Catching Up

It's been quite a while since I posted on here, but I decided to get back into the habit after my coworker talked about starting her own blog. I have abandoned mine since November, so I need to get back into the groove.

So much has happened since I last wrote! In response to the workplace chaos, our school is closing. We are in a "teach out" mode which means we won't enroll any new students, but will teach out the programs and students that were already enrolled. It was shocking and hard news to hear. So many of us have felt a huge range of emotions from disbelief, to anger, to bitterness, to worry. There are so many unknowns in our futures now, but I am blessed that I have the peace that God will lead me wherever it is I need to go from here. I wish some of the other people I care about here had that same peace.

So, we hosted our Thanksgiving dinner and everything went perfectly. The house was decorated so cute, I had a huge appetizer spread of crackers, dips, nuts, fruits, and veggies and we had enough dessert for each person to get their own pie. Yikes! Overall, it was a wonderful experience.

Christmas was a little dampered for me this year with the job loss lingering overhead, but I was still lucky to be able to spend that special time with my family and friends. We didn't end up getting a real tree, but decorated two small fake ones in the living room and kitchen. One I did in all trains for Dave and he loved it! It was a little rough for our first married Christmas holiday, but we had one another and that's what mattered!

We spent New Years quietly at home with our good friends Steve and Molly because it snowed like crazy and no one wanted to be out on the roads. It was great to just cuddle up and watch movies and eat a delicious dinner. I'm slowly easing into the older 20's phase where I'm very content with a night in with a few good friends. I don't have to be a big bashes every year.

January was fairly uneventful other than my starting my Master's program in Education. I've struggled with working full time and carrying a full time Master's load all on top of settling in to my new home and marriage, but so far I've managed. Dave has taken on the role of house wife and I am so lucky to have him! I've been debating about withdrawing this upcoming term due to many factors. I just don't know this was the right thing for me to do and my gut tells me I need to job hunt more than I need an extra degree. I'm so torn and have been praying about it constantly. Still no words of wisdom yet from upstairs, but I have to be patient and trust that when the time comes to decide, I'll know what's right.

Meanwhile, my little brother and his wife bought a great new house and decorated everything so cute! I'm so proud of them and happy that they were able to find a great home. I know they will be so happy and comfortable there for a long time to come. It's so nice to find a place you feel like home!

I've been making our little place home lately. We've spent the past month or so repainting and redecorating our kitchen and living room. The rooms are pretty small, so it took a lot of creativity (and tons of Pinteresting) to make them feel warm and inviting but not closed off. I think we found the perfect balance. Here are some pictures so you can see what we did.

The kitchen makeover:

Here you can see a little of the before/after shot of the kitchen color. That beige strip to the right of the window is the orginal color of the kitchen and living room walls. We added this lovely Behr Grassy Green. I'm a fan! What do you think?



 



  



This is a shot of by that same wall. I made the little mirrored inserts and decorated with wine-themed stickers and our last name in the red. The whole kitchen is wine and chef themed, so it ties it all together. The wine cabinet was one we bought at Target. It's just a plain cabinet with a shelf and glass doors. We went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought the wine glass racks and added them ourselves. I think it turned out really cute. The black frame has a saying inside "Bless the food before, the family beside us and the love between us, Amen."

  


Here is a close up of the project. I used scrabook paper as the backing and stickers for the wine graphics and name.



Here is the main wall where I added the word "Eat" and little signs. The signs all have a wine-themed saying: "In Vino Veritas "(In wine there is truth), "Take Life One Sip at a Time," "You Had Me At Merlot," & "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry." The back of the frames all have matching scrapbook paper.



This is my little chef wall. I don't have a good picture, but the big wooden box is actually a wine box that I turned into a shelf. The little one is just a wooden box from the dollar bin at Target. I went very thrifty with all the decorations. The little chefs are all from Garden Ridge and were about $5 each. The letters are from Michael's and I painted them to match the colors I wanted.




These are probably my favorite addition to the kitchen! My talented mom made me roman shades to replace the ugly white blinds we had previously. We searched forever one day at JoAnn's to find the perfect fabric and luckily had just enough. The colors match the kitchen perfectly and it's such a cute fabric!





Here is a shot of the kitchen from the living room.


The living room makeover:


Here is a before of the living room wall. It was that beige color from the kitchen as well as a dark brown on two of the accent walls. I decided to ditch the brown and pull in a deep red. I was worried that the color would overwhelm the tiny room, but it worked out perfectly with the banana cream pie color we chose as the neutral in the kitchen and living room walls. It has a hint of yellow, but just brightens the space really well.




The red turned out so great!




Another shot where you see more of the banana cream pie...yum!

So, on to life today. I have been really missing my church roots these past few months. We went to the Christmas Eve service at our old church and it just really made me miss the comfort of consistently attending church. I see so many things happening around us that lets me know the time is drawing near for His return, so I know I need to get my life straight and make sure my family is serving. It's been far too long since we regularly served in one church home. We have visited so many different locations here and nothing really feels like it fits. I am not sure where God is leading us, but I am just ready to settle back in and use my talents for Him. Please be praying that He will lead us to the right place.