construction.

so...

what do you think so far?

i know i'm loving it!!! :)

i will go into more details about it after things get settled in...

things are still a little under construction - pardon me while it's in process.

month of september.

oh me oh my! i am SO excited for september.

not only is it one of my favorite months because fall is starting to kick in. the leaves are starting to change [and we have some beautiful trees here with gorgeous colors in the fall!!], warm apple cider starts coming out, i get to bring out the fall clothes, cooler temps [i love comfy sweatshirt weather].

here are the wonderful things i'm looking forward to this month.

- labor day vacation [i took yesterday off too, so i'm loving my 4 day weekend!]

- amazing awesome changes coming to the blog that i am SO excited about!

- a mini surprise vacation to celebrate our one year anniversary!

- our one year anniversary [that is photo of our entire party. what a wonderful day it was!]

- a week recap of our love story leading up to our one year on the blog!!

- celebrate mr. b's cousin's marriage to one of mr. b's college friend/roommate at their reception

- going on a road trip with these two friends and baby t to visit another wonderful friend and go to the country living fair

- some guest posts for some wonderful blog friends

- taking engagement photos for one of my besties [but not the official ones.. i'm not that good :)]

- going to a bridal show with miss riss and help with more wedding plans for her!

- taking one year photos of mr. b and me!!!

- another bestie is coming to stay the night with me and we're going to have a girls night!! woohoo! [sorry..gotta kick mr. b out ;)]

busy month huh? but it's going to be so fun!!! a lot of this falls on weekends.. so we will be so busy on the weekends, some of it falls during the week. we have a huge fair in the town i work in that is thrown into all this as well, which will make things even more crazy busy. but i'm so excited! can't wait to share all our fun adventures with you all too.

stay tuned for a fun-filled month!

[cru.] and interior design.

i apologize for no MENU monday. recipe yesterday. i've been so busy with life that i forgot to take photos of some new recipes i've recently made.. guess i'll have to make them again ;)

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[this is a long post.. i apologzie]

[cru.] is a campus ministry that i was highly involved in during college. it's also where i met mr. b!

there is so many wonderful things about that ministry. it was amazing to be able to find a community of people who have the same heart and passion for Jesus.

this ministry seriously changed me and who i am today. i was praying and searching for a Christian ministry to find and get involved with since i was a baby believer when i arrived on the big ol' college campus of 20,000 individuals.

before i moved into my dorm room i met a girl online that i knew was going to be living on the same floor as me. over the summer we built a friendship that led into a deeper friendship when we moved onto campus.

i still remember those days of living on the first floor of stinson. [this freshman dorm was my only option as i opted out of the college meal plans and avoided the freshman fifteen.] sometimes i wish i could go back to those good ol' days of walking 30 minutes to class - except in the winter, that was horrible - the campus was beautiful in the fall. i made the hike to my interior design building each day and seriously loved my classes [for the most part]. in the evenings, i would walk back and hang out with lots of other freshman students. most of them probably don't remember their first year of college as much as i do...

i was teased hard core my freshman year because i was one of the very few that didn't drink or party. i did too much in high school - and when i met Jesus, that was one of the first things i threw out of my lifestyle. there were times when excessive drinking stepped back in.. but nothing like high school. [this was the other way i also kept off the freshman 15..]

i didn't mind being teased. i knew i was different and it was an opportunity to share why i didn't party like the rest of the college campus. eventually those friendships fizzled and it was too hard not having 'equally yoked' community.

so i started praying for community.

this is when the Lord brought [cru.] into my life.

it was no coincidence either, i was in the lobby of my dorm surfing the internet and i overheard a group of girls talking about Jesus and purity. [two things i am still oh so passionate about].

it instantly caught my attention so i walked over and introduced myself.

from there on it was such an amazing season of growth for me and my walk with Jesus.

i wouldn't trade it for anything.

while studying interior design and being so highly involved with this ministry, i didn't have a whole lot of extra time. i was finding myself pulling all nighters to get my studio projects finished and putting together a bible study for the next day. i was slowly losing interest and stretched way too thin.

the director of my program pulled me aside one day and mentioned that he could see i was starting to slip.

it was that day i was hurt by the director of that program when he told me my junior year that i would need to choose.. either my faith and involvement with the [cru.] movement or my career. and it would be impossible for me to be accepted into the program doing both. [man.. sometimes i wish i would have proved him wrong.. but again, at this time my entire heart wasn't in it]

this was a no brainer for me. it still isn't, even though i really miss interior design classes.

i still have my drafting table and supplies and like to sketch stuff up just for fun. i even saved all my books too.

my faith is much more important to me. being obedient to Christ is much more important to me.

i am so thankful the Lord opened my eyes to the idea of women's ministry. i ended up transferring schools and earning my degree in biblical/theology studies. i know there are so many women out there who i would love to sit down with over a cup of coffee and hear their story and what the Lord is teaching them. i have such a strong passion for this. i am so eager to do this someday and walk along side of women of various ages.

but this calling doesn't remove my longing for interior design. the Lord spoke to me and said 'ministry is your priority, interior design is your hobby.' and i still believe that is true. but i really miss it.. just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes because i loved it and i was so close to a degree and didn't finish. sometimes i've thought about going back.. but i don't want or need more debt.

i am very right brained. my job is.. like.. as left brained as you can get. so i feel trapped. i don't like feeling trapped. i think that's why i'm longing to do something creative. i work 9-10 hour days and sit behind a desk the. entire. time. then i get home and i'm so mentally exhausted that i don't even feel like going down to my craft room to make something. this hurts my heart.

but the Lord is at work in me. i know he is.. and for that reason i still have hope knowing one day, i will enter into women's ministry. and i know i will have the opportunity to use those right brained gifts and talents i've been blessed with. even if that means i never earn my degree in design or take the ncidq.

God has just recently opened up some doors for me and i am SO excited to share them with you.. but i have to wait just a llllliiiiitttllleee longer before sharing and celebrating!

ps.. if you just finished reading this entire post.. you are amazing and i SO appreciate your reading :)

treasures.

good afternoon, friends!

can you believe it's already the last day in july? so crazy! yesterday we celebrated my little [big] brother's birthday - but i will share more of that tomorrow because today, i want to show off my treasures from this weekend!

as i mentioned last week, i went to an antique fair at the end of june and found my gorgeous farmhouse dining room table. i also found some amazing antique [matching] french doors that i will soon get photos of and show you what i did with them :)

well this past weekend my momma and i went again! look at the wonderful things i found!!!

here is my wonderful momma and me! we have so much fun together! :) i love her dearly! she is such a strong and kind hearted woman and i pray that i am as strong and kind hearted as she is one day. i have also never met someone as selfless as her. boy oh boy she rocks my world! i tear up just thinking of the woman she is for all she's gone through, all she's done for others and who she is today. love her!

and here are my.. what i like to call treasures.

to my husband - it's junk.

until i give it a makeover. then he thinks it awesome and wants me to sell it and make money.

two letters for him. n-o. they are my treasures.

the only problem.. we need a bigger house.. i'm running out of room!

this is my chicken something basket. i don't remember what she called it.. but it was used for chickens. maybe their eggs? well now it's used for my potatoes and onions :) those can be by each other right?

these are my new iron plates i got! they have little leg things on the bottom to hold them above the surface. i want to hang them up in my laundry/ironing room with a fun saying above!

this is my new chest! i snagged her for $30! mr. b really likes this! it's army green with the wood and it's pretty tall! it's in rough condition, but with a little and i mean little tlc, she'll be a beaut! i like the 'damaged' look so i wont do too much to it, but the top does have a little damage that i need to give some attention to. after this i will turn it into our coffee table! we currently have one as our coffee table, but it's my mommas - and she would like it back at some point.

and last but surely not least.. my favorite pieces of the day!!!..................

so, i have been looking for a drafting table to revamp - and i saw several ones and i almost.. and i mean almost bought one that someone was asking $175 for. i wasn't willing to pay that much - i was going to start working him down cause that's what i'm good at ;) but i told my mom no and decided to keep looking at other options. literally.. and i mean literally [just like the almost] the next booth had this desk! i saw it, pulled my mom over and we started looking at it. ohhh it's got some work to be done, but i could envision it already and wanted the price. my mom found the price. it was $99.. i debated on this thing for like.. 20 minutes. no joke. we talked to the girl and i showed her how it works [there is a knob missing on this side - i'm going to my art supply store to see if i can get a new one] i knew more than her.. she was amazed. i also know how expensive they are up front. i almost bought one back in the day when i was in school for it. anyways.. i kept talking and then finally asked the big question: 'what is the lowest you would go on it..?' their response almost every time: 'what do i have on it...?' well we talked, and i got him to knock it down to $80. i took it! what a steal!

i was so excited!

 i called mr. b up and had him come down with his truck and when he saw it... oh boy his face was priceless.

this is how the conversation went...

first comment 'you got another table...?'

second comment 'what is this for?'

third comment 'do you need this?'

i told him i got this awesome vision for it and for the whole room.

he looked at me with shocked eyes when i shared and said '.....alright.....'

well - as soon as we got home we ran to menards and picked up some supplies and i went at it. i can't wait to show you all how it's turning out! and mr. b is now shocked and thinks it's awesome - yeaaaaa, that's what i thought!

well to make things better - i found this chair at the NEXT booth and needed to have it!

needless to say.. i love my treasures and am so excited to find homes for each piece!

[and show you the final product of course!]

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one last thing.. then i'll shut up. satruday.. i worked. i got a text message from a friend of mine [who lives in another state far, far away] and she said 'what are you doing this weekend?' i told her what i was up to.. she said 'well what if we hung out this afternoon?' this got me excited, but knowing she's in another state.. did i mention far, far away? i assumed she meant skype - cause that's what we do. i told her i got excited thinking about seeing her in person... then she laughed at me and asked what time worked best. i told her we could skype at 1pm. 1pm rolled around and i was on the sofa on skype waiting for her to get on.. about 10 minutes later i hear a car pull into the driveway. i knew it wasn't mr. b [he was out mountain biking and he is usually gone for a long time ;)] well.. it was this lovely lady!!!!

what an amazing surprise!! we spent the afternoon chatting it up and i loved every minute of it! can't wait to see her again soon! :)

have a terrific tuesday!



artwork.

so as some of you know i went to school for interior design.. i didn't end up with my degree in that.. i was like between 1/2-1 year away from finishing. sometimes i think i'm crazy for not finishing. i still think the change i made at that time was the right thing for me. none the less.. my passion for interior design is still there. if you want to know more about me you can look back at [this] post.

i have always said if some day i can design and decorate my own home, that would be worth all the schooling and debt the program brought me into. [it's an expensive program... let me tell you!]. the house mr. b and i are in right now is definitely not our final home.. this morning was a pain trying to get ready when we only have 1 bathroom and too many people. but it's been fun trying to make things our own in this home.

you can see [here] where i updated the bathroom and i promise the walls are not that bright. one of the photos just about blinded me.. it's bright.. but definitely not like the photos.

i even attempted to create a [craft room] out of a scary basement area.. that is STILL a work in progress - like most of my crafts are.. who am i kidding.. that's my life - a constate work in progess!

our home is very very very small.. it's a perfect beginner home though.. [this] is the big change i made to the dining area and then i added [this] farm table just a couple weeks ago!

if you look at one thing that i haven't done yet.. [other than in one spot in the bathroom] there is no art work! i have nothing on the walls in our home! it's horrible. i am so scared to hang things up.. why? becuase i change my mind often. i like to keep things fresh and move stuff around. i know i will be so much happier with the home if i just hang things up.

so recently i made a bold move.. you know what groupon is right? well i found a groupon for canvas photos of all different sizes. the biggest size [24"x36"] was the biggest bang for my buck. have i ever mentioned that i am dutch? i like saving as much as possible. and i thought i would make a bold statement with them.

well - i waited until the VERY last minute to place my order and the pictures i really really wanted were either too big of a file for they didn't crop right. so i was nervous. found some wedding photos that would fit and placed the order. i was seriously so nervous how they would turn out.. i've been waiting for over a week and they arrived last night!! friends, i couldn't be MORE happy with how they turned out! seriously!!!!

here they are before i hung them up.. and here is after!

and they are SUCH great quality too!!!! i should take a photo of our entire living room with them so you can see how great they look and how they just make this room pop! :) i was so excited i called my mom and made her come over with her friends to check them out!! :)

i posted these photos on instagram and facebook last night and have gotten lots of questions about them so here is the deets:

- i found them through groupon

- the company is called picture it on canvas

- i have seen this deal a total of 3 times [the first time i missed the deadline and was so upset, but then i saw it again and made sure to purchase them :). and then it was there again just recently actually..]

- you can only get one per person - another great bonus from being married ;) now i can use 2 people for every time there's an offer out there.

if you have any other questions you can comment or email me at onefourthreeblog[at]gmail[dot]com!

hope you all have a wonderful saturday :)

- jennifer.