5 things

Life has been very busy lately. 

So, 5 quick things. 

1. I've taught ESL the last four weeks and as much as I love it and the students, it is also really exhausting (it could be that I spend way too much time on my lesson plans...). English is so confusing. Teaching a math class would be so much easier. But then it would be all about me and not about what God can do through my weakness. I haven't scared any of the students off yet...

Anyhow, the boys are getting a little tired of hearing that I am working on somethings ESL related. I also presented at another church about partnering together this week. It went well. Hopefully a blog post about that some time in the future. I've been trying to spend my little bits of free time with the boys, so, no fancy house projects right now. 

2. I made open faced sandwiches for dinner tonight (chicken, cheddar, and apple on bagettes). We had grapes and broccoli on the side. Why don't I do sandwiches more often? It is super easy. 

3. I cooked and shredded chicken for three meals this week. Two portions I froze for this weekend. One is for tomorrow night. Future Faith thanks me. 

4. People give you lots of stuff when you move. So far we have acquired:

2 couches

1 end table

2 lamps

1 sitting chair

1 desk chair

6 Dining chairs

2 dining tables

5 kid chairs

1 kid table (on loan) 

A curtain for a window

I am purposely keeping the spare room empty. I need some empty space. 

5. My plants need to be watered. 

Menu for the week:

•Open face chicken, Apple, and cheddar sandwiches

•Minestrone and crusty bread

•Shrimp Etouffee and rice

•Spaghetti and Meatballs

•Chicken & Cheese quesadilla pie

The List

I'm a list person (if you scroll back through my blog since college you will see lots of lists) and I'm a paper person (no lists on my phone for me). I like to visually see progress. Jared sent me (in an email) a list of items that need to be accomplished sooner rather than later. I converted it to paper. 

This isn't everything to do. That list would be too long. This one doesn't even include painting and unpacking boxes. Those will be added later. 

This is just a few of the things we hope to accomplish in the next few months. It is handy to glance over and choose an item to tackle when I have a few spare minutes. It is also rewarding to see items moved to the finished side. 

I spent the last two quiet times scrubbing that floor in the fireplace room. Now I can move that over! Last night Jared put all the doors back on upstairs. Another item off the list (and the bonus of keeping the house warmer since there is no heat upstairs). 

That wall better enjoy it's short useful life. It is coming down in a year or two. :) 

Instead of cats

I saw this photo on Instagram and realized that if left on my own I would probably hoard vintage Pyrex. Instead of cats you would walk into my house in 40 years and this shelf would all be filled up with Pyrex dishes. I would also collect polish pottery, but it is way more expensive. So, there wouldn't be as many of those pieces. 

However, I collect neither (in any significant quantity) because thankfully:

1. I have a husband who hates collecting junk and having things just sitting around useless. He has rubbed off on me...a little. 

2.  I have children to feed. Should I buy food or this dish? 

3. I hate cleaning extra stuff. 

4. It just wouldn't be efficient. Part of me wants all these dishes and part of me says, "why have them? You couldn't use all of them." I really appreciate having just enough (and maybe a few extra pretty dishes for decoration). 

5. I'm a saver, not a spender. When I do spend money it tends to be on things that matter (like events and people) or will last (like a good quality coat or vacuum). I'm probably a little too much of a saver, but again Jared rounds me out and pushes me towards the spending side a bit more. 

You will definitely find a few Pyrex and Polish pottery pieces around my house. I'm looking forward to some open shelves and glass cupboards to display my prettiest pieces. 

I don't really know the point of this post. I'm just rambling. But I love seeing other people's collections and I love visiting the vintage Pyrex section of antique stores. 

Cats. 

Yes. These are the cat shelves. :) more pictures on that later. 

I started unpacking my books yesterday. Maybe I'll display some Pyrex in between them while I wait for room in my kitchen. They aren't doing any good packed up in boxes. 

Rabble. Ramble. Ramble. 

I'm avoiding finishing my ESL lesson. I better go finish that. 

Closet under the stairs

One reason that influenced my move is that their was a closet under the stairs.  It is smaller and not as short, but I was pretty sure that it was empty behind the wall and that there was extra space just waiting to be used. Until today it was just a theory. :) It is now confirmed. 

This wall is going to come down and I'll refinish the empty part under the stairs to have a new play closet. Im pretty exciting to try my hand out at drywall and finishing. :) I'm having trouble finding storage for the boys' toys at the new house. They just don't fit on shelves well. Now I just have to convince Jared to bump this higher on the to-do list. 

And this is what my sink looked like yesterday while I was prepping food for ESL. Last night's lesson was on food again. :) I miss my deep sink and well laid out counter space. I am having trouble working efficiently in this kitchen still. But I also haven't come up with a good solution yet, so no kitchen projects until I am certain! 

We all caught a 48 hour bug this week that knocked us off our feet. It hurt to walk and climbing the stairs zapped all our energy. We've done lots of sleeping and reading. Maybe we'll have some exciting new projects in a month or two.