We are Still Here! I Promise!

About a month ago I kissed Facebook goodbye. Good riddance. It was (not) nice knowing you.

I just came to the conclusion that Facebook was a platform for "permissive gossip". You publish your life for everyone to see, then you have given us all permission to tell everyone else what we read and discuss. Not only that, but I found myself so daily enthralled with everyone else's life, that it began consuming my own. So without thinking, I unfriended 800 people (including my own mom and dad) and left myself with only 3 friends - my husband, my bass player, and my best friend in Ohio. The only 3 people I actually talked to consistently and often.

It has been freeing.

I've discovered that I'm comparing my own circumstances less with other people and becoming more content with where life is right now. I'm not living in self pity nearly as much or getting upset because of reading about what other people are doing. I love it.

So I figured without my timeline on facebook, alot of people won't really know what we are up to. Therefore, I've decided to started blogging again. Andrew and I have so many things going on at the homestead right now, that sharing it with those we care about it only seems fair.

So what HAS been going on?

Well, mostly snow. And rain. Our yard has been somewhat of a constant mud puddle. I've gotten rather used to parking near the road and trudging through the muddy earth. We are now the proud parents of 14 chickens and if you think that chickens don't have personalities, you are definitely wrong. Maybe it's my approach as a chicken-parent. I treat them like pets and not like little egg-making factories. I sing to them, talk baby-talk to them and give them treats whenever I can. They follow me around the yard with their sweet little eyes watching me nonstop, waiting for me to give them something. We've named a few of them, the bad part is, we have 10 that look exactly the same, so they go nameless.

Soon we will be venturing into the world of rabbitry. I need another hobby and a few more pets...might as well start a little business where I can snuggle bunnies all day and make a few dollars selling their babies and their wool. I'm pretty excited about this venture. It promotes self-sustainability food wise and also gives me something I can focus on.

Other than that, church is busy as always. Between events and our youth group and children's ministry, Andrew and I stay fairly busy. It seems this year is slipping by so fast.

Hopefully from here I will be a more dedicated blogger.

Home Sweet Home

Moving in Day in our new home........Lots of unpacking and figuring out where things go.

Finally things start looking more "home like" and orderly!!!

So then we started working on our garden...Fig Trees!

Our Garden!!

My mint plants finally found a permanent home. They have been living in pots for almost 3 years!!!

Our yard is a work in progress.Since I was younger I have loved gardening. My goal is to have the most beautiful yard in the spring. So to do that we had to separate the lilies, replant them, plant hostas...and a whole lot more work.

So far we love our home! We have had some hiccups with our plumbing, fighting swarms of ants, and figuring out the best places to put furniture - those seem to be the only things we've struggled with so far (thank God!)...It's nice having our own home and a place for us to un-plug and un-wind.

MORE PICTURES TO COME!!! THESE WERE TAKEN OVER A MONTH AGO!

Lessons from bad radio receptions

This morning, I was definitely running late for work...I ran pretty quickly into the car, turned on the defrost, backed out of the parking spot, and turned on the radio. As usual, it was on Andrew's ESPN channel and I quickly turned it to a christian station here which has a tendency to never ever ever ever ever come in clear. Today was no different, the station had a ton of interference and was a little frustrating since it was bouncing between voices and static. When I started out of the driveway, the reception finally subsided a bit and the song "How He Loves" was playing. As I drove down the road the song kept going in and out, and the reception and static just kept interjecting itself within the song and a thought occurred to me. There are so many times in our life, that God is singing a song over us, expressing how He loves us, and the reception and static of our lives and this world get in the way. We start to be unable to hear the song He is singing over us. We let our circumstances overcloud the message He is speaking. However, the song never stops playing. The message never stops. Despite what we let fill our lives, He still sings over us. And despite whatever trials, situations, or circumstances that keep us down and disillusioned...He will always sing over us. His song of love for us never stops. It never will.

I'd like to think that the verse in Zephaniah 3:16-17 goes a little something like this...
"(You) will be told: 
   "Don't be afraid.
Dear (Insert your name here), 
   don't despair.
Your God is present among you, 
   a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love 
   and delight you with his songs."


He never stops singing over you. You just have to know that beneath the noise of everything else...His song is still singing.

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!!!!!