OUR New House!

Ok, finally putting some house pictures up. I kept waiting hoping that more would get done and look finished! BUT here is the progress so far :) We bought the house this summer Jeremy has put a LOT of work into it! 

Here's us realizing that unfortunately the dirt is touching the floor in the master bedroom :( So the whole flooring needed to get ripped out !

And I guess the walls too.......

Oh look! Old wallpaper from the 40's :) 

Dinner as we work! Lots of summer n.ights working late

So many awesome helpers!! Thank you guys!

yea!!! Starting new flooring in our room!

LOVE my wains coating

MOVING DAY!!!!!!!!! 

Juliana's room after paint :) So precious! I love her room!

After my millions of paint samples I love my accent grey and lighter grey

Guest bath.......actually it still looks pretty much like this! :(  

Office

Juliana "helping" me move our stuff in!

Yea! First dinner in our house!

Getting that last coat on in the dark! 

Haha, love this picture.

Takin a break! 

First night in our new house! 

Still LOTS to do outside! 

The pool we have covered since we're not sure what to do with it yet!

MY AFTER PICTURES :) 

Kitchen

Office 

Kitchen

Master Bath

Master Bedroom. Still need my accent color (tangerine!) for pillows and curtains

Laundry room -- you can see my teal color on the wall :)  

Porch! And Ioana ;) 

Entryway 

Juliana's room

Living Room

AND..................still workin! :) 

Rethinking it Monday

Instead of starting with the typical "Well...it's Monday again.(insert to do list of laundry, cleaning, managing kids, cooking, etc)." Of course this is still true for my day today. But I'm not going to focus on the "tasks" I need to get done today. Doesn't that get old? Just being a busy bee all day every day. I want to invest my time in people. I know I've wrote about this before but it's just on my mind again today. Yesterday in church I heard a few things that are still on my mind and heart. 

It was on the subject of giving.

Giving our money, time, and talents. The area that most affected me was the giving of our time. We're very stingy with our time--or at least I can be. And sometimes rightly so. Time is so much more valuable than we realize. Most of us (especially those of us in our 20's) just assume we have an enormous amount of time left to do things we want to do, accomplish our goals and become the person God wants us to be. But the truth is that we never know where the end of the road is for us. Not trying to be all doom and gloom to start off the week !!!!! BUT if we realized how valuable our hours, days and weeks are maybe we would spend them differently. Maybe we would invest more time in people, in serving, in giving, in loving and in sharing the truth instead of doing things like scrolling facebook, watching tv and.........well you know. 

But then there are other times where we are too stingy with our time. We don't want to spend a second longer than needed doing things we don't like. Or going out of our way for people. Something I've realized a lot about my age group that is different from years past is our inability to commit to things. Instead of committing to something and sticking with it, lots of us hold out till the last minute to see if "something better" comes along. Even if we would enjoy being a part of that activity we don't want to be tied down just in case!  I think is a big bummer. We are losing out on the character and community building aspects of committing to something (whether it be an event, party, making a meal, helping someone move, being a part of a small group or Bible study, serving at an event, or whatever!) So I challenge you, 20 somethin's! If you're given the opportunity to be a part of something and you are available. Commit to being there. EVEN if something amazing comes up, I think there is great growth in sticking with what you've already committed to. 

Well anyways, that's not what I was going to write about this morning but oh well! Since Juliana was up until 3 am coughing last night and has a fever of 102 we're hanging around home today instead of going to a fall party :( Say a lil prayer for her if you think of it, and one for me too!!!!

Oh Monday -- You're a bother!

Ya know those days where you have to be home so that a company can stop by "between noon and 5". GRrrrr so frustrating! I had to be around all morning waiting for some people to come fix something (very descriptive huh?!) but they found a gas leak so they couldn't do anything till PG&E comes out today to fix it, then they'll come back later today.
SOOOOOooooooo we're just stickin around here! Which would be fine if we didn't need to go grocery shopping. Of course I pushed it way too long and we literally have no food. (You think I'm kidding? I sent my husband without a lunch and I ate spinach with salad dressing on it for lunch.....yum? nope) But since we're here and all these bags of apples are going bad I decided to make applesauce. It's yummo! Try out his recipe it's amazing!

However, it came out really strong. So I'm making another plain batch now to add to it since it was pretty overpowering. At least it's a blustery and raining day to stay inside! 

Enjoy your Monday!!!

Friday Letters :)

Dear Friday :) 

Thank you for coming finally! Looking forward to a fun family reunion with my husband's side of the family this weekend! 

Dear Husband, 

Thank you for having so much fun with me every day. I love that our house is full of laughter and joy. I love that we have running jokes and can basically relate any comment back to The Office. I love praying at night with you and laughing at your groggy state in the morning. You are more than a joy to me. I love you so much! 

Dear Wall in my Kitchen that I painted during Naptime yesterday,

I thought you were going to turn out a little more "Dijon mustard", ya know, that yellow color I gush over in every store? Well, you look more like the bright yellow mustard I put on hot dogs..............but! Oh well! 

Dear Daughter,

Thank you for sleeping in and letting me get stuff packed up for our trip! Please please take your nap today during our 4 hour drive to Fresno. Your new "hug" where you clasp your hands behind my head pretty much melts my heart. Your dad and I laugh at you all day long because you're so stinkin cute! We love you!

Dear Gym,

Long time never see? I am sorry that I have been paying money to use your facilities and have barely gone this month. If it makes you feel better, yes, I DO feel like a sloth and I DO feel better when I get there and exercise. SOON friend! We will see each other again :) 

Dear Bible Study Ladies, 

You are a blessing to me. I am encouraged and uplifted every time I leave. I am so grateful to be a part of a group of such great women who encourage me, speak truth into my life and pray for me. 

Dear Weather,

I believe this time of year is called, AUTUMN. Not SUMMER. Please get your act together like the rest of us and cool down! My scarves and boots are waiting longingly in the closet. 

Dear New House,

I love you! I am having so much fun getting you all spiffed up! It's fun to find decor for cheap and make it new :) I can't wait to make memories here and have lots of friends over!

And Finally, Dear Laundry,

Just go fold yourself. MMkay thanks!

The Grace and Truth Paradox

Have you ever met someone who just exudes grace? It's like you just want to be with them and around them because of the outflow of grace. Have you ever been around someone who exudes truth? Who tells it like it is and doesn't really seem to care? 

In my Bible study this week we're talking about Grace and Truth. Such a "Christianese" phrase............so it can often just get looked over. But it's such a hard thing to be a balanced mix of both grace and truth. To be one who speaks the truth consistently but with so much love and grace that it is able to be received. 

We usually tend to lean towards one more than the other. I find that in certain situations I'll lean entirely one way but then in another area of life lean the other way even more. In areas like friends and relationships I lean very far into the grace column because I don't want to speak truth and risk loosing the friendship or cause a "disturbance" for us. But with my family and spouse I hold a very high standard of truth. I find myself having no problem telling my husband the truth lol, or wanting my daughter to have perfect behavior so it will reflect back on me.

So why do we even care? Who cares about grace OR truth. Why can't we as Christians just act how we wanna act and not worry about it. Because, we are Christ's representation on earth. I heard a quote once, "You are the only Jesus that some people may ever see". Do we realize that we ARE the ones he is relying on to spread his love and truth to the world? We need to take this truth and grace thing seriously because it is in the basic blueprints of acting like Christ. 

We need to extend grace so that people will see the love of God and what he has done to bring them to him. We need to speak truth so that they will know what he desires of us and what this new life looks like. We need to speak both, act both, and behave with both intertwined. So hard! 

If you tend to lean towards being more gracious check out these:

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 

2 Timothy 1:7

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction."

2 Timothy 4:2

And if you tend to lean more on the truth-telling side, here are some reminders:

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." 

Ephesians 4:32

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother"s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the [plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." 

Luke 6:41-42

""Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 

"And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone."

1 Thes. 5:11 and 14

So I've been obviously really challenged this week to stop thinking about Grace and Truth as some abstract idea but to put both into practice in my own daily life. We don't want to be only full of grace OR truth. Christ came to spread both. People need to know the truth, but in love and grace. 

I encourage you to spend some time today thinking about which side you tend to lean overall? Maybe you lean different ways in different areas of life. Do not be afraid and ashamed of the truth, but speak it and show it with an attitude of grace and authenticity.

Fun in the Sun

Sometimes it's really nice when I haven't blogged in forever because I know it means I've been busy with life!!! We spent last week in Santa Cruz with my family. We had so much fun! Juliana's first ocean experience :) She LOVED running into the water and squealing (melt my heart? yes :)  We ate pastries, layed  on the beach, played games, napped, ahhh ! I spent the last day in bed with a fever due to my first bout of mastitis :( BOOOOO. Oh the joys of breastfeeding. But that's gone and we're back home and it's actually really nice! Enjoy some pics :) I'll be back to blogging tomorrow!

Cousins :) All within 3 months of each other!

I know, I know, so cute right?!?! haha

More realistic haha

Sharing my Thursday playlist!

I'm having a mommy day today. 

Just lovin my girl and enjoying her at this stage right now! Not wishing she was little again or anticipating when she can do more. When I was unloading the dishwasher this morning my playlist was playing JJ Heller (who, by the way, if you haven't ever listened to you should NOW!) I always love her music --plus just a little shout out that she graduated from my same university-- but I especially love her new songs about motherhood. This song came on today, and of course before I knew it I was crying. Maybe it's because the name "Olivianna" is so close to my "Juliana" or just because the song is overwhelming---but it just made me stop and squeeze my baby! Enjoy your kiddos. They will be big before you know it. Stop and enjoy your time with them today and resist the urge to just "get through" the tasks before you. 

Since I'm on a sharing my music mood (hehe) here's two more for you! 

Happy Thursday!