A New Little Adventure...

It's hard to believe that in just two short days I will be returning to work. It feels like the start of Christmas break is far away, but it also feels like it's just slipped away right before my eyes. Very "oxymoronic". We have been traveling for the past week, spending 17 hours in the car between all of the places we've visited. We are gearing up again tomorrow to head back to NC for New Year's Eve with our friends. This will be a "quick trip" as we are only staying one night, but sadly we'll also be spending 7 more hours in our car. Good thing we like our car. Overall, we have enjoyed our vacation. It has been good to see family and friends and to be able to catch up. We spent half of the week in Lynchburg and the other half all over North Carolina. Husband got NC State bowl game tickets for Christmas so we were in Charlotte, NC for a night, it was really fun and really cold! Santa was good to us all, as usual. I got a lot of fun things including a new Schwinn bike!

family on Christmas Eve

new bike!

at the bowl game

There is a little new piece of news in the Moorefield world. We are moving. Not far away or anything, just to the next town over. We'll still be with the same Young Life area and I'll still be at my school. Just now, Kenneth will not have to commute to work and I will. Bummer. We are moving to a house that has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, dining room, finished attic, basement, and a kitchen. Right now, however, this house it not quite like I want it. There is a lot of cleaning to be done and we are going to paint practically every room. So, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Today my mom and little brother came down and we all went over and started to work on the place. I will admit that when I got in there and started cleaning I began to feel very overwhelmed. I still do, really. There is just a lot more cleaning than I had expected...mostly because I've never moved into a place this "big" before. It was really helpful to have my mom and brother there today to get things started. Mom and I tackled mostly the kitchen and bathroom while husband and my brother hung lights and replaced blinds. We still have a lot more to do if we hope to be in by mid January. We've set a budget and with that I'll be buying things to help spruce up the place. So, look for more updates as we continue in this little adventure. I hope to post some helpful, budget-friendly ways to help "make your space". You can also follow me on Pinterest where I'll be posting a lot of ideas!

With all that said, I am still super sad to leave this apartment. I have grown quite attached to this place and to the people we live next to. I am having a hard time "letting go" as you will. The Lord is growing me during this time, though. I'm learning to find peace in Him and trust in His plan for our lives. We know that for many reasons it will be good to move and helpful for us and our ministry. I just know that I am really going to miss this place. It is my first "place of my own" after moving out of my parent's home, the place we came home to after getting married, and it is filled with so many memories. I know we'll make new memories and that this next place will be a part of the, probably, many places that fit into our story. Currently, I am trying to live by this motto: "it's not about where you live, it's about where you love."

So, for now, I will leave you with some sneak preview of some design items I'll be using. I love the fabric I found. I looked around a few places and I'm glad I got exactly what I wanted! Enjoy.

dining room curtain fabric

office curtain fabric

paint colors

Pasta e Fagioli & Christmas in our home

So, I've been able to try some new recipes this month.  In all, they have each been pretty decent, but my favorite has been Pasta e Fagioli, a recipe I found on thenest.com. I have to admit, as I was making this I thought that it was most definitely not going to turn out well. It looked colorless and seemed it would be fairly tasteless. However, I was determined to see it through to the finish and after the first bite I was glad I did. It was so tasty! The flavors worked together really well and it made for a perfect winter's night dinner. Here is the recipe (with some revisions).

You will need: 1 tsp dried thyme (or 4 sprigs of fresh), 1 tsp dried rosemary (or 1 large fresh sprig), 1 bay leaf, 1 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp unsalted butter, 1 medium onion chopped, 3 oz bacon chopped, 2 garlic cloves minced, 5 3/4 cup chicken broth, 1-2 cans red kidney beans rinsed and drained (depends on how much you like beans), 3/4 cup elbow macaroni, salt and pepper, and 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese.

To prepare: If you're using fresh herbs tie them in some cheesecloth. Heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, bacon, and garlic and saute until the onion is tender (around 3-5 minutes). Add the beans, broth, and herbs. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. (If using fresh herbs, discard herb sachet now) In a blender, puree 1 cup of the bean mixture until it is smooth then return it to the saucepan. Cover and return to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and boil until pasta is cooked, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

I recently joined Pinterest and since then I have found some awesome decorating ideas, including a lot for Christmas. I saved a lot of them to do for next year since it is a little late to start some projects for this Christmas. Below are some pictures of how we've decorated our house for this holiday season. A few of these ideas came from jones design company blog...a new obsession of mine!

Art Sign...from jones design

vintage jingle bells

card hanging...i used twine & clothespins

our stockings

dining table deco

red & white paper flowers...design idea from jones design

Well, that's all for now...I am so glad to be enjoying some time off. It's been nice to relax, get some errands done, and finally have some time for crafting! Be sure to be on your best behavior, Santa comes in less than a week!

 

Christmas begins!

Quick update tonight...
I LOVE Christmas and everything that goes along with it. We've had a great time just enjoying the season so far. Kenneth and I got a lot of shopping done last weekend as well as getting to cut down our tree. So fun! I've tried two new recipes this month that were both great. I plan to post them this weekend. But, for now here's some beginning of the season pictures!

Picking out our tree..

all decorated!