Fabric

Update:
Mark took me back to Joann Fabric Monday night so I could buy the rest of the bolt of that fabric, but alas, there was about twenty inches of it left. Sadness. Thankfully there were other beautiful blue fabrics for the same wonderful price of $4 a yard!

From left: new fabric for valances, and hopefully additional for pillows, the half yard for a small pillow, and the original.

Here's a close-up of the new fabric:

I realize it has a completely different feel than the first, but I like this one just as much, and I can mix all three, (at least I think?)

So we'll see. I also wanted to share a photo of my token country shelf full of meaningful junk. You know, the ones that super long and have tons of little things that mean, (or don't mean), a lot and look cute? In my case, most of it does mean something.

From left: Star candle holder from Boscov's, it was cute, that's all I have to say about that. The red frame I painted and added the fabric rose. The photo is from our wedding and it's pretty cool. The vintage Mason jar is from Alyssa and Barry's wedding. The next frame was a super cute gift from A&B for our anniversary! She cut out lots of little hearts and stamped "Horner" on the hearts and framed it. Love it. And then an '"H" for Horner, and finally a stack of small coffee table books I don't actually read. Except for the Bible Answer book by Hank Hanegraff. That's a good book. I don't know about the rest of his stuff, but that is good. Last of all, I have to share the mirror that Mark gave me for Christmas. I love it, and it has to make it's way into the decor of the living room. Suggestions welcome.

That's all for today. Going to make my first pillow now, and starting valances with Mama tomorrow!

Inspiration

I'm trying to be more specific on what I like, design-wise. Like everyone else in America, I love Pottery Barn, just not the price. So I've enlisted the help of my younger cousin Doug, a carpenter in training, to make me a few pieces since he doesn't have much else going on for projects in school. I can't find the picture of the mantle I showed him, but it's going to be a really cool piece when he's done with it.
The other project, (which he says is easier?) is this headboard:

The "Mason" headboard from potterybarn.com

We would never spend close to $1000 for a headboard, but if Dougie can make it, sign us up!

If we are ever blessed with the opportunity to buy a home, ideally our dream house would be an older farmhouse with awesome wood flooring and cabinets. While we're on the subject of dreaming....

Ahh the ideal craft space!
Dang Pottery Barn and their idealistic/unrealistic design schemes.

Ok back to reality.

This desk is a little more on the "real" side. Only $115 on http://www.cymaxstores.com/
Not sure of the quality but I love the style and the price is right. It also doesn't take up tons of space, which we don't have much to sacrifice in the living room.

I really like ladders in decor.

I picked up a mini ladder, solely for decorative use, at a dollar store a few months back. It's been leaning against a wall looking dumb for the past five months so I googled "uses for old ladders." I like the ideas!

I might use this idea.


Finding the right place in my house is really the challenge.

It could work in the living room, but I feel like I have a lot going on already, so it may have to wait until that old farmhouse comes along...

As for other inspirations, I do love a little bit of Anthropologie now and then. Again, they are outrageous price wise but they do make for great DIY challenges.

I'll keep working on the valances and pillows, (which I had to buy other fabric for because I was too late on the first one, it had already sold out) and probably calling Katie to help with the rest of the ideas!

I.O.U.S. from God?

I saw this on Twitter this morning from John Piper:

I.O.U.S. - Incline my will (Psa 119:36). Open my eyes (Psa 119:18). Unite my heart (Psa 86:11). Satisfy my soul (Psa 90:14).

God owes us nothing, but He gives us EVERYTHING.

This is my prayer for today, that the Lord would incline my will, open my eyes, unite my heart, and (what I struggle with most of all), satisfy my soul.

Amen.

Design Slump

I read tons of blogs. Mostly crafty and design blogs, and most of them posted by my lifelong friend Katie of http://klynndesign.tumblr.com/. She always has great ideas for modern homes, but my ideas typically lean towards the country & vintage side of things. I like mason jars. And plaid. And worn-looking wood pieces. And I also love nautical looking anything. So my living room is a hodge-podge of random ideas. (See Below)




BORING!

That said, my mama got me a sewing machine for Christmas and I just now set it up. I went to Joann Fabric today and found a print I fell in love with. I only bought a half yard so far, but when I talked with Mama she said we could make valances for the window and door in my living room and some pillows too, so I have to go get the rest of the bolt because it was on clearance for $4 a yard. Mama has a great eye for design as well so I asked for her help and she had great ideas. So here's the fabric:


And I'm off to get started!
Updates to come.
Peace.

First Christmas 2010

Photo blogs are really so much easier for me to post, (and more fun too!) So to document our first Christmas together here's a variety of photos from our first Christmas season, and then, and update on the lives of two busy newlyweds in full time ministry.

Since Mark and I are really outdoors-y type people and love farmhouses and rustic decor, we wanted a similar feel for our Christmas card, (first one's gotta be good!) So we called upon Uncle Bill, our executive director here at camp, because he's awesome and does a really great job with a camera. It was quite sunny on this particular day, but I still like the way they came out, all squinting aside.



We were really busy up until Thanksgiving at the camp, and Trader Joe's was crazy busy every single day! So I worked 5 days a week, crazy, inconsistent hours, (So I also got my hands on the best of our Christmas goodies! Candy Cane Joe-Joe's, anyone?) and we still managed to get everything done for Christmas, including chopping down our own tree!





It was a little Charlie Brown looking, but we loved it anyway!



Ok now, since it was our first Christmas as a married couple, we made an attempt to be everywhere, with everyone. Which means, three places on each day. Despite the craziness of work, I still had a decent vacation from the store and had off Christmas Eve and two days after Christmas.
So for Christmas Eve we started out at Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop Horner's house in Glassboro. We ate, opened a million presents, and spent time with our cousins, Ryan and Whitney, (also married this year!)


Then it was off to Aunt Roe-Roe and Uncle Lar-Lar's house in Sicklerville! (Yes, we like nicknames. No, we haven't grown out of calling them that).

Typically each of our families lines up in front of the Christmas tree to take pictures for Grammy, so it was a little weird not to do that now that she's gone. But we still took couples pictures.


Matchy-matchy in stripes


The lights mess up the flash every year, and the room is incredibly dark so a flash is required.



Oh yea, and the there's Michael!


Finally we went to the Visceglia's house for some more food and merriment. They are fantastic friends of our parents' and we love them so much! Mark and I got tired around ten or eleven so we went home to open stockings and watch a movie.




We woke up Christmas Morning! and went o my parents' house right away for presents and breakfast, then off to the Horners' house to give gifts there too! I had so much fun shopping for everyone I couldn't wait for them all to open gifts. Everyone loved them!
Then we headed to Grandom Gray's house in Pitman to see the Gray side of the family, and finally back to my parents' house for Rojs family Christmas.


Family wrestling match?

Aren't they sweet? My lovebird parents.

Lovebird newlyweds.


Some kids we found somewhere? Just kidding, Grady, Sam, and Emma of course!
Love these three.

And that about wraps up Christmas. Mark had off all week, I worked a few shifts, and then we headed up to NYC for a low-key (believe it or not) NYE with friends Kris, BriG, Steve, Erin, and John. We made food, played games. made PEANUT BUTTER S'MORES! and banged pots and pans on a street corner. It was a really fun and memorable time.

Thank you, God, for all the many blessings we've been given! So yes, speaking of the Lord, we've been mightily blessed here at Camp Haluwasa. This year of being here has been a blessing and a challenge. We are challenged to walk circumspectly at all times, be on high guard against spiritual attack, and walk closely with the Lord. He is only as far away as we make Him to be. I am so thankful for all that we are learning together, and the different convictions we have been given.
We are also challenged to bring new things to the table for our programs. Mark has attended quite a few conferences, (in fact, he's at one right now) and he has been given new contacts, new ideas, and refreshment for his soul. He has also been given many opportunities to lead worship, which is really great for him to get back into. Mark is incredibly gifted with musical abilities and leading the congregation in worship. We hope that the Lord presents an opportunity for music ministry someday too. We've been spending more time with our church family, and we've also decided to make that top priority, and give up karate. We love it, but it's not the wisest use of our time and money at this time.
Time to venture off through the snow to my parents' house again.
peace.

Since the wedding was a year ago...

Brides spend months planning every detail of their wedding, but the most important details for them are the dress, hair, and makeup. They take pictures of each step, share with the girls, and make the decisions on how they'll look for arguably, the prettiest day of their lives.

My wedding day definitely felt like the most glamorous day I've ever experienced, but I have to say, my husband does a spectacular job of making me feel beautiful when I'm home in the kitchen. We laugh about the most absurd things, and then have intense theological conversations within the same hour. And all the while, I know he only has eyes for me.
Anyway, the point of this post was to say that it's really neat to look back through your camera after the wedding is over and see all the photos you took in preparation to be a bride and I just wanted to share a few.
And also, I wanted to advertise that my cousin, Erica Weiss, is the MOST fantastic stylist and she did an amazing job on my hair. Honestly she put countless hours and love into making my hair look amazing, and it did.
Check out her new shop! www.hotheadhairstyles.com

We started with a picture of Taylor Swift's hair in her video for "Love Story" and it came out very similar.







She did a beautiful job! But we wanted to make it more unique and so the hairstyle transformed ever so slightly each of the five times we practiced.


We decided to sweep the bangs up to make for less fuss.



Erica was also there to help me decide on
"the dress."
I wasn't sure what I wanted when we went. I took a panel of judges consisting of my mother, my two aunts, Jesi and Debbie, and Erica. I knew they would be honest and tell me what I needed to hear! Jesi was pushing for a very "princess-y" gown but I didn't want the standard bride shape. I wanted a dramatic back and very feminine. I tried a few, but this one stole the cake!


Erica picked the perfect veil.


My room was complete mess for months before the wedding!

The only part of the look that Mark was really allowed to know about beforehand was the makeup. I don't wear any on a daily basis, but it was definitely needed for my wedding day! We didn't want it to be too much, or too dramatic, because I didn't want to look unlike myself. Thankfully, Jennifer is a great makeup artist, just for fun!



I would have been a mess without my family!

This beautiful lady made everything happen, and she did it perfectly.


All while grieving the loss of her father, sister, mother in law, and stepmother.
My mom is amazing.

She did everything possible to make my wedding beautiful.
So after ten months of planning, practicing, and putting it all together, this is what resulted:

Perfect hair and makeup

Gorgeous dress and veil



And the two happiest people in the world on January 9, 2010.

And we're still living happily ever after.