The Kitchen: A Brief Update

We have made more progress on the kitchen in the past month than, well...ever! Which is really good news! I have used the oven and stove to cook dinner almost every day for about a week now. Most importantly, we were able to have Blake and I's belated birthday cake!

My absolute favorite cake, peanut butter with chocolate chips. Addie approved :)

Oh, man. That cake seriously hit the spot.

The grout is sealed, cleaned, and lovely. The stove is awesome, but friends are actually giving us their stove, microwave, and dishwasher! So, we will obviously have more stuff to install next week, but hopefully we will also have the last two out of three cabinets built to install as well!

A stove! That I cooked on! In my house! In real life!

You may have noticed the pretty display on the door by now. Here's a helpful hint circa The Nester's philosophy--it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful, right? So, if you're sick of looking at a hideous door in need of removal, sanding, re-painting, and re-installation, but no time or money to take care of it, turn it into a pretty focal point!

I LOVE our tile. I LOVE our ceiling. And I can't wait for that kitchen cabinet (the white wooden crate-looking thing) to be done, as well as the other two Blake will be building.

I got kraft paper, watercolored the black lettering, got the ivy and cotton from Hobby Lobby, and Blake helped me hang it all up. Voila! A place the eye wants to go, instead of being drawn to too many coats of paint and leftover mirror glue. There is still a LOT to do, but it looks like kitchen and less like a construction zone!

Now, I leave you to go make some chocolate chip blondies. I can do these things now!

Floridaful

We have had a nice, long dose of "taking life slow." I started a book during vacation called One Thousand Blessings; I'm on chapter four and have already cried five times. Considering I'm not quite halfway through it, I don't want to try to summarize or explain it; but I will, based on what I've read thus far, highly recommend it.

One portion of the book describes a moment in detail for the author in which she relishes in absorbing the moment of her young children gathered around her table and diving into a snack she has made them. She takes the time to describe how each child eats it: how one delights in each little crumb, another wolfs it down, how their eyes sparkle, etc. She is overwhelmed and delighted by this tiny, seemingly insignificant interaction that she feels burrow deep into her memory to savor over and over again. This whole scene brought me to complete and utter tearful ruin. Why? Because 1.) most moms totally understand this nonsensical emotional reaction, it's this chemical thing that happens to your soul after you have a baby, and 2.) I was both grateful for the time I had over vacation to cherish several of my own moments like this of Addie, and simultaneously regretted moments like this at home that I had let slip through my fingers in my hurry to do whatever seemed so "important."

Blake told me today that friends at church could not believe I have lived six months without a kitchen. Three weeks ago I probably would have shared in this disbelief. But lately, it honestly hasn't bothered me. Even without a kitchen, I have been able to share memories of Addie helping me make dinner and do dishes. In my hurry to make picturesque memories in our fixer upper, I neglected to absorb the memories I was already making. And while they may not be Instagram-worthy, they are completely, wholly beautiful to me.

All of this to say, we have returned from vacation with a pretty large to-do list, but I am ready to live each day, minute by minute, reminding myself to take life slow; to watch Addie push her few wispy bangs out of her face while she lays on her belly on the floor, focused intently on scribbling all over her coloring books; to mentally record how she sings Disney Princess songs to herself 24/7, and how cute her little voice sounds right now; and how she stops everything she is doing to jump onto the big chair to watch Daddy pull into the driveway after he gets home from work. And so, so much more. More than enough to remind me that my life is unbelievably full, even when empty of a kitchen.

In closing, here are a few snapshots of our vacation, and brief descriptions. Enjoy :)

Eagerly awaiting our arrival to Magic Kingdom! Addie was all grins after the ferryboat captain announced to her over the loud speaker as we boarded, "PRINCESS! You're late for work!!!"

She could not EVEN believe Cinderella's castle was REAL.

We met Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora, Gaston, and Merida. We didn't get a picture with Belle, because you meet her on the Enchanted Tales ride, and we didn't realized we were allowed to use our cell phones to take a picture because there was a photographer. Addie sang a little bit to Ariel (hoping Ariel would give her a mermaid tail in exchange), got COMPLETELY flustered and couldn't speak to Gaston, and was almost completely giddy and silent with the other princesses. Merida was our favorite, she was really fun. :)

For my birthday, we got to go eat sushi (obviously), and Addie photobombed my birthday picture. Which was totally fine and cute :) 

Mer-Comptons were sighted on the beach!

Her squeeze hugs. I can't. <3

We spent SO MUCH time on the beach, and I only got one really bad sunburn. :)

The kitchen and mudroom tile floor is done, but still dusty after five mops! Grout dust is a bummer. Blake promised a couple more mops should leave it clean. And guess what? We have an oven to install (needs a little TLC first, though)! My personal fixer upper to do list this week involves getting that floor really clean, and moving some stuff out of the foyer to see if I can handle finishing up the ceiling by myself; this should either make for an inspiring or hilarious story later. I think I'm going to use fixer upper work as my motivator to exercise--if you think cardio on a treadmill is tough, try hauling junk up and down stairs for a while. Productive and cheaper than a gym membership.

P.S.--If you haven't already followed our Instagram account for our side business project, please check it out! I'm working on setting up a prize post for sometime in the next couple of weeks to help get us a little exposure. :)

Tile & Typography

Today's blog will probably feel a bit disjointed, as that is how the past couple of weeks have felt. We are trying to "take life slow" in the midst of what feels like a lot of random bustling. Blake, Adeline, and I are counting down the minutes until we leave for our week long vacation to Florida! Blake and I always joke that every time we go on a real, actual vacation, the month before it is when we "earn" our vacation (because it is usually a really hard/busy/somewhat overwhelming month). Every day Addie asks, "Are we going to Disney World TODAY?!" We are only going to Magic Kingdom one day. Although, "only" is kind of a strange word choice for talking about DISNEY WORLD. Considering I won't be pregnant this time (or at least I'm not planning to be!), I am so ready for the in-your-face amount of entertainment and spectacle. And every other day, we will be laying on a beach all day and cooking meals in a legit kitchen. SO READY.

Major prep work happening for Magic Kingdom.

Speaking of the kitchen, we have actually begun a pretty big project: tiling! We have to finish a few little spots and grout still, but after that--even though our cabinets wouldn't be built yet--we could go ahead and install the oven to have some more cooking options. Obviously, the most important thing is the option of fresh-baked cookies.

We have tiled both the kitchen and the mudroom; the mudroom isn't nearly as close to being finished as the kitchen, though. Of course, the kitchen isn't "close" either, just closer.

Addie has self-appointed herself as our renovation inspector.

In the midst of work, fixer-upping, parenting, family-ing, and all of our other -ings, we have taken up a little hobby/side-business project. It is in very beginning stages right now, but Blake and I have gotten enough inquiries that we thought, hey, why not stick a name on this stuff and try to organize it into something a bit more tangible? I do hand-lettering, and Blake gets asked to work on some t-shirt design and logo stuff here and there, so we are considering opening up an Etsy shop and taking on a few projects together to see if we can earn a little extra to help with our fixer upper expenses. I launched our Instagram account today, but like I said, this is in the very beginning stages; Blake is working on our logo. Our project is called Simply Stated, and once we open an Etsy shop, I will let everyone know. We will do custom prints, cards, stationary, envelope addressing for special events (like weddings, graduations, etc), t-shirt design, and logo/branding design (depending on Blake's time frame for that last one). Our Instagram username is simplystatedok. We would love for those of you on Instagram to follow us and check us out. :) Depending on how interest grows, we will see what happens. Our fixer upper is definitely a project, but it's been fun already for Blake and I to work on this project together as well; it's a little more therapeutic and a little less stressful than the house. 

Here's an example of a collaborative project between the two of us:

Is it too late for Ron Swanson or Leslie Knope to run for president? Pretty opposite options, but much better options methinks.

I did the hand lettering and drew the fish, and Blake did the Photoshop work. You could buy this as an 11x17 poster print. Pretty cool, right? Also, hard to go wrong with a Parks and Rec reference.

After vacation, hopefully we will have the magic trifecta of necessary time, money, and energy to get back into a full (or at least fuller) swing of house renovation. But until then......catch you on the flippity flip, cause I'll be beach bumming it up!

Moving Back Home

Last weekend, we got AC working in our fixer upper.
Sunday, we moved back into our house.
Today, I don't know.

Yesterday was Blake's birthday, and we celebrated by kayaking and stand up paddle-boarding, going out to dinner, and seeing a movie, just the two of us. In all of this, we had a little time to kill and I begged Blake to take me to the new mural in the Plaza District in OKC that I have been dying to see in person. I have been freaking out about this mural for two reasons: 1. Why wouldn't you be excited about a giant, adorable, bright orange sloth?! and 2. The succinct little message he carries: "Take life slow."

While we are moved back into our house, that doesn't mean the waiting is over. I am trying desperately to absorb this message to "take life slow," because everyone knows waiting is hard, because waiting is not knowing. None of us like not knowing. Not knowing is almost unbearably uncomfortable. We fill the not knowing with busyness--what can I do? What can I champion? What can I fill the time with through social media, Netflix, and bombarding myself with (often aimless) information?

Instead of freaking out about the not-knowing, I am trying to embrace the not-knowing as an opportunity to rest in God's presence. When I dwell too long on how much I don't know and I can feel my heart-rate rising, I run to Him. He is all-knowing. He is perfectly righteous, and perfectly loving. 

I rest in God because I know I am obviously not Him. As a nation, we find ourselves in an incredible amount of not-knowing what is going to happen next. What do we do next in the wake of terror? Who do we elect to lead us through this tumultuous time? On top of this, there are those who are in the middle of not-knowing that absorbs every moment of their day: is my loved one going to get better? Will we ever be done with hospital stays and check-ups? Will I ever find the right job for the sake of my family? Will we ever find a place to live? Will I ever see them again? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. 

I am trying not to be in a hurry to know. I think somewhere along the way, we decided that having all of the answers was the beginning of wisdom; but some of the wisest people I know are slow to offer trite answers that diminish the magnitude of the problem. 

Before I rush to know what is going to happen, or pick battles and choose sides, or force my way into whatever will make this waiting period shorter, I'm going to take life slow. I want to do more listening to God than talking. I want to do more listening to people than talking. I want to shut out noise and take my time in silence, asking the Spirit to meet me there in the stillness. No desperately seeking distractions. It would be foolish to expect a God outside of time to adhere to my perceived time limits. 

I'll take life slow. I know that God is good, and sovereign. I trust Him to equip His people. I trust Him to work out His redemption story in all of the ways that are beyond my wildest imagination. 

In the waiting, cry. Hug your people. Embrace the lump in your throat that feels like it will never go away. Waiting is hard. It's crazy to pretend like it isn't. Look for what God is doing in the waiting, because when the waiting is over you will need that wisdom. 

Sorry, but no fixer upper work this week. I'm not exactly in a hurry today. 

Third Move's the Charm

Our sewer backed up.
The basement was flooded.
We couldn't get AC working while wading through four inches of standing sewer water.
Obviously, we have done nothing to the kitchen.
We moved back into Caleb's (Blake's brother) house.
That's three moves in three months.

I have been thinking about this week's post for four days. I almost decided I was going to skip it, and all blogging, indefinitely. Thanks to our family's screen fast, I was pretty sure I could get away with falling off this whole Fixer Upper blog train without bruising my ego too badly. For four days, I have wavered between blind optimism and weeping in the middle of making lunch.

We discovered that Blake has a tipping point, and that is two jobs, nursing school, and a fixer upper. As with most of us, there are seasons of life where whatever it is you're doing starts building up little things here and there that suddenly all roll into one another, and something gives. It wasn't really one thing, it was several little things at once that caused "home" to kind of crumble under our feet--or, literally, clog up and flood under our feet. Until we can start sloughing off some of the little things, the fixer upper is so many little and/or giant, overwhelming things that we needed to step back. Until we can catch our breath and clear our heads, we're going to stay at Caleb's house.

On one hand, this has been devastating for me. Sure, I was washing dishes in the bathtub and our main diet was one-pot-crock-pot meals, but I was making a home beautiful! I was learning to use a nail gun! I could patch a hole in a wall all by myself and make it look almost as good as Blake would! I was learning lessons through DIY-ing, and writing about it! I was sitting in the brand-new-carpeted bedroom with Addie reading more books in the past month than I have since graduating college! I was living like, the ultimate example of The Nesting Place, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" mantra. Sure, our house is half a construction zone, but we still decorated and made beautiful what was done and it was ours. We had a picturesque third birthday party for Addie at the park-let across the street! I don't want to live this weird pseudo-renter life!

On the other hand, this is the whole point of deciding "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." Whether we stay here one month or for the whole summer, I have many more choices than just disappointment. There are many moments in the day where I feel sorry for myself and choose disappointment; but, I am fighting to choose moments of thankfulness. I choose to be thankful for the clean kitchen, flushing toilets and hot water, and AC. There are things I can do that can make it home wherever we are for however long we are there.

Making Not Home Feel Like Home
(Or Whatever in The World Is Happening)
In No Particular Order, Really

Step 1: Make special moments, big or small.

When we were houseparents, there were days when it felt like everyone was having a bad day. On those days, I made sure I had emergency special hot chocolate supplies on hand. Dump it all in the crock pot, and within two hours we could drown our sorrows in liquid joy. My philosophy is that calories don't count whenever your soul needs a pick-me-up (this philosophy has slowed my weight loss efforts, but sometimes you just have to cut your losses and make the right decision). It doesn't matter what the weather was like outside; this was special. And we drank out of pretty special cups. And I don't regret it for a second.

Step 2: Make it pretty.

It doesn't have to be much. It just has to feel like you're taken care of, and you can feel peace and ease when you sit down. For me, it was having my favorite family photo frame with my favorite reminder ("All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided"). Also, I wanted my Artifact Uprising albums, and my favorite candle. For Addie, it was her dress-up dresses. The fresh flowers were given to us by Rachel and Micah, as well as fresh baked consolation cookies, the night of our sudden move-in after midnight.

Step 3: Replace the things you miss with the things you have been longing to gain.

For example, I miss our room so much sometimes, but I have a kitchen to use now, so I went ahead and made several recipes that I have been aching to try as soon as our kitchen was finished. Also, Blake made time for us to get coffee together (even if he had to make a couple of quick calls), despite the fact that buying coffee may be a little superfluous at the moment.

Step 4: Capture each thought, and confirm or replace it with Scripture. 

The night of the move, I happened upon Hebrews 6:10, and repeated it in my head over and over for the first day to remind myself that when bad things happen, it doesn't mean you did something wrong. It might just mean something is falling apart because God is making something else fall into place. Since then, I have found not only verse 10, but 11-12 to be encouraging as well:

"God is not unjust; he will not forget the work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."


So, whether you wake up to mouse poop and pee in the silverware drawer (again), or you're doing dishes in the bathtub, or your house is immaculate, or you love your job, or you hate your job, or you know how many bills you'll be able to pay this month, or whatever the circumstances going on, we have a choice. We can choose to work diligently and with integrity in whatever endeavors God has given us, whether the fuzzy feelings are there or not, and trust God to either give us those fuzzy feelings or change the circumstance. Or, we can give up. The latter, however, accomplishes little other than nursing our self pity. Truthfully, I am so completely done with the self-pity option.

If you're as emotionally invested in this whole Fixer Upper thing as I am by now, than would you please consider praying for our family? Right now, we are waiting again. While the circumstances are better than they have been, waiting is never fun. I have learned, though, that waiting is valuable. We rekindle intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Our trust and faith in God grows as we watch His faithfulness to us unfold. And something about waiting makes you a little braver, if you let it. Pray that we would be brave. Pray that we would trust God with our house, and more importantly, our home, wherever that is. And, while I can't say for sure what it will be about, you will hear from me soon.

To make a comfy bed out of the office couch, liberally apply: favorite quilt, favorite stuffed animals, and especially your best knitted friend, Cat.

Earning Favor with the Neighbors

When we bought our house, most of the neighborhood was ecstatic. Those who frequented walking their dogs or jogging past our house would make a point to stop by when we were doing work to exhort us for "making this house beautiful again," and especially for "how quiet the neighborhood [was] now since cops [weren't] here running teenagers or homeless people off the property every other day." The general consensus was that we were two kids just crazy enough to pull this fixer upper thing off.

Fast forward a few months, and some of the neighborhood started scowling as they walked slowly past our debris piles, tree branch piles, and the amount of trash we had accumulated during our demolition days. I caught someone taking photos of our house as she walked her dog three days in a row. The next Monday, the city had notified us that we had one week to remove a pile of tree limbs from our yard. Other neighbors gently hinted that they were sick of the smell of the stagnant pool drifting into their open windows. People must be a little disenchanted about what it actually takes to make a home that has been neglected for two years "beautiful again." After a few incidents in a row, Blake decided it was time to focus on our yard space for a while, in spite of our kitchen needs--whiny neighbors could eventually result in pricey fines, which would further delay our progress.

In the last few days, Blake has essentially overhauled our curb appeal. The only truly hideous thing that remains is our ladder to nowhere leftover from the deck; he has trimmed and removed trees and bushes, replanted some rose bushes, laid mulch, and hauled all of the overgrowth into a trailer to be taken to the dump as soon as possible. Here is a quick before and after:

Unfortunately, we didn't think to take very good before pictures of this particular area. You can tell in the top right before circle that the overgrowth covers the gazebo where you can't look out of it from the inside and see past all of the greenery; all of that has been hauled out or trimmed down. Trees had overtaken the small space dividing the property between our lawn and the neighbors, and Blake removed and trimmed all of that as well. The bottom right circle gives a basic idea of what it looked like from the road. Also, look at that beautiful mulch work! Considering we knew we would be doing Addie's birthday party outside, it was good to finally push back the jungle.

Between all of Blake's outside work and Addie's birthday party on Saturday, our poor kitchen is still empty other than the gorgeous ceiling you saw last week. To console you, readers, and me, who still longs for a kitchen, I will give you all the details of Addie's Beauty and the Beast themed birthday party (and the fact that it all cost me about $60).

Addie got this Belle dress from my parents, so of course she got to wear it to her Beauty and the Beast party. She got a little hot near the end of the party, but this particular dress from Amazon is machine washable, breathable, and stretchy and comfy for playing. 

Really delicious, quickly melted. :(

There were two little snack tables for people to choose from, since Addie had invited girl and guy friends. The first was the "Be Our Guest" table, decorated to look like Belle's dress. Snacks were really simple: watermelon, vanilla cupcakes from a box mix that I iced to look like roses, and graham crackers to use for dipping into "the gray stuff" (like the song: "try the gray stuff, it's delicious!"). This was super easy, you can find the recipe here. Blake's little sister, Noelle, helped me bake all of the cupcakes and make the gray stuff on Friday morning. We also had sparkling lemonade or water to drink.

The other table was "Gaston's Tavern," using decorations I borrowed from Blake's mom. There were "fish & chips" (goldfish crackers, potato chips, and dip) that I set in pint glasses for decoration, and root beer to drink. I got all of the decorations I didn't borrow from dollar tree for about $30. All of the food was from Aldi, other than the here-and-there things they don't have that I picked up at Walmart. Aldi is so awesome. 

Since our house is still a bit of a danger zone (especially for a birthday party), we had the whole thing set up at the little park across the street from our house. Our friends Kane and Rachel came to spend the night Friday, so on Saturday, Kane helped Blake with a lot of outside work that he wanted to get done before people showed up, and Rachel helped me decorate for the party. Blake's littlest sister Charity came over to help decorate as well, and the rest of the Comptons watched Addie so that she could be surprised when she got back. So, that's the secret to a great kid's birthday party--lots of volunteers. :)

I also had lots of fun setting up a little Beauty and the Beast themed photo booth. Being outside, lighting was obviously an obstacle, but it was still really fun and the pictures turned out really cute :) 

She is obsessed with the cape.

After reminding everyone to bring sunscreen, guess who neglected to wear sunscreen? Addie asked if I was wearing a backpack, then said to Blake, "Daddy, Mommy is wearing a silly backpack."

Addie got lots of awesome presents, all of which we had opened by the time we went to bed. She is obsessed with her Belle dress from Nonie and PaPa, and the new Anna and Elsa dress-up dresses she got from Granmommy and Pops. In fact, I told her she could wear whatever she wanted to go grocery shopping today, and she picked the Elsa dress. I also did the best french braid I could manage with the little hair she has. She loved all of the attention. 

She had her little lemon birthday cake, as per Addie birthday tradition, but we had to pretend to blow out the candles since it was too windy to light them. She will get another chance tonight, because today is Addie's actual birthday! I can't believe my baby is three years old. The past two months we have watched her transform from true toddler to little girl. She's potty trained, unbelievably articulate, kind, friendly, cuddly, silly, and curious. She loves trains and airplanes, and princesses and dress-up. She is the cleanest toddler I have ever seen, and I frequently find her lining up crayons or pens in perfect rows (clearly takes after her Daddy). She can be sneaky and ornery, but the second she thinks she has disappointed you, her little eyes tear up (clearly takes after her Mommy). She loves learning about Jesus, and begs everyone she meets to read her little pink New Testament to her (despite the lack of pictures). She has a Jesus Storybook bible, but I think this Bible makes her feel like a mini grown-up, which coincidentally describes her very well. Adeline is like a mini grown-up. She wants to cut her own food, set the table, help do chores, dress herself, and will ask for help only when she hasn't figured out a mini-way to accomplish her task. My favorite thing about her at this age may be how thankful she is. We may remind her to say thank you for compliments or being helped, but with no prompting whatsoever she will offer sincere thanks. "Mommy, thanks for taking me grocery shopping with you!" "Thanks for playing a game with me, I had lots of fun!" "Thanks for making me dinner, it's good for me!" She is also convinced that everyone in the world is her best friend as soon as she knows their name. To be fair, she might be right. 

Happy Birthday, darling. You are my favorite kid ever, ever. <3 Tonight we are going to celebrate with the dinner she has requested, fruit and mac 'n' cheese. She also has asked that today we paint, take a bath, read princess books, and put on makeup. This week we are working on getting air conditioning working, and hopefully laying tile for the kitchen floor. See you back here soon! 

The Kitchen | Scrapes, Sweat, and the Ceiling

So far, our family's "screen fast" has proven effective in at least one area: removing distraction from renovating our...all of our house.

Yesterday, Blake and I finished installing the ceiling panels, and Blake also finished the crown molding. Y'all, it looks SO GOOD. We managed to finish it up in just two hours while Adeline napped. I used the nail gun more than once without wincing, and only fell off the ladder one time; which, considering my lack of coordination, I will count as a huge success. The scrape on the knee which absorbed most of my fall is mild, but the bruise I can feel forming behind it is still throbbing a little bit. I was working so fast and getting so much done that my feet literally couldn't keep up. Come on, feet, get with the program.  Blake only laughed at me a little bit, which considering his lack of sympathy is also a huge success. ;)

Dat ceiling, tho'. 

In addition to our kitchen work yesterday, Blake has begun what he hopes will result in working air conditioning via the basement, now that it has started to be noticeably stuffy and hot in the house this past week. This is also why we got the ceiling done as fast as we could, because we were so ready to shower. Every time I have my first big summer-sweat, I rediscover places I didn't realize would sweat, and rediscover how not built for Oklahoma heat that I am, despite the fact that I've lived here my entire life. Only 43 days until I'm sitting on a beach.

Blake also continued to clean up the backyard this week; we want to do at least a little more work before we show you a before and after panorama. More accurately, a before and during panorama; all of the things we want to do to the backyard will take much more time and money than we will have in the near future. Also, he trimmed up the grass that has started to grow in place of the small, decaying lawn in the backyard behind our master bedroom. I bought my first succulent last week, which I have a feeling is the gateway to other, larger succulents that will eventually cover large portions of our landscaping. Whatever we plant will have to survive in spite of my laziness.

Try to visualize a little swing set and bench seating wrapped around the tree. *insert heart eyes emoji here*

Stay tuned, because next week I will most likely be taking a break from the fixer upper blogging to over-blog about Addie's third birthday party. :)