Chairs, Craigslist & Coffee

Decorating my home has really been weighing on my mind this last month or so. I feel like we're so close to tying everything together in a cohesive sort of way...and then I feel like we have such a ways to go. This weekend/yesterday we got that much closer. I found these amazing chairs at goodwill on Saturday.

I usually shop the front of the store first, making my way to the back. But for some reason, I immedietly went to the back where the furniture was (probably because I'm so ready to find a tall dresser for the boys room, and get rid of our extra wide one that only takes up way too much space). These chairs were meant for us. We've been wanting new chairs for the past year (ever since Peter made me this AMAZING table):

March 2012

We've looked at chairs a few times but never found the right ones...and I wasn't interested in paying an exuberant amount of money per chair. So we waited. And waited, and waited. As soon as I saw these chairs at goodwill I knew they were going home with us. Even before I looked at the price tag. I was hoping they weren't too expensive. And they weren't. $9.99 per chair (10% off for loading them up ourselves). That's right, $9 per chair, $36 for the set. They go SO well in our dining room. The dark wood complements the woodwork in the room as well as the table. And get this, they're comfortable. Not even kidding. They also boast an extra wide seat. Holla! So now two of my favorite goodwill finds are together in one room. Now I just have to figure out the artwork for the dining room, finish sewing the runner for the table and maybe make matching placemats....and the dining room will be finished!  Riiiight.

 

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Yesterday we sold a table that we had upstairs on Craigslist. Peter bought the table 8 years ago when he first got our apartment (we were still dating I think). It was a wonderful table, with a beautiful dark finish. I loved it, but it was too big for our small house. So I posted it on Craigslist on Monday. By Monday night, I received an email, and set up a time for the following night for couple to come and pick it up. They arrived last night, gave Peter the money and packed it up into their truck. After they left Peter gave me the money and I realized they had overpaid us. I quickly called them before they got too far away and told them of their error. She thanked me for my honesty and said they would turn around and come back. 15 seconds later, my phone rang and the husband was on the phone. He said that he was a pastor and knew what it was like to be a young couple with little kids. He said that we could keep the money. I hung up in shock. I felt so very blessed by their kindness and generosity.

I'm grateful today for my chairs (which I'm certain the Lord kept for us) and for the kindness of strangers. And for the mocha I'm sipping on.

Via World Market

Cranberry Coffee Pound Cake

Friday morning came around as usual with the sound of the kids playing in their bedroom...and then the alarm going off. I don't even know why we still set our second alarm. :p  Soon after my husband's alarm went off, he received a text saying that he had the day off of work. Say wha? Such a fun surprise. He turned off the alarm and we snuggled back under the blankets and slept until noon. Riiiiight. Did I mention I have two sons...one of whom likes to wake up super early? Yeah. Instead of sleeping until noon, I being the good wife that I am, crept out of bed and wrangled my boys up, allowing my husband to get some more shuteye. I was excited about what the day held and wanted to make it extra special by making something yummy for breakfast. Cranberry coffee cake came to mind and so I googled a recipe. I found a recipe that looked promising and with a few tweaks here and there, I found my newest addiction. Be prepared to be blown away by this AMAZING "coffee cake". I had to give some of it away because I was afraid I was going to eat the whole thing. Oh, the temptation of it all!

 

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Cranberry Coffee Pound Cake

Yield: About 16 Servings
Prep: 10 Minutes, Baking Time: 55-70 Minutes, + 5 Minutes Cooling Time 

It's a coffee cake...it's a pound cake. It's delicious and the most amazing breakfast treat. This also makes for a good midnight snack. Word of advice: Share, or risk eating it all when no one is looking.

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 Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1-3/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12oz bag of fresh or frozen cranberries*, patted dry
• Frosting OR Powdered Sugar.

(*can also substitute frozen or fresh blueberries or frozen or fresh cut rhubarb, sprinkled lightly with sugar) 

Directions  

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-in. fluted tube pan. 
• In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Mix remaining flour (1/4 cup) with cranberries; fold the floured cranberries into batter (discard the leftover flour). Batter will be very thick. Spoon into prepared pan.
• Bake at 350° for 55-70 minutes or until cake tests done (check at 55 minutes, and if it still looks raw in the cracks, continue to cook until done). Let stand 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool on a wire rack. Before serving, drizzle with frosting or dust with powdered sugar.

• Recipe Slightly Adapted From Taste of Home

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 1/2 oz. Softened Cream Cheese
3 T. soft butter
1/2 t. Vanilla
1/2 t. Milk
1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and milk until combined. Slowly add the Powdered Sugar until well combined.

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I recently cut the recipe in half, using frozen rhubarb (lightly sugared and then combined with the flour). Instead of using a fluted pan, I put the batter in a loaf pan. I baked it at 350⁰ for 45-50 minutes. It turned out great!

Paranoid much?

It's so nice to have my health back. I feel like a new person. My energy level is back to normal and I'm sleeping through the night. My house is slowly, but surely coming back into order. I'm still paranoid about getting the flu and even though it's been SO nice to be out and about, as soon as I get home I wash my hands and pray that we didn't pick anything up. I don't think I would be this paranoid if we hadn't gone through 3 weeks of hell...I mean sickness. I can't imagine adding the flu to the mix. Please God, protect us! 

On Saturday, my husband gifted me an afternoon to myself at the mall. I was so excited. I had been housebound for such a long time. I enjoyed being able to shop the awesome new year clearance, take my time and try on clothes without having to hurry, hurry, hurry. I scored some amazing deals. But, as soon as I got home, I plopped my loot on the floor and went up and took a shower, throwing the clothes I wore to the mall in the hamper. Yep, paranoid is the correct word to describe me. Yesterday we went to Walmart. Enough said. And today Miles had his 9 month checkup at the clinic (only a few weeks late). Again, enough said. Germs are everywhere and I'm slowly but surely coming around to the mindset of being okay with that. Praying and trusting. Praying and trusting. That's all I can do. Well, that and washing hands, taking vitamins and boosting our immune systems. It's all good.

I miss my friends and family. The ones far from us and the ones near. Keeping our distance while being sick has been so hard. We've missed out on a lot and had to cancel quite a few activities - including 2 date nights to go see The Hobbit. I will see that movie in the theater...I will! Curse of The Hobbit. Hopefully this will be the week we can resume regular living. I'm hoping so.

So yes, no rhyme or reason for this post, only to say that it's good to be back. I'm grateful for health and I'm looking forward to this week. Now if only it would warm up outside. I'm kinda over negative digits - isn't it Springtime yet?! No? Harumph.

P.S.
Lately, I've been in the shopping....and selling mode. I'm loving Poshmark. Such a convenient way to shop and sell. Here's a link for you to take a peek or follow my closet. Happy shopping!

Is it February yet?

Oh look, it's still January. Maybe if I go back to bed, it'll be February. Or not.
I'm cooped up here at home for the millionth day. I hate being responsible and keeping us sickies at home - spreading germs is so tempting right now. Buuuut, I wouldn't wish Strep Throat on anyone, so I'm staying put.

I'm trying to stay busy and not daydream of being outside in warm weather with the sun shining down on me... There's a lot to do around here.  Being sick for 3 weeks (over Christmas AND New Years) really made a mess out of our home. Just picking one of those things would make our house messy....add being sick and preparing and living through the holidays...yeah. CRAZY.

To help me stay busy, I decided to tackle one room a day and DEEP CLEAN. I'm also working through the 21-day Organization Challenge. I love a good challenge that seems doable. So far, one day down, 20 to go.

The other thing I'm tacking this month (and hopefully for the rest of the year) is setting aside quite time for ME and the Lord. I'll be honest. I failed miserably in my quiet time in 2012. I couldn't seem to find anything that worked for me. I always fail at reading plans and reading random parts of the bible just doesn't work for me for long periods of time. I need more structure...but a manageable plan. I'm a finicky person.   

This is a picture of what my morning looks like:

1. Coffee. I have to have my coffee in the morning to calm and sooth my crankiness away. I'm not a morning person. I love my ombre tumbler from my sweet SIL. I can't drink my coffee out of a normal coffee cup anymore...at least during the winter months. It gets cold way too fast. In my tumbler it stays warm for hours. Love.

2.  My phone. While my littlest one takes his bottle, I check my email, facebook, instagram....  I also, use my phone for my first set of devotions. She Reads Truth has become a favorite mini-devotional for me. I can access it from my phone, read the short (and deep) devotional and look up scripture all from one app (or you can access it from the She Reads Truth website or YouVersion's website. I like SRT's devotionals because they're not overwelming and it usually gives me something to chew on during the day. And it gets me in the Word.

3. My bible. Most of the time I'll just use my phone to look up scripture, but sometimes when I'm doing my other devotional (more on that later), I like to use a real bible. There's just something sweet about opening up my well-loved bible and seeing highlighted spots...and notes with dates on them. It's almost like reading a journal.

4. Q&A journal. I love this book. It's pleasing on the eyes and fun too! Here's today's question:

 

5. Jesus Calling. I received this book as a Christmas gift. It was on my wish list as I had only heard good things about this devotional. I'm 10 days in a love it. Just like She Reads Truth, it's a short devotional with scriptures to look up and meditate on. So far I've been challenged to be thankful and to work on trusting. Two things that I have realized I'm not very good at doing in my walk with Jesus. I can already tell these two things (among many) will be my theme for 2013. 

6. Finally my planner. I love this planner (I bought it at 70% off a couple of weeks before the New Year). It's not exactly my style - but I love the format of it. Lots of space to write down to-do lists for the day and even a place to journal about the month. When I'm done with my devotionals, I open this book up and write down my list for the day. Yesterday was my first day feeling well enough to actually accomplish tasks. Today seems to be a good day too. On my list for the day:

- Day 2 of The 21 Day Organizing Challenge (Coat Closet)

- Hem the boy's bedroom curtains with my *new* sewing machine!

- Deep-clean Front Hall/Steps

- Figure out dinner. Again.

It may not look like much, but it'll keep me busy. 

Adoption.

There are many things I admire about my friend Johanna. She and her husband have two adorable kids and are looking to add to their sweet family via adoption. My admiration just went up a few notches. Off the top of my head, I only know a few things about adoption:

1) It's a GREAT thing.
2) It's EXPENSIVE!
3) It's a very time consuming journey.
4) It's hard. 

See why I admire her?  If you have a heart towards supporting people who have this high calling of adopting and want to look good doing it, click on this link and buy a t-shirt. You can learn more about their journey by clicking on this link.