Moving & Organization

Hello friends!

Last time I posted on here (half a month ago... I'm slacking) I talked about us moving and not knowing exactly what we were going to do next. Well, if you remember me talking about finding a house we were interested, we have now had an accepted offer on that house and things are starting to become real.

The house is currently being built, and since we found it when we did, the builder is allowing us to have some say so in the finishings of the house. We were able to meet him to choose cabinets, countertops, carpet, laminate, etc. I'm still looking for the perfect paint colors, but I have an idea in mind.

We are currently in the process of packing up our things to move them. Here's where I'm looking for your input. We've moved several times, we're pretty organized in the moving/packing process, but do any of you have any suggestions or your favorite organizing techniques in your home that we could keep in mind for when we unpack them into our new house? Or, are there any specific organizing materials/objects that you think are a must have? We greatly appreciate any tips or tricks!

My lack of blogging totally stinks, I haven't been very into it lately. Likely due to how hectic things have been recently, hang in there with me, I'll be back more regularly soon!

Prayer, Faith, and Moving

Earlier in the summer, a church from my home town contacted Preston about the possibility of him being the youth minister there. We are currently living an hour away from this church, so we would definitely be moving. We prayed, we talked about it, we prayed, we talked about it, and then we prayed some more. The decision was on our minds constantly for weeks. I think that God was already working on our hearts.

We decided that Preston should at least meet with the minister from the church to find out more details. I was anxiously waiting a call at work from Preston to hear how it went... the 2.5 hour meeting went great and the potential aspects of the new job sounded great! Could we really make it work though? We're currently in a parsonage, so moving would mean adding bills. What about my job... keep it, change, what to do? Where in the world are we going to live? I wish I had written down all of the questions we had thought about and discussed, because through the past few weeks, God has answered nearly all of them.

We continued to pray about the possible transition, that God would guide and direct us, showing us His plans for us. Staying in our current jobs would be the easiest thing to do, no job change, no added bills, no moving (for the 5th time in 3 years). The thing is, ministry isn't easy. Actually, a lot of the time, it's really hard. As we continued to pray about the situation, we began getting answers to our questions. Preston had a meeting/interview with leaders of the church, we got a better glimpse of the church by walking through the building, looking at classrooms, fellowship hall, etc. One thing that we've learned is this church is moving forward, and it seems that God is going to use us as a tool there.

Through many talks and discussions about the possibility, Preston and I agreed that moving and ministering in Kentucky is where God is leading us. This past Sunday, Preston formally resigned as of August 3rd at our current church and Zebulon (the church we will be moving to) announced that they have hired a youth minister. As for me and my job, I am going to continue working at my current job and will commute.

We've debated between buying and renting and we want to buy a home. We have rented since we've been married and we're so stinking excited ready to have our own place, something that we own and can do with it what we please. The house hunt has been going on for several weeks... we've looked and looked, and we have now found one we are very interested in.

Please pray for us friends, that we will continue to have faith that God will work all of the details out, and that we will find a definite place to live. There are some uncertainties, of course. Moving and a new job always brings uncertainties, but that's where faith comes in. If God put it on us that we were meant to do his work at this church, then it will work out, even if we aren't sure how just yet.

Family, prayer, and a whole lot of faith will make this move all that we have imagined and more.

"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Happy Birthday!

Oh hello, remember me?  Yes, I realize I haven't been here in over 2 weeks... and I don't really have any good excuses, just haven't posted.  Anyways, if you are here, I'm glad you have stuck with me!

A few weeks ago, I decided that it would be a good idea to throw Preston a surprise birthday party, just the thought of it sounded fun to me!  Within about 5 minutes of having the initial thought, the party was scheduled and planning began.  About 30 of our family and friends all gathered at our house 2 weeks ago.  Thanks to our friends for letting me put the food at their house so there wouldn't be 30 hamburgers and 40 hot dogs in our kitchen (that just might have given a clue), and to our friend, Scott, for getting Preston out of the house the day of the party so we could prep, the party was a success and a complete surprise!  I am so thankful for everyone coming and also for everyone pitching in to make the party wonderful.  We had so much fun and it was great to see everyone.  

Since the party was a surprise, we had it the week before Preston's actual birthday, which worked out nicely.  We continued birthday festivities the next weekend.  Out of all the places for Preston to choose from for his birthday lunch, he picked Arby's! 

Later on Saturday, we thought it was fitting to hit up Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt.

I have had lots of fun celebrating Preston's birthday and I hope we are blessed to share many more birthday parties together!

Review: Spring Fling VoxBox

In February, I decided to join Influenster, simply because I had seen reviews online and thought it was a cool way to get freebies neat program.  Taking a quick emailed survey and then getting a free box of free goodies, why not?!

In my box I received Rimmel scandaleyes mascara, Nivea skin firming lotion, Playtex sport, Kiss everlasting manicure set, and an air freshener for my car that represented the movie "Labor Day".  So briefly, here is my review:

Kiss Everlasting French Nails: I don't usually use press on nails and I was pretty impressed with how these nails looked.  The nails made it through a couple of days at work, where I did a lot of typing.  However, they did not hold up much past that.  The nails however would be perfect if you needed a quick DIY mani for a special occasion, I would definitely buy them again if I had an event I wanted nice nails for if I wasn't wanting to pay to go to the nail salon. 

Labor Day Vehicle Air Freshener: This was included to promote the movie, "Labor Day".  I cannot review the actual air freshener because I haven't used it yet, however having this in my Vox Box did lead me to watch the movie.  I love movies, but I will not watch this movie again... some parts were random and I just didn't like the story line.  So my overall thoughts on the movie, save your money.  

Nivea Firming Lotion: This lotion is great!  It definitely moisturizes and I really like how it felt.  You are in luck because you can get your free sample here! 

Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara: I liked this mascara pretty well and it applies easily.  I usually like to wear waterproof mascara so that was a down fall to this sample that I received, however, overall, I would definitely recommend this product.  

Playtex Sport: I have not used this item that was in my box, therefore I cannot review. 

**Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

8th Grade Graduation & Youth Fun Night

This past Thursday, Preston and I took the day off of work so that we could go to my brother and sister's 8th grade graduation. Since we needed to be there early, we decided to drive after church Wednesday evening. We took Hannah with us and surprised Brinley, which was fun.

Thursday we spent the majority of the day at Brinley and Brice's school for the awards ceremony and then graduation. Brinley and Brice have went to the same school since Kindergarten so it's hard to imagine them anywhere else. When I was in elementary school, we moved a lot and I went to various schools, 6 before high school to be exact. Brinley and Brice both recieved many awards and graduation went well. We followed it with a lunch at Giovanni's pizza before heading to the local airport for some post graduation pictures.

We had planned to swim and spend time by the pool that afternoon, but due to nasty weather and everyone being tired, most of us just napped. We visited with Grandmama and Pawpaw and then headed back home, Brinley came home with us.

Friday I went to work and then that evening we were having a youth fun night at our house. We had pizza and games outside. Later in the evening we had a fire and made s'mores, which is always a treat. We had a really good turn out and all the kiddos seemed to be having lots of fun. We will defintely be doing this again this summer.

Saturday we had a busy day, camp that morning, then Brinley and I made a Wal-mart trip for what I needed for 2 casseroles for church on Sunday. Then that evening we went to our friend's house for a birthday party. After the party the girls went to the movie theater to watch "The Fault In Our Stars"... so good, that's all I'm going to say!

Sunday I was up earlier than usual to make cornflake chicken casserole and cheesy chicken and broccoli casserole for our after church lunch. Brinley and I made it to Sunday school, but we were a little bit late. After church we had lunch and then walked back to our house. I had rented "Labor Day" from redbox because I heard it was a good movie... false, I will never watch this movie again. We went back to church Sunday evening and had a pretty low key evening at home.

It was a great weekend, it just went by too quickly!

Window Shutter to Wall Decor

Woohoo for Wednesday, half way to the weekend, people! Do you all ever get a DIY project idea, buy at least part of the materials, and then it doesn't happen? No, it's just me? Well anyways, I finally did a project I've been meaning to do for a while now.

This past weekend, I had some time at home and decided to finally complete a project I had been wanting to do since I first joined Pinterest. One of my very first pins was to re-do an old shutter and make it something for inside our home. I have had the shutter for a while (it's went through 2 house moves with us) so it was time to use it for what I had bought it for in the antique shop when I got it. One reason that I loved the project was that it was pretty inexpensive. I got the shutter for around $5 (it's been so long I don't remember exact amount). Then spray paint was $3.97 and sand paper was $2.97. I already had vinyl and my cameo at home so those three items were all I needed to purchase, oh, and the $1 plastic table cloth I bought as a drop cloth.

I started by sanding off the dark green paint, which I found out also had grey paint underneath it. After this project, I've learned that I definitely need to invest in a small electric sander before doing this again. My arms were so sore! I got the main space and the edges sanded like I wanted, but I left the middle part unsanded. Since my spray paint was both primer and paint, it worked well and just covered the middle parts that I didn't sand.

I did one coat, let it dry for 10 minues. Sprayed another coat, let it dry for 10 minutes, and then sprayed any areas that needed a little extra.

While the paint dried, I got on my computer and created our name in my silhouette studio and cut out the vinyl. After the paint was dry I transfered our name to the top and wa-la, a mail organizer and wall decor! We plan on hanging it in our office area, but we still need to attach a bracket to the back.

This was an easy project that I really enjoyed... and now I also enjoy not having a random old green shutter laying around that needs fixing.

And just because we enjoyed it so much, here is a picture from our fire in our fire pit last night, and yes, we had s'mores. We are having the youth group over Friday evening so we wanted to test it out first, success!

A Review

This past week I received my first Vox Box, compliments of Influenster to try various products... who doesn't love freebies?!  I will do a post for all of the products in the box (there were some good ones!), but for now, I am reviewing Kiss everlasting french nails.

I am not one that usually tries press on nails, but I tried these after getting them in my box and I was surprisingly pleased with the results.  Let's break it down into bullets! 

Pros:

• The nails have tabs that are easy to tell the different sizes
• Easy application with the gel glue provided
• I received the "real short" length, which was a great length, I only filed the thumb nails
• Great, easy, and CHEAP nail fix in a hurry

Cons:

• There were a few bubbles underneath the nails from the glue
• I'm not sure how long they will withstand my job that involves a lot of typing
• Recommended use is only 7 days wear, instead of multiple weeks from acrylics

So what's the main idea?  I would recommend these nails for anyone looking for a cute, quick fix for nails.  I would definitely purchase these for going to a wedding or if there is a time I want to have nice looking nails and don't want to pay the $40 I normally do for acrylics.  I do like this brand of nail products.