sproost quiz

i don't know about everyone else, but sometimes it is fun to take a little style quiz. it takes me back to those days when friends and i used to read those ridiculous quizzes from seventeen magazine out loud to each other (i.e. what does your purse say about you, what's your perfect prom style, etc, etc.). anyways, try this one out at sproost.

here's what i got for results:

Your specific style combines three more general styles:

33% Hollywood Couture

33% Modern Elegance

34% Rustic Revival

[images from sproost.com]

anyone else?

notes from the brown couch

good morning! it's been a while. i'll jump right in.

ben and i spent this past week with his family visiting lovely sanibel island, florida. we couldn't have asked for better weather—it was sunny and in the seventies almost every day!


family, food, and good reading. what a great way to spend a trip! i'd like to recommend one book in particular: notes from the tilt-a-whirl: wide-eyed wonder in God's spoken world by n. d. wilson. my brother gave it to my husband for Christmas. ben was sitting directly in front of me on the plane, and when he finished it, he just handed it straight back to me. i opened it up right away. before too long, i had laughed out loud (likely startling the passengers on either side of me) and shed a few tears (although that isn't saying much for me).

it is unlike any book i've ever read. it's the author's thoughts—at first they seem random, but after one read, i can see how calculated he was. i'm sure i'll understanding more after another time through it. wilson focuses on God's creation as His Word...He spoke, He is still speaking. he discusses art, philosophy, ants, good vs. evil, fuzzy kittens, raging seas, and hell. it weaves the Gospel throughout and ends with our final conversation with the One who spoke us into being. [side note: looks like n. d. wilson also writes children's fiction. he's incredibly pleasant to read.]

that's it for now! ben and i are planning to purge our bedroom closet today. then church and a love-cars show. yippee!

light reading

i love to read about the decorating process, and another part of me is semi-obsessed with new york city real estate. a coworker showed me this article earlier this week, and it amazed me. books like this, which show how real people (adults, not just college students) make it work in tiny spaces. with families, too! how do they live with so little stuff? do they keep storage units? i'm guessing no. they just live with less.

this and this were so much fun to read, too. everyone loves a cinderella story.

hit the highlights

i'm gonna hit the highlights of what has been going on over the past two months.

*pocket doors are installed, as well as closet doors.
*all trim around windows and doors is installed. in some places, i still have to putty the nail holes and give it one more coat of paint, but it is pretty much there.
*the crown was installed above our kitchen cabinets.
*the living room is usable! putting in the carpet was huge. the only thing that is missing (construction-wise) is the mantel. it is coming tomorrow, and we are having it sprayed in a white lacquer. then installed, and done!

here are some mini before and afters.

front door (from the inside):

(from the upstairs hallway...all the glass made for an extreme lack of privacy. can you see the wallpaper?)

(the wallpaper and trim are down. but you can see that the previous owners loved spray foam insulation!)

(during, on painting day. we installed a new door and painted the walls.)

(after! new door, new paint, new trim, new hardware.)

stair railing:

(the railing before was a scratched and rusted wrought iron. missing doors in the background.)

(ben stained the newel. looks like he's preparing for a chess game with giant pieces.)

(after!)

trim:

(we lived with these ragged edges for quite a few weeks.)

(after! now our trim is installed. such a difference!)(a door to the basement. no more gaping hole.)

(crown above the cabinets.)

the half bath:

(fear not, houseguests: the bathroom now has a door.)

that was a lot of photo uploading. i'll save the fireplace and living room photos for later in the week.

back again!

i took an unintentional two-month break from blogging! to be honest, i kind of just forgot about it. i've been encouraged by the people who have urged me to update. it makes me happy that people are reading this.

friends have been asking us if we're done with the house yet. the short answer is both yes and no. we're done with a phase of it, but i realize we'll never be "done" entirely. it is a work in progress, and even when we have the home furnished and decorated, i'm sure i'll want to keep playing around with things. but that is the fun part of being a homeowner! for now, we are going to enjoy the holidays and pick back up with our master bedroom in february.

so in honor of being "done" with this first phase, ben and i went and spent a weekend at a hotel in minneapolis. our room was beautiful - on the top floor, corner room, with two walls of windows looking over the city! i got plenty of decorating inspiration, especially for our upcoming master bath remodel. it was an incredibly restful weekend, and a blessing to spend such quality time with my husband.





we went to the james j. hill house on saturday, which was super fun.


in other news, today was our church's women's Christmas brunch. kristen and i decorated and hosted a table. i'm glad she remembered to snap some photos, because i completely forgot.






my mom, sister, and i have gone to this brunch for many years...it is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. more family and friends come each year, and it was a joy to celebrate the birth of our Savior with these precious women.

i'll try to remember to be back tomorrow with a few snapshots from the house. until the future!