Moving Out

Isn't it interesting the way the Lord intervenes in our lives??

I am not one to appreciate people who go on and on about how wonderful their lives are, and all that they have, and how delightful they are, etc. I hope that you can read this as just someone who is floored at the Lord's goodness and generosity. I really do attribute all of this to Him.

A few weeks ago one of my closest friends told me a distressing story over coffee. Her apartment had been sold out from under her and her roomie by their (dishonest) landlord. Her roomie decided to move to a different state. She had just a few weeks to find a new roommate, move her things and figure out what to do/where to go. I was so burdened for her and the enormous inconvenience.

Long story short, my lease is almost up, and we decided to find a place together. We made several appointments that night with different apartments in Logan Square. The next day we went to see one and absolutely fell in love with it. Day after that we had filled out an application. The next day we had signed the lease and dropped off the security deposit. What?!!

I will miss living in the lovely place that I have called home for the last year, but I am also excited to be rooming with Sarah Bear again in a new place.

I wish I could tell you all of the ways that things have just fallen into place. It seems too easy. It seems like it should not be this simple and stress free. I am amazed at watching the Lord provide. You have to love how personal He is.

I found the most beautiful rug on Facebook marketplace. It was an 8 month old Shabby Chic rug that a wealthy college student thought was so "last season". $12, no problem.

I responded to a Craig's List post of two absolutely beautiful red couches. The girl selling them happened to be one of my friends at work. She gave us an insane deal. Seriously, they are beautiful and we are paying pennies practically for them. Can I also mention that they will go quite nicely with our red accent wall?!

I went home for my one of my best friend's baby shower. We have been friends since birth and now she is having a little baby. It is crazy to think that there is another person growing inside of her. In just 3 months HaileyAnn will be among us.

While home mom and I went thrifting. I am in love with all things vintage and shabby chic, so garage sales and resale shops are just the place to go for some real steals.

Here is one steal we could not pass up. Imagine the possibilitiesCheck out that velvet...

After painting the legs. You can start to see it now, yeah?



$30 later (how is 2 yards of fabric SO expensive?? AND it was 50% off. Honestly...)

May I just say that I have the coolest, most capable mom in the entire world? I could not have done it without her. She was so good and patient and talented to help me do this in under 18 hours. We had so much fun working on this together.


I will admit that the sides are probably my favorite part.


High back vintage chair: check!

My mom is such an incredible woman. She has taught me so much about decorating on a dime. She is so creative and not afraid to use a staple gun and get dirty. I guess you would call her a "Jane of all trades". Seamstress, artist, landscaper, hairstylist, carpenter, chef, tea connisseur, bargain hunter, Mac pro, and the list goes on and on.

Because of her, nearly every single piece of furniture I own is a thrift, resale, or curbside find. It is so rewarding to transform junk into real furniture. I think it gives a place more character. You feel like it's really yours because you put so much into it. It also helps that my preference happens to be all things vintage and shabby chic :) And that I am young, single, live in a city and have no "rules" to obey as far as decorating/matching is concerned.

More photos to come once we make the big move in a few weeks. Mom bought me the most amazing housewarming gift. I will just have to post a picture. It's unconventional, whimsical and oh-so-fun. She really is the best!!

Enough going on and on. Again, please don't read this as brag-y. I am just so pumped and so thankful about how God intervenes in our lives. From the unfortunate scenario of Sarah getting kicked out of her apartment with minimal notice, to getting to now room with my best friend, to finding a wonderful place, to the Lord just giving us furniture within our means, to letting us have so much fun being creative and enjoy this time of life. On and on, my friends! On and on.

Things upcoming:

• I will be in the city of Chicago next weekend!! Woo hoo! A rare occurrence, it feels like.
• In just 9 days H-money, RachBaby, SarahBear and I are road tripping it to the mountains in TN!!
• My parents are coming to Chicago two days after I get back from said adventure to move me in to the new place.
  

Entertainment

I am so thankful for my good-natured friend Rachel.

And so thankful that she has a great sense of humor.

Here is her blog post about my most recent form of entertainment.

Rachel, thank you for letting me set this up for you. All the best to you on JC Match!

LAST Weekend

I wrote this LAST week about LAST weekend, but forgot to post/publish it. Enjoy...

This past weekend started early. Well, sort of.

We found out that Thursday and Friday were going to be CASUAL DAYS in the office! Jeans, here I come! How does something as insignificant as wearing denim pants make such an enormous difference?
So… Thursday felt like a weekend day because I was in my beloved blue jeans.

Also, I had a very important discussion on GChat concerning the usage of the words forgo/forego and their tenses. Much confusion and hilarity ensued.

On Thursday I met old friends for lunch. I love that I get to call them old friends. We’ve been friends since our freshman year in college. Gotta love the bro-sis. Enjoyed some Chipotle and a lot of laughter as Rachel and I did some tag-team-story-telling while Dan Albright just shook his head at us. A good time had by all, I am sure.

Friday was an evening of splurges! Had a mani/pedi (what all the cool people say instead of manicure and pedicure). Got my favorite salad from Portillo’s and then stayed in and got caught up on The Office and 30 Rock!

Saturday was an important day. It was my roommate Mallory’s graduation!! Her parents were so generous to take Val and I out to the Bongo Room for breakfast with their whole family to celebrate Mallory and her huge achievement!!

Then it was time for Rachel and I to go on an adventure to NATURE! It had been several months since returning to our natural habitat. See how serene I look? I am finally home, at one with nature.
Poor Rachel was so patient with me as I made some returns (AND did some bargain hunting) at the Gap.

We did several things that involved but were not limited to paths, bridges, bushes, trees, troubled youth, geese, grassy knolls, the tower of Mordor, Beatles renditions, bare feet.

All of these activities helped to work up an appetite for our favorite restaurant: Ted’s! So happy to return to the land of paper straws, crushed ice, diet cherry coke and bison! I was very brave and ate a salad that eggs (not avacados like Marcia said) in it.

We met some wonderful servers there. One was nicknamed sweet bottoms, but I prefer the variation of Sweet Cheeks.

The decision to embark upon a journey to Target was quite similar to Abraham, in that we went out not knowing where we were going. Having been there once before several months ago we relied on our keen memories to select the correct paths. Unfortunately too many of the streets were named after president’s. After selecting one dead end, we were off and on our way to our destination.

I was very proud of myself for buying toothpaste with mouthwash in it and for putting the cinnamon rolls back on the shelf.

Rachel and I love technology and had a ball chatting with my mom on Edna’s Bluetooth phone system. We love my mom so much!!

Back to the city to drop off Rachel and leave her to her puppy chow making endeavors. Picked up Sarah Bear and went to the Logan Square Bar. A cozy lodge-like feel for a bar! One more reason to love Logan Square.

Amish Oatmeal with berries to start off Sunday. Took Sarah with me to Covenant Presbyterian. Met more people in my small group – hurray!

Sarah and I experienced Walmart in Chicago for the first time. It was crazy to be some place that familiar in this city. A huge parking lot and everything! We went to pick up Sarah’s mattress, finally! She has been without one since January!! Poor mattress-less Sarah.

Mexican for lunch – mmm! How is it so good?

Now it’s Monday. Weekend over. Until the next one… In St. Louis!!!!!!!!!!

Meet Edna

Three weeks ago I was home for Easter. One night I got to just relax with my dad and I told him about my plans to buy a car. I have a great dad who gave me lots of good advice on how to go about this (so thankful for him)! I wanted to buy in St Louis vs Chicago because of cost and taxes. He offered to shop around and work with the dealerships in my absence. Aw, tanks dad.

My parents also had been considering purchasing a new car as well. They thought that maybe if they walked in to a dealership to buy two cars we might get a better deal.

THEN my sister and Drew were in OKC buying a house when their trusty car, Pete started dying on them (poor Petey). They discussed and decided they were in for a deal too.

So the time between that first conversation with my dad to buying three Nissans was only 14 days!! Crazy how things just fell together. Praise God for the way He provides for our every need. I just think it’s awesome how He coordinated the needs of 5 people in 3 states to come to a head all at the same time.

Talked to my parents at 4:30 on Friday, was on the 11:55 MegaBus (that did not show up til 1:30am) to StL, showed up at the Nissan dealer at 12:00 on Saturday (having only slept 2 hours), signed my name about 46 times, and by 3:00 was driving away with my very first car!!!

Me and Edna before I brought her home from the dealership!!

Aww, me and Brevin. I really like him!

P.s. we both have blue eyes.

Me and my pops. I love him!!

I did not even feel like the little car was mine until I was driving on the open road from StL back to Chicago on Sunday!

Since this was such a momentous occasion, a photo shoot was definitely required (naturally). AND since my dad and I have identical Versas, we just had to take numerous pictures out in the driveway. I am sure our neighbors are writing to the home owner’s association about our embarrassing display :D

We have matching cars!!

Edward and Edna look so nice in the sun!!


As you can see, we missed our calling. (So sexy)


Don't we look fierce?!
*this photo pose inspired by America's Next Top Model


Their weetle butts are my favorite part!


This one was candid. We do this all the time!
(what a bunch of cheeseballs)


Yippy Skippy!!
Mom captured this frame on the first try. She's got some mad skills!


I just love my parentals! Where would I be without these two?
SO blessed!


You wish you were us.


Just some of my favorites.

Blessed are those who mourn...

My thoughts toward death are so logical.
My feelings, however, do not share that logical mind.
It’s difficult to grieve because my cognitions are so sensible, and my feelings… not so sensible.
I am thankful to have a dear friend (Rachel) to remind me that grief displays itself in many strange ways. Especially when that “display” involves me making a scene in public at a packed movie theater that ends with popcorn dumped all over the floor. (Story is much better [ridiculous] when shared in person).

Loss is exhausting, painful, makes me want to control things that I can since I can’t control the loss.

My grandma is on her death bed. Saying goodbye is so difficult. So inadequate.
She has lived some nearly 90 years. Has been married to the same feisty man for 60 years. Has loved her family so sacrificially. At the end of her life she feels it has flown by and hopes that she mattered and made a difference.

When someone sends her a card, she reads it over and over and holds it close.

She still perks up, even on her deathbed when she seems unresponsive, when you tell her she is lovely or beautiful.

My grandparents rarely ever talk about feelings. Only in recent days has my grandma ever said the words, “I love you”. It’s a generational thing, I suppose. Or how they were raised. Or my grandpa’s reign in the home.

She still is her same sweet self, wanting to be a burden to no one. We tend to think that growing from youth to adulthood is so difficult. I am convinced that exiting this world much more of a struggle than entering.

My mind says that her pain and suffering will finally be over. She will finally be at rest and with her Savior. I do rejoice at that. But my feelings revolt at the process of dying. Whoever said death was natural was lying. Yes, it will happen to everyone, but it will never feel natural to those observing because it was never supposed to be this way.

I take solace in the knowledge and hope that this too shall be made right. There is One who came to make all things well. He does this daily in restoring our broken places. And one day all will be restored. Hallelujah that death does not have the last word.

Quotable

As long as we read the Bible or a spiritual book simply to acquire knowledge, our reading does not help us in our spiritual lives. We can become very knowledgeable about spiritual matters without becoming truly spiritual people.

As we read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be willing to put down the book we are reading and just listen to what God is saying to us through its words.

Henri Nouwen

Must Read

Please read this in its Entirety!!

The end.