OURSTORY

Apartment living no more!

8:55 PM



Well guys, we are moved and our old apartment is cleaned. Praise the Lord! And, boy, does it feel good. We are loving our new place. We especially love being right downtown. It is so convenient! We walked to church this morning in literally about two and a half minutes.

Amazingly, we got everything moved, unpacked, and totally set-up in a day thanks to some wonderful friends and family members. We have been in our new place just one night so far and it already feels like home. I have never had a new living situation feel settled so fast. Perhaps it is because we have been in and out of this place for two weeks fixing things up? Anyhow, I'm not complaining! It is a wonderful feeling.

I am looking forward for life to (hopefully) slow down this week. This weekend alone we had a graduation to attend, a birthday, my grandparents in town, and the move! We did it all, but a slow week ahead sounds oh so appealing...a little baking, some kick-back time, maybe a movie or two, a coffee date, yes please!!

How was your holiday weekend?

Tomorrow we are getting out of town for a little trip to ikea and some shopping time!

OURSTORY

Check ✔

10:48 PM

To Do: our new home


Paint
-2nd coat on trim, living room ✔
-2nd coat on trim, dining room ✔
-2nd coat on trim, guest room ✔
-trim and pain closest doors ✔
-finish windows ✔
-baseboards ✔
-pull tarps ✔

-Home depot ✔

What's left (pre-move in):
-Deep clean
-Install all door knobs
-Replace faceplates for outlets
-Clean light fixtures
-Finish installing vanity/sink
-Hang towel bars (bathroom)
-Touch-up paint

After move-in projects:
-Paint kitchen!
-Replace front and back door knobs and locks
-Get locking screen door for front
-Plant a garden
-Dog proof gates!
-Find thrifted deck furniture
-Build storage shed for bikes
-Find room partition/old closest doors to hide water heater

I am hoping to move the "paint kitchen project" up to the what's left: pre-move in section on this list, but we will see. If time avails.

As you can see, it is coming along!! For the first time yet our home-to-be looks like it could actually be a home and no longer a construction site, or dumpy place. Woo hoo! It is exciting to see all our hard work come together. Who would have known what a little (okay, well a lot) of paint and a whole lot of clorox could do! ;)

If all goes well Friday will be the big move in day. At this point, much is accomplished, much is to do. I am no longer feeling overwhelmed now, at least not at that momment, with the big things taken care of.

I am continuing to learn so much through this process. The Lord is good! He is totally growing me through this. This "project" has been a blessing in disguise, no doubt.

Sneak peak:


(Look who managed to sneak into the picture. Jokester hubs. His goofy self seriously keeps me sane in times like these.)

<3 Mal

OURSTORY

Another new!

10:29 PM

Hey, guess what?

I learned to paint today, and it is a good thing I like it, because there is a whole lot more to come. The living room, dining room, and bedrooms are done and look lovely! Thank you Dave Austin for all your help! And Dad too. Will and I needed it!!

No sneak peaks yet, however I did take a few "before" pictures today.

On the list tomorrow: trim, baseboards, and the bathroom.

Then we are off to an afternoon garden wedding! How refreshing that will be. I have to admit, I am looking forward to putting a dress back on and old ragged "paint" clothes off, at least for the afternoon. Later, right back to painting.

We've got a deadline to fulfill!

Date to be totally moved out with old apartment cleaned: May 31

Days left: 10! (I think we will have PLENTY of time)

Acquired terms of the day:
-Painting sieve
-Paint screen (I learned after buying a screen in replace of the sieve, a sieve and screen are most definitely not interchangeable. Back to the paint store I went
-Flat paint
-Eggshell paint
-What "to cut-in" is

...and

-Popcorn ceiling :)



"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus".
-Philippians 4:6


OURSTORY

Lots of new things going on around here!

10:22 PM

Lately, I have been learning how to do lots of new and handy things around the home. It has been stressful, busy, overwhelming, and fun all at the same time. My dear husband has been so patient with me. Pretty much, when it comes to home renovation it is all new to me, and I mean ALL new. I have never so much as painted. Changing a light bulb is about as far as I have gone, sad, but true. Anyhow, that is not so these days. And...I love that I am actually learning how to be useful and handy around the home with repairs and such.

You may ask why, and well this is so...we are moving! The Lord has provided and soon we will be living in a new home. Goodbye apartment, hello downtown house.

We have been praying that the Lord would provide us with a new (well, new to us) house and he has! Granted our requests were uh...lengthy, I guess you could say?? Lengthy they may have been, but nothing our Lord couldn't handle. We've been getting real honest with the Lord in our prayers. We asked, and we have received. We told the Lord our hearts desires, a 2 bedroom home, downtown, with a fenced yard, pet friendly, and washer and dryer, oh and it had to be for under $1200 a month rent. And a front porch would be a real bonus. Ha yeah right, right? Not so, a home has come our way and it meets all our above "requests".

Matthew 7:7 says to ask and it shall be given, well we asked, and it was given. Not exactly in the way in which we pictured, but we definitely have received. The Lord doesn't say ask and you will receive without work, ha that's for sure, and praise the Lord for it.

This new home may be "perfect" in that it has all the amenities we'd hoped for, however it has not come without work. Our new home has actually been quite the project. The home is new to us, but physically or structurally maybe you would say, very old. We are guessing it was built around the 1950s. So it has lots of "charm" that these older homes often come with.

First, there was the mold removal, then the window repairs, an entire day of paint chipping followed by sanding, two evenings of peeling and re-papering cabinets and drawers, the installation of a porch light, tomorrow we will paint, followed by installing a new sink, vanity, and more lighting, then a good deep clean, and hopefully by Monday we can begin moving our things in! Whew. Later will come the yard work, and down the road (a year or so), a new roof, new windows, and a fresh coat of paint on the exterior.

What a job, but what a blessing and learning experience too. Will and I have been learning to communicate better in this process, mostly through not communicating well, and the repercussions but the Lord is working in us and drawing us nearer to Him, and to each other. We are both leaning on Jesus through this one.

I have also learned how to be handy around the house, and I must admit, it feels good!!

Here are my firsts for this week:
-I have learned how to install a new porch light (with existing electrical stuff? set-up)
-I learned how to change a wireless door bell and what a 12v battery is :)
-I have learned how to strip old paint off windows and the danger and precautions to take with lead paint
-I have learned old windows indeed are very delicate, by breaking one in the process of stripping old paint..oops there
-I have learned how to use an electric sander
-I have learned how to install/un-install door knobs and electrical outlet face plates
-I have learned how to clean and remove mold properly, and that it really isn't as big and scary thing as people make it out to be.
...And I have learned that I will probably NEVER paper drawers again.


Tomorrow, I will learn to paint. Thank God hubby is a painter! I am learning the painting world comes with a whole new list of terms and vocabulary. Eggshell? Semi-gloss? Flat? Acrylic? Latex v.s. oil? Spray or roll? Lid or face?? Um, just interior paint please. Who knew!

BUT, most of all I have learned to TRUST THE LORD, trust that He will provide and that he will not put us in harms way. Questions of mold and lead paint have raised uncertainties in my mind from time to time, but I have to trust that the Lord wouldn't put us in a home that would put us in danger. The Lord knows what he is doing, and I am resting in that. Our God is good, and this week has been such a lesson in learning to trust, learning to lean, and learning to ask. As well as learning that if you ask, be ready to receive, because indeed you will.

I wanted to leave you with some scripture I have been meditating on. May they speak to you and bring you comfort as they have to me.

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act."
-Psalm 37:3-5

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6


and last, not but least, Isaiah 12:2-3

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."

This verse brought me to near tears. How great our God's love is for us, how beautiful our Lord is.


...

Hopefully I will have pictures for you soon of our new abode.

God bless! <3

RECIPES

Homemade Granola Bars

2:12 PM

Happy Sunday to you!

My blog shares are not as consistent as I would like. My apologies there. Part of it has just been me, feeling rather unmotivated at times lately, and partly, I have just been plain old busy, but this week I have some extra time off. I think think time off may be just what I need to re-motivate a bit. I haven't felt like doing a whole lot of baking, cooking, or crafting. Weird huh? Anyhow, I will share a recipe with you now and hopefully a couple more later in the week.

I baked up these bars last week. They were my first attempt at granola bars. Oh my goodness, fresh out of the oven they were so good! The perfect mix of crispy and chewy, however, after they cooled they were more just chewy. I think I was a little impatient taking them out of the oven...a few more minutes and they would have stayed crisp and chewy. Oh well, next time. Will and I still ate up the whole batch.

Today would be the perfect day to make up another batch..perhaps I will. It is a cold and blustery day here. Bits of sun, bits of rain, even a little hail. It is one of those days where the weather just won't make up it's mind. The perfect day to cozy up inside and pop something in the oven. :)

These granola bars are a tasty treat and they make the house smell like the holidays! I would advise you to do as Maria says, double the batch. They won't last long around the house!

Head on over to Maria's blog for the recipe.

I must bake from her blog at least 2-3 times a week. I am not even exactly sure how I came across it. None the less, she is my go-to blog for recipes. All her recipes are sooo good and super easy to follow. And how exciting...her and her hubby are expecting a third little pea to join their family in a few months!!



Until next time.
♥ Mallorie

OURSTORY

Puggle love.

9:09 PM


Puggle shoot {and hubs in the background taking a phone call}.



The dog was just too cute to resist.



Cuteness captured!

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.....
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I love my dog.

<3

 

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