Since we are about to move....

....I thought I would finally get around to putting up a few pics of our place for the friends that have asked me. It was like 8 or 9 months ago when people were asking, so you/they probably do not even care any more, but here we go. :) And then in a month or so, I'll do it all over again. 

First off, here is the dining room.

The chairs are a work in progress, obviously. We am actually sanding them and painting them a light seaglass blue/green this week (much lighter than the color on those two chairs). We'll see how they turn out--one of my third trimester goals is to finish all my unfinished projects that have been sitting around for the past YEAR.

You can't tell, but the table is also a WIP. Right now it is dark gray, but hopefully in the next couple weeks it will be white.

My sis-in-law observed about the map my worst fear about it--she was like, "your dining room looks like a homeschool schoolroom!!" Thanks, Rachel!! haha! I wondered if it might look that way! We really liked the idea of having a map with pins showing where we've been individually and together, and I got this one for free at the Hope Center. But it is a bit too laminated and colorful and classroom like, so I just gave it to an actual schoolteacher friend today. Hopefully it will enjoy its new home.

This is my vintage radio from my friend Lish--I'd loved it in her house for years, and am very excited that it is mine now!!

To show some flow, here is the entry into the kitchen from the dining room.

There are a lot of pics of the bedroom, because it has a lot of my favorite little spots. 

I have a problem with cheap antique chairs--this one was 5 bucks and the old curtain panel and picnic basket on it make it one of my favorite spots.

If only I had straightened the comforter and bedskirt. oh, well. :) We used a Target giftcard from one of Brody's baby showers to get the duvet set (don't tell him! :) ). It was so nice to update our old comforter--which I still love, and is in our guest room, but was just always too small for a queen bed.

We snagged the bedside table from my sister's Goodwill pile last year, and it is in the queue for the whitewashing in the next couple weeks too. 

I know there have been a million pics of the bedroom, BUT I just love the bird on the wall, so I had to get a pic of that! 

End of the hall. Might be my absolute fav spot in the house.

Living room.

Bathroom

Succulent and fake plant--the only kinds of plants I'm having any luck with so far.

Guest room. After living with our TV in the middle of the living room for 3 years in VA Beach, we were sick of staring at it. So we put it on a rolling cart, and at least now it's not in the thick of things. I'd really love to get a cute media cabinet or something to hide it one of these days. We're definitely keeping our eyes peeled!

Brody's room--this room might need the most work of ANY. The rug is Brody's first decorating pick, which he fell in love with at Costco, and I thought it would be great for helping him play independently in his room. Like when I wanted him to play on it, I would roll it out, and then put it away at the end. As it turns out, 1) I never put it away, and 2) he's really good about playing independently anyway. We can give the rug credit, but I suspect I might be able to pick something more boring to a little kid and he would still like his toys. :)

Love the map from the National Gallery of Scotland's bookstore. Another thing on the to-do list is Ellis building a frame for it. Also painting the dresser. 

The most challenging thing on our sanding/painting list is Brody's crib. He still doesn't climb out of it, so we haven't tried moving him to a twin bed yet. We'll probably get around to it sometime between when we move at the end of August and when the baby comes the end of October. We'll see--one of these days! I started a gallery wall over Brody's bed one day, but never finished it. Couldn't decide what to put in the frames. Indecision is the worst!!

Anyway, so there's a little peek of what things look like, and what we love and what we're wanting to do! 

Ellis roasting coffee

Ellis has gotten into roasting his own coffee lately. It's great--it's cheap--like $6 a pound and YUMMY. 

He orders it from a company called Sweet Maria's

starts out super light or "green"

after being roasted

2 years old

Cannot believe this is happening, but Brody turned TWO on Monday!! This birthday is so much different than his first birthday--last year on June 9, 10, and 11 I felt acutely tuned in to what we were doing "a year ago today." It was almost like the whole thing was in slow-mo.

But THIS year felt like a regular birthday. Like when Emily turned 13 in April, I didn't think about the day my mom had her, about the fact that Julie and I were sleeping over at a sweet old lady's  house 13 years before, or getting to spend the night at the hospital with Mom after she had Emily. Likewise, this year for Brody's 2nd birthday, it didn't register to me to commemorate what the actual labor and birth day had been like.

When we celebrate someone's birthday, we generally think about THEM and not their parents. Last year, I remember thinking a lot about Ellis and me and how the year before had been for US. It was a lot about our memories. THIS year felt like a normal brithday--like it was about Brody. It was less reflective and commemorative, and more about a fun day for Brody. Isn't it funny how birthdays evolve?

It's funny--I kind of missed how fresh everything was in my mind last year (but yet, once I think about it, the details are are still there and still magical). BUT it was so fun this year to see Brody actually enjoy elements of his birthday--like BALLOONS (or "byews" as he calls them) and cupcakes and gifts!

Now for some pics:

Here he is holding Tigger, the Eiferts' brand new kitty! He loves dogs, but kittens are even better, cause they can't knock him over!

I saw this idea on Pinterest to fill a kid's room with balloons so they wake up in a sea of balloons. His room is pretty big, so I thought even all 45 balloons I had would look pretty wimpy in his whole room, so we just dumped them all in his crib when he woke up! He went to town and is still scattering "Happy Birthday" balloons around the house 3 days later!

Finally, here he is blowing out the candle on the cake Aunt Emily made for him! We're excited to have a pool party for him in the next couple weeks! Growing up, I always wished I was born in the summer so I could have my friends for pool parties, so I'm so glad Brody will get that! 

beyond small talk

Recently, I got to see one of my really good friends whom I hadn't seen in a while. We sat down to talk at a coffee shop in Tacoma, and she asked me, "What has God been teaching you lately?" That is the most refreshing question EVER to me. Nothing kills a phone conversation with a friend faster than "What have you been doing lately?" or "So what's new?"

I hate it when conversations start like that, because first of all, I usually have no idea what I've been DOING--I almost always have to stop and think for 30 seconds to think of what we did the past weekend! Also, a lot of times, what I've been DOING is not that interesting--nor does it necessarily help the other person RELATE to me. Honestly, an answer to a question like that would go like, "well, the weather's started getting nicer, so Brody and I have been going to the park a lot lately." Or even, to get INTERESTING, "Ellis and I just bought a canoe." I'm very thankful for our canoe, and I know that friends love to hear about that stuff, but sometimes it's hard for the conversation to GO from there, cause there's nothing to say "ME TOO" about. I totally recognize that there is a place for those sorts of conversations, and not every discussion has to be at the level of "what's God been teaching you lately?" I'm just saying that I think a lot us would have a lot more significant and challenging relationships if we asked each other these sorts of questions more often. 

I love C.S. Lewis' description of the birth of his lifelong friendship with Arthur Greaves. I don't remember if this was in the Four Loves, or in some of his letters, but the gist is he walked into Arthur's house and saw a collection of Norse mythology, and he said they made eye contact, and it was like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one!" One of the girls in my Bible study recently made the observation that in addition to being connected by shared interests, when we share our struggles, temptations, challenges, goals, and triumphs with each other can create that same sort of reaction.

It's scary to share the temptations that we deal with, because honestly, sometimes I'm scared that I am the only one that ever has the temptations I have, and that if I mention it, people will KNOW I am the worst sinner out there! I'll think, "I'm sure no one else struggles with jealousy over such a petty thing, and then if they know, they'll know my weakness and judge me." But often when we make ourselves vulnerable and out of humility are willing to share things to help others, we discover others that relate to the very things we thought no one else dealt with. And suddenly, there are others to help and share what helped them. 

I mean, I know ultimately the answer to what to do with sin boils down to "Confess and repent." But SOMETIMES that is easier said than done, or we confess with our minds, but it takes a LONG TIME to internalize something in our hearts. Sometimes we just need to hear something in a different way than we've thought of it, or hear an example in a different context, like when the Prophet Nathan confronted David about Bathsheba. Often hearing someone else share a Bible verse, or a quote, or a story can be what we need to just change our perspective a tiny bit and make something STICK. Also, it's incredible how often if you say something to someone, they'll have been thinking about the SAME THING and you both can add to each other's thoughts! God gave us one another to bear each other's burdens, and so a lot of times, when we do the scary thing and let someone see that we're not perfect (or ADMIT it, cause they prolly already know!), we can receive the nourishment that we don't even know how badly we need.