Out with Bread Basket, In With the New...

So I did my first blog entry over a year ago...and needless to say, it has taken a back seat. Life has happened, both the ups and the downs, but I thought I'd document one of the highlights of our year so far. Chris and I bought our first home on April 1st, Happy April Fool's Day to us! It's a ranch home that was built in 1960 with plenty of space in an older, quiet neighborhood in Lexington. It really was a gift from Jesus and we are grateful to him for providing for us.

One thing we liked about the house was that it had character, but it was also pretty much a blank slate. I understand that when people put their house on the market, they often paint it a neutral color in order for it to sell.  For some reason, the "neutral" that the previous owners chose is more of a peach.

It didn't really stand out to me when looking at the home, but when we moved in and there were bare walls everywhere Valspar's shade "Bread Basket" became nauseating.

One of our favorite features about the home was/is the huge living room.  The idea of having a large space where we could host LifeGroup, friends, and family was appealing, and we liked the idea of having a large, open kitchen/dining room/living room even if it meant smaller bedrooms because that's where we would be spending the majority of our time. This is an iPhone picture I randomly took at LifeGroup, and it will have to serve as my "before" photo for our living room makeover because I didn't start taking pictures of the project until we started (rookie mistake).

We knew we wanted to add some updates to the home, but had a pretty tight budget which means doing the work ourselves and doing it the most economical way possible. I had the idea that we would add paneling to the bottom part of the living room walls to give the room some texture/interest and also tie the whole room together. We debated on whether we would paint the paneling white and paint the top part of the room a color or vice versa, but decided on white paneling with an accent color above. Our first step was to tape off the bottom section of the wall and paint it white.

 We then had to choose what color the top part of the walls would be. We had three colors mixed as samples.

The winner was Retro Colonial Blue, which I think is the color on the far left.

We purchased several pieces of MDF and had a guy at Lowe's cut the pieces into the exact width we wanted. Chris did a great drawing of how the pattern of paneling would look, and he basically took it from there.  He did have to cut the pieces length-wise several times during the process, but the width was consistent.

I was assigned the task of painting the MDF white, which resulted in me borrowing the patio furniture in order to support the boards, and also accidentally getting drops of white paint all over the patio furniture. Glad it's inexpensive!

         

We were both kind of nervous when we starting attaching the boards to the wall with a nail gun, what if it looked terrible? It was pretty exciting seeing the vision become a reality. As Chris would attest, this project is not for the faint of heart. Lots of measuring, cutting, and nailing.

After securing the boards, they looked like this. The boards would still need to be painted again and the cracks filled in with caulk for a smoother and brighter finish.

This was a progress picture before we added the trim to the top of the paneling.

And..here's the final reveal. I have to brag on my husband because he did an amazing job and we both love how it turned out.

To the Moon and Back

Today, Chris and I celebrate our one year anniversary! July 20, 2012 was a day that I looked forward to for a long time, even before I had even met Chris or knew if this day would come.

                      

My prayer was to soak in every precious moment of our wedding day, and I remember almost everything about the day.  Even the "unplanned" moments (a weather forecast that predicted rain for our outdoor ceremony, a groomsman splitting his pants, and various wedding details looking differently than I thought), turned into moments that we laughed about, knowing that at the end of the day, we would be married! ;) I was so excited about marrying Chris, a guy who honestly caught me off guard (in a good way) when we first became friends!

Chris and I have such a unique story of meeting each other, the events leading up to our first date, and how we fell in love.  We still look at each other every now and then and laugh about the early days, how we spent years as acquaintances and had no idea that one day we would be best friends getting married!

Our wedding day was filled with all the things we love:  Jesus, community, good music, authenticity, celebration, laughter, and joy!  Our family and friends loved us so well and sacrificed in helping us get ready for not only the wedding, but our marriage.  We could not have walked this road without our parents, pastors, siblings, friends, lifegroup leaders, bridesmaids, and groomsmen.

Chris chose 1 Corinthians 13 to be read at our wedding.  These words mean even more to me now than they did on our wedding day - words that are as humbling as they are challenging, and ones that I pray mark the way we love each other and other people:

Love is patient and kind.

Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.

It does not demand its own way.

It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 

Three things will last forever - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love.

We were told in premarital counseling that marriage is a magnifying glass - it only enhances what is true about you before you get married.  One year later, I can say that was solid advice. My strengths have grown over this year and my weaknesses have been exposed.  We are very much at the beginning of our lives together, but I am so grateful for the gift that marriage has been.  Chris, thanks for a year of laughing, inside jokes, learning, listening, humility, and adventure, I love you to the moon and back!