Finishing touches.

We moved seven months ago. The time has flown by. I can't believe it has been that long. When we first moved in I was two and a half months away from having Gregory and knew I had to work quickly to get things set up before he was born. Especially because I was having a home birth I knew it was going to drive me nuts to be in the midst of unpacked boxes and chaos! For the most part I was able to set the majority of the house up. The bedrooms were another story though. After moving things around many times trying to find the best way to fit in furniture and give the kids the most play room, I think I am finally done. I wish I would have taken before photos but oh well. I still have a few ideas for decorations in the girls room but that will have to come from future garage sale finds. Calvin's room has a couple of sports pictures that need to be hung and Gregory's crib still needs to make it in there. All in all, the rooms look done. They have been organized and decorated and it feels good to be done! Next I need to start in on our bedroom. I have grand plans to paint all of the furniture and teach myself to reupholster! Hopefully that doesn't take me another seven months!

 

Almost everything in both the boys room and girls room was free stuff passed a long or found. I purchased a couple little things from Target for a few bucks each like the shelf, trash can and sports pictures for the boys room. All of the girls room furniture was free too, by way of hand me downs or pulling over on the side of the road when I saw a free sign and what not. It was fun to pull it all together. I am excited to go out and see what else I can find to pull of the finishing touches in the girls room. It is very feminine and soft so I hope to find other things that compliment that. Which leads me to garage sales. I love them! I figure I will be able to find what I need to finish all of the bedrooms if I am patient enough.  

 While out at garage sales recently, I found something that I have been waiting almost SEVEN years for! And, I actually found two of them! I love how adorable and functional the Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags are. I have admired them from afar for so long. I could never bring my self to buy one as they are priced at upwards of $160.00!!! But, I happened upon one for $25.00 in excellent condition! I couldn't pass it up! Then, a couple of weeks later much to my total shock, I found another one in excellent condition for only $10.00!!! My friend Jess had asked me to keep my eyes out for one for her on the off chance that I would spot one again. I couldn't believe that I did! My point in telling you all of this is simply that you should check garage sales for everything! I bet you would be shocked at what you could find. I love going to the neighborhoods where houses are a bit pricier than usual. It seems you tend to find really great stuff at a cheap price when the houses are in the over a million range. Seems silly I know, but it's true!

Tuesdays

Every Tuesday begins with recovery from the weekend. Steven's weekend from work is Sunday and Monday, and it is always jam-packed. I go back and forth about whether or not this is a good thing. I always end up on the side of it being good. We fill the weekend with family events and meals shared with others. Monday night always ends with a great night at home group and dear friends staying late for conversation, dessert, prayer, encouragement and fun! Anyway, as a result of our weekend I always wake up on Tuesdays extra sleepy. I have come to love our Tuesdays (sort of). I have low expectations and yet we still accomplish a ton. Typically one would find us still in our pajamas in the afternoon. We start in on the gigantic pile of laundry that has piled up over the week. School work starts up again. Tuesdays mornings are often accompanied by a kid movie. Things are mellow. It seems as though even the dogs know it's a laid back day as they lounge around the house frequently napping. I begin to de-clutter some of the paper pile up from the previous week and attempt to finish the dishes from the night before. I realized that if I don't get a handle on the dishes by Tuesday morning there is no hope for catch up the rest of the week. Some weeks I win, some weeks the dishes do.
Another typical Tuesday ritual is my unfortunate inability to resist the amazing left over dessert from home group. Angela spoils us each week with a new delicious dessert and I typically cant resist! I always beg her to take the leftovers home knowing that I will not be able to fight the temptation. She never does though and so I enjoy them with a cup of coffee or two.
I have been learning a lot about expectations, and Tuesdays seem to foster more growth their. Difficult things or circumstances can do that to you. I realized that when one fights against the difficulties, one usually doesn't grow much. In fact, I believe ones growth may be stunted. So this "one" has been learning to, for lack of a better cliche, "go with the flow". I think it is hilarious that all those times my parents were telling me that they are older and wiser and some day I will see things differently, they were right! That lesson has been learned so frequently as the years have gone by now. It has me often pondering what opinions that I hold so dear to now, I will actually be laughing at ten years from now. I am at least glad I realize that I am not too wise yet and I will always have more to learn.
So, here's to Tuesdays! Dreaded and desired all in one. Is that even possible? It seems to be.