happiness is plants

Our little home is slowly coming together, as in we have nailed things to walls & decided on furniture we want to build. I can hardly wait to see the final products, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the process of making our apartment look less apartment-ish, & more home-ish along the way :)

This was our weekend project that I have been looking forward to for some time now. My hubby is so handy & worked so hard to measure even lines & ensure that everything was level. He did a fabulous job & I am so thankful for him! Now the fun part...rearranging & making the shelves cute. I've kept this look for about 3 hours now so it's safe to say this one will probably last at least a week ;)

Buy yourself a plant this week, I promise it will make you smile!

IN WHICH I PERSUADE YOU TO READ REVELATION

+book with art from Banksy | spending time with my pup | hang dryin | watching exit through the gift shop with my boy | taking a picture of the largest slug in California+

My today was good. It was normal with wonderful weather, quality time with a friend, and an evening spent with my Jeffrey.

This morning I spent time with Turbo and the laundry, while listening to my church's series on the book of Revelation. Folded clothes before noon? Pure accomplishment. Solid preaching on the end times whilst sorting underwear from socks? Spiritually enlightening.

The book of Revelation always scared me as a young girl, and up until recently I was nervous to open this mysterious book full of end times prophecy. To say I was scared as a young girl is really an understatement, I was terrified of reading Revelation. Let me give you a slight taste. I went to a private, Christian school from 5th grade to high school and in first period our teachers led a Bible study to start off the day. Each teacher conducted their studies differently, but most read scriptures or some sort of study book. Well, in 7th grade we would read an entire chapter each day, and slowly work our way through books of the Bible. This happened to be the same year as 9/11, so I was already on a sensitive high. Due to the 9/11 prophecy hype my class voted we read through Revelation each morning. I about lost my noodles, guys. The last thing I wanted to do was read through the very book that was going to dictate the end of my life as I knew it. Not to mention my fears of being "Left Behind" even though I knew I was a Christian. So I took matters into my own hands; I plugged my ears every single morning, through all 22 chapters of Revelation. I didn't want to hear it, I didn't want to know.

But guys, I was missing the point. I was missing SO many big things. I'm proud to say that 12 years later, I've come around and I'm thrilled to be studying the book of Revelation. This book is full of God's intense love for His children. All of the wrath you read about? It's for those who seek to harm His children. Our God is fierce for His children, and in the end? He wins, we win. There's a lot of debate that takes place in this book, but I think it's healthy conversation. The debates have allowed me to dig deeper in my faith and draw closer to my Father. I want to know Him so well that I can discern what He would or wouldn't let His children endure. I don't know that God will ever fully reveal Himself, until the day of the Lord, but until then I can climb further into the scriptures and run with the words that He speaks to me. It's cool and it's big and it's comforting. You should read it. It can be confusing so go through it with others, find podcasts, and ask questions. Jeff and I are listening to it alongside a group of friends and we've been able to come together and talk things through. Right now I'm learning about the tribulation and the 4 Horsemen. It's intense friends. Our world has never been in a worse place, so distant from our Father...I never imagined I'd crave the end times, but I do. I'm ready for the Father to take His people home.

life lately & some news (i'm not with child)

chai with good friends // this book at anthropologie is on my "to buy" list // mid-century dresser that Jeff didn't think we needed tear // we went back in time to winter for one day [we've already moved on to Spring in Cali] // good book.. green tea lemonade..and great company at Starbucks // family kisses before daddy goes to work.

I have news! We are moving again.

This will be our 6th move in our first 2.5 years of marriage. I know what you're thinking...we are beyond nuts. You're probably right, but each move has had significance in our individual lives and marriage as a whole. Yes, I'm going that deep with houses we've lived in. We're still pretty young and learning to navigate our way through life as a married couple. It's challenging, scary, fun and most of all it's rewarding. The rewarding part, really? Yea, it's rewarding because Jeff and I are learning how to do life together and make decisions together. Let me tell you...it's an absolute REWARD when a married couple can agree on big things in life. I'm certain that this move will be our last for at least a few years...as is Jeff, reward.

I have mixed emotions over it, but honestly I'm more happy than not. I wrote about some stuff that happened when we first moved to this house here. Since that first weekend we have been questioning a lot of things. Namely, should we have ever moved here? To say we never should have moved here is silly because clearly God had a plan and He's using this as a stepping stone to our next place in life. However, there are an overwhelming amount of reasons why we're moving. The bottom line is that we shouldn't be living here and we feel that it's been confirmed in more ways than one. Though we're excited for the next step in our lives, we do feel strongly the 7 months we've lived in this house were nothing short of God's perfect plan for this time of our lives.  We matured in different areas that never would have been addressed had we not experienced this home. So, we've listened to our hearts and have faith that it's in our best interest to leave our little 1940's home and venture back to apartment life.

Bring on the noisy neighbors and upstairs inconveniences! Just kidding, I'm so excited to be above ground again.

dresser top

here's a quick teaser of our home tour, which I plan to take pictures of and post now that Christmas decor has been tucked away until next year.

I also have a plate wall, and new chair from World Market...and I stare at them for a good majority of the day :)

sometimes fear controls me

and it shouldn't.

Two weeks ago we moved into our new home, and it's darn cute. I love everything about it. I love the hardwood floors, I love the mint green 40's tile in the bathroom shower, I love the open kitchen/living room concept, I love our picket fence, I love our huge closet, I love that our best friends are moving two blocks away, I love that it's our first home together.

I don't love that someone tried breaking in to our home after a week of living here. I don't love that a cop came to our door the other night looking for a man who lives behind us. I don't love that I had to transfer to a new Starbucks [not because I doubted my new store would be awesome, only b/c I'm a home body and miss all my friends from my first store] I don't love that I don't always feel safe, even though we live in a quaint, adorable neighborhood. How can so much fear be controlling me day to day?

I don't want to let fear control me. There's too much life to live without fear creeping in to all aspects of it.

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you..." Luke 12:27 & 28 

It's taken me a few days to complete this post. As I've processed everything, I've come to the conclusion that unless I give Satan the power to instill fear, then I have total control of living in peace. Know why? Because my Heavenly Father has power OVER the enemy, that alone should be enough to settle any nervous heart. 

Our homes are to be our safe places, and I won't let the enemy rob me of that. This past week has blossomed some major growth in my spirit. 

As expected, I've become more comfortable at my new store, even remembering some regulars. Seeing those familiar faces in a new place is pure happiness to me. Get this, little old man Wally even remembered MY name today. Oh and let me tell you, he is SO adorable. Greeted me with, "Well hello Nicole! I'll take my usual!" I responded with, "I'm so sorry to say I really don't remember just yet!" and he followed with, "Oh that's expected, after all.. this is just your 2nd time seeing me" We then nailed down his beverages and I assured him I would remember his two double cupped, decaf grande no room americano's tomorrow. One with sugar free hazel nut and one with sugar free caramel :). I also thanked him for remembering who I was, it meant more to me than he could know. I felt like I belonged today. And that's a cool feeling, in a new place. Guess what else? My co-workers are REALLY awesome, the more I get to know them the more I fall in love with the store. Such genuine, great people. That's not to say all my old co-workers won't hold a special place in my barista heart...because they do. But now I'm expanding room in there for some more awesome people and it feels good.

clearly this poot has made himself at home here :)

Some time has passed since someone almost broke into our home, so the invasive feelings that came with that are slowly dwindling. Part due to time passing, part due to family and friends who have stepped up in BIG, big ways.. but mostly due to putting my trust back in God. It feels good, so very good.

I don't know why the Lord let some scary things happen over the last couple of weeks. But I do know His plans are better than mine. Obviously this isn't an over night transformation of laying all fears before Him, but it's a start. It's acknowledging that His yoke is easy and burden light, so I should constantly bring my fears before Him instead of worrying about them on my own. I want our home to be blessed, full of life and love when our friends are here. I want the angels guarding all corners so Satan knows He isn't welcome in this place, because it's filled with the Holy Spirit, always. With God on our side I know this fear will pass and life will return to normal. Our family is safe, so very safe under the protection of our God.

when family steps in

not everything has gone accordingly with our recent move into a home. God has no doubt continually blessed us & kept us safe, but there has been a major hiccup along the way. will share more of it later this weekend, or next week sometime. family & friends have stepped up in big ways & for that i am grateful. i'm also thankful i was able to spend tonight with my sis-n-law & her two kiddos.. keeping my mind off things for now. she seriously has the coolest kids.. that i get to call family.

turby turb & some news

I can't even handle how precious this little punk is. It's darn near ridiculous how spoiled he is and how much we love him. He had surgery this past week to get some cysts removed and his usual spunky self turned into a puddle of pity which in turn broke momma's heart. He's healing though and will be back to driving cars n stuff soon.

In other news...we're moving into a HOUSE. It was something we've talked about for months but weren't sure it was possible. Our lease will be up in October so we decided to start searching to see what we could find. As luck would have it, God poured down His blessings on us and gave us a house.  More on this later.

Be on the look out for some house design posts in the coming months...yippee!!