I don’t think there is any doubt we’ll have a white Christmas this year. It’s snowing again as I type…but it’s gorgeous outside! I made some pumpkin gingerbread a few hours ago and walked some over to mom and dad’s house; the snow was gently falling and it wasn’t very cold at all. There were quite a few people out walking, as a matter of fact. When I came back, I took this picture from our porch; minus the power lines, isn’t it peaceful? You can’t see the snow, but it’s there, alright.

I like this one too, with the lights in the porch off:

Handy thing, living across the street from church!

Right now I’m bundled under a blanket on our couch. I thought I’d give you a small snapshot of this place-no big before and afters, yet, but I’ve painted the mantel and brick surround on our fireplace and put the tree up. The photo is just a glimpse-our tv is now above the mantle, but until Erick installs our cord keeper to hide those ugly cords dangling away, no full-size view! It’s hard enough for me to look at!

Have a wonderful week! And don’t forget about the upcoming fun happening here, and the difference you can help make by donating to Project 320!

]]> http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/white-christmas/feed/ 2 Jennifer DSCN3252 DSCN3254 DSCN3245 http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/picnik/ http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/picnik/#comments Sun, 13 Dec 2009 03:47:02 +0000 Jennifer http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/?p=1410 ]]>

Hey y’all…I just discovered Picnik, and am having way too much fun…while I should be sleeping (yet again). Just cropped and black and whited my boys; it’s some pretty great photo editing software if you don’t have any on your computer. Very easy to use, too!

Cuties, huh? Makes me want to go wake them up and hug ‘em to pieces.

It’s official-we’ve met with our realtor and the house should be on the market by Monday! Finally! Actually, it sounds funny that I’m saying “finally!” when we purchased this place just last year. Good grief.

Anyway, I was browsing through some old photos last night and thought it would be fun to do a before and after post. Erick took some new pictures after work last week. My word, the memories! This might be a lengthy post, but it will mainly be pictures. So here ya go:

The Kitchen:

Before!

The eat-in area of the kitchen

I had planned on painting the cabinets, adding subway tile for the backsplash, and an open shelf underneath the cabinets. Oh, and crown molding. And new barstools. Ha. But we had to stop somewhere! We do still have to add the kickboards underneath the cabinets.

We added a half wall between the kitchen and living room. I had planned to have built in seating with a pedestal table.

The Living Room:

Before...

Check out this crew of scrapers! And all those layers...I still have dreams about scraping layer after layer...

After Number One

After Number 2 (taken from the kitchen)

The Bathroom. This one was pretty awful to begin with.

eek. We layed new tile, among about 15 other changes in this room.

The wall was half missing, and there was a *fantastic* drop ceiling. Which we scrapped. Immediately.

After

funky shadow, I know.

Our bedroom:

yeah, even came with a dresser half way in the closet!

scraping cat pee filled carpet. awesome!

no more layers of wallpaper, no more cat pee carpet!

The Boy’s Room:

The very last layer of wallpaper in here was nursery-themed. For all of the work involved in starting from the beginning, it was actually fun to see the "history", you know?

We actually started on this room after we moved out, so we gave it a good ol' coat of white paint.

Downstairs Room Number One:

Filled with junk when we moved in...unfortunately unusable junk!

this was going to be my craft room...ahhh...a space of my own! We pulled up the carpet and put new flooring down in here, also.

There is also one other room across from this one, but Erick didn’t get any “afters” of it. It almost mirrors the room above, but the paint scheme is different.

Anyway, that gives you a glimpse of almost everything we overhauled.

And this will give you a glimpse of the market situation these day.

The owners before us purchased the house for $135,000.

We are listing it at $89,900.

Ahhhhh!

But God is Good. And Big. And will give us what we need, when we need it. Of that we are sure!

]]> http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/before-and-afters/feed/ 5 Jennifer Picture 12 Picture 13 104_5662 dexterhouse 010 Picture 3 Picture 2 100_6251 100_6252 100_6255 Picture 10 Picture 15 104_5675 100_6532 Picture 7 100_6256 Picture 11 104_5678 Picture 16 http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/book-review-number-two/ http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/book-review-number-two/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:16:32 +0000 Jennifer http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/?p=1371 ]]>

It’s snowy outside. We had a humdinger of a storm today! It’s 10:30pm, and I just heard a snowplow drive by. Will there be school tomorrow? Here I sit (or lay, tucked under the covers) tempting fate by staying up late thinking there might be a delay tomorrow. And that Erick might be around to help me take care of boys who don’t care that there might be a delay tomorrow, they’ll be up at the crack of dawn anyway. Sigh. We even put them to bed early tonight, which doesn’t bode well. Heck, it doesn’t matter if they go to bed 3 hours late; they are still up with the sun! But this is about a book review, right? I’m getting off track.

The latest package to grace my doorstep actually made me laugh right out loud. WaterBrook Multnomah’s offering this time around was in the form of a “grab bag” of sorts…you say “yes, I’ll take it!” not really knowing for sure what you are going to get. And the first book I took a peek at was this:

How to Act Right When Your Spouse Acts Wrong. Ha! First thought? “I have to explain to Erick right away that I didn’t request this book. It was simply luck of the draw, honey, I promise!!”

And honestly, I wasn’t really looking forward to delving into it, because Erick and I are at a very, very good place in our marriage. We always really have been, and even though he isn’t a saint (nor am I) Erick is honestly my dream come true. If I ever passed this book at the store, I would think “I’m glad I’m not in need of that book!”

And I like to read books that I want to read…but I’d said yes to the grab bag deal, so there you go. I started to flip through the book…and was captivated! Honestly! From the title I was hoping it wasn’t going to be about “turning the other cheek no matter what”, and it wasn’t. It definitely was about doing the right thing when you really didn’t feel like it, but that absolutely included giving tough love when the spouse was really out of line.

Not being a doormat. That’s good.

It actually made *me* want to be a better spouse. It was full of examples of real life couples (we all like those, right?) and I think that was one of my personal draws. I do love me some examples. And y’all, relationships can be salvaged even when they have gotten very, very messy. There IS hope, even when it feels like there isn’t.
Erick and I help to facilitate a Marriage Course at our church, and I will absolutely be adding this to the collection of books that we loan out to couples.

The second book I received was this:

What better book to receive than at a time like this, right? It was a very quick read; just sat down on my bed one afternoon and breezed right through it. It did have good examples…and one of the areas that I appreciated most about it was the beginning of the book, where Mr. Martin stressed having a budget, paying down debt, starting an emergency fund-he even gave Dave Ramsey some kudos which was excellent, because I’m a Ramsey fan myself. No better way than to find extra income than to start by really taking stock of where your money goes. But he did throw in some good ideas in regards to second jobs, and jobs from home. Many I’d heard of, a few I’d never considered before. I’d say it’s well worth the read, especially if you’ve never really taken stock of your finances-it gives some bite-sized advice to get you started on the right path.

Time to turn this computer off and tuck in for the night. And pray for a delay in the morning.

]]> http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/book-review-number-two/feed/ 1 Jennifer Picture 7 Picture 2 http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/the-gift-of-water/ http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/the-gift-of-water/#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:31:35 +0000 Jennifer http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/?p=1361 ]]>

I decided to take part in Blue Monday again so I could spread the word, and what luck-this link is blue!

This idea was born in the mind of Julie over at Joy’s Hope; she is such an inspiration! In short, she decided that she not only wanted to give 10 dollars here and there to help fund wells for clean water, but she wanted to raise the full $5000 to actually build one! In order to reach that goal, she and some other incredible bloggers are putting together a raffle of sorts; donate 10 dollars to the cause, and get entered to win some wonderful crafty things. I’m excited, and I hope you are, so please spread the word!

And Happy Monday!

I’ve had fun lately…receiving wonderful little packages in the mail! Packages containing books. I just received a new one a few minutes ago-what a delight to see this particular manila envelope arrive in my mail slot!

A bit ago I signed up to start reviewing books for WaterBrook Multnomah, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled with the first round of books I received, so I am more than delighted to give my opinion of them.

The first book is called Treasured and is authored by Leigh McLeroy:

Leigh, will you be my friend? Can you just hop on a plane and come visit me? Or vice versa? I could come visit you!

I adored this book. I have to say that I probably wouldn’t of chosen this book of my own accord, because I very often read fiction. Oh, but I enjoyed this book so much! Leigh picked out a few things that God, if He had a “treasure box”, might keep around. You know the things that you have collected all of your life, that are meaningful and have wonderful little stories attached to them? It’s the same idea, but of course God’s treasures are found in his Word, and tell of the most precious things to Him…which are his children. You and me. What I very much enjoyed about this book was the love I felt; that of God for me, but also snippets of Leigh’s personal stories. Of her life, and love, and struggles. She is so completely open and genuine and real that I immediately felt as though I’d love to get to know her in person. I wouldn’t hesitate one iota in recommending this book to anyone at all.

I also, as a HUGE bonus, received these two books:

and

God Gave Us Christmas and God Gave Us Love, by Lisa Tawn Bergren, are just what I didn’t know that I needed for the boys. I’ve wanted so very much to impress upon them the ultimate story of Christmas-that it isn’t all about Santa and presents (although those ARE fun aspects!!) but that it is about Jesus. In God Gave Us Christmas, Little Cub’s mom takes her on a journey looking for God, and they find him exactly where I find Him; in His glorious nature. There is evidence of God’s love for us everywhere if you just look around! Santa absolutely symbolizes generosity, but the greatest gift of all is Jesus. The story is very easy to understand, and Jack especially enjoys it-asks for it every night!

God Gave Us Love is a spectacular description of “love”. All kinds of love-the kind that parents share, the kind between siblings, the kind you share for your friends, and the kind that God has for us. The unfailing kind-He loves us no matter what (and I personally can’t hear, or read, that enough!) While the books are certainly geared towards the younger crowd, I appreciated their messages immensely and am truly delighted that we now have them on our bookshelf (or more often than not, right by the bed because they have been read so many nights in a row!)

One blog tour down, many to go! What a job, huh?

So…which kind of pie is your favorite?

is anybody looking?

Jack's face *almost* made it all the way to the pie. Luckily we just ended up with a few finger pokes.

The boys definitely opted for chocolate.  It’s hard to say for me, but pecan just about edges ahead of the rest.  Although Erick hit a home run with the apple, and yesterday I almost put myself in a sugar coma eating the rest of it.  It was so. good.  All in all I just rotated through the 4 for the last few days!

I, for the most part, had an “unplugged”, lovely week with the family, and I’m already looking forward to Christmas break when Erick has 2 weeks off.  Yipee!  It’s been so good to have Daddy and Papa off from work; we’ve both been able to knock out quite a few projects at home.

I love Thanksgiving because of what it symbolizes, but lately I’ve been living day to day in “Thanksgiving” mode anyway.  I’m so incredibly grateful for everything God has blessed us with.  Not only the good…but the bad and the ugly too!  There is a reason for everything-I truly believe that.  Oddball stuff that has come my way has only made me into the person that I am, and need to be.

(But is there a good reason why my children are currently raising ruckus in their bedroom while they should be napping?  For the 3rd afternoon in a row? Will something good actually come out of this?  Maybe I better eat my words! )

I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!

Dad took this picture of the Kennebec River last weekend. We love Maine Fog.

Today is a little bit like the picture above; foggy and cool. Mom and dad invited us over this morning for a breakfast of biscuits from scratch, bacon and eggs; hot coffee, a fire in the woodstove, and a James Taylor Christmas Album in the stereo. What a start to the day!

Yesterday was stunning; the weather was beautiful so mom and I took off to Portland. It was a no-jacket kind of day, especially on the waterfront. Sunny and warm! Stores were keeping their doors open to let the sunshine in. And…I shopped! It’s rare that I shop, especially since Erick teaches and I’m a stay at home mom. We are pretty frugal around this place and are VERY anti-debt, thus no credit card purchases…we like to save up and wait awhile for what we want. However, I’ve been saving money aside from income tax refunds for a good long while, and I was able to not only order a loveseat for our living room, but a very nice rug, also. Eek! We’ll pick up the loveseat next week, the day before Thanksgiving. This weekend I’ll be painting the trim in the living room, so hopefully once everything is put together I’ll have some before and after pictures for you. Well, after to an extent. I still need a couple of chairs to complete my ultimate “plan”, but that might be awhile from now! But I think what we have right now will make a big difference. It’ll be so nice to begin putting our own stamp on this place!

One purchase I did make, at the LL Bean Homestore, are these beautiful glitter tags-

They are so sparkly! I think I’ll string them on a garland for our mantle, and maybe use them as ornaments for our tree. With some other ornaments I uncovered this year, I’m definitely feeling a vintage Christmas theme!

Well, that makes 2 posts this week, haha! I’m getting back in the groove! Have a great weekend everyone!

]]> http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/happy-friday-3/feed/ 3 Jennifer river fog 013 Picture 2 http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/1-post-a-week/ http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/1-post-a-week/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:29:59 +0000 Jennifer http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/?p=1331 ]]>

Is that my average lately?  Is that what I’ve stooped to?  Geez, Louise!

Actually, we’ve been getting alot done lately.  You know that house we want to sell?  It’s just about ready for market!  As a matter of fact, I’m going to do some cleaning this week, take pictures, and shoot them off to our realtor.  It won’t be quite finished, but it’s good enough…we’ll put ‘er out there and keep plugging away at it.  Veteran’s Day, my sweet mother in law took the boys, and my sweet parents joined Erick and I for a marathon day of “fixin up”.  We knocked out quite a bit-it was one of the most productive days we have had in a good long while.  I spent the majority of the day painting ceilings…whoever invented the “popcorn ceiling” concept should be…should be…tied up and tickled without end.

Also, the guys from church decided to button things up for the season and finish roofing for now.  We still have about half of the roof left, but it’s the easy part and should be put together quickly next year.  So that’s nice to have that off the agenda for now!  Praise God for amazing friends who have given up their Saturdays for a good long time!

On my docket, I’m still thinking up ideas for a new blog format.  And I’m getting ready to hop back into the Etsy business!  To start it will be mainly vintage items…because I have a houseful of them.  Can you say genuine 50’s aprons?  And some great graphic ephemera.  I’m excited.

Also, I’ve been dreaming about what to do with this house-I’m quite honestly in no hurry, but it’s fun to think about what could eventually be.  I ran across this picture online months ago, and of course can’t remember the source.  But the dining room is shockingly like ours!  Here are a couple pictures of our dining room (excuse the clutter!):

And here is a picture of my inspiration:

It gives me hope of what could be, eventually!

Well, I am currently squished between two boys whom I assume I should rustle up some breakfast for.  Have a super week, just in case I continue the trend of a once a week post this go-round!

]]> http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/1-post-a-week/feed/ 4 Jennifer DSCN3125 DSCN3127 Picture 1 http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/blue-skies/ http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/blue-skies/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:17:25 +0000 Jennifer http://thelaundryisneverfinished.wordpress.com/?p=1323 ]]>

The above picture is what we experienced last Thursday and Friday…isn’t it beautiful?! Big fluffy flakes-I think we must have accumulated about 3 inches. But weather changes quickly, because today is Tuesday, and this has been the last few days:

Coming in for a landing...

beautiful weather for the park!

zoom!

It’s been gorgeous since Sunday. Thank you Jesus!

Grandma came through Surgery fine but is understandably worn out and still has a few little heart issues to deal with. So keep the prayers coming…we love you Grandma!

And to all my friends who I have neglected sending emails to lately-I’m waaaayyyy behind-so sorry! Let me catch up on my house a bit and you’ll get a well deserved hello!

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