive anyone else crazy that when you put things in sheet protectors, you can no longer see the divider tabs?! No? Just me? Okay then....  :)

Snippets & Living Room Photos!

-So, while our living room is still far from being "complete", I finally took some photos to share with y'all!

I must have driven to 5 different thrift stores yesterday looking for a chair to paint for the computer desk. I couldn't find one anywhere that wasn't under $30. Sorry, not paying $30 for a basic wooden chair that I'm going to repaint to have what I want anyway. So anyway, picture the above setup with a white chair at the desk. 

This little Photoshop DIY is my favorite addition to the shelves...I love me some Matt Maher!

Sorry for the blurriness of this, but I wanted to show you the inside of the box on the bottom right--it's from Target, and I LOVE it for filing things temporarily until I move them to the bigger file box every three months or so.

At Mom's Group a few weeks ago, we made home organization binders...the binder almost deserves an entire post of its own, but it has really helped me when it comes to keeping things organized--especially these zippered pouches that I added to the front for our receipts to enter to our budget and receipts that have already been entered.

But I'm getting off track. Here's another view of the living room...you can see that I still haven't painted the fourth wall. Eventually, I swear. Anyway, even though the color isn't that different, I feel like the undertones make a BIG difference, especially when it's overcast or cloudy outside--now, it still feels happy to me instead of feeling dreary. Also, I made Justin re-hang the curtains about 6 inches higher (a bit wider too), and I'm really glad I did. And yeah, I know the fuzzy pillows are probably not "in style", but they are so comfy and I love them:

Lizzy still has her own little corner, which works great for us.

So there you have it--there's still a lot left to do *COUGH* TRIM AROUND DOOR JUSTIN *COUGH*, but I'm liking where we're heading :)

-Lizzy totally does not understand what the word "maybe" means. I think her understanding of it is 'the word I say when my mom says no, but I'm trying to convince her otherwise'--as in:

Lizzy: I have candy? 

Me: Not today sweetheart. 

Lizzy: Maybe!?

-This video? I DIED laughing.



 

-Since early January, I have been participating in the Hello Mornings challenge with Kat at Inspired to Action. Basically, the premise of the challenge is to get up in the mornings before your kiddos to (a) have quiet time with God (b) plan your day, and (c) exercise (or at least make a plan for when you're going to)... I don't particularly enjoy getting up early and will admit that I have majorly slacked in the past few weeks, but I can also admit that I find that when I do get up and get a few things accomplished before Lizzy wakes, my day feels a lot more productive overall. I'm thankful for the opportunity and for all my #hmc2 ladies on Twitter for accountability and support!

-I don't know if you guys are familiar with a story that's been in the news here in the PacNW of Josh Powell killing his kids in Graham, WA over the weekend. I really don't want to talk about him or what he did--the pure unbridled evil that he displayed was and is horrific, and he does not deserve to be written about. But what I wanted to say is about the social worker who was there to supervise the visitation between Powell and his sons, and I feel like I have to give some back-story to make it all make sense--Powell shut the door after the kids came in the home and wouldn't let the social worker in the home. She smelled gas and immediately called 911 explaining that the father had recently lost a custody case (not to mention he's a person of interest in the alleged murder of the boys' mother) and that she was afraid for the boys' lives--the dispatcher told her that the authorities had to attend to other life-threatening calls first. So, while she was attempting to convey that she smelled gas and was scared for the boys, she witnessed their father blow up the house while he and the boys were inside.Ugh. It's really terrible to type that all out. It literally makes me sick to my stomach.

The social worker, Elizabeth Griffin-Hall, has been on my mind constantly since hearing the story. What an awful thing to witness and experience. It feels a little strange to throw this in with all the other happy snippets, but it's been on my heart today to ask those of you who pray to lift her up in your prayers, and I just don't want to ignore that gut feeling. I just don't want her to be overlooked.

Linking up to: 

and hopefully (if I remember):

Funk.

I'm going through that blogging funk that we all go through at some time or another--you know, where you want to write something interesting, and profound, and real, but all you can seem to come up with are a bunch of snippets, book reviews, and funny stories that sort of capture what you're thinking, but not really.

I'm pretty certain that it may be directly related to the fact that I haven't actually used my camera for the love of it in several weeks. I know it's not true, but around this time of year, I always feel like there is nothing to take pictures of--no fall leaves, no flowers yet, often no sun. I'm sure the beauty is still there...I just may need to make a concerted effort to find it.

I have several half-posts floating around in my head. I want to show you our new blue walls (which I LOVE), but I don't have any photos yet, and the living room isn't quite how I'd like it yet...and I'm still holding out hope that it may get there eventually. We'll see.

I want to talk about baptism, because I feel like this is something that I'm constantly being asked to debate--both online and in real life. People want to know why Lizzy was baptized and not dedicated. They want to know whether I was dunked or sprinkled. They want to debate about whether one baptism is enough or whether if you really mess up, whether I think you might need another. I've wanted to post about this, but honestly, I get frustrated with these debates...I feel like sometimes we forget that it's God doing the work in baptism and not us. 

I want to blog about how I'm still feeling a little nervous, excited, worried, conflicted, thrilled, and 1,000 other emotions about some of the things Justin and I have been talking about lately in terms of this next year and what it will bring for us...but I'm not totally sure how to put it all into words.

I want to talk about budgeting, and how well it's working for us right now, but I'm not sure what I can really say when I still have the very strong urge to RUN to JC Penney and their new 40% lower prices and shop with abandon...while putting it all on my credit card.

Aaaaaannnndddd...I have no idea how to wrap up this particular post, so I'll just leave it as it is, and ask for your patience as I wade through the funk :)

Big Old (Painting) Mess

Our house is in a state of complete chaos...because I'm painting the living room. We'd picked up a ton of paint samples and taped them up to the wall, moving them around and checking them out in different light. Justin and I had differing favorites, but both also loved a third swatch by Glidden, which I was planning to see if I could have color matched to Behr. I've never used Glidden, but knew I liked Behr, so I figured why mess with a good thing. I had been holding off though because the nearest Home Depot is a bit of a trek from us, and it didn't seem worth it to drive out there just for paint--I'd wait til Justin got paid next, and we were out in that direction.

And then yesterday I was at Wal-Mart and remembered that Better Homes & Gardens has paint now, and it's made by Glidden. I had the swatch in my purse, so I headed to the counter, and sure enough, they could mix me up a gallon. I knew we could probably shuffle a few things around in our budget to make it work to buy one gallon and get started, so I went for it.

I'm not sure that I love it right now--it's definitely not quite as saturated of a blue as the photos I had for inspiration. But, it was definitely one of our favorites of the swatches when we saw it in all the different types of light and all the different walls (the wall on the right in the photo above seems to always be significantly darker than the rest of the room--probably because we don't have any overhead lights), so I'm pretty sure we'll like it once it's all painted and our stuff is back as usual. It's a lot less dreary and depressing than the gray (which my dad totally warned me about when we painted initially, but I didn't listen), so that's a plus.

Also, the paint is okay. I don't like it as much as Behr--it feels a little thinner, and I feel like I have to stir it more often while I'm painting. But, it's not a bad paint for the price point.

I've decided that painting when you have to shuffle around furniture, play kitchens, and a gazillion books is 856 times (rough estimate) more difficult than painting an empty house. I can't wait to be finished! In the meantime, I think we'll have a few Dora filled days around here.

PS- I mentioned that I want to do floating shelves on that wall as part of the wall gallery. Before, our floating shelves were espresso. They might still be usable, but got pretty banged up in the garage, so we may end up buying more anyway. If we do, would you buy white, or espresso? Our couches and bookshelves are espresso, but our desk (which the shelves will be above), a bench, the trim, and a few other pieces of furniture in this room are white...and then there's the hutch that is more cherry and doesn't match anything else in the room. Not sure which direction to go, and would love some advice.

Thursday Thoughts

{one}

I get my stitches out today. FINALLY. They are driving me crazy. Starting yesterday, they started to itch terribly and are getting red and a little painful. Most people I've consulted said it looks like they're just ready to come out rather than that they're infected...I hope the doctor agrees!

{two}

I'm excited to hopefully get back to some real exercise soon. I've been walking on the treadmill with some regularity since I had the stitches, but after years of playing competitive sports, walking just doesn't feel like a "real" workout to me--which is probably something I need to get over. I know intuitively that it should just be about moving my body in some way every day, but I really love to feel that burn and exhaustion of really killing myself.

{three}

I'm starting to get the D&R itch (decorating & renovating for any non-nesties out there). First of all, I definitely want to paint the living room...a light blue sort of like this:

 

Source: remodelaholic.com via Meredith on Pinterest

Or maybe this, though the paint color may be a little bright in this one:

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Meredith on Pinterest 

I prefer Behr paint (or something that Behr will color match)--any suggestions? I also think I want to re-do our gallery wall to incorporate some floating shelves. My parents got us the most amazing wireless printer for Christmas, but it takes up a big portion of our computer desk (and even though it's wireless, the desk really is the best spot for it in our home). I was thinking that if we incorporated some shelves into our gallery wall, I might be able to find some cute hanging folders and/or boxes, they could help with the stray paper issue we're experiencing!

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Meredith on Pinterest

But as always...it's a juggle between all of the projects that I WANT to do (i.e. build a table, organize our spare room, organize the garage), and having the time and money to do them!

{four}

You may (or may not) have noticed that my blog was blacked out yesterday in protest against SOPA. You may be sick to death about hearing about SOPA (good--have you done something about it?), or you may be wondering why people online are having such a fit about a piece of legislation designed to stop online piracy. Here's the deal--the idea of stopping online piracy and copyright infringement is a good one. However, this particular piece of legislation is pretty poorly written with lots of holes, and the practical application for a good portion of the internet, including bloggers, is SCARY. I'm not suggesting that there shouldn't be a piece of legislation designed to combat piracy (in fact, there's been an alternative piece of legislation drawn up by my own Oregonian senator that, with some tweaks, might be a good alternative), I'm just suggesting that THIS particular piece of legislation is a bad one. This article "Everything you need to know about Congress' online piracy bills in one post" is an excellent recap.

Link up, over at Life of Love! 

Messy Mom Monday

Brittany and Jess are hosting a new link-up called Messy Mom Monday--getting real about the fact that virtually no moms have it all together all the time, even though it may look like it sometimes. I'm not sure if I've ever told this story before on the blog or not, but not too long after Lizzy was born, I remember looking at some other moms that I knew and thinking, I just don't understand how they do it! Their homes were always spotless. They were always posting on Facebook about their from-scratch cooking, the many novels that they were reading, their great 10 mile run, the hilarious TV they were watching, AND the great Beth Moore studies that they were doing. And here I thought it was a good day if I got a shower.

And then when I was talking with a few of the moms one day, one of them mentioned that they had been hiring a high school girl to come clean their house. Another mentioned that she has her kids go to daycare one day a week, and that's when she does her long runs and cleans the house. Another told me that they just shove everything into their back bedroom anytime someone is coming over. It was like an epiphany to me--they aren't perfect, I just thought they were. It can be a lonely place to think that you're the only person who doesn't have it all together all the time, and that's what I think this link-up is all about...letting ourselves be real once in awhile, and hopefully letting others know that it is okay for them to be real too.

.............................................

Here's my sweet adorable girl this morning...she's on the couch watching Dora while I lay in bed and blog.



But let's back up and get a fuller picture of the room, no?


It's amazing what you can hide in photos.

Our laundry situation is out of control right now. I wasn't able to do laundry at all last week and hadn't done much the previous week either, so it was a little outrageous. We made some good progress this weekend, but left two loads on the couch yesterday morning ready to be folded after church...and then didn't end up back home until 10pm. So there they still sit...along with numerous other piles of laundry that need to be washed and sorted through.







The buffet is still a mess from Lizzy's birthday last week. And the photo that I took to show you? I have no idea what happened there, but it ended up looking like this:



And our spare bedroom? Oh my GOSH you guys...it has become the dumping ground lately for everything that we don't have a home for anywhere else. We desperately need to add some money in the budget for Rubbermaid containers to get this under control!

But, Justin only has a week or so left on his high-paying job site, and so I'm leery about actually spending that money instead of putting it in savings. I mean, I can always just shut the spare bedroom door.

Go link up with Jess or Brittany and share your Messy Mom Monday post with us!