My sweet man's birthday!

Today my beloved Colin turns 24!

Happy birthday to the most loving, funny, charismatic guy I know. You've helped me to be a better woman and Jesus follower by example and exhortation. I love you all the way to (the real!) China!

a good wednesday.

(Gregory Alan Isakov... a recent favorite. His music is so beautiful! Listen.)

Today is a good day.

I'm off work (always a plus!),
The house is clean,
I wrote to one of our children, Turatsinze, in Rwanda,
I'm broiling eggplant for baba ganoush,
I'm reading The Reason for God for High School bible study tonight.

I've found that, when I'm a busier person (working full-time with weekly commitments) I'm much more productive. I naturally tend towards laziness, sadly. I'm not a self-starter and not particularly motivated. I'm happier and a better person/wife when I absolutely MUST get the laundry/grocery shopping/cleaning done on Wednesday because it's my only day off. Of course, I would rather have a normal schedule with weekends off, rather than a weekday, but that's life right now. It makes me feel good to realize that I can be good at keeping a house and being a wife AND help throw some serious money at our loans (I'm so ready to throw off Sallie-Mae's shackles, you have no idea). It feels good.

How do you other wives (or anyone for that matter... singles, parents etc.) maximize your time on your days off? How do you manage productivity while still recharging for the rest of the week ahead?

Happy Wednesday!

what a cartoon character.

six (of the many) reasons I love Colin:







Well, you've gotta make Urgent Care interesting somehow, right? :) (grainy pictures from itouch). Colin is my favorite person and never ceases to amuse me.

little flower.

"Sweet little flower of Heavenly birth, you were far too fair to bloom on this earth."

Today was the day our precious baby was due to enter the world. It's hard to look on this day and realize what our lives would have been like (if only)... Jesus knew that, instead, He would be holding her today.

We love you still, little one.

donezo!

Finally got to finish our latest project-- our two bedside tables! Here they were before receiving a little TLC...

Since moving into this house i've been puzzled over what to do with our bedroom. It's gray, which is a great color for a room, but not really my style. I prefer warm, bright colors and find it much easier to style that way. I was really inspired by this particular bedroom. It incorporates gray with my favorite color (yellow) with little pops of red.

Anyway, Colin helped me pick out an awesome mustard/sunflower yellow and I began the process of sanding, priming, and painting four different coats on our battered little tables. We got the glass knobs from World Market and voila! Adorable little mid-century modern tables. (Also making an appearance is our new Ikea MALM bed).

My Milk Toof Adventures

Ickle and Lardee. Just met these two today and I am DYING.

"I always want to pick you flowers."

Happy belated Mother's Day! Today I'm thankful to both have and know so many amazing Moms. I feel very blessed to be a witness to and a recipient of such an amazing and special love!

Our weekend was filled with food poisoning (My first time ever being so betrayed by food! My goodness. Awful.), driving to North Carolina to see my parents, stopping at IKEA in Charlotte for a few items (So in love with that place), relaxing with my family and spending Mother's Day with them, and driving back. A quick visit, but so valuable to be able to be with our family for the weekend. Of course, I brought my camera along, but only remembered to snap a few photos on the way back. Figures.


My heart melts. He says, "Rachel, I always want to pick you flowers."

grace and peace!

another little corner of our house.

Funny story about this green chair... I found this one and another a lot like it about a year ago at the thrift store. The other one was the same idea, but a bluish gray and the cushions were shaped a little differently. Anyway, I bought the pair and said I'd come back for them when I had a bigger vehicle. When I came back the next day, they had sold the blue one because they were improperly marked. So, if you're out there and happened to buy my blue chair... for shame.

And now I present to you... the URRRGLIEST end tables you may have ever seen!


Not kidding here, folks. They are ugly. They are missing hardware. They have obviously had some terrible paint jobs in the past. BUT, they are solid wood, have a sturdy construction, came in a pair (when you find a pair of something, go for it!), and best of all, they have potential. The drawers slide out easily and have a really cool, slanty detail on the inside. And, best of all, I brought them home for $15 total! I sanded them today, and will hopefully prime and paint them tomorrow if I can settle on a color. I'm thinking mustard yellow with glass knobs.

Having projects like this to work on gives me peace. I love doing it. I wish I had the drive and know-how to turn thrifting/decorating/painting furniture into a full-time job!

striking gold.

I'll admit, there are times that I wish our life were budget-less. I see people who get to spare no expense while decorating a new home, and it sometimes seems so much easier to accomplish the look you're going for. Most of the time, though, I love that we're on a decorating budget (and, well, every other type of budget). Nothing huge in our home has been purchased new. The fact that most of our things are hand me downs, Craigslist or thrift store finds is fun! It forces us to hunt down the things that we need or want, and sometimes we strike gold. Although it would be lovely for our new home to be furnished and fully decorated all at once, we'll settle for the never ending process of "one piece at a time".

Today while browsing a thrift store in Lexington after work I came across this set of Georges Briard china. The pattern is called Carousel, come to find out, and it's from the late 60's-early 70's-- very retro and authentic. The guy at the counter gave me all 6 dinner plates, saucers, and tea cups for $5. Did you hear me? Vintage china for $5! I'm not one for the whole china thing-- I think it's a little dated and definitely doesn't suit our lifestyle, but I am in love with these dishes and know we'll be pulling them out when we have people over.


I can do without instant gratification. :)

Shelter.

One of my favorite things is when you're driving down the highway in the rain and you pass under a bridge. It was quite stormy the other day, but that tiny moment on my way to work kind of made me smile. The second when the pounding rain stops is almost deafeningly silent, then, in a flash, you're back to squinting to see the road and listening to the rain come heavily down on your windshield.

Such is life. The past months have been full of so much rain. At times I've felt like I'm squinting, just barely faithful, only trusting that the Road is there but not knowing where it's going or why I'm on it. Quite honestly there have been times where my heart has ached so much that I wanted to just pull over. Stop completely and abandon trust.

But my heart is well. I'm so thankful that there is shelter, and that there are moments of silence, when His purpose is clear and we are able to renew our vigor. He is our Ma'on... our Dwelling Place, our Refuge in the midst of pain. Oh, that we (I) would let him be more than just a fleeting second or two of peace and rest before we're driven back into the storm!

Happy Easter, friends. Bask in the Resurrection of Christ! Let's rejoice.