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As Thanksgiving gets closer, I'm reminded of the reason that we celebrate this holiday. The pilgrims wanted to pause and take a moment to be grateful for all that they had. Living in America at that time was surely a strenuous task, but they saw through the difficulties of everything and realized that they still had plenty to be thankful for. Shouldn't we all be doing the same?

So, a bit on what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for...

...a Savior who never lets me go and promises never to.

...a husband who loves me unconditionally, even when I'm a ridiculous klutz and break all of our drinking glasses (can you say two sets in two years of marriage?--yea it's pretty bad.) He is truly my soulmate.

...family who is always there even when they aren't here. I miss you all! Can't wait for Christmas!

...the ability to read. I don't know what I would do without books and blogs. I cherish stories and come from a long line of great story tellers. It's in my blood I tell ya!

...our home. Even though it isn't even close to how I wish it looked, it is still ours and that makes it perfect. There is nothing better than walking in the back door to a place that screams "I belong to Jonathan and Liz!"

...feisty puppies that keep us on our toes. They are my companions all day and I love that (most of the time! ha!).

Happy Thanksgiving all. :)

Post #100

I am surrounded by so many blessings. 

And I take it for granted every. single. day. 

God is working in my life on a daily basis and it is hard. Oh is it ever hard...

Sometimes I wonder why I'm going through this process. What does He want from me now?

God. What do you want from me? I have surrendered to you everything that is important to me...what else can you take from me? 

But then He shows me another thing that I'm clinging to; something that is taking place of my relationship with Him--some of my relationships, how I look, food, internet, my need to feel like I'm worth something to others. 

All of these things, can't define me. All of these things, can't satisfy me. 

So why do I cling to them so much? 

Because it feels good. 

But, oh, is the good feeling only temporary. 

I'm reminded the next day when I'm feeling empty. When I'm feeling guilty. When I'm feeling down and left wondering why. 

Have you ever been there?

I am so thankful that Jesus has been speaking truths into my life lately. Through...

...church (and amazing pastors).

...a long awaited blessing in a friend's life. (Oh was this a huge reminder of God's promises for Jonathan and I)

...a husband who always tries to be there for me. 

...family. 

...our wonderful Bible study group. 

...prayer.

....comforting verses that seem to come at the perfect time. (DUH! God's timing is always perfect.)

...the sparkling sun, dancing in through the windows, on a cold, crisp morning. 

Oh, how God's love is always there.

Today I am thankful. 

God is really always there. I want to give Him all that He wants to take from me. I want to show the world around me the love that He shows me. 

Oh, how God's love is always there.

I'm so thankful. 

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Monthly Review: October 2012

A bit late this time around, last month's review post is pretty sparse as well. I did a lot of "journaling" in October. Oh well, this is my blog and I will do what I want ;) You will still read right?!

So let's recap a bit. 

Personal Posts: 

Perfect. (the best Saturday)
Yes!  (an inspirational quote)

Ok...Ok... (Some changes around here)

It's Beautiful (A note about adoption)

House Post:
Our Energy Audit: Part 1 (self explanatory!)

Not anything really exciting, but an update nonetheless! Have a great weekend everyone! :)

By George, I Think She's Got It!!

[ Sidenote (yes before we even start this post): Do you know where that saying originated? Only from of the best musicals ever My Fair Lady; second only to Les Miserables. And if you haven't seen the preview for Les Mis...coming out on December 25th...then we can no longer be friends.]

Anyways, this post is actually about the fact that I think I have nailed down my sense of design. Yes, this is a true accomplishment. I love every kind of design and am truly able to look at most rooms and find beauty somewhere. But, I have realized, that for our personal space, my true design comfort lies in a cottage-farmhouse-rustic feel. I know, not really narrowing it down too much, but at least they are all somewhat similar. Read: we like texture, used and abused furniture, and a homey feel. 

More the point than anything else, is that I recently did a bit of rearranging in our living room, to help it reflect our taste. There are still a few more things that we will do over a couple of years, but for now, it is just the way I want it. :) 

I was aiming for something a bit cozier and that would allow for more seating when we have our Bible study group over. Plus, I wanted something different. So I just tweaked and tweaked moving things out of the dining room and into the living room. I pulled things from our bedroom and I pulled some stuff off of our sun porch. Basically, nothing was safe. 

I felt this layout, with the addition of the green chair, would work really well. Plus, removing the huge coffee table in the middle of the room, still allowed for things to feel open without losing any function. 

Plus isn't the trunk beautiful? I think it is a great place for some fresh flowers and a cute tray with a couple of accessories. Speaking of accessories, did you notice that the corner shelving unit received a complete overhaul? 

I wanted that corner to also have a cozy-cabin like feel. The lanterns combined with the books, animal themed accents, and muted colors all lend to the feel. I then plopped down an apple basket full of yarn and called her done. The perfect place to curl up with a book or to start a crocheting project. 

Under the TV I placed a bunch of cozy blankets, ready to be snatched for the impending colder weather. From where I sit typing, there are a total of seven blankets in our living room. Can you tell what my favorite thing is? I'm pretty sure I have another five upstairs and at least one or two in our guestroom. 

Yea...my name is Liz and I am a blanket addict. 

In the end, it turned out very nice. It is the perfect setup for a cold winter's eve. And let me tell you, I cannot wait to start decorating for Christmas--I just keep forcing myself to wait until after Thanksgiving at the earliest. I'm trying so hard to contain myself. It's hard man....so hard to do. 

So what do you think? Want a bit of side-by-side action? 

Yea, we have come a loooonnggg way. :)

Free Storage for the Bathroom

Well, I'm back today to share with you a bit of a bathroom update. After Jonathan installed the rest of the beadboard, I decided that it was time to work on the storage space a bit. In this small bathroom, storage has to be very efficient. You don't want something that is so big it holds everything you need it to, but overwhelms the space. It's a delicate balance to strike. 

If you remember, we had a dresser (that was left behind by the previous homeowners) in the corner. It was an easy storage option and the best part about it was that it was free! I liked that it offered a way to conceal all that we needed to keep in the bathroom, but I really didn't like how it looked. It was a bit to blah for me. 

(Yes, that is a REALLY old picture...our bathroom has come a long way if you ask me!)

So, this time around, I decided to do something a bit more styled. As with the last time, I had to work with what we had and the price tag was going to have to be z-e-r-o. After racking my brain and trying a couple of options that didn't quite work:

(I love the idea of the crates, but there wasn't quite enough storage space.) 

I landed on this option:

A bit of a combination of the crates and more storage! Perfect. The green shelf was actually being used as a storage unit in our garage. We found it on the side of the road one day and decided that we could bring it home and spruce it up! Well, it never actually made it into the house until this past weekend. It was just waiting for the perfect spot to call home.

I had to do some major scrubbing to it, but I think it cleaned up nicely. After going through all of the storage containers that I had on hand, this is the arrangement that I came up with. Jonathan and I each have a shelf and the other shelves store medicine, toilet paper, and a few daily-used things such as q-tips and cotton balls.

 The crate to the side stores all of our bath towels and hand towels and then the brown box under the green shelving unit stores all of our wash clothes. The brown lidded basket to the right side of the crate, holds all of the bottles that are too tall to fit on the shelving unit. I'm not sure they will stay that way forever, but for now it works.

My favorite part is the top shelf. I love that there is a bit of bamboo in our bathroom--gives it a spa like feel. Also, the washboard seems to be a natural accent to the room. Finally, the depression glass bowl (thank's grandma!) filled with soap, gives a bit of beauty to something functional. Plus, it makes the bathroom smell wonderful!

Another thing that I really love is the scrapbook paper that I added to the shelving. It made the unit a bit more cheerful and also makes each piece on the shelf really pop. These anthropologie bowls make a great necessities holder when combined with the turquoise fiesta bread plate.

Who says dinnerware can only function at the table? I think it's great to pull these fun accents into an unexpected space.

I love the new set up! Plus, I already got the seal of approval from the carpenter. Last night, out of the blue, he said that he loves the new set up! Awesomesauce. :)

Happenings...

Things have been slowly happening around here. Nothing too exciting, but still important nonetheless. Remember this post where I talked about things slowing down because of our expenses? Well, we are trying not to let that completely stop us. So, this past few weeks has been all about accomplishing tasks that cost no moolah. So far, so good!

Let's start with the back yard. Jonathan has been itching to cut down the two trees beside our garage. We would love to plant a veggie garden there possibly. Or maybe put an outdoor pen for the dogs. Regardless of what happens, the trees weren't really in a great spot and were always dropping sap on our cars. That, plus the ideas mentioned above made us decide it was time they were gotten rid of. So, Jonathan cut them down.

Can you see him climbing in the middle of the picture? 

He started by limbing the entire tree. This allowed him to make his way to the top using the tree stubs.

Then he dropped the top quarter of the tree.

Then the next quarter.

Oh and I might add that while he was working on the tree, I was loading the trailer with branches. We probably did a half dozen loads of branches and then two loads of just the trunk.

Finally, the last half of the tree was dropped. Sorry for the horrible pictures, it was actually pretty dark out, so this is the best I could do.

 And here is the wedge that he cut out. Pretty impressive.

Jonathan cut down the other tree this past weekend. So, both are down. One has been hauled off and gotten rid of. And the other one is waiting for us to have a free weekend to load it onto the trailer. Next step: making plans for next summer. I'm still crossing my fingers that the garden will work. 

The other project that Jonathan worked on is inside our house. Do you remember our less than complete bathroom corner? You can see it here in this old progress picture. 

Well, we have been trying to figure out what to do with that corner, because we didn't think we had enough beadboard to finish it. Turns out, the only problem was that there wasn't enough base trim to finish it. So, we just decided to make the spot that doesn't have trim, be in the corner so it could easily be covered up. In the future we have plans to fix it, but for now, its fine the way it is. 

See the little corner peeking out under the sink? Yea, that is all the base trim that we are missing. ARGH!! Oh well. I'm just glad that the rest of the wall is done! Yes, I snapped this picture a bit early, so Jonathan hadn't put up the last piece of trim, but don't you worry! Stick around tomorrow and you will get to see it all completed!!!

Recent Things...

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A couple of weeks ago, a friend of my brother's passed away. I didn't really know this guy and had only met him a couple of times. But the fact of the matter is, I judged him. I judged him because of his look. I judged him because of the people he surrounded himself with. I looked at this friend of my brother's and shut him out immediately: labeling him as a "bad seed." I refused to see him as a person; as a person that God loved unconditionally.

Here me out. Its not like I was out right rude to him, but I just didn't give him (or any of my brother's friends, for that matter) the time of day. That still is a sin. God, I'm sure, was disgusted by my attitude, "Sure Liz, say you love me, but go on acting as if you are better than them. Are you really sure you understand the reason I died on the cross?"

Since then, I have realized that my brother's have been a better example of Christ than I have. They have shown God's undiscriminating love to so many people. They don't worry about how a person lives or what they participate in, but rather embrace them as friends without question. Their goal is always to show love, never to judge. This is the true message of Christianity--love.

I have a lot to learn from their example.

When I heard of this friends passing, it really hit me. That, combined with the study that we are currently doing in our bible study group, have weaved a deep conviction in my heart that I'm approaching life and Christianity the wrong way.

Our bible study group is reading the book The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller. Keller takes the story of the prodigal son and transforms it into a tale of being the best Christian you can be. He challenges us to see this story as a way to look at people in this world. The "younger brother" types are characterized as irreligious yet, eventually repent of their ways and are accepted into the kingdom. Then their are the "older brother" types who are moralists and view the world through their "superior beliefs." They also refuse to see this as a negative and thus, the story ends with the older brother not repenting of his sins. At the end of the story, we don't know what happens to the older brother. This scared me.

I was definitely a moralist. I still am to some degree, if we are honest. But God is doing a work within my soul. He is showing me that my life should be a light to others. I would hate to be "that Christian" who caused someone else to doubt the reality of salvation. I never want someone to look at me and think, "Wow, if that is what Christianity is, then count me out!" Oh that would be horrible.

Another realization that I had, came with the sermon series our pastor is currently preaching. Man, I really must have needed a reality check, because God was coming at me at every angle. Our pastor has been talking about idols and how they come in ALL forms. It has been a powerful sermon series and has made me realize that I have many idols in my life. Food, having children, and my need to be good at something, are all idols that I have been paying too much attention to. This blog has become an idol of sorts because it feeds my need to bring attention to my decorating skills. For some reason, I have been trying to prove that I'm good enough.

But God says I'm good enough because of my love for Him.

Crud, I have really messed up.

All that being said, I also want this blog to be a light. I want to stop trying to be "the best" and I want to be God's best. I want to make sure that everything I write and post is (as it says in Philippians 4:8) true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. These things are what bring light.

Don't worry, I will still be writing a bunch about our house updates, but I will definitely be throwing in  some other topics too. I have a few blogs that I read on a daily basis that are a good example of light and I will focus on using them as my guide. Please check them out: Summer Harms and Whitney Newby. You won't be disappointed!!!

So all of you who have been asking about our house and what is going on, tune in tomorrow! Let's catch up shall we?