Mystery of Grace...

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace...

only that it meets us where we are,

 but does not leave us where it found us.

Anne Lamott

Delivery Surprise

To my excitement UPS arrived at the same time I arrived home from work! WooHoo! This meant the desk we have been patiently waiting for has arrived! Figuring the desk required two people to carry it, I politely asked if he needed any help. He looked at me like I had 3 heads and replied he was fine carrying the boxes.

“Boxes” I asked.

“Yes, 3 boxes” he replied with a smile.

I think he found humor in the fact that the desk comes unassembled and in 3 boxes.

No….problem! How long can it take to put a desk together?

(Contents of one box)

Well Girls…..3 hours later…. and what feels like 50 pieces of wood….1000 screws….I surrender!

I decided to let my screwdriver take a well needed rest and enjoy photo's of finished office space!  I think he was getting a little frustrated!

Loving this black and white color scheme.

Ooo...this organization makes my heart flutter! Love organization!

This is beautiful!

(Photos: Country Living)

Isn't it awesome how the book shelves are built around the desk!

Well girls I should get back to work!

Finding purpose...

How do you learn? I am a visual and tactile learner. Put it in my hands and let me give it a try and I will remember every detail. Maybe that is why when I sit down at the keyboard it is sometimes difficult for me to put my thoughts on paper. Let me try to explain this weekend visually….

I went to the Relevant10 conference feeling like my roadside dresser. I have a purpose, although sometimes I might not work as well as I use to. I have a few dents, scratches and extra layers of paint added over the years. The paint was mostly added to cover up the scratches…a quick fix. I am missing hardware, which makes it sometimes difficult for me to fulfill my purpose. Purpose, sometimes I even forget what my main purpose was. Traveling down this road will most likely not fulfill the needs of the people who need me the most.

The structure of this roadside dresser is solid. It only needs a little care, love and someone who willing to place the time and effort to bring its purpose back to life. This dresser is willing to be sanded, cracks filled, painted, and new hardware placed. This dresser wants to be put back together, to be made new again. To know it has a purpose.

A new purpose was born for this roadside find, because it was loved by someone and brought back to life. Just like this dresser, I learned this weekend about peeling back the layers (Ann), focusing on the one that loves me the most (Courtney), finding my purpose, being okay with the purpose I was given (Angie), and finding balance (Crystal).

And just like my dresser, my purpose may change as the seasons of life changes, but that is okay, because I will always be in the hands of the one that loves me the most….God.

Sally Clarkson stated we should "always place yourself in the presence of someone who makes you want to love God more" and that is exactly what this weekend was about!

Leslie it is great to be able to hear your voice now when I read your emails and tweets!

Do you remember when I posted about Mela for Sunday Song?

She shared her CD with each one of us!

Erin, I thought we weren't going to get to meet and then on the last night we got to sit next to each other for dinner. God is awesome and answers prayers!

Traci is the first blog I ever read, even before I knew what blogger or google reader was! She touched my heart then with her stories and sweeter than ever in person. She is the reason I started a blog today.

A special thank you to my adopted roommates Leslie, Jennifer, Ashley and Lisa! Thanks for the invitation and making me feel welcome!

You girls are great!!

I encourage you to visit Relevant10 to read some beautiful well written stories.

Happiness

Examine and see how good the Lord is.

Happy is the person who trusts the Lord.

Psalm 34:8

Home from Relevant10 and filled with happiness and trust!

Outside changes (Week 5)....

Bringing the outside of our home back to life sometimes feels like a slow process and then I remind myself we have only been here for 5 weeks.  We are still tackling weeds, I think we will be fighting them for a long time! Today, my mom and I spent a good 4 hours down by the pond weeding around the iris's. The pond is 3/4 of the way finished! Hurray!! The kids even put their water shoes on and went in up to their knees!

Today I want to share the outside of the house with you.  Let's rewind to Thursday, September 9th moving day, here is what she looked like....

The "to do" list includes:

Weed (done)

Paint Door Trim (done)

Paint Front and Side Door (done)

Landscaping (done)

Front Shutters (done)

Shutters for side of house

Close up Basement windows (done)

New Front Porch Columns

Window Boxes (ordered)

Brown Stone around Chimney

Brown Stone around Front Porch

Side Porch

Screen Porch under addition

Picket fence

It's a slow process, but each small step makes us smile.

Last week we had the privilege of meeting the original owner's grand-daughter. It was wonderful to walk the property with her and learn the history of the house and her grandparents.  I explained we were only able to save some Day Lily's and one hydrangea bush around the house. The two Rhododendron's planted in the front of the house are new. She went on to share, Rhododendron's are her Grandmother's favorite and are exactly where her Grandmother had them planted, too. We also planted two more hydrangea bushes and moved the bird bath, apparently we also planted them in the originally place, too. Well, it seems as if we might have a little help in our planning....what do you think?  Oh...and the porch we have planned is in the exact place it originally was. We didn't know this prior to the planning. Apparently it was Grand-ma and Grand-pa's favorite place to have morning coffee.  Sounds like a tradition we would love to keep going!!

Joining:

Mosaic Monday

and

Metamorphosis Monday

Trash to Dog Food....

For months I have wanted to join in Debbiedoos party, but with the move I couldn't justify buying more things when we were suppose to be down sizing. It wasn't too long ago I had received the advice from some of you to not worry about buying new things for the house, just to hide them! Well, it would be just wrong of me not to listen to you....right?
This trash can was found at a local antique store for $7.00. It is a little dented and scratched! Perfect for its intended use.....

I slid it in the garage among the boxes and it was loaded onto the moving truck with no questions asked!! When we got to the new home I added Lily's Dog food to the can. Her dog food would be sitting by the side door and wanted to disguise it, although guest thought that it was a trash can and not a dog food container...umm....wonder why?

 Broke out the Cricut and black vinyl. (Sorry the photo is blurry)

No mistaking its intended use!

I think Lily even likes it. I couldn't get her out of the way to take the picture!

Stop by Debbies and see the other fun Garage Sale finds!!

Apple Walnut Salad....

Some of you already know this....Monday through Friday I work full-time as Public Health Nurse. It is by far the best job I have ever had as a Registered  Nurse....even better then beings a labor and delivery nurse and I never thought I would find a job that I loved more than being present for the miracle of birth!  Okay, so what does all this have to do with Salads?

My car is my office. (I really need to start thinking about decorating my car, do you think anyone has done that?)  If I forget to pack my lunch, I am left with two options...1) don't eat or 2) fast food.  The other day I opted for option number 2 and went to a well know fast food restaurant. I enjoyed an apple/pecan salad. The salad was delicious, but the price was crazy! Almost $10 for a little salad and a drink. Thank goodness I wasn't paying with spare change that day.  I really did enjoy the salad, so we decided to make a similar version for dinner tonight....

Ingredient:

4 Cups of Mixed Salad Greens

2 large Apples

(we used Honey Crisp)

Walnuts

Blue Cheese

Grilled Chicken (optional)

Pomegranite Vinegrette

(We used Marzetti)

Honey Crisp apples were our apple of choice for the salad.

They have become our very favorite apple.

If you haven't tried them, you need to rush out and buy some.

The are just delicious!

Amazingly I made this whole salad for the family for less than it cost me to buy one salad at the fast food restaurant. There is even some left over for lunch tomorrow! Sweet!!

Linking to Foodie Friday

Circle of Life Photography....

Here is a sneak peek into photo's we had taken last Friday

by our friend Marci from

 Circle of Life Photography.

Originally we were going to have Marci take our family

pictures in May, but we got rained out.

Of course you know that God had a better plan

and a better place for us to have our family pictures taken.

The place that we are building new dreams and memories.

I sit and look at these pictures and I feel....

 Very Blessed

and Very Lucky

To enjoy more beautiful photo's visit

Marci's blog at

Circle of Life Photography!

Thank you Marci,

we can't wait to see the rest of the photo's!!

No Sew Hem.....

Owning an older home has it interesting points. Like not one window has the same measurement. And lets talk about the fact that the house is not level, so even though I measured the same amount on each side of the window the rod still hung crooked. We are a little off balance here, but I think you already knew that! So, when I ordered my curtains I didn't plan on the fact that I couldn't hang the curtain rods high enough for the panels, because there is a center beam running the width of the house.

You know that means the panels now need hemmed. I am really really not in the mood to hem 10 panels. It is already taking me too long to sew the kitchen curtains....So, I decided to cheat....

I folded the extra length at the top of the curtain. Hee Hee...I sat back and smiled! Packed away the sewing machine! Oh...it feels good to not have to hem!

That was easy!! Thank goodness the little window's curtain didn't need any hemming!

(Did you spy the boxes...they were a birthday gift!)

I did say 10 panels needed hemmed and I only shared 4 so far.

The other panels are in our bedroom. You remember how in our other

home the bedroom was decorated in Red Toile. I have decided to go

with a whole new color scheme!

I am loving the colors. A deep purple and green.

(I know I should pack away my tulips, but they are one of my

favorite flowers and I am just not ready to say good bye to them!)

Again, the panels were too long, so I folded the curtain at the top

and clipped in place!

Here is the large window...

Before...

And After...

How about without the view of the ketchup and mustard chair...

We have something special planned for above the curtain rod!

Just didn't order it yet!

So there is my answer to avoid having to re-hem a curtain!