DIY Series: Master Bedroom

Hooray, we're back from Iowa! It was a great trip, and a great opportunity to see so much of Andy's family! I took a few pics, which I will be posting this week as well.

But for the moment, a little detour into my brain and what's cookin' up over here!

My project for the next couple weeks is to tackle our master bedroom! Besides being painted, it really hasn't gotten much attention, and since buying some "oh man we're adults and should probably own an actual dresser" furniture from Ikea last year, I thought it was time to tie it all together - with some bedding and some "melt my heart" colors. The bedding above (as well as the picture) is from Target, and I did a little pulling of color squares below so you could see the palette I'm envisioning.

Ah, can't wait!!

I've also had my eyes on this puppy from here:

A vinyl wall quote to go above our bed. We have a half wall there, and not much room to hang anything, so I thought this would be really sweet.

Iowa Or Bust

Starting tomorrow us Fuest's will be stuffing our suitcases, checking our lists, and loading the car up for a quick lil' trip to Iowa! Since Andy's brother is riding with us, I have unofficially laid claim on the entire back seat of our car, including but not limited to, many fluffy pillows, a large comforter, a few good books, some pizza combos, and several bottles of coca-cola.

Until our return...

Over 'n out :)

Get's Me Thinkin'

I have a particular obsession with the Our Daily Bread series. It's a little pocket-sized book of daily devotions and I have been known to literally RUN to the table at church that holds these little books whenever the new one comes out, about every 3 months. (Confession: I even stuff extras in my purse.)

Anywayyy, this one in particular stood out to me this week, and I thought I'd share:

Where’s Johnny’s Cap?

December 14, 2010 — by David H. Roper

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: Psalm 42

I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. —Psalm 71:14

Bible in a year:
Joel 1-3; Revelation 5

A story is told about a family that went on a picnic by a lake. At one point, their 5-year-old son waded into the lake, stepped into deep water, and sank out of sight. None of the adults in the family knew how to swim, so they ran up and down the shore in panic while the child bobbed up and down and screamed for help. Just then, a man happened by who sized up the situation, leaped into the lake, and rescued the boy. He climbed out on the bank with the child, who was frightened but unharmed, only to hear the mother ask with irritation, “Where’s Johnny’s cap?”

So often we focus on small disappointments that cause us to grumble and complain rather than focusing on the wonderful things God has brought into our lives, not the least of which is His everlasting love and eternal salvation. When we complain about the small dissatisfactions of life, we’re asking, in effect, “Where’s Johnny’s cap?”

Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:18). We may not be thankful for everything that comes our way, but we can give thanks in everything. It may be difficult to be grateful when we lose our job or our health fails, but we can be thankful for the good that God has brought to us in this life and grateful for the life to come.

As endless as God’s blessings are,
So should my praises be
For all His daily goodnesses
That flow unceasingly! —Adams

Instead of being preoccupied with our problems,
let’s praise the Lord for His blessings.

(You can also find it online at http://www.odb.org, which is where I copied this from).

Reindeer Games

So, while I was making the cake I had forgot to make at 10pm last night, I hear Andy yell, "OOO KRISTEN COME LOOK AT THIS!!!" I ran to the livingroom window and there, standing in the middle of our little street was an 8-point buck. Just standing there looking at us. Then he proceeded to turn around and walk down the street. Poor guy. He looked so lost! Probably took a wrong turn on his way to the north pole.

DIY Series: Hole In the Wall - FAIL

We had a contractor come to our house this weekend to quote us a price for carving a hole in the wall that stands between the kitchen and the dining room. We've been itching to do this for quite a while, and finally got up the guts, and a good referral to a contractor, to get the process rolling.

So, my giddy self waited all weekend for the contractor to show up, and when he did, my giddiness level escalated to "you would make my entire year if you could carve a hole in my wall", and then?

FAIL

why?

Because our upstairs bathroom pipes run through that wall!!!

In the words of our contractor: "Nothing is impossible, it just depends on how much money you want to spend."

Translation: this is gonna cost a lot.

Cost to just carve a teeny weensy hole in the wall to check where the pipes are, and then worst case scenario close it back up? $500.

Uy.

It took me a good nap for this to sink in, but I think it's ok for now. Yes, we were bummed, but the way we look at it, we have so many other projects we'd like to do so we'll just work on those:

• Replace fence in the backyard.
• Replace front door with something sturdier and that will let some light in.
• Carve a hole in the wall that shares the kitchen and dining room. nocando. :(
• Re-pave the driveway. 
• Replace kitchen countertop, sink, and back-splash. 
• Gut upstairs bathroom and redo it all. 
• Get garage door openers for our garage doors.
• Finish replacing all the old doors in the house with new six-panel white doors that actually open and close.
• Replace carpet on the stairs from that awful deer poop saga
• Replace old lights in entryway, hallway, and our bedroom.

That list item in green? Our next project! Stay tuned.

DIY Series: Stair Carpet

Some of you may remember reading about a brief moment of insanity I had involving puke, the stairs, and meat scissors. If you don't recall, and happen to need a good chuckle, read this. The result of that night was this:

We had wanted to replace that carpeting anyway, since it was beyond gross, very old, and coming off the stairs one staple at a time. Today I had one of those impromptu thoughts and a burst of energy that resulted in me announcing we should go pick out new carpet. Actually, Andy knew something was up before I even said anything. Whenever he sees the lime green measuring tape sitting on the coffee table he knows I'm up to something.

Off to Mr. Seconds we went, got ourselves 25 feet of carpet, and headed home to do some demolition!

When I say it took 4 minutes to rip the old carpet off, I'm really not even kidding. That's how many staples were no longer holding the carpet in place. I think Andy had to use pliers maybe twice on two staples. The rest came out with a little yank on the carpet. For this I am extremely thankful, because I've read horror stories of people with bloody fingers who had to spend days and days ripping out staples. Ugh!

I was half-tempted at this point to return the carpet and just refinish the wood on the stairs like I had thought about doing one day (here). But then that thought was quickly squashed when I had visions of me flying down the hard stairs at lightning speed and landing on the tile floor should I happen to be wearing my extra fluffy socks that day. Nope, never-mind. I will forgo the beauty of all-wood stairs for the sake of keeping my bones in tact. Thankyouverymuch.

This was when I started getting giddy!! It was a huge improvement already, and the carpet wasn't even attached!!

Making progress!

Tada!!

One last before and after, you ask? Why certainly:

Cost breakdown:

Carpet: $2.99/ft. x 25ft = $74.75 (+ tax)

Staple Gun: $16.99

Extra Staples: $1.00

Total: $92.74

Time spent:

1.5 hours

We got really lucky at Mr. Seconds. Not only did they have a carpet that had the color of our hall walls as well as our entryway walls, but the main color was dark so that it wouldn't show as much wear/staining. Also - they had just enough for how much we needed! There were two additional color choices, but one was mainly red (which just wouldn't go with what we had), and the other was mainly ivory - bad idea! So while I could have spent hours scouring the internet, I am happy with the look of this carpet. And you really can't beat the price, I think.

Well we can cross this off our DIY to-do list! Boy that feels good!

• Replace fence in the backyard.
• Replace front door with something sturdier and that will let some light in.
• Carve a hole in the wall that shares the kitchen and dining room. 
• Re-pave the driveway. 
• Replace kitchen countertop, sink, and back-splash. 
• Gut upstairs bathroom and redo it all. 
• Get garage door openers for our garage doors.
• Finish replacing all the old doors in the house with new six-panel white doors that actually open and close.
• Replace carpet on the stairs from that awful deer poop saga
• Replace old lights in entryway, hallway, and our bedroom.

We Had A Moment

Sometimes, in life, we have a moment. Many times the moment is brief, but for a few seconds, the chaos of life seems to freeze and we get to be a witness to a raw, heartfelt, and sometimes unexpected experience.

This happened this past week with a group of students I've had the privilege to teach. It's nothing fancy. We meet for one hour a week and I teach them about graphic design, and by the end of ten weeks the goal is for them to have developed a logo and business card for an organization of their choice. This idea for the seminar started unexpectedly, and to be honest, half the time I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not the student anymore - I'm supposed to be the one with the answers!

For this seminar I had six amazing students, all who were extremely intelligent, eager, and ready to be a sponge. One of them was autistic. I will be honest with you when I say this scared me. Not the autism, per se, but the fear of how to teach someone with autism. The fear of not knowing how it would go. Would I have the right responses to their questions? What if they didn't understand and I couldn't explain? What about the part where I feel like I don't know what I'm doing! It added a whole new dimension to it all.

At the beginning of each seminar, we played this "game" of sorts, where I go around the room and have each student give their "proton" and "electron". One good thing that happened to them that week, and one bad thing. A chance for them to unload a heavy weight off their back so they could set it aside for an hour while they learn about design. Kinda goofy in a way. I wasn't even sure if they would find it valuable. Well, after we were at about week 7 and deadlines were fast approaching and we had a ton to cover in just one hour, I decided to skip the protons and electrons so we'd have more time. Bad idea. They stopped me dead in my tracks and asked why we weren't doing it! My autistic student had had a particularly stressful day, and had clearly been waiting for the opportunity to share about it, even for just 30 seconds before we moved on to the rest of the lesson. It seemed like those few moments in the beginning were more valuable than I had originally thought. It gave them a chance to unload, to connect, and to have a moment away from the textbooks.

Fast forward to the last day of the seminar: Each student brought in their final pieces, mounted on black boards and ready to present. They came out fantastic! I was so proud of them. Before we said our goodbyes, I acknowledged one student who is graduating in December. It's an awesome accomplishment, but he seemed overwhelmed, and fearful of the next step. Before I could utter a single response, my autistic student turned around and looked this other student straight in the eye. With the most caring and sincere attitude, he said, "You know that quote, 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step'? I think you just need to start with the first step."

For a fleeting 5 seconds our worlds froze. I was the student, and my student was the teacher. I was being taught more than the textbook. I was being taught the value of investing in someone else, and that I don't have to have it all figured out at once. When I'm fearful of the unknown, in this case, how to teach a particular student, I just need to start with the first step.

Dog-Walking in the Tundra

bring it.

Our Idea of Fun

Question: What do you do when it's dark out and there's a blinding snow storm on a weeknight?
Answer: You drive in the blinding snow storm to a ladies tea, of course!

So last night our church had it's annual ladies Christmas tea, and I wasn't going to miss it. Because, really, how do I resist tea and ladies I love to be around? See? My thoughts exactly. The catch was I didn't really want to drive myself in a blinding snow storm. Sooo...plan B: get Andy to drive me :) Being the good husband he is, it didn't take long after my puppy-dog-eyes hit him for him to agree. A certain four-legged also came with us, and she ended up being quite the trooper while she hung out in Andy's office:

Take your daughter to work day. Genius! She only escaped once, running wild around the sanctuary, but other than that, Andy tells me she was a complete angel. That makes me giggle, I don't know why...

Oh, and the tea was lovely, too.

Oh, and yes, we got home safe :)

Snow Gear

I am told by my parents that when I was a wee-one I would refuse to wear my hat and mittens for our snowy walk to school. I even took it a step further and would give them away to other children. Ha! Now that I'm older, I can really appreciate a good hat and mittens. My parents stopped by Saturday night and brought Andy and I these wonderful warm surprises :)

Sweet hat

Convertible mittens!

(The  mittens I got are actually tan and brown, but I couldn't find the right picture online.) 

Isn't that hat awesome?! I had been eyeing it, so last night when I had to go out in THE TUNDRA to walk Chloe, Andy offered for me to wear his hat, and I happily accepted :)

Thanks Mom and Dad! I promise I will try not to give them away this time!

Snippets from a Book: (Part 1)

So lately I've rediscovered the hidden gem of taking a few precious moments when I can and snuggling under a blanket to read a good book. This one in particular I have read before, but it was so dang good I picked it up again (SO not like me) to see what I could keep learning from it. It has been a challenge, and a joy. So I thought I would share, every once in a while, a snippet for you:

Calm My Anxious Heart: A Women's Guide to Finding Contentment
By Linda Dillow

"Most of us base our contentment on our circumstances, on our feelings, or on other people. However, true contentment is separate from our circumstances. Contentment is a state of the heart, not a state of affairs."
(pg 13)

If I am honest, I really struggle with this. My anxiousness doesn't manifest itself through pacing back and forth, or by being up all night worrying. Heck, I sleep like a ton of bricks and no alarm can jolt me...ask my roommates from college, or poor Andy who listens to me snooze my alarm like a zombie for an hour! What I find difficult is an underlying battle with whether or not my circumstances line up with how they "should" be. What society has inadvertently said should be normal for a 25 year old. Do I measure up? Am I behind, or am I ahead? Am I moving fast enough in my career? Am I a good designer? Does my house look ok? Should I be having kids? Do I have too much debt? Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Should I be doing more? Am I following God? Do I really know what that means? Am I too busy? Am I healthy enough...on top of things enough...being a good steward of my money...being a supportive enough wife...being a good enough friend...how much is enough....enough enough enough???

That is what goes on in my head on a daily basis! And if I'm honest again, that is not ok. At some point I have to get to a place where I trust the One who made me, who loves me, and who has a plan for me. At some point I have to be willing to take what I've been given, breathe in deep, and say "Oh Blessed Controller of All Things, I entrust this to you...all that I have been given. I trust that you know what I should do with it, and in that I will rest."

R i g h t.....

Last I checked my middle name was spelled c-o-n-t-r-o-l.

Somewhere I have to find the balance. The balance between trying too hard, and just plain giving up.

I'm working on it. Daily.

For now I will end with this (pg 52):

"Leonardo da Vinci was an artist of great skill. When he was a pupil studying under his master painter, the master called Leonardo to him and asked him to finish a painting the master had begun. The man had grown old and felt the time had come to quit painting. Young da Vinci had such reverence for his master's skill that he was overwhelmed by the suggestion that he should add his strokes to the master's. The man said simply, 'Do your best.'


Trembling with emotion, Leonardo seized the brush and knelt before the easel to pray. 'It is for the sake of my beloved master that I implore skill and power for this undertaking.' As he began to paint, his hand grew steady and his eye awoke with slumbering genius. He created a masterpiece.


My friend, will you take the paintbrush in your hand and kneel before your Master?"

Winter Wonderland

Top 10 Reasons Why I love When It Snows:

1. It makes the leafless trees look beautiful

2. It makes my house feel more cozy

3. The air smells cleaner

4. Chloe doesn't leave muddy pawprints on the kitchen floor anymore

5. I can hear my footsteps crunch

6. It makes the night brighter

7. It makes things sparkle

8. It fills the potholes in our driveway

9. It makes Chloe so excited it looks like she's jumping on four springs (think Tigger)

10. It's a perfect excuse to cancel all obligations and just stay inside