A Week of Projects: Day 1

Kyle took the week off. Not for a vacation. Not to visit family. Only to work on the house. His goal? To finish the upstairs bathroom and then some. There's quite a few projects that need to be done, but as we go along I take before, during, and after pictures of the progress. Not only does it help me appreciate the "after" that much more, but it helps me remember how much work went into completing it.

Remember when I wrote about how much I hated remodeling? Those reasons have not changed one iota.

1. One project always leads to another. Almost a year ago we tackled the bathroom downstairs (which is near completion - it's just missing some trim work and a door - ya know minor things) and in the process realized that we needed a completely new electrical board and all new plumbing. Which meant we had to tear the vanity out of the upstairs bathroom so that we could access the plumbing. The vanity sat in our backyard for a few months until someone decided they wanted it. Our toothbrushes have been in the kitchen ever sense. It's going to be weird having them back in the bathroom, lol. We are praying that this week does not produce more projects.

2. If we're working on one room, everything from that room must  be moved to another room, creating complete chaos! Like our bathroom items being moved into our living room... :)

3. It's a dusty, dirty mess everywhere. It doesn't matter how much you sweep, or even if you take protective measurements like plastic or shutting doors and windows. Dust seeps through everything. I'm typing this and am disgusted with how dirty I am right now. Bleh.

4. It always takes longer than you originally thought it would, which forces you to LIVE in it LONGER. (Reason? See #1) But hey, I'm going to be optimistic here. I'm hoping this week doesn't lead to more projects, but the flower beds I thought I'd finish today did not happen. Mostly because I have an 8 month old who now requires a lot of my attention, but also because it started to thunder. We finished the flower bed in the back yard...

This corner doesn't get hit with the sprinklers very well, so the grass died. We came up with this...

The picture does not do it justice.

Still the flower bed lining the drive way is not complete...

Before I dug in...

Digging in after measuring and marking...

SLOW going...

Where we had to stop for the day. I love the brick work and it will have plants. I can't wait to take a finished picture (hopefully tomorrow, again remember every project takes longer than what you anticipate!).

Aaaaaaand then there's the upstairs bathroom. It's taking twice as long as we thought it would when we started it. The destruction of the bathroom has been daunting for Kyle. There are three layers he must bust through: the ugly "flower" board, plaster, then drywall. (Yeah, we don't get it either.)

UGLY flower board "stuff"

Going into the bathroom...

Bye Bye Flower BOARD!

Where the bathroom vanity used to be... it's been this way for almost a year now...

He was thinking that it'd take him a day to destroy the walls. The day isn't over yet, but it doesn't look promising. It's a crazy difficult job and I'm glad I'm downstairs with Bean.

5. It's noisy. As I'm typing this I hear, "Bang, Clang, Bam, Bam, Bam, UGH! Bang, GRRRR... Bam, Bam, OW!"

6. It's smelly. (Right now I'm smelly, I'm hurrying so that I can go and shower!)

7. It's expensive. Kyle and I saved and saved and saved for three years to complete these projects. We had fun shopping for all the stuff, and then we had to check out. Way to pop our balloon check out lady!

8. It's exhausting. Now add taking care of a baby to remodeling. Gah!

9. Living without electricity or water while something is being worked on makes day to day living difficult. Boy am I ever thankful that I don't have to deal with this one right now. We have electricity and we have a full working bathroom (with running water). Woohoo!

10. Exhaustion and frustration are a deadly combination, and they go hand in hand with remodeling. Today is day 1, I'll let you know how we feel by Friday. :)

We have so much to do and I'm not even going to share the list for fear of feeling overwhelmed. Stay tuned all week for more before, during and after pictures of our projects this week!

My Uphill Battle with Facebook

Two things occurred this last week that forced me to realize that I have a pride issue.

1. I accidentally set my status updates at an "only me" setting, which means nobody saw what I posted on Facebook and it also means that I was crushed when nobody "liked" it. (sigh)
2. I read this quote in my "Glimpses of Grace" by Gloria Furman book, "When I sense that my heart has become numb to the effects of my sinfulness, all I need to do is listen to my mouth or think of the things that I should have said but didn't. If I go back over the last few days' blog posts, conversations, and status updates, then my mixed motives and self-glorification become appallingly apparent to me. It is clear to me that I have no other place to hide except in the righteousness of Christ alone." (p.115)
• Plus Furman quoted James 3:8-10, "... no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing." Bleh. Starting with my own tongue, which I can't seem to shut up.

God has this miraculous way of convicting my spirit.

Thanks to technology and the ability to publish writing immediately after writing it, my life has become an open book. I'm not complaining, I mean it's my own fault, it's just embarrassing to admit out loud that I have a "pride" issue. Thanks to an itty bitty error on my part, where I accidentally set all my posts as private posts, and was crushed when not one person "liked" it, I realized that it was God's way of telling me I was worrying too much about what others thought of my writing instead of glorifying Him in it. And then to add injury to insult I read that quote in Furman's book. Grrrr.... me and my stupid self.

I want to live my life to glorify God.

But lately it seems that all I can do is make a fool of myself.

I apologized to you, readers, because I don't want to care about my "stats" or "likes," (buuuuut I do). I want to care about what God thinks because my aim is (or should be) to glorify HIM daily in all that I say and do. After all, my entire purpose in this life and the next is to praise HIM forever and ever. However, after that setting error on Facebook I realized that inside I had mixed motives and that each post was self-glorifying. When I read Furman's struggle with the exact same thing I did a, "whew, I'm not alone!" gasp. Still, even when I write or say things outloud that are an attempt to glorify God, HE KNOWS MY HEART! So I'm with Furman on this one, "Clearly I need God's purifying power to rescue me from my sin and empower me to say things that are good, true, and honoring him." (p.115) And I need to add "from the depths of my heart" to that statement.

I need to set my heart on the things of God and make this blog and my Facebook status updates less about my self-glorification (that starts with not caring about "likes" or "stats") and more about the joy I have in life because of the hope I have in Jesus. Obviously, a few days break from Facebook has not solved this issue.

It's an uphill battle.

I'm back on Facebook because I realized that it was my only "in" on seeing pictures of a friends baby, or sharing the crazy and wonderful life of my daughter with grandparents and friends, and sharing what I write here (all the while trying really, really hard not to care about "likes" or "stats"). Although I'm back on Facebook and although I'm still going to share my stuff, my ultimate goal is still to glorify God (without mixed motives like, "hmmmm... I wonder how many people will like or read this?!").

I love Facebook because it gives me the ability read about my friends and family all over the world. My parents and grandparents love my blog because they love reading about what we do everyday, or what I'm reading, and I hope, no, I really, really pray that I'm planting a seed for all of my family and friends. I want to glorify God and share the gospel so that you can glorify God with me through this blog and Facebook. I truly believe in enjoying small things like Facebook and blogging ALL because I can rest in the hope I have in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. That's it! THAT is what life is all about in the first place - Jesus Christ and the message of hope we have in Him. Without hope, we have nothing.

And that message is worth sharing - daily!

Makeshift Baby Pool = Happy Baby!

Brielle loves it outside, so much so that when we go indoors she cries. I tested this theory to see if my assumption were true and she'd immediately start crying when we walked through the door and stop when I opened the door to go outside (more than once). It's a tad warm outside today and we have zero trees in our yard so shade is sparse (in other words we were toasty). Since Brielle loves it so much outdoors, I decided that (since we don't have a kiddy pool) I'd make one out of a small tub I emptied after I cleaned out our storage room. I lathered her up in (more) sunscreen, fashioned a sunhat on her pretty little head, undressed her (a baby without a swimming suit in the backyard is no biggie, right?) and plopped her in the water. She gasped a couple of times and then forgot how cool the water felt when she eyed her rubby duckies.

Splashing was definitely her favorite!

I'd say it was a hit!



All smiles!

P.S. Look at that belly! Hehe.

Oh and I specifically did this before nap time - she didn't fuss at all when I put her down and was out in minutes. She was plum wore out!

Weekly Writes: Prayer Request for Persecuted Christians [& their amazing stories]

There are three stories I'm going to briefly share with you and each story impacted me for one reason: these people are threatened on a daily basis for their belief in Jesus and yet they have unwavering faith. Despite torture, sexual abuse, threats, jail time, etc. etc. they continue to share the gospel! I am inspired by their stories because I am blessed to live in America where men and women die for my religious freedoms that I take for granted daily. The only reason I'm "afraid" to spread the gospel is because I fear that I might offend someone. Well, phooey, that's so, so, soooooo pathetic compared to these individuals. They inspire me to glorify God in all that I do and say no matter what I'm doing, who I'm with, or where I am because Jesus is the only reason I have hope and I want others, on the day Christ returns, to glorify Him with me, instead of trembling in fear.

On that note, pray for these people with me because these people believe in the power of prayer, "From the bottom of my heart, I felt extreme joy because I knew there were some Christians who were praying for me even though they didn't know me." Eva Abdalla, who is a prisoner in Tanzania because of her faith. And that's why I decided to do a weekly prayer request, for people like Eva who depend on her church family to pray for her as she sits in prison because she's a Christian.

Pray for Generosa, who is a widow with twelve children. She recently lost her husband, Mathayo (a preacher in Tanzania), because a group of Islamic extremists struck him over and over again with machetes. Her faith, despite this tradgedy, amazes me! She quite simply states that she believes God desired her husband to die this way because Christians have grown more unified since her husband's death and that "... the Lord can bring harvest into his kingdom." She also has faith that God will provide for her and her twelve children. Wow. What faith.

Pray for Jabari in Egypt who supports and disciples a secret network of Christians who turned from Islam. He was sexually abused and tortured because he would not tell police locations or names of individuals who help with this network. Instead of fear of another interrogation (because he's already experienced six) he joyfully continues his work for the sake of the gospel! He knows that his work could take his life, yet he is committed to helping the Christian converts grow in the Lord.

Pray for Kate in the Philippines who is the only surviving member of her immediate family. Her family was brutally murdered on their way home from a Bible study, she is 16 years old. She lost her father, mother, her sister Kathy (14 years old) and Karen (8 years old). They were ambushed as they walked home by a group of armed Muslim men. They were riddled with about 150 rounds of bullets. Thankfully, Kate was not with them that night, but is left behind to deal with the shock and trauma of this horrific attack.

I can in no way shape or form relate to these individuals. I don't exactly know how to pray for them, so my prayer is quite simply, "Lord, I don't know exactly what these people need, but you do. So I lift their names to you, Generosa, Jabari and Kate." I hope that helps you too, that every time these horrific stories come to mind you say a little prayer for them.

For a free subscription to The Voice of the Martyrs, or for ways to help the persecuted church, contact:

The Voice of the Martyrs
P.O. Box 443
Bartlesville, OK 74005-044

contributions: 800-747-0085
ministry information: 877-337-0302
e-mail: thevoice@vom-usa.org
or visit: www.persecution.com
Visit www.prisoneralert.com to view profiles of prisoners and send a letter to one of them!

An Eventful Weekend: Part 2 {"Sweet Little Monkey" Baby Shower}

We had planned to host this shower on mom's deck, but it turned out to be a chilly day, so that didn't work out like we originally planned. That's okay! It turned out great. Monkey's were every where!

"Sweet Little Monkey, You're Loved a Ton!"

We put monkey's hanging out in lamps, cups, from the ceiling fan. Hehe, I had a lot of fun with this part.

Barrel of Monkey's hanging around the banana pudding!

I hung vines from the ceiling fan and put monkey's of all shapes and sizes hanging from them.

The food table center piece. The stuffed monkey was mine from when I was a child. I drew the picture behind it and wrapped vines around everything.

We hung the "Sweet Little Monkey You're Loved a Ton!" banner above the fireplace.

For some reason I didn't get a picture of the entire table that we covered with a blue, green and red table cloth and tied each end with blue, yellow, green, white, and red tissue paper poofs. The table was stinkin' adorable and was filled with yummy goodies like Monkey bread, Monkey bars, banana pudding, cheese and crackers.... (my mom is an excellent cook so there was not a shortage of amazing food, plus she provided coffee which made the evening 110% complete ;) I wish I would've got a picture of the entire table, there's always something I forget! Dang it.

I couldn't resist this little outfit.

Lastly, I made a baby memory book. This was my favorite piece. It turned out super cute and I hope she loves it and puts it to good use. I'm thinking I might have to do this idea more often because I really enjoyed putting it together and what mom doesn't love something that's already created that you can just fill in as you go ('cause you're always on the go...).

The front cover has a monkey and I put a U on the back for his last name. The top picture is a picture of the front cover and first page (which has Isaiah 49:16 stamped on it: "You are inscribed on the palm of his hand..." That verse is specifically talking about God's prophet Isaiah, but I also believe that God's chosen people are loved that much... especially children.)

The front cover where Mom can record his name, the meaning of his name, his birthday, time, length, weight, etc. etc.

The first few pages: a page for his ultrasound picture that says "Tiny little thing, great big blessing," a page for "A note from daddy..." another page for "a note from mommy..." a page for his first day home picture, another page to record his "firsts" like his first smile, first taste of cereal, first fruit, first time rolling over, sitting up, taking his first step, his first word, etc., another page for a picture of his first bath, another page for his first Halloween, his first Christmas picture, first New Years picture, first Easter, another page for recording his growth, and the last page to show his hand or footprint (whichever mommy chooses) on day one and year one.

The top left corner picture is the page where mommy can record special specifics for each month of his first year. The bottom left hand side is the page where mommy puts his first year picture (which is one of my favorite pages) and the blank page to the right is where she can record memorable moments. The top right picture is where mommy can record more memorable moments and the page next to it is where we put the gifts he received at his baby shower and who they were from. The last page contains the Psalm 139: 13-16, "For you formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them." And I signed the back cover with a little note, "I love you so much!" (Heart) Aunt Becky Lowery.

Close Ups of my favorite pages...

My phone was nearly dead and I didn't capture pictures of the beautiful mommy-to-be and the guests who attended. I hate that. Thankfully, I did remember to capture some pictures. Still, what I regret most is not capturing photos of the car seat cover my mom made for Samantha. OH MY GOODNESS! You talk about stinkin' adorable! She used sock monkey fabric (red and brown), paired with brown and white striped fabric, and a onsie to match. It was seriously the hit of the show. My mom is so, so talented. We ooooo'd and awwwwww'd over that thing for quite a while. Haha, we didn't play a game, just sat and talked about that car seat cover! I think everyone had more fun doing that anyway. You know how girls are - we love to chit chat about anything and everything - including an adorable car seat cover!

I can't wait to meet this little Unruh. I love the little monkey so much already!

An Eventful Weekend: Part 1 {Dinner Theatre & a Wedding}

This weekend was crazy. Friday night we had tickets to a dinner theatre. Saturday we got up and went to a wedding. After the wedding we hustled out so I could make it in time to my sister-in-law's baby shower (which will be Part 2 of my eventful weekend). It was a whirlwind of fun times.

Friday night was a blast. I was very impressed with the Kimball Community Theatre's "Salute to Broadway" production. The food was fantastic, chicken alfredo (or spaghetti), a vegetable medley, and homemade bread. It was very obvious that a lot of work was put into everything - the set up, the food, and each song was performed very, very well! (There's a lot of talent in this group!) The evening consisted of songs from Cabaret, Willy Wonka, Annie, Wicked, Annie Get Your Gun, Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Phantom of the Opera, Grease, Les Miserable, and the Sound of Music. They performed in the old Kimball County Museum, which was a perfect venue! The entire evening was so much fun. PLUS, they put tickets under one chair for the next Kimball Community Theatre's production and I WON! That never happens, with it being my first time as a winner, I was super excited.

Brielle loved it! She bounced, clapped (Yes, she's very proud of this new feat! Haha, it's super adorable.), and watched wide eyed each and every song.

It's a terrible picture, sorry.

Saturday we got up and got ready for a wedding.

Tori was a beautiful bride. Her and Daniel (the groom, standing to her left) were all googly eyed and smiley the entire time. I loved it. It's so weird and awesome to think that I coached them! They're all grown up and I'm feeling a little old.

We did join our friends afterwards for the light luncheon (we had to skip out on the cake and dancing - boooo). Brielle was alllllll over the purple cups. She thought they were fantastic. Plus Daaaaaaaaaddy was holding her so her world was complete.

Look at her eyein' her daddy. She loves him so much.

This is her new excited face, LOL, it cracks me up.

After hustling outta town we drove four hours to Winter Park, CO where my mom and I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law. It was themed, "Sweet Little Monkey, You're Loved a TON!" and is Part 2 of this eventful weekend. Stay tuned....

Sorry Facebook Friends!

My sister read me this article about the difference of "what determines popularity" between our generation and the current high school students. When we were in JH and HS Facebook did not exist, no one had a cell phone (and if you did it was the "family" cell phone for emergency purposes only), so your popularity was determined by what table you sat at during lunch (for example). Now, popularity is determined by how many likes you get on a status update or a picture.

The irony is that Mel and I suddenly realized that we also care too much about our "likes!" She's into photography, for example. She's figured out settings, took a class, and the photo's she creates and edits take her a lot of time and effort. So the moment she posts a picture, she's checking how many people like it. My thing is writing. I'm constantly checking my blog "stats" or Facebook "likes" to see what people think of it. When we admitted these things out loud, we laughed at how ridiculous it sounded, but we totally understood why kids are becoming upset over their status "popularity."

For some reason my last few status updates have been at the setting "only me" which means only I can see it on my timeline. First of all, I don't know why that option even exists; it's a social network for petes sake! Secondly, I found myself super bummed that not one person, not even one, "liked" it. I was having this inner turmoil - did I offend people? Am I pushing friends away by what I say or post? I found myself feeling guilty for sharing stuff I found that supported my political beliefs or religious views. I was honestly asking myself if people were sick of my blog, or sick of me.

And then I heard this inner voice, "I need a break from Facebook."

And then the devil's advocate voice shot back, "yeah, but you like Facebook to keep up with your friends and family who literally live all over the world!"

And then the other inner voice laughed, "HA!"

Facebook was becoming my "popularity" contest. Instead of using my blog and Facebook to "keep up" with friends and family on our daily life and glorifying God through it, I was becoming prideful. The setting "only me" was the wake up call I needed. It was God's way of telling me to take a chill pill, focus on HIM and HIS WORD, and truly (from my inner most being) glorify Him.

The thing is... I struggle with that daily... because I am a selfish sinner. So I deleted Facebook from my phone. I will continue to write in my blog and to visit the blogs I love, but I will not post my blog on Facebook or check my stats. I don't know how long this will be, I'll start with today and go from there, but if you want to read what I post, subscribe to my blog.

I have to apologize to you, my Facebook friends, because I do not want to come across as a person who "has it all together". I am weak. I am a sinner. I am selfish. BUT I am growing and learning and I desire the satisfaction of my Lord and Savior only. I have to stop caring about what the world thinks, and quite frankly, that starts with Facebook.

I don't want to stay away from Facebook forever, because that's where my family and friends are, but that should be my only reason for being on it. With that said, I'm sorry Facebook friends for being obsessed with what you think of my status updates, political rantings, and Instagram posts. I need to focus instead on what God thinks. And that means a break from Facebook. I'm realizing that it's going to be hard because when I feed Brielle Facebook is the first place I go, so pray for me as I take on this challenge, that I learn the lesson that I truly believe God is trying to teach me: that He is truly #1 in my heart and that I care only what He thinks of me.