A Random Act of In Laws

I won the lottery on in-laws.

Seriously, I truly feel that way. 

Every family has perfectly, imperfect flaws. We’re all human after all, but I genuinely can say that the cliche “in-law” relational issues simply do not exist in my world. My mother-in-law and fathers-in-law are amazing. I could write a cheesy novel on my mother-in-law alone. My extended in-law family (Nate’s side) are also great. And then there are my sisters-in-law - what’s not to love about the two women raising five of my favorite little people?

But it doesn’t even stop there. My brothers’ in-laws are also amazing. They technically aren’t even “my family”, and I don’t know them all as well as I’d like since most everyone lives far away. Yet somehow they all still hold a special place in my heart - their mothers-in-law especially. One of these women sent me a surprise loaf of homemade pumpkin bread from her home over 1,000 miles away. It genuinely made my day to see it sitting at my doorstep.

I had to take some pictures as we cut into it. It was just too pretty not to.

And it tastes as amazing as it looks. It was just what we needed at the end of a long week.

My in-laws do this kind of thing frequently, and I’m always so extremely grateful even if I’ve never blogged about it. ;)

I’m feeling inspired to do a random act of my own, and as we approach a season of gratitude, I hope you do too. Cheers.

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I realize not everyone has this same positive experience with in-laws. Families deal with very real issues, and this isn’t unseen by me. No insensitivity is meant in sharing my personal experience. I pray anyone reading this and feeling any pain or sadness would understand my heart, and I pray for healing and for brokenness to be made whole, in Jesus’ name. :)

The Front Door

I'm pretty sure I'm the worst blogger ever since I never post anything about our new "fixer-upper" house, even now that we are a year and a half into making it our home. The main reason is really that I'm guilty of over-thinking this whole blogging process, so I'm going to try to commit to buckle down and just start writing and posting again without being too overly self-critical. I love this as a creative outlet, and I love sharing our progress with family and friends, so I really hope to stick to it. :)

For tonight, I want to show you our front door project (from November 2018). After all, it's one of the first impressions you get of a house, so it naturally should be one of the first projects I post about. (Let's be real, it's not the first project we did. There was nothing physically wrong with the front door. It worked great, didn't stick, and other than being a little drafty last winter, our only complaint was the style and color.)















Please note two things in these befores:
1) The beat-up screen door. It looks okay-ish in this photo, but since this door gets used many times daily, it was in HORRIBLE shape.
2) The main door. I'm fairly sure this is the original door from when our 50-year-old house was new. All things considered, I'm happy it was in as good a shape as it was. But, that being said, it was definitely time for an update. I don't hate red doors, but this one is just...yuck.

Because that door had no window, the front hallway was SO dark. Here's a picture of it before we bought it, so you can imagine how dark and uninviting the entrance was.

We decided to replace it with a "Fanlite" style door, which would give us light in the hallway without compromising on privacy (you can see into most of the living space and the master bedroom from right inside the front door). We have and plan to continue to DIY most of our home projects, but the front door was an exception. We had it installed by a contractor through Lowe's.

(The baby gate is for the dogs when we want to restrict them to different areas in our house and is one of the best things we have EVER purchased as dog owners. It worked great to keep them out of the contractor's hair without shutting them up in a bedroom. Here's the one we have: Amazon.)

Ta-da!!!!!!

I can just hear the angels singing. (Haha!) It's such a huge improvement. You can see the daylight that it allows into the hallway. This was taken in the morning around 10am, and that hallway would otherwise be dark enough to use the ceiling light. Not anymore!

  

One of my favorite before and afters are the doorknobs and doorbells. I'm absolutely in love with the new style, and it was totally worth paying a little extra for the style we wanted.

Also, that weekend, yours truly replaced the doorbell button. The actual doorbell worked fine, but look how dated and gross the button was. We simply replaced it to match the new door. The new one has a light in it and looks so much better.

 

This was one of the more expensive projects we've done since we hired someone else to install the door, but given our level of experience, it was too risky of a project for us to tackle ourselves. This is totally an unsolicited opinion, but we were really happy with the experience with this install from Lowe's. The contractor did a great job, worked quickly and efficiently, and cleaned up after himself when he was finished.

Believe it or not, this project is NOT finished. We plan to paint the door as soon as time allows. It will be a dark gray color like this:

Stay tuned! :)

The door: Lowe's

The handle (satin nickel): Lowe's

Doorbell button (satin nickel): Lowe's

Paint: Valspar Season Plus Exterior Paint + Primer (used white for trim and will use Muskeg Gray for the door)

Lamb's Ear Wreath: Hobby Lobby

The moment we've all been waiting for...

I know, I know. We announced that we bought a house a month and a half ago and still no pictures of the house!! I'm totally the worst for holding everyone in suspense for so long. Well, that's about to change. Full disclosure is that we really wanted to get professional pictures taken in May to make the reveal more special, but the budget did not allow. So, if we do decide to go ahead and do that, it will have to wait till later.

We bought our house knowing in advance that it needed a little cosmetic TLC, so after closing, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work! With some help from family, we knocked out several DIY projects and decided to hire some professional help on a few others. On top of all that, we've been gradually moving out of our apartment which we completed on Memorial Day. We didn't want to take off too much time from work, so we did almost all of this on weeknights and weekends. So it's safe to say we've been busy in our first month and a half of homeownership!

I'll be revealing inside pictures as rooms are completed, so you'll have to continue to be patient for those, but for the exterior, I'm happy to show you right now!

So without further ado, here's The Piatt Family House.

It's a 1960s ranch home. As you can see, it has a two car garage and fenced-in yard which were huge wish list items for us. Of course, we have a few projects planned for the outside which include power-washing the exterior, painting the white trim, replacing the garage doors, replacing/updating the front door, but other than that, we love it! It's such a blessing that we get to come home to this place. Can't wait to show you more!

House Color Palette

I just looooooooooove colors. Picking out paint for our new house has to be the most fun part of this experience for me thus far, and I'm so excited to share what I've come up with for the color palette of our new home. I know it stresses some people out, but with my art background, I've been looking forward to this for years! Just in case anyone is interested, I'll share a little background on my color choices - where I got them and why I chose them.

WHERE DID YOU GET THIS COLOR PALETTE?

Well, I came up with this color palette on my own. I researched quite a bit on Pinterest and elsewhere, but I didn't come across a premade color scheme that was quite what I wanted for our home. Several were close, but none were an exact match. I spent a lot of time going through paint chip samples from home improvement stores and narrowed it down until I had it just right.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THESE COLORS?

First, it was really important to me to select colors that represented and felt good to BOTH of us. I have been partial to the colors "blue and gray and green - the colors of the sea" (Sarah Plain and Tall) for quite some time. Even though I've never lived near any major bodies of water, I've always loved the imagery of those colors together. For Nate, he did grow up living near a lake. Incorporating "blue and gray and green" into our home is one of the best ways I can pay homage to that for him in this season of our lives. Second, we want our home to be relaxing and inviting to both of us and our guests, so muted tones and neutrals were definitely the way I wanted to go to achieve that goal. I've always been more partial to cool colors than warm colors, so you will not really see any warm colors in my house. Finally, the color choices needed to align with our style. The best way I can describe our home decor style is half beach house/lake cottage and half victorian farmhouse chic. I am sure I will dive into what that style looks like and means to me in future posts, but for now, it's just important to note that the color scheme needs to help tie those two things together.

The inspiration for our home color palette stems from all of those reasons, which I think is kind of perfect. So there you have it - neutral white, gray, silver, and tan/beige accompanied by grayed blue-green or muted turquoise/teal/aqua - whatever you want to call that color, whether it's a light or dark shade, I love it.

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We went with Valspar paints for two simple reasons: price and successful past experience using it. There you have it, folks. Can't wait for everyone to see the finished product!

LINKS:

ValsparPaint.com
Lowes Paint

New Start

It's hard to believe how time has flown, but it's been three years since I've written in this blog. The last few years have been full of both fun and heartache, struggle and success, but for better or worse, I didn't feel the need or desire to write about them. Now, my husband Nate and I are officially starting a new chapter in our lives, and I'm excited to begin writing again.

Without further ado, I'm thrilled to announce that a few days ago we closed on the purchase of our first home!

Here we are on closing day with our realtor, Sandy, who gave us this gorgeous welcome mat for our new home.

Friends and those who have been following our story for many years will know this is a big milestone for us. We've never been shy to share about our journey towards Financial Peace because we know our transparency can help inspire others in the same way we were inspired when we first started. After 5 years of dedication and hard work while following Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, we are so excited that the time has finally come!

I know everyone is super curious to see pictures of the house. I can assure you they are coming, but for now, maybe these details will help appease you:

The Piatt Family's New House

• 1960s brick ranch
• 3 beds | 2 baths | 1,513 sqft
• 2-car garage
• Large fenced backyard (essential for our 2 pups)

We had a great experience with our realtor, Sandy, and would definitely recommend her to anyone in the DFW area who might be looking for a house. Several people have asked about the doormat she got for us, which we absolutely LOVE. The quality is really stunning in person. Links will be at the end of this post for anyone who is interested.

I'm so excited to begin sharing about our lives again, and not surprisingly, the focus will mostly be on the house and moving in, especially for the next few months. We have the entire month of May to transition out of our apartment and into our new home. Nate and I are so grateful we aren't going to be rushing moving and can go at our own pace! The next several weeks will be filled with getting new carpet, painting, and of course, SO.MUCH.PACKING and UNPACKING. We hope you will enjoy following along with us as we get settled and reveal pictures along the way!

LINKS:
Lender: Bart at Churchill Mortgage | Realtor: Sandy at KW Kocher Team | Personalized Door Mat

Mrs. Wills aka My Mama

For those who do not know, my dynamic mama, Mrs. Linda Wills, is retiring from 40 years of teaching at the end of this school year (spring 2014). She taught elementary school from 1974 to 2014, give or take a few years she stayed home to raise her babies. But even when she was a stay-at-home/work-from-home mama, she was always teaching kids...daycare kids, us, and Sunday school kids, as well. We, as her family, have known for the past year or so that she was ready to retire soon, and we have all been excitedly looking forward to her having more free time for her hobbies and her grandchildren. But I don't think any of us realized, until now, the other emotions that come with the official end of a long career. So, I shall attempt to illustrate what those look like from my perspective.

Forty years ago this spring, Mrs. Wills was just finishing her first year of teaching in a little private Christian school in Florida, she went on to teach in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, the Logansport area of Indiana, a few different schools in the Mille Lacs region of Minnesota, in primary/kindergarten classes while also teaching college and supervising student teachers in Evansville, Indiana, and finally her longest tenure of around 14 years teaching in the Columbia School District in southern Michigan. Around the time she began teaching in Michigan, she got involved in the Reading Recovery program, and from my layman's view, she developed a new love for teaching children how to read. Whatever certification or official term they use in Reading Recovery for someone who teaches it, she has that. ;P She told me today that she has helped 58 students, kids who otherwise would be way behind and struggling in reading, learn how to read with Reading Recovery, and that doesn't count the after-school literacy groups or the kids who she has helped just normally in her classroom in the past 40 years.

Mrs. Wills circa 1974 and Mrs. Wills circa 2013. (sorry for the low res images)

Today, the elementary school where my mom teaches honored her and another retiring teacher in a surprise assembly. My younger brother and his family and my dad were able to attend. The school gave Mom 40 carnations for each of her 40 years teaching. Her principal said a few touching words, and several of her former students spoke and told everyone their favorite memories of having her for a teacher.

I wasn't able to be there, but I know for a fact that Mrs. Wills is an amazing teacher, and I can say that without bias because she was my teacher too, and no, I was never "homeschooled." She was my preschool teacher when I was 3 and 4. Then, when my kindergarten teacher took several weeks (months?) off for medical leave, Mrs. Wills was our long-term substitute. She also subbed for my first grade teacher. Then, she got hired full time at a private Christian school in the country where she was my second grade teacher and then third grade teacher the next year. So I've had her for a teacher more years than anyone else ever did, I think, so I think that makes me pretty much an expert on how great of a teacher she is. (My brother Jonathan is a close second, having her for a teacher for 2-3 years, if I remember correctly.)

Mom was very clear to explain to me that at home, she was mommy, but at school, she needed to be Mrs. Wills. I understood and apparently was able to compartmentalize well enough that when I was in second grade, one of my classmates heard me accidentally call her "mommy" once. This was well into the school year, and she was absolutely stunned to find out after all that time that Mrs. Wills was my mom! :D
 

I remember lots of the things we did in school. In preschool we made flying purple people eaters for a craft. I'm sure that ages me a ton because that is an OLD song, but I remember doing that. I also remember making "footprint paintings" outside by stepping in paint and then walking on a long piece of craft paper. Those teachers were saints to do such a messy craft with us preschoolers. I work with 2 and 3 year olds at my church, and I just can't imagine. I don't know if it was my mom's brainchild or not, but we made Minnesota loons in kindergarten. Funny how I remember the arts and craft projects. I know we did lots of other things, but those are the things I remember the most.

I remember Mrs. Wills' creative lessons from second and third grade very well, like when we learned about apples in September and incorporated math, problem-solving, reading, writing, art, and probably lots of other great lessons in that one theme. We did another one in October about pumpkins. I have so many memories from those years. All of the Bible verses we memorized. And the way we celebrated birthdays. The things we learned about nature. And one year, Mom and her fellow teachers wrote a play based on A Charlie Brown Christmas. There are lots and lots of amazing teachers out there, but I'm not sure how many would add the task of basically writing their own script for a Christmas play to an already busy time of year. That was HANDS DOWN the best and most memorable Christmas play I've ever been involved in – in the history of more-than-I-can-count Christmas plays I've participated in. I still remember all the details they added and how involved everyone was in designing the props and the costumes. Snoopy's dog house made out of a school desk with a cardboard cutout was just awesome. If you care to know, I was cast as the little girl, Violet, who at the beginning, Charlie Brown thanks for sending him a Christmas card. She tartly replies, "I didn't send you a Christmas card, Charlie Brown!" And that was my one line. :) I am so appreciative of all the teachers who go that extra mile to make an impression on kids for decades to come.

I have had lots of excellent teachers, but I think I owe a lot to the early reading and writing skills instilled in me by my mom in early elementary school. By the time I was in 8th grade, I was helping her grade college writing papers (basically doing it myself while she double-checked my work).  She was teaching a basic writing class at a local college for students who wanted to attend college but didn't pass the writing requirements to be able to enroll. She knew I was fully capable to grade their work because she knew I learned things in elementary school that those students hadn't learned. And she taught me those things...how to spell, how to write a complete sentence with a subject and a verb and the various alternate endings, how to construct a paragraph, and how to be descriptive in creative writing. I'm still working on how to be concise. ;) Thank you for teaching me those things, mama, and thank you for having the confidence in me to use what I knew at a young age. I truly believe I'm a better writer for it.

*cue the sappy*

I was looking at the pictures of my mom in her early teaching career and noticing how much Andrew looks like her and how much she looks like her dad, my GrampE. And then I got a little emotional because I know how proud her dad was and would be of her if he were still living. I know how proud he would be because I know how proud her mother is of her. I can't even imagine what it's like to live to see your only child RETIRE from her 40-year-long career, but I know she is bursting with pride. She constantly tells me, "she works so hard." GramE's right, and Mom does it because she knows the kids deserve it. See, my grandma remembers the little kindergartener/first grader who had a HORRIBLE, cruel teacher who embarrassed her and made her cry. She remembers the little girl that swore to herself that she would grow up and be a teacher . . . and that she would be a kinder and better teacher than that woman was. I think she has fulfilled that ten-fold. My mom is engaging, driven, patient, inspiring, and so many other things any teacher would want to be said about them. I see no comparison between the two, other than the title "teacher".

So in four more days, this 40-year-long career officially ends. But she will never stop teaching. She will continue to educate every child she ever comes into contact with because that is who she is. I can't wait to see what this next phase of life holds for her and the rest of our family.  I know I speak for everyone when I say that GramE, Dad, Andrew, Jonathan, your daughters-in-law, your son-in-law, your three-and-counting grandbabies, and I are so proud of you. I love you so very much, Mrs. Wills. <3 br="">

Becoming Free

We knew the day would come, but now that it's finally here, it's hard to put into words exactly what it feels like, but knowing me, I'll find a way. ;)

Twenty-eight months ago, Nate and I set out on a journey to change our lives. Neither of us had much natural ability to handle money nor were either of us taught a whole lot about it. We, of course, thought we kinda-sorta knew what to do, and I, being the daughter of one of the most thrifty women I've ever known, prided myself on stretching a dollar. But we had done a few too many small irresponsible "normal" American things and had gotten ourselves into debt. Based on the dozens and dozens of stories we've heard and read about, the amount of debt we had was actually pretty average...maybe even below average. But it felt pretty huge to us. The total we had in debt in January 2012 was somewhere in the neighborhood of $28,500.

That number was comprised of the remaining total of two vehicle loans and two student loans, but our breaking point was our credit card. See, we had been taught that we "needed" a credit card but to never carry a balance on one. And we did that faithfully for years until one month we spent just a small amount more than we should have, you know, since we weren't really budgeting properly, and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Nate and I knew we couldn't pay it that month, and it just slowly snowballed. This was bad. I can vividly remember the horrible sick feeling I had, the pit in my stomach, and the sleeplessness I felt at night worrying about it. Nate has relayed to me similar feelings. Finances can be a very emotional, very private issue, because you never want to tell anyone you are struggling. We had an okay income to live on, but we were living paycheck to paycheck. Nate and I have never felt so miserable as we did then – just spiritually and emotionally sick. We prayed desperately for an answer because we were ready to change our habits so that we never had to feel that way again. God heard our prayers, as He always does, and we dove into the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University materials that had been loaned to us as well as his book that we had actually purchased in 2009 (but we weren't ready to put into practice then).

We started attending FPU at our church in January 2012, and we attacked our homework together every week. Nate and I have always loved spending time together and have never really had too much of a communication issue in our marriage, but working on a budget together and planning for the future and attacking OUR debt together was one of the best and most rewarding things we have ever done. We had many budget date nights, which I am sure sounds super lame to anyone reading this who hasn't done it themselves, but they are such happy memories for us. Running the numbers was actually kind of fun! It was exciting to see that each month we'd be closer and closer to another milestone and making our goals and dreams into reality. We graduated from FPU that spring, and by that time, we had already paid off and CUT UP our credit card.

(I know the credit card topic is controversial, but let me just say that now that we budget with a zero-based budget and do a new budget every single month, we could easily manage a credit card in a financially responsible way (if we believed in borrowing money for anything besides a house, which we don't). HOWEVER, we never ever want to feel the way we felt 2.5 years ago ever again. Now that we don't have a credit card, we can rest assured we never will.)

Right around the time we graduated from FPU, we also were able to pay off our truck. The snowball kept rolling. We then paid off our car, my student loan, and finally Nate's student loan. It's easy to run through the list of those quickly now, but the months and months in between each made it feel like it was going to stretch on forever. But as each was paid off, we were able to add more to the next debt. We sacrificed some (we probably could have sacrificed more and paid it off sooner), but we persevered and kept hitting those small victories.

The last debt is always the largest, and we knew it was going to take us many months to pay off the last student loan. But you know Murphy, right? The guy with the law that anything that can go wrong will go wrong? Well, job-loss struck us, and it struck us hard. There is some statistic Dave Ramsey gives that some crazy high percentage of people will face a major negative event once every 10 years. I'm pretty sure this was ours, and it hit a little earlier than we'd have liked. We lost both of our major sources of income all in one day. It was terrible, and I've blogged about it if you'd like to look those up and read about what happened.

After that catastrophe, we just took one month at a time, and by the grace of God, no seriously...there is no natural way we should have been okay for 3 months after the layoff without God's hand in our lives...we managed to keep budgeting and stretching everything so much so that we wound up living off our income from the months of November and December until February and March. Because we follow Dave Ramsey's plan, we only had a baby emergency fund in savings. A tiny little $1,000 to use if we needed it in an emergency. Since losing our jobs, WE HAVEN'T USED IT ONCE. That makes me emotional just to write that. Only a great God could perform a miracle like that. I never thought about it until now, but it reminds me of the loaves and fishes miracle in the Bible. We kept taking from the "basket" (rolling over our excess income from one month to the next), and there continued to be enough excess for the next month. It just kept going and going. Honestly, we didn't earn THAT much in November or December, but God is our Provider and our Sustainer.

During those months, we went through a long "What do you want us to do next, God?" process with a job for Nate that required a lot of waiting and then wasn't a good fit for him. Eventually he found a job that was a great fit for him, and I did as well. But our income was (is) significantly reduced. We went into, and honestly still are, in survival mode. Not paycheck to paycheck like before FPU, but just not really able to hit any goals right now because we are still establishing a new normal. But  now we have this huge overwhelming peace financially because if ever we should, or would, feel that horrible sick feeling, if ever we were to get that pit in our stomachs again, it should be now. "Funny" that Dave Ramsey's class is called "Financial Peace" because that's exactly what we have now. In the midst of what some would call a storm, we're totally okay. It's a feeling I'd wish to give to everyone in the world if I could.

So now to answer the question everyone MUST be asking: "if you're just getting back on your feet then, how on earth are you talking about becoming debt free?!?" Well, all I can tell you is that God is faithful. Philippians 1:6 says that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." I'm no theologian and maybe I have snatched that out of context, but I can think of no better answer to how we have arrived to where we now are. God absolutely does provide, and He saw and knew the desires of our hearts, and through some very special people in our lives, He completed it.

So ours is not the conventional way most people finish paying off their consumer debt, and that's okay! This is our story, and this just happens to be the way it is happening for us. It would be awesome to be able to say we worked our tails off getting 3 and 4 part time jobs and selling so much stuff that the dogs thought they were next, but that wasn't the way God had for us. That's not to say we didn't work hard because we most certainly did. And it's not to say we didn't sacrifice because there is no other reason I would have spent a year apart from my husband while he traveled all over the East and Midwest than with this goal in mind. But when all of our hard work and traction came to a skidding halt, God knew what he had for us. My first reaction to the news that we would be able to pay our last debt off in one lump sum was simply "God is faithful." And never in my life have I believed that so genuinely as I did in that moment and still do. We never would have planned any of this to happen, but God knows what He's doing for sure!

So this week we have paid off our last debt, we celebrated with other FPU grads, and this weekend, Dave Ramsey and his daughter, Rachel Cruze are speaking at our church!!! The next step for us is Baby Step #3, saving up a fully funded emergency fund of 3-6 months in expenses. With our new jobs, we really have no idea how long this will take us, but we'll get there. All that's left to say is what we've been waiting to say for 28 months:

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Jobs

An update is definitely in order!

If you haven't heard, two weeks ago, I started a new job working in childcare at our church. I don't really have a lot to say about it, but I do really like it. I work with 2's and 3's. I actually got sick about a week ago and now have bronchitis, so I have actually only worked a handful of days so far.

After our announcement about a month ago that Nate was hired by AT&T, he went through orientation to learn more information about the job. We discovered more about what the position required than the job description actually explained, and apparently about 1/3 of new hires for premises technician do not make it past the first week of training. Nate was determined to give it his all, and he absolutely did, but by the second day, we knew it was not to be. Nate felt very discouraged because he really wanted to succeed, but after much prayer, we really felt an overwhelming peace that it was okay. We should have been very freaked out by the unknown future, but we really weren't. Only a few short days later, our church was having their annual men's conference, called Men's Summit. I strongly encouraged my introverted husband to attend knowing how much I enjoy the women's conference, and now that his schedule allowed, he did decide to go with my brother. It was so amazing for him to have the opportunity to take time away from our employment troubles to spend time with God and other godly men. If the job at AT&T had worked out, he would not have been able to go. God's timing is perfect.

Before the conference, Nate applied to a few new jobs and on the last day of the conference, he heard back about an available position in Flower Mound (a suburb north of us in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex). If you knew us before we moved to Texas, you'll know that Nate worked for a campground in southern Michigan for about 5 years. He worked outside in all seasons doing mostly groundskeeping and lawn maintenance type work. This new position is similar, in the city parks and athletic fields. Anyway, he was hired, and he just completed his first week. It offers really great benefits, and he is doing amazingly well considering it is only his first week. There is definitely room for growth for Nate to move up from this entry-level position. We are really excited that we are finally on a road to some semblance of normalcy, and we are looking forward to seeing what the future holds for us now!

Pinterest and The Amazingness of Tissue Paper Poms

So, I looooove Pinterest. A few years ago when "everyone" started joining Pinterest, I draaaaaged my feet about it. No way did I need another website addiction of the social media variety. But then I discovered what it's all about, and it has been one of my favorite things on the Internet since...well, ever. I love creativity and decorating and of course designing things, and Pinterest is the best place to put all of those wonderful things. And well, recipes. I am not a fan of cooking, so Pinterest helps make it more enjoyable for me.

I have also grown to looooove decorating the space where we live. That space is currently a two-bedroom apartment, and as such, I am limited on space and by the fact that the walls, ceilings, and floors are not actually mine. But I love home decor just the same.

That being said, our second bedroom has gone through some major transitions since we moved in almost exactly three years ago. It started out as strictly an office space with a GINORMOUS desk I bought from IKEA after we were first married. And then we wanted the room to function as a guestroom for family visiting from Michigan and for nieces to take naps in. But we also needed the room to house our printers, scanners, filing cabinet, etc. So in order to make this guestroom function in all of the above capacities, I turned to Pinterest to PIN some inspiration. Novel idea. ;) I found lots of ideas for putting a double bed and a crib and an office in the same space. But to make a long and boring story short, I got rid of the IKEA desk and was able to implement many of the ideas I had pinned. I wound up putting a wardrobe/armoire in one of the corners of the room. Doing so created a nasty dead space/hole, and the artist in me needed to hide and soften that corner to make it look more cozy, and intentional, and pleasing to the eye. I thought of hanging paper poms from the ceiling, searched for the best tutorial I could find, and pinned it to my office decor board for later.

My, oh, my, what a seemingly innocent thing to do. As with most people, I joined Pinterest just to keep personal pinboards and didn't necessarily care if anyone else ever saw what I pinned on this or any other boards. But then when people started liking the things that I found, I thought that was actually pretty cool.

I found this link about one year ago, and it is now my most repinned pin I've ever pinned. ;) I'm sure other people are used to this, but me, not so much. I get notified almost daily about someone else repinning or liking my pin, which is definitely kind of exciting even if it doesn't actually mean anything or say anything about my curating skills.

The lady who wrote the tutorial is to be commended. It really is a good one. I mean, tissue paper poms are NOT rocket science, but if you're like me or the over 400 other people who liked or repinned my pin, you love the visuals and the step-by-step instructions, even if you don't actually NEED to be told how to make something you likely made in grade school. She has tips for the best ways to hang them and a great link for getting nice tissue paper in a wide variety of colors, which I used and was very impressed with as I just did not have any success finding shades of brown tissue paper at my local Party City or Target. As you can imagine, not many people use BROWN tissue paper for gift-wrapping. ;) You can see her tutorial here.

And just for fun, here's how my project turned out.

Four of the poms are four different shades of brown tissue paper and the fifth one is made out of pages from an old book. The last was by far the hardest pom to make as the paper was small and brittle, but I love the effect it created. I actually have a different lamp there now, but the space is filled in exactly the way I wanted it to be. I personally think it is a GREAT look for a room that functions as a pseudo-nursery and as a guestroom with an office in the large closet.

My Own Personal Employment Journey 2009-present

If you've read most of my blog posts over the last few years, you'll know that I used to be the senior graphic designer at a small print shop in Jonesville, Michigan. I loved my job, but in an effort to keep this concise and not run off-topic, I'll just say that I was forced to leave that position for reasons both financial and of conscience. It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made, and just like with this recent job loss experience, I grieved it a bit, felt hurt by the experience and also somewhat burnt out from doing design work. I was unemployed for a few months until being asked to move to Texas to nanny my brand-new-at-the-time niece, Ellie.

I was Ellie's full time nanny for about two years. The above pictures were taken on my first day: Valentine's Day 2011 and on the anniversary the years after. It wasn't graphic design, but I loved the diversion and all of that quality time with my little buddy. In the spring of 2013, shortly after our two-year anniversary, a new niece was born, Emily Anne, named after yours truly (it's no secret that my middle name is Emily) and their maternal grandma whose middle name is Ann. :) I was so thrilled and so honored, and it was love at first sight. <3 br="">

Anyway, the mama, Valerie, decided to become a mostly stay-at-home mama after Emily was born, so my hours with the girls became much more part-time. This worked out quite well because another family member was in need of some extra care: my grandma.

 Isn't she such a pretty lady? :)

As the result of breaking a vertebrae in her back and not able to ever fully regain all of her previous strength and vitality, in December 2012, we moved my grandma from Florida to her own apartment a few doors down from me in Texas so that I could begin assisting her and helping her stay as independent as possible. Caring for this widow, my own grandma, is easily one of the best and hardest jobs I have ever had. Easier than being a nanny in some ways and much harder in others. I never in a million years expected to be care-giving for an elderly person at the age of 30. It's not an experience I've actually ever put into words until now, so I'll be a bit more descriptive here if you don't mind. ;)

It's a humbling act of service...of love. I don't say that to boast. It's just that the kinds of things one must do to care for an elderly person is by nature a humbling experience. They aren't that different than things you do for kids, but when you do it for a child, you take it for granted. As an example, I gave my grandma a pedicure (everything but nail polish...her feet are always covered) a few weeks ago because I felt she needed one. It was a decision I made without question or even giving it a second thought really, but in the moment while I was washing her feet, it really struck me about when Jesus talks about washing one another's feet in John 13:14, that act of humbling oneself and serving someone else. I was doing it and not even realizing it. It almost brought me to tears honestly. But it is also an honor to serve someone who has loved and cared for me as a baby, a child, and well actually my whole life, and here I am now, able to serve her. I think of times she pushed me in a stroller around the mall, and now I push her in a wheelchair. So we have made a complete 180º. A role reversal. It's difficult but also very beautiful.

So, that's what I've been doing for work the past year or so. In the early fall of 2013, I resumed occasionally babysitting my nieces. I cleaned an office space for awhile, but when my brother's business closed and Nate lost his job, the cleaning job went with it. I also do a little graphic design on the side, but to be honest, I have put it on the back-burner because these special people in my life have needed me more. I know that my grandma's quality of life is so drastically improved now that she is nearer to those she loves. Her care continues to be of great importance to me, but we are now transitioning to a different arrangement, one that will be better for her in the long run as she is gradually needing more and more help. More details on that will follow after they are set in stone.

Even though I didn't have a regular full-time job, the three jobs I did have pretty much filled up my time. I didn't anticipate rejoining the marketplace at this juncture in my life, but now given our current circumstances, I am actually ready to resume working at a "normal" job, whether or not Nate finds one first. I have no idea how long of a journey it will be or which direction it will take me, but I'm looking forward to finding a new adventure! I'll keep you posted. :)

Happy New Year 2014 and the Latest on the Job Front

Hmmm. New Year. 2014. I posted this snarky little message on Facebook for New Year's Day:

"Happy holidays! (I don't want to offend anyone who doesn't celebrate the new year.) And with that snarky remark, I will make my new year's resolution to be less sarcastic and more kind. Ah, who am I kidding? I don't make new year's resolutions. Happy New Year!!"

And by that, you can read between the lines and understand that though we are still in a difficult place, we are in much better spirits emotionally than we were those few weeks before Christmas. After my last update, we took a road trip to Michigan to spend some much needed downtime with Nate's family for Christmas. His mom and aunts are excellent hostesses. We ate so much amazing yumminess, watched so many Christmas movies, enjoyed curling up by the fireplace each night, and overall got a week's worth of R&R. Upon our return, we spent the new year with most of my family in Texas.

Here are a couple of my favorite images from Christmas 2013:

 

 

 

 

That certainly doesn't include all our loved ones, but I wanted to protect the privacy of those who might not appreciate their image posted on a public blog. ;)

On the job front, we were able to do some more searching while we were relaxing, and thankfully we are mostly passed the grieving and on to the taking action part of the post-job-loss recovery. Nate and I have learned some important things, not the least of which is patience.

Nate has applied to and has all but been hired for a position that, for now, is probably his second-choice on the job front. His first choice doesn't have any local availabilities currently with this employer, but there is a chance that once hired within the company, he could eventually move to the position he thinks he would prefer. He has been approved for this second-choice position (a premises technician with a major cable/internet provider) in every way save one...and that one should be a given. It's a standard requirement of almost any job. Aaaaaaand they lost the results. Gah. The HR person Nate has been in contact with assured him that this was an unusual situation and told him on Friday that she had forwarded the problem to her supervisor, which did encourage us some. After three weeks of the company attempting to track down the results, we felt the likelihood of that job being what the futures holds for us waning with every passing day. It was hard to not feel discouraged. I admit, on several days, we felt helpless and hopeless, wondering whether the job search should continue with fervor or whether we should just wait patiently for this one to be finalized. As anyone who has ever breathed air can tell you...waiting is haaaaaaaaard.

Yesterday at church, Nate prayed specifically to receive an answer tomorrow from this employer, and today, he got a phone call. !!!! To those who do not believe that God answers prayer, this might sound like a coincidence, but to us, it was exactly the encouragement we needed to continue to persevere in patience and waiting on the Lord. [As a sidenote: we have learned that "waiting around" and "waiting on the Lord" are two entirely different things.] The answer was not that they found the results but rather offered an expedited retake of the test, which he will happily do ASAP in hopes of bringing further closure to this situation.

Maybe this still isn't the path God has for us and we just don't know it yet, but I feel sure that there are reasons it is taking so long, not the least of which is this: Nate picked up part time temporary work after Christmas, and his employer still needs him. Maybe for another week. Maybe less. Maybe more. He makes more per hour at this temp job than he is likely to make at the full time position in question. Thus, it would be very much in the nature of the God I know to have our best interests at heart throughout this delay, as He always does, in asking us to wait on beginning a new position just yet.

As for me, well, my employment situation has fluctuated so much in the last 5 years that I'm not really sure where to begin, but I do know I'd like to share more than will fit here. I'll just have to do another blog post about that. ;)

Thank you all again for reading my blog, caring about us, and especially for praying for us as we are continuing on this rocky road.

Beyond "Fine"

I try not to get too personal on a public blog, but I'm going to risk being a little transparent today. As I mentioned on my last blog post, my husband lost his full time job, and I lost 1.5 of my 3 very part time jobs. People continue to show concern for us and keep asking us how we are doing, and my answer is usually "fine" because I don't feel like rehashing and bursting into tears every time someone asks. So, this blog is an attempt to answer that question more fully.

First of all, I feel that we were incredibly blessed to be a part of Inflammable. Nate was given an opportunity early on in the company to learn as he worked, which is not something he would likely have been able to do working for any other company in the IT field. We are so thankful to God and to my brother, especially, for giving this opportunity to us. I know Nate worked very hard to earn the trust they placed in him, and knowing him, I have to believe he earned it. People who know Nate and have worked with him know that he is a very hard worker. I'm beyond proud of him.

The unfortunate flip-side of the blessing of Nate learning as he worked is this: the knowledge Nate has is so very specialized, he is not as hire-able or employable as we would like. If you are not familiar with the field of IT, this means that he is extremely well-versed in one small area of the field and his knowledge of the rest is rather limited. It's like a high school physics teacher being asked to teach fourth grade. He just isn't qualified to do that. He can freaking "teach physics" but if there is nobody looking to hire a "physics teacher" and everyone wants a "fourth grade teacher", he just isn't super employable right now. So, in a way, we are back at square one when it comes to applying for new jobs. All is not hopeless, though, and I fully believe good will come of this. The last two years have not been in vain, and God will use this situation to his glory. Who knows? Maybe he will be rehired again in a few weeks and all of this will have been a giant uncertain vacation from work. Or maybe this is the beginning of a long arduous period of patience and trust. We shall see.

Secondly, to continue answering the "how are you doing" question, we are learning a lot about trust. This element is seemingly more complex than we initially expected. Like I mentioned in my previous post, the reasons for the closing of the company are a combination of things we know and can't talk about as well as a great many things we don't know about. That being said, it's understandable that there is an element of trusting in the unknown decisions of others, which we are learning is an incredibly difficult position to be put in. That's where we are right now. It's complex because we do trust the leadership of Inflammable, very much. If we didn't fully trust them and God, we would be much more angry and would definitely be feeling bitterness in the wake of this tragedy. We do not blame them at all nor do we feel bitterness, but we still are feeling grief and hurt. The hurt was inadvertent, of course, but it was still hurt.

I imagine it's like being a passenger on a car (well, more likely a bus with 30 other passengers) that is involved in a collision with another vehicle. You aren't driving the bus or making the decisions. You probably are minding your own business and not paying attention to the bad decisions of the cars around you. When the bus you are in gets hit and totaled and you wind up injured and in the hospital, you are still hurt, even though you knew the bus driver personally and trusted him to give you safe passage. In this instance, the driver came out of the crash with minor personal injuries, but had to deal with the loss of their property, the insurance claims, the emotional trauma of being responsible for a great many other lives, and the heartache of the injury to the passengers in the bus accident that he didn't cause but still feels responsible for. But we, as the injured passengers, have a road of recovery ahead of us. We placed our trust in an employer, just like anyone does at any job, and when it closed, that trust was broken and that left us feeling hurt. So these past few days, that injury hurts. It just does. We know that wound will heal, but right now, it just hurts. And that's okay.

Thirdly and lastly (for now), we are learning about thankfulness. Every year for the past several years, I participated in the 30 Days of Thankfulness posts on Facebook. I will likely sound like a hipster when I say I was doing it before it was cool, but since my college friends and I really did have Facebook accounts before it was cool, I guess it's okay. :) Anyway, I once heard the quote that there is always something to be thankful for, and we are learning one day at a time, what that means for us right now.

We have said over and over that we are thankful for God bringing Dave Ramsey and FPU into our lives at a time when we had hit a financial rock bottom and were receptive to it. But I am also thankful for a spouse (eww, I hate that word...it rhymes with blouse, and those words just sound gross) er, husband who was as open to it as I am and who I can fully trust to communicate with me on financial matters. We have been a fairly open book about our finances because we hope God can (bahaha, can? Of course He can.) will use our experience to help others as well as to serve as accountability for us. Now that we have this other gaping emotional wound, it would be easy for us to give up on our budgeting and say it was all for nothing, but that would be a lie. It has been a huge blessing. We would have almost $500 in extra bills per month that we would be wondering how we were going to be able to pay. Instead, we have rent, cost of living expenses (food, gas, phones, etc.), utilities, and one single debt left to pay. All of our other expenses that we regularly budget for can be cut right out until we have jobs. Even though our rent is a doozy and it would be wonderful to live in a paid for house, the rest of it is a huge relief. We do still have that one last debt, so we aren't yet on Baby Step 3. Baby Step 3 exists for such a time as this, and the peace we would have with that fully funded emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses, if we were on that step, would be incredible. That's why Baby Step 3 is part of the plan...because job lay offs happen. We keep trying to remind ourselves that this too shall pass and that one day, we will be there. And we will.

We are also thankful for this time we have been given to be together. With all of my whining and complaining over the past few years about being apart while Nate traveled and then again while he worked nights, I never would have wished for a job lay off just so that we could have more time together. But sometimes, you've got to roll with the punches. And we're trying to do just that by enjoying the quality time. My top love language is quality time (my second, if you are curious, is words of affirmation). So I'm getting a rather heavy dose of quality time all at once. We had some Groupon credit at a local movie theater, so today we took advantage of that and went to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I'm soooo glad we saved that credit because there is no way we would spend any of our precious money to go see a movie right now, and it was just what the doctor ordered. I know it hasn't received the best reviews, but I loved it. Legolas is my favorite Lord of the Rings character, though I do really like all of the characters, and he had a larger part in this movie than he did in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I would totally recommend it so long as you know they added filler because they had too much content for two movies but not enough for three. Also, the end is kind of a cliffhanger, and we have to wait a whole year to see the resolution. So you need to keep that in mind. Anyway, it was a welcome distraction from this past week of stress.

Another thing for which we are thankful actually hits on the aforementioned integrity of the leadership of Inflammable, and that is that when Nate received his final paycheck, they paid him for the rest of his paid vacation days that he was going to be taking next week. We never in a million years expected them to do that, even though to some that might have been a given, and we are overwhelmed beyond measure and filled with gratitude for that extra almost two weeks worth of hours we never would have expected them to pay him for.

In closing, this last week has been filled with waves of stress and calm, but I have to be honest and say the last two days have been the hardest. Just like with any situation that requires grief and healing, we have gone through periods of frustration, stress, anger, peace, sadness, feeling sick, etc. Nate and I aren't alone in this, yet we are in a unique situation. We would love for you to continue to keep us in your prayers.

El Fin: An Abrupt End to 2013 and To This Chapter of Our Lives

Well, I've been meaning to start blogging again, but I never intended it to resume like this. It is with a very heavy heart that I share that as of yesterday, Nate, my brother, sister-in-law, several friends, and dozens of other employees I don't actually know, lost their jobs when Inflammable, my brother's company, was forced to close its doors. There are many reasons for the closing, some of which I don't even know and none of which I can elaborate about on this public blog, but I will say that my brother and the board of directors of the company are not at fault and did everything in their power to avoid this. There was just no other choice. Rather than ask all the "why" questions that everyone naturally wants to ask but which aren't ever really helpful or very comforting anyway, I would prefer to dwell on the memories, both good and bad, to process and grieve the loss of something we all held so dear, and to focus on our next steps.

It's still surreal. I remember when Inflammable was a brand new idea. Back in 2008, my brother and his best friend, Joshua, hired me to design a logo for "Inflammable." (In fact, I still have my idea sketches, all the early rough drafts, and all of the various versions saved on my computer.) To my knowledge, Andrew was the only employee for a long time. Then fast forward about 5 years, when Nate and I went on a road trip to help Andrew land a client, and then, just like that, Nate was hired full time by Inflammable. Andrew was also now at Inflammable full time, and he couldn't hire employees fast enough. Joshua and his family moved down here a few months later when he was hired on full time. The company grew like crazy, and it was exciting. Some people worried it would grow faster than it should and that would be its downfall, but it wasn't. We knew God was blessing Inflammable for whatever reason, and it was amazing to watch.

Nate traveled a lot for about a year, and we were apart SO MUCH. It was difficult, but we knew he was gaining some amazing job experience. It helped to know that it was helping us pay off our debt as fast as possible (we became big Dave Ramsey fans in case you missed that memo). We knew the separation wouldn't last forever. Then he transitioned to a local position at the company but had to work nights. I HATED that. He actually rather enjoyed the work, but I thought it was almost worse than when he traveled because even when he was off, he was sleeping when I was awake and vice versa. We hardly saw each other. But, it was more job experience that we knew would make Nate more valuable to the company and to future employers, so we hung in there. I would have expected Nate to work there another 10 years at least, but that was not to be so.

Soon Inflammable had the biggest suite in the office building. I never could get used to seeing that logo I designed so many years prior on the giant sign out in front of this super tall office building. They asked me to clean some of the offices for them, which I definitely had the experience to do after having cleaned at Somerset Beach Campground several years ago. :) If you would have told me that the last time I was there to clean would, in fact, be the last time I would ever clean for Inflammable, I wouldn't have believed you.

The staff Christmas party was scheduled to be less than a week from today, and we were so excited that there were going to be so many employees and their FAMILIES there. Last year, there were probably about 20 in attendance which included employees and their spouses, but the Christmas party the year before that was attended by just Andrew, Valerie, Ellie, Nate, me, and one other employee. That's it - six, including the baby! No one else worked there yet. So this year was going to be the biggest yet with probably 30 families attending, if I had to guess, and Valerie worked so hard to plan it for us. I suppose some of us could go out for dinner anyway, but none of us feels much like celebrating now.

It's hard to remember all of these little things that are now gone, but it's also important to note that when I say "the company closed", it's not as black and white as it sounds. It's not so easy to dismiss as tossing away a bit of junk mail. There were real people and real life was happening under the name Inflammable. There were so many hard days of work and so many wonderful ones that I don't even know about since I wasn't even technically an employee, but these are just the instances I witnessed and remember - both the good and the difficult ones. Inflammable wasn't our company, I mean Nate and I weren't the owners, but we felt so proud of this company since both of us were involved to some degree even from early on. I was, and still am, so proud of what my brother, sister-in-law, and Joshua did with that company. Excuse the cliche, but they poured their heart and soul into growing this company, and they did a dang fine job of it, too.

It's just so hard to say goodbye.
I can't believe that all of that is gone and this phase is over. 

So, now we are left to pick up the pieces. Nate and I have been through unemployment before, but never both of us at the same time. As I mentioned, I used to clean for Inflammable as well as babysit a few days a week so that Valerie could do HR, so this means that we no longer have that income either. I do not know what we would do if we hadn't started budgeting like Dave Ramsey suggests and if we hadn't taken FPU and started the debt snowball. I'm not going to get on my soapbox about it right now, but we only have one additional debt payment next to our Four Walls: rent, utilities, transportation, and food. I wish we had our fully funded emergency fund in place of 3-6 months expenses so that we didn't have to cancel our Netflix, cable, and all of those extra unnecessary things, but I am so thankful that we are where we are financially. It's going to be a stressful time regardless, but we are able to keep our wits about us and construct a plan while we navigate these waves of grief and various other emotions. I'm thankful that I have a whole month or so of safety (because of our baby emergency fund and our budgeting) before I really start to freak out. :D And an extra month is plenty of time to find at least a basic job, or so we hope. *fingers crossed*

So, if you would, please be in prayer for my brother and his family, Joshua and his family, my family, as well as all of the other employees. None of us ever expected to go into Christmas unemployed. Please pray that everyone is able to make a smooth and swift transition to wherever they are to be employed next and that all of us would have peace that God knows the future and that there is always hope.

Also, thanks for all of you who venture over to my rarely updated blog. I will try to make sure the next time I post, it won't be quite so catastrophic or newsy. ;)

Death at Downton

*Warning: This post talks vaguely about the concept of characters dying on the TV show Downton Abbey from Seasons 1-3. There are no spoilers, I promise.*

Downton Abbey. I started watching this TV show about a year ago at the recommendation of a friend. Season 1 was on Netflix, and right away, I fell in love with the quality and the detail and the costumes and the stories. I didn't love the characters, not at first, but I learned to love all of their little quirks, well, except for the characters I loved to hate. I also wasn't particularly drawn to the time period, but I so love historical fiction that I found it fascinating anyway. To me, the show was about the house and the people that happened to live in it. People would come and go, the house would be altered, but in the end, if the walls could talk, Downton Abbey would tell these stories.

It didn't take long for me to notice that time skipped ahead very quickly as the show went along, and each season of 7-8 episodes covered about 3 years. The family and staff dealt with major issues of the time period and national and world events, and it was written and filmed in such a way that it wasn't hard to follow or stay interested because you noticed the costumes, hairstyles, and other things changing from one episode to the next. As I watched Season 2 and later, Season 3, I had already decided that if I wasn't emotionally detached from the characters, I would later be devastated. I knew they would have to start "killing off" the current generation of characters soon, simply because time had progressed, characters had aged, and potentially actors would want to move on from the show. In addition, death is a natural part of life, and people in history seemed to have to deal with the loss of loved ones a lot more often than we do now. I knew that to be true, and if Downton is to portray an accurate representation of history, I figured the characters would eventually experience it. And they do. I quickly learned to love the show without minding what happened to anyone in it...that is, except my personal favorite character, well, characters . . . John Bates and Anna . . . and of course the Dowager Countess.

I suppose the show hasn't struck others in the same way. I've been told that Downton is a soap opera. Well, soap opera or not, life happens. People die and some move in and out of our lives. It doesn't feel like a stretch to me when and if it happens on a TV show. Just this month, I had two people I know pass away. One died quite suddenly at a young age and the other died suddenly as well, but of old age as she was 96. To have people die on a fictional show is sad too, albeit in a superficial way seeing as the characters aren't real. But because it happens more often on a show than we would like it too doesn't make it terrible writing, especially considering the time period. I know dozens of stories in my family history when someone died suddenly or unexpectedly. To me, it's life.

That being said, the only character on Downton that I actually expect to die soon is the one I can't imagine the show without: the Dowager Countess. The show is great on its own merit, but her personality and wit take it to a new level of excellence. I am afraid the fact that her character was quite old already (when the show began), it would be a stretch for her to live much longer. This makes me sad. I fear the show will lose ratings and popularity when they lose her unless they are able to replace her with someone of equal caliber. I hope they can as I should love to see what happens to Downton in many more seasons and in later decades.