my new eye glasses

i have been wanting new glasses for a while. my old glasses were from high school, i think, and my prescription has changed since then but not enough to warrant new glasses because i usually wear contacts. i like the idea of glasses but sometimes contacts are more practical. i have stopped wearing my glasses out of the house because jane got hold of them one day and bent the arm quite a bit and they have never fit the same again. so, i use them in the morning and at night when i don't have contacts in.

i found out about a company called coastal contacts and they were giving away "free" glasses on a certain day if you had a special code. if you live out of state you may be able to get some where you live because they do a different group of states every week. check them out on facebook to find out when your state gets a turn! so i got a code and started looking at the glasses i would want (it took me literally three days to decide) but i found a pair that i really liked - then i found out they didn't qualify for the coupon. so i picked another pair i really liked and i'm glad i got these instead of the other. my glasses/lenses/shipping only cost 60.40! i think i like them and the new prescription is definitely different (worse on the scale but at least i can see better.)

my mom also told me about a site called zennioptical.com and they have glasses for super cheap (i found a pair i liked for 40.00 total!) so maybe next year i'll geta funky purple pair - like the original kind i wanted. now i get why some people buy glasses like they are shoes or something; such a fun accessory!

they are more rectangle shaped than my last oval pair. they are plastic rims with a brown stripped design and thicker sides. the sides also have some bedazzled half-moons for extra pizazz!

oh, and having new glasses makes me want a new hair cut so that's in the works now too.

laundry room makeover

we moved into our house in october 2009 and the only unfinished area of the house was the laundry room/entry from the garage. it wasn't a reason not to buy the house because the rest was finished so nicely. we knew someday we would finish the laundry room but i did not expect it to be so "soon" - in my book anyway. pete just decided he needed a project and now was as good a time as any to work on the room. i don't deal well with change, especially when it is thrust upon me so i had a little selfish "i'm not ready for you to do that yet" pity party then got over it and remembered that my husband is wonderful and actually knows how to finish the whole room by himself which means we don't have to pay someone else to do the labor! i am so blessed that way and i always forget. may i never forget again!

because pete's name is gompert he got right to it and by the time i thought to document the process with before and after shots he was already on the framing. so i don't have a picture of just the empty room with all our junk strewn on the floor, ugly sump pump right when you walk in the door, and the pipe on the floor going from the furnace into the drain. but i did manage to get the good after pictures, which is what everyone wants to see anyway:

tom and pete working on the framing. plus deciding how to move the gas pipe above their heads into the closeted area so it can be hidden.

more framing of the walls

before picture of the sump pump - actually it is an "after the new pipes" were in. the old pipes were rusted and went straight up in the air then over to the wall, it's much better this way.

insulation on the two outside walls - it helped a lot with the coldness of the room. also, my dryer vent goes outside now! woohoo

framing in the pipes and such

drywall getting close to completion

pete working on more drywall. the small areas were the worst (so he said) i didn't take any pictures of the mud/texture step, i just forgot. also the paint/floors was quick in one day or two and i forgot then too. the fumes of the floor weren't good for me to be around so jane and i left the house during that time anyway.

paint and floors all finished! it looks so bright and cheery now!

almost complete, just need doors, shelves, and a faucet for the sink

drying rods for my delicate type clothes or shelves for the laundry baskets. also, the sump pump is under there, no more ugly pipes!

the doors are in just in time to hide all our stuff and the furnace

finished look from the garage door looking in

washer/dryer area complete with shelf and window sill.

so that's the end of the project (almost) and it looks great!

now the tour of our house will include the laundry room too!

thank you so much pete for working so hard and helping me have a nice laundry room and not a dungeon. thanks also to anne, tom, and mike for helping. oh, and if jane is along for the tour of the room she can show you the spot she helped paint. she points it out all the time!

blogging while making lunch

my computer is sitting on my kitchen counter and i am "cooking" lunch for jane and myself. it has been snowing here most of the morning so i decided on comfort food for lunch - whole grain mac'n'cheese (yes from a box), leftover tomato soup, strawberries, hard-boiled egg, and whatever else i decide. today is a day at home. normally on thursdays we have a mom's Bible study at my house and Bible study that night but jane has been sick this week so we are staying home today just to be nice. she is feeling much better the past two days and only gets a slight fever right before bed but the dr. said we should probably stay away from others until she has been fever free for 24 hours.

so, lunch has been made and we are currently eating. i don't remember what time it was when i started writing but there have been many distractions in between and that is partly why i don't blog unless jane is sleeping. next post (hopefully tonight) will be pictures of our remodeled laundry room!

book list - 2010

this is an update on my new year's resolution from 2010 to read 12 books in a year (one a month.) this may not seem like a big goal, but for me it was because i have never been a great reader. i mean, i can read but wasn't given the gift of loving reading. plus, i fall asleep when reading if i read for more than 20 minutes at a time; yes, even sitting straight up in an uncomfortable chair at the kitchen table. so, i met my goal of 12 books. i didn't, however, read one a month. there were a few months i read more than one and a few months (nov. and dec.) that i didn't read any books. this is my list and yes, i recommend all of them. i am not going to give a full review of each book but if you want to know more, just ask.

~last 4 "left behind" books (the remnant, armageddon, the glorious appearing, the kingdom)

january started off with a bang. mostly because i was reading super easy reads from a series i had started in high school and never finished. i loved these books, even though they are a bit cheesy and of course fiction. i get that the rapture and following events may not be anything like these books but they were interesting and fun to read.

~culture shift -al mohler

a shorter book that is a collection of essays written by al mohler about various topics that are hot issues in our society today like abortion, birth control, education, and many others. it got me thinking about what i believe and in one instance even led me to research more and make a big life decision for our family.

~why we’re not emergent by two guys who should be - cluck and deyoung

a funny yet thoughtful book about the "christian emergent" movement and why it is not biblical nor helpful

~shepherding a child’s heart -tripp

one of the only parenting type books i have read so far but definitely one of the best written approaches to loving and disciplining your kids that i have heard. if you are a parent (no matter the age of your kid) or going to be a parent i recommend this book highly. he explains what he believes to be biblical discipline and getting to the heart of your child's behavior, not just addressing the action but the why behind it. i plan to read this again soon (as i didn't retain as much as i would have liked)

~treasuring God in our traditions -noel piper

i guess this book would count as another parenting/family book. my mom gave it to me for mother's day and i loved it. noel addresses different traditions in our culture (and some of their families own traditions) and talks about the need to have the things we do and why we do them point to God and His greatness. it really got me thinking, especially about christmas and easter, and hopefully our family will benefit from me reading this book and being more intentional about our traditions we celebrate.

~till we have faces -c.s. lewis

i had read this book once before and this was the second time. i still love it. it is a mythological story set in perhaps the middle ages. it has characters that everyone can identify with and is a fast read that really hits you in the face with the "punch line" of the story. great book

~forgotten God -francis chan

the women of our church read this together during the summer and met once a month to discuss. i really like his approach to how we as a culture think about God and why we need to break out of our normal habits and let God lead us.

~the hiding place -corrie ten boom

this is another book i had read before but i think it was in high school

. i have learned so much more about the holocaust since then that i believe the book was even better this time. i love reading about people's stories of struggle, bravery, and survival during that time. i recommend this book highly. the movie is good too, but read the book first :)

~the toddler owner's manual -kuhn and borgenicht

this last one was because i needed one last book and had already read part of it. mike bought it for us when jane was born and it is a funny book. it talks of toddlers as if they are a piece of equipment like a vacuum or computer. they are referred to as a "unit" and the book talks about upgrades from baby to toddler. it actually has helpful information for first time parents because it talks about things you might not have thought much about like travel, nutrition, and moving from a crib to bed or potty training.

so that's my year's list. i hope you enjoy and this year (2011) i am focusing on reading more of the Bible and maybe a parenting or wifey type book here and there. thanks for reading!

1st Shaving Cream/ Messy Experience

jane was able to play with shaving cream at discovery time. it was martin luther king jr day so only jane and a boy showed up. this video is complete with my strange "mom voice" i sometimes get, mostly in public; and jane's learning to share. once she knows something is off limits she often points to it and says, "no!" which is what she does in the video. just a glimpse of our monday mornings.