GusAndLula

Expectant

2013-05-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

I have been mulling over this post for weeks now, trying to decide the most sensitive/ most honest / most God-glorifying way to tell y'all this. I've managed to work my way around in circles, ending up with a jumbled mess of things I want to say and no clue how to say it all. So I'll just say it. We're expecting. We're about 11 weeks along, due in late November. The 29th to be exact.
I was shocked back in March to find two solid lines staring back at me from a test strip once again, but I am even more incredulous now to be nearly through the first trimester. Both of our previous pregnancies ended in very early miscarriages, the first one prompting us to adopt (thank God for that!) and the second sending us into a season of prayer. It showed us finally that we needed to stop praying for a healthy pregnancy, and instead begin to pray that God would work His will in our hearts and our lives. We prayed that we would be willing to give up our desire to experience pregnancy and the birth of a child, and that we would yield to His will. I know it seems obvious that we would pray for His will to be done instead of ours after all that He brought us through and after seeing His wonderful plan to bring Gus and Lula into our family, but it was still always a "one day" dream of ours. The second miscarriage showed us our blindness and our lack of faith in God's good plans. So we prayed. And we struggled. And we prayed some more. For months, we kept praying, but still the desire was there. And month after heart-wrenching month, we kept praying. And in our weakness and our struggle to trust, God was so gracious to us, and those two pink lines appeared.

Our (very early) ultrasound showing a tiny little baby and a good strong heartbeat!

I still don't know why He has chosen to bless us in this way, after blessing us so generously through our adoption experience. I do know -- am striving daily to trust -- that He is good, and loving, and merciful, and sovereign, and unchanging. That His thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and His ways higher than my ways, and His plans infinitely better than my plans.
I am amazed by His perfect timing. I am humbled by His graciousness. I am thankful that we will be adding another sweet baby to our family soon!

Lovely lantern

2013-04-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

We're still settling in s l o w l y around here. No one warned me how different moving would be post-kids, and life didn't stop while we got everything moved, unpacked, and settled, so we're still not. :)
Our living room is coming along, though. All the furniture is in place, and I found the box full of pillows and blankets. We're still missing all of my milk glass and other finishing touches. But the big news is our beautiful new light fixture.

When we moved in, there was a ceiling fan in here with no light fixture. It drove me crazy not to have an overhead light, especially since this is where Keith and I crash after putting G & L down at night.
Then the lovely people at Lamps.com offered to let me review one of their many gorgeous fixtures. If y'all have been around for any time at all, you know how happy this made me. I have a thing for lights!
The really difficult part of all this was deciding which fixture to pick. They have a huge selection with tons of different styles and lots of pretty finishes. Here are just a few of their lights that I love:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

In the end, I ended up going with this lantern for a few reasons.

1. I love the shape. It's fairly traditional, but it's got a little personality, too.

2. It's a good size. Not huge, but not tiny either.

3. I feel like I can move it around from room to room and it will look great just about anywhere. When I get

tired of it in the living room, I can easily move it into a bedroom. Or the breakfast nook. Or the porch....

(Sorry, honey!)

4. I don't love the finish. I know this seems like it might be a negative, but I love the thought of painting this

a pretty blue or red or green. It's OK as-is, but the possibilities are really exciting.

5. The price was great. If you're looking for a lantern fixture, it can be really difficult to find one around the

$100 range. This one is $114 with free shipping and free light bulbs thrown in. Hard to beat that!

I sweet talked Keith into hanging it for me last week, and I've been loving it so far.

The room definitely feels homier with the new light.

Thanks to Chrissy at Lamps.com! You were fantastic to work with!

Easter

2013-04-04T13:10:00.001-07:00

As promised, here are a few of my favorite shots from Easter. We went egg hunting at my parents' farm with the cousins, which is always a great backdrop for photos.

Somehow we got a shot with all four of them looking at the camera and smiling.

This is so Lula. The girl's a mess. We love it.

My sweet Gus. The smile just kills me.

My sister's girls. Clara just donated 10 inches of hair to Locks for Love. She has such a sweet heart, and now a cute little bob to show for it.

I love this one. Too sweet.

Our favorite little red head.

A basket full of goodies.

Hope y'all had a wonderful Easter. He is risen!

Aaaannnndd we're live!

2013-04-01T18:31:00.004-07:00

On One King's Lane that is. I'm so excited to be a part of their Stylish Statements sale, and can't wait to see how the large format, framed prints turned out. Hop on over and check it out!

Just a few of the G&L prints they're offering.

Shameless plug

2013-04-01T08:18:00.001-07:00

I may have to go back on my word about posting infrequently and share two posts with you this week. I've got some adorable Easter photos of the kiddos that are too cute to keep to myself, so I'll probably be adding those later on.

But for today, I've got a bit of exciting news. We are on Zulily again today through Wednesday! We've got several new prints on Zulily that til now were only available in the etsy shop. Get them now at about half off!

And in the not-to-distant future, we will be on One King's Lane! They put together a collection of G&L prints and are offering them framed in large format. I've had so many requests for large prints, but haven't been able to work out the details to offer them. I'm so excited to see them on OKL, and just might splurge on one myself! I'll keep y'all posted about this one.

Thanks for putting up with the plug, I'll be back later with photos of the kiddos!

8 random things I'm lovin'

2013-03-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

I keep a list of things I've been meaning to blog about and after glancing over it, I realized that while it's absolutely wonderful, there's not a great way to construct an entire post around my favorite lip balm. I just don't have the word skills for that. So instead, here is a somewhat random list of eight things that I'm lovin' right now. In no particular order:

1. Corti balm. Best stuff I've ever tried for healing dry, cracked lips. Love it.

2. Rollick. Keith found this before my family went to the beach at Thanksgiving, and we had way too much fun with it. It's similar to charades, but instead of one actor per team, there's one guesser and many actors. It had my dad - career military man, Bible scholar, and all-around macho guy - doing the moonwalk! It kept us up way too late and caused us to laugh much too hard. I wish I had a photo or two for this one!

3. Sander/Deglosser. This stuff is wonderful for impatient painters like me. Just wipe it on, let it dry, and paint. No sanding necessary! I've used it a few times now and have liked it more each time.

An up-close shot of our dining table that I recently used Sander/Deglosser on.

4. Little Miss Austen's Pride & Prejudice. It's the 200th anniversary of one of my favorite all-time books and I celebrated by getting this sweet little board book for Lula at Christmas. It's never too early for a little exposure to P&P!

The illustrations are adorable.

5. Slob-proof paint pen. I can't actually vouch for this one because I haven't used it (yet!) but as soon as I figure out my next mural project, I'm going to be all over this. It's a paint pen that can be filled with any paint, then washed and reused. Genius!

6. We just added a few Ikea wardrobes to our new bedroom for some much-needed storage space, and I decided to dress them up a bit with these knobs.

Ours came to us via ebay with a bit of a smaller price tag. I love the sparkle of the mercury glass.

7. Skillet lasagna. I found this via pinterest (of course!), tried it, and loved it. It's now on my "Tried and True Recipes" board so I can find it quickly whenever I want to dish it up. It's much quicker than regular lasagna, only requires one pan, is sooo yummy, and supposedly is only 7 weight-watchers points. I added in spinach and chopped zucchini last time I made it for a few more veggies. Delicious!

8. Moroccan oil. This does wonders for my hair. Smooths, shines, softens.... It's wonderful. There are a lot of different brands out there, but my local Kroger happened to have this one for around $8. Since I don't get out much, I scooped it up, and it's been fantastic.

So there you have it. Eight completely unrelated, random things I'm lovin' right now and thought y'all might, too. Anything you'd like to share?

Two years ago today...

2013-03-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

Keith and I were led through a dim, narrow hallway into a room where two heavily swaddled babies lay contentedly in the brightly painted cribs that lined the walls.
The intensity of my emotions when I realized that the tiny, brown little bundles were my babies - my son and daughter - is greater than I have words for. We had waited so, so long for this. It almost seemed that the two little ones we had prayed for and dreamed of couldn't be real. They existed only as photographs hanging on our fridge back home, and in our most daring dreams.

The moment when they were just steps away for the first time, when we could feel their soft cheeks and damp curls and smell their sweet baby smell, was so blessed. I had the impression that this must be a bit like heaven, a long awaited, infinitely sweet, other-worldly reunion.

Those tiny infants are toddlers now, and everyday I have the honor of holding, rocking, tickling, kissing them. They call me Mama, and hug me tightly. I am blessed with their sweet songs and giggles. I still marvel at how beautiful they are. I understand their toddler gibberish and know their fears and interests and anticipate their moods. I know their tickle spots and how to make them smile. I'm learning how to point them to Christ, and have discovered the necessity of humility and prayer in shepherding their little souls.
I am boundlessly blessed by their sweet lives and abundantly honored to be their Mama. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Hopeful

2013-02-28T18:04:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to figure out what to do about our little hall bath, and the only conclusion I've reached so far is that the sink has to go. There's no storage at all in here, and the current sink doesn't even allow room for our soap dispenser - every time I go to turn the water on, I almost knock the dispenser onto the floor. Not to mention that it's not a particularly attractive sink.
So after perusing craigslist for a few days, I came across this gem:

When I brought it home, Keith's one-word reaction was "Ugly". But it was a steal -- $70 for the vanity cabinet, faucet, and marble top. Of course, someone very wise once told me, "Cheap ugly is still ugly". So true.

But if you can take ugly and turn it into something like this, it could be fabulous:

I'm hopeful!

Less & More

2013-02-20T11:18:00.001-08:00

I started writing this back at the beginning of the year as a type of resolution, but with the move and everything else happening, I'm just getting around to posting it. Belated Valentine's Day resolutions, maybe?

It's a little game I've been playing lately as I've seen the need for less of many things in my life and more of others. Here's a glimpse into my hopes for the coming year through the lens of Less & More. In 2013, there will be:

Less time wasted online. Less pinterest. Less facebooking. Less blogging and reading other blogs. I've been reevaluating the way I spend time on the computer, and most of it is flat out wasted. Blogging to document the kids' lives is one thing. Feeling like I need to post regularly is another.  So posts may be a little more sparse, but I'll keep y'all up to date on what's important. I also love reading other blogs, but I'm going to try to be more intentional in how I go about doing this.

More time spent on what matters. More time spent really being present with the kids. More books read (both for me and for the kids). More conversations engaged in. More going out of our comfort zones to meet people and share Christ with them. More time with Keith and more time in spent in prayer.

Less worrying and stressing.

More trusting in God's plan and timing. (We have so much we can look back on and see how gracious and faithful He is!)

Less complaining.

More gratitude.

Less stuff that we don't need. We cleaned out a bit before we moved, but now that we're in the new house it's clear that we'll need to clean out some more. I'm trying to put stuff that we don't need directly into the donate pile as I unpack it so I don't get a chance to talk myself into keeping it.

More hospitality. This is something I've been wanting to work on, and I found that while the old house was spotless while we were trying to sell, it was much easier to be hospitable. (I realize your house shouldn't have to be spotless to have people over, but it makes it so much easier for me!) So cleaning out clutter = cleaner house = more hospitality.

Less trusting in my own strength to do anything on this list.

More trusting in Him who strengthens me.

BIts & Pieces

2013-02-06T14:44:00.001-08:00

We're settling in to the new house, still unpacking and trying to figure out which light switches do what. I thought I'd share a few (very, very far from finished) progress shots of the house - a few of the spots that are the most presentable and box-free.

Let's start in the entry. The table and stools are from the old house - they're great for sitting on to pull shoes on or off. The donkey is making his debut here, just because I like looking at him :) I'm still planning to put him in the kids' room once we paint. Gus named him, by the way: Happy. Not super original, but very fitting. We can't walk out the front door now without the kids saying bye to Happy.

In the formal living room, Keith put together the giant armoire that used to be his closet. It's now serving as a much-needed coat closet.

The baby grand will go in here, along with a pair of chairs. The room's nowhere near done, but the armoire is one of my favorite pieces, and I love that it's one of the first things you see when you walk in. (We're planning to replace the carpet in this room with hardwoods to match the surrounding floors. Hopefully this big 'ole guy won't look so awkward when he's not straddling two different floors.)

The living room now has at least the big pieces of furniture in place. There's still painting, window treatments, lights, and finishing touches to do.

This may seem silly to y'all, but I was so excited when I discovered these tie hooks in our closet. They're not the prettiest things ever, but I love having a place to hang all my necklaces. The rest of the closet may be a disaster, but my necklaces are all hanging. ROYGBIV-like.

And in case you're wondering why we're not further along with the packing, I'd like to present as evidence our new bedroom floors:

We jumped on the bandwagon. They're a bit rustic and definitely imperfect. And I love them. More details to come later, I'm sure. We're waiting for the paint to cure before we move furniture in, but we have awesome (cheap) new floors. And a light fixture!

And thanks to everyone who took the time to comment on the kitchen post. I got lots of great advice and ideas from y'all. Still not sure what to do, though! After staring at the photoshop rendering, I think the granite counter was messing me up. So I took it out.

(I should have mentioned in the last post that we already have the wall oven - found a great deal on one - so I think we're moving ahead with the new cabinet. Or maybe installing it in the base cabinet. Still not sure!)

Options and plans

2013-01-29T20:25:00.003-08:00

Thanks to some hardworking and generous family and friends, we're officially all moved into the new house and are working on settling in. I'm loving so much about it: the location, the friendly neighbors, the yard, the layout... If you ask Lula what's so great about the new place, she'll tell you that it has bananas and oranges and apples. Works for me :)

My sweet mom came over the other day and helped me unpack the kitchen and make some plans for our new stove. Apparently the previous owners used a countertop convection oven, which won't work for our family, so we've been trying to figure out where we can work in a wall oven. We were thinking about trying to fit it in an existing base cabinet, but the thought of kids pressing buttons and potentially setting the kitchen on fire frightens me. It looks like our best option is going to be building it into the set of cabinets at the end of the kitchen:

(The ones at the very right in the photo above.)

We would raise the uppers to the height of the open-faced cabinets on the adjoining wall, build them out to base cabinet depth, set the oven on the counter, and build around it. My amazing dad has offered to build/rework the cabinet for us and has charged me with drawing up some plans.

The way I'm envisioning it, the stove would be centered, which would leave me with a 9 inch cabinet on either side. The question, then, is what to do with those skinny little cabinets. I thought about pull-out spice racks or cookie sheet storage with cabinet door fronts:

Or book shelves for cook books:

Or shorter shelves with small baskets for utensils:

Are there other options I'm missing? Do they all just look awkward (bad photoshop job aside)? What would y'all do?

A clip to make you mamas smile

2013-01-17T08:34:00.001-08:00

As I've been teaching the kiddos new words (Me: "Say elephant". Gus: "epp-a-rent"), this clip keeps coming to mind. I'm sure all you mamas out there can sympathize with poor Phoebe, too!
Other than keeping up with Gus and Lula (and their exploding vocabularies!), packing and preparing to move, there's not much going on 'round here. Just one week til closing!

A practical purchase

2013-01-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

Things might be a bit quiet around here for the next few weeks. Around the blog, that is. Not the house. There's plenty going on around the house. The moving container has been delivered, boxes have been acquired, and slowly the house is being emptied. It all sounds very passive when I say it like that, but believe me, it's anything but. Lots of action happening here.

We're getting excited for the new house and I've got a folder stuffed full of plans. We have a few major purchases to make: new water heater, wall oven, microwave, etc. Most of it is pretty boring and practical to tell the truth. I did, however, find one something that I was more than excited to throw down my Christmas money on:

Isn't he the cutest thing? I splurged and ordered a 20x30 to go in G and L's room. Gus and Lula saw him shortly after he arrived and just started giggling. Seems his jolly demeanor is contagious.

In addition to being so stinkin' adorable (and really, do I need another reason?) the donkey is kind of a sweet reminder for me of our time in Ethiopia. I encountered donkeys for the first time there when we traveled to pick up G and L, and fell head over heels for them. So hopefully the donkey (he needs a name - Wendell, Wilbur, Burley.....?) will not only make us all smile, but will provide some opportunities to tell Gus and Lula about the amazing place where they were born. See! He is muti-functional! Maybe he does fall into the practical purchase category after all!

*Photo by Jackson Carson. Prints can be ordered here.

The new house

2012-12-31T05:38:00.000-08:00

We had the opportunity to get back into the new house and take a few photos. Here they are for your perusal! (I'll be back with plans and dreams for each room soon!)

Welcome to the new place:

I love the porch with its barrel ceiling and flagstone steps, the working shutters, all the trees....

Most of the first floor has gorgeous cherry flooring and crown molding.

Right inside the front door is the formal living room. The carpet needs to be replaced, but for now I'll hit it with my carpet cleaner. The piano and a wardrobe-turned-coat-closet will go in here.

The living room opens to a slightly oddly placed, but much appreciated butler's pantry. I've always wanted one of those!

The butler's pantry connects through to the family room. More gorgeous hardwoods, crown moldings, built-ins, fireplace, and french doors to the screened porch. Keith says a ceiling fan has to stay in here (and he is the coolest guy ever, so I'm giving him this one) - any suggestions for an inexpensive but attractive one?

White cabinets, mexican tile floors....

...huge windows....

...granite counters, shutters.....

....papered ceiling. Love it all.

The kitchen and breakfast room open to the dining room, which is also right across the foyer from the formal living room. More hardwoods, woodwork, shutters.

Here's the basic (not-to-scale) layout to give you an idea how it all fits together.

Upstairs landing. The carpet is in bad shape, so it will have to go. We're excited (me) and a little freaked out (Keith) to try this.

The master bedroom.

Doors to the master bath/closet.

Marble tile, beadboard.

Second bedroom. There's a bathroom attached, but I don't have a photo.

Gus and Lula's new room....

....and bathroom. There are 4.5 bathrooms in this house - amazing for potty training, right? :)

Second floor plan. Again, not to scale.

Stairs down to the basement. Beadboard!

It's a drive-in garage/basement, but the previous owners stained the concrete floors, drywalled and painted, painted the ceiling and duct work black. Our office will be down here, and we'll make space for a playroom for Gus and Lula.

There's even a bathroom!

We are beyond thankful for God's provision for our family. When we set out to downsize our mortgage payments, we never ever imagined that God would provide us with such a gorgeous, spacious, all-around wonderful home. It's crazy to think that the payments on the new house will be less than half our current payments - God is so good!

Merry Christmas

2012-12-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! God bless!

P.S. In the name of keeping it real, here's one of many shots that didn't make the cut. Not quite appropriate for a card that says "Joy & Peace", eh?

How it all went down - two crazy house buying stories in one

2012-12-19T19:31:00.002-08:00

We had been praying and praying for our house to sell, and not very mindful of what would happen when it did. So after accepting an offer and working through all the details of selling, it occurred to me early last week that we would be essentially homeless in just 45 days. I was ~~a bit~~ nervous. Add to that the fact that there's basically nothing on the market right now. And that we really didn't have a great idea of where exactly we wanted to end up.

All we knew was that we felt convicted to both cut our mortgage payments significantly in order to give more, and to be intentional in outreach in our new neighborhood. We just had no idea how that might work out practically. After seeing a handful of homes that didn't fit both requirements (great neighborhood, but pricey; or cheap, but not in an outreach-friendly neighborhood), we decided to compromise. We had our realtor draw up paperwork, but neither of us felt quite right about anything we had seen.

Until late last week. I called Keith early in the morning to talk about our as-yet unsubmitted offer and some loose ends we needed to tie up. He mentioned that he would be in a meeting all afternoon and unreachable by phone. I was sorting through some loan paperwork during naptime while my mom sat next to me, scrolling through some newly listed homes. And there it was. A just-listed foreclosure. Gorgeous exterior. Amazing location. Unbelievable price.

A quick call to our realtor, and 45 minutes later, we were inside. And I was head over heels. It felt just right.

Long story short, I put in an offer on the spot. Full asking price. Without Keith(!). (He was unreachable, remember?) And the price was unbelievable. And probably 20 people drove by while I was looking around. I think I called and left a voicemail with something like this: "I just put an offer on a house. That you've never seen. It's amazing. You'll love it." He called me hours later just laughing. He's a pretty special guy. The coolest.

So we were pretty thrilled that not only would we not be homeless, but we actually really liked our new house. (I was completely smitten. Keith had still not properly seen it :) But foreclosures work in mysterious ways. Our realtor called us the same night and told us that our offer wouldn't even be considered, the house was going to be auctioned instead. Whaaat?!?

We were unclear at first whether we would even be able to bid, and spent a few more days driving by way less-thrilling options. We decided maybe it would be best if we just moved out to the farm for a bit.

Then the auction was listed - ebay-style - online, complete with details. We were eligible to bid! Long story short (again), today the sellers (the bank?) added a "buy it now" option (told you it was like ebay!). And in a bizarre twist, we were just a few clicks away from owning the house. Keith was at work again, but not unreachable this time. After speed dialing him and then checking with our realtor, I clicked my way to a contract!

I could not have foreseen things going down like this, and I definitely did not anticipate finding such an amazing house. God provides so generously to us.

I'll have to go back soon to get some photos, but here's a shot of the outside from an old listing. Swoon.

(Edited to be unsearchable - Thanks, Anna!)

We're hoping and praying we'll be cozied up here by the end of January! I'll keep you posted!

Fair trade Christmas shopping, some news, a goal, & a prayer request

2012-12-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to do a post on fair trade Christmas shopping and give a list of great places to buy. I realize it's getting late, though, and I haven't quite complied a list yet, so if you've still got some shopping left to do, and if you're hoping to buy fair trade (and you should!), check out this list via Psalm 10. A few of my favorites:

Tukula. Gorgeous bags and accessories.

31Bits - gorgeous jewelry, accessories, headbands:

One Mango Tree - more accessories, but also some beautiful clothing.

Raven and Lily - gorgeous notebooks, scarves, and more:

And while you're shopping, I'm happy to announce that 100% of Gus + Lula's* etsy income this December will go to some of our favorite charities and ministries, like Compassion International, Embracing Hope Ethiopia, and Bring Love In. This is a small step toward our goal of being able to give away 100% of all our profits all year long.

Which brings me to a bit of news: As of last weekend, we have a contract on our house (Woo-hoo!!!). We'll hopefully be able to find a much less expensive house nearby that will help us to reach our giving goal. If you think of it, please pray for us. We could sure use wisdom in the buying process, and prayers for the sale of our current house to go smoothly are always welcome!

So there you have it: fair trade Christmas shopping, some news, a goal, and a prayer request. And they're even all (loosely) connected!

*I'll be sending out my last shipment guaranteed to arrive in the US by Christmas on the 20th, so there's still plenty of time left to shop!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2012-12-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

With the house on the market, we decided to keep things simple this year. Enter the mini tree. (Hopefully my theory that less tree = less needles holds true).

We actually couldn't find a mini tree anywhere, so we ended up going with our normal 7 footer from Pike's and chopping the top off. (Reminded me so much of this!) We borrowed a cool old metal bucket from my parents' garage and used some scrap wood to stabilize the tree down inside of it.

I only pulled out our silver ornaments, and added in pinecones and brown kraft paper for a mix of shimmery and rustic.

I used the greenery from the bottom half of the tree to decorate the mantel and add a few evergreen centerpieces around the house. The stockings were made for us by my mom, and in my opinion, are perfect.

Little bits of greenery throughout the house make it smell like Christmas.

My favorite decoration, the German Christmas pyramid we received for our wedding, got a bit of a lift this year. I used a cake stand to raise it and surrounded the base with greenery.

(Yes, we got a new table. I'll be posting about it soon. And yes, that's a different light fixture. I wasn't going to risk leaving my handmade beaded one up in case a potential buyer wanted to keep it with the house!)

More fresh greenery, art print by me, and another shot of the pyramid. If you're not familiar with them, Christmas pyramids are traditional in Germany and are a type of nativity. It brings back happy memories of my family's time there.

We threw a few lights on the vine around our front door and added two fresh wreaths to the front doors. Like I said, simple. And for the most part, it was all done in one nap time :)

P.S. I've been working on creating postcards to invite our neighbors to our Christmas Eve service. I thought y'all might like an easy way to invite your neighbors to church, too, so I've made the file available here. Feel free to print and give away as many as you'd like!

Head's up!

2012-12-01T16:39:00.002-08:00

Gus + Lula art prints are on Zulily again today through Tuesday morning with guaranteed delivery by Christmas. If you've been eyeing a print (or two) this is a great opportunity to save!

They also have some great toys right now (lots of the old fashioned, wooden kind, which I love) and some fun books, like these:

Have a happy weekend!

What's Happening (a little bit of beach, some Christmas, and a dash of random)

2012-11-27T10:27:00.002-08:00

*I was hoping to write a post all about our wonderful week at the beach (and it was wonderful - sweet family, amazing weather, empty beaches, and a completely legit Thanksgiving meal to boot!), but we were welcomed home by our forgotten to-do lists. And 1,200 unread emails. So here are the highlights from various family members' phones:

...and from the big camera:

She ate her weight in sand. It was gross. She survived. So did her mama.

The week at the beach was my parents' Christmas gift to us, and it was perfect. Thanks so much, mom and dad. We loved it!

*We're almost done decorating for Christmas. I love getting the house all dolled up, listening to Christmas music, and planning out gifts and service projects for the season. Normally we go the day right after Thanksgiving to get the tree, but since we were at the beach this year, we were delayed until Saturday.

Gus asks for "Christmas tree" every time we get in the car now. We've tried explaining that we only get one tree each year, but it's not working. Also, "Christmas tree" somehow sounds remarkably like "Trick-or-treat".

*We're almost done decorating, and I'll be sure to post photos soon, but here's a little inspiration in the meantime:

I've been crushing on the mini tree look for a while now, and with the house on the market this year, I decided it was time to give it a try. Maybe the needles will be more manageable this way? Or at least there will be less of them.

(All photos via my Christmas board on Pinterest.)

*My sister and mom have been gearing up for Christmas, too, and have some lovely stockings listed in their etsy shop. Many are made with vintage details and upcycled fabrics. These are two of my favorites:

So pretty, right? The backdrop is the old front door out at my parents' farm.

They made some for our family, too, and I can't wait to show y'all how gorgeous they are!

*I've been listening to this. If you like Christmas music, but don't care for chipmunks or Eartha Kitt, it's a great alternative.

*Completely unrelated to anything, but so wonderful I have to share: This homemade floor cleaner. My hardwoods have been driving me crazy while showing the house. 2 two-year-olds and a big 'ole dog make quite the mess, and this stuff is a lifesaver. The trick is to spray it directly on the floor (as opposed to soaking the mop) and mop with a microfiber pad.

(Not my floors, but the results are about the same. Wonderful!)

*Also random, but fantastic if you're in a pinch: Did you know that you can make your own cookie cutters? Out of aluminum foil? I couldn't find any cutters I liked for Lula's party (or didn't want to spend what they cost) so I did some googling and found this.

Hopefully you can tell that they're supposed to be acorns!

*If you love Downton Abbey (and are waiting for season 3!), try Call the Midwife. It might not be as romantic, but it's just as captivating.

It's based on the memoirs of a midwife in the East end of London in the '50s. Soooo interesting.

*And last but not least, G & L have been saying and singing so much lately. This just might be my favorite:
Last week we took my mom out to lunch for her birthday and he started singing (not so quietly) at the table. He singled out one of the waitresses and pointed straight at her as he reached the pinnacle of his "I wuuuuuvvvv youuuu!". It was incredibly funny and adorable. And also slightly embarrassing. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Thankful

2012-11-22T22:02:00.003-08:00

Hope y'all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving and are finding tons to be thankful for. We've been hanging out at the beach with my family for a bit, and have been impressed with how incredibly blessed we are as a family. God has been so good to us.

The view from our front porch for the week.

Anyway, in honor of Thanksgiving, and to show y'all how much I appreciate you (I really do! I have some of the kindest, most encouraging readers!) I thought the least I could do was pass on a coupon code for the shop.

Between now and Monday night, take 30% off your entire order when you enter GIVETHANKS at checkout. Might be a great way to get started on your Christmas shopping - it's just around the corner! Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Fashion-challenged

2012-11-13T20:09:00.000-08:00

I don't talk clothes very much here. Mostly because I feel completely inadequate. Most of my clothes come from consignment shops. (Since I'm being honest, most are purchased by my sweet mom, whose love language is shopping. She stops by with a big bag of purchases for me and the kiddos at least once a week. It's like Christmas in a bag. 52 times a year.) And to tell the truth, most days I end up wearing sweats and one of Keith's oversize fleeces.

Except I work from home. So getting dressed up to go out is the exception, not the rule around here.
But when I do get dressed, I usually fall back on this simple recipe: my skinnies (Just splurged on these - they're amazing. I wash & wear them about 300 days of the year.), a basic top, and either sandals or boots depending on the season. My mom uniform. When I've got 20 minutes to get myself and 2 little people dressed and out of the house (and these days, have the house clean and tidy just in case there's a last-minute showing), it's the best I can do.

I looked through 800 million photos of Gus and Lula to find one of me in my jeans and a tee. I realize that a photo taken during our trip to Africa may not be in the best taste for such a frivolous post, but it's all I could find.

I do adore the look of layers and well-accessorized outfits. I've been inspired lately to spiff things up a bit (thank you, pinterest). I've been trying to add a belt and either a chunky necklace or a scarf to my outfits to finish them off. Two accessories is my new minimum. (At least on days when I have more than 5 minutes to dress myself.) It's been fun to see how old outfits seem more put together and new with just a few updates.

These are my go-to's for a little fashion inspiration:

*This lady is amazing. She does things with belts that I never knew were possible. If you have trouble figuring out how to accessorize outfits, or how to mix and match pieces in your closet, you have to read her series on putting together a remixable wardrobe. It will change the way you dress.

She's a genius.

*Next time you just need a little inspriation, try scrolling through Kendi's archives. She knows how to put together an outfit. (And she's not afraid of thrifting, either!)

Makes me want to find some colored pants!

*And lastly, Shannan, whose blog I discovered a few months ago. (She's and adoptive mom and is on a similar [though way, way more daring and awe-inspiring] relocation journey as us.) She is beautiful in so many ways, and while I have a hunch that she would never own up, she is a fashion wizard. She's a natural-born layer-er, which I am extremely envious of!

I wish I could be half this cool. T-shirt over button-down, under blazer? Amazing.

(It feels a little strange to point out that she's inspired me to layer better, because she's inspired me in so many more meaningful, real ways. But there it is.)

I do realize that there's much more to life than fashion, and I definitely hope I spend my limited free time (i.e. nap time) in better, more productive ways, but it is nice to occasionally feel pulled together and even a tad fashionable instead of wearing the same old thing day after day (complete with baby snot and smeared bananas). And once you get the hang of it, layering a bit or adding an accessory or two just takes a minute. What are your secrets for breaking out of a fashion rut?

What's Happening

2012-11-05T13:34:00.001-08:00

*Like I said, we've been busy around here. It looks like things are getting a bit better, though. After a lot of praying and struggling with leaving his old job, Keith has decided to take a job at one of the best companies ever.

He finished up at his old job last Friday, and today begins his 5-week-long(!) break before starting at Chick-Fil-A Corporate in December. (He'll be doing just about the same thing he's always done - software.) We are so excited that he has this opportunity to work at such an amazing company, but I might be even more excited about the next 5 weeks! :)

*I just realized that I posted about G&L's parties (here and here), but never showed y'all what we got for their presents:

We opted not to give them more toys or books (they have waaay too much already!), and took them to the Georgia Aquarium instead. They had a blast. I love the idea of giving experiences instead of gifts and might make this a new family tradition.

Lula especially loved it. Look at the delight on her face!

*As Halloween approached this year, we weren't sure what to do. There are so many different positions on this, and we thought that we were fine not celebrating it. But at the last minute, the realization that this could be a great opportunity to get to know our neighbors (which we've been horrible about) won out. I dug through the kids' closets and managed to find a pilot outfit for Gus (the hat is from his party) and a ladybug for Lula (hand-me-down from her cousins).

We plopped them in the wagon and set out. I won't lie, it was an incredible opportunity to get to talk to some of our neighbors we may never have met otherwise. I'm not sure what we'll do in the future, but I'm glad we went trick-or-treating this year.

The kids scored a ridiculous amount of candy. Which Keith convinced them was not for eating. (Dad of the year!) They didn't seem to care, and had plenty of fun just playing with the wrappers.

*I have some new prints up in the shop, and some more ~~on the way~~ listed now* (Christmas ones, too!)

100% of all proceeds from the sale of the Micah 6:8 print (top left corner) go directly to Bring Love In, an amazing ministry that we met on our trip to Africa last summer. It's also available in primary colors here.

*Speaking of giving to good causes, I came across Pure Charity over here. Please take a minute to read about it and sign up. It's an incredibly easy way to give to charity. A percentage of your spending in store and online at places like Target go directly to the charity of your choice. Amazing, right?

*Not to be bossy, but do one more favor for me, please? Vote. Make time tomorrow to get out and cast your ballot if you haven't already. It's a pretty amazing right that was denied many in the past, and that we take for granted now. Just do it.

*I'll leave y'all with this video of my hilarious, gregarious little boy demonstrating the new dance move he came up with. We've dubbed it "the scootch".

Happy Monday, y'all!

*Just got the Christmas prints listed and ready to go. Here's a sampling:

Lula turns 2

2012-10-29T12:03:00.001-07:00

My little girl turned two last Thursday. I knew it was coming, but it's still hard to believe that she's gotten so big. We celebrated with a small family party at my parents' farm. We had some gorgeous fall weather and the setting couldn't have been prettier.

We went with gold and pink (she is quite the girly girl, after all). I picked up some paper and ribbon for the bunting, some gold glitter ting-ting, and a gold paint pen at Hobby Lobby. Everything else was pulled from around our house. The whole thing was pretty easy and laid back.

For fun, we had wagon rides, tree climbing, and tractor rides. (My dad's real tractor is in the shop, so he rode the kids around on the riding lawn mower. They didn't know the difference, and loved chasing him around.)

There were also a few games of horse shoes and even some shooting. (I didn't get photos - I was much too busy snuggling the party girl. She fell asleep on the way to the farm and took a while to wake up. I didn't mind one bit!)

And of course, there was singing and cake:

Happy birthday, my sweet Lula! I love, love, love you and the amazing, bright, sunshiney girl that you've become. Here's to a wonderful third year of life!

Fussing and Fighting

2012-10-22T19:46:00.001-07:00

I've sat down to write a few times over the past week, and each time my brain has just shut off. We have so much going on right now that you'd think I would have plenty to write about, but it's all tedious, uninteresting day-to-day stuff. Like having two (almost) two year-olds (whoa, the terrible two's and teething at the same time!), running a small business, serving at church, keeping the house clean for each of the 30 showings we've had (and still no offer!), hosting out-of-town guests, etc. etc. etc.

I realize that this all sounds trivial and well, a little like life, but it's been a bit tough around here lately. (I do realize how incredibly blessed we are, and how trivial all these 'struggles' are, truly!) But the point is, this has been a bit of a tough time. A trial of sorts. And it just so happens that I am studying 1 Peter, a book that is all about trials. (Doesn't that always seem to happen? You study about patience, and find yourself at a total loss for patience? Or you study about godly marriage, and yours suddenly takes a real beating?)
But the thing about trying times is that they're not for nothing. God uses them to grow and mature us. (This was the most transforming time of my life!)

Been seeing way too much of the grumpy face lately.

One thing that has encouraged me through all the fussing (Gus and Lula's) and tears (mine!) of the past week or two is this illustration, taken from my Bible study (specifically, 1 Peter 1:7):

A silversmith set about his work of refining a lump of silver. He skillfully worked, holding the lump over the fire to heat it. He held it steadily in the very middle of the fire where the flames were the very hottest, burning away its impurities. He gazed intently at it, waiting for the right moment to remove it from the flames; waiting until he was able to look into the perfectly refined silver and see his own image reflected in it.

Any other time and I may have let this pass right by me (as illustrations often do), but in the middle of where I am, this very simplistic picture of how God matures us has been hugely encouraging. The hope that I am slowly being made into His image makes all the fussing and cleaning and busy-ness worth it.

P.S. I just stumbled across this blog and can't seem to read with dry eyes. What an amazing, terrifying, difficult, glorious story. It truly makes all my worries seem so small!