#thriftscorethursday

Just a quick "thank you" to everyone who has emailed me and sent their prayers in response to my last post.  Today, oddly & unexpectedly, just happens to be a really great day for me.... so I wanted to post something here!

I want to send you over to my friend Megan's blog to witness the start of #thriftscorethursday.  Megan & I met in music school and now she runs this really awesome blog called Rental Revival.  She's a DIY-er and thrifter (which basically means that she's awesome) and it's been really fun to watch all of her projects and home decorating!

I decided to participate by posting my own "thrift score"....

It's an old road sign (a "median" sign, I suppose) that I bought in Columbus, OH almost 6 years ago. It was the summer of 2008 and I was killing some time the day after my good friends Katelyn & Rob got married.  I ended up finding this perfect specimen of an art piece.  It's been hanging over our bed for the past 5 years (it hung in my bedroom at my parents house for a year before getting married).  Since Christopher & I  just moved to a new house a few weeks ago, it's currently looking for a new place to hang.  In the meantime, it's quite stunning sitting against the exposed brick.

If you're a fellow thrifter or have some awesome thrift scores, join the #thriftscorethursday hashtag party by posting your own pictures every Thursday!  Let it be known to the world that this is the first time EVER that I've used a hashtag.  Seriously.  Only thrifting and home decorating can bring me out of my hashtag shell.

Asking for prayer.

I'm not the most active blogger.  I don't even know how many people follow my blog on a regular basis, especially with the sparse and irregular posts.  Sometimes weeks pass between one post and the next and occasionally months.  Perhaps there's a small handful of you out there?

Regardless, if you do follow this blog, could I ask for your prayer (if you're a person who prays)?

A few days ago, I started a new blog to begin documenting the "health issues" which I've been going through for the past few years.  I just simply need an outlet to vent about the journey that I've been on.  In the past, I've mentioned a little bit about my problems on this very blog right here but I haven't gone into too much detail about it and certainly haven't "journaled" about it here.  The reason being: I like posting "pretty things" here.  I didn't want to turn this "pretty" blog into something different.

So, on the good days, perhaps I'll continue to post here when I can (and perhaps, it will become my one & only blog again someday once I'm healed).

If you care to follow my "other" journey (which I'll probably be updating very regularly), you can do so here: http://itchyskinjourney.blogspot.com

But, really, no pressure to follow.  It's not the most pleasant of topics.  In all honesty, I probably wouldn't follow it (at least regularly) if I didn't have reason to.  But, at the very least, could you say a quick prayer for me right now, wherever you are?  Could you pray that I make it through this with my faith intact?  That maybe, just maybe, my healing can come sooner rather than later?

I hate to sound so dramatic, but after two years of dealing with this, I just have to tell things how they are.

Thanks so much, everyone.

Love,
Stace

New Year, New Home!

What a whirlwind this holiday season has been for us.  

After going home for Thanksgiving, we came back home to Philly and threw up our Christmas decorations all over the apartment.  It gave our home the feeling of warmth and vibrancy for the coming holidays.  Although we'd be spending the days surrounding Christmas in Pittsburgh, our home felt so cozy during the month of December.

A few days after immersing ourselves into the Christmas spirit, we just happened across a listing for a house-for-rent.  So we decided to have a look (we've been looking at apartments/houses for well over a year now).  We went to view the house without too much hope (our experiences during this time were making us feel like we would probably never be able to move out of our one-bedroom apartment).

Well.  Turns out we LOVED the house.  And.... it was within our price range (!).  AND.... only 3 blocks away from our current apartment!  (IN OUR BEAUTIFUL NEIGHBORHOOD!)

Thankfully, we were one of the first people to view the house... so we jumped on filling out the required applications and everything just.... worked out!  Once we were approved (AHHHH! AFTER ALL THIS TIME, WE'RE MOVING?!  WHAT?!), that meant that we had to take care of things on our end, such as finding someone to take over the lease on our one-bedroom. 

It was quite an undertaking for us, but somehow we've made it through!  We packed up, we advertised/showed our apartment, FOUND A NEW TENANT, wrote up a contract for new tenants to sublease from us, and so on.... and so on.....  

We officially moved into our new house just a few days ago!  It's BEAUTIFUL (beyond my wildest expectations).  And IT'S HUGE compared to our old place.

I just can't even wrap my head around how everything has fallen into place surrounding this whole process.  It's hard to believe that we actually live here now!  I am so thankful! 

Here's a few random pictures of the move-in process.  My Mom & Dad helped me paint the entire first floor before we even started moving our stuff in (a 13-hour process all in one day!!!).  Christopher's brother Jeremy helped with moving all of our furniture, as did Kelly's hubby David (they were amazing!).  Kelly (who just gave birth 3 weeks ago) helped with unpacking the kitchen.  Christopher's folks helped us by paying for the piano movers.  Such an amazing amount of help and love from our family and friends!

Love my silly Momma!

Randomly placed furniture....

Not-quite-3-year-old Lydia decorated the fridge with our magnets (notice how low on the fridge they are).  I love it.  They're still exactly where she put them.  :)

The piano *just fits* where we wanted it?!

Encountering a few small issues (like the box spring not fitting up the stairwell and the legs of the blue cabinet won't quite fit over the vents).... but these things can be resolved!

I can't wait to post more updates on the house as we get settled.

What a whirlwind.

Such a major blessing.