A sigh of relief and Praise to God

I have to go back a ways to explain this one.

For a few months now Nathan's job was getting harder and harder for him. Long hours, stressful homeowners, and crazy circumstances.  We felt that God was closing that door, which is kind of a scary feeling when you've just bought a house.  

It seemed to just get worse from there. However scared I was to begin with, I think both of us were just hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel.  Well the light did come and the door to that job officially closed a couple weeks ago. Honestly, it was a relief.  It was such a relief  in fact, that I barely had much time to worry about what was next. 

So, Nathan started sending out resumes and we continued to pray.  He got two interviews and two job offers.  :)  Nathan officially got his offer letter today, he'll start his new job in a couple of weeks. 

Its crazy how what seems like bad news can really be some of the best news.  It's an amazing reminder that God will provide and that He knows what is best.   Nathan has had some much needed time to catch up on stuff here at home and relax, I've gotten a little break from laundry, grocery shopping, and dishes, and I've gotten my real, stress free, Nathan back. :)

For those of you who knew little or nothing, we purposely kept things quiet, I'm sorry if you wish you would have known. To those of you who knew, thank you so much for your prayers. 

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. ~Isaiah 40:30-31

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

In Christ
~Michelle

what I came home to

:)
That is Tristan putting the final touches on our new table! 

side view

long ways

Long story short- I wanted a new table. Tristan likes to build awesome things. :)
It's pretty. I'm really impressed since he had to go off of descriptions, pinterest pictures, and ideas Nathan and I texted to him.  Tristan has a facebook page here if you are interested in seeing more of his work. :) 

I can now say farewell to the very outdated formica table that I got back in college. 

It served it's purpose, but I will not be sad to see it go. 

I also came home to a package with this in it:

 

Eee :) 

Ok, so Andrew Peterson has an amazing book series called the Wingfeather Saga.  They are great  kid and adult friendly books full of adventure and humor.  This is the fourth book which won World Magazine's book of the year award.  I've read the first three and I'm super excited to finally be able to read the end. 

Happy day. :)

In Christ

~Michelle

Projects

We had another Saturday without any plans.  So, Nathan and I began working on projects around the house.

Labor day weekend, we bought a bed on sale for the guest room.  We discovered that Queen size barely fits upstairs.  I had to spackle where the bed took a gouge out of the ceiling. It also tore the piece of trim off that was covering the edge of the drywall.  We finally put the trim back up and painted over the spackle. You can barely tell now.

the spackle on and drying. 

Our guest room, ready for guests :)

We finally put up blinds on the main floor. We did a trial run on Friday night and then finished on Saturday. 

No more fabric covered windows! :) Now I just need curtains of some kind. 

I can let light in!

I also decided that our door needed painting. It was really scuffed up and dirty.  But, it was also kind of boring. 

Primer coat. It already looked so much better. 

Eek :) here it is, my lovely blue door. I love it. Just saying. 

The other day I got a big box in the mail. It was a lilac bush! :) Jenny sent it to me.  I sincerely hope it gets huge and blooms a ton, because I am super excited.  I planted it Saturday as well, so we shall see. 

I love having plans and I love Saturdays with plans, but working full time has made me truly appreciate Saturdays with nothing going on.  I get so much done. 

In Christ
~Michelle

Cousins' cookout

Saturday, Nathan and I had the cousins over for a cookout. 
It was a fun evening.  I strung up lights over our patio, because I thought it would look cool. Nathan said he thought it looked too redneck.  When it got dark out, I think it looked very pretty. :)
We cooked hot-dogs over the fire and ate on the patio.  Later we roasted s'mores and sat around the fire.  When it got too cold and dark, we went inside and watched Jake's pictures from Alaska. 

lights :)

It was a great night :) One of the very few things I enjoy about fall is campfires and s'mores. :)

In Christ
~Michelle

Katy & Jake

Saturday was yet another busy day for me.  I spent the morning at Kendra's baby shower and the afternoon and evening at Katy and Jake's wedding. :)

Katy is a friend of mine from long, long ago in middle school with a bunch of wonderful girls. :)  I'll spare you any photos of way back when, but here is one from about 3 years ago:

Emily, Haley, Katy, Joy, Katie, and me. :)

It's crazy how much time has flown since then!  Four of us are married now, one of which, Katie, wasn't able to make it to the wedding because she just had an adorable baby boy. :) (Congratulations to Reilly and Katie!)

As I always say, or at least I feel like I always say: The wedding was lovely, the bride looked beautiful. :)

*I snagged most of the photos from random people off of facebook, because 1. I still feel weird taking pictures in church, and 2. I don't like carrying a hot pink camera around when I don't have pockets to hide it in. 

The ceremony. The bridal party all looked very nice. :)

The ridiculously stunning bride and groom exiting the wedding. 

Mr. and Mrs. 

At the reception Nathan and I sat with some of my old high school friends. These are friends I literally had not seen since graduation five years ago. However different we were then and still are now, we had a great time together. :)  Some friendships can just click again after so many years and you can feel perfectly comfortable with them. 

The reception was lovely (I enjoy using that word in relation to weddings because most weddings are quite lovely :) and I like weddings).  

After the traditional dances, Katy disappeared and returned in her "celebration dress".  She looked beautiful, of course, and (in the prettiest way) kind of like a human disco-ball, all glittery and bright. :) 

Friends! :)

After, a long evening of eating, people watching, dancing (just kidding) and catching up with old classmates, we decided to call it a night at 9:30, and headed home. :) 

Someone did ask me why I wasn't out on the dance floor. I told them I prefer to be the one watching than one of the ones being watched.  I will admit there were those who where good at what they were doing, but there were some who were, quite frankly, just plain amusing. :)

I had a wonderful time and am so glad for my friends and how we've somehow stuck together all these years. :)

Congratulations Katy and Jake!!! :)

In Christ

~Michelle

Labor Day

I love three day weekends.  :) 

The Labor Day activities were as follows. 
Friday night, Nathan and I weeded the landscaping. It was pretty bad, and doesn't look much better now because in some places, there aren't really any plants left. 

Saturday, We headed over to Roanoke for the reunion. It was a lot of fun. They kept asking me if I was overwhelmed. No, I'm used to five different conversations at once, crying babies, lots of kids, and tons of people packed into small rooms. :) I still don't know all of their names, but I'm getting there.  

Sunday was church, day two of the reunion, and stargazing for Nathan and I. :) We loaded up the truck bed with blankets and sleeping bags and went out to the farm for about an hour.  Mom and Dad invited us in for milkshakes then, and I can't say no to milkshakes. :)

Monday, We did more yard work.  Yes, I followed my fathers tradition of actually laboring on Labor Day. As kids it was always yard work day around the farm. Because, we were told that was what Labor Day was for, right? I don't think any of us fell for it, though. 
So, now the outside of our house looks a little more presentable. :)

Going back to work on Tuesday was difficult, and confusing (because I can never remember what day it is anyway). But, it will be nice to only have a four day week. :)

In Christ
~Michelle