It's the Little Things...

What does one do when you live in the land of frozen tundra? You find little ways to brighten things up a bit...at least I do anyways.

Here's the latest.



This cupboard used to sit in the hallway upstairs. It held 1/2 my clothes. Apparently, when they built houses 100+ years ago, they didn't have a ton of clothes that they stored but rarely wore. Interesting. Makes me think maybe I don't need to have them either....more on that tomorrow...back to my point...we moved it from upstairs to the living/dining room and it's gonna get some paint, I just have to decide on a color...probably will be black. Open it up and:

and notice the fantastic labels :)...I know, I know, it's a tad excessive...but you know me, it's all or nothin'. I even used recycled containers, which makes me a little light green I think :)

I added these to the table, and you know what...they make me happy. And the boys have only destroyed a few of them thus far. Considering our record around here, I think that's pretty impressive. (yep, they're real)

The next project was the bathroom. It needed some happiness.

Before: Shower curtain

The after, much happier version:

It was out with the brown and taupe towels and in with the yellow and green.*sigh* It really does help. I'm not done yet though...more to come...when I figure it out :)

And last but not least, tomorrow will be more on my organization tangent. And in honor of my love for the book, and the fact that pretty much everyone that commented said they NEED it, I'm gonna do a give-away...OF THE BOOK! YAY! But ya can't register to win till tomorrow...see you then!

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Enough Already...

I've been muttering Enough Already to my Jesus, all week long. But life around me reminds me that He alone decides what enough is. My understanding is small. My heart is hurting for my tiny-town and surrounding communities...so much so, that at times it feels debilitating. I find myself fighting against what is...and longing for what was. My emotions are literally all over the place. One minute I'm laughing, the next I'm sobbing, then I'm encouraged and ready accept the changes, and the next I'm grieving over what was, longing to just turn back time...I know that's part of the whole process...but it is exhausting!

I had big plans for this summer. I spent the long, freezing winter planning and dreaming of summer. The summer I dreamed of did not look like this...life changing forever was not in the plans. The thing that is bringing me the most peace right now, is worship music. It brings perspective back.

We're back at home now...we have electricity and the air conditioning works (YAY) but no gas...so no stove and no water heater = no hot water...but we can deal...I am so grateful to have a home to live in...many, many around me do not.

So...that's the update. Now, I should get on to the really, truly important stuff ;)

Here I mentioned the hair. Turns out, I threw caution to the wind and told her to chop it so it would be curly this summer. My stylist assures me that my the time fall comes around, I'll be able use my beloved hair straightener again. It has given me a bit of an identity crisis, knowing that I can't straighten it...it has to be curly for the next 3 months...I am embracing the curl...sort of.

My basement. Do not feel bad for me...I may have been a little giddy carrying all that junk out to the curb.

Ok, just one more...

Oh, but wait! In the midst of the flood...look what has poked its little head through....

No...the weed is from before...look at that little stemmy thingy...its the elephant's ear! Ben wanted to know if I wanted him to pull the weed before I took the picture...I told him definitely NOT, that my dear bloggy friends needed it as a point of reference :)

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The Process

If you stop by my house today, you will find me upstairs, buried in clothes. Yesterday I started, what I like to call, "The Process." It's the bi-annual shifting of the clothes. This time it's from cold weather to warm.

It is a monumental task...involving many, MANY piles. It is also a 2-day minimum project. Yesterday I got Noah & Eli's closet (somewhat)weeded out, but I ran out of time to dig in the attic to find the containers of warm weather clothing and complete the switcheroo, so the piles that were left from yesterday have now been rummaged through. I should know better.

I am drowning in boys clothes. As many of you know, when you have 3 kids of the same sex, hand-me-downs are FANTASTIC! But...storing them, and sorting them...big job. Here's where the piles come in...

Piles: Jake too small, Eli too small but still too big for Jake, Eli grow into, Noah too small but too big for Eli, Noah grow into, will fit Jake, will fit Eli, will fit Noah, stuff I never want to see again, stuff in bad condition, stuff in good condition...and on and on and on.

The other problem I'm running into is....my attic (where I store everything) is a DISASTER (thanks to me)! I can barely get in there to get the containers in and out...really, someone should do something about that! :) Oh yeah...I guess that would be me.

Today, the to-do list is Jake's closet and mine and Ben's....it's lofty, I know. We have too much stuff (me especially.) Have you ever wanted to just get rid of everything except 5 shirts, pants, undies, etc?!? I know that there are people who do it...and I admire that. I think it would save on laundry...and this whole "process" would be MUCH easier. I'm not that brave yet. Maybe by the end of the day, I will be!

PS - blogger hates me today. It will not keep my paragraphs seperated, no matter how many times I change it. I give up.

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Good Enough

I re-learned some things about myself this weekend.

1. I get all these great project ideas in my head...and then I plunge ahead, and midway though, think to myself...."WHY!?!? Why couldn't you just leave it alone!?!?" Every. Single. Time.


2. I am NOT a perfectionist. Not even close. I sometimes like to pretend I am...but I'm not. I'm the... "Yeah, that's good enough" kinda person.


3. My husband always steps in to help with the project...without ever saying..."Why on earth, woman!?!" (that's what I would say, if I were him :)

Apparently I was inspired by the ceiling fan this weekend. Inspired enough to begin the dreaded task of taking down the wallpaper in the hallway and then painting. In my head...it sounded easy. In real life...not so much.

Old home + Old walls + Old wallpaper + Me = Big Fat Mess!

Here's the Journey...

Old wallpaper, which I'm sure in its day, was fantastic.

The beginning of scraping...seemed like fun...
The more we scraped...the more trouble we found...

This was all over the house...it's fun to track all over, I guess.

Here is Jake in front of the partially finished wall. A lovely shade of "gingerbread"

I really do love the quirkiness of old homes. And I really do love the odd texture that the uneven walls created when I painted over it. It's perfectly imperfect....and good enough!

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Ceiling Fan Update...

Back in February, when I first started blogging, this was one of my first posts. If you weren't an avid reader back then, and let's face it...you probably weren't, then you should definitely go read the post, otherwise the picture below will not seem nearly as wonderful and amazing!!

OK, for those of you who are caught up on the situation, you will be happy to know that the old has been replaced with a "free & still in great condition thanks to Ben's brother and his wife used ceiling fan." It's fabulous.

Look at those blades...all five of them. Our boys have been threatened with their lives if they EVER even ponder the idea of hanging from the ceiling fan again...I know...we are terribly cruel parents.

*BIG thanks to our friend Todd for coming over (at 9AM on a Saturday) and installing it. I promise we will not try to think of other things that you could fix...except, there is that...*

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If These Walls Could Talk...

Our little church celebrated its 150th birthday last summer. The parsonage (or, our home, as I like to call it :) is around 100 years old. (That's a guesstimate...I'm too lazy to walk 27 steps to the church to actually look up the exact age...bear with me, I did go running this morning!) Generally, all of those husbands and families that have ministered here, have lived in this house. Of course, there have been many updates through the years...but still! I'm not quite sure why this fascinates me so much...but it does. I love this house...not only because I think its adorable, but I feel a sense of peace knowing that others, who've gone before us in ministry, have lived their lives within these walls. I also love to find the humor in it as well :) It's a little "bit" I like to call, "Do you think other pastor's wives who've lived here...fill in the blank." Usually, no one else finds this as amusing as me...but if you've invested this much time reading so far, you may as well finish ;) Here's my list for today...
Do you think the other pastor's wives that have lived here....

• fed her kids turkey sandwiches for breakfast?
• drank a pot of coffee every morning?
• blogged? HA!
• put their treadmill in their husbands home office?
• had their children splash so much water out of the bathtub that it ran down through the bathroom floor (upstairs) and through the ceiling and out the light fixture in the kitchen?
• loaded her kids in the mini-van and drove around, just so they would be strapped in and stay in one place?!?
• busted a move to Tobymac's Boomin', while hoping that no one could actually see in the windows (good thing my wonderful neighbor already knows how weird I am:)
• bought 2 gallons of ice cream and a box of monster cookie, cookie dough from the Schwans guy...and then ate 8 cookies?!?
• did not enjoy cooking...wished she could have take-out for every meal?
• shoved so much junk in the attic (because it was too cold to actually go in) that now I can't even get in there?
• fed her family a rotation of frozen pizza, mac&cheese, and cheese quesadillas?
• wore red patent leather shoes?
• stood in awe of the fact that God had graciously placed them in a wonderful little town, with amazing people, in order that she may love on 'em and show with her life the amazing difference that Jesus made. ...I can only hope so :)

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It was clean

*Sigh* I had to take a picture of it. My floors without Transformers, Lego's, farm equipment, or wrappers. I made a little deal with myself today, to make up for all the time I've spent at the computer this week. I gave myself a list of things I needed to get done, before I could get on the computer. Bribing myself totally worked! I'm amazed at all I got done! Of course, by the time I had these pictures downloaded, the boys had emerged from the basement with more junk.

It was clean...and now I can prove it! Do not be deceived, I love that the picture hides how dirty the floor really is.

Carpet...under the table...3 boys...yeah.


Doesn't the furniture look so nice & clean? It's not. I am not yet brave enough to share with you what has been leaked, dumped, and wiped on that chair and ottoman.

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