*Overdue* Before & After Photos

This past year has been crazy. So many unexpected things have happened... More on that later...

I have been meaning to post before and after photos of our house for the longest time! We bought the house April 2012 and moved in July 2012 so it's high time for an update!

Exterior:

Here's a diptic of the progression of changes that our house underwent...


The outside, before:

Doesn't everyone love to see siding dissolving off of a house? So thankful to have all of it replaced!

 The outside, after:

It looks so sweet! I love the lighting and the gray and white! At some point we'll be replacing the roof and hope to make some changes to the trim and the pitch of the front porch.

This is the site of our wonderful garden, but this photo was taken before we put it in. Also, note the change of where the backyard access is. The slider is gone and french doors were put in at the back of the house. Love that change!

 The kitchen and dining area, before:

You have no idea how many random things we found behind that old oven. Gross! I must say though, that even in its greasy brown and green state, the original kitchen was a special place during the remodel where we would plan, pray, and celebrate. 

The kitchen and dining area, after:

Everything was updated! New cabinets, counters, fridge, oven, microwave, sink.... But we are still putting up with the original dishwasher. Note the glorious eat-in nook Brandon built!

One more photo of our cozy but adorable kitchen!

The family room, before:

The original smell in this room was quite powerful... We also loved all the diy holes that the previous owners drilled into all the main rooms to provide cable lines.

The family room, after:

Such a wonderful space. It has been so fun adding touches over the past year and seeing it all come together.

The master bedroom and bath, before:

The master bedroom and bath, after:

 Love our diy headboard still!

The office/guestroom, before:

Can you tell by Brandon's body language, how he's feeling about taking on this project? :) There was some pretty gnarly graffiti in this room. It was banished by about 2 coats of Killz primer, some hand sanding, texturizing, and paint.

The office/guestroom, after:

The 3rd bedroom, before:

The 3rd bedroom, after:

This picture makes it obvious what one of the biggest things we are anticipating is... Our baby boy! Due 8-31-13!!! The nursery looks very different now. I'll have to compose a post once it's complete.

The guest bathroom, before:

We were sad to find that the white tile was hiding black mold. Eventually, we'll retile; for now we put in a basic insert.

The guest bathroom, after:

 

The garage, before:

This is blurry, sorry. Notice again, Brandon's face if you can see. He's looking a bit overwhelmed! The garage was originally converted into a laundry room and another living space with a drop ceiling. It was dark, dingy, and sad looking. It was also poorly done. This was the first area we attacked when we got the keys.

The garage, after:

It has changed a lot! This is going to become Brandon's man cave. Notice how much happier he is in this photo! Happy to be done with lots of renovating and to have a functional garage. 

With home ownership, you're never "done". More projects to come, but we are so thankful to have a sweet, comfortable, beautiful, and clean home to build our family in! One of the best things about taking on this project in our town is that house values have been going up as we've made improvements. Our appraised value increased 171%!!!

home.

There's no place like home.

dearphotograph.com

When we were kids, home was a very concrete place. It was that house where we spent our formative years... learning to ride bikes, getting sent to our room, decorating for Christmas, building forts... That house had a smell, sounds, textures, voices that have been ingrained into our memories.

I {Jenny} remember the winding road lined with trees that led to "the little blue house." The swing on the big oak tree, the fort in the backyard, the playhouse that my mom built, smells of playdough, making english muffin pizzas, sharing a queen size bed with Ashton, my dad's corndog and chili dinners, riding bikes to the Ciraulo's...

I {Brandon} can recall building fences, decks, and playhouses with dad, the way a crisp fall Saturday morning feels as you head out to play soccer, and the smell of mom's spaghetti filling the house as we completed homework. Summer brought us endless games of baseball and street hockey until we couldn't see the ball any longer.

It's interesting that in your 20's, home is such a fluid concept. Brandon and I have talked about how home is where we live together in a particular stage. We've yet to establish a home as in a physical address. That will come in time and probably with kids...

But for now we're saying goodbye to a place that we have known as a couple for 2 years and Brandon has called home for almost 30 years. Things will be different from this point on, but we said yes to life changing when we said "I do".

The morning of our wedding day, I {Brandon} woke up in a hotel room shared by my three brothers. I had shared rooms with brothers for the better part of 20 years. As I got dressed, it struck me that I would never start my day from that point of view again. Now I wake up to my wife greeting me with a kiss.

It reminds me {Jenny} of how quickly life changed that week. One night I was sitting as an unmarried daughter watching Father of the Bride with my parents around me, a few nights later I was driving away from our reception as a wife knowing that life would never look the same.

Past places and phases of life hold special memories, but each transition leads us closer to who we are becoming and where God wants us to be.

It's still hard, it's still painful. But we always hope.

The News

The past two weeks feel like a whirlwind! It was mostly good things though. But I feel so exhausted. I came home today, put my pj's on, heated up leftovers, and watched some Bachelorette. What is with that show anyway? You really signed up for a national TV show and competed with 24 other guys to find a wife? What?!

Anyway...

I took my Master's in Special Education Comprehensive Exam today. 15 pages and 4 hours later, it was all done. The capstone on my grad work. I'm pretty sure I passed. An 18 out of 30 is passing and I remembered all the sources I needed to remember and probably had more cohesive essays than what I had written for practice.

Rewind to that morning... I was rushing around the house repeating research study authors and publication dates to myself. Brandon was tossing coffee into travel mugs and juggling little Buhner as we were pushing ourselves out the door. I was anxious and a bit snippy about getting out the door, but stopped myself and asked Brandon to pray with me.--That happens more and more often these days, stopping in the middle of something and sometimes not in our best moments to pray--We prayed for my exam then I prayed "God I pray that I DO get that job and that I would find out today"... That felt pretty bold and pretty crazy to basically say to God, "Yeah, I want that job. Can I have it?"

So as I turned in my classroom key and finish filing some last minute paperwork, my phone rings. It was the high school principal I interviewed with offering me the position. So incredible.

I told the office staff and the principal said something to the effect of "Wow, you just turn in your key and you get a job? You're moving near your family, your husband has a job... Everything's falling in place, something must be right."

So true, but not a complete picture. It's not just dumb luck that I found a teaching job in a horrible job market for teachers or that Brandon gets to start doing what he has wanted to do for several years... God is totally in on it. And the beautiful orchestration of timing? God is just such a wonderfully creative writer.

I was talking with my lovely friend yesterday. She called to tell me about amazing things God did in her life. Complete healing and transformation. Then God told her to share what he had done.

So, in light of that conversation, I share all this not to boast, but because God wants us to share the stories of how he's blessed us! They're not just our stories to hold onto. They're part of his larger love story.

What an adventure we're on!

Closing out year 3

If you are a student, a teacher, or have kids in school, you understand the cyclical nature of education.

I feel like a gypsy teacher. For the past 3 years I have roamed and taught where God led. Each year, I invested all I could into the students and brought my wares into a bare canvas... the classroom. That classroom became my classroom.

The beginning of the year always starts the same. There's a rush to get ready. You're not quite sure what you're doing (even if you've done it before). The students are nervous and you're anxious to build a rapport with them. You focus a lot of energy on decorating the classroom and trying to get organized. (Note: photos are from my first year)

By the middle of the year, you've hit a stride. You have a system that works. The honeymoon period is over, you know which students need some extra positive support and which ones you can trust with their work (and your desk supplies). Making sure the classroom is decorated is an afterthought, if you think of it at all. Your initial organization techniques have fallen by a wayside for whatever works. For me: if it's piled on my desk and not filed away, it's on the to-do list.

At the end of the year, you're beginning to close things out with assessments and evaluations. Student and staff emotions run high. You see the fruit of all your work and care as you reflect on how the year started. He used to... Now he... At the beginning of the year, she... Now she... You say goodbye to the students, some are sad and some are just anxious for summer!

Then in a few months, it repeats itself.

Teachers don't do this to become financial moguls, we do it because we love it. We love teaching, learning, impacting students, seeing progress, thinking creatively, and seeing students become more of who they are.

Yesterday, I completed another year. I said goodbye to my students and coworkers, packed up everything, and felt a strong sense of deja vu as I saw the room return to its original state. I was thankful that my husband came to help me pack up.

I don't feel like I have words to describe what it all felt like... Those final moments when everything had been loaded into my car and I looked at the darkened classroom. My desk that had previously been covered with papers was bare. Everything was quiet and Brandon held my hand. Change is so hard, but having worked in 5 different schools and moving 7 times in the past 5 years, it feels refreshing and almost comfortable.

This post feels mostly incoherent, but that's where I'm at right now.

faith

"For we live by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor. 5:7

"Genuine moral fiber is developed by enduring the discipline of faith. When you have made your request to God, and the answer still has not come, what are you to do? Keep on believing His Word! Never be swayed from it by what you see or feel. Then as you stand firm, your power and experience is being developed, strengthened, and deepened." Streams in the Desert, L.B. Cowman

I used to completely underestimate faith and prayer. When someone told me to pray about something, I would feel so discouraged and wonder if they were just writing me off.

In recent years, I have learned that through prayer, I am participating in something so much bigger. I have been surprised at how often Brandon and I feel led to pray and then see God move. The faithfulness of God is a response to his love for us (everyone not just Brandon and I) and a response to the legacy of faith into which we are woven.

It was by faith that my parents, when they learned of J.P.'s disability, continued to walk and live with hope. By their faith, J.P. has grown into a remarkable young man who has exceeded expectations.

It was by faith that Brandon and I prayed for our spouses, despite discouraging prospects. And then at the right time, life situations and eharmony settings were open so that we could begin to pursue a relationship, unlike any other we had previously experienced. Even from 1,200 miles away.

It was by faith that J.P. prayed for my job, when I had been discouraged by spending a full year subbing and 5 fruitless interviews. By his faith, I received a job offer the next day.

It is by faith that Brandon and I are moving. Even though we have stable jobs and a stable future where we are, we have faith that God is calling us out of our safety into a daunting situation where there is little certainty but no limit to where he will take us.

Brandon is doing something completely new and unfamiliar. I have no job lined up. We don't have anywhere to live yet. We don't know what our income will be. There are things that we want that we will put off for a while.

Yet! I still hope. I still have faith that God will keep his promises.

"There may be a great work occurring in your life when things seem their darkest. You may see no evidence yet, but God is at work. " Streams in the Desert, L.B. Cowman

It has been in the dark nights when I have heard God's voice the clearest.

God has done it before and he will do it again. Just watch and see.

40 Day Fitness Challenge and RESULTS!!!

Before: December 2010

After: May 2011

We just completed a 40 Day Challenge with our awesome trainer Willie Woods of Iron Core Fit. It was nothing drastic. There were a few basic rules:

1. Workout, Rest, or Attend Class
Isn't he cute? !
2. Eat 6 meals (include protein and good fats) per day including pre/post workout meals
3. Take Supplements
4. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water

We did strength training 5 times per week and really focused on increasing our protein intake, severely decreasing our consumption of sugar and excess carbohydrates.

Here's an example of one of our workouts:

Warm-up/Activation exercises

Core

• wall ball crunches 2 x20
• low plank 2 x30 seconds
• yoga abs x30 each side
• superman x15

Joint

• Peeing Dog: side up/down x15, kick back x20, karate kicks x20

Strength: 3 sets 45 seconds on/15 seconds rest

1a. KB swing

1b. KB pullover

1c. plank circles x5 each direction on ball

2a. clean/squat/press x3 each side

2b. KB floor chest press

2c. wall sit

3a. pulldown

3b. crabwalk

3c. side-lying tricep extension

4a. hi pull + drop squat

4b. figure 8

4c. renegade row

Finisher (to keep the metabolism revving!): 2x500 meter row

But we definitely saw some incredible results! In just 40 days we lost 18 lbs. (Brandon-11 lbs., Jenny-7 lbs.) and over 16 inches (Brandon-6", Jenny-10.25")!!!

Not only that, we improved our hand-eye coordination and overall strength in our pre and post testing. We're going to keep going though!

Want more fitness inspiration? Here's a post from one of my favorite blogs: Rage Against the Minivan

Choosing a trajectory...

Most of us are aware that decisions we make today will impact the people we are tomorrow. But so often the busyness or business of life gets in the way of choosing the best today.

For the past few months we've had a very full schedule. Coaching wrestling, new puppy, 2 stressful full-time jobs, 11 units of grad school... We were counting down to the end of the wrestling season and finals week.

After... we'll finally... Once... is done, we can...

Meanwhile life was happening, and we were missing important moments. That season ended and we realized the negative impact it had on our marital life, social life, physical life, and spiritual life.

Slowly, we're moving to a place of better balance with some important lessons learned. Our prayer is to keep growing and moving forward and to become the couple, the individuals who God intends us to be. We pray for discipline and guidance as we consider possible changes...

More later...