First 'Real' Dinner in our New Home ~ Little by Little, Bit by Bit!

Our table :)

Some order is finally prevailing... many more boxes but we are making

true and real progress! 

I don't know where my icons are! I remember packing them...

we have about 5 more boxes marked fragile in our

master bedroom closet... :)

I was able to find the icons that were on the window sill

of our old place...I tried to recreated this a bit

as I did love that space!

We kept the table small (the one leaf is under the table)

and so used our almost-island counter for the food...

Thankfully there is a diner near by that has really good food

for great prices and portions that equal minimum of two meals

per meal! New Jersey, as Mr. Husband says, is a 'diner state' :).

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Well, we are tired but loving our new home.

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My parents started their trip back to Michigan today....

It was such a good visit...

Everywhere I look, I see my Dad's work...

yesterday he fixed the light switches in our bathroom...

now our second light and fan works... and he hung

towel bars in the bathrooms, a hook on the door...

he spent time researching our dishwasher,

which we think we will have to replace sadly,

but Dad saved us a bill in trying to find out if it could be fixed!

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I unpacked all our breakable dishes and glassware I think now...

we have to figure out pantry options yet for shelving,

so I can unpack all of that...

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Lots of laughter, talks and teasing Cleo went on and lots of meals

at the local diner; it was a truly blessed time and one 

I thank God for!

Now we are praying for a safe trip home for 

my parents and that they can visit us here again

in the future!

Goodbye to our first home as a married couple

Bedroom.

Office with the windowsill that Cleo loved.

My beloved kitchen window

that my flowers and icons were on.

We left the place clean and much loved

as our first home of our married life.

Woosh! ~ Towards the end of a busy two weeks

My Dad finished the top of the cupboards,

raising them up and securing the cupboard crown moulding... 

My Mother helped decide how my kitchen looks! 

It's super cute :)

I am hoping to get another arm chair somewhat 

similar to this one.

A lot of work on the library has been made

but a lot more has to be done.

Christ is ascended! Ascended in Glory!

Christ is ascended! Ascended in Glory!

Christ saving St. Peter.

I did not realize until after liturgy this morning that

the icon of the Protection of the Theotokos

is right above where we enter the church...

To the sides two scenes of Christ's life that

show the love God has for children...

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Mr. Husband and I were so glad to be at liturgy 

at our local church today!

Cleo...

Some thoughts that I wrote before

we became homeowners and are in the two weeks of busy

{preparing our new place to move in and moving in!} ~ Enjoy!

My beloved Cleo Cat...

I was writing out some cards the other day

and I looked up and there was Cleo

on the chair next to me... :)

She will also sit like this when I am sitting in the same chair...

Pretty cute, eh? 

Woosh! Moving Day....

No pictures but we are in.

The movers were first rate.

They came at 7 and we were totally moved and done by 11:40 AM.

Cleo is in the new place also of course.

She was a bit shy at first but is adjusting well to our new home.

It's good to be here; we have a great layout for our new home and it is 

a very lovely spacious place.

My Mom and I unpacked a lot of things.

Mr. Husband went back to our old place to finish up some things.

On the way he was rear-ended but thankfully at a very low speed

and you can't see any marks and he's OK.

But of course that was stressful!

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I am so glad my parents are here for a little bit longer.

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Today is the feast of Ascension and I am so glad to have 

the churches' feasts as part of the continuing rhythm of our days,

even when in the midst of huge change and upheaval. 

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Christ is Ascended! Ascended in Glory!

~the flower of humility~

Some thoughts that I wrote before

we became homeowners and are in the two weeks of busy 

{preparing our new place to move in and moving in!} ~ Enjoy!

*

Today is our moving day. Please pray for us!

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My spiritual father early on, in Ottawa, told me that humility

is directly linked to self-knowledge.  

The more one truly sees oneself, the more they will be humble.  

I can see this a little more now; how when one realizes their own weaknesses, 

really sees them, they are less likely to be bothered by other’s weaknesses, 

especially when one sees that they are the same weakness that is in ourselves. 

I certainly have a long way to go in this, 

but even the little I see now of it is a true sweetness; 

it is the opposite though of being self-absorbed; 

humility leads to prayer, humility, a monastic told me once, 

is the other side of the coin of love.  

Really knowing oneself that leads to humility will always leave to love, 

never judgement of another.  And so it is with the sweet love that

only Christ can bring gives birth 

to the beautiful flower of humility into our lives.

Woosh! ~ Week 2 Day 1 ~ crowned beauty and our library

Yesterday my Dad cut all the crown moulding

for the kitchen and installed it.

Our neighbour let use his saw and nailer.

To cut in a corner you need to cut in a 45 degree angle,

my Dad told me.

It's not easy work.

We don't know why the kitchen was left unfinished without the moulding but

it looks so much better now!

You can see in the picture above and below where

there was no moulding.

And now here is my Dad's lastest work

on making our home beautiful!

Today I think he is going to sand the new moulding and caulk

and paint where needed.

That he got the moulding up in one day impressed me! 

Now the Great Room area {kitchen, dining, living}

looks like a complete and unified whole.

Today my Dad hopes to put

sheets of a smooth plywood above the cupboards,

putting firring strips down first that will 

make it raised first;

you can't see it but the cupboards above

had no unified smooth top and where the cupboard ended

there was openings so lots of dirt and dust could fall down in them.

Now it will be ready to clean easily, not have dust and dirt

continue to accumulate and if wanted you can put things on top of the

cupboards as decoration.

(the cupboards were too low and deep set to have this possibility before).

My Dad is also working on re-staining and varnishing our

front door as it was looking quite poor and weather-worn.

*

My Mother super-cleaned our bathrooms and the office floor.

Together my parents cleaned the outside of the fridge;

my Dad did the coils, my Mom everything else,

apparently it was in dire need of cleaning!

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Mr. Husband and I packed steadily yesterday and made

great progress.

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At night we began our library while Dad finished up

the moulding.

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Here's our progress:

 All shelves are up.

 Our first chapel/library icon corner :)

Some of our best books are up on the wall next to the only window

in the room, so that no light damage will happen from the sun.

Lots to unpack yet!

I hope to do more this afternoon! 

We are thinking of getting a tall skinny shelf with a door

for the wall to the left of the window...

Can you see how this wall has an unusual corner?

This God willing will be for our prayer stand and icons,

along with the 'empty' wall to the right.

And that is yesterday's progress!

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We are really excited to be moved in tomorrow 

and continue to make our new place our beautiful home!

~gentleness nourishes mercy, mercy gives flower to beautiful fruit in our lives~

Some thoughts that I wrote before

we became homeowners and are in the two weeks of busy

{preparing our new place to move in and moving in!} ~ Enjoy!

*

Cleo has started sleeping on the dining room table, 

though she knows she is not suppose to do so.  

She is ‘acting out’ a bit because of the disorder that our current home has become, 

with so many boxes everywhere.  

I just grab her gently by the scruff of the neck 

and tell her not to do so.  

Gentleness ultimately is what will get results, 

with Cleo a Cat but also with others and even with ourselves. 

~love and prayer~

Some thoughts that I wrote before

we became homeowners and are in the two weeks of busy 

{preparing our new place to move in and moving in!} ~ Enjoy!
*

When I was newly married, I talked to a monastic about the change in my life in terms of prayer and routines.  I was used to a smaller prayer rule than my husband and was more likely to pray an Akathist to a Saint than do a longer same-everyday-prayer rule.  I was really struggling with the long written prayers that my husband was used to.  I was told to just not do as long of a written prayer rule.

I think it all has to do with love; if one does not have a love for a specific way in prayer that one is seeking to grow in…, one must not force it; better to find a way that one does love to pray and work with this; for me I am finding that if I try to read the Psalms as part of my prayer rule, this is helpful to me; the Psalter published by Holy Dormition Monastery is especially meaningful to me, as it has beginning prayers and different prayers after each Kathisma.  This means that there is some stability in prayer while still having different prayers each time.  

The point, it seems, is to pray, and to pray with love....  

Woosh ~ the weekend ~ and now the holiday Monday!

Pictures from Saturday...

~preparing the Great Room/aka living and dining area...

{we are going to need a few more arm chairs}...

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We came back after liturgy and brunch with dear friends

to a beautiful sight!

My Dad had finished the painting on Saturday night!

I love this window and this so cheery yellow!!!

Trim and new crown moulding in kitchen is next...

A cherry long hallway!

Cleo's going to love running down this...  

It looks so much better.

We really want to keep the light and brightness of this place,

so we are doing more minimal window treatments...

some pretty lace valances and really good blinds to pull down

when we need it dark :)

My Mom and Dad were still out at their church and

exploring where they used to live

when we came to see what my Dad had accomplished!

It was a lovely Sunday...

I was really tired but some really good food at a local diner

and the post liturgical nap did help a lot.

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It's been so nice to have my parents here....

My Mom is Mothering our new place by cleaning it all...

My Dad is doing his beautiful painting and has installed 

new white wood closet doors, fixed things and in general

is making our place much better.

*

Mr. Husband and I still have more to pack today 

but are hopeful to wrap it up soon!

It's so hard to leave our beautiful new home nightly to 

go back to our more chaotic in-packing-mess home

but two more sleeps and we will be in the new place,

God willing!

*

Move DV Wednesday and we have requested the same

crew for the move...

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I am so thankful for everyone's prayers!

It's an exciting but tiring time...