Let's go on an adventure!

In a few weeks it will be fifteen years since I rode in the back seat of a fifteen passenger van down 95, on my way to Moscow.  I had two weeks until I started Logos, my first time at a school.  We drove through the dry, brown fields of the Palouse.  This is it? Really?  We are in the middle of nowhere!  Why would anyone live here? I stepped out of the van, dusty Western ground crunching under my feet.  It seemed liked a barren waste land after moving from rainy, crowded England and spending the summer by a pool in Alabama.  I'll be here four years, I thought, finish high school, then I'm moving away for college.  I had no idea that I would be in Moscow for 15 years, and I had no idea the good gifts God would bring to me out of this seemingly empty, barren town.

Moscow has been a spring of blessings for me.  I have met some of my dearest friends here.  God gave me Jon in Moscow - on Main Street, actually.  I turned around in Bucer's one day and there he was, in a tattered blue plaid shirt and cut off Carhartts.  I married him anyway. God gave me Darcy and June - who I also met on Main Street, wrapped in white blankets, screaming.  God has brought 3 beautiful wives for 3 of my brothers.  God gave me MargaretAnn and Garnett, which tripled the number of my sisters.  When I got married in Moscow, I was given three more sisters and two more brothers and two more parents.  And since then I have gained two more brother-in-laws, three nieces, and three nephews.  My life has doubled and tripled. God has shown me more of His goodness with all the new teaching and in all the new challenges that Moscow brought.  With each year that passed He brought me strange trials that are so unique for myself, many may not even call them trials.  Blessing and trial resulting in more blessing.  That has been His pattern.  I am thankful.

On Monday we are loading up what little belongings we still have and leaving this sweet place.  Jon is going back to school to finish his degree in Biblical Counseling at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky and pursue work in the church.  This is a dream he has had for a long time, and those of you who know him know how incredible he will be in this kind of work.  

We are both so excited for this new adventure, this new chapter.  I would be lying if I didn't admit that I am really looking forward to milder winters.  Although I have learned to adore Moscow's insane weather.  It has taught me not to complain so much and to dress in layers.  We will miss this place.  We will miss these people.  But if I look back and count each gift the Lord has brought to me in Moscow, I am confident that He will continue to provide even more gifts as He moves us on to new challenges, new people, new trials, and new blessing.  I am thankful.

Downsizing

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Today I packed up my stack of beautiful oilcloth tablecloths and colorful napkins.  I have too many.  I have tablecloths for all seasons, for all sizes, and some duplicates.  Every few months I go through my table linen drawer and try to get rid of some.  It's a futile project.  I always end up refolding them all and placing them right back in the drawer.  It doesn't help that I now have a little friend who always compliments table arrangements and anything with a good pop of color.  I can't seem to downsize when it comes to pretty table ware.  And I am realizing more and more that I'm really okay with my behavior.  It's what I believe in - tables, food, fellowship, pretty things - it's what reminds me to be thankful.  Why would I garage sale things that remind me to be thankful?  Our table is where I finally sit down at the end of a long day, it's where I finally get to talk to Jon, it's where Darcy tells some of her best jokes (and we have recently had some pretty extensive prayers from her at the table too), it's where we catch up with friends.  I want it to be pretty, and I want to feel thankful there.  If that means I have to set aside some extra pantry space for an array of good tablecloths, then we will just have to make that sacrifice.

Today, I packed up all those pretty tablecloths into a red plastic bin and put a label on it.  We are packing up the whole house by the end of the month and moving on.  This has been a wonderful and challenging place for us to live.  Buying our first home was a great experience, and we have gradually been making it prettier and prettier.  As I'm packing, I'm remembering how horrible it looked when I was moving in.  Things have definitely improved.  We have many wonderful memories here - Darcy's first three birthdays, bringing June home from the hospital, two Christmases by our fireplaces, living in the living room for a month while we waited to replace the furnace, hanging laundry all over the house when the dryer was broken, spending long summer evenings by the fire pit in the back yard, and having many friends stay with us.  It's been fun.  But it's also been challenging.  We have had many, many days in this house without Jon.  His last two jobs required him to travel more than we would like.  For a while he has felt called to finish his degree in Biblical Counseling that he started before we were married, but the timing never seemed quite right.  This year we are finally taking the plunge and Jon is going back to school.  We are leaving our house, packing up, and heading out of town for a big career change.

A career change for Jon leaves me really questioning my priorities when it comes to my job of keeping a home.  Do I really need all the tablecloths and napkins?  How many vases is really too many?  What's a reasonable number of towels for a family of four, because I am positive that I have about three times too many?  Especially with a few years of school in our immediate future, and most likely a small apartment or student housing, I really question my decorating standards.  It's been quite a battle for me over the last couple of months, and while I have purged many decorative belongings, I have finally come to the conclusion that I have to stick to my guns - making my home pretty is one of my favorite and most important aspects of my job here.  It is so much more than having a stylish or trendy home - it's about bringing joy to the people that live here.  It's about creating a place where my family can come to and be reminded to be thankful.  It's about being so generous with my time and effort that they remember how generous God has been to us.  It means that I will be spending much time over the next few years lugging around boxes of candlesticks and throw pillows, and racking my brain for how to organize them in a tiny apartment.  But do you know that feeling you get when you sit on the edge of the ocean, when you just look out over all the water and the beautiful sky and you know deep down that God is good because it is so beautiful?  That's the feeling that I want my family to have in our home.  I want it to be beautiful so that when they look around they remember that God has been so good to us, whether we are in a big beautiful house, or a tiny apartment on a college campus.

Where have I been??

Yikes, it's been over two months since I've been on my blog.  It's even been over two months since I looked at it!  I would say that I have a good excuse since I start almost every day thinking..."we don't have that much going on today, I'll definitely getting to posting on my blog."

Then I hop out of bed to throw together a lunch for Jon before he heads out for work, and a take a fast shower before my little munchkin wakes up.  By the time I get my hair done and makeup on, I've refilled a sippy cup twice, made a pan of scrambled eggs, convinced a two year old to pretend her eggs are tiny fish and she is a scary dinosaur that has to eat them, stripped a wet crib, taken my girl to the potty at least 4 times, fed the dog,  made the beds, started some laundry.

I realize we are out of milk and eggs.  I run to store and while I'm out I realize I need to deposit some checks and fill up the car and vacuum the car, and between our two families I'm usually shopping for a birthday present.  When I get home I somehow let Darcy convince me that we have time for a walk, which always takes longer than I think it will.  Then I'm making PBJs and boiling peas and carrots.  I'm cleaning up the mess the dog has made all over the back yard.  How did he get a roll of paper towels anyway?

My sweet girl comes slowly walking up to me with her blanket and binky.  Time for a story and a nap.  I look at the clock - it's only 12:30.  I'll definitely have time to blog.  I just have a few dishes to wash, and meat to defrost, and laundry to fold, and the sticky spots in the kitchen to mop, and that corner in the bedroom to do paint touch ups, and that baby blanket to finish sewing.  Oh, and I forgot I needed to change the sheets and wash the towels and try to get some stains out of little t-shirts.  My back is starting to get sore again, so I turn on my prenatal pilates video and waste away another 45 minutes.  I sit down to pay a few bills and answer a few emails...at least I'm close to the computer now....just as I'm writing the last check I hear a sweet little voice begging to get up from her nap.  Where has the time gone?  And where has my nap gone?  

She sits on the counter while I make dinner, always ready to stir or measure or tell me that the knife will give me a big "owie" if I'm not careful.  While we are chopping vegetables and searing meat, I realize we are out of bread.  It won't take that long to just whip up a few loaves...and of course that keeps us busy the rest of the day until Jon walks through the door.  I forget about pretty much everything once he gets home.  It's just dinner and family time and bath for the baby and bedtime snuggles.

By the time dinner is cleaned up, I'm about ready for bed too.  But, wait, I was going to blog today!  I sit down at the computer and I can't even remember what I was going to post about.  Computer turns off and blog goes untouched.

I hope you've been continuing to make all your homes lovely.  I've been doing a different kind of decorating lately...the kind where your just keep things looking nice, keep the kitchen sink empty, and put the throw pillows back on the couch fourteen times a day.  I can't complain - I really love it.  And I have the best little buddy to do it all with.  Don't you just love her little face?

Some house things

Well, well, as it turns out trying to be a decent mom and  home-owner really does take up a lot of time, and apparently posting online has taken the back burner.  Here's a few things I'm looking at for the house.

Ikea - probably to go next to one of the fireplaces.  Our house has a terrible lack of chairs.

 

Ikea -for Darcy's room.  I'm considering throwing on a coat of light green paint and something similar to these curtains.

 World Market - I'm always on the lookout for a new dining table.

World Market - for the dining room, because wouldn't it be perfect with that table?

Closet Doors

Remember these old doors in the master bedroom? Here's the original picture. As soon as I saw the house, I had knew that these needed to go a dark shade of blue.

Since our current bedding is mostly green I chose a SW Lagoon to bring out the green and pick up the bright blue in the picture above the bed. I won't tell you how many hours I spent painting those old doors, mainly because I don't really want to know. Someday I'll own a sprayer and my whole life will feel like a dream.

$1 plus10 minutes

Ta-dah! I found this old window at a yard sale for $1, and after 10 minutes of throwing on some paint, this is what I came up with. It is now that main feature in our master bathroom. Even the smallest budget has room for this. If you are not confident in your painting skills, you can easily tape a picture to the back and trace the silhouette.

Free Stuff

I very rarely refuse a piece of free furniture. Well, that's not true, I'm pretty stingy when it comes to anything that has upholstery and can't be disinfected a million times. But when it's easy to clean and easy to paint, I usually say yes. Who knows what it might turn into. I wish I had captured before pictures of these pieces, but you will just have to enjoy the afters of these free items...

A cute dresser that is serving well as a buffet in my dining room:

And a table that is supposed to seat six but faithfully seats 12 for Sabbath Dinners:

(I know, I know, the chairs go to another table. I'm on the hunt for new chairs, so in the meantime I'm putting up with the clashingness.)

Decorating the Spare Room with Spare Change

This post is for those of you on a budget that has no room for decorating. You can create a cute, comfortable space with just a few dollars. The trick is to keep your colors simple, with a few bold punches, and use a lot of what you already have. You might have to do some dumpster diving, so just make sure to have a gallon of white paint on hand.

Welcome to my spare room...

I chose to paint this room with the leftover dining room paint (BM Moonshine). Cost: $0

We rescued the twin beds from nearly ending up in the dump, and my awesome husband painted them white using paint that we already had. Cost: $0

I already owned the sheets and pillows, but I got the rest of the bedding from Ikea. Cost: $42

I found that fun blue rug at Ross. Cost: $6

I bought these candle holders at Ross years ago and spray painted them. Cost: $2

I did these simple paintings with canvases that I found on sale, using paint that I already had leftover from other projects. Cost: $5

I made the throw pillows from fabric that I found on sale and a couple of old pillows. Cost: $3

This chair was free, and of course I painted it white. It obviously still needs to be recovered, which will cost me something later. Cost: $0

The simple curtains on the windows are a temporary fix, but they have been in our house since we got married so I don't even know how much they were originally. Cost: $0

The table between the beds was another dump rescue, and painted with paint that I had for my front door. Cost: $0

The tray of toiletries is something that I always have on hand for overnight guests. The tray itself was a wedding present, but the vase of rocks and the toiletries cost:$6

Total cost: $64 to decorate an entire room!

I hope that encourages you to look around your house and use what you already have. A coat of paint can work wonders! I would love to see pictures of any or your rooms that you have decorated on a budget, so send me an email!

My Hallway

Here is a little project that I'm excited to share with you all! It has been in my head since we looked at the house, so I'm happy to get it out of my head and into reality.

Here is the hallway when we first bought the house:

And here it is a few weeks later.

And now today. (Yes, we always have at least one toy in the hall, I need to get some more pictures up, and we still need to put in new trim. I'm seriously going to cry on the day I get baseboards. So if you see me wondering around Moscow with joyful tears streaming down my face, you will know I have baseboards!)

Let's get a closer look at the door.

I took three of the colors that I have used in other rooms of the house. The branches are the color in the Living Room (Sherwin Williams: Believable Buff), the leaves are the color of the kitchen (Sherwin Williams: Tollefson Green), and the flowers are the color of my guest bathroom (Benjamin Moore: Burnt Peanut). The design is inspired by several textiles that I have on throw pillows throughout the house. I really wanted something simple and colorful that pulled together some of the elements that I've used in the house.

Beach Scene

This is making me want to incorporate some bold stripes into my scheme. Or maybe it's because I've had the flu for a week and the beach just sounds so nice.

The Mantel

This little arrangement of Parisian scenes is one of my favorite spots in the house right now. I found three old frames that I had on hand and painted them the same color as the ceiling. I'll just be honest, I'm a terrible painter, evidenced by the fact that I will paint any material. I'm surprised I haven't taken a brush to the living room carpet. The frames turned out alright, considering the fact that I'm sure every paint expert would tell me that I can't paint plastic.

(If you think this arrangement looks a bit unbalanced, the fireplace itself is not centered, so I counteracted the weight of the fireplace with a heavier weighted arrangement on the opposite side of the mantel shelf. But I am planning to get something a little taller for the spot where that green candle is.)

Distressing

Do you like distressed furniture? I admit I am pretty picky about distressed pieces, but my husband loves them. I found this chair in the corner of the dining room the other day and I'm not even sure where it came from. I'm hesitant to put another coat on it since I'm liking the contrast to the formality of the dining room. What do you think?

Some before and aftering

We got this lovely shelf from a friend, and since I had to make it look like it was mine, I ran to the store and grabbed a $5 quart of SW Lagoon.

And here is what happened a few days later.

We had to childproof the bottom shelf - napkins in a serving dish and a bowl of napkin rings. It's pretty, practical, and keeps a little someone distracted from grabbing the porcelain bowls.

Connecting Rooms

One of the hardest things to do when decorating your house is figuring out how to make it flow. It is easy to pick completely different color schemes for every room, or to paint everything the same color of tan. But what about rooms that are open to each other but have completely different lighting. One of my favorite tricks is to pick up a large accessory in one room and paint the walls that color in the adjoining room. This is especially important in houses that have additions, because they can feel so disjointed from the rest of the house.

Our living room couches are a lovely shade of stormy blue - it is a mix of gray/blue/green - and I chose a paint color for my kitchen that matches. Here is the view from the kitchen looking into the living room.

One year ago...

...I got the best gift I have ever been given. And one person I would really like to thank is Steve, the anesthesiologist, for being there at 1:09 AM with your drugs and your point 'n' shoot camera so that I can have a picture of the best moment of my life. She was so mad and I loved her so much.

And just a few hours later....my beautiful Darcy Bella Jane.

She is the sweetest little girl ever! She always wants to help with whatever I am doing...cleaning, cooking, sweeping, mopping, laundry, reading. She loves to go shopping with me and asks me about everything in the store. She can't handle being off her schedule, and I adore her for that. She crawls around the house, picking up any piece of fuzz she can find on the floor and bringing it to me. She loves having kids over, especially her young aunties. She loves looking at paint chips, fabric and floor samples, and (her personal favorite) counter top samples. She loves loves loves her daddy, and always has preferred him over anyone else - we have that in common. I still can't believe that I get to spend every day with my favorite little buddy in the world. Happy Birthday, baby!

My Living room

Here are some befores and durings...I won't say afters because I'm not nearly finished. But things are looking a little better. Sorry for the poor photo quality, it was getting dark when I took the pictures.

Before...

During...

Before...

During...

As you can see, we painted alot. The ceiling beams and trim is all SW Pure White, the walls are SW Believable Bluff, and the ceiling is SW Tidewater. At first we had talked about tearing down the ceiling beams, but after they went white and I painted the Tidewater between them, they became one of my favorite features of the room. We also painted the paneling. If you have a paneled wall, see if you can take off the paneling. We couldn't because those two closets are actually framed in by the panels. So, until we remodel the room, we had to leave the paneling walls. I painted them a bright white, which makes a huge different and adds a nautical feel to the room. They already have such a different texture from the rest of the room, that I felt they called for a different color too. If you paint paneling, make sure you get a good couple coats of primer on there first. I'm just going to say, it wasn't a quick project.

The Kitchen

The kitchen is always the biggest project when updating a house. For now, I just needed to find a way to live with what's in there until I can get to painting cabinets, replacing appliances and counter tops, etc. And if you are in a rental, you are having to deal with alot of temporary decorating, too.

The cabinets are not terrible, but they are not my favorite. We are not even going to mention that stove. Just ignore it for now. I chose a paint color that would go well with works well with the adjoining rooms but also compliments the elements that I can't change this week (like my cabinets and counter tops). I actually had to mix a few different colors until I came up with the perfect shade of blue/green/gray, then I painted it on a piece of cardboard and had Sherwin Williams color match it for me. They even named the color after me. How nice.

Adding some texture to your walls, like that corkboard, helps to distract from other elements in the room that you don't want to bring attention to.

Another fun and cheap way to add texture to your wall is by stretching fabric over old picture frames, stapling the backs and hanging them on the wall. I use this trick all the time, mainly because I always find pieces of fabric that I love and I don't know what to do with it. I hate to sew...stapling is so much more straight forward. So here you are, a few old curtains, some fabric scraps, and a few picture frames from the dollar store became the art for our long, empty kitchen wall.

Moonshine and Painting Brick

This is the 2nd time that I have painted the dining room within the last two weeks, and it is about the 14th color sample I have tried on the wall. We have a 120 inch window on the north wall, so I get a flood of northern light all day long. As a little tip for those of you who live in the north and have to worry about the direction of the sun....northern light is always cooler than southern light, so it is recommended to go with warm colors in north facing rooms. Of course, I'm an almost-certified interior designer, so I throw the rules to the wind and try cool colors in all my north facing rooms because I'm a huge sucker for cool colors. I can't help it. They just feel so clean, even when I haven't dusted. Anyway, my dining room....I wanted to go with something neutral, yet modern. The fireplace was going white, so a cool gray sounded like just the thing. I'm a huge fan of dining room walls being neutral, so I can change up the table decor depending on the season. Finally I found the gray that was perfect....Benjamin Moore Moonshine. It's just like moon-light, hence the name. It's light and airy, and contrasts the white fireplace beautifully.

Yes, fireplace has gone white....I know you're all wondering about that! If you have outdated brick and you are not going to replace it, my advice is to paint it. You'll need to get the primer on there pretty thick (meaning a couple of layers). Of course, it is recommended to use oil-based primer, and of course I didn't. Brick soaks up paint like a sponge, but I wanted the texture to show through because I am primarily doing my dining room in neutrals. So I used a water based primer and a thin, shiny paint. I love the way it turned out.

In case you wanted to know more about that painting, my grandmother did that for us as a wedding present. It's the view from the window in the room I had at my parent's house.

7 months

I can't help it, I have to let you all know about how amazing my little girl is - 7 months, 17 lbs, 27 inches, crawling, teething, sleeping 10 hours at night, and loving bananas. She the best little buddy I could ask for.

Vacation

Sorry for the lack of design inspired posts! We've been on vacation in Wallowa this month. And the big news is that this cute baby is 6 months today! She's the sweetest little thing in the world, and her daddy is still her favorite person.