Andrew's 2nd Sermon!

Andrew preached again at Christ Community Church - a dynamic message on staying in the Word...enjoy it!

Andrew's 2nd Sermon

What we have been up to...

Well...not much and alot all at the same time. Andrew and I have both developed our daily routine here in Williamsburg....I'm still getting the hang of being a stay at home wife, while doing my best to not become a stay at home lazy pants. In the ten years of being in the work force and being as stressed out as I always was, it is such a nice change to have a slower pace. I think about getting a part time job, something to give me some craft-spending money, but I need a job that will be flexible and not interfere with youth/church activities...that limits things ALOT. It's in God's hands as to what will happen with that...my step-dad is convinced I need to open a crafts store. I laugh at that every time, but it does make me think of redoing my Etsy.com store and trying that again. Andrew stays busy with church and youth stuff....he seems to be fitting right in and doing a great job. He recently preached for the first time here...you can watch his sermon here:

Andrew's first Sermon at CCC

I hope to upload some pictures soon of my latest craft project, our youth craft projects, and my awesome plants.

Couponing: An Amateur's Perspective on their Biggest/Greatest/Most Awesomest Purchase Ever

I am just starting to get into the world of couponing...I watch the TV shows and read the blogs on how to coupon effectively and maximize your purchasing power. I have used a couple coupons here and there, nothing spectacular. Last week I bought 4 Philadelphia Cooking Cremes (normally about $3.69 each) for $.68 for all of them together. I felt pretty confident after that....but today, today I feel like a champion. I went into Food Lion looking for Lemongrass and brought my coupon holder with me...just in case, you know? Well I noticed that alot of my coupon items were on sale, so I went aisle to aisle and carefully chose my selection. Here is what I purchased and their normal price:
Wishbone Dressing - $1.67
2 -Pasta - $1.29 each
2 -Ragu Garden Supreme - $3.19 each
Franks Red Hot - $2.99
2 -Sweet Baby Rays - $2.39 each
2 -Ranch Style Almonds - $2.99 each
Canadian Bacon - $3.00
Fresh Express Spinach - $2.39
2 -Shedds Spread - $2.99 each
4 -Breyers Ice Cream - $6.49 each
2- Ziploc Bags - $3.19 each
2- Suave Body Wash- $2.59 each
2- Degree Deodorant- $4.39 each

TOTAL SHOULD HAVE BEEN PRICE -  $75.67 and then tax $80.63

PRICE I PAID - $22.98 - I saved $57.65!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I am blown away by this...Totally made my Thursday totally awesome!

Crafting so far...

Felt, Paper Stock Mustaches, Multi-Colored Paper Swirls, Scizzors, and Tacky Glue......

MUSTACHES ON STICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Oh and Lips too...

The paper swirls are rolled together and glued to make paper roses....I found this idea at Anna's blog. Awesome Awesome Awesome idea...as I mentioned before I don't have the patience to do a ton of these paper flowers, so my multi-colored wreath was the final product. 

 I'm just loving the detail of these flowers...LOVE THEM.

I've done another project that I'm almost ready to share. But that's a different post...

Our New Home!

I know we've been here almost 3 weeks now and no pictures posted but I was waiting for our couch to get here and finally it got here! So enjoy...

My plants...these guys are putting on a brave fight as there is only one window that gets the adequate sun that they require. But so far, no casualties.

Rooting my african violets.

Ok, I totally ripped this idea off from my friend Anna. She made an entire wreath of these little paper flowers, I could not devote that much time into it, so I did my own version with varying size and color flowers on the wreath I made last year after the in-laws cut back their grape vines and apple trees (and yes, I did make it, I sat in the yard twisting branches and twigs until I got the wreath I wanted).

This is a little bit of randomness...Someone gave me a shadow box and Andrew gave me 10 little skunk beads (I collect skunks)...I made them a home...it's actually pretty funny.

Skunks jumping rope.

When a care bear loves a skunk colored rubber duck...and the Cat in the House fish in the background.

Now, we are getting into the kitchen...displays on top of the cabinets...Nothing says HOME like a Klingon.

"Faith, the final frontier"

Our own M&M holder! This is actually an old-fashioned chicken feeder, but it worked fabulously for M&Ms....the bird in front are actually a salt and pepper shaker I got at Kroger for $2.00 or so. I had a Christmas Ornament from our BWC Synergy Grow Group Christmas Ornament exchange in 2009 that was a nest with 3 golden eggs...the eggs fell out, so I re-purposed the nest for my salt and pepper shaker!

 Craft Area (because you know I have to have my space!)...space is quite limited in our little place, but we've managed to find tidy ways of organizing the place...this is where all my crafts stuff is...and my inspiration- a Teddy Bear from Kaley & a picture of all my cousins...

 Living Room (with Andrew watching Cleveland Indians on his computer)...

Our bedroom...I told you the space was small...there's about an 8 inch area to walk through to get to my side of the bed...

Our dining area, which also doubles as our game playing area...we've mastered Sequence, 12 patch and Dominoes so far...that's what happens when you don't have a TV, you have to be old-fashioned and play board games.

 The tower of Puzles...

The big empty spot where our TV should (and will hopefully soon) be.

So far the space is absolutely perfect for Andrew and I & we really love it. We are getting used to walking out our door and being the church hallway but overall, we are so appreciative to be living here and very grateful that God gave us this opportunity to minister here and live here as well....As the adventure continues, I'll post more pictures!!!!!

Living in a Church is alot like being at a lock-in 24/7

We now live in a church.

Literally.

We moved to Williamsburg for Andrew's new job as Assistant/Youth Pastor and moved into an apartment inside a church. When I bee-bop down the hall to do laundry and pass the nursery and children's rooms, the thought always hits me that living here is alot like being at a youth group lock-in 24/7. When people ask about "our new place" it's always fun to watch their reaction when we tell them we live in a church, literally. We can either say we live in a 500 square foot apartment or a 10,000 square foot home, but at the end of the day the sanctuary is always beautiful & clean, the kids rooms are lively, the fellowship hall is very inviting, our apartment is somewhat tidy, and then we have the rooms where our stuff is---full of our boxes, tupperware containers...the things we don't want other people to necessarily see.

It makes me think about 1Cor. 6:19 where it says that our bodies are a temple. Is your temple clean and in order, or are you filling it with lots of junk. Can you say at the end of the day that you have filled your temple with the things of God or have you let lots of boxes and junk fill up those spaces that should be clean & ready for God to fill. Have we allowed idols into our life - things we worship more than our God. Daily I have to ask myself these questions, to keep myself in check that I am living a life that glorifies God daily and that I am not allowing things of this temporary world/life to clutter my life.

I didn't mean for the first post here to be so heavy, but when you live in a church, thoughts that this have a way popping up often.