Projects, projects, projects

So, I've been wanting to share some furniture/decor redos that have kept me busy lately. I went on a semi-massive redecorating frenzy when I found out we wouldn't be moving :( I was honestly pretty upset not to be moving out of our townhouse (it's not my favorite) but after some prayer and maybe a few tears I decided to my creativity to work and give the place some much needed decorating updates. It's been challenging as I can paint or permanately change any fixtures or feature of the place but I've done what I can :)

I can't see to find the cable that goes with my camera to let me upload pictures but I'll try and make do with the phone pictures that I do have. Sorry for the poor quality. We will start with a SUPER SIMPLE decor project:

Pottery Barn-esque Bird Cage Candle Holder

If you've been to Pottery Barn lately you know that Bird Cage decor is in. I was able to find this little pretty at our Kansas City DAV for just $1

I thought that this would fit perfectly over a short pillar candle I already had at home but wanted some sort of a base for the candle to sit on as well. I found a cheap, white saucer at the DAV for just $. 49.

At home, I simply gave the bird cage a coat of primer followed by a coat of white spray paint. Once that dried, I placed my pillar candle on underside of the saucer and glued the up-side-down saucer to the base of the bird cage. And here you have the finished project (it shows the saucer right side up but I changed it before gluing)

Hope you enjoy it! I'll be posting more projects soon :)

2011 Blizzard

Hey guys,

Well....We survived the blizzard of 2011! Seth and I had been watching the weather Monday night expecting to wake up to TONS of snow, but we woke up bright and early at 6:30 and nothing.......yet. We decided to make an early-morning trip to the grocery store just in case, and it was a good thing we did! We got back to the house at the time I would have normally left for work, but I decided against trying to make it to the office. The snow kept coming down ALL DAY LONG and didn't stop. It was interesting trying to get our puppy outside for anything. She would sit by the door and look up at me like "are you crazy? I'm not going out there!" We had a great day filled with movies, reading, cleaning, and I caught up on some of my favorite blogs! I am currently obsessed with furniture re-do blogs, DIY blogs, etc. There are so many ladies (and a few guys) with great ideas! I find myself wanting to buy Goodwill furniture all the time for new projects but in all reality we have nowhere to put it and between work, church, cooking, and cleaning I really don't have time for anymore projects than the ones in our basement waiting to be finished.

Seth a I are thinking about moving though and getting a house. They place where we live currently, well how do I say this nicely, has been testing my patience. Literally in the last month, management and maintenance has been in our townhouse 6 times to fix stuff, do inspections, spray for bug prevention and then for extermination (no our townhouse didn't have bugs but apparently some buildings did), follow up inspection, and more repairs. We are getting a little tired of people we don't know being in our home when we aren't there. Anyways, we have found a couple of houses that we want to rent that are within our price range and will hopefully be more welcoming to friends, guests, and neighbors than where we live now. I really do love our little town house; it's our first home and so cozy. But the buildings are old and its really hard to keep anything clean. Honestly, in my heart I just want a place where others can always feel welcome, where bellies are always filled, and where the gospel can be spread!

Seth and I want nothing more than to be used to spread the gospel. It has been so great to figure out what that truely means with my best friend! For us that means giving up a lot of the American dream. So what our bank account isn't growing like crazy right now? I seriously love Dave Ramsey and the things he teaches and Seth and I have vowed to remain debt-free but I can't help but think what happens to all the people you RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU needing your help, needing Christs love and you say "nope I'm sorry I'm 'living like no one else' right now and can't spend money. Come back to me in 10 years and I'll be 'living like no one else' and then I can help you". And saving for retirement? Do you really want to spend the last 20 years of your life on a boat or in your fancy house before you meet the Lord enjoying the things of this world only to say "look God, I have a pretty boat?" Not me! I pray God allows me to spend the last years of my life spreading his gospel! Ok, I'll get off my soap box now. I just really had to share some things that were on my heart. Thanks for reading!
Catrina

Snow Day!!

I woke up this morning to about 5 inches of snow on the ground in KC! This was the first time our puppy had seen snow and she absolutely loved it! She bounced around outside and ate the snow and I had a hard time getting her to come back inside. Part of me was sad that Seth wasn't here to witness the first big snow of being married (as we had promised to make an igloo together, or at least a snow man) but I am so glad to be sharing my hubby with the people of S. Asia for a couple of weeks. I got word from him this morning that they have safetly arrived in M-Town and had a great first day there. It is night time there so I hope he is getting some much needed rest from all the traveling.
The work day is going by so much faster today because of the snow (everyone on my team LOVES the snow as well). We have had a pretty chill morning and may even get to go home early as the heavy stuff is supposed to hit at right about 5, when we are suppose to be heading home.
Maybe I'll find some of the neighbor kids to join me in playing in the snow; there is plenty of them running around our neighborhood;)
I've been trying to keep myself busy since Seth is gone which involoves a lot of reading, craft projects, re-decorating, and a little shopping too. You better believe that boy is going to come home to a clean house though!
Pictures coming soon!

Catching Up...sort of

So...I pretty much dropped the ball on the blogging thing and so much has happened since the last post that I cannot possibly complete "update" the world on everything that has happened. So I'll just start from now and talk about more recent things :)
Seth and I are celebrating our first Christmas together and I absolutely LOVE how festive and fun our little town house is. *Advice to engaged couples: wait until everything is 75% off after Christmas and go shop for your 1st Christmas together! We did this last year and got lots of fantastic decorations and an $8 prelit Christmas tree. The best part was that it all seemed brand new to us since we hadn't looked at it for a year and everything was still in new boxes.


This picture doesn't do our tree justice as now we have all of our gifts for each other and for friends and family wrapped and placed under it.

Cori, our beagle puppy, that Seth got me for my 22nd Birthday is so energetic and fun. She has done surprisingly well with all the decorations and tree and hasn't gotten into too much trouble.

Just two days ago we got a portable dishwasher as an early Christmas present from my parents! It's full-size and I absolutely LOVE it. Since we got married washing dishes is something we both dread a lot! We have a small kitchen and an even smaller sink. The sink is only about a foot deep so when you cook a meal it fills up fast, with dishes spilling out everywhere onto our small amount of counter space. I have already done two loads of dishes and the sound of that machine running with all the dishes contained in one space is such a lovely sound!

God has been doing a lot in our lives recently. Seth has been super busy with him Fusion internship, preaching at Missouri Valley, discipling guys at our house, and school work. It has been a rough semester for his school-wise as he is so ready to be done (he was soooooo happy to turn in his final College Algebra exam) so that we can focus on ministry with everything we've got. I have really loved having all of the Fusion guys over so much this semester. We have had lot of people stay at our house, use our washer/dryer, and just veg and do homework. It makes me really happy that the college students know they are ALWAYS ALWAYS welcome at our house! Having people over so much takes a toll on the cleanliness of our place but I would trade that any day for the great company you will always find at townhouse #4024. I will honestly be really sad when Seth graduates from college.

I have been staying really busy with church and work as well. I am working about 45-50 hours a week depending on what projects and deadlines I am managing and I am officially the "Women's Ministry Director" at church which basically means I get to plan a bunch of girl parties! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the women at Missouri Valley. They have been such an encouragement to Seth and I lately as the church has gone through some really rough patches.




Well that's about all I can think of for now.

Happy Holidays!

Jobs and Townhouses

Seth got a job and moved into our townhouse!!!

This is just an example of how perfect God's timing is! Seth and I had literally been praying and job searching for him for over a month. He had several interviews and connections and we were hopeful that at least one was going to work out but they all fell through. Seth has been wanting to move to Kansas City to an apartment this semester so that when we get married we will not have to worry about moving everything after the wedding and will already have a place to call home. But, he couldn't move to KC if he didn't have a job there. Out of almost a state of desparation, Seth called an old boss and asked if he had anything available for Seth to do. The boss said he had one opening but it would be kind of crazy hours (mostly night shifts). He called the client Seth would be working with and set up an interview for the next morning (letting Seth skip the first interview). Seth immediately got a haircut (yes a real haircut. You realize how much of a sacrifice this is if you have seen Seth's hair lately), interviewed the next morning, and got a phone call later that day saying he had the job!

After starting work, Seth shopped around for a place for us to live and I left the decision entirely up to him. As of 2 days ago Seth and his best friend Derek are officially moved into a townhouse on the north side of KC. This is going to be a perfert place for us to live. I have not actually seen it yet but it has two stories with the livingroom and kitchen downstairs and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs as well as an unfinished basement that we didn't even know about!!!! The basement has washer/dryer hookups which was my absolute biggest concern! The stove and heater are both gas and I'm anxious to sort of relearn how to cook on a gas stove.

My heart is so happy now that I know for sure where we will be living. I can start invisioning what it will look like and how I want to decorate and all that. Granted, for the next four months it will be a bachelor pad filled with video games, guitars, and power tools but I am certain that after we get married it will be the perfect home for the newlywed Masons.

I just can't believe how things are finally coming together and how this is actually going to happen after 6 years of dating. We have been so blessed and it just goes to show how our God knows us better than we know ourselves. Even when we freak out and fret over silly things, God always provides. Although God's perfect timing would still be perfect if our situation had been different. Even if Seth didn't get a job and we didn't find a townhouse God's plan would have still been superior to ours. He works together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose even when we don't know what is good for us or what our purpose may be.

Thanks for reading. I will post pictures of the townhouse as soon as I get to see it myself!

Hey Hey.

Lots has happened since my last blog. I finished Tax II with a relative amount of ease. We had lots of homework every night but it was mostly group work and only lasted a week and day (we got done a day early).

During week two of Jan Term my future MOH and best friend, Ashley, came to visit me in Bolivar and helped me with all sorts of wedding crafts and projects. I've started working on some of the smaller details of the wedding as we are now just a little over 4 months out. That Saturday Ashley went with me to the wedding of Scott and Adrienne Mark. It was truly one of the most elegant and beautiful weddings I have ever been to. If you are in the Springfield area and need a venue for a wedding and reception check out the Stone Chapel on the campus of Drury University and the Tower Club at the Hammons Tower. Both were gorgeous for a medium sized wedding!

Seth and I have been getting lots of work done and are preparing more and more every day to tie the knot. Mom found us a retro couch and full sized bed complete with a headboard, foot board, rails, box spring, and mattress for free in the paper and we are so stoked to work on these "projects" together and make them our own my sanding them down and repainting them.

Seth is currently on a job hunt and hopes to start working soon so that he and a few friends can move into an apartment in KC until June, when they will move and I will move in after the wedding.

Our wedding bands are done and ready for the big day. We also picked out our invitations and will get started on those as soon as I finally finish the dreaded guest list. I started on it probably 3 months ago and its still no where close to being finished.

Seth has been working on songs for our wedding. He has now officially finished all 3 of the songs that will be featured in our ceremony!!!! I can't wait. He is such an amazing musician.

And last, but certainly certainly not least, Seth and I started marriage counciling with our friends Paul and Jala. It has been wonderful so far and I think we have both learned quite a bit!

Hope to post some before and after pictures soon of our "projects" so you can see how they turn out. Both the bed and couch are pretty old and rough, but I just know with a little TLC they will be perfect for us!

Love you all,

Catrina

Winter Fest

So I am currently taking a WinterFest class at school and starting a blog is my official study break. I've never been good at journaling but I'm frequently online and my life is pretty much an open book anyways so I figured, why not start a blog?

I guess people usually tell about what is going on in their lives on these things.
I just recently got back to Bolivar after spending a few weeks in my hometown for Christmas Break. I worked a lot a good 'ole T.J. Maxx and spent a ton of time with Seth and with family. It's really nice to be able to work whenever I want while at home. "The Maxx" literally lets me work whenever I want including random weekends that I decide to come home.

Over break Seth and I registered for gifts for our wedding which is now just a short 5 months away!!! I have so much to do still but everything will come together in the end.

We also made a 3 person iglooo in the back yard! Esther, Seth, and I enjoyed our creation by making hot chocolate on a small camp stove inside our igloo!!! It was a blast!

Christmas Day was spent with both my family and Seth's. I spent Christmas morning at my grandparent's house with mom, dad, Emmy, grandma, grandpa, Sis, Ben, and their three kids Sam, Claire, and Macy. It was sooo fun to get to hang out with all my little cousins since they have not been here for Christmas for about the past three years.

New Years was awesome!! Seth and I started out at the Allison's hours and enjoyed the company of several friends while eating breakfast for dinner complete with biscuits and gravy, orange juice, and some sort of amazing punch! From there we went to the wonderful home of Atley and Michael Marks and had an amazing time just talking, goofing off, and loving our friends!!! We played a very interesting group game on the Wii and toasted at midnight. It was a special time since 2010 is the year for many "first". This year will graduate with majors in both Accounting and Business Management with the required 150 hours for the CPA exam. I will hopefully pass all 4 parts of the exam within allowed 18 months.
2010 is also going to be the year for my first real job (hopefully as a CPA), a first apartment with all of my own things :D, and 2010 is when I will get a husband!!! Heck yes! Seth and I absolutely cannot wait to finally be able to finally serve Christ and journey together in one geographical location!! Christ deserves more than I could ever ever ever say!! 2009 has been an awesome journey and I know that 2010 is going to be filled with even more passionate pursuit of the creator of the stinking universe!!!!! Man we serve a big God!!! Bring on 2010 and the rest of eternity!!

Thanks for reading and I hope to update when between breaks from Tax homework :D