Crashing California

Super quick update!! we head up to Canada on Wednesday for Amanda's Wedding and lots of family visiting, and I dont' have to go back to JC till Sept. 4th after this coming Tuesday! (woot!!) To be quite truthful, I've been feeling particularly burnt out this last week. Among quite a bit of family things going on, Break Forth is in full swing, and as much as I love working for them, it's also very demanding and can take a lot out of me .... So, not only have I felt emotionally tapped and stressed, but work is NOT helping, lol -- but, this morning I awoke, was outside having coffee and breakfast with Jay and this amazing Monarch Butterfly landed RIGHT in the tree on our fence ... of course, you know me, I ran and grabbed my camera and had an impromptu photo session with this little creature, and somehow, I felt recharged. It's like God knows exactly what to do to refresh my spirit, and it can be in the simplest ways =) Here is my favorite capture from this morning....

My view @ lunch So, it's been one whole month since our move. I am transitioning from being a beach-loving hippie to (surprisingly) being a garden growing hippie =) It's been interesting because tho moving away was hard, what we have now is SO wonderful, So much ours. We are continuing to make a house a home, and there are still things that we will work on, I think it's ongoing (as everyone keeps telling us).  We are truly blessed and everyday I am reminded that God gave this wee home to us. I am slowly transforming our back patio into the garden of my dreams (for now) ... I am allowing myself to splurge a bit, on a "papasan" chair (a big round and EVER comfortable place to sit, sip or read).  My first rose bush. A Fuchsia tree. A Tuscan fountain. yes ... it may be a bit overkill, but it's where i can go to chill out now ... and afterall, even Jesus retreated into the garden to pray ... so I'm trying to make it my sanctuary, seems that I need one o...

The walls are bare, the floors empty, just us and the mattress, the couch, piano and table are left in our little home here on Ocean Street. Today was a MASS moving day (more than I thought) with Jay taking a pretty full brunt of it (and a sunburn to show for it) ~ we had soooo many boxes and stuff, but all got transferred over to the house today and I spent the next couple hours trying to get my kitchen in somewhat of a state before coming home ... which now I guess isn't really home, it's just walls and a bed, a change of clothes hanging in the closet. I'm going for my last "intimate" beach run tomorrow a.m. ... I say "intimate" since, we will obviously still be living within distance to the beach, tho it be driving. It will be the last time i can walk the sidewalk (carefully) with bare feet, to the ocean sand and run to Tamarack and back. In fact, if we do drive to the beach to run, it may be from Tamarack to THIS beach ... or maybe somewhere total...

Well, the world does not stop! Aside from being busy beyond belief right now, I am trying desperately to slow, put God first and rest in who He is. A quick house update -- I took the last two days off work to SAND like a mad woman — the door frames, base boards and chair boards of our home—while both Jay and I did more cleaning, puttying and preparing of our home than I ever thought humanly possible! I can say we have intimate knowledge now of our little home =)  Everytime I run my hands over our walls, I know they have been given to me, they're mine for now =) It's a pretty cool feeling. We decided to bring some painters in, instead of doing it ourselves, I think this will save time and our sanity, lol ... but all kidding aside, Jay and I make a pretty good team ;)  I've got some fun stuff to post and ofcourse more pictures. But on another note, and the point of this blog. Our sermon this week at church was about listening to God, and whether He really does speak to us...

Here is a wee snapshot of some of the work that we've been doing on the home.   Everyday after work we've been going to the house ... going over walls, getting rid of bumps and drips and trying to smooth as best we can the paint that is there. Brian, Jay's Contractor bud has shown up too, "skimming" the walls ... I think we are going to re-surface tomorrow and friday (if need be) which means this weekend could be priming and monday/Tues, COULD be painting (!!). I'm a bit scared to paint, I think only because I'm a bit freaked I would screw it up, lol.  I'm sure it will be fine. Seems like the rest of life needs to be on hold for now, even though that's certainly NOT the case.  Freelance work for me is still screaming along, I'm actually really busy with a couple big projects, so trying my best to stay on top of that because I know that this home and moving and everything else that it entails is HUGE ... So, thankfully JC work is pretty ...

So, I came to the house after work today w/ some eats (jay's request) and found that he and our contractor friend had begun some light resurfacing work on the walls of our little home. Needless to say, it def. looks like we're doing some work here now -- honestly, it's beginning to have a tinge of "freak out" for me ... I didn't anticipate doing a bunch of work that feels over my head ... and I def. dont' want to get INTO anything that's over our heads ... but we're not there yet ... tomorrow, they are goin to re-texture the walls and then I guess it's paint time ... at least that's something I feel like I can do :P. Till Next Blog! love, a.

So, here is a first look at our little home, keep in mind it's pretty in disaray, as the next couple weeks we'll be painting the blue out of the whole house ;)  bringing it back to warmth and life!  Anyways, I kind of wanted to keep record of what things look like =) Enjoy! love, a.