more than live-able, but not quite ‘home’

At last, a ‘real’ post! I love that I’ve been able to post quick things from my iPhone, but nothing beats a good ‘ole picture-filled narrative!

I don’t quite feel like I’ve gotten my head above water yet (Andrew is gone this weekend and I had high hopes for being a crazy-productive person in all sorts of ways, yet I never get as much done as I want to…); I’m in the middle of a bunch of random things:

-finishing up an article for the Advertiser

-studying

-need to start Chemistry homework

-baking bread

-“feeding” my sourdough starter I got from King Arthur Flour on Friday

-making meatballs to freeze

-Bible Study

-dishes BY HAND (our dishwasher is less-than-satisfactory)

-unpacking

-giving myself a mani/pedi (I am in DESPERATE need)

-and the MYRIAD unreturned phone calls, emails and letters I need to address….

So, until tonight after I’ve made a bit more progress on the above, I’ll probably feel a bit discombobulated. That word is so fitting. (Before anyone can say it, yes, I know I bring a lot of these ‘tasks’ on myself. I can’t help it…)

Did I mention I totally forgot today was the time change? Good thing my uber-smart alarm clock changed automatically…

Anyway, here is the much-anticipated (or not, depending upon how you feel about it…) photo montage of the new place. Disclaimer: It isn’t clean. It isn’t organized. I basically snapped a bunch of photos this morning once the sun started coming up.

We’re pretty much unpacked, at least the things we’ll need for the near term. This move was certainly a challenge; we knew going into it that our stuff would be in storage, which means bringing A LOT with us, and then now going into a rental, we’re faced with moving twice. So, we’ve basically unpacked and re-packed A LOT.

Dining Room:

-took the three shelves from the office and combined them to form a larger one with the corner units on each side to hold linens, salt and pepper shakers and knick-knacky things

Kitchen:

-As I said, I’m in the middle of a bunch of baking projects, so it’s a bit messy

-I don’t have a lot of counter space; that’s been the biggest challenge

-But, I got my white cabinets! Ha!

The “paneled” room:

-This room is off the kitchen and we’re putting the computer and the printer (once we find it) there

-Our bigger red couch didn’t fit through either door into the living room, so it’s living here for now

-On the left is a sliding door out to a screened-in patio and I also have a small bookcase with my food items, since the kitchen is only big enough for my “stuff”

“Pepto-Bismol Pink Pet” room:

-This room hold’s Hadrian’s crate, the kitty stuff and Andrew’s closet. Hi Odie!

Guest room:

-Coincidentally, it’s painted almost the same color as in our house in Ohio, so everything looks very nice

-I stayed up until 12:30 unpacking and making the bed in there; it’s almost finished and ready for Emily and Dan, who are visiting in TWO WEEKS!

-I’m also going to set up a desk in there for quiet studying (I do my homework in the dining room) and keep my craft and mailing supplies in the closet

Our bedroom:

-It’s only slightly less pink, and I had plans (and all the supplies!) to paint, but I’ll be honest–my enthusiasm is waning. IF it gets done, it won’t be until Christmas break, at the earliest.

-There is only room for one nightstand (so I get it) and it makes sense, since I’m the last one in bed and definitely the first one out every morning (hello 5 a.m. school mornings!)

Moving on to the basement–you’ll see why Andrew and I were thrilled with it. It’s giant and warm and dry, which is important since it holds all our stuff!

My kitchen “goodies:”

-I set up some chrome shelving in the basement near the stairs to hold my appliances. I placed the most-used ones near the top since I can grab them without going all the way to the bottom…I’m so smart 🙂

-Don’t you just love my colorful Le Creuset shelf?? I do…

Laundry area:

-I have a line (sweet!) to hang my running stuff and plenty of shelves

-I’ll be honest; between my washer and dryer at home and the HE ones at the hotel (however grody they were), I’ve gotten spoiled by the front load/HE washers and dryers. These, while relatively new, just are not as good. Seriously people, HE really is a HUGE difference

These are all the re-packed boxes–basically we opened them, took stuff out and re-packed and labelled what we didn’t need or want out right now. All my fun dishes are in there, and lots of decoration items.

A giant pile of paper…

Empty boxes….

And our rubbermaid tub collection! Most are “memories,” like boxes of yearbooks, trophies–you know, the things you can’t really part with, but what the heck do you do with them things, and other stuff, like camping and canning equipment, as well as Christmas decorations and miscellaneous furniture.

It’s a work in progress; I feel like the basement could be better organized and the upstairs still doesn’t feel very ‘homey,’ whether it’s decorated or not. Maybe once Andrew actually unpacked his clothes it will…

the rental

My latest Eat This column is up! Winter Squash 🙂 I included two of my favorite recipes; both for butternut squash. I used Ina’s roasted squash recipe, which is great as a side dish or as a first-step for using squash in other recipes, like a salad or soup. I chose Foster’s Market’s butternut squash soup recipe because it’s one of the only ones I’ve made that isn’t overly sweet or curried, which are probably the most common types of butternut squash soup.

And now, without further ado, is the REAL point of this post…

Here it is folks, the house we’ll be renting for at least the next six months, if not longer.

While renting certainly wasn’t our first choice (hello, moving TWICE), this house is truly a blessing in so many ways. In fact, we weren’t even looking for it; a friend from the hotel took a wrong turn on their way to dinner one night, drove by and wrote the address down for us.

I grow more convinced every day that God has a special plan for Andrew and me in terms of our housing arrangement, and I know that this is just part of it. I said before that renting wasn’t our first choice; I’ll just come right out and say that until a couple weeks ago, I didn’t want to rent AT ALL. I DID NOT want to move twice. I didn’t want to give up on finding a house at the 11th hour. But, in the end, I truly think God had to bring us to this point–all the anxiety and disappointment and losing that ‘perfect’ house and now renting–so that we would truly surrender ourselves (and our desires) to Him and His plan. It’s been a looooooong summer, full of activity and “noise,” and I think we’re finally ready to “be still and wait.”

Countdown to move-in: 10 days!

It may not be much to look at on the outside (it’s in a super cute part of the Orchard Park village, but it’s definitely missing the TLC that only a homeowner can give), it has three bedrooms and a big, dry basement–which is important since much of our stuff will be down there!

Here’s our “short list” of things we’re looking forward to:

-a REAL trash can: just the other day Andrew was rhapsodizing (literally, with gestures and everything) about our big stainless steel can with the foot-operated lid

-a kitchen! the baking bug has bitten HARD and I cannot wait to get back into the kitchen with all my gear and cookbooks and go to town… Too many recipes have gone unmade this summer!

-having enough room that I’m not (literally) tripping over the dog every time I turn around

-our coffeemaker–the hotel coffee may be free, but it isn’t that good

-NOT having to change out of my pj’s to have my morning coffee or let the dog out

-Hadrian NOT barking at every passing person outside our door or hotel window

-Hadrian NOT barking at housekeeping EVERY DAY

-a desk for studying

-a door to SHUT while studying

-being only five minutes away from East Aurora, instead of 25

-did I mention the cats? We can have them back, too. (I’ve all but forgotten we own cats at this point….)

Yay for my “off” day! I love Tuesdays, but they often get booked-up with lunch or coffee dates and various errands. Today, my coffee date had to reschedule and Andrew is out of town, so I have the ENTIRE day (and night!) to get ahead on schoolwork, organize details for the move and other various ‘tasks.’ First up: the gym!

still blue

Actually, I’m wearing blue today. How appropriate. Except that most of my wardrobe IS navy blue, so I guess it isn’t so coincidental…

I wish I could say things looked better in the morning. They don’t. Not one bit.

In fact, they look worse. I had thought we were completely at the end of our rope a week ago, before we found the house. We were depressed, hopeless, upset, discourages and fatigued with the house-hunt. And then we saw ‘our house.’ Now, it feels like the bottom has dropped out from under us–not only do we have no prospects for a house; we’re faced with an ever-hastening deadline and fewer new houses on the market. We don’t know what in the world to do.

But God isn’t in the business of giving us every little thing our hearts ‘desire.’ All He promises is His love, and all He wants is our joy. And that thought has been going through my mind since yesterday morning, BEFORE we found out we didn’t get the house. Go figure.

And after doing my first day of my new Beth Moore study, Living Beyond Yourself: The Fruits of the Spirit, this morning, in which it talked about Paul getting stoned and Christian martyrs all over the world, I got a little perspective.

Are we still terribly disappointed and completely unsure of what to do next? Certainly. But I am trying, desperately, to keep my chin up look on the bright side. We are happy, healthy and we will be taken care of. We will figure something out. God WILL open a door.

And I’m trying NOT to analyze it. It’s such a trap to fall into… Maybe we weren’t supposed to spend that much, maybe something better (my pessimistic side says that’s doubtful) is just around the corner, maybe we have to move in with Andrew’s parents for a month and we’ll all grow spiritually and emotionally because of it and we won’t know it until five years later… I don’t know! And we can’t really know for sure.

All we know is that (as my wise, WISE friend Emily Wilhelm says), God has us exactly where he wants us. (I love her. Her words of wisdom are often just what I need to hear in times like this.)

We are so thankful for all your prayers (here’s a special shout-out to the Simones, Wilhelms, grandma and both sets of parents) and well-wishes. We love you all so much.

In other news, I treated myself to half a blueberry bagel and cream cheese for breakfast this morning. I LOVE blueberry bagels with plain cream cheese. (Unfortunately, the hotel bagels leave a little to be desired, but it was something.)