Deck the Halls...?

I'm looking online for decorating ideas. 

Here are some things (several of them clearance) that I've been thinking about:

Actually, I'd just like lamps. We have one right now and it's great. One on the bookshelves (or a side table if we get one) and one next to our bed would be super. 

[from Bed, Bath and Beyond]

I have a similar lamp at my parent's. I love it, and I'd love to find a way to get it over here. Probably not gonna happen though. 

[World Market]

Nothing special... but I'd love to have a wall with black and whites of places we've been - scenery and that kind of thing. Probably various sizes of black frames for that. 

[Bed Bath and Beyond]

While I'm not a coffee lover (tea drinker), I absolutely LOVE this. With a black frame. Love the stenciled look and design of it. Would be easy to make?

[on Etsy]

I think I love this. I'd have to see it in person. I do like the colors. Both Carson and I like warm color tones.

[via World Market]

[World Market]

Okay, maybe not quite this distressed. I do like the trend of signs all over the house though. 

I'd probably attempt to make something similar.

[World Market]

Furniture... well we're still sitting on the floor to eat dinner, which doesn't bug us.

 We've been searching Craigslist for couches and are hoping to score something soon. 

Then we'll be searching for a pal with truck. 

Thankful

Things that I am thankful for this week:

Spring Break. No school till next Wednesday! (I only have class Wednesday-Friday anyway)

A sunshine-y Sunday. We spent the afternoon on the lawn wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts. All of Spokane was dressed for summer. The funny thing? It was 59 degrees. Ah, Washington!

Cups of tea on rainy days. With the exception of Sunday, the weather has been copying Seattle's. So I'm thankful for cozy mornings and afternoons.

Long drives. Carson and I drove to Couer d'Alene for dinner one night last week just because. We had yummy pizza and found a tiny mall that we walked around, laughing and talking. And you probably already knew that I like to talk on long drives....

Great friends. On Saturday evening I joined several friends for a girly movie night and chocolate pie. On Monday, the same lovely ladies and I braved the rain to search for formal dresses. We didn't have much luck with that but the company was great (and I found a dress for graduation).

Impending Graduation. School only has eight weeks left. I graduate in 58 days! And then five days after that, I go on my internship! I'm looking forward to the summer.

The Bus Stop.

And there it is... through the window screen.

Outside our window is a bus stop.

When we moved into this apartment, I thought of it as a normal bus stop. I could not have been more mistaken.

Now I'm not sure why, but this seems to be the place to hang out, catch up (loudly) with friends, break up (loudly) with significant others [a note on this: WHY would you end your relationship there? I feel so bad for these people], have an argument (loudly) about something and (loudly) try to hit on someone.

In other words, it is loud. But what else is it?

It is a source of entertainment: One night, we were drifting into a peaceful sleep when we heard the following conversation, shared by two unsuspecting teenage boys:
*whirr of skateboards*
"Hey, dude"
"Yeah?"
"have you ever wondered what would happen if a big, fat (here, we started to worry about the next words to come out of his mouth) NUCLEAR BOMB were headed straight for that street sign?"
"Woah dude"
There's no way it sounds as funny reading it as it did to us that night. Neither of us knew the other was listening until we cracked up. We laughed for a good 15 minutes, repeating it and discussing the absurdity of a nuclear bomb actually heading for the street sign... eh, you probably still don't find it funny. Oh well. We'll repeat it to one another randomly just for a laugh... you should have heard the way it was said.

It keeps us up on pop culture: One night last summer, I was finishing a paper at 2am and heard a rather intoxicated gentleman singing Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" at the top of his lungs.

We get to learn fun new words: I won't elaborate on this, except to say that I had no idea there were so many vocabulary options in a heated argument.

It's a bit scary. Not really frightening, but it is weird when you hear a loud disagreement and look out to find that there's just one guy out there, talking to himself in different voices.

This bus stop is one facet of the place we live that definitely makes it unique. I'm not sure that I'll look back and think about it with fond memories, but it has brought some interest to our days (and nights, come to think of it).

Straight No Chaser

I never posted about what I got for my birthday, and that's mostly because I didn't take pictures of my gifts. I got a lot of fun things: some clothes, a notebook, kitchen things, funny owl washcloths the only owl things I got, so maybe that whole themed thing is dying out). 

But Carson got me something else that I really loved... tickets! 

A few years ago, I watched this widely spread video on YouTube (watch it all the way through) and from there watched more. Really found myself enjoying this a capella group, Straight No Chaser.

So Carson read in the Inlander that they were coming to Spokane and purchased tickets a couple of months ago. We went on March 18th (Scott's birthday!). 

The concert was at the Bing Crosby Theater. I'd never been there before but it's beautiful inside. He got us seats in the balcony because he thought we'd be able to see better up there (I'm really short). We ended up sitting in the very last row, but that was just fine. Our view was still great, as the theater isn't huge (744 seats according to the website). The acoustics were great and the performance was terrific! We both loved it. It was well done and very entertaining. 

Here's a few videos I took:

A Green Dinner

This isn't the most exciting post in the world, but I wanted to give an update on what we actually did on St. Patrick's Day. 

During the day Carson worked (he wore green of course) and I stayed home and did homework (this is midterms week and there's a LOT due). Later that afternoon, we went over to a friend's house for a surprise engagement party. The info isn't quite up on Facebook so I won't say who, but two friends got engaged on Saturday and we had a little celebration in their honor. 

When we got home, we had this green meal:

This was the only green drink we could think of... and Mountain Dew itself is yellow. Somehow I didn't know that... the bottle is at least green.

Along with that, we had baked potatoes (because potatoes are Irish). This was the first time I've ever made them. The potatoes were HUGE and we totally could have shared just one. We each ate half. 

We had green salads also. Regular-colored dressing.

For dessert (we ate this the next day because we were that stuffed), we had green jello. I used the "quick set" method with ice cubes from the back of the box, which is why there are those funny indents. 

We topped those with whipped cream and green sugar sprinkles. 

And that was our St. Patrick's Day dinner! It was fun to plan a themed dinner, so I am now scheming of other holiday meals. If you're wondering, Carson isn't as excited about this as I am, but you expected that, didn't you? He appreciates the efforts and laughs at me for getting into things like this. And I don't actually take it very seriously either; it's just fun to make obscure little holidays special. 

Spring Fever

Facebook is a terrible thing. I keep seeing pictures of beach days, swimsuits, tan people and statuses that say things like "Wow, summer is here already!"

And why is this terrible? I've included a picture to illustrate. This was today's forecast on Wunderground: 

Now do you understand? Call me wimp, but I'm from the South... this is terrible weather!

I love Washington in the summer and in the fall, but those are the two shortest seasons! Yesterday was the first day of spring, but this rainy, overcast, 90% chance of snow weather is just not very springlike. 

I don't remember what spring fever is supposed to indicate, but I'm using it to mean that I really really want the warm weather to come to Spokane and stay! We've only got a few more months here; we'd like to look back on this place with fond memories! 

Comments on the warmth of the temperature wherever you live are unacceptable. I don't want to know.

 (disclaimer: though I really do want the warm weather to come and for the sun to shine, I'm not actually angry about it; bitter at those who rub their awesome sunshine in my face? yes. :) )

Grad School

Decisions, decisions -- that's the story of the past few weeks.

There are several big things in our life right now. The biggest one that consumes a great deal of our thinking is grad school. Carson applied to fifteen schools for the fall. FIFTEEN.

In the past week, we've been receiving responses. For the sake of keeping you updated, here are the schools that have said "Yes!":
Trinity Western University (Langley, BC, Canada)
George Fox Divinity School (Portland, OR)
Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL)
Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI)
St. Louis University (St. Louis, MO)
Candler Divinity School (the Divinity School of Emory University: Decatur, GA)
Duke (Durham, NC)

And the no:
University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)
Brandeis University (Boston, MA)
Catholic University of America (Washington DC)
Notre Dame (South Bend, IN)

And there are a couple of others that we don't know about yet but they're not really important ones.

The number one choice was Notre Dame. Carson could tell you all about why. He was so passionate about that school and the program they had. He was super excited about the possibility of going there and as he got acceptances from other good schools, he was encouraged and thought that maybe he'd get in. Chances were slim (almost 200 applicants and only 10 get in) but if God wanted him there, then he'd get in.
It's on the "No" list so you know what happened there. He found out the day before my birthday. It was the very last school to contact him.

The list of schools we'll actually go to is smaller than the list of acceptances. We can't really afford just any school, so if an assistantship position was not offered or a stipend was not given, the schools won't really be considered. We're waiting to find out which schools want to offer money right now.

But one of the reasons I'm sharing this is because so much of the family and friends we'd like to keep informed is forever away. So this is for you.

And by the way, we're excited for the possibility of being closer to the east coast. Every place we get accepted I look at the driving distance between that place and Beaufort. 16 hour drive? Woohoo! 11 hours? Yes! 5 hours? Please! So I guess this is also teaching us perspective :)

Please pray about these schools with us.
Pray that if we should take out a loan to go to a certain school, that it would be clear.
Pray for our finances (moving this summer, finding a place, rent in a new city, renting a moving truck)
Pray for logistics (moving, housing, etc)
Pray for peace and continued trust in the Lord (Philippians 4:6-7)
Pray that if we're supposed to take a totally different path, that it would also be abundantly clear.

Thank you dear friends for coming on this journey with us. It's been so neat to see God working through this application process. I know so many were praying and fasting with us each week in light of this school thing. So neat to see the body of Christ work in that way even though it's all over the country/world. Keep us in your prayers!

Scott's Birthday

 Today, my little brother is seventeen. 

This seems ridiculous to me, because I definitely remember when he looked like this: 

And now he looks more like this: 

(except this picture was taken in December 2010 so he looks even older!)

With my sister and Mom last summer:

Scott, we love you and can't wait to see you (in MAY!)

Hope your 17th birthday is spectacular! Cannot believe that you are so incredibly old now!

Miss you! Happy Birthday!!!

Green.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

In honor of this holiday, our apartment has become covered with shamrocks. They're on mirrors, windows, lamps... I cut them out of various sheets of green cardstock I had sitting around and let me tell you - that is NOT an easy shape to freehand. 

And the other thing we did to "celebrate" this holiday is to buy a Shamrock Shake at McDonald's.

 Yum! 

Green nails ("Mint" from Forever 21)

Lucky Charms... purchased especially for this holiday

Maybe this green headband I got for Valentine's Day (it's pretty ruffly so I don't know)

And of course wearing green. No pinches for us! :)

I'll be thinking of other ways to incorporate green into our day today. I think I have some green jello in the cabinet and I'm pretty sure green salad would make a lovely green dinner :)

flower power

I pinned this pillow recently. I liked the cluster of flowers against the linen background. 

It seemed so springy and happy and pretty and I wanted to make it. 

But I didn't have any linen and since we're hoping to move soon, spending money on linen isn't in the budget. 

Bummer. 

And then I remembered the disaster pillow from six months ago

(click here for a reminder)

So I went digging for it (it was with linens that aren't being used... we don't have a linen closet so I keep them in a bag under the bed... whatever works, right?) and pulled it out. 

Not the biggest fan of the fabric all by itself because I prefer more of a pattern but I wasn't being too picky. 

So I pulled it out and started sewing flowers on. 

The flowers were really easy to make. They'd be a fun thing to do during a movie (which is what I did) because they're simple and keep your hands busy. That's when I do most projects... otherwise I'd sit in front of a movie and eat or read a magazine article or paint my nails. I don't like to watch a movie and do nothing at all.

 For most of them I cut three concentric circles and held the edges near a candle flame to burn them and made them curl (too close and yes, they catch on fire). Then I just sewed them onto the pillow. 

The other flowers (the ones that look more like roses) are a bit more difficult to get the hang of, but they're quicker to make (no burning or cutting!). I did find a tutorial online, just by googling, but the process is similar to this, just with ribbon or a thin strip of fabric instead of paper.

So, yeah. That's all. Just wanted to share how I turned my own crummy project into something a little more beautiful :) 

A Family Wedding

As you know by now, we attended Savannah and Jordan's wedding this past Saturday. It was a full weekend, very busy with lots of last-minute things to do, but I think that makes a wedding more fun. The busyness adds to it, somehow. 

Now for pictures.

On Friday night, Carson and I attended the rehearsal dinner. Carson was the officiant for the wedding, so we attended not so much as family but as wedding party. Everyone wore name tags. Ours said "Pastor" and "Wife of Pastor Carson" respectively. They made us laugh because everyone just assumed that he was the pastor of a church. 

This is Savannah, the lovely bride, and me. This was on my birthday... don't I look so much older? ;)

On Saturday, I headed up to Seattle bright and early with Carson's aunt and uncle (the parents of the bride) to help set up for the wedding. I didn't set up one thing, but I did take pictures of the getting ready process...  the bridal party getting ready, chairs and lights being put in exactly the right spot, the rehearsal (the wedding was an hour north of where everyone lives so they did a day-of rehearsal)...

This was the venue: The EM Fine Arts Gallery. It was small but really perfect. An elegant and modern setting for their evening wedding. 

The gorgeous dress

The gorgeous bride

The cake! I walked past the kitchen and someone was just piping away in there... I'm not sure if they were a professional or not, but doesn't it look amazing? The rose petals are sugar.

Last-minute adjustments...

Pretty sure Carson should just buy his very own tux and wear it all the time... don't you agree?

Carson with his aunt Shannon (mother of the bride). Her dress looked very "Jane Austen"

A terrible picture of Savannah's bridal party... loved the mismatched dresses...various shades of gray, with silver shoes.

Jordan and Matthew, the ring bearer

Just before she became a Mrs!

As said before, Carson officiated the wedding. I'd heard his message earlier in the week, but it was even better hearing it during the ceremony. He presented the gospel clearly and it was a very God-honoring ceremony.

Signing the marriage license...

The Bay family at the reception... minus Erin and the girls

First dance

The wedding didn't start till 7:30pm so we left well before the bride and groom to make the hour drive back to Olympia. I know they left with sparklers and I'm sure it was gorgeous. The food was tasty, the cake equally so, and the dancing was fun to watch. We enjoyed the wedding and hope that they are enjoying their first week as husband and wife!