Time to Get Back to Work

Yesterday was Mother's Day. My first Mother's Day. It was also the anniversary of when we moved into our home. Three years, we have been in this house for three years. In that time I have only gotten two rooms fully redone. At this rate the house will be the way I want it about the same time we pay it off. It isn't that I don't have plans. I have plans for each and every room and outside. I even have plans for it we are ever able to add on to the house like we hope to do someday. Plans ain't the problem. Time, motivation, and money seem to be what stands in my way.

Since finding out last summer that we had our first baby on the way, I knew that the nursery would have to be the next room to get done. On December 31st I posted Step #1 of getting the room done. (You can find that post here.) I got started on the room.......then we had a surprise five week early arrival. The early arrival was followed by a twelve day stay in the NICU. Then the reality of not being able to get anything done with a newborn set in. Now that our baby girl is almost four months old it is getting slightly easier to get some things done. She isn't in her room yet though, which is good. You'll know why it is a good thing when you see the pictures of the current condition of the room. She will be moving out of our room and into her room when she is six months old, so it is time to get back to work!

The cats think the spare bed is their bed. (Notice all the sock monkeys, that will be the theme and color scheme.)

We cleared out clutter......and need to clear out clutter again. 

Partially scraped wallpaper. It is a long and not very fun job. 

Lovely Adult Coloring -- book review

In case you haven’t noticed, a newish trend is adult coloring books or coloring pages. (Side note: they couldn’t come up with a better name than “adult coloring?”) Now, I was aware of this trend for a while before I actually tried some of the adult coloring. This past Christmas my husband got me two of these coloring books. That is the first time that I had tried them. Now I liked the idea of them, but I wasn’t sure if I would actually find them enjoyable. Turns out, I did. I think they are quite relaxing and more enjoyable than using a child’s coloring book because they are more complex.

Whateveris Lovely is an adult coloring book that has some aspects that make it stand out from some of the others. It was created for the purpose of devotion, worship, or meditation on God or God’s Word. Each picture is based on a verse, quote, poem, or hymn. The back of each picture has the full piece that the picture was based on and a little blurb about the author. Water Brook Press has also created a Spotify playlist to accompany the book. That is more than your average adult coloring book does. Another thing that sets this book apart is that the coloring pages are created by a variety of artists. Because of this there is a variety of styles of work throughout the book. One down side that I think this book has is that the pages are not perforated, so you can’t tear them out and use them for art.

So, who would Whatever is Lovely appeal to? In my opinion people who have an artistic side would enjoy it. Someone who is looking for something different to use a devotional could find it useful. I think that it would appeal to both the young and the old. This would make a fun gift for a wide variety of people, or just something to purchase for yourself.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Here two of the pages that I have colored so far. (Sorry about the not so great photo quality. I just snapped the pictures real quick right before posting this.)

Apartment Therapy -- book review

The newest book from the creators of the very popular website www.apartmenttherapy.com, is Apartment Therapy Complete + Happy Home. If you are a frequent browser of Pinterest, then you have most likely either heard of Apartment Therapy or at least seen a pin from the website. This book takes a lot of decorative and home advice from their website and compiles it into a well organized book. The book itself is somewhere between a coffee table book and a reference guide. It is comprised of three main sections: general setting up of a home advice and how to, a closer look at each room of a home, and some cleaning, maintenance, and organizing how to points. The entire book is stuffed full of a ton of pictures from real homes with a wide variety of styles.

 When I first received this book I initially thought that I would enjoy it simply for being able to browse through all the pictures and get some ideas that could be used in my own home. It did not disappoint at all on that point. Now, of course not every style of home in the book will appeal to everyone, but there is such variety that I don’t know how you could not find something that you like. What I did not expect it how much I would enjoy reading every page of style tips, advice, and general information. That part of the book stood its ground for being just as interesting as every page of pictures.

This book would be great for someone who in general is into home decorating, just moved into their own home or apartment, or just dreams of the day that they have their own place to do with whatever they want. I spend time probably everyday thinking about rooms in my own home that have stuff that need to be done; so much from this book can be implemented into those ideas.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Baby Room Redo - Step #1

With less that two months until Baby Geurs arrives, it is time to get going on the Baby's room. I have had plans for the room since finding out the gender. Having the time, motivation, and energy to work on the room has been the issue. So, now I begin.

First off, the room still had several boxes of random stuff that we just put in there when we moved into the house cause we didn't know what to do with them. And there they stayed for two plus years. We have also accumulated other random item in the room along the way. To begin the process we had to move all that stuff out of the room. That meant sorting, throwing away stuff, donating stuff, and moving stuff to the attic, basement, or other rooms. Not a fun process. We got it done though. Here are some before photos that I snapped quickly to show how the room started out. Note that at this point a lot of the extra stuff had been removed and some baby stuff had been moved in.

Not real exciting photos, but you can see that there is some work to be done. I have started removing the wallpaper. Not an exciting job, but it has to be done if the room is going to be painted. The old wallpaper (like much of the rest of the house) was in terrible condition and was ripped and coming off in several spots. Not to mention there are three layers of wallpaper and three borders on the wall. I have not idea what these people were thinking when they just kept layering it on. 

Stay tuned for updates as the work progresses. Step two is to remove all the wallpaper and paint the room and ceiling. 

Sleep for Little Ones -- book review

Lisa Tawn Bergren has a series of books for young children that all begin with; “God Gave Us …” The latest in the series is God Gave Us Sleep. I’m sure that the other books in her series are cute, enjoyable, fun reads for a little one. I haven’t actually read any of the other books though. This was the first one that I have had the opportunity to read. After reading God Gave Us Sleep, I wouldn’t hesitate to read or recommend Bergren’s other children’s books. As a child, I was a reader, and I enjoyed being read to as well. I have read many children’s books during my life, and I can’t wait to get to read this book to my child someday. (First baby on the way.)

An aspect of God Gave Us Sleep that is so charming is the artwork. Laura J. Bryant has created these adorable pictures that I can imagine any child loving. Who wouldn’t love a super cute cub and all of her arctic friends? The art is beautifully done on every single page, giving the child plenty of pictures to look at while reading the story. These pictures help to make the story come alive.

Bergren does a great job of not just making this a book about bedtime, an often stressful and tiring time for parents. She includes why it is important to get sleep, what happens if you don’t get the needed sleep, and things that can seem scary about sleep to a child. In my opinion this adds depth to the book that can be appreciated not just by kids, but by their parents too. For me, a mark of a good children’s book is one that a parent wouldn’t mind having to read multiple times to their child. This book falls into that category for me.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

From Trash Burner to Fire Pit

Last weekend the weather was nice; and Gerrit and myself both had the weekend off. That doesn't happen very often. We made plans to tackle some outside work over the weekend and I am sure glad we did. A little rain got in our way and slowed us down, so we didn't accomplish as much as we wanted. We did get the gutters cleaned out, oh yeah that is never a fun job. We also demolished the old brick trash burner that was in the middle of our yard and  replaced it with a fire pit. That was a more fun project cause we have been wanting to do that since about last summer.

Here is what the old brick trash burner looked like. (Old picture from when we first bought our house.)

The trash burner was still usable, but some of the bricks were starting to come loose or cave in. And honestly we didn't use it very often. Maybe a few times in the spring or fall to burn sticks and leaves. We don't burn our trash, so we didn't need it for that. 

Gerrit was given a sledge hammer by one of our friends. I guess those are the kinds of gifts men exchange. So, before I was even ready and outside to work, he had to whole things down. It came apart pretty easily and quickly. 

Next we had to pick up all that brick. This was the part that took the longest. We loaded it all in the back of the truck, then unloaded it around some pine trees on the side of the yard so it is out of the way. 

When it was all cleaned up, we were left with a square cement slab that was the foundation of the trash burner. We left that in place and decided it would be easiest to put a pre-made fire pit on top of it. We did discover that under the cement slab there is actually a large hole that has cement sides. This is such a mystery as to what that was there for. We did check it for bodies though, all clear. We had some cement landscaping pavers that we were not using. We actually picked those up for free from someone's house on a Sunday after church. It took me a few minutes and a few tries of how to lay them out, but I figured out something that would work and give a nice edge around the cement. The extra space on the one side of where the fire pit isn't can be used to stack the wood that is waiting to be burned. 

Then we were off to Rural King to get some rock to fill in the empty part and get a fire pit. And then the rain came, and the work stopped until the next day. The next day I used three bags of black lava rock to fill in the space. Some of the cement slab was uneven, so I wedged some rock pieces under the pavers to keep them steady. We assembled the fire pit. Then we were done. 

The spot looks so much better and more up to date without the trash burner.

We were proud of our work. Not to mention the payoff looked something like this. 

It's Good to Be Queen -- book review

In Liz Curtis Higgs’s latest book she dives into the life of the Queen of Sheba. The basis for the book is taken from 1 Kings 10:1-13. Liz is a seasoned author, and she knows how to do her research. Not only do you have the Scriptural basis, but there is a fair amount of other resources and information that she sites as well. All of that along with her personal stories, input from other women, and a dab of storytelling make for an interesting and quick read in It’s Good to Be Queen.

I don’t think that I would generally pick a book about the Queen of Sheba for my reading material usually, but being familiar with some of Higgs other works I figured it would be good. She did not disappoint. I know about the Queen of Sheba from the few Bible passages that she is mentioned in. I also have heard some historical information and some speculated stuff about her. Even with the knowledge that I already had of her, I felt that Liz did a great job of really diving into who the Queen of Sheba was in a fresh new way that made me look at her in a different way.

The book itself is broken down into ten different chapters that each focus on a portion of Scripture from 1 Kings 10, and what lesson or insight we can draw from that. This book covers a lot of subtopics. The story of Sheba ties it all together though, so it works. The way that the book is set up it would be great to use in a woman’s Bible study, Sunday school, or book club. Liz even includes a study guide in the back of the book. There is actually one that is meant for a one time discussion of the book; a book club setting. One that is broken up into 10 sections, one for each chapter of the book; a woman’s group or Sunday school setting. Now, of course you can also use the study guide for yourself to getting thinking about the reading a little more.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.