Thankful Thursday

Today one thing I am thankful for is free cardboard boxes!  Steven and I hit up Hobby Lobby, Dillons, and the BBC bookstore and I think we have more than we need!  I'd rather have too many than not enough though.

(pic from Bestracking.com)

So far we have packed 8 boxes today... we have many more to go!

Looking Back

I wrote this back in the summer of 2007 (right after I graduated high school).  I guess you could say I knew for a while that I wanted to marry Steven.  :)  Sometimes it is fun to look back at what made you who you are today and enjoy those special memories.

"I want the guy...
Who says I'm beautiful
Who will write me notes
Who isn't too cocky to say "I'm sorry"
Who thinks I'm cute when I'm hyper
Who will pray with me before I go to sleep every night
Who is content just holding my hand
Who will draw cute stick-figure pictures for me
Who will help me/us solve problems by studying the Bible
Who always opens the door (and car door) for me
Who will share in my joys and my heartbreaks
Who will kiss me on the forehead
Who will show up on the doorstep for the sole purpose of bringing me flowers
Who will text me "good morning beautiful" every single morning for me to wake up to
Who will hang out at my house and play games with my parents
Who is there for me to call him if I can't go to sleep at night
Who will talk about me to his friends
Who believes in me when I don't even believe in myself
Who is more excited for me than I am when I get a scholarship
Who doesn't care about my imperfections
Who never gave up on us, even when everyone around him (including myself) told him to
Who finds things in me that even I didn't know
Who will sing Happy Birthday to me at the talent show in front of the whole school
Who will ask me how my quiet-times have been going, and what I am learning
Who can make me laugh even when I'm crying
Whose very existance in my life, is an example of how God can work in people's lives and hearts
Who will bring me a dozen roses for no reason at all, except that he knows it will make me happy
Who knows my favorite kind of icecream, and is always up to eating some with me
Who will be there for me when it seems like no one else is
Who misses my smile when we're not together
Who, when I get my wisdom teeth taken out, brings not me not only a milkshake, but also flowers and a movie
Who will sing to me when I'm not feeling well
Who can convince me that I'm pretty even on my "ugly days"
Who knows that the only way to have a relationship is to keep God as the center of it
Who will be my best friend
Who loves Jesus even more than me

And guess what? I've got this guy!

You put the red in my cheeks, the sparkles in my eyes and the warmth in my heart "

This picture was taken on our first date!  After dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (at the plaza), we got some cheesecake and decided to eat it outside.  We went to the outdoor seating at Panera and tried to guess people's professions as they walked by.  It was perfect!

I <3 this boy of mine.

Handling Stress

We have had quite an eventful week.  We are in KC visiting family, and while here received and accepted an offer from the church we visited a few weeks ago in O'Fallon.  God is good and we are soooooo excited to get moving on this new part of our lives.

We also, surprisingly, were offered the job at Maryville (saying Steven could start basically immediately) within two days of getting offered the job at O'Fallon!  We really weren't expecting to hear from them, so when they called we knew we needed to really think everything out, pray about it, and seek some counsel from people we look up to.  

The two positions are very different but both great opportunities.  Maryville would be part-time, with Steven learning under their high school pastor.  O'Fallon is full-time, with Steven BEING the high school pastor.  Both churches have wonderful people and are being used by God.  Ultimately, we just had to go with our heart and where we had the most peace about going, which was O'Fallon.

While it was a shocker for us to get the offer from Maryville, we really think that it was God opening the opportunity up to us once more, so that we would know the place we ended up was OUR decision, instead of our only option.  We could pick the one we felt led to, without any looking back and wondering, "what if it had worked out here...".  I think this gave us a tremendous amount of peace about picking O'Fallon, and it helped the church at O'Fallon know we truly believe that we belong there and aren't just going there because we didn't have any other choices.

However, all new opportunities come with their share of uncertainties and stress.  We found out that the banks are making it more difficult to acquire loans, so we will not be able to buy a house until a month after Steven starts his job.  Meaning that we need to find a short-term place to stay for the first 30ish days.

There were also some other hick-ups that needed to be taken care of... this grown-up world is rough!

This made me think of how Steven and I handle stress differently.  When substantial circumstances are beyond my control, I break down and cry.  I can't really do anything productive until I have everything processed in my head.  Steven, however, puts on his "A" game.  He does not rest until the problem is solved!  He will make phone call after phone call to whoever it takes, until he has done everything in his power to resolve it.  He might get frustrated, but does not take take time to talk about it until he is finished getting everything as figured out as possible.

I am thankful for that in a hubby.  In two days, I could not have gotten one-tenth of the amount done that he did.  I am grateful that he goes into action to resolve problems and does everything within his power instead of just sitting and waiting for things to come to him.

In other news, I found online these "steps" to being content in where you are.  I cannot remember where to credit this to, though.

*never allow yourself to complain about anything, not even the weather.
*never picture yourself in any other circumstance or someplace else.
*never compare your lot with another's.
*never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
*never dwell on tomorrow, remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours..

I think these are really good!  I think that we all have had struggles with being content at some time or another, and if we truly instilled these steps into our hearts, we could more easily view each day as a gift and give it 100%.

My parents took Steven and I out Monday night to celebrate Steven's job!  We went to Jack Stack and it was soooooo good.  (always is!)

Miscellaneous Monday

Well, we are back at Miscellaneous Monday again!  I already missed Thankful Thursday... and it was the first one!  I will try to do better!

:: My newest "beauty secret" is the Clinique brow shaper.  It is seriously one of the greatest things ever!  I like to think that my blue eyes are one of my better attributes, and by filling in my eyebrows I think it draws more attention to my eyes.  I <3 it!!

(pic from shopping.com)

:: I could use a good laugh or girl's night right now.  God is so good and we are so blessed, but that doesn't mean there aren't stressful things going on too!

:: While on the topic of something I could use, a pedicure is very high on that list!  ha!  I haven't had one for almost a year.  I love my toenails being painted, and I also love foot massages and having soft feet.

That's all I can think of... good night!

 

Lamentations

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.  --Lamentations 3:25

I feel like this has pretty much been our verse lately.  It is soooooo true.  God has been so good to us and has blessed us more than we ever would have thought!  I can't wait to share the details soon.

Miscellaneous Monday

I have decided to add a little structure to my blog- in the form of "Miscellaneous Mondays" and "Thanksgiving Thursdays".  Whenever I blog on these two days I will be trying to sticking to this theme.  Monday's will be random things that have happened, thoughts, verses, etc., and on Thursdays I will be sure to list at least one thing I am thankful for.

So, here is my Miscellaneous Monday debut!

:: I had a dream last night that we had bought a house, and in the middle of moving in we found out that the previous owners had left all kinds of things in their closets and pantry.  The owners later came to pick up their stuff (which was a little disappointing) and they proceeded to tell my parents that the reason they moved out was because one of their family members had died in that house.  Everyone became skeptical that they died of something contagious which was still in the house.  I was so sad because nobody wanted to be in our house anymore!

::  It is super nice outside.  That's what I hear, anyway, I have yet to be outside today.  There's nothing to do outside here, because we live in the ghetto.  I can't go on a walk by myself, and Steven doesn't want to walk to Sonic with me (which it's probably around a mile away so I guess I don't blame him).  I will probably end up just driving to Sonic for a vanilla coke with easy ice in a little bit.

:: There is a very bad odor coming from our refrigerator, that I can not for the life of me get out.  I have been faithful in changing the baking soda in there, and throwing out old food, but it makes no difference.  I don't know what to do about it.  I know that is gross awkward to post, but I'm just keeping it real!

:: Last night Steven and I decided that at least once this summer when we have a house, we will go "camping" in the backyard, and another night we will lay on the roof and look at the stars.  I'm excited for those nights.  (Can you tell I constantly think about moving?)

:: This post makes it look like I don't have that many deep thoughts.  Ha!

A little bit of nothing.

We have had a good and low-key past several days.  I have finished a lot of "projects".  Yesterday we went to Men's Warehouse for Steven to get fitted for his best friend's wedding this summer.  After, we headed to our Borders because they are having a big out of business sale.  I know it is sad that they are going out of business, but I can see why because even with everything 40% off, I'm sure I could have gotten a lot of that stuff cheaper on Amazon.  We went to dinner at Macaroni Grill which was really good (and my leftovers are in the oven as we speak, waiting to be my lunch) plus I had a buy one entree get one free coupon so I'm all about that!  And our last stop was Petland... I am getting more and more anxious to have a house and a puppy so it was fun to look at the pup's.  The last time we were there they only had one medium or large size dog, it was a Siberian Husky.  This time they had several- a sheep dog, husky, german shephard, cocker spaniel, and some others.

I saw this verse on someone's blog and just knew I needed to save it...

"serve the Lord with all your heart; and do not turn aside after useless things that cannot profit or save." -1 Samuel 12:20-2

I have been trying to make the most out of these past few months where Steven and I have had nothing on the agenda.  But it is hard to feel like I'm doing anything useful, because really I'm just finding things to do to make the time go by faster.  Maybe God is giving us this time just as a time of rest before everything becomes super busy and demanding.  There is value in that.  But especially after we have moved and have jobs, I need to keep in mind to prioritize my time and do things that have actual value.

On another note, I have found a cute way to present a baby present.

I saw the idea to use these clear plastic "paint cans" as a gift basket on This Blessed Nest.

All I did was cut out a "B" (Baby's name is Brycen) and modge mod-podge it to the can.

Then I gathered up my goodies (I am still working on those pacifier "leashes"... the darn suspender clips are never in stock at Hobby Lobby!)

And stuck 'em inside.  I think the can can later be used for bath toys, crayons, diapers... pretty much any kind of storage in the baby's room.

Magnets

I am participating in This Blessed Nest's Spring Fling again this week.  I have had so much fun looking at everyone's Spring ideas the past two weeks... I LOVE the flowers and colors!  I am so glad it actually looks and feels like Spring this time!

What I have to share are some very simple and easy Spring Magnets (That I will probably leave up year-round)

This is my "collection"

The "Life Is Beautiful" magnets I made a few months ago. They were very easy, just a little time consuming. I used the Citrus Matstack scrapbook paper from Michael's, and the letters you can buy in packs of four from Hobby Lobby.

I painted the edges of the letters silver. They are barely visible but I think it was a good idea. While waiting for the paint to dry, I took each letter and traced it on the back of the paper I was going to use it on. (It is important to do each letter individually- for instance don't use the same "L" block for each L because I found that they have different curves.)

I then cut out each scrapbook paper letter, and then mod podge'd it to the letter itself. I also put a thin layer of Mod Podge on the top to seal everything.

Lastly, I cut up a sheet of magnet that I got from Hobby Lobby, and arranged it on each letter!

You could use whatever letters and paper you want for this craft, and it could be very versatile!  For example, I also made some for my little brother (with Camo paper) and sister (with this paper) with their names for them to put on their lockers at school.  You could also make one with every letter of the alphabet to make Alphabet letters.  You could spell out "Happy Birthday" and put it up only on Birthday's, or "Merry Christmas" with Christmas paper (I know, we are barely at Spring and I'm bringing up Christmas  lol).  Pretty much anything goes!

These magnets took about 30 seconds to assemble! And I LOVE them! I saw the idea to turn old brooch's into magnets online. Instead of brooches, I used some pendants. I intend to add to these four magnets, as I find more that I like on sale!

All I did was hot glue a magnet to the back of the pendant!
One of the magnets did come apart, so I think in the future I will use something stronger than hot glue. Rubber Cement, maybe?

It must officially be Spring because I am working on my first batch of sweet tea this season!  Happy Spring!!

Projects to keep me busy

Steven and I got back Sunday evening from a trip to O'Fallon, MO to visit a prospective church there. The visit went GREAT and we are very excited that this may be the place God has for us!

Sidenote that I don't want to forget- While we were there, Steven gave a devotion to the pastor and deacons.  He was supposed to go 20-30 minutes.  This devotion was at like 8:30 in the morning, so Steven left the hotel while I was still half-asleep.  I went back to sleep, and had a dream that he came back to the hotel and got back in bed with me, woke me up, and told me that they had set a timer when he started the devotion, and it only went 9 minutes.  I remember being sooooooo sad that he hadn't gone any longer and thinking we wouldn't get the job because of it!

When I woke up for real, I had no idea if that was a dream or if it had really happened.  I had to ask Steven when I first saw him that day if it was or not!  I was super relieved to find out that it was a dream.

On our way home, we passed the AppleBee's that we stopped in for lunch the last time we left the St. Louis area- after our last visit to the Maryville church. We had come there to look at houses and set a starting date, but left finding out that that they couldn't go forward with giving Steven the position like they had thought. I remember how hard of a drive that was, and how confused we were. I remember calling my mom and just crying. I remember how we tried to have a nice lunch but we were just so disappointed and, well, devastated.

But I also remember a drive a few days later when we were headed to Tulsa to visit family. Steven and I talked for almost the entire 3 hour drive about how God is faithful. About how whether he wanted us in Maryville or somewhere else, He would get us there at the right time and it would be worth the wait. About how God called Steven to ministry for a reason and if we were faithful to Him, He would be faithful to us.

That weekend while we were in Tulsa, was when we heard from the O'Fallon church for the first time in months, that they had reviewed their budget and decided to move forward with finding a youth minister, and were we still interested? Coincidence? Maybe. But the timing was definitely a God-whisper to my heart that everything was going to be okay.

He has been faithful to us. He is good!

Obviously, nothing is official as he is still going through the interview process but it is so good to know that we are at least moving forward. That we will hopefully not have to send out a whole new batch of resume's and wait who-knows-how-long to hear back. That we actually have a possibility of being out of this apartment by the summer. That instead we might be in a house, with a puppy!

Anyway, on to the fun stuff!

I do not have this project 100% finished. But I am really close and wanted to go ahead and share it!

(I don't know how to rotate this picture??)

This is the calendar I made last October. It is just a 12X12 picture frame from Target, and then I used scrapbook paper and stickers to make the background. I used the cupcakes for a more "kitchen" theme. Every month I just wipe off the old month's info and start clean. Then throughout the month I just add whatever comes up.

I thought it was a good system until I realized that it was going to be a constant battle remembering everyone's birthdays during that specific month. Because it isn't a paper calendar, I can't just write everyone's bday on there at the beginning of the year. I needed a way to keep track of them so I can do a better job of sending cards to everyone.

I found the idea of getting a Rolodex and making cards for addresses, etc online and I thought that would be a great way to incorporate birthday's! However, I couldn't find Rolodex's anywhere and really didn't want to spend much to buy one online. So this is what I came up with...

I bought these little cards from Hobby Lobby ($2 for a package of 25 I believe). This is the Medium size. I then bought 5 pieces of "boy" scrapbook paper and 5 of "girl". I modge-podged the paper onto the tags, and then used stickers to add their day of the month and name. Finally, I hotglued those three hooks onto the back of my frame.

A close-up...

This is all of my birthday's. I actually used a really cheap bracelet and cut it open with wire-cutters to use as my chain. Ha! I have them organized from January to December so that whenever I get the calendar down to change the month around, I can easily just pick up the tags for that month.

I also made tags to separate the months. These are the "large" cards. They just make it easier to keep everything organized! (this is what I have left to make- I need 6 more of the month cards).

Thanks for looking. I'm hoping to have some more projects completed in the next couple of days!

Steven's Stitches.

Today has been a good day! I started off with an appointment at the Eye Doctor... it was time for a checkup and some NEW contacts! So far I am loving the new ones they gave me, hopefully after they have been in for a few more hours they will still be this comfy. After the appointment, I took some clothes to Plato's Closet, then ran some errands (and got some good deals!).

I just have to write what Steven told me last night. One of my favorite times of the day is when we get in bed because we spend at least 15 minutes a night just joking around and cracking each other up! Last night, he left the light on in the kitchen and I told him that since he was the last one in bed, he had to get up and turn it off. He said the light would help make me sleepy, like the bright light shining on him made him sleepy when he got stitches on his eye.

This is the first time he has EVER mentioned he had to get stitches. I asked him how it happened, and he said that he ran into some girl's tooth. HA! I was cracking up! The rest of the questions I asked (how many stitches, who did you tell, what happened to the girl) he said "I don't remember" to. He had me wondering if it really happened, until he turned on his lamp and pointed at his right eye and told me to look for a scar. Well, I looked and didn't find one on his right eye, but did find a scar on his left eye. So apparently it did happen!

Just to think that he busted his eye open... running down the school hall and turning a corner to run into a girl who apparently had her mouth open and big teeth. The funniest things happen to him, that would never happen to anyone else.

Spring Wreath

I think that our new wreath on our apartment door is the only thing NOT gloomy about today!

I started out loving this wreath at Hobby Lobby:

But NOT loving this price tag:

Ouch!  Even with 50% off I can think of a lot of things I would rather spend $50 on.

So I bought just a bare twig wreath from Michael's for $2, then bought some fake flowers from there and Hob Lob to go with it.  $11 and three hot glue sticks later, this is what I had come up with!

It obviously has a very different feel from the Hobby Lobby wreath, but I really kinda love it!

And when the weather is rainy and gloomy like it is today, it is nice to have a burst of color and reminder that Spring is on its way!!!

The Chest is Done!

I'm so excited!  The cedar chest is officially off of my to do list!

Here are some pictures of my great grandma's cedar chest before:

(do forgive the boxes and mess in the background... we thought we were moving in January and I didn't have the heart to unpack the things I had packed!)

And here it is after I reupholstered, refinished, and added some new knobs!

perfect for holding games!

The poor thing doesn't have a space though in our small dingy apartment.  It is sitting in a corner under our window, covered up by a blanket so it doesn't get dirty.  I am ready for a HOUSE so I can show it off!  (and other reasons, obviously!)

freezing girl scouts

All is well at the Branch house... okay, apartment.  We've had a good last couple of days.

I finished the cedar chest makeover!  Well, I am still waiting for the new knobs to come in the mail, but only around 5 more minutes of work is needed!  I love how it turned out, and I love that Steven loves how it turned out as well!

Yesterday we went to Branson to pick up the Christmas tree.  We met the girl at a gas station.  Turns out the deal wasn't quite as fabulous as I thought it was (she bought it for $35), but it is still a good Christmas tree for while are waiting for a really nice one.  I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on a tree when we don't know what size we will be able to fit in our living room, anyway.
After getting the tree, we went shopping, but the only thing we bought were girl scout cookies!  The poor girl and her mom were sitting outside of Bass Pro FREEZING.  We felt sorry for them and bought two boxes.  :)  (well, we may have just had a weakness for some Thin Mints...) We then got dinner at Cantina Loredo, my favorite Mexican restaurant!  We went back home and had a "food TV" night- watching lots of Chopped and Top Chef.

white christmas tree

I have been making great headway on the cedar chest.  Right now, the second coat of stain is drying.  I have purchased everything I need to reupholster the top, and knobs have been ordered from Amazon (2.5 inch knobs are way scarce... the only place in town that had them had them for $11 a piece ((we need 4)) plus $7 fee because it is a special order.  I think I'll just order them from Amazon for a total of $12.)

I have always wanted a white Christmas tree.  My "Christmas Theme" will be green, red, and sparkles.  Now, I know it's the beginning of March but just hang in there with me, there's a point to this.  Anyway, I've always wanted a white tree so I could put green and red ornaments on it.  This past Christmas, I looked at a bunch online but they were all soooooo expensive.  Even in January, when they were 50% off, they were over $150.  So I gave up on having one for next Christmas, and just figured we would have to use the 3' silver one I have from my college dorm again.
But, for some reason I decided to check Craigslist the other night, and there was a girl there with a white Christmas tree for sale for only $20!  It is only 6.5' (I would prefer 7.5) but it will be a MUCH better tree for this coming Christmas than the silver one.  She is from Branson and said she will bring the price down to $15 since I'll come down there to pick it up.  I'm going to try to make the trip on Saturday.

Not much else, really... I've been keeping busy on this chest, and running a million errands to get everything I am needing!

There's no place like home

I haven't blogged lately, because we haven't really had a ton going on.  We just got back tonight from a week-long trip back home.  We spent half the time with Steven's family and half the time with mine.  It is nice that our families are only a couple of hours away so we can visit them really easily!

There were a few highlights of our trip, including...

One night at Steven's house, everyone else was in bed and Steven and I stayed up watching Lost on Netflix.  While we were watching, I started really craving a Smoothie, but didn't want to use the blender because I knew it would be super loud and everyone else was asleep!  I finally gave in and immediately turned the blender off when I realized how loud it was.  Steven suggested that I use the outlet in the bathroom and close the door.  I tried that, but turned it off again after a second because the thing was as loud as the trash truck is when it slams the dumpster against our apartment wall.  Finally, as an act of true love for me, Steven took the blender outside to the front porch and found an outlet there, and he blended my smoothie out there!  In the middle of the night, at the end of February.  That was the best smoothie I've ever had!

At my house, my mom offered to give me my great-grandma's cedar chest.  The chest has a great frame and is perfect for storage, but needs a little updating so I think my new project is to refinish, reupholster, and add new knobs to the chest.  I will add before/after pictures when I'm done.  I know this will be time consuming, but it is nice to have something to do plus I will be able to take a piece of furniture I normally wouldn't use, and make it into a functional one for our future home, for very cheap!  I'm sure I'll also learn a lot along the way and gain more confidence in DIY-ing.  I love having projects like this and am excited to make a visit to Hobby Lobby tomorrow!

That's it for now!