Recycled Window

Yesterday I showed the window I was working on. I got this window from my uncle a few months ago in exchange for a few hours of painting in his shop. I may paint it one day when I want to do something different with it, but I like the way it looks for now. I just took a few days to sand it and use a razor blade to get as much of the old paint off. My aunt has a much larger one hanging on her porch, so I thought I'd start out small to fit our house. I snapped a photo of another window in a pool store this past spring to keep for inspiration. Yesterday my wonderful husband helped me hang our window with some simple tools: a drill, 2 chains, 2 ceiling hooks and 2 screw eyes. For Halloween I'm going to drape pumpkin lights around it and of course, white lights and possibly garland for the Christmas season! Oh, and maybe even some spray on snow!

My inspiration photo - Maybe one day we'll have a nice patio too!

Hawke Wedding

Over the weekend JM and I traveled to Georgia to celebrate our friends Kyle and Kahlin's wedding!
What an awesome weekend. 

Great friends. 

Great wedding. 

Great weather!

Kyle made a lot of her wedding decor by hand - including her hair accessory!

It was a beautiful garden wedding on a sunny fall and cloudless day. 

Baby Fever

via

It's difficult being a newlywed.
Everyone's always throwing the question:
When will you have babies?
And not to mention everyone we know it seems is having babies or pregnant.
Three of of my sisters are pregnant.
We definitely aren't ready for babies anytime soon - unless God wills it.
But it's exciting to talk about.
It's weird to think that we will have littles that look like us.
And hopefully some that don't.
I know my husband is going to be an awesome daddy.
One day.
But for now, we will celebrate everyone else's babies.
We will continue to be the best Uncle JM and Aunt Rae Rae we can possibly be.

Three Cups of Tea

Yesterday I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea. It's a beautiful story of Greg Mortenson's adventures in building schools in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. He did not plan on building schools, but while getting lost after his failed attempt on K2, he found himself in a remote village in the hills of Pakistan. 

My degree is in Intercultural Studies. I usually have to explain it to most people, but it involves problem solving and researching case studies for being a relevant missionary in a cross-cultural setting. Though Greg's work was not a Christian missionary endeavor, stories like his fire me up for what I love to do: serve people and build peaceful and meaningful relationships.

I find that the concept of this title seems somewhat lost here in the US. Sure, we love to grab coffee (or tea) and get to know someone at a trendy cafe, but this is different. How often do we invite someone into our home the first time we meet? What if the house messy and you didn't plan for anyone to come over? Would you offer someone your best wine or meal or dessert - the best of anything that you had? For this rural village, they offered Greg, a foreigner, their finest tea. 

Mortenson explains that sharing three cups of tea is a literal way of business and interaction for Pakistanis (and many other cultures). Just imagine how long it takes to drink three cups of tea. You really have to spend time with that person: getting to know him and building trust with him. When Greg first saw the children of the village without a school to go to, he decided he was going to find a way to build them one. Oftentimes, when we see people that seem like they're in need, we assume we know what's best for them--like in Mortenson's case, he wanted to build a school. But after spending time and drinking tea with the elders, he found out what they really needed first was a bridge.

A large part of being good at cross-cultural communication or any communication for that matter involves LISTENING. I believe we learn so much more when we listen! Sit down, have tea, be engaged! Before we ignorantly make assumptions or cast judgement, take the time to get to know people and understand where they come from. 

Yea, so it may be a few years old, but there is so much this book has to offer - especially in dealing with: communication, culture, culture shock, international travel, media, following your dreams, perseverance, making a difference, etc. 

Let's drink tea together!

He & Her

JM and I got to spend our Monday on a date thanks to Sir Columbus.

Finding Fall

We had the lovely opportunity to go to the Shenandoah Mountains over the weekend.

We did the same for Memorial weekend as well.

This time we decided to stay only Friday night so we could get back for a 20-something age group on Sunday after Church.

If you notice in the photo reel, we have no tent on our campsite.

We arrived Friday evening to set up camp.

JM pulled out our box of camping supplies and had a strange look on his face.

I knew that look and what it meant.

There's about to be a pause, an explanation and plenty of laughter to follow.

It has taken me a while to get to the laughter point so soon,

but the longer I am with JM, the more I am prepared for the unexpected!

I used to get mad - usually quite angry when this kind of stuff would happen.

"Well," I said: "we don't have a tent do we?"

And we both looked at each other and laughed.

I was going to ask him all the checklist questions when we were leaving,

but I also don't want to always check up on him.

We knew there was no rain in the forecast so we had the rain fly - that JM had mistaken for a tent -

and used it to lay on for the night.

It was an awesome night.

We watched the sun set, ate a taco dinner and sat by the fire for hours.

We ate graham crackers and chocolate for dessert because I forgot the marshmallows.

The moon was bright when we went to bed 

but early into the morning it went behind us and we were able to see so many stars huddled above us.

The sky was covered in Milky Way Galaxy goodness!

Although we were a little early for prime foliage, there were enough leaves that changed to capture some lovely fall images on our Saturday morning hike.

After some photo-ops and a picnic lunch on an overlook,

we headed to Charlottesville, VA to spend the afternoon walking around and people-watching.

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

Open Hands

Yesterday I couldn't help but think about the concept of open hands.

Not only are they ready to receive, 

But more importantly they are ready to give.

They show a willingness to surrender.
They invoke vulnerability.

Open hands value life and soak it in.

When we live with open hands, 

I believe that our hearts are ready for anything.

Sometimes it's easy to close ourselves off

And not ask for anything and to pretend we aren't in need.

But when we live with open hands

We are sensitive to the needs of others

And the Lord is sensitive to our needs as well.

It's a blessing to live with open hands.

"Give to him [your poor brother], and don't have a stingy heart [let not your heart be grudging] when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do [you put your hand to]. For there will never cease to be poor people in the land; that is why I am commanding you, 'You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land'." 

Deuteronomy 15:10,11

Just remember, people don't have to be visibly "poor" in order for us to give. 

Like I said, we are people in need of many things - big or small. 

When we have open hands we are reaching out in so many ways. 

God promises to bless us for it. 

But it's impossible to give with the right heart if it's a burden to give.

If we aren't giving, it's impossible for our hands to be open. 

And if our hands aren't open, we aren't living in freedom.

Roadside "Gem"

My husband and I were running some errands when we found this gem ready for pickup.

Oh yeah, for trash pickup! Ahh!

We went home to switch cars and get our "SUV"

Something we are also currently working on restoring!

That's another story for another day.

Anyway, this lovely sofa fit right in.

When we got it home, I vacuumed it out and wondered, 

"how am I going to make this beautiful again?"

What it really needs is to be re-upholstered.

But for now I'm doing my best to just clean it.

Lots of cleaning.

You can't tell from a distance, but it has little stains all over it.

I brightened the photos so you could see how icky the stains are.

I spent 2 days working on it.

Spraying. Vacuuming. Scrubbing.

I know that it's clean now.

After lots of Lysol furniture spray, steaming and scrubbing with upholstery cleaner,

I took a soft dish washing brush and a bucket of water with laundry detergent 

and a splash of simple green home cleaner and scrubbed the mess [literally] out of it.

Let it bake in the sun.

Took the cushion cover and soaked and washed it in hot HOT water

and finished it all off with more Lysol and vacuuming.

Ahh! A nice little sofa.

Now we just need a throw and some pillows and it will look new lovely.

I did all this while my husband was working on a paper and he didn't even notice that I changed

the entire living room and sun room around to make it fit.

He finished his paper and said: "Did the movers come? How did you do this by yourself?"

I get it from my mom and her mom. We like to move furniture when we want it moved 

and rarely ask for help.

I'll post a picture when it's completely up to par... like I said, it needs some accessories.

Heart Cry

I've been mulling over the idea for a long time:

My heart yearns to give.

To help. 

To share.

To be a part of something beyond myself.

I've been searching for the "right" place.

Something that just pulls on my heart.

There are so many organizations out there these days, which is phenomenal - 

but some, I'm not sure if I trust.

I had a lovely talk with my beautiful friend Delilah a few weeks ago.

We brought ourselves from tears to laughter in conversation.

I told her how I'm having a hard time being at home and without a job.

How I'm so ready to just be a part of something.

And she really spoke to me in such simplicity.

“Neighbors.”

Serving those next door.

We have several neighbors on our street that I'm just getting to know.

But there's one particular lady: Maxine.

John Mark and I run by her house all the time.

We began by waving, chatting, etc.

One day I just really wanted to give her cookies.

I brought them over and she let me in.

It has definitely opened our opportunity to get to know her.

It's crazy how when we take small steps, God opens small doors.

We are slowly getting to know Mrs. Maxine.

A recent widow. An artist. A gardener.

We are excited to continue to get to know and to serve her.

Just a little reminder of those small things we can be a part of.

I trust the God has BIG plans for JM and I.

My heart rejoices when I can serve.

When I can share God's love and hope.

But on those days when I can't be a part of something big, there's always something small -

that may in fact be big for someone else.