2 down

i think it's not a coincidence that i have started reading job in the bible this week. because these home improvement projects feel like boils and lesions all over my body :)) ha. truly, i am ready to be DONE fixing this house. 3 rooms to go in 3 days...think i can do it?


to ease the stress, i bought some stuff yesterday. yeah. that's healthy.



lowe's did have a great little pedestal sink, which is sorely needed in Fern. and natch, they had a matching light fixture that i really liked. i hunted down a 10% 'moving' coupon on the interweb, and lo and behold, now i just need a plumber to install. life is good.



oh. and i decided on the wallpaper. no crazy here, just a very expensive yet wonderful design by the famous julia rothman. i heart her, and i will heart sitting in the clouds in my newly redone bathroom, too :)

onward people, it's tuesday already!!!

:)

1 down

i just want you all to know that i am never moving again, ever. never ever never never again.

thank you.

oooh. ahhh.

someday, but not today i will tell you about accidentally painting over the painted tile in my shower with acrylic paint, when lo and behold, there was an oil-based paint there before.

someday. but not today. especially since i am tired from scrubbing tiles until midnight last night. and especially since i need to start all over with an OIL-based primer today.




sigh.

look at all the littles! for real, almost!



check this out...both nasty wallpaper and circus lighting....

but for today, i leave you with a wallpaper sample. a possible 'new bathroom' wallpaper sample (not like i'm jonesing to wallpaper a bathroom, but it already has HIDEOUS wallpaper, and it might be easiest just to re-paper....)

pretty.



good day!







post script: found another one....think this might be good? it's called 'underwater world' and i think i could be happy applying makeup and looking at the crazy fishy scribbles :)

goodbye pink

i hate having things in total disarray, don't you? perhaps that is why i'm not really longing for this weekend....i have to spend it here.

at any rate, hopefully it will be purtier by monday morning. and hopefully, it's the LAST of the home improvement projects that mabel will need from me. hopefully.

thank goodness for hope ;)
happy friday, all....

radical update

so, last night my bible study group finished up the book 'radical.' thought i would give a little synopsis of my experience....

well. first off. when you are reading the book 'radical' about giving up the American dream in order to really, truly follow Christ, and in the middle of it all, you decide to buy a house that is cuter and more perfect for you as you transition into middle age, you have to admit you've put yourself into a conundrum. i don't think i have ever been more tormented, to be honest. NOT wanting to 'sell out' my faith, but really wanting to go with my gut and move NOW was a super big conflict for me. i had to wrestle with that for much of the book study.

the book is not super unexpected. it talks about the majority of the world who don't have starbucks and vacations to disneyworld as part of their daily existence. it makes you think 'what am i doing with what God has given me' in terms of our obvious wealth in this country.

and the answer for me was not that simple - what / when / where do things need to change? i admit the whole thing made me a little crabby....until yesterday. i woke up in the morning and read the last chapter, which in my estimation was better than all of the other chapters rolled together. here's what the author suggests i do:

1) pray for the entire world (this was/is the toughest one for me to imagine myself fully committing to)...not sure where i will start...

2) read the entire Word in a year (have tried this for the last 5 years or so, i'm not 100%, but i've read my daily Bible quite a bit, and i feel i am at least attempting this faithfully).

3) figure out where/how you can SACRIFICE your resources for the good of the kingdom....the author talked about 'capping' your lifestyle. good stuff to think of .... and sacrificial giving vs. just giving what is not really a sacrifice. hmmmm. will require some prayer and thought.

4) spend 2% of your time experiencing your faith out of your normal context. so, one week a year. maybe it's going on a mission trip. maybe serving regularly at your community soup house. finding ways for God to transform your culture trap into HIS culture trap. love this one....! i want more than anything to change in this way.

5) getting with a real, authentic community in Christ and doing something there. yep, i believe in this also. thankfully, mercy church is setting me on my path here....even though there is much more to do/be as part of a real church body. i've never really had that experience before, and am so grateful to have it.

whew. so, that's my take. i came away very pumped up! and realizing that a 'radical' faith is also a 'doable' faith....at least it seems so. pretty sure God tells us that also :)

hello, fall.

i woke up this morning with no idea who i was, or where, or when. i think the brain overload is starting to affect me in strange ways.

i am pretty sure i dreamt about david bromstad. go figure, i would rather have been dreaming about john gidding. or emily h. :)) ha.

at any rate, it's one of those beautiful fall days that is especially appreciated when it's not. fall. i just want to sit in the sunporch and read. or nap. or something.

things are going pretty well. i closed on fern on monday, and now have about 9 days to get mabel ready to show. my realtor brought a lady over yesterday, i would not let her in yet (!) because the place is a wreck. but she looked around the yard, and seemed pretty interested. the big problem is how/what to price the old girl. i need to go with my gut, but it's hard. i will lose quite alot of $$, no matter what, i guess. mostly because the old adage of 'location, location, location' is true. however, mabel is so good. i hope someone who needs her will find her. and as for the location, it has been good for me these past 8 years, too. God has been here, and will stay, i am pretty sure.


sigh. lots of emotion. best to just keep plugging along with home improvements and dreams of david bromstad, or else it will be just too hard.


happy wednesday!

suckity-suck-suck-sucky

that is the adjective i would use to describe tarring a roof.

ps. those are the clothing items that were discarded right after i took my bath in gasoline.

now, i just need somebody to come over and clean out the bathtub :)





however, i did manage to check off a GIANT checkmark on the list. and if things roll my way, i'll never ever ever have to do that again.

beautiful friday

taking shape

whew. what a wonderful season. everyone is pretty much GUSHING about the beautiful weather and temps. i admit, that perfect weather makes me super happy. and it's nice to be happy.

i set my 'real life' aside yesterday for a whirlwind little road trip with lou. she is a great travel companion, and we had a nice day. what i love most, is that she is a great sounding board for all my craziness. she supports me, and mostly just lets me be crazy because i am.

she is also my favorite designer. that helps when it comes to all the decisions i have to make about fern. i am on my way to a new room in the house (can you guess which?) because we found some things yesterday to jump off from. i didn't buy anything yet except for the curtains, but i have been staring at them non-stop... :)

i have loved those drapes since they started popping up over the internet a couple of years ago. i'm sure everybody already has them now, but i don't care. i have been thinking about apple green for awhile, and soon, it will be MINE ;)


happy 'whatever day it is'!

mabel's being reborn :)

"before" wood pieces - or what was left of it!

"after" some creative carpentry fixes!

whew. another day of pretty big projects around the back forty. the sunporch lives! wow. i knew it was bad, but it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more rotten than i even imagined. feels good to know that the new owners are not going to have a roof fall on their head :)

best part. while i was freaking out over other unbeknownst potential problems, and telling friends over the phone, the little old carpenter man in the back was overhearing my conversation.

which led to a long conversation with HIM over the lunch hour about God. about His power, His position in our lives, His goodness, and His revolution in both our lives over the years. i loved that. i swear. God has brought so MANY of His people to help mabel and i over the years. i hope that He does the same for fern when she needs it .... (ps - did i tell you that a former pastor used to live in fern? hopefully that means she is broken in good :))

hello, my little zebra mallow!

oh. and the nice little carpenter man managed to restore an entire sunporch without damaging any of the greens. he said he noticed how much care that they had been given, so he did not want to disturb them :)


happy tuesday friends!

new doorways

breezeway door and frame - BEFORE

the mouse door

door frame after handyman ryan came over -
note the hole in floor from, um, cat pee!

after risking life and limb to prime entire thing
whilst perched precariously!

okay, that is just crazy good.
i cannot believe i waited 3 years to do this!

ah. the project list is shrinking ever so slowly. it's a real full-time job to get an 81 year old house ready to sell. however, mabel shines up nicely. tomorrow, a nice semi-retired gentleman is coming over to fix the rotted wood on the sunporch. my main 'big job' is to tar the roof next weekend! that is one adventure i would love to bypass!

many thanks to miss rani for lending her whole family for an afternoon to help with trimming some windows and doors!

i am actually enjoying fixing the old girl up. it makes me love her all the more....and happy to know i am leaving her better than when i came.

friday daze

look at this beautiful artwork.

i think his images are so new and fresh, which is a bit rare for 'christian art.'

as soon as i move to the new abode, 'jonah' is coming to live with me ;)








ps.
living in the promise of this word today:

You know with all your heart and soul that not one
of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed.
Every promise has been fulfilled;
not one has failed.

joshua 23:14

naptime

john 4:18

There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment.
He who fears is not made perfect in love.

well, friends, thanks for the input yesterday....fern and i are happy to announce that she has a name ;))

my vision for fern is that she will be a safe haven, a place where God lives, a place where people can gather in the cool of the evening, in the beauty of the garden, and come to know God for who he really is. her name in the long version (fernanda) means bold adventure! and really, it can't be an honest definition unless we embrace it (life) fully. that is my intention.

speaking of, this particular ride (so far) has been all about the fear. the knowing that God is in my life, and that he loves me, but still being afraid. too much of my story has been THAT story.

not anymore. i am practicing casting out fear. i have to do it daily. sometimes hourly. it takes WORK to cast out fear. however, God has asked me to call to him, and he is doing it for me. i am less afraid now than i was yesterday. and that is a good thing.

on sunday, i was reading my bible and psalm 23 stuck out for me in a new way, for the first time.

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

that little bolded section of this psalm is what has always hung me up. because i DO fear evil. the evil (sin) inside me, and the evil (sin) around me. i've never been able to relax in the meaning of this psalm because of that little sentence.

God is showing me that the ANSWER - for you are with me - is Truth. is real, more real than anything i could ever know. that he is WITH me, truly and forever. and that evil (sin) is not as powerful as i have thought it to be. and that it IS defeated. done. dealt with.

sigh. he is with you too, if you just invite him in today! thanks everybody for sharing my crazy shenanigans :) i am glad to have you here.

Vote! Tell all your friends!

so, i'm in a narrowing process for names for the new house. it's harder than you might think :)

help me by telling me if anything strikes a chord with you.


1) fern. for obvious reasons.

2) bob. in honor of the old owner. i'm not really sure yet, because the house has 80-year-old man vibes, if it is actually a boy or a girl. i sort of hope it's not a boy.

3) louise. i was thinking of 'movin' on up' and the jeffersons. and 'wheezy' - the only problem is that sometimes i call siesta 'wheezy'....don't want the two of them to get confused.

4) betty. like the wife from mad men. i have a few relatives named betty, but overall, no negative associations. and betty could be stylin'. and betty sounds good with bert (car). i think i may be leaning toward betty.



notice that it is taking me longer to NAME the house, than it did to buy it.

:)