Moving Forward

With an incredibly busy August and lack of internet recently, I have done quite the horrible job blogging. Most of you have heard our news or seen posts on other forms of social media, but I wanted update here as well.

As you read in the previous post, we have been living with my super sweet and gracious Aunt Vera during this time of transition. Once we decided to stay in Birmingham, I obviously needed a job, and we needed to determine our future living arrangements. Late July/early August I accepted a position with EyeCare Associates in Trussville and have just finished up my first month on the job! (Yay real world and paychecks!!) I'm very excited to join this team of doctors that provide eye care to the Birmingham area and beyond, and it is so nice to be back in patient care after my "summer break!" If you're in the Birmingham area and need an eye exam, new glasses/contact lenses, or have any concerns about your vision (or your child's vision), I'm gladly accepting appointments in Trussville! ;)

The last four years of living in Birmingham were spent in a apartment. We were tired of renting and wanted to settle into our own place, so we looked into buying a house. Our expectations and styles were very different. I would be perfectly happy living in the land of Joanna Gaines, and Jesse would have a stroke right after she painted the brick and distressed the wood. So after several long conversations, making lists of priorities, and looking at photos and listings, we bought the first house we walked through. Can you believe it? WE bought the first house we walked through! When we found the listing, we didn't even have a realtor yet. Thankfully we acted fast and swept up our new abode - out from under the open house. :)  We love it. And really still can't believe that we found everything we (realistically) want in a single home. While it was a difficult decision to decide to stay, we were blessed over and over again throughout the home-buying process. It was such an unexpectedly peaceful process, we know that we are where we need to be. We can't wait to see how God will use us here in this city. Many thanks to our awesome realtor and lender who guided us along the way and went above and beyond!

We moved last weekend with the help of several incredible friends and family members, and have most things put away already. It has truly felt like home from day one. The first night we slept in the house, I woke up in the middle of the night, and in my slumber I panicked a little with the realization of home ownership. "What did we just get ourselves into? This is a lot of responsibility. Did we buy too much house? It's a lot easier to rent, why didn't we just keep doing that?" I reassured myself we made the right decision, rolled over and back to sleep. We're excited what the future will hold for this space. Eventually we will grow our family, but in the meantime we want this home to be open to friends and family. We want to use it to build and strengthen relationships with others. We don't want it to just be a haven from the stressors of life and work, but a place for being intentionally present in other's lives. I don't know what that really looks like yet, other than feeding and housing you; maybe hosting a community group or Bible study in the future. So, if you'd like to visit, need a ride to the airport, want to tinker on a project in the garage, want to prep some freezer meals in the kitchen, want to throw a steak on the grill, we're probably game. Just ask. Or say yes when we ask you. :)  Here we are looking especially tired after 3 days of moving boxes and unpacking:

Something Old, Something New

Obviously no more wedding bells are ringing around here, but the title for this post is still appropriate. I told you in last week's High Five we had a special delivery Saturday, and I'm excited to reveal it! (I'm probably more excited than any of you will be, but moving on...)

Several weeks ago Jesse and I went home to look at/work on a project. My mom has always had the same dining room table. A chunky, heavy, simple, wooden table that's been around since...maybe before I was born?  I'm not sure, but I remember this table being our dining table my entire life. It's in the background of photographs and home videos. I'm sure I blew out many birthday candles on this very table.  But it's also special because my dad made it. For those of you that haven't known me long, my dad passed away when I was young from multiple sclerosis. Most of my memories of him are in a wheelchair or scooter to get around, so he loved wood-working, for as long as he could, because it was something he could do with his hands.  I remember going into his workshop, where the ground was covered with wood shavings and smelled earthy like pine or cedar.
Recently my mom and step-dad bought a new table and I inherited the table my dad made. I am so excited to have it!  1) because it's a treasure and 2) because I wanted to replace the patio-style table we currently had in our dining area.  And this new old table would fit perfectly in our small space! Here's what it looked like before:

As you can tell, it has places that tell it's been around for a while- with all of it's scratches and dents and scrapes. We knew it needed to be re-finished somehow, and we also thought it would be a good idea to stain it a different color - something a little darker and more modern. We chose a deep espresso stain and went to work one weekend at Jesse's parents' home. They helped us sand, and sand, and sand, then apply the stain, and we left without seeing the final dried product.  Several days later my mother-in-law sent me a picture of the table and I was overjoyed - it looked fabulous! The dark shade was beautiful with lighter areas mixed in that really made the grain of the wood pop!  Then she confessed:  the stain Jesse and I applied looked really bad once dried, so they re-sanded the table and re-stained it - all without stressing me out about it's initial failure! We went home for a final look and it was just as beautiful in person! They applied a poly sealant, then delivered the table and its chairs to us last weekend. (I'm pretty sure I have the best in-laws!)

Ready for the grand reveal?
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And it still has all of it's marks of love...

I added a table runner, gray place mats, and napkins to help tie in our black and white dishes (not pictured) with the brown tones. (All of these are from World Market, and I got a great deal on them!) And we finally get to use our napkin rings we received as wedding gifts!

Isn't it gorgeous?!!! We aren't sure what we'll do about the chairs just yet. To stain, or not to stain. Or replace (they weren't handmade)... we'll see.  I'm so thankful to have this piece my dad made. And now it is even more special because my mom loved it for many years, Jesse and I worked on it together, and his parents worked on it to help transform it to its current state. That's quiet the family effort! I will cherish this piece all the years to come!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...  I just realized I could truthfully say that this year. Jesse and I finally both have stockings, and we have a chimney!

I decorated the mantel with Christmas trimmings, instead of a tree again this year. We decided that there's not much room for a tree, and we aren't even there for Christmas anyway, so a tree is not necessary.  Well, really... Jesse has talked me out of a tree for two years in a row for those reasons. I relent at the beginning, but then see his logic and agree. So I made the most of decorating the mantel, reusing a lot of last years decor.

The frame (thrift store), you remember from the fall mantel; the large snowflake and the tinsel were from Christmas 2 years ago in Auburn (when we had a tree); the garland was from last year ("borrowed" from my mother-in-law); I found the stocking hangers this year at Goodwill (they were from Target; I has almost purchased them last year but Jesse had no stocking); Jesse's stocking came from Target this year (a Christmas miracle he found one he liked... I didn't know men could be so picky about a hanging sock), along with the twinkle lights we added to the garland. The ornaments were from last year's Christmas mantel decor, as well as the metal Christmas trees (a yard sale find). The hanging bags are part of an advent set (with a book) made and written by a couple of people in our church.  We had hoped to read the daily message for advent each day, but I'll be honest and confess that we only made it through a few days. I shouldn't be too busy to focus on Jesus each day of December, but that happened. We hope to complete it next year.

I loved being able to pull different pieces together I already have to create something completely different from last year. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Fall Mantel

Last Friday, I decided it was officially fall. I know it's technically been fall since September, but I haven't really had time to slow down and soak it in. Plus, it's still been shorts and t-shirt weather here, so it hasn't felt like fall. But last Friday, after my last class and right before I left for Dothan, I had to get my oil changed. I picked a recently open shop next to a thrift store I frequent so that I would have something to do in the 45 minutes it took them to change my oil.  While wondering around I happened upon a large empty frame that I thought would work nicely on our mantel for pretty cheap, so I grabbed it. And also lugged it back to the auto shop. Probably got a few strange looks, but that's okay.

When I got home I rummaged around and found the fall decor I bought last season, and threw it all on the mantel. It surprisingly turned out well for a two minute decorating whirl.

I picked up the printed handkerchief, the pumpkin (which really has a place for a monogram, sold separately, on the other side), and the acorns at Hobby Lobby after Thanksgiving last year (= 80% off). The orange dried floral thing sticking out of the candle holder on the left was also from Hobby Lobby. It was in last year's fall by-the-door arrangement outside, which I didn't use this year. The candles (Ikea) and holders (Dollar Tree) are usual mantel items that happened to fit the theme. The owl was from Target at Christmas time, but he certainly blends right in here. It didn't fill up the whole mantel, and I never know what else to do with our map, so it just stayed. 

I had been wanting a large empty frame to add to the mantel to give some dimension and height at times, but had never really looked for one (aka, thought they would/could be expensive). When I saw this one in the thrift store, I first noticed it's shape and size, but then realized that it would match the metallic sunburst piece on the opposite wall (shown above). (It matches more than the photo shows; they both have a brushed bronze metallic look to them.) And that piece also has silver in it, which helps tie in Mr. Owl.

Here's a close-up of the acorns scattered across the bottom. They are little jingle-bell like things. 

On my drive to Dothan, I got to enjoy God's beautiful scenery and noticed that the leaves are starting to change here and there. Also this week I started burning fall scented candles, and we have a few fall 'activities' planned (one of which is coming up here on the blog... stay tuned!). So, welcome fall! And apple cider, and sweaters, and boots, and pumpkin bread, and crunching leaves, and Thanksgiving, and apple pie, and everything else that feels like this time of year! (I kind of like it, can you tell?)

Spring/Easter/Summer Mantel

I redecorated our mantel at the beginning of March for Easter/Spring and never shared it with you all. Now that summer is nearly here (at least in Alabama), I'm finally getting around to uploading the pictures. It's probably my favorite yet.  Some things I gathered from around the house and some I picked up at Hobby Lobby.
(Do excuse the blurriness of the images. I was relying on window lighting to reduce the glare from the overhead light, and I was probably rushing.)

A few little eggs (and an improvised "nest"):

A couple of white porcelain birds:

A watering can (from my IKEA trip) filled with a few ranunculus (plural: ranunculi? probably not):

A beautiful cross for Easter:

As well as a verse (the design I copied from a finding on Pinterest) to be a constant reminder of why we celebrate Easter, in case we got wrapped up in things - in this year's case studying instead of egg hunts:

And a picture of from our wedding day, as I anticipated this decor being up for a while = through our wedding anniversary (proved myself right):

All together now:

I included our travels map because I don't have a better place for it, and the colors seemed to blend well.  Also present are cards from Easter and my birthday from our wonderful parents and an uncle & aunt.

I love my mantel, and my sweet husband for making it for us! It is fun to decorate for each season - finding things I already own that fit the "theme" and picking up new pieces to go with it. For instance, in what you see above, the map and jar full of pins is from a prior project; the book underneath our wedding photo was just the right size so I recovered it with some matching scrapbook paper; the tea cup that holds the eggs was from the thrift store long ago (something my mom eventually talked me into getting out of her house); the milk bottle hidden behind the card on the left was also thrifted; and the "B" was from our wedding! Everything else was pretty much found at Hobby Lobby, so of course it was at least 40% off.

Let's Catch Up

Hello there.

I know it seems like I forgot about you all.  I'm behind on my blog posting (and reading the other blogs I follow), which is funny because life actually slowed down a little bit around here.  It's been good taking a little time to actually relax.

But let's recap what's went on around here in the past week or so:

The past two weekends I have finally given in to the Yard Sale signs that are always lurking on Saturday mornings.  Best thing ever!  I should have been yard sale hopping all summer long!  Yard sales usually mean junk sales, and while you do have to weed through a bit of junk, most of the sales I've been to have been full of pretty nice stuff.  Between the two weekends we've picked up the following for super cheap:  a magazine rack, a metal floor/standing fan, a basket for the kitchen counter, K-cups (at a weird estate sale I happened upon), cute metal Christmas tree candle holders, and a purse.  Plus, it's fun to browse around people stuff and chat with them - you can learn a lot about a person in such a short time that way.

I made a batch of pumpkin muffins.  One of my favorite things about fall is pumpkin.  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin Poptarts (yes, this is real), pumpkin bagels (I've only heard rumor of these, but I've got to try them).  I've had my can of pumpkin in the pantry since last fall, but you can't just whip out of a can of pumpkin anytime of year.  It's just not right.

I introduced a few of my friends to Steel City Pops last week.  Just spreadin' the goodness.  I'm so glad they enjoyed it- so much so that where planning to go back before we left!  It might just become the new stress relief place after long days of studying.

Now this, my friends, is BREAKING NEWS!  I have been begging kindly asking my dearest husband to build a mantel shelf to go over our fireplace for months a while.  And this weekend my dreams came true! (Well...they are on their way of coming true.)  We got up Saturday morning and headed straight to Home Depot to get the supplies.  Due to my impatience of not wanting to wait until the next time we go home to Luverne to use dad's saw that can make all the nice cuts for us, we were going to buy a miter box and had prepped ourselves with youtube tutorials on how to make this work the hard way.  But, every time we go to Home Depot, we always run into the same employee to ask for help, and he is one of the most helpful and most giving people I've ever met.  He was going to let us (who he doesn't really know) borrow his big (read: expensive) saw to make our mantel, but then he remembered that the store has one.  Now, I don't know if he should have been using it to help us or not, but he did.  Which allowed us to leave the store with perfectly cut pieces, ready to be assembled! It's not complete yet - a little priming and painting to go - you will know when it's ready, believe me!  I have so many ideas of how I want to decorate it (thank you, Pinterest).
Side note that is worth mentioning:  It's so nice when people go above and beyond to help others.  Unfortunately, that's rare in today's world, which is a shame.  We are so busy and fast paced that we don't take the time to notice people and their needs, or are too afraid to inconvenience people or be inconvenienced.  Some people are just made with a spirit of giving, but if we all tried to be a little more like our Home Depot friend here, the world would be a much better place.

Tonight we were invited for a little impromptu pumpkin carving party.  We chose to carve an owl this year, which turned out pretty good!  Equally as impressive was the eek! pumpkin, the pumpkin within a pumpkin, and the family of candles pumpkin.  And it was complete with apple crisp.  I almost let studying stand in the way of having a great time with friends (and pumpkins), but I'm so glad I didn't. :)

What are you doing to enjoy this fall season?

There's No Place Like Home

A certain someone has recently inquired about what our new place looks like (which really just means she should come visit...). I had originally planned to post photos for you all as soon as we moved in,  BUT (*enter excuses) we took our time filling it with new furniture in the bedroom, living, and dining rooms, and I really wanted to decorate before allowing you in.  However, I've been even slower at doing that, so I figured I'd let you see it bare, then you'll be super impressed when I decorate! (Right?)

So.... Welcome to our home:

(Our living room even has a fireplace. How romantic, right? Correction: how about a little scary - everyone else in the apartment complex has a wood-burning fireplace too. Not the best of ideas.)

(We have been into a neighbors home and they have a mantle over their fireplace and fabulous decor - I need to work on that. :)

Our newest addition to our home is this "dining" set.  We opted for a patio set so that we could use the other two chairs, well, on our patio.  We will even bring them in for you to dine with us while you're here!

(Everyone please note the aquarium.  Jesse spends most of his time in front on it.)

And here is our lovely kitchen!  It has a fair amount of cabinet space (which we've filled and overflowed to the "pantry" - aka the closet nearest the kitchen).  It's pretty much like what you see above.  What's on your left is one your left, what's on the right is on your right.  I wasn't too keen on the "hallway" style kitchen as we looked for apartments, but this one did have an opening to the living area, which makes a huge difference (to me)!  The laundry "room" is straight ahead in those little alcoves beyond the kitchen.  I like that more than I thought in the beginning (after we hung some shelving to organizes detergents, etc.).

This is the additional bedroom/study/what do we do with this stuff? room. :)  But there is enough space to blow up the air mattress to provide you with a comfortable stay!

Another requirement we I had while apartment hunting was long countertops in the bathrooms!  Harder to come across than you'd think.

And the grand finale!!!!  The "master" bedroom:

(*Squeals of excitement for our bedroom furniture!)

This bedroom suite is all about storage. The bed itself has overhead storage and underbed storage!

Hey there, Maggie!  This has become her place of resting.  We bought her a new bed too when we moved in and had to place it here so she would sleep in it. Silly dog.

You can slide those square panels over to open up solid cubes of storage as well.  I need to find some cute knick-knacks for these cubbies.

Hubby's favorite part:  there is a charging station on each side in the bottom row of cubes - he was sold on that.

What sold me, you might ask?

This:

It's like the James Bond of all dressers!  "Secret" jewelry storage!  What woman wouldn't want that?!

I think you need a close up:

This post is by no means meant to show off what we've got, but to include you in what our home has become after we've settled in.  We hope that many of you will come visit us (hint, hint: before I start back to school - I'm making no promises to be a good host after that!).  A longer drive back home means less time to visit all the people we'd like to while we're there, so if you're passing through or would like to stay with us, just let us know.  We'd love to have you!

Update:  I just realized that I posted this right after posting about the visitors we have had.  It looks like I'm begging you to all come see us! Hahaha.

Settling

I know you all are just dying to know how our move went. ;)

If you've ever moved before, you know that just the process in general is a bit stressful.  Ours seemed to be off to a rocky start, and I was beginning to get down about it.  As you know, the actual move had a bump in the road with the flat tire, which set us a little behind schedule.  We had to rush to make it to the apartment's office before closing to get the key to be able to unload our stuff and move in, then Wes and I were racing the clock to make it to the warehouse on time to pick up our mattress so we would have a place to sleep!  Thankfully we made both deadlines, but since we had had to rush my whole scheme of labeling and organizing our boxes was out the window, so everything was everywhere, and it took a little while to get our belongings in the right places. The morning after moving in, we woke up to a very sick Maggie (our Jack Russell terrier).  I won't go into the gruesome details here, but it was serious enough for us to rush to the nearest vet for treatment where it was determined that she had pancreatitis.  She spent a couple of days at the vet until she was re-hydrated and could keep down food.  When we came back to the apartment after the first vet visit, Gene had determined that our "new-to-us" washing machine was missing parts, so no laundry for several days.  Then, to top things off, I picked up a screw in one of my tires on my car, which couldn't be patched.  Since replacements for all my tires were in my near future anyway, we decided to go ahead and replace them all since we found out Toyota was offering a buy 3 get the 4th free deal.  Then at the end of the day, the service man called us back to inform me that the deal was only for Toyota vehicles, so we would have to purchase all 4 tires.  Also, neither of our phones can pick up cell phone service at our apartment for some reason.  We figured in Birmingham of all places, service would be prevalent, but apparently we live in the one spot where it's not.  We were missing phone calls from our parents, the vet, various delivery people,.... not good.

Boo, hoo, hoo, right?  In hindsight, these things are not such a big deal, but when they were piled on top of current stress, it seemed like nothing was working out for us.  BUT, things turned around and started looking up!  Maggie got to come home and her symptoms ceased; she started acting more like herself, so we knew she was feeling better.

We had parts ordered for our washing machine, and they arrived quickly.  I've never been so happy for my day to look like this:

(after already washing two loads)

And Saturday morning I woke up to two messages on my phone:  1) Toyota service man telling me that he was misinformed and that he could honor the tire deal on my Hyundai. 2) My car was ready for pickup with 4 new tires!

And, thanks to Jesse's extremely tech-savvy brother, Matt, we can now connect our phones to our WiFi while at our apartment and talk all day long if we choose! 

I think God just wanted to remind me that I am not the one in control, but He is.  And I'm so glad, because obviously I can't keep it all together by myself! :)

And while all of this was wrapping up, we had our first visitors!

Matt, Heidi, and her sister Kayla

Kayla also lives in Birmingham, so they have two good reasons to visit!  We had a great time with them!  I got away from the moving madness and had some good girl time shopping, while Matt helped Jesse pick up and move in our new living room furniture! (More photos of our place are coming soon!)

All visitors are welcome, especially through the summer.  (I won't make any promises of being a good hostess once school starts!)  So, come and see us; we would love to have you!

Sold

That's right, folks.  The ole trailer is off the market!  I know what your thinking - you didn't even know it was for sale!?  That's because it has only been on the market for less than a week! We were surprised to get a call within a day or two of it listing and even more surprised today when it sold to the first people to show interest.  When we were discussing when to put it up for sale, I'll admit, I was a bit concerned on how quickly it would go.  It is an older model home, but it's had it's dose of repairs and upgrades in the past 6 years, and it's in one of the best trailer parks in Auburn.  It's all about location, location, location, right?  And we have a wonderful view from our lot.  For those (few) of you that have visited, our park is nice and open with large fields and ponds throughout - perfect for pet owners.  Apparently this sweet family that visited us this morning agreed, because within an hour after checking out our place they called with an offer!  What a blessing (especially for Gene and Marilyn!) to have the deal already done before we've even started packing!  Here's a glimpse into one of our home improvements done a little over a year ago:

Before = horrible, faded blue/yellow exterior (back view)

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

This weekend we got down to business with Christmas!  Jesse had finals last week, which means he has been consumed with projects and studying since Thanksgiving, and we have had no time at all to prepare for Christmas until now.  I could not allow myself to purchase Christmas tree decorations, gifts, or wrapping paper without him on our first Christmas, so I patiently anxiously waited for his semester to be over. Meaning, he was told to meet at Hobby Lobby at 5:00 on Friday (his last day of finals) when I got off from work.  :)    The half of Hobby Lobby that had originally been filled with all things Christmas had been reduced to 4 measly aisles of decor.  We plundered through the leftovers to no avail.  Thankfully Target saved the night, and we returned home to create this little Christmas masterpiece:

(In my fumblings with my camera to take photos in the dark, somehow I managed to make the lights twinkle!)


Saturday morning we had successful Christmas shopping, followed by a night out in Opelika.  Each year the City of Opelika puts on a Victorian Homes Tour before Christmas.  It was fun walking in the streets, looking at all of the beautiful historic homes decorated for the holidays!  It was complete with carolers and apple cider!