That Darn Wallpaper!

This is the old ugly wallpaper that has been bothering me since we moved in. I just don't like it and it wasn't hung very well (bubbly). So I decided to do something about it. 

$9 later... it's still bubbly because of what was underneath, but it's better prettier. Eventually we'd like to cover the half wall with fabric, but wrapping paper and double sided tape was a much cheaper idea for now.

The World Beyond Our Needs

We've been here almost  a month now and I'm loving it but I am also really starting to feel the down side of never having money for anything but rent and bills and groceries and gasoline.

This is why we don't get out much. Going out costs money and that's something we don't have a lot of. Yesterday was our small group day and although my four year old was sick and we couldn't go, I hesitated to go anyway. Why? Because it was someone's birthday. Although they said to not bring gifts and only give a card, I couldn't even afford a card (and I'm running out of my daughters' construction paper). I was told once that dinner is taken care of, but usually everyone brings a little snack or something to add to the meal. I can't do that. I'm already struggling to feed my family with food stamps. I know one day I will suck it up and go anyway. Although people may not understand just how bad it can be for us financially, I just don't want to go sometimes because I'm not able to help the way I want to. I want to buy a card. I want to bring food to share. It's just easier at times to decline the invitation than burden myself with all that I cannot do but want to. That sounds awful, but please keep reading.

Another example of how going out costs money is when my parents invite us out to lunch at Cracker Barrel. Yes, they pay for our meal. But then we're all subjected to walking through the country store filled with beautiful things I really really want to buy. And I'm not the only one. The girls go nuts over the toys in that place. They never understand why I have to always say no to things they want. They deserve things. They're really good kids. I'm thankful when my parents end up buying what they want, but I hate it when I can't.

There are weeks where we'll have a little extra money, but we usually put that toward turning this house into a home and decorating it to our tastes. We don't spend a lot of money on it though. For example, today I decided to take care of the ugly wallpaper in the dining room. Our original intention was to rip it off and put some other wallpaper up that is more modern and pretty. We just can't get permission to do that - nor can we really afford wallpaper. Our next intention was to buy some fabric and tack it up along the wall. That way we could cover the wallpaper and remove the fabric later without damaging the wallpaper. Although cheaper than wallpaper, it wasn't cheap enough. So I ended up picking up some super discounted wrapping paper and some double sided tape and hung some wrapping paper today. It cost a whopping $12. Other times we'll spend the extra money on the girls - like sending my four year old to pompom clinic because she loves it.

We do what we can where we can, but it's often not enough.

We save up for what we can, but everything else we have to pass on. Hardly anyone ever understands, but we're learning to deal with that too. It's not that we don't appreciate your invitation to coming over for dinner, but it's just hard on us to always have moments come up where we know we can't do everything we want to do. It's depressing to tell yourself such a negative word like "no" over and over and over again. "No" you can't bring over extra food to share at small group. "No" you can't buy those lovely things at Cracker Barrel. "No" you can't buy things from the school fundraiser to support your daughter's school. "No" you cannot buy that necklace even though profits go to charity.

Sometimes, it's easier to just avoid the situation. Other times it's the timing of what's happening. Sometimes I can't do things because I can't afford the fast food we'd need to eat because there's not enough time to go home and make dinner. I'm sure we will work through all of this over the year, but for now, this is what we're dealing with.

It all sounds so selfish, I know. But these are my real feelings. I can't ignore how I feel all of the time.

You know what I am happy about though? I am happy to pay rent. I am happy to pay our bills. Why? Because it means that my little love-made family is together and surviving on our own. Because I see God providing and meeting our needs. And that's all that we've ever prayed for - just for our needs to be met.

An Inspiring Week

Here are the things inspiring my creativity this week....

This website is hilarious. It also doesn't make me feel so bad about how bad the bad things about this house are. Sure, we may not be able to remove that ugly wallpaper - but it could be worse! This website features photos people use to try to sell their homes and it's just horrible! lol

I really want this tea towel calendar to hang on my wall in the kitchen. I remember my grandmothers always having cloth calendars on their walls. There are tons of them on this website, but this one was my favorite.

JJ Heller, recently bought some of this $150 wallpaper for her Phoenix home. I adore it so so so so much. It's like it was made just for me. Definitely wallpaper I wouldn't mind hanging in our home. But at $150 for a double roll, I think I'll have to vicariously live through JJ Heller instead.

My friend, Tasha, tweeted this picture of an adorable heeled shoe that I would really love to wear. It's available at Tulsa's Shoe Gypsy store. And at $95 a pair, they will probably never make it home with me.

 

 I cannot wait to start on a project like this Dahlia Flower Brooch. I may not get around to it by Valentine's Day, but it would make a pretty special Mother's Day gift, too. (Another fabulous find thanks to JJ Heller)

And in case you didn't see me post this video over on Facebook, you may view it now! This video gives me hope that I can do anything. Who knew kazoos could even sound like that?









What's inspiring you this week? I'd love to hear about it!

Moving On

I heard this song for the first time tonight and it reminds me so much of stuff I was thinking about while writing  this post the other day. Enjoy.

Timmy Curran - "Moving On"

I know you never meant to hurt me.
Never meant to make my
eyes water like they do now.
Forgive me if I don't come around.

I hope no one ever treats you
any less than what you deserve.

But don't you wait
cuz I'm moving on.
Don't you wait
cuz I'm moving on.

I never meant to hurt you.
I only tried to care for
all the troubles that I could see.
I gave you all I could be.
So please take this as a good bye.
I swear I'm dying inside for you.

But don't you wait
cuz I'm moving on.
No don't you wait
cuz I'm moving on.

Don't you wait
cuz I'm moving on.
don't you wait
cuz I'm moving on.

Wishful Living

I wish I could remember the blog I surfed the other day that had pictures from magazines posted once a week of that being the place she wishes she lived. I loved that idea because I often dream my way into pictures and wish to live in them. Since I don't want to flat out steal someone else's idea... I thought I would give the idea my own spin.

Every Friday I'll post a picture of a place I'm wishfully living in that week and a song of what my life there sounds like.

Here's where I'm wishfully living this week:

Funny enough, this comes from a blog called "Ugly House Photos". Sure the rest of the house is ugly, but there are so many elements of this living room that I love. And right now, it's reminding me a lot of my own house - things I love about it and things I'd love to change/re-do.

Here's what my life in that photo sounds like:

Letting Go

While it hasn't been updated in a while, I am so inspired by this blog. I find something new every day that inspires me for a project in my own home. That blog lead me to read this blog. And that blog lead me to this great quote:

What matters most...  

How well you lived.

How well you loved.
How well you let go. 

I think about these things a lot, actually. And I believe it matters most when in reference to beliefs, faith and our life as Christians. 

How well do we live according to how the Bible calls us to live? How well do we love as God loves us? How well do we let go of our troubles and let God have total control of our lives?

Letting go is certainly the hardest part for me. It's so easy to say God is in control of my life and I live my life to glorify the Lord. But do I really? If I really did, then I wouldn't worry as much as I do. I wouldn't be sad as often as I am. John 14:27 says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." It's still so hard to let go and let God take over sometimes. I know God has never failed me when I've called on Him, but I honestly sometimes still forget that I don't have to do this on my own. So.... I'm a work in progress.

While trying to get through the biggest break up of my entire life, I prayed this prayer to God. I told God that I knew I had to let him go. After hearing him say out loud that he was tired of doing the right thing all of the time and wanted to do what he wanted to do and didn't care what God thought about it. I told him that unfortunately for him, I did care what God thought and I couldn't marry (we were engaged) someone who didn't care about God anymore. I hung up on him and poured my heart out to God and admitted that I still loved this guy with my human heart and that my human heart wouldn't let me let go. I needed God to step in and help me let go. And God was faithful in this. A few days after I heard these awful things he said, I think God answered my prayer. This guy had called and let me know that he ran into an ex-girlfriend and thought he might still love her. He said he loved me but was really confused at his feelings toward her and thought he still might carry a love for her too. God knows I don't deal with things like this very well at all and it made it easy to break it off with him. I told him I was breaking off our engagement because I wasn't going to marry someone who might love someone else more than me and certainly not even if she were that close of a second place to me. While I told him he needed to figure it out and I was breaking up with him and calling off the engagement to give him time to do that, I knew that was really God stepping in and helping my human heart let him go. Of course, I ended up calling him back up a month later and he apologized and was ecstatic to hear from me and said he knew as soon as we hung up that I really was the one he loved and the one he wanted to marry. So the engagement was back on. But just before my birthday that following year (and a couple of months before the wedding), he stopped calling for no reason at all. It's like he just disappeared. I left him message after message and no reply. I thought maybe he felt bad about missing my birthday but assured him it was alright and I just wanted to know he was alright. Then once my great grandfather passed away (whom he adored), and there was no reply, I knew it was over. God stepped in once more and didn't give my heart a chance to feel sorry for him and eventually marry him after further apologies. Although crushed at the time, I knew deep down that this was God's move and He was protecting my future from further hurt by this man. I never heard from this guy again till shortly after my engagement to my (now) husband. I think that was a good way to have closure and let go of the past to be able to completely move forward with the relationship God planned for me. God is funny like that. Things we don't understand now, we just have to trust that what's happening is right. And trust me, sometimes it's really hard to understand how something like cancer or death is "right." But it will all be revealed in His time. And if we're truly living our lives for Him, we can wait for that big reveal because we know and trust Him to do good for us and take care of us. The Bible is filled with these promises.

"All things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Wordless Wednesday

Bluegrass Lovin'

Garden & Gun magazine. Hands down - my favorite magazine subscription. It is a Southern lifestyle magazine that's all about the magic of the new South – the sporting culture, the food, the music, the art, the literature, the people, and the ideas.

In the issue I received yesterday, there was a huge article about Bluegrass Nation (I guess bluegrass bands are becoming quite popular - which makes me equally sad and happy - happy because I love bluegrass and sad because I don't want to see it overdone by people who shouldn't be doing it).

Hubs and I sat at the computer for about 2 hours looking up the bands listed in the article on youtube and watching all of their videos (they list 25 artists). There were a few bands I was less than thrilled about. However - there were quite a few that were uh-may-zing! I'm only going to share one of them with you tonight (the rest later). Trust me that the decision on which one to start with is a tough one. It's like choosing a favorite child. Impossible. So I wrote down my favorites, closed my eyes and pointed to the paper.

Introducing Pokey LaFarge: "LaLaBlues. You won't believe the voice that comes out of this dude's mouth!

It Is Complete

When we put down the deposit on this house, we sent out a list of things we'd need for our home in hopes someone out there might have a few things they could donate and we wouldn't have to try to figure out how to furnish our entire house all at once. Deposits (including utility) and rent pretty much sucked our bank account dry. Living with parents for so long, we didn't have much of our own stuff.

I'm writing today with great amazing news! Today was the day the final item on our list was delivered/donated to us. I am so humbled and blessed to know so many great people who have stepped up to donate items for our home. God went above and beyond what we asked for. We went from sleeping on a sofa bed to owning a king size bed! We received a washer and dryer. We even received a refrigerator! God had people constantly coming to us offering us things they no longer needed and we ended up with a few things not even on our list. We even had to turn down some things because we already had them or we didn't have room for them.

We are literally living in the house that love built. Almost everything in our home came from others. I think that's the best part about living here - looking around we're reminded of so many people who love and care for us.

Today I put up one of those sticky wall thingies. Basically you peel the back off, stick it to the wall and then try to peel the backing off while getting the lettering to stick to the wall. Ours says, "All I have needed, Thy Hand hath Provided, Great is Thy Faithfulness Lord unto Me." It's so true and will always be a reminder of how faithful God has been to us.

An Inspiring Week

I've found a lot of things that have inspired my creativity this week. Now I'm going to share them with you....

Although we don't have permission (yet) to switch out our tacky wallpaper, I am loving this one from Home Depot.

If I were ever to have another baby (which is impossible now) I think they would be wearing this all of the time. It even has a super cute hat and booties to match.

I really really want this Whale Tissue Holder in my house. There is also one in red (and other colors).

These rain boots were recently spotted on Suri Cruise but I want them for my girls SO badly. I could never afford a $40 pair of shoes though - for anyone in the family. And of course, I'd need two pairs so the girls could be the same. Actually, make that three because my stepdaughter would want them too. $120? Heck no. Can't do it. Not even for something this cute.

I'm taking a short break from my sewing business to learn how to make this. It's what I decided to use my vintage fabric for. So far I've screwed it up a few times, but I'm figuring it out by trial and error. I've never tried patchwork before, but I think I'm catching on.

  

Last but not least, have you watched this video? This guy found a roll of film and is looking for the owners of it. BEAUTIFUL pictures and I love how the guy in the video describes what the photos mean. lol I do hope he finds the owners of the film and creates another video about it.

My First Husband

My husband and I often joke about me having an ex-husband. He has an ex-wife that I talk to all of the time because of Addy (my stepdaughter). So we decided I should have an ex-husband. :)

I ended up choosing Ron Sexsmith, a musician whom I adore. We refer to him as my "first husband." I've always wanted to be Mrs. Sexsmith. lol If you know my married name, you might find that as funny as I do. He's from Canada which is great because I carried a Canadian accent for the longest time before moving back to Oklahoma. I'm also on Ron's email newsletter list and we laugh when I get those - pretending that my ex-husband wants me to buy his new album or he wants to show off and let me know he's touring. This has been an ongoing joke for years.

All jokes aside, I thought I would introduce you to my first husband, Ron Sexsmith.

Stepping It Up

While the end of 2010 seemed like a pretty busy time for me, it doesn't seem to be slowing down at all in 2011. I know this is because I haven't said "no". Sometimes I just can't. I have this part of my being that likes to step up when no one else will.

This weekend will begin a three month adventure judging a local recipe contest that benefits the American Heart Association. I am really excited about that. While I am not the only "celebrity judge" there, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up - especially after my big rant about my work at home job. It was because of this job, I am able to be a "celebrity judge."

I am also tutoring once a week in reading. We started this earlier in the school year, but then winter break happened and I haven't seen him since. Thankfully he should be back tonight for another session. I am so glad. I know it appears that I am helping him, but he is also helping me gain confidence in my ability to teach. I sometimes wonder about my teaching ability. What "qualifies" me to do this? I honestly don't know.  I DO know that I'm supposed to be doing this. God called me to do it. I'll be honest that I got pretty nervous when he stopped showing up after winter break. I thought I wasn't making a difference. I don't know how I taught my daughters to love to read, but I did. Hopefully I'm doing the right thing here. I'm just trying to follow God's lead. We're making big breakthroughs, but I guess my lack of confidence in what I'm doing has me worried that sometimes I'm not the right person for this.

Recently, I became classroom parent for my preschooler's PTO bingo basket. That means I have to help pull this all together before bingo night. It's really hard to get any parent in the afternoon class to do anything at all, so hopefully the morning class will be more willing to send in items and make it something cool. Our theme is Owasso Rams, so if you have anything you'd like to donate, please let me know.

Because of the lack of parent help in the afternoon, I have been in charge of planning classroom holiday parties. There was actually one holiday that passed where the afternoon class didn't have much of a party and the morning class rocked theirs out. I don't want my kid (or any of the other kids) to be deprived because no one will step up and help. So I volunteered myself to help with the Thanksgiving and Christmas parties. I ended up having to plan the whole Christmas party and it was a huge hit. Valentine's Day parties are coming up and I told the teacher I wouldn't mind planning it for the class, but would only do it if no one else offered. She immediately wrote back and said she hasn't had any response at all from the afternoon class parents, so it looks like I'm planning that one too. These kids deserve great parties. God gave one funny bone and the rest are all artistic bones, so I guess I'm the right one for this job.

I'm pretty sure if I ever seriously became overwhelmed, I could say no. But I haven't been able to find a good reason to not do these things. It's what I do. I step up and help when no one else does - and lately, that's happening a lot. So here I am.

Yes, I Have A Job

I wish others would stop looking at me as if I do nothing to support my family. Most know me as a stay at home mom, but I actually have a job. And I've calculated what I would make working outside the home and what the daycare expense would be. I actually make more at my work at home job than I would working outside the home and paying for daycare. So get off my back already about us being poor and how we'd be better off if I "got a job." I have one.

For those who are now curious, I work for ttownmoms.com. I contribute/research stories that are posted on the message board. I am also a featured blogger - posting recipes and teaching people how to cook. I also help out with local events promoting ttownmoms. I've been there since June of 2009 and I don't have any plans to go away. Prior to October of 2010, I blogged a lot about homemaker stuff but was asked to take on the role of the exclusive recipe blogger. So that's what I'm doing now and people like it. And as a new feature to that blog, I've also taken on the challenge of teaching others how to cook who have never cooked anything before.

My job combines my love for writing and my love for cooking and quite a bit of communication and connecting with others (and some marketing too, I suppose). I couldn't ask for a better job - especially being able to stay home and raise my girls.

What that doesn't do for me, I let my sewing machine fill in. I recently started up a sewing business that I hope will be successful considering I'm using my God-given talents for a good cause. It's not only going to help support my family financially but I also donate 20% of profits to charities. Remarkably, a business venture that I started on bed rest while pregnant with Caroline (my now 3 year old) is still bringing in enough extra cash every month to cover supplies for my sewing business - giving me a whole profit when I make a sale (minus the 20% to charity).

My husband and I both work very hard to support our family. Maybe it's not what you're doing or it doesn't pay what you earn... but it's enough for us. And when it's not - God is enough. He has shown us time and time again that this is what we should be doing and where we should be. It may not be the easiest road but it sure as heck is rewarding!

Love You More

For my husband.......






I'm not a fan of this homemade video, but the song is ridiculously perfect.

My Addiction To DIY

Tomorrow we will have been in our new house for 2 whole weeks! I'm not sure when I'll feel like we're completely settled in. Maybe when I stop coming up with decorating ideas and can just live comfortably with what we have? lol I always have so many projects running around in my head of things I'd like to improve here without compromising the rule of keeping the house in original condition. If anyone has any ideas for hanging wallpaper without actually pasting it to the wall, let me know. We're currently researching how to paint our kitchen table. Most of the table is black painted metal with a wood top and glass inlays. I'm pretty sure we could figure out how to paint the wood table top, but we're unsure of the best way to paint the metal parts while matching the table top. I have tons of fabric that I can use for recovering the seats. I love decorating - especially DIY. I have a feeling that even if I can complete all the projects I have floating around in my head, I would come up with more I'd love to do. So perhaps having these DIY ideas is us settling in. :) We're ready to move on from what we have to making it reflect our personalities.

Today my parents bought me an early birthday gift (only early because it's on sale this week). I am really in love with it and so happy that my search for the perfect sewing table is over. It has shelves to stuff my fabric in and a lovely drawer for my scissors, rotary tool, ribbon and other sewing tools. While Target considers it a "child's desk", it was definitely large enough for an adult. I think we may have purchased it at just the right time. We picked up the very last white one in the store and now they're even out of stock online. Now I'll be on the hunt for a perfect chair to match.

Oh, and while I've got you on the Target website, I discovered this beautiful crock pot today. I have no use for it because a friend of mine recently got us one as a housewarming gift. But gosh... is it not beautiful?

 My brain is on DIY decorating overload (which I love). And for now I'll be taking it all out on my sewing machine - which is a good thing. I love to find projects to dissect and create again on my own. So far I've created corn therapy bags and a Velcro coffee cozy. I've also figured out (but haven't constructed) pot holders, tea towels, reusable shopping bags, and pocket tissue holders. Oh, and my friend J brought over some fingerless gloves made from sweatshirts. I think I have those figured out but don't have extra sweatshirts to tear up right now.

Tomorrow I will start construction on a patchwork sewing machine cover.This is the project I decided on for the vintage fabric I purchased at the end of last week.

What are your inspirations and projects for this week?

Do You Know Who You Are?

I woke up this morning bright and early to make it to Standing In The Gap. That's a local faith-based group that helps supply area needy families like mine with food once a month. They also have 30 minutes of a faith-based message and sing some worship tunes before handing out groceries. While the guy who normally gives the message was out today due to a shoulder surgery, I was delighted with the message that was delivered by a guest speaker (youth pastor for Destiny Life Church).

He talked a lot about how important it is to find our identity in Christ. Many times we look to salvation as something that happens after we clean up our life. But that's not true. God accepts us right where we are and clothes us immediately in righteousness. We are not the things our neighbors think about us. We are not who our pasts reflect us to be. We are adored by a God who gives us everlasting unconditional love. 1 John 5-7 says, God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (NIV Translation)

Then the guest speaker said something that really hit home for me. He said many times, the Devil will try to use who you are in Christ against you. For example, you can be proud of reading those 3 chapters of your Bible today, but the Devil can come right around and point out someone else who read 20 chapters today. It kind of makes you feel bad sometimes that you didn't read as many. Or maybe you've just thrown in $10 more than usual into the offering plate knowing your financial situation was already tight and you may have to do without some things this week, but believe God is going to bless that money and good will be done with it. Later in the day, you found out someone else at your church just bought an entire well to provide clean water for a very needy country. Suddenly your $10 doesn't seem like much and you question your family's sacrifice for a measly $10.

I think in our lives the Devil often makes us look at our troubles and compare them to others. One day I may be frustrated at my children misbehaving and feel I'm really losing it over here. Some other mother may be out there weeping at the death of her child who fought for our country's freedom overseas. Mine suddenly seems a little more trivial.

But does that mean God doesn't care as much about my problem as this other lady? Does God not praise and bless my $10 as much as the clean water donation?

Of course not! And this is where we really need to focus on who we are in Christ so that these thoughts the Devil will place before us don't consume us. God wants to hear us. He wants to help us. He likes to take care of us and bless us. He loves our good works - big and small. He cares about our troubles - big and small. We each have a purpose unique from any other of God's people.

Ephesians 1:7-12 says, Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people - free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. (Message Bible Translation)

Bargains Of The Week

I am starting to really appreciate my ability to find a bargain - anywhere. This week, we had a little spending money and I wanted to go check out some vintage fabric that a friend told me about at a nearby antique shop. Those three rolls of fabric cost me a whopping $7. That's WAY less than buying a yard of most anything at our local craft store. And it's vintage! Of course, that means I have to do something really cool with it and not screw it up because I can't find that fabric anywhere else ever again. :) Just before finding that fabric, I scored those two vinyl records at an antique store next to the one with the fabric for $9.

I also made a trip to Big Lots to pick up something they had on sale. While there, I found those coffee cups with box of tea on the Christmas clearance shelf for $2.50. The 6 squares (17"-18" X 20" - 22") of fabric were $1 each. And then there's a big package of card stock next to the records that I scored for $5 (24 sheets). I use card stock for my new sewing business so that's kind of a business expense - but wanted to share it anyway because it was such a great deal. Same for the fabric - even though I may end up keeping the vintage fabric projects.

If you didn't keep up... I got these things for less than $30 (and most of that I'll get back through my sewing business).

Music

Music is really what my soul is made of. It's how life speaks to me and I how I speak about life. I can relate anything and everything back to a song. I've met very few people in this world who love and live for music as much as I do. When I do, it's unfortunate that we never have the same taste in music. lol

I do not (currently) play an instrument and I'm too tone deaf to sing. But music is my whole world. It feeds my soul and speaks to me in ways others cannot. Music has even become the instrument which God uses to speak to me. I was listening to either Air1 or KLove once and they were asking for listeners to call in with stories of the moment the perfect song came on the air. This is every day, every moment, for me.

I guess it's only natural that I've married someone who can sing well and play a little guitar too. Music is our love language.

Music would be that one thing I'd take to the deserted island. I don't survive well without music. I'm less inspired. I'm less expressive. I'm less.... me.


And on that note: Yay and YAY!

New Stove

Yesterday I talked about our blessings and how these huge blessings happen to us almost daily. When we moved into this rent house, there were a lot of things that needed updated. However, we were told we needed to leave the house in it's original condition. We'd have two weeks to turn in a list of things that needed repaired and anything that breaks down after that was on our dime if it is less than $100 to fix. We are coming up on that deadline.

There wasn't a lot that was broken aside from cosmetic things and I wasn't sure we could fix those because they are cosmetic and not a serious malfunction.

Then, the first time we tried using the oven, our house filled with smoke. Thankfully nothing caught fire, but it could have. We pulled out the metal bottom of the stove and there is a pan riveted underneath. A lot of thick black goo started pouring out of it so we thought maybe it was a lot of grease that had somehow got into it. However, with it being riveted on there, we couldn't take it off to clean it. So we called maintenance and they came to haul it away to dissect it. He comes back to show us what the problem was. Apparently in that pan, there is insulation material that helps the oven distribute the heat evenly. The pan had somehow cracked and it was melting all the insulation (practically catching it on fire). He said he'd try to find a replacement part and get back to us in a couple of days. That part has been a little annoying because most of our groceries we purchased for the week were things that needed to be cooked in the oven. lol

Today he came over with a new stove. He said the old stove was so old there were no replacement parts. So now we have a new stove and I love it. I love that this one has a timer and a clock. The only clock we have in the house is on the computer or my cell phone. And now we have that one to rely on (plus the timer is an awesome bonus because I often lose track of time when cooking).

We also started asking about other things we've seen that need updated but weren't terrible to live without. Our dishwasher was broken and leaked all over. They are fixing that. We showed him today the siding that is rotting away on the side of the house and the wood under the girls' bedroom window that was broken. They're going to be fixing that for us too and we'll be able to repaint the outside of the house when the weather warms up. The interior can be repainted by us anytime and they're going to supply the paint. By the time we're done, it'll be like a new house! lol

Now... if I could just do something about the tacky wallpaper in the dining room......

Thank you for these blessings, God!

All Will Be Well

I just love this song! I'm really digging The Gabe Dixon Band. I heard this song (And The World Turned) on my Joshua Radin Pandora station and I just had to hear more. I found out they did the opening song, Find My Way, to the movie The Proposal. After an hour or so listening to them, I decided I love this song the best. It's just soooo.... me.

Blessing Boundaries (When To Say No To Good Deeds)

When I say we're blessed - I mean it. For having very little money to live off of, we survive pretty well. Anything we've been in need of, someone has stepped forward and met that need for us. Sometimes we end up with more offers than we need. For instance, moving into this new house, we had several people offer beds, kitchen tables, dishes, silverware, etc. We try to never take more than we need. It does feel weird turning someone down after asking for a need to be met, but we don't have a use for more than one bed or kitchen table and only enough cabinet space for so many dishes and silverware. We are so grateful that people are wanting to bless us with things, but there does come a time we have to start saying no.

That being said, there is an issue I'm having with blessing boundaries (when to start saying no to good deeds). I mentioned Tuesday that we often miss out on coffee dates, movie nights, lunch dates, etc because we just don't have the extra money to hang out. A lot of people know this and our current friends love us anyway. However, our friends do like to give us things quite often (such as clothing and toys) and sometimes even bring food or invite us over for some food.

I know what our needs are and I know when we're blessed. But when do I need to start saying no to gifts and good deeds? I try to never take more than we need or take more of things we already have. But things being given to us are not things we have, but could survive without. Let me throw out an example. A friend of ours recently gave us a huge (3 foot) Barbie house, tons of other toys, a George Foreman grill, a quesadilla maker, etc. They said they didn't need or want those things anymore and knew we didn't have much and wanted to bless us with them.

That's pretty much what everyone tells us when they bring stuff over for us. They just want to bless us and know we couldn't afford these things on our own. It's starting to weird me out a little though. Maybe because we've never been this blessed before? We're talking almost daily blessings and good deeds! I'm so afraid of the person who will come into our life and see how much we're being given and think we're just using everyone for free stuff. That's far from the truth.

So when do we need to say no? What is the rule here? We wouldn't ever take anything we don't want or can't use just because it's being given to us. We only keep what we can use. Maybe this is a lesson in friendship that we're learning - that this is just what real friends do for each other. But I don't ever want anyone thinking that we are trying to live off of everyone else. I don't ever want our friends to think we're taking them for granted. We're just not used to this. People have never helped us like this before. But this situation is happening to us a lot lately. It's a huge blessing to us that we are so grateful for, but I am kind of lost when it comes to the boundaries of blessings and good deeds.

Should I turn down that free lunch? Should I turn down that coffee? Should I turn down those clothes or toys? Or is it really okay to accept them as blessings and good deeds - even if it happens often? Do wealthy people ever question blessings and good deeds?

Wordless Wednesday

Dinner With Real Friends

Tonight, we had our first dinner guests. It felt so good to have someone over. We've been living with my parents, then in laws, then my parents again for two years. During that time, we didn't have any company over. It was actually hard for us to make friends because of that. People would love to have us over, but we could never reciprocate the visit. People thought we weren't so interested in them and we'd  stop getting invited to things. Not to mention, the whole "living with parents" thing is a big turn off to people.

Friends for us have been hard to come by. Not only because of the living situation we've been in, but also because we're poor. We have to often turn down movie invites, concert invites, coffee invites, etc. We just don't have the extra cash to do things like that very often. We get left out a lot and haven't been able to make very close friends because of it. Most people would think friendship isn't about going places together, it's about having things in common and taking care of each other. But not really. That hanging out and going places part is actually pretty important to people - more than they probably realize.

We are so thankful for the friends God has put in our life over the past 6 months. These friends see past our situation. They love us and support us and most importantly, pray for us. It's probably those prayers that got us into this house in the first place. These friends are certainly the reason we have furnishings in our home. This is the house that love built. We didn't have much to call our own but our friends have stepped up and donated so many things to us to furnish our entire house! We went from sleeping on a sofa bed with metal bars poking us in the back to sleeping on a beautiful king size bed that we didn't pay a dime for. We are able to wash and dry our own clothes at home rather than going to a laundromat.

By these kind donations, we were even able to have our own kitchen table and chairs to share a meal on with our friends as well as the pots and pans to cook with and dishes to serve the food on. We are so blessed and grateful for these things. We are so grateful and blessed to have friends like ours.

We will be poor for a while longer and I'm sure you'll hear a lot about how we're dealing with that here on this blog. But we are only financially poor. We are so rich in everything else! We take nothing for granted.

Recipe: Corn Chowder

For dinner tonight.... Corn Chowder. It's perfect for a cold snowy day!

Ingredients:
4 slices Bacon (microwave or regular)
1 10 3/4 oz can condensed cream of potato soup
1 cup low-fat or whole milk
1 11oz can corn niblets
oyster crackers

Directions:
1. Heat bacon in microwave or fry in a pan.
2. Pour the cream of potato soup into a saucepan.
3. Add milk and corn.
4. Break up the cooked bacon into small pieces, then stir it into the saucepan.
5. Heat for 5 minutes or until the soup reaches a simmer.
6. Serve with oyster crackers.


Photo Credit:  Antonis Achilleos (Real Simple)

Hello Hello

I am so stinkin' excited to start up this new blog! My family has just completed a move into a house (after living with our parents for 2 years) and we're looking forward to our future. Our life isn't easy, as you'll learn by reading this blog, but our love and Faith gets us through most everything.

Let's get to know each other through my blogging and your commenting. Okay?

Ready? Set? Go!