DIY Weekend and the Big Reveal!

I've been hard at work since last night (well, I was collecting all the stuff all weekend) to get these things on our walls. The walls have been so bare!

In total, both projects cost less than $50, if not less than $40, and we're pretty excited as to how they turned out. DIY is definitely trial and error and they aren't perfect, but they were made by hand and that's pretty special.

All done and the centerpiece of our living room!

This gives a really great look at the grain and depth of the wood.

Last night's project... the "U" is from Joann's and the "J" & "R" is from Kohl's.

From the bottom, up!

Scrapbook paper glued to pieces of spray painted wood.

Onto the banana bread I'm baking... enjoy the pictures!

From Goodwill to Our Family Room

Well, a lot of our family and nearby friends have heard our excitement over our little coffee table. And we're more than excited to share it with everyone else.

Searching for new furniture when you are on an extremely tight budget can be hard and totally time consuming. Especially, when your taste has more to do with designer and less to do with Walmart. Enter... driving to every second-hand furniture store on an seemingly endless search until you find it. And I will not take the credit, as my loving husband will not let me... it's truly, until your husband finds it. Because, honestly, I walked right by it and as I was walking by, I said to him, "There is nothing here..."

Our timing could not have been better, because a man who walked in behind us was so disappointed to find us paying the hefty price of $10. He said to us, "Do you know how lucky to find this? With all the pieces? You don't know what you have..." And to two 24-year olds, we thought, oh wow, we must be lucky! Especially, when we took it to Home Depot and the paint/wood lady gawked over and ogled our find.

What did we find, you wonder? A pre-WWII solid oak, paneled, "card" table with detachable wings/leaves. May the pictures speak for themselves. I'll add some instructions on how to get from point A to Z if you every find something similar or want to do something similar! (P.S. If any of you know what exactly this thing is called, we would love as much info as we can get.)

Stay tuned for the finalized picture, along with the other little DIY projects we've been doing! In the meantime, we love our table and hope you do, too!

Unfortunately, all of the pieces of the center were falling apart by the time we got it home. We do not have a "before picture" of the whole thing.

This is how the "wings" come out.

The first step was to strip the wood. We used a soy based, biodegradable stripper from Woodcraft.

Here is all of the wood, it needed to lay out for a few hours covered in the stripper.

We used water, scrub pads, and paint scrapers to get the stripper off.

After letting it dry outside for a while, we moved it in to finish drying. This is the original oak!

Our first piece of dyed wood (see the last picture for info on how we dyed it).

Jordan had to work really hard to get into all of the grooves on the base.

Top and base, all finished!

These are the things you need to dye wood. You over saturate the wood with an old t-shirt dipped in stain, then wipe off the excess with a paper towel. Yes, it is that easy. We do not have a picture of the finish we used. It is the same brand as the dye, but a water-based polyacrylic. We put 7 coats (same method as dye) on the table top and 4 coats on the base.

 

 

 

The End of Our Wedding...

Well, that's it... it's over. Our wedding is officially over. I unpacked our final wedding gifts today, the china. You'd think that I'd feel special, that I get to stretch my wedding out for 14 months, leaving all kinds of presents to discover that I kinda forgot I received. But, I'm sad about exactly that, my wedding is over :)

At the end of the day, the unpacking of these boxes is kinda like marriage. Your life together starts out like this...

unpacking all these boxes, figuring out how to deal with the mess that you came together as...

you start to find the treasures, put yourselves, your "new" selves together over the year...

and you never quite make it into even rows, perfect in all ways, but you make it work. Even 14 months later, when the wedding ends.

Today...

I woke up at 8:00, to walk into the dining room to my husband telling me it was a day we needed to fast.

I agreed, but turned around and went back to bed because I knew I wasn't going to make it 10 hours without the STRONG temptation to eat. One of those "remove temptation from you" decisions, if you know what I mean.

11:30, I missed a call from ANAD, the company I was interviewing with because I was cleaning the house, but I called back as soon as I saw that I missed the call (I got their voicemail).

1:30, they returned the call and extended a job offer!

We're extremely speechless... all we can say is: Thank. You. Lord.

More next time on what exactly ANAD is and what I'll be doing :) In the meantime, thank you to all of you for your prayers yesterday and this morning. Prayer works!

Maybe, no Definitely

Our days and nights have been filled with worries about making the budget work, our dwindling savings, and how we just need me to find a job and it will all be alright.

Almost as if we forgot we watched Him provide for two years in Guatemala.

This weekend, on our way back from Holland (visiting Jordan's family), we listened to Jim Samra/Calvary's sermon from the 4th of July. At the beginning of our trip home, we talked about my job search and one potential upcoming position and our almost lack of faith.

Long story short, his sermon was about prayer and the importance of prayer. The sermon struck so close to home... it was time to get on our knees and fast.

Let me tell you, we've been prayin. And we're not sure if this job is going to work out and we don't think that praying will force it to work out, but we know He's listening.

Jordan's mom called me today to let me know they were praying for us, an hour later, the company I am interviewing at called for a list of references... a little sign that I'm moving through the process. I sent a little prayer above and within an hour, Karen (my boss/co-worker) at Franklin Property texted to say that she just spoke with the company as a reference. Prayer works.

Will you join us in prayer for a job, but more importantly, our trust?

Maybe that's what this whole experience is all about... trust. Wait, it's not a maybe, it's a definitely.

... ... ...

 Why is it so hard to trust God's provision here, why was it so much easier in Guatemala?

DIY Martha Stewart Paper Doily Place Cards

This is a totally random post, I know....

When you're unemployed and your employment is finding a job, you run out of the usual websites to check for new postings in about 3 hours. I'm trying to fill my days with things that are productive instead of watching 250+ channels of Comcast all day. Although, I am loving the Exercise On Demand one... I wish there was an Employment On Demand: Gain 5 Employers in 2 Weeks!!

This utter, absolutely crippling boredom brings me to our blog. As you can see (or already saw), last week... it got a new look, this week the post is going in a completely new direction (something I've been meaning to do forever). I'm putting down the instructions on how we made our place cards for the wedding. They are paper doilies, folded into envelopes, that stood up on the upper flap. Inside is the table number, on the outside was the name of the guest. Is it complicated? Yes. Did |Martha Stewart| neglect to say that on her website? Yes. Does Martha Stewart provide instructions? No... no, she does not. Was it worth it? Judge for yourself, these are mine at our wedding!

Supplies needed:
White cardstock
Doilies (5" square)
Exacto Knife
Boning Tool and Board
Extra Strength Glue Stick
Cutting board/scissors
Cutting mat

 

Step 1: Order Doilies

You cannot use just any doilies for this look. They have to have the |exact| same pattern as the ones that I used. They can be different colors, but have to be the same pattern, as you need to cut along the circles in the middle. (Click "exact" above to go to a website that carries them in white for a reasonable price.) Also, I could not find them in stores, I looked everywhere and the only place to get them (in packages alone) is online. Maybe you guys will have better luck! Purchase more than you are planning to need, they are very delicate and tear easily.

Step 2: Create Number and Name Pieces

You will need to create a document on the computer with the names or cut the rectangles and have them done by a calligraphist (as Martha did). I used Pages on my mac and took the document to Office Depot (best printing jobs for price), I am not sure how MSWord would do at the document, but you could try it. Feel free to play with the following dimensions, my brain is a little rusty and I cannot find those documents:

Each table number card: 2.5" x 1.5"
Each name card: 2" x 1"

Step 3: Cut out Number and Name Pieces 

After obtaining the documents, go ahead and cut the document up to the sizes stated above to make all of the Table Numbers and Name Cards. Match the name cards to the table numbers and set aside. Feel free to trim the Table Numbers by making the long side shorter, they are hard to get in and out of the "doily envelope."

Step 4: Make Doily Envelopes

Step 4a: Bone Doilies

Using your boning tool and board, you are going to fold the doily in four places. Make sure to keep at least 3 doilies in the stack to fold, otherwise, they will rip. You are trying to create a rectangle shape in the middle of the doily. Each fold runs perpendicular to the the point of each corner. I can't tell you where the folds go, use your table number cards and look at your boning board as each one is different. You'll need to place the doily in the boning board at a diagonal, so that you are looking at a diamond instead of a square. Using your tools, bone the doily on four sides: you will have two long sides that are parallel to each other and two short sides that are parallel to each other. Do not actually fold the doily until you've done the next step.

Step 4b: Cut Front Flaps

Now, you'll create "flaps" for the name card on the front. Using the cutting mat and exacto knife, find the two of the 4 little circles pointing to the center that are opposite from each other and on the long side of the folds. Cut the circles free from the rest of the doily, they should still be attached because they are the holders of the name card. (I hope that makes sense, I couldn't think of a way to describe it, but check out my picture and the picture on Martha's page above. It's one of those things you just have to see.)

Step 5: Construct a Place Card

Now that you have the flaps cut and the fold marks done, go ahead and fold the doily. Glue three of the four points together, leaving an "envelope-like flap" open at the top. Slide in the table number (be very careful, ripping occurs often here and you may need to trim some of the table numbers down so that go in and out smoothly.) Shimmy the person's name into the circle flaps that you cut on the front and fold the top envelope flap down to make it stand by itself. 

And you're done... with one. Hooray! If you have any questions, let me know.

Next time, I do a "How-To" blog, I'll be sure to picture document the steps. And if you like the doily look, check out these |envelopes| for your invitations. Man, I wish I knew about these! On the other hand, my labor - husband, Jordan; sister-in-law, Katie; and cousin, Joanna - probably do not.

Count Your Blessings...

Our warmest greetings to all of you who have been faithfully and continually praying our way through these last two months. It has been a fury of up and down moments but we must praise God who is good. I (Jordan) have privilege of writing this blog and am more than excited to share the good news with all. Since our newsletter to everyone there has been a series of events that we can clearly see God moving. Our first interview-trip to Chicago was the week of June 13. That was also the day I got in that "whittle" fender-bender. After that week Rachel and I spent a week with family, after which I was called back for more interviews with the companies I was interviewing with. This continued until after the Forth of July where we took our last trip after the holiday weekend. When we returned to Detroit after that trip we had no idea what to think. It was down to two positions that I really liked in the Chicago area but I had no idea if either of the firms would offer me a position. July 26th was the day we call "The Day of Decision". If there was a day all summer that we could point to and say that God out-did himself was that day. I did not receive one job offer on that day but two job offers, allowing me to fully pray and seek wisdom on which one I felt God was leading me towards and in the end He did.

So the good news is this: God has blessed our persistence and our commitment with providing me with a position at First Trust Portfolios in Wheaton. My start date is next Monday and we are overcome with excitement and fear all at the same time. Excitement because our season of "not-knowing" is coming to a close. We no longer need to hesitate to answer the basic questions "What do you do?" or "Where do you live?". Now we can say, without reservations, where we live and what we do! But, as we've come to learn throughout the last few years, the underside of excitement is normally fear, and today we are no different. For starters, we have yet to find a place to live, even with my job starting next week! If that doesn't motivate you to find an adequate place to live I don't know what will! Also, Rachel is still on the search for meaningful employment so as much as we would like to think the journey is over I think we both know, in many respects, it is only just beginning. What comes to mind is a favorite passage of mine found in 1 Samuel 7:12, "Thus far the Lord has helped us". I return to this passage in light of all we have ahead of us which, understandably, can seem daunting. This passage, however, helps focus on what God has done to get us here and asks the rhetorical question, "Would He take you this far only to leave you?". The answer of course is "no". So then, we continually thank God for bringing us this far and trust that He who has brought us here will take us safely home, especially now that we know whereabouts home will be. We love you all and God bless.

Summer Newsletter

Yay, we did it... to all of our students (especially, Esther, Dayton, and Nicco), we got this on here for you!

It's a little confusing, but it is a trifold, start with the picture of us on the very left, work your way down, then back up. You'll get there eventually...

If you aren't on our mailing list, check out our Summer Newsletter here! It's a tad out of date, but everyone just started receiving it. We are still in need of financial support as we're moving and starting in a new city, a new everything. If you would like to support us in our final weeks, click this link: I want to support Jordan & Rachel!

Stay tuned for more updates :)

Two Posts in ONE Day!

As promised, here is the video of pictures from our BreakAway trip. We hope you enjoy! The pictures do little justice to the amazing time we had, but we want to share a little snapshot.



Thank you to Randall Darby who put all of this together for us!

Keep reading for our latest update...

So Much for My New Year's Resolution

Well, I failed... miserably to say the least. I am going to make up for it in one mega post that recaps all of our happenings in the last 8? 12? weeks. It's Semana Santa (Holy Week) right now, I figured the least I can do is take some of my free time to make an update.

Alrighty, let's start from the beginning.

High School Retreat: Simply amazing... not only did we get to know our high schoolers more, but we pulled off a victory over all the other classes with the 10th graders! The theme was spies and we were the Pink Panthers. The weekend was truly epic.

Birthdays: We're 24, we feel old. ;) I planned Jordan and surprise party and my birthday present was my new computer, we celebrated with a day in Antigua. Zach Lynkiewicz even came down for a week and half to help us celebrate, we had a blast having him around for our post-work entertainment.

Kelli's Visit: Although we didn't get to do much (Jordan and I had to work while she was here), we still had a ton of fun hanging out and taking some much needed time to catch up. Hopefully our picture will be in Glamour someday.

Valentine's Day Fundraiser: The 10th graders made quite a profit on the annual fundraiser, it was an excellent way to celebrate the "holiday."

Servant Days: We packed them up and drove off to Santiago Atitlan to work with Pastor David. The first day we spent cleaning the camp we stayed at. The second day, we put on two programs for the students at Pastor David's school, Colegio del Buen Pastor. And after, we continued our work at the camp and painted a few rooms. Overall, it was great to be with our students, watching them impact the community for Christ.

Intermissions: What a wonderful trip! We were able to spend two days by the pool, sleep in a hotel, and worship and learn from other missionaries in Guatemala. They even set up massages, pedicures, manicures, and haircuts for us.BreakAway: Our time with the Wheaton team could not have been more uplifting, impacting, and memorable. Every time we think and talk about it, tears sting our eyes. Jordan and I both felt a sense of completion from the Lord, THIS is what He sent us here in Guatemala to do. (See the next post for the picture video!)

High School Banquet: A beautiful night in Antigua to get dressed up and eat a fabulous meal. What could be better?

My mom's Visit: She flew down on her first time out of the United States with her first passport to come and see us. Give her a round of applause! We spent the first part of the week showing her around school, then we were able to shoot off to Antigua and spend a few days by the pool, shopping, zip lining, and eating. Again, what could be better than that?

Semana Santa/Joanna's (my cousin) Visit: She's here right now. And we've spent the last few days watching movies and hanging out, but we'd all say the highlight of the trip was the beginning. She came in on Sunday night and we took off to the Decameron (an all-inslusive resort) about 4 hours from home in El Salvador. We're tanned, smiling, and relaxed - it's been awesome.Talent Show: Hasn't happened yet (May 6th), but it is coming, and coming fast. All of the acts have been selected, ticket sales start Monday, and rehearsals are underway. We'll let you know the winners in two weeks!

Stay posted for the upcoming news and events. By the way... I PROMISE we work :) We love you all... Happy Easter!!

Starting Semester 2

It's 7:19am on Saturday morning and I cannot fall back to sleep. Oh, wait, I hear my puppy whining from her kennel, a sure sign that now, I cannot get up until she stops. Fast forward and it's 7:37, we're sitting on the couch, just lovin' on each other's company and enjoyin' life. But, at the end of the day, it's 7:37...am...on Saturday morning.

Well, at least it provided me with the time to sit down and take a second to write a new update on the blog. Jordan and I are back in Guatemala and off to a running start, but this semester is nothing like the last. School has a routine, church has a routine, Risa has a routine, and we have routine. If you know anything about Jordan and I, if there is a routine, then everything is going well.

As I was laying in bed this morning, thinking about our life and our future, something (or rather, someone) popped right in. It was Mrs. Pelton. Now, if you know who I am talking about, you have already smiled because you, you remember Mrs. Pelton, too. Mrs. Pelton was my K-6 principal at Southfield Christian and probably the best, most qualified, loveliest principal in the entire world. If Mrs. Pelton was 5" tall, I would be surprised, but no one realized that until they were 14 or 15, even 16 and they themselves were over 5" tall. I believe that speaks to her personality and ability to lead. That being said, every Friday morning, Mrs. Pelton would lead worship during Elementary Chapel. I went to a Christian school, affiliated with a Baptist church; most of you can imagine the 80s-90s songs we sang. This early morning, one in particular came to my mind: "They that wait upon the Lo-o-rd, shall renew the-ir stren-en-ength. They shall mount up on wi-ngs like ea-gles, they shall run and not grow wea-ry, they shall walk and not grow faint. Teach me Lord, teach me Lo-ord, to waaait." Now that speaks to Mrs. Pelton's ability to spiritually impact a 6-year old for at least 15 years.

And that, perfectly describes our situation here and now. Jordan and I must learn in these coming weeks to wait on the Lord. We're turning 24 in the next few weeks, I think we're old enough to handle that. :)

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Like I said, school is going well, albeit, still crazy, but even my mom, who has been teaching for years can tell you that never changes.

Every other week, the secondary students have a little "Spirit Day" competition. So, on Thursdays, they choose a theme and each grade competes against each other. Jordan and I are 10th grade advisers, so we are invited to dress up, also. Many of you have probably seen the pictures from "Christmas Day" where Jordan and I were Santa and Mrs. Claus and the kids were our "elves." Well, this past week, we took it a step farther and we think we brought Spirit Days to a whole new level. It was "Retro Day" and we needed to pull something big in order to catch up to the other classes that were getting "creative" points. The instructions: dress up as someone would dress from the 40s-80s. Naturally, we decided that we needed to dress up as zombies. Why? One tenth grader is a big Michael Jackson fan. So, he dressed up as MJ and we filled in as the rest of the cast from Thriller. Like, I said, we brought Spirit Days to a whole new level.

As for the rest of the semester, if you could keep these dates in mind and in prayer. We have a lot going on about every other week until April, if not the last day of school in May. I made a New Year's Resolution to follow-up on the blog with every major event, so stay tuned.

January 20th-22nd: High School Retreat (Jordan is leading worship in 5 chapel services as we spend time getting to know our high schoolers more)
January 21st: The big 2-4 for Jordan
January 30th: The big 2-4 for Rachel
February 10th-15th: Kelli (MOH) is coming to visit!!!
February 14th: Valentine's Day Fundraiser sponsored by the 10th grade
February 17th-19th: Servant Days (a mini-mission trip we are taking with our 10th graders)
February 25th-27th: Intermissions (a conference of rejuvenation for all missionaries in Guate; if you remember, Jordan wrote about it in last spring's newsletter)
March 5th-12th: Wheaton BreakAway (our team from Wheaton is coming down for the mission trip Jordan is leading)
April 2: High School Banquet (we'll go as sponsors)
Unknown dates: CAG Talent Show sponsored by the 10th grade, lots of other friends and family visitors :), hopefully, getting time to breath

Well, that's about all, it's 8:37am now and our day is about to begin. I hear Jordan's coffee brewing already. Thank you for reading and we love you. Shoot us an email or Facebook us, we would love to hear from you!