On My Bookshelf

One of the things that has been awesome about our move out here is that I have gotten back into the habit of reading - a lot. I've read about a dozen books in the two+ months we've been here, and I love it. For the last few years I've had a goal of reading 12 non fiction books over the course of a year, and I've mostly kept to that. I've barely read any fiction though. Life has just been too busy, and I'm too easily sucked into a fantasy world where there aren't houses to clean and children to feed and husbands to iron shirts for. So, with less on our plate out here, I've been able to (mostly) responsibly add back in reading for learning and pleasure and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Here's what's been on my bookshelf in the last few months.


The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith

I purposely saved this book to read once we moved out here and I would be setting up house again. It really spoke to me with Myquillyn's message of welcoming people into your home (family, friends and soon-to-be friends) without worrying about perfection. She gives lots of really fun, practical ideas for decorating that will not cost you a leg or twelve days of your life, but really emphasizes that home is an attitude more than a perfect set of decorations. It was lovely, a quick read and truly blessed me.


One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

I'm not sure I can do justice to this book. You know how sometimes you read a book that is just life changing? Ann Voskamp writes about finding true joy by eucharisteo - the act of giving thanks. Her writing is spectacular, and it just draws you in to her personal journey of healing from a life truly filled with pain and heartache. Our powerful God did a miracle within her heart, and she encourages each reader that He can do the same for each of them. This book blessed me, encouraged me, challenged me and opened my eyes to even more of the blessings that surround me every day.


The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan. Back in high school, Jenna lent me her enormous hardcover copy of the entire trilogy and I disappeared for about a week, completely lost in the world of Middle Earth. Then a few years later they made the movies, and I loved them too. Anyways, I've always loved losing myself in a completely made up world, falling in love with characters and imagining myself right into the story line. So. When I stumbled across "Eragon" (the first book in this series) at a thrift store, I was jonesing for a good fiction flick, and immediately got sucked into Christopher Paolini's fantastical world of dragons and elves and men fighting to free their land from an evil tyrant. Here's what you need to know about this series. The writing and the storyline improve vastly throughout the series. That's a good thing. While the first book kinda feels like a retelling of LOTRs, the subsequent books become their own thing. The evolution of the characters is very entertaining, and the books are clean. Bloody, of course, but no sex and very little language. I liked them. One thing to note though; do NOT watch the movie. It's horrendous. :)


Insurgent by Veronica Roth

We watched Divergent a while ago and really enjoyed it. Once I realized it was a trilogy I set out to get my paws on  the next book. It took a while on the hold list at the library, but I finally read it a couple of weeks ago. It was entertaining. Not the best, and I think the entire series may be more suited for movies than as great books, but it was still enjoyable. My only issue was that the whole book felt like the "placeholder" for the third book, which is a pet peeve of mine. If you only have enough material for two books, then only write two books!


The Chance by Karen Kingsbury

I like this Christian fiction author a lot. Some of her books are really great, and the others are always a well written, well thought out read. This one wasn't exactly a favorite, but it was interesting to follow the lives of the characters and imagine myself in their situations. The protagonists write each other letters and then bury them the night before they are separated for eleven years. Their lives go very differently than imagined, and it's interesting to follow them. One of Karen Kingsbury's recurring themes is redemption, which I always love reading about.


The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

You know how sometimes you read a book that completely changes you? This was a fantastic read on motherhood. I identified a lot with the author, who waited several years to have children and then struggled during her first few years as a mom with the monotony and constant service of mothering littles. But God really revealed to her the absolute importance of mothering her children, and I've learned a LOT from her book. She goes through a lot of practical advice on how to create a nurturing home and family structure, and gives loads of scripture to back everything up. A great read.


And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers

This wasn't my first time reading this novel, but Francine Rivers is my absolute favorite author. Of all time. :) Her novels are so realistic and complex, with excellent writing and character development. I enjoyed this book all over again as a young pastor pursues "success" at the cost of everything else, while his wife struggles to raise their son on her own, and an elderly prayer warrior stays the course and never loses faith in his Savior. Francine Rivers never shies from tackling serious issues in her books, and it prompted some interesting discussions between Lover and I. Love when a novel does that!

 

So that's what I've been reading lately. Thursday we are heading back to the library for a fresh load of books, is there anything you've been reading lately that I need to add to my list? I'm always looking for recommendations!



 

 

Favorite Things 2014

I've been meaning to do a post for a while about some of my new (and old) favorite things since moving out here. Melissa's Favorite Things Party is the perfect time to do that! Here are a few of the things I've been crushing on in the last few months:

1. Books. Specifically beautiful hardcover classic editions. I have several of Barnes and Noble's collector editions like The Chronicles of Narnia, Black Beauty and the Swiss Family Robinson. And it's one of the things I am always on the lookout for at the thrift stores. I've found beautiful editions of Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist... the list goes on. I'd love to have a whole library of gorgeous cloth bound, embossed hardcovers someday. I also adore the Penguin clothbound classics (I have Emma), and then I just discovered the Puffin in Bloom classics at Anthropologie and I nearly bought them all on the spot. Anyways. Beautiful books. I'll take them all please. :)

2. Mega M&Ms. I discovered Mega M&Ms right after moving out here. They are every bit as good as regular M&Ms but three times bigger! What's not to love about that? I've stopped buying them for now since they weren't doing good things for my waistline, but oh my goodness deliciousness.

3. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. Did you know that Christopher Paolini wrote Eragon at 16, and it was a NY Times # 1 bestseller by the time he was 19? And that he was homeschooled? Color me impressed. I thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in these books, they're well written (and only improve throughout the series) and it was so enjoyable to lose myself entirely in a fantastical world.

4. Sonic Blasts. Specifically Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Delicious creamy ice cream, real whipped cream and generous amounts of peanut butter cups. YUM. We never had Sonic in Rochester, so this was always a special treat when we traveled. Now I have one less than a mile from my house. Dangerous, right? So we decided that they were only for special occasions and we've been sticking to that rule, although there are days it kills me a little.

5. Google Hangouts. I use most of Google's products, software, programs, etc. But Hangouts is my favorite. I can do SMS, or chat with other people who have Hangouts, and do video calls. Those video calls are awesome. I can chat with anybody back in NY and have a real conversation, my kids can see their grandparents, it's a blast. Sometimes we even get all three of my brothers and I (all of us in different time zones) toegther on one call and it's a blast.

6. IKEA Sinnlig candles. In Vanilla. These cheap little candles burn for a surprisingly long time, have a great scent, and then when you're done you have a little glass! I love them and used to stock up whenever we were near an IKEA. Now that we have one here in Denver I don't need to stock up, but I'm still loving them.

7. Contigo Water Bottles. I bought one of these after Javi was born and I was consuming copious amounts of water. They come in great colors, are nice and big so you're not refilling them every two seconds, and, best of all, absolutely no leaking when the spout is closed. They are surprisingly sturdy too, I can't tell you how many times they've been dropped down stairs, on concrete and floors, and they're still fine. I now have one for each of us since Denver is dry, dry, dry, and they are great. They do make a kid size, but I've never bothered with the smaller ones.

8. Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm. I'm a chapstick addict, and this is my favorite. I love the scent, hint of color and how well it hydrates my lips. I've got one stashed just about everywhere these days.

9. Canon 70-200 f/4.0L Zoom Lens. This is not a new favorite for me, but I'm rediscovering how much I love it out here with all of the wildlife. It's not cheap by any definition but it is so worth it. It's always been a great lens, taking absolutely beautiful portraits, but I'm loving the pics of the deer and prairie dogs and moose and everything else we're seeing out here.

10. Nexus 7. I purchased this tablet about a year ago, and I find myself using it more and more as the months go by. It's a great size for surfing the internet, reading eBooks, playing games and whatever else you want to do. It does great with those video calls, with great sound and a nice sharp picture... anyways, I use it more and more and it makes my life a little easier and more streamlined.


So those are my favorites for right now. Maybe you got some good gift ideas from all of this? Be sure to check out all the other favorites at the party and maybe leave me some of your own favorites in the comments too?

Javi Jokes Around Vol. 1

This boy of mine says the funniest things, and I thought I would share some of them here, so that I don't forget them, and so you can enjoy them too!

***

Me: Javi, let's go outside for a walk, ok?
Javi: And we see a hopsgrasser?

***

Javi: Mommy, look, there's the moon ball!

***

(While eating lunch, we notice a fly buzzing around.)
Javi: Mommy! We need a fly water!

***

To KK: We go at green lights and we stop at red lights, OK, KK? 

***

Me: Javi, we are going up to the mountains today! We're going to see deer, and birds...
Javi: ...and elephants and baby elephants!

***

And my favorite:

Me: Javi, I need to go take a shower. 
Javi: No, Mommy!
Me: But Javi, I'm stinky!
Javi: looks at me thoughtfully, then pats me gently on the butt Mommy, you stinky on the buns? 

***



 

Breaking up with the Castle

Update: I wrote this Friday as I was packing and cleaning. Today we arrived in St Louis, and we spend the day here tomorrow. Then Wednesday it is on to Denver!



It's been a crazy three weeks. Cray-zy. With a capital, bolded C. Sorting, packing, selling, giving away, grabbing coffee with a friend, and another, and another. More selling. An epic moving sale. Lunch with our pastor. Dropping my kids off somewhere almost every day for at least a few hours of baby/toddler-free productivity. I miss my kids. My house is in controlled chaos, and so empty it's starting to echo. We're one day out from our next adventure.



When we told people we were moving, one of the first questions everyone asked was "what about the Castle?" People know how much we've loved and used this house, and made it ours. I would have sold the castle if we needed to, but thankfully we didn't need to. Sweet friends of ours will be renting from us - a match so perfect it couldn't have come from anywhere but God. They have a little boy and a little girl and were looking for more space and a place to be outside. They're excited to live in a big house, and we're excited that the castle will be filled with another sweet family.



Breaking up is hard to do though. I've barely (surprisingly) struggled with letting go of all the stuff that filled our attic, closets, dressers and basement. I've enjoyed making money from the sale, finding new homes for things, and thinking about our fresh start. But when we got to the point where we are undoing the things I've done to make this castle home,  well that's been hard. The paintings and pictures are coming off the walls. The projects are getting stored away or given away. The gallery wall is coming down. We're even leaving a lot for our renters, but it's still hard. It's hard to undo all that work, and love, you know?



Today I'm touching up paint, filling holes and scrubbing bathrooms. I'm polishing the mantel and the woodwork for the last time. I'm wiping tiny hand prints off windows and doors. And it's therapeutic in a way. I'm saying goodbye to my house, the place we've rescued from the ugly, brought our babies home to, filled with laughter and love and people. We always said if we owned a home we would use it for God, by hosting people, loving people and welcoming them in. I think we have done our very best to accomplish that goal. I'm excited for the next adventure, but I'm taking today to say farewell to my house.

Denver or Bust!

You know how sometimes you have a dream, one that you talk about only on date night, or late at night in bed, or maybe you just quietly journal it and keep it in a safe place? Well that's how my dream of moving has been, for years. And that all changed last Thursday.



Friends, we are moving to Denver, Colorado. In fifteen days. I have just over two weeks left to pack up our house, find renters, host the Most Epic Garage Sale ever, pack our van with as much as it will hold, say goodbye to family and friends, and head out on our new adventure.

I am so excited. Beyond thrilled. Growing up in Spain infused me with traveler's blood, with a bit of wanderlust, if you will. I've settled here in Rochester and learned to be content, but it's just not in our blood (Lover lived in Spain as a kid too, remember?) to stay in one place forever. We're ready to explore some new places.

There is lots to tell about how we arrived at this (seemingly out of the blue) decision. There's not time to type it all out now, but I will say this - we took a year after Keilana was born to rest as a family. We stepped back from all of our commitments and responsibilities, and spent the year discussing what the future held for us, and how we wanted to proceed over the next few years. We spent a lot of time in prayer, had countless conversations, and waited (im)patiently for God to give us direction. Last week was Keilana's first birthday and in true God fashion, the new job offer came in on Thursday, her actual birthday, ten minutes before midnight. God is nothing if not punctual! :)

So that's what's keeping us busy for the next few weeks. Overall I'd say we are very excited and looking forward to the move, with the occasional panic attack thrown in for good measure. :) Even with all of the stuff I've gotten rid of in the last three years, we still have all.the. things. So figuring out what's staying, going and being sold is keeping me busy. I'll be popping in here and there for updates as we pack up our life and head west! Pray for me!

You Never See the Hard Days {NYC Trip}

I wrote this post a few weeks ago, but things got busy and I never got around to publishing it. Enjoy!

We spent last week in New York City. The City is a magical place chock full of scrumptious eateries, gorgeous architecture, shopping for miles, and the wonder that is Central Park. It is also, we discovered, a very difficult place to travel to with two little ones.



We arrived Sunday evening to our hotel with our luggage, the baby in the carrier, and a sick toddler in the stroller. The hotel was tiny, even by Manhattan's standards, and I was already tired after 6 hours in the car, a half an hour on the Metro and a few blocks walk to the hotel. We asked the friendly guy at the front desk (Miguel) for a crib, and, after a blank look, he said "Oh, I am sorry! We do not have cribs. But, we have a 3/4 size cot, would that work for you?" Well, no, since my ten month old has no concept of tall furniture,and loves to nose dive off of everything, no it will not work for us. We requested a room with two doubles, and figured that Keilana could sleep on blankets on the floor.



So we headed upstairs to our room with two double beds. Except that it was a room with one king bed. After looking at each other and sighing, Lover headed back downstairs to get us the right room. Seconds after he left, Miguel calls the room. "Hello?" I say, trying not to sound irritated. "Ah yes, ma'am, so I know that you said you wanted a king size bed (we didn't) but if you would like, I could put you in a room with two doubles if that would work better for you. (Yes, that's why we requested that)". So I say, yes, my husband is on his way down to get things worked out. And (this is my favorite part) Miguel says, "well, actually, ma'am, if you want to just come on down too, that would be best." And so, still nicely, but less nicely, I say "well, actually I can't do that because I have both my kids with me (one is a baby, remember? the one that needed a crib?) and all of our luggage so I cannot just "come on down". In fact, there are very few situations in life right now where I can "just" do anything. My husband will be down in a minute." And then I took a deep breath.



We got our room with two doubles. There was about a foot of space on each side on the beds, and a generous three feet at the end of the beds where the desk, TV and armoire were crowded in. We dumped our luggage and headed out for dinner. When we came back, I looked around the lobby/breakfast room and realized I didn't see any highchairs for the kids. I asked Miguel if they had any. His response? "Well, ma'am, ah...high chairs? Well our highest chairs are the bar height stools there along the wall..." I think my face must have been scary, because at this point he trailed off. "For children," I clarified, trying not to growl. "highchairs. Not stools." "Oh, no, so sorry ma'am. We just have chairs."



On the elevator ride up to our room, Lover and I just laughed. What else can you do? We tried to make the best of the situation. We put sick little Javi to bed in one of the double beds, made a bed out of blankets on the floor for Keilana, and jockeyed for enough space for two grown people in our double bed exactly one foot away from Javi's bed. Have I mentioned that I am claustrophobic?



What followed was one of the worst nights sleep I've had in years. Keilana hated the floor, and woke up just about every hour that night. Javi had coughing spasms throughout the night, exacerbated by the ancient ventilation blowing years of dust into the room. At one point in the night I sat in bed, wedged next to Lover, nursing Keilana for the hundredth time, listening to my toddler cough uncontrollably, and prayed desperately for God to help me make it through till morning.



We did. And we made it through each long, hot day and five tiring sleepless nights. Because my toddler with normally boundless energy was sick,  he constantly asked to ride in the stroller. This meant if I went out during the day, I had Keilana in the carrier. Hot, sweaty and heavy. The first two nights when we went out all together, to get dinner and walk around the city, it started to rain. Monday night, luckily, we were only three blocks from the hotel. Tuesday night, however, we were up on 60th st, right next to Central Park, and it was pouring. There wasn't anyway around the rain, so we bought an umbrella for Lover who was carrying KK and proceeded to walk the fifteen blocks back in pouring rain. Fun times.



Tuesday night, as we walked, and walked, and walked in the rain, and I got progressively more soaked, I started making a list of things I was thankful for. It was not cold. Javi and Keilana were having the time of their lives in the rain. I was wearing sandals, not flip flops, so walking was easier. I would never, after this trip, have to stay in this hotel, ever again. And on and on. It made the rain a little easier to deal with.



It was one of the hardest trips we've ever taken. Keilana and Lover both got sick after a few days there, and I'm pretty sure I did too, but I was too busy taking care of everyone else to really stop and examine myself. :) But at some point in that first day or two, I remembered one of my favorite quotes:

You never see the hard days in a photo album, but those are what get you from one happy picture to the next. 

And so I took pictures. Lots of them. Of anything that caught my eye. Of my kids being adorable. Of stunning buildings. Of New York's quirkiness. I'll be able to look back on these pictures and although I'll know that it was a hard week, I'll just have the happy pictures to remember it by. I shared a lot of those pictures on Instagram and Facebook, and apparently my strategy worked because a friend commented "so jealous of you in NYC! Looks like a good time!" and I just chuckled.

A Facelift (no not for me)

You know what's really encouraging? To dig back through the pictures of our house circa 2009. It's so easy to focus on all of the current projects and future plans for this little castle, and forget just how far it has come in just a few short years. A perfect example of what I am saying is our garage. Our property is long and narrow, with a little two car garage situated at the back right corner of the property. Our driveway is about 200 feet long from the curb to the garage doors.

Because of this fact, and the fact that we live in the Land of Snow, we don't use the garage to park our cars. We tried that the first winter we lived here. After hours (literally!) of shoveling we realized the error of our ways and from that day forward we have always parked up by the house. The garage houses all of our outdoor stuff in the right bay, and there is a workshop in the left bay.  When we purchased the house, the garage was in pretty sad condition. Peeling paint, untreated paneling, missing windows. Yuck.


In this picture, in which you can also see my dad and youngest brother hard at work tearing out yet another strange garden bed, you can see that apparently  we parked the car in there at least once. If I remember correctly, my Intrepid fit in that garage by the skin of its chinny chin chin, and we abandoned the idea shortly thereafter.

Also! You can see the old front door propped up against the fence. So glad we replaced that door asap. That was a great project too.



So the first project was safety, i.e. replacing the broken window panes. The broken windows sure did come in handy if you forgot the garage door opener though. For the longest time (six months? a year?) we kept a stick leaning up against the garage and used that to reach in through the broken window to hit the garage door button. Truly. We were those rednecks.



I love that the garage has these big windows. It adds some interest to the big old panels. No, it may not be the safest, but I'll take less safety over ugly blank doors any day. So, the window panes were replaced.



Now to do something about those ugly paint colors. What was it with these people and that horrid shade of orange, anyway? Prepare yourself for the power of paint. Ready?  Ta da! We went with the same trim color as on the house, and the same bright, happy yellow that graces the back deck and entryway on the house. I love it. Also, not pictured, we replaced the lower right hand side of the left bay with new paneling, since it was rotting away into nothingness. Some of the trim is still in pretty rough shape, but it's looking so much better now with a few coats of paint.



Also, please pardon the pile of garden junk in these pictures. I guess I was too lazy to sweep that up? I think I was pregnant when I took these pictures last summer. Yeah, I'm sure that's what it was. :) Anyways, the view from my kitchen window has improved substantially, thanks to a couple gallons of paint, two window panes and some new rot-free paneling. So.Much.Better.



But, lest you think that we are super people who have finished every possible project in this house, here's the side of the garage that faces the neighbors.



That's gonna need a lot more paint. :)

Spiffing up the Kitchen

Someday, we will totally renovate the kitchen. I think :) But that day is off in the very distant future, so in the meantime we've done some very affordable changes to improve the look and feel of the kitchen. I mean, we use this room many, many times a day, and its a hardworking part of our house. So it's worth the money to make the room a little more aesthetically pleasing, fresh and comfortable in the meantime.

I tend to want to wait to share rooms until they are 100% done. Which means that I dont really share them, because I struggle with saying that a room is done. Even once we've fixed things up, painted, brought in furniture, etc, there are always things that I want to tweak, fix up, improve, etc. One of my favorite blogs is the The Nesting Place, and her mantra of "It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful" has really been speaking to me lately. So in the spirit of un-perfection, here's what our kitchen looks like today. :)



Just kidding. That's what it looked like when we bought the house. It's so...woodsy, right? I've been slowly painting the cabinets, starting with all of the lower cabinets. My goal is to just get them painted, so I haven't worried about using super duper durable paints. I've just used what I have on hand - Kilz Primer and some white semi gloss paint. They look a million times better, in my personal opinion.



A few weekends ago, we replaced the cracked, peeling and very, very stained linoleum floor in here. We found stick on vinyl tiles that were made in long strips to look a bit like hardwood floors. We banged out removing the old floor, cleaning and patching the linoleum underneath and laying the new floor in a weekend. I was so proud of us. Now we're working on new baseboards, which, although only primed so far, are a significant improvement over the industrial vinyl "baseboards" that were there before.



Stick-on tiles aren't the most durable long term solution, but I love how much they improved this room in the short term. And I love that Keilana (and Javi) can crawl around on a nice, clean, pretty floor. Hello beautiful!




I've painted all the trim in here, and its made a big difference. We also had that big window replaced last summer, which is some of the best money we've ever spent. Having a window that does not leak and opens completely, with a screen? Now that's luxury living. :)

So obviously, next up is painting the upper cabinets. I'm excited to get that done, as it seems like each time that something gets painted, this room gets brighter and nicer. Still, even with only half the cabinets painted, I'm loving how much better everything looks.



We replaced the faucet last summer. It is the height of luxury: it's high enough to fit big pots under, pulls out to fill up things on the counter or rinse out the sink, and has a sprayer which I just discovered works wonders for cleaning chunks of food off of little baby bibs. I love it. And yes, those are snowflake Christmas lights still hanging in the window. ;)



There isn't a ton of counter space on this side of the kitchen, which is why I love the glass cooktop. It allows us just a little bit more space for cutting and prepping and chopping. Plus, it is hands down one of my favorite things to clean. I know, I'm weird. :)

This corner is quite cluttered right now. It's a hardworking part of the kitchen (although just about every corner is in this little kitchen) but it's also up out of reach of the kids, so those shelves and the top of the fridge get loaded with things that need to stay out of the reach of little fingers.



Most of our dry goods hang out on these shelves, along with the radio, some miscellaneous stuff, cook books, the sugary treats basket and a box of cereal that doesn't fit in the cabinet. Randomness. :) I'll address that all at some point. I think someday we are going to fill this wall with builtin shelves to maximize the storage on this side.



That crown molding is going to be a pain to paint. I actually asked Lover if it made sense to take it all down, and put up prepainted new crown. He assured me that it didn't. :) Someday we want to take out that tall cabinet, and the chimney that runs behind it, and widen that doorway to almost twice the size. That will hopefully help with the bottleneck that a 24inch doorway into the kitchen always creates.


So that's where we are with the kitchen. A new window and faucet, some clean, uncracked floors, and a lot of white paint. It's a significant improvement, wouldn't you agree?