Sunday Randomizer

- As you read this, I am zipping my way down to Alabama for the BFF's wedding week! By Tuesday night, all bridesmaids will be assembled together, and I anticipate a week filled with wedding preparations, good times, late nights, Red Bull and coffee, and beautiful, beautiful memories. :) Can't wait to get the good times starting!

- Random thing that annoys me: bathroom with big posters showing the proper way to wash your hands, including instructions in bold to use a paper towel to turn off the water and open the door - only there are no paper towels, only air blowers!!! Drives me nuts.

- The caffeine consumption has hit an all-time high this week. Yesterday I had two cups of coffee and a blueberry Red Bull, and I went to bed craving another Red Bull (I refrained). Sadly, this is becoming normal. I've been sleeping pretty normally, so I have no idea why I feel so tired lately, although the lack of sunlight is prolly the culprit.

- Speaking of sleeping... last night I had a dream that I was working at a police station that was kind of a mashup of all my favorite detective shows - it included characters from NCIS, SVU, and Castle - except that the squadroom was located in a Wegman's-esque grocery store, behind the produce section, which meant that every time we brought in a suspect for questioning, we had to disturb a bunch of shoppers who gave us dirty looks for interrupting their hunt for the ripest plums.
I'm generally pretty good at "interpreting" my dreams, but this time, I got nothing.

- Have you seen the new mugs at Starbucks lately? I'm adoring this one: each time I go in I have to pick it up and admire it. As soon as they get marked down, I'm buying one!

Randomizer

It's Sunday, and that means a round with the randomizer! :)

- We had a great time in Sunday school this morning; almost everyone showed up at once (a rare feat!) and we only had one extra chair, so we were squashed together. :) We're studying Job and I'm being reminded each time of how much I love this book - the poetry, the symbolism, and, of course, the content.

- It's spring break week for Abby, and I can't wait! Gonna bring her over to see my trailer and play on the bunk beds, hopefully make a trip to Port Discovery, maybe do a thrift shop-and-lunch date with the cousins, and whatever other fun we can get into.

- One week from today, fellow bridesmaid (and friend!) Chrisy and I will hop into her (brand.new.) car and "zip" down to Huntsville for a week with my BFF, culminating in *drumroll please* her wedding! I can't wait to see her, hug my lil guy (and read with him!), hang with her fiancee, and get another hug from her mom. :) And then, of course, the wedding.

- Speaking of wedding... all the bridesmaids are wearing silver shoes. I ordered mine weeks ago, and never worried about it because I owned the exact same pair in another color and they were some of my fav heels. Well, they came, and the different color meant they were in a different material and didn't fit anywhere like the other pair and I hated them. So I took them back. Which meant, I had no shoes. :( So one day while Abby was at school, I went on a silver-shoe-finding mission, hit every place that sold shoes in town, and couldn't find a darn thing. Cue mild panic.
Today after church - in another county - I decided to do the same thing, hit every store in that town that sold shoes and see if I could find something. First store, first pair I tried on, and they were perfect. :) (They're these shoes, except in silver, which apparently isn't available through the website) Ridiculously comfortable, adorable, and they were only $10 plus a military 10% off discount. :) Considering that I'd just been talking about God's providence that morning, it felt like God handed them to me on a silver platter. My God truly does supply all my needs - even the perfect pair of shoes!!!

- Of course, I couldn't help but notice this pair of shoes while I was buying mine. IwantIwantIwant...

- My season two of NCIS arrived this week and I've been enjoying seeing the early episodes/development of the show. While I definitely like the Gibbs of later seasons more, I was surprised at how much I liked the character of Kate (who had been - SPOILER ALERT! - killed off by the time I started watching). Made me kind of sad that she left, except... I love Ziva. And I guess if it comes down to it, I'd rather have Ziva, if only because she brings out so many interesting nuances in Gibbs.

- Last week, sort of on a whim, I bought the Kindle version of A Simple Act of Gratitude and read it. It brought me such a lift, humbled me and inspired me, and now I think everyone should read it. If you have a Kindle, it's $3 on the Amazon marketplace - buy it. So worth your time. :) I promise, you will have a better day!

New Digs!

I finally found a trailer! :) After looking through countless ads, and looking at lots of different models, on Wednesday I took my dad to go look at one that sounded promising; it was in great condition, the layout felt right, and we were able to bring the price down by $1000, which brought it - sorta - into my price range. (Still so much money!!! I'm sort of in sticker shock; no new car for me this year! But I'm still sure it was the right decision)

 I told the owners I wanted to think about it overnight and call them in the morning, which I've learned from experience can be a little bit risky, but I'm so glad I did because I got to experience the neatest thing: I went to bed and realized about half an hour later that I was obsessing over the decision (even though I was 95% sure what I was going to decide, that other 5% was killing me). I couldn't fall asleep because in my mind I was still doing the whole "pros and cons" lineup and I was too tense - that hasn't happened to me in a long while! As soon as I realized this, I told God that I was going to sleep now, and I needed Him to make His will obvious to me before I needed to call. I fell right asleep; the next morning I woke up exactly one minute before my alarm, and the first thought in my mind was a real peace about it, a deep affirmation that this was the right thing. I said, "Thank you, Lord - I'm get it, I'm going to buy it!" and the alarm went off. :)

The owners and I swapped cash and title this afternoon, and a couple of hours later, my new place pulled up in the yard.

So - welcome to my new home!

 

For those who want all the specs, it's a JayFlight, it's 27 feet long, and it's a "bunkhouse" model, which basically means it has sleeping space everywhere - which, in my case, is actually sort of a con lol.



My front door :)

 

Come on in!

 

Now, just warning you, the interior is nice, but it's not how I'm going to leave it. There's a lot of painting, new hardware, new flooring, etc that's gonna get installed. Bear with me.

My kitchenette - lots of storage space!

 



I'm thinking light gray for the cabinets and an uber-pale gray for the walls. And, of course, the ugly curtains are coming down. And the cushions are getting recovered. But that's a different story... :)

 

The master bedroom right now, though I'm contemplating removing the bed and turning it into more of a living space. 

Gotta love the under-the-bed storage!

At the other end is the bathroom and this little room with bunk beds. If I decide I want living space more than a spacious bedroom, I might turn the top bunk into storage space and use the bottom bunk as my bedroom. If I keep the master bedroom, I'll probably remove both bunks and turn this area into a study/living space.

Bunk beds! (Can't wait to show these to Abby, who's a little bunk-bed-obsessed lately...)

Even more under-the-bed storage.

 



 

I gots keys! :)

 

Although I can honestly say that I've been trusting God to provide me with the perfect trailer in his perfect timing, it's such a relief to have it sitting in the yard, waiting! Although I have tons to do - get it wired into the electrical/plumbing systems, repaint, etc - I'm looking forward to the process of making it my own, and then, of course, moving in!

 



Gardening (And Dreaming)

I'm not laughing at you; I'm just laughing because I've never heard of a Jedi with a veggie garden. - Robin

I've never had a green thumb. Ever. (I kill plants - and fish.) But last year something bit me (lol) and I caught the "country bug" - I was itching to have my own garden, and I bought chicks. The chickens grew into mature hens who provided me with delicious fresh eggs, the garden produced enough cucumbers that I learned to make pickles, and a tomato or two (though not a single, solitary green pepper - go figure) and I was hooked.

This year, the bug is back and stronger than ever. It's been months now since I started an "Outdoorsiness" board on Pinterest, and whenever I start to feel like spring will just.never.come., I self-medicate by taking a spin through the gardening section and pinning ideas for warmer weather.

And I started seeds.

Around here the general rule of thumb is not to plant anything until after Mother's Day - which is in May - and I needed to do something Spring-ish now. Luckily, we're right in the window for starting seeds indoors, so I went to Wal-Mart and picked up my supplies, and spent a glorious Saturday afternoon planting.

I bought a seed-starting kit very similar to this one (cept mine was a generic brand, didn't include seeds, and was more than half the price) and bought my seeds - spaghetti squash, cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes, and brussel sprouts. I've since bought watermelon seeds, but I haven't gotten them started yet.

It's been sixteen days and everything is now sprouted, and the spaghetti squash is growing great guns. I swear I can almost sit there and watch it grow.

In eight weeks, my little seedlings will either get transplanted to a garden plot outdoors, or into containers (depending on my living situation - haven't figured this out 100%). I'm looking forward to spending time this summer tending to my living, growing things.

Of course... don't shoot me, okay? :) ... I can't help but dream, right? About what my dream gardening setup would be...

 

It would be a beautiful greenhouse - not neccesarily large, but big enough to walk into, so that on days when it was clearly not Spring, I could go inside and pretend that it was.

It would have a vintage potting bench.

And a cute little planting calendar.

And adorable upcycled garden stakes.

And lots of solar lights, so that I could putter around after dark, relaxing.

On New Life

Lately, I've been aware of just how much new life is around me this Spring.

The seeds that I planted one week ago have almost all sprouted, reaching tiny stems and leaves toward the sun and delicate, ghost-like roots into the earth.

I'm making preparations for raising a couple of chicks (one for me, and several for my uncle). I'm looking forward to watching their metamorphosis from fuzzy chick fresh from the egg, to mature hens who lay eggs.

For the last few months, I've been letting my hair grow out, and it's now longer than it has been in several years (well past my shoulders and collarbone). It's also taken on a different silhouette, one I've never had before, and it seems strangely in tune with the way my life is going lately - I don't always recognize the person in the mirror at first, and sometimes I catch a different aspect of my face that I'd never noticed before. And I'm good with that. I've been changing and growing and discovering different bits of myself that I'd either forgotten or never known about.

Lately, I've been thinking about my own new life.

For years I've been uncomfortable with my own salvation testimony because it seemed so... unremarkable. I was young (three years old), and while I remember the event vividly, I couldn't tell you the date it happened. With the awareness of my sin, there was also the immediate understanding that God had provided a way for that sin to be taken care of, and I was a child who believed that if God said that my sin was taken care of, well, then it was. End of story.

I would doubt, later on, wondering if I'd really grasped the significance of my sin, if I'd really understood the depravity of my own nature, as a small child, as well as these adult converts had.

The answer, of course, is, no, of course not. Christ didn't preach to the children the same way He did to the Pharisees, the Saduccees, or his adult disciples, but they still came, and He still accepted them. A child who is adopted as an small child will have a different experience than one who is adopted as a teenager, but both have been adopted.

Just as I've come to depend on His peace for the everyday crises of life (and the slightly larger crises of life), I have found His peace about my adoption, partly because I think I've now had a small glimpse of what life would be like without Him. I am His, He is mine. He is the Father, the Comforter, the Tower of Strength, the Hiding Place, the Shield, Redeemer and Deliverer, the God of Peace.

And - the day of adoption is important to a parent and child, but just as important are the days and years that follow, when parent and child commune and grow closer, as child learns to trust parent, as parent proves their love over, and over again.

Give me the valley any day - I'm on a walk with my Father...

Spring Bucket List 2013

This week some invisible switch flipped, and it started to feel like Spring. Maybe not like Spring was fully here, exactly, but as though Spring were quickly approaching and we'd better get ready for its arrival. :) Time to get a new bucket list going!

1. Repaint chicken coop
2. Start seeds
3. Sleep with the windows open
4. Clean out closet and pack away winter clothes
5. Buy a new pair of flipflops
6. Upcycle an old pair of flipflops
7. Get winter coats dry-cleaned and stored
8. Wash and put away winter bedding
9. Buy new spring/summer bedding
10. Go on a picnic
11. Go out to eat and sit on the patio or porch
12. Go star/moongazing
13. Go to a wedding :)
14. Dance
15. Paint something
16. Take a road trip
17. Eat ice cream or fro-yo
18. Take Abby on a Starbucks date
19. Mail Easter eggs
20. Pet a bunny
21. Drive with the windows down
22. Have a spring photo shoot
23. Write a poem
24. Start a life bucket list
25. Plan summer learning activities for Abigail
26. Drink an iced macchiato

Randomizer

So... I just counted, and the last three of my five posts have been randomizers. I've got about three topical posts all about half-finished, and I need to get my act together and get them finished!

But in the meantime...

~ I had a lovely weekend, filled with the season's first glimmer of spring-like weather. Hallelujah and amen! I can't wait for this winter to be over. It's been especially hard lately since a lot of my fav bloggers have been posting about how they're just seeing signs of spring all over. Notsomuch in my neck of the woods. This week looks like it'll be warmer (yay!), but rainy (ugh).

~ My new solution to drab, dreary days with no sunshine? Drink more coffee. I can't wait to try the new hazelnut macchiato.

~ Speaking of spring - I got my seedlings planted in my little tabletop greenhouse! I'm so excited about having a garden an getting to cook, preserve, and can my produce. :) This year I'm growing tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, brussel sprouts, and spaghetti squash.

~ And - possibly the most exciting sign of spring - my hens are laying again! I love my "ladies" - love how they provide me with fresh eggs, love how they come running to huddle around my feet when I come around, love how they cluck and fluff and peck. Basically, I'm in love with chickens. :) One thing I do need to do, however, is repaint the coop; the interior needs another coat of high gloss, and then I'm thinking a beautiful shade of either yellow or ivy for the exterior.

~ On Wednesday, Abby and I are going on her class field trip to a pizza parlor! We were supposed to go last week, but inclement weather closed the schools. I can't wait! Last year was so much fun!

~ I'm uber-excited about the fact that the winter movie hiatus is about to be over and interesting movies are gonna start rolling out in theaters. I'm hoping to catch Oz this weekend with Maggie, then The Host comes out at the end of the month (hoping maybe I can catch this while we're all in Alabama, since Robin loves Stephanie Meyers and I usually mock her beloved Twilight movies, lol). June brings After Earth (so excited!!!) and Monsters University (EEE!!!). July brings Despicable Me 2 (can't wait) and The Lone Ranger (so hoping that the reviews on this come back positive!). And then finally, August brings Red 2 (I loved the original Red), and Planes (cuz, you know, I love Cars).
It's gonna be a good summer. :)

Randomizer

- I have my voice back (mostly)! So excited. I lost it last Saturday, and only got it back this past Saturday (though it got raspy after singing at church yesterday). Ordering coffee is so hard when the people at the drive-thru can barely hear your voice. :)

- Today is Maggie's birthday! :) Happy birthday little sis! I'm so grateful that God put us together - you're my partner in crime, my sidekick, my favoritest. I hope this year is really, really good to you. :)

- Shore Leave just announced their guest list for this year - and Amanda Tapping is coming!!! *cue hysterical scream* Tapping is my hero; I grew up adoring her character Samantha Carter on Stargate: SG1 (and later Atlantis) and loved her series Sanctuary. I made Maggie promise she'd force me to go say "hi," even if I stuttered and acted like an idiot. :)

- I'd forgotten that March is National Crochet Month, so in honor I decided to start a project I've had in the back of my head now for awhile - a slouchy beanie. After sorting through a bunch of different patterns, I decided on this "Urban Jungle" pattern and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it worked up, and how clear the pattern was. Five stars all around! I made one in some grey worsted weight I had lying around, and while I loved it, it came out more of a stiffer winter hat than a beanie. So I switched to some sport weight - also liked it, but still not very "slouchy." Gonna swing by Michaels on the way to pick up Abster and try it again in some sock weight. Hopefully the stretch/weight will yield the perfect hat this time!

- Still trailer hunting, and the excitement of the "hunting" stage is starting to wear off... can't wait til I get to move on to the "remodel" stage!