Our Yard

In a recent post, you saw Jesse cutting down the 2 dying cherry trees our yard. I was sad to see them go. Jesse had more plans for our yard though, and for this, I am excited! We have a retaining wall in our yard that was made out of cinder block (side 1) and railroad ties (side 2). Side 1 was slowly starting to fall over because whoever put it in didn't do it right. It looked terrible. So we tore out the wall and are having a new stone wall and paver patio put in, complete with a walkway to our back shed. Here are some pictures of the progress so far:

Side 1 wall removed and land prepared for pavers

Side 2 wall removed

The area directly behind our deck has always been uneven and hole-filled. As Jesse was clearing the area for the walkway, he came across what turned into a HUGE project: The retaining wall behind the deck was one 6x6 that was rotting away and some more crumbling cinderblock. Dirt was slowly sliding past it underneath our deck, thus the reason for the holes. Jesse spent all evening fixing this, working well into the night. Our neighbor's friend helped him place the new 6x6's. I helped carry them from the truck though (She-Ra!).

Measuring depth to make sure new wall will fit

Working into the night...

New wall in place

A job well done!

Next up was digging out the path for the walkway. We all pitched in and worked this time

digging the line

dig, dig, dig!

I told you, I'm She-Ra!

new pathway

Finally, I have some pictures of the progress made so far on the new retaining walls and patio. It's gonna look good!!

Side 1 new wall and pavers

Side 1

Stairs on Side 2 and part of new wall

We'll post more soon!

Experimenting...

Earlier this week, we had Mariam from the Children of the World stay with us for 2 nights. She had to have hernia surgery earlier in the month and was staying behind until she fully recovered and was able join back with her team today.

The first night I asked Mariam what she would like for dinner, and she requested spaghetti. That's easy enough, until I discovered I was out of spaghetti sauce! I remembered all the frozen roma tomatoes from our garden I had in our freezer, and the green peppers we just picked and decided to make my own rather than run to the store. It was my first attempt at homemade spaghetti sauce, and I think it turned out pretty well. Mariam liked it at least!

homemade spaghetti sauce with turkey meatballs

Mariam

For my next meal, I decided to try to make Panang Curry, one of my favorite Thai dishes. I didn't have all of the necessary ingredients, so I had to improvise a little... I'd love to tell you what I did, but I can't remember now! I was happy with the way it turned out. Jesse said he didn't care for it, but he said the same thing when he ate it from Thai 99, so I counted it as success!

Unfortunately, with both of these meals since I was just "winging it" I didn't write everything down! I don't think I'll ever be able to recreate them!

Our yard. Cherry trees.

So, our yard is going through another transformation of sorts. I didn't do much yard work over the Summer because it's no fun in the heat. However, the weather is now agreeable to spending to many hours and weekends working in the yard. My newest project is cutting down the cherry trees in the back yard. I love them but they are at the end of their 25 year life span. Branches are dying and we barely got any cherries last year - they were moldy. I had a helper named Buddy assisting me for a while today.

I made a lot of progress with my 10" folding saw! More to come.

Home Improvement

One major project we've had in the back of our minds since we moved into our house over 2 years ago is to paint the windows. We have a lot of windows, so this has stayed in the VERY back of our minds!

Just look at the shape of these windows though... it has to be done!

Gross

We found a solution to our aversion: have someone else do it for us!

An old co-worker of mine and ex-employee of Jesse's (not in that order) does odd jobs, so we hired him to do all the work. :) He's doing a great job.

Here is the progress so far... Old paint scraped off and one coat of Behr Premium Plus Exterior paint in semi-gloss. It's a primer and paint in one. Looking better already!

Hi!

We'll keep you updated on the progress!

New Furniture! (Again)

Some of you may remember about a year ago, Jesse and I got some furniture from the Estate Specialist (see post here). It was a good find at the time, but we knew it would just be temporary. At $125 for all of it, we sacrificed quality and comfort. So, recently we began looking for a more permanent collection of furniture. One Sunday afternoon, we drove out to Green Front in Farmville only to find they are closed on Sundays... We had a nice lunch instead. :) Then, we made a few visits to a furniture store in town that is closing. We found a few items we liked, but the prices still weren't in our range, even at their so-called "rock bottom" prices. Tomorrow is their official last day, so Jesse made one more visit. He was able to work out a price that worked for us and now we have a new living room set! I was out of town and he didn't even tell me he got them. What a great surprise to come home to this!!

Tan leather chair and brown leather chair w/ ottoman

Sage green upholstered couch

Brown plaid upholstered chair (same desk as before)

The best part about it is, they are SO COMFORTABLE!! Come on by and have a sit!

Slacker

I haven't felt like blogging lately... but then a couple of the Children of the World stayed with us last week so I have something exciting to talk about.

We had the privilege of having Sharon (10) from Uganda and Charie Rose (9) from the Philippines stay with us for 5 nights.

They are the sweetest girls ever. We had a great time with them and I was sad to see them go this weekend. They are on the West Coast team, so we probably won't see them until the tour is over in June. :(

I got so SPOILED while they were here. The girls love to do dishes and every night would ask if they could help! Could you say 'No' to these faces?!

They also loved to help cook. (They posed themselves for the pictures)

We talked to my mom on Skype one night and they performed a few of their songs for her. Sharon said my mom is "so cute."

I had a birthday while they were with us and they were so excited to "rejoice" with us. They even decorated my cake.

They love to give hugs and kisses!

"Happy Birthday Auntie Carrie..."

Mmm.... cake and ice cream (Brownie Moose Tracks ice cream to be exact, my new fav).

I miss these girls already!!!

Tonight's Menu...

Red eyes! I swear I'm not a vampire!

Grilled corn on the cob and grilled tomatoes w/ evoo, garlic, salt & pepper, & thyme.
It was delicious. (I even liked the tomatoes!)
Also served was 4 cheese tortellini with pesto and zucchini fries.
All courtesy of our garden (besides the pasta).
YUM!

Cozy Bear Cabin

For our 5 year anniversary, Jesse and I wanted to get away. Jesse looked online and somehow stumbled upon this cabin nestled in the woods of Williamsville, VA. This place really was in the middle of nowhere and it was just what we were looking for. We spent countless hours just sitting on the front porch listening to the wind and birds and saw a few deer walk by, a family of turkeys, a few bats... we never did see any bear and that was ok with me. We took a trip into Monterey, VA on Saturday. This was such a small town. We ate at one of 2 restaurants (that we saw) and had a good hamburger and homemade potato skins. Then headed back to the cabin with intentions to go to the swimming hole or for a hike, instead we spent the rest of the time hiding from the rain! It rained all through the night and into the morning. It offered Jesse and I a good time to talk about the next 5 years and what we hope to accomplish. We headed back to "the real world" this afternoon. A world of internet, cell phones, multiple radio stations (they only had one that played Grand Ole Opry style music)... Hopefully we will go back next year!

Disclaimer: If you get motion sickness, watch the below videos at your own risk! Jesse moves the camera pretty quickly...

Outside of cabin

I will have to post the other video later... it is taking too long to upload. Stay tuned!

Eat your veggies!

We have veggies!!
Pole beans and carrots. I picked these carrots a little early because I was so curious... they should get about 6 inches long when they are fully grown. They are crooked because our soil isn't completely rock free and they grow around the rocks. I tried one and it tasted like - a carrot! Shocking!
It's so exciting to take something from a seed and watch it grow, and then eat it!

What a great find - and a great husband!

Jesse found this watch for me at the Estate Specialist for only $3 because it was "broken". He actually ended up having to pay $5 because they have a minimum for credit card payments, but even at that price it is an amazing find! Jesse then shipped it to this watch repair kid (I say kid because he's only 15) that he met on TimeZone.com and he was able to fix it for us. He said it's in great condition too. I like it a lot.
Thanks Jesse!! I love you...

Feeling unfulfilled? A discussion I recently had...

Recently, I had an opportunity to spend time with a good friend over a cup of coffee. We talked about normal things such as jobs, family, his kid, hiking, camping... He began expressing that he has had some feelings not being fulfilled in his life. Mind you that in the last two years his salary has increased a ton and he welcomed a child and he has a great wife. We talked about how he felt for a while and tried rather unsuccessfully to hit the nail on the head in terms of a reason. He goes to work daily, he provides for his family, his wife is able to stay at home with their child, and he attends a thriving, growing church. What is the problem?? A few days later I was still thinking about my friend and looking at my own life and seeing similar experiences and feelings like he described... then it dawned on... I believe that even if we have a great job, healthy family, and great friends, we are still going to have feelings of not being fulfilled if those are the only things we put our time into. We were created to serve God and when we stop seeking opportunities to serve there is a void that cannot be filled with anything but serving God. Sure I have aspirations of greatness but I have come to realize greatness is relative. I previously felt like whatever God was going to use me for was going to be something full-time, as in a job, kind of like killing two birds with one stone. Consider the Apostle Paul in Acts 18:3, "Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was." I doubt very much that Paul found all of his fulfillment in making tents... he found fulfillment in serving God. I believe Paul had such an impact because he had his issues in context. He knew he had to work to live and he was thankful for his trade and the money he earned allowed him to find real fulfillment in serving God.