Merry Christmas!

I guess this post is a couple of days late, since it is two days after Christmas and I'll be taking down my decorations very soon.  Although, I want to be reminded of Christmas throughout the upcoming year- of my helplessness and need for my Savior.  I need to be reminded that Jesus left the glory of heaven to come to earth for me, to live and die for me that I might live for Him!  May we all long for Him, more than anything else this year.

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come thou long-expected Jesus, 
Born to set Thy people free; 
From our fears and sins release us, 
Let us find our rest in Thee. 
Israel's strength and consolation, 
Hope of all the earth Thou art; 
Dear Desire of every nation, 
Joy of every longing heart. 

Joy to those who long to see thee,
Dayspring from on high appear
Come thou promised rod of Jesse,
Of thy birth we long to hear
O'er the hills the angels singing,
News, glad tidings of a birth
Go to him, your praises ringing,
Christ the Lord has come to earth 

Come to earth to taste our sadness,
He whose glories knew no end
By his life he brings us gladness,
Our Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend
Leaving riches without number,
Born within a cattle stall
This the everlasting wonder,
Christ was born the Lord of all 

Born Thy people to deliver, 
Born a Child and yet a King. 
Born to reign in us for ever, 
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. 
By Thine own eternal Spirit 
Rule in all our hearts alone; 
By Thine all-sufficient merit 
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

The island is finished!

Rob finished the island a couple of weekends ago, and it is amazing what a difference it makes in the kitchen!  I moved all of our silverware into the island drawer since it's the largest pull-out drawer in the kitchen, and the extra counter space has helped tons too!  Here it is:

While Rob was working on the island in the garage, I was trying to do a bit of sewing/Christmas projects for the home. 

Pinterest-inspired ornament from our wedding program

Leftover burlap has so many uses- here...

...and here...

...and here.

stockings!...and the pennant idea I got from my friend Dawn, who had one with "thankful" painted on one side for Thanksgiving and you flip it over to put up "rejoice!" for Christmas.  Thanks Dawn! :)

A House Divided?

"And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." Mark 3:25
Well, Rob and I know that our house isn't really divided, but we certainly differ on the college teams we cheer for.  I grew up a Clemson Tiger, and Rob grew up a South Carolina Gamecock...so for the sake of our marriage we decided to only go to one game in Columbia and one in Clemson.  Last year after one week of officially dating, we went to Columbia for the Clemson-Carolina game- it was a little more difficult than I thought but we made it through.  So here are some pictures from the games.  1. I can't believe I actually wore something red (too close to garnet if you ask me) to Columbia for the Carolina-Georgia game but I just told myself it could go for either team.  Rob was a good sport and actually wore orange to the Clemson game last weekend, and my parents were determined for him to have the best Clemson experience ever seeing as we had seats in the west end zone!  I could get used to that!

Hey, we know him! :)

Erin and I trying to convert the boys

Simplicity

1. Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status
2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you
3. Develop a habit of giving things away
4. Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry
5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them
6. Develop a deeper appreciation for the creation
7. Look with a healthy skepticism at all “buy now, pay later” schemes
8. Obey Jesus’ instructions about plain, honest speech
9. Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others
10. Shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God

“May God give you – and me- the courage, the wisdom, the strength always to hold the kingdom of God as the number one priority of our lives. To do so, is to live in simplicity”

–Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

Fall Break

Fall break is now coming to a close...it's been a wonderful 5 day weekend, with a good mix of relaxation and projects.

Friday:  I drove up to Camp Greenville to see the sunrise, which was amazing!

The rest of Friday I did some projects around the house: recovered a chair that was a yard sale find.  I had painted it during the summer, but finally found some fabric I liked at Hobby Lobby so this is the result.

Also, I made a bedskirt for our guest bed.  Rob's old bed is very tall so it's hard to find a bedskirt that is long enough.  I found a plain sheet at a thrift store to use as the base and I sewed parts of another old sheet around the sides and bottom.  I think it turned out pretty well- at least it covers our junk under the bed. ;)

The guest bedroom was ready just in time for our first "spend the night" guest- sister, Rufus!  She came to Greenville for the weekend for a friend's wedding so it was great to spend some time with her.  While she was at the rehearsal dinner Rob and I used some gift cards at Lowe's.  We got supplies for our island and bulbs for our ceiling fan and our total cost was 30 cents!  These two deal-hunters were pumped!

Saturday: We (I mean Rob) worked on the island.  I just took off the drawers and painted them- he did all the hard work.

My parents and all the siblings and spouses came over to Greenville Saturday night to celebrate Mama and Daddy's 30th anniversary!  Sadly we didn't get any pictures of the whole family together but we had a great time together at Sassafras and the food was amazing- highly recommend!

Sunday was restful and relaxing.

Monday & Tuesday: Cleaning, putting up curtains, trying new recipes: these were some winners:

Speedy Chicken Stew:

Melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies:

Gospel reminders on Reformation Sunday

I was reminded in church today of the history of the church and the "five solas" on which believers took a stand during the Reformation and on which we're called to stand and to claim as our own today:

Sola Scriptura- Scripture Alone

Sola Christus- Christ Alone

Sola Gratia- Grace Alone

Sola Fide- Faith Alone

Soli Deo Gloria- The Glory of God Alone

Our responsive prayer of confession was a great reminder of how far I fall short:

"Leader: Holy God, our confession of faith reveals our sin,

People: for the words on our lips do not match the way we live.

Leader: We declare that scripture alone is our only rule for faith and life,

People: but we admit with sadness that we hardly touch our Bibles.

Leader: We declare that salvation is ours by faith alone,

People: but we are constantly tempted to trust in our own good works;

Leader: We declare salvation is ours by grace alone,

People: but we are foolishly inclined to feel in some small way, worthy.

Leader: We declare Christ alone as our Savior,

People: but we still cling to our sinful self-righteousness.

Leader: We declare that you alone are worthy to receive glory;

People: forgive us Lord, for we eagerly accept praise that belongs to You."

Latest project progress

We've been hanging a few things on the wall lately and trying to fill up the huge space above the couch in the living room.  Well, at least we got a start or as Rob says, "Pinterest finally attacked our wall above the couch".  We had seen large picture frames in stores similar to what we made, but they were too expensive for us and again Rob made the mistake of saying, "That would be so easy to make!"  He should know better than to say that now. ;)  The only thing I did was take the pictures from our honeymoon (our attempt at a panorama) to get them enlarged to 8x10's.  I cut some thick poster board to back each picture, and bought replacement glass at Hobby Lobby.  Rob did all the work of cutting 3 boards from a pallet and nailing them together.

Then we lined up the pictures the way we wanted them and Rob nailed in two small nails below each picture, and one on each side of the picture, to hold the glass in place.  We decided that the handle would add a nice touch and we had picked up a whole bag of old fixtures at...you guessed it... a yard sale!  So here's the final product...unless we decide to add hinges to the top so it'll look more like an old door.