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How decorating a room taught me to quiet my heart
I was 22, fresh out of college, and living in Jordan when I set up my first apartment. I arrived in the country with two suitcases’ worth of belongings for a year’s stay. Most of that was clothing, but I managed to squeeze in three small items to make my place feel homey: good smelling hand soap, a little throw blanket and a fragrant candle. I had visited enough places overseas to know that pleasant smells and bits of cozy are a necessity. My apartment was small but adequate, with one bedroom, a living room/eating area, tiny kitchen and bathroom. I didn’t need much, but I knew that I wanted…
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Discovering the Purpose for Our Home
Yesterday, I shared the above photo on Instagram and Facebook, and said something like: “This is the only spot in our home that is ‘finished’. And by finished I mean that the pictures are current, the frames have been painted, and I even printed something out from Aliza Latta that I love…” (click here for the free printable she designed)…” While I don’t think our homes will ever be finished, I often feel overwhelmed by my desire to want it to look and feel finished. Decorations hung, furniture in rooms, painted walls, good organization. We move at least every three years, and now with four children it takes awhile before I feel settled.…
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The Home I’ve come to love
During the 8+ years we’ve been married, we’ve lived in seven different cities, purchased two homes, and rented various apartments. Each place has been unique in style, age, and function. All of them have been home. This place that we’ve been in for the past four months in Florida didn’t feel like home when we first moved in. We were without belongings for almost two weeks which stretched us, contributed to my closing the blinds and refusing to answer the doors, and we were frustrated living here for about two months. The carpet and fixtures are dingy. The rooms are smaller than we’re used to. We don’t have a beautiful…
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Seven Tips for Maintaing a Clean House while it’s On the Market
Maintaining a clean home with four small children is never an easy task. Add to that having your house ready for showings while it’s on the market, and you could easily get pretty stressed out. To tell you the truth, actually selling our home doesn’t have me worried. Someone will either like our house or they won’t; I can’t make someone place an offer. The part that makes me nervous is the daily maintenance to make it presentable for potential buyers. In order to eliminate this stress, I’ve put seven practical things into place. 1. Store toys strategically for quick and easy clean up. Our two oldest girls share a…
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Decorating our home for us & Framed French Words
Our home has been a work in progress over the three years we’ve lived here. We moved here from a 700 square foot apartment, so it’s taken a while to fill in the rooms and decide how to decorate each space. During this time, I’ve also discovered what styles I like and the things that make a house a home, for us. It’s so easy to look at pictures in magazines, on the internet, and even gaze in our friends’ homes wanting something that everyone else has, or longing to have our home look like a certain space. Falling into the trap of comparing and envying is easy to do,…
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DIY Embellished Flour Sack Towels
Did you know that March is National Craft Month? I didn’t until the other day when I got my JoAnn’s flier in the mail. In light of this event, I thought I’d try to share a simple craft with you each week this month that would be something easy to do over the weekend {or during a nap time if that’s all you have}. I realize crafting is not for everyone, and more often than not my crafts end up as ‘failed’ projects, so don’t be fooled by this into thinking that I am a crafting guru! Every once in awhile I get inspired, and once I carve out some…
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Roots by the Stream Verse Print from Love & a Prayer
I have something exciting to share with you today! Right after I finished my 31 Days to Thrive series, a friend of mine announced on her blog that she had opened an Etsy shop. I clicked over to her store and saw some beautiful prints she had created of verses and quotes. I noticed that she also mentioned she would do custom orders. I quickly emailed her to find out if she would be willing to create a print based on the verse in Jeremiah that I used as my ‘theme’ verse for my series. She sent me a proof, we tweaked it a bit, and I LOVE what she…
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Day 8 :: Make an Autumn Wreath
Maybe it’s just me, but there are some little things in my life that put an extra smile on my face and a little bit of happy in my heart. A wreath on my front door helps my heart to thrive. Strange you may say, but in just a few minutes I had something in my home that I had created to help remind me of the changing of the seasons. Nature thrives with each new season, and I want to follow its example; a seasonal wreath is an easy way for me to remember that. This simple autumn wreath took me and the girls about 5 minutes to…
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Stitching for the Kitchen, by Gooseberry Patch
Sewing for the home has been of my favorite hobbies since our wedding, almost seven years ago. My husband’s parents graciously gave us {me} a sewing machine as a wedding gift and I was thrilled! I had always wanted to learn to sew, and right away I began making things for our apartment. I was contacted earlier this summer about reviewing this new book by Gooseberry Patch, titled Stitching for the Kitchen: 30 Easy Projects for the Heart of your Home. Because I just had a baby two weeks ago, instead of making a project from the book, I’m just sharing a little review for you today. source This book…
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Beautiful Ways to Arrange Hydrangeas
We’ve lived in our house now for over two years, and the yard this spring has been blowing us away with beauty! Most of our plants started out in Bradley’s parents’ yard up in PA, and then were transplanted to our yard. It’s taken some time for them to grow, but this year they are finally coming into their own. I love sitting outside in the evenings just looking at the beauty of God’s creation–He truly is an amazing Creator! My hydrangea bushes have been slowly coming to life over the past few weeks, and just this weekend burst into full bloom. Gorgeous, I tell you, is the only word…