A Wise Woman

Last week was Volunteer Appreciation Week at work.  Along with a few other ways of showing our appreciation, we hung inspirational verses, quotes and lyrics in the office.

That is when I came across a site with all Corrie ten Boom quotes (click here for more quotes).

“Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.” 
― Corrie ten Boom

Her story is so powerful.  If you're looking for a good read, you'll never tire of "The Hiding Place" or any of her other books written while traveling the world after the Holocaust.

It's just so amazing that her story and the choices she and her family made are true.  Nothing is more powerful than followers of Christ living whole-hearted, allowing Christ to move where all seems lost and impossible.

I love this short story from "The Hiding Place" that Corrie shares from her childhood memory.  There's such wisdom in her father's response to her question.  Maybe you've heard this before, but it's so worth reading again:
“And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, "Father, what is sexsin?" 
He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor. 
Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?" he said. 
I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning. 
It's too heavy," I said. 
Yes," he said, "and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you."

Painting and Blessings

We've been doing just a bit of painting recently.  I'm not sure the pictures will do it all justice, but I'll share a few (mostly because I'm a fan of pics in blogs).

This past week we painted the baby room and the family room a very faint gray.  Is it grey or gray?  Anyway, I couldn't believe how much I loved the color in the baby room.  It had been a baby blue from the previous owners, and it looked nice.  But the gray is just so calm.  I hope to share more pics of that room once later.

(Above) Baby room in progress.

I wasn't so sure about the family room at first.  This has proven to be the most difficult room over all to just feel finished and happy about.  We've changed furniture, rearranged the room umpteen times, hung and moved pictures just as many times and even painted an accent wall.

Finally, I believe we're now on the right track.  I am very happy with the color, position of furniture and what we have on the wall.  Of course, there are more changes (hopefully) to come over time to this room.  But if that doesn't happen, I would still be happy with how it is now.  mostly. :)

(Above)  Family room in progress.  Good bye green accent color and ALL the nail holes in the walls.

(Above) The pre-painting picture of our coffee table.  We painted it and a side table black so all of the tables in the room would match.

(Above) The coffee table painted, walls patched and painted, and the room in harmony.  Not the best pic to see the new wall color.  Come visit to see how it turned out.

(Above)  Another side table we painted black.  You can see the paint color a little better in this picture.

Finally, I just celebrated my birthday this past week.  I have had a wonderful birthday month with friends and family and date nights with my husband.  He is so good to me that putting it in words just wouldn't justify my feelings and thankfulness for him.  But telling you that he helped me on my quest for the perfect red high heels should give a little insight into how much he cares for me.

(Above) Do you see my new, red shoes?

Perhaps if I see you on Thursday, you will get to see these beauties IRL. :)

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I vote. I count.

I recently met a woman who was about 7 months pregnant.  We talked for a few minutes about being pregnant, and she said, "I don't think women really tell you what you should expect."  I totally agree.

I'm not sure I should be the one to the blow the cover on this well kept secret.  Basically, let's say, if a woman did tell all that a pregnant body may experience, you would think the description fitting for a truck-driving, over-emotional, queasy, old man.

And my husband's been wonderful. Each time I tell him something new that's happening to my body (like he's my doctor or something), he seems far less surprised than I am.  "Well, of course, honey. You're pregnant."

There are some perks to being pregnant.  My nails have gotten nice and hard and long.  Perfect for painting, which was not common before. and there's also, well, ummm... well... okay, not much. But I'm looking forward to the day I actually have a big enough baby bump for others to see the joy I'm carrying.

Today, I'm off to see my grandparents and maybe do a little baby shopping, just for fun. I've already voted, which means I count.  I've painted my nails a beautiful shade of pink/orange.  And written this blog post... all before 9 o'clock.  It's nice to start feeling well enough to get up and do things before noon again.

Enjoying Today.

Week 17--  I went to the doctor this morning and heard the baby's heart beat... 140 beats per minute. wow!  I also could hear the baby moving about.  This is so amazing to me as I haven't felt the baby move yet, and in some ways, it still doesn't seem real.  I'm so thankful for this little miracle.  My mind keeps going to: Children are a gift from the Lord.  so true.  At our next visit, we will find out the sex of the baby.  I'm really looking forward to calling the baby he or she.  I kind of go back and forth on whether I think the baby is a girl or boy.

Above is my blooming cactus I inherited from a friend who moved.  It was in sad shape 

when I got it.  I just love seeing it's bright pink flowers blooming!

I've been reading "Light Force" by Brother Andrew (author of God's Smuggler... a must read).  I love books I get sucked into and have a hard time putting down.  This one has been a real challenge and eye opener as Brother Andrew shares his experiences and insights of encouraging the Church in Jordan and Israel.  As a Western Christian, I feel I've only heard one side of the story.  But there's never one side of a story, and "Light Force" shares the story of Jewish AND Palestinian Christians... the Church.  And all of the pent up frustration, hurt, humility, hatred, anger, etc. on both sides that makes it so difficult for peace.  During a conversation between Christian Jews and Christian Palestinians, one of the men in the discussion says, "I'm a citizen of Heaven."  That can be so hard to remember going through our days, but it's true for every follower of Christ.  

Above are my mums from McNamara.  They're still blooming and beautiful. I put them by the front door to welcome guests, and so I can see and enjoy them.  What a wonderful greeting!

Good Day, Sunshine.

Lots of things happening to put me in my happy place, but no pictures to share today.

First of all, we stopped at McNamara's sale this past weekend.  (McNamara's rates right up there with Pottery Barn in my book.)  They're closing their original Broad Ripple location and have now opened a new store at the Glendale Mall.  Don't get me started how sad I am to see the original, vintage store no more. But I did get a candle just the size I needed for my fall decorations, and a beautiful 10" purple mum for $5! Score.  Speaking of fall decorations, I actually put a few out this year.  Another win.

The hubs also put up new blinds in the kitchen.  Sadly, I don't think they'll work since they don't really allow enough privacy at night.  But they look cool for now.   So we're on the look for just the right blinds once again, but at least I think we're on the right track.

The weather is so beautiful outside today.  I just want to soak in each of these last, beautiful fall days.  I trimmed all of the dried flower heads off of the zinnias today.  Stocking up on seeds for next year. ;)

While outside, I was extremely happy to see that we actually have a watermelon!  Only two plants came up this season out of the packet of 12 seeds that we planted.  Plus about half way through the summer, I noticed that they weren't faring too well and thought possibly it was from lack of all day sun.  Since they were dying anyway, I moved them to the center of the garden.  Hence, though this poor beautiful fruit won't get enough heat or sun to actually be edible, I'm still so happy to see it.  Lesson learned, and maybe we'll get to enjoy this delicious treat from our garden next year!... if I grow a garden.  We'll see.

Happy Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that it's already been three years since saying, "I do" to my love.  I am not one for change, and yet, I don't regret any of the many changes I've experienced since meeting my best friend.  I'm so thankful for each day we have together.

Happy Anniversary, Love.

Blah to Bravo!

July, August and September, where did you go?  So, I may have been lacking a bit in my posting for the past several months.  That's probably because of two reasons: 1. Our computer died a slow, painful death. And we finally bit the bullet about a month ago and got a new one. 2. Those months equal just about the same time as my first trimester.  :)

The good news is that I have been working on projects and taking pictures and hope to share more moving forward.  And I just finished something today that I can't wait to show.

We painted our fireplace, and I think it looks smashing!

BEFORE 

The rest of the kitchen is yellow with white cabinets.  

The fireplace was a blah brownish color that was too close to the clay-colored tile floor.

AFTER

The brick is yellow, matching the rest of the walls and making the area feel larger.

The mantle is white and the hearth and step are a slate gray.  We are so pleased with 

how this turned out that we're wondering why it took us a year to do it!

Make my garden grow.

Growing up, my parents always had a garden.  And us childrens were the labor.  So I thought.  We'd help with some of the work like picking and snapping beans.  But really, we didn't know how good we had it.  Fresh vegetables and parents that did much more work than we realized.

From my childhood experience and my deep love for a fresh, ripe from the vine tomatoes, I had this wonderful idea of starting our own vegetable garden this year.

We had this awful patch of weeds all along our fence row that seemed the perfect spot for such a garden.  So, this past spring, my husband's father came over to help us clear it out and prepare the ground. 

It looked so amazing all cleared out.  I couldn't wait to get started planting.  I was afraid we were behind on  getting started for the season and was relieved to find out we still had to wait about a month before it was warm enough.

Once we were able to get out in the yard and plant our first seeds, we quickly learned our "perfect spot" was the lowest part of our yard.  And when it rained so hard that there was no where for the rain to go, not only did our entire yard flood, the garden sat under water for more than a couple of days.   But we prevailed, not giving up on our new endeavor.




Sadly, although some of the cucumber plants did grow, they never did fare well after the "flood."  And our spinach and lettuce seeds washed away never to be seen again, too.

Amazingly, the weeds seeds, did NOT wash away.  I can't tell you how many times I was out there weeding.  They just about got the best of me.  This picture (above) is after a day of weeding and watering.  I marked my rows with sticks so I could find my plants later.

By the beginning of June, our plants were really starting to grow.  Aren't they so cute? :)  After another round of weeding, you can tell where I stopped the day I took this picture.  With just half of the garden weeded, I needed a break from standing on my head for so long in the heat.  I also quickly realized that I needed an expert to help me distinguish the weeds from the plants as they began to grow and were the same size and looked the same to me.  

Closest in this picture are the flowers of the garden. ... Lillies from my parents' yard, sunflowers, some other tall pink flower (was supposed to come up red, but still pretty in pink) and zinnias from my father-in-law's stash of seeds.

This is probably the best picture of the garden. It was mid to late June at this point.  This side of the garden is where our vegetables came to be... cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes (big boy and cherry) and watermelon.

And now for our final products...

zucchini...

the supposed to be red but still pretty in pink flowers....

cherry tomatoes...

sunflower...

yummy, ripe from the vine, tomato

and zinnias.

It's amazing how a blog can make everything appear so perfect, easy and wonderful.  I could leave this post at this and anyone reading this would envy my green thumb!  But I must share the other side of the coin, if for no other reason than when I read this next year, I will remember what was so hard about being a  garden-owner.

All spring and summer, I dreamed of sharing an amazing success story of our first vegetable garden.  I just knew that with my hard work and drive, nothing could go wrong and I would have an immaculate garden like I have seen in other blogs and people's yards.

First, I was wrong as a child.  (Don't tell my parents I wrote this in case they don't read this.)  But my parents had to have put in WAY more work than we realized as kids.  My dad tilled, got the seeds, and looked over the garden way more often than we ever dreamed.  We were only out there when forced (sorry, but it's true.  I never went out there of my own will except to eat a tomato).  My mom did all of the freezing corn, canning green beans and tomatoes, etc. in the hot summer.

Second, growing a garden where weeds have lived (for probably YEARS) may have been a bad idea.  Sadly, the weeds do not forget that they were there first.  Very stubborn (and shall I say EVIL) plants!

Finally, a "flood" then drought, evil bugs that killed our plants, larger animals (like maybe a deer) knocking over our sunflowers, and working on two landscaping projects while starting a garden all made for a difficult time (and not doing well in the heat).

I'm not sure what the moral of the story is yet.  I think I would still like to have a vegetable garden, but I now have different expectations. 

Just Like Jesus.

It may sound funny to say you have a favorite Bible, but I do.  I had a different favorite Bible, which I still miss.  It's like an old friend.  As the words on the page convict or touch my heart (through the Holy Spirit), I underline the words.  Or I might make notes as to the date or why those specific words mean something to me.  It makes it easier to find them again later.  I love the feel of my bible, the size and the translation.  Sadly, several years ago, the binding broke in an unfixable way. .... believe me, I tried the ol' duct tape effect with no such luck.

Now, I'm reading "Grace for the Moment."  It's a daily bible with devotional writings at the beginning of each day by Max Lucado.  These small devotionals are always so right on and easy to read that I decided that I'd really like to read anything by Max Lucado that I can get my hands on. 

My first Lucado book...  "Just Like Jesus."  It was a quick and easy read.  simple, yet profound.  Totally recommend it. 

One of the passages that stuck out to me was is when Lucado shares about how the shepherds, Simeon and even the Magi sought Jesus when he was born.  He writes...

The Magi had the same desire. Like Simeon, they wanted to see Jesus.  Like the shepherds, they were not satisfied with what they saw in the night sky.  Not that the star wasn't spectacular.  Not that the star wasn't historical.  To be a witness of the blazing orb was a privilege, but for the Magi, it wasn't enough.  It wasn't enough to see the light over Bethlehem; they had to see the Light of Bethlehem.  It was him they came to see.

And they succeeded!  They all succeeded.  More remarkable than their diligence was Jesus' willingness.  Jesus wanted to be seen!  Whether they came from the pasture or the palace, whether they lived in the temple or among the sheep, whether their gift was of gold or honest surprise. . . they were welcomed.  Search for one example of one person who desired to see the infant Jesus and was turned away.  You won't find it. 

You will find examples of those who didn't seek him.  Those, like King Herod, who were content with less.  Those, like the religious leaders, who preferred to read about him than to see him.  The ratio between those who missed him and those who sought him is thousands to one.  But the ratio between those who who sought him and those who found him was one to one.  All who sought him found him.  Long before the words were written, this promise was proven: "God . . . rewards those who truly want to find him" (Hebrews 11:6).

It makes me want to keep opening my Bible.

Landscaping_Part 2: The Courtyard

When we moved into our home, one of the things that we loved the most was the deck and courtyard.  The courtyard is this sweet little side entrance to the yard that takes you along a whimsical path and under a wonderful shade tree.  Here are pics from before and after.  Enjoy, but you really must come see in real life to see for yourself.

The two pictures above are both BEFORE shots from April 2010. 

The courtyard was bare besides the steps and mulch.

We've added a variety of hostas and impatiens (flowers that love the shade). 

We also planted some lily-of-the-valley, but you can't see them in these pictures.

 

I'm looking forward to enjoying the summer in this peaceful sitting area.  And I can't wait to see how big our flowers get by the end of summer. 

p.s. I forgot to mention in my graduation post that my bro-in-law graduated this spring too!!  I don't have pics from the event, but we're so proud of him for his accomplishment.

p.p.s Check out my updated "About Me" page for more pics.

Landscaping_Part 1: The Front Yard

We've officially been in our house a year!  ahh, remember this pic?

This spring and summer, we've turned our attentions to the landscaping and gardening.  We've already reaped the beauty of the spring flowers.  It's so exciting to see areas start to look more and more like what I envisioned when we moved in. 

Before (March 2010)

Today, I'm posting pictures of the changes we made to the front entrance.  It was already beautiful with the brick sidewalk. love. But we wanted to make the mulch and landscaping around it more appealing to the eye.  Plus, the bushes we planted last year and hostas we moved last year are really enjoying their new homes and starting to take shape.

Before

Before

Before

After (May 2011)

After

After

After

Now, if we could just find a great deal on a cool bird bath...

Blossom Time

It has been so exciting to see everything blooming from early spring until now.  We still have plants blooming to their hearts content.  I just haven't captured all of their splendor.  But here's the glorious blooms of spring.

Glorious Blooming Crabapple tree in our front yard. 

Crabapple blooms.

Creeping Phlox

Creeping Phlox

Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

p.s. Someday I'd love to have the tools to try different types of filters on these images.  Meadowbrook Farms always does a great job with her landscaping and nature images.  And she takes the most beautiful pictures.  Love her blog.