Gentle Rain and an Oil Lamp

It's Sunday evening and my husband and I are sitting in the tiny room of our apartment that we like to call the nook. It barely fits the table and chairs for four, but we love the two large windows and the storage closet :) It's where I set up my sewing machine and where I sometimes bring my computer to accomplish things when I get distracted in our office. Tonight a light rain falls outside the open windows and my husband has lit the oil lamp I bought him for Valentine's Day (see photo below of how I modified it). He and I need to take more moments like this to enjoy the simplicity of our little home. If only the weather would stay this cool when it rains... we do not look forward to the humid afternoon short Florida storms that leave steam rising off the streets in a matter of minutes. For now, we'll enjoy the weather as it is.

I added artificial red flowers with stems to the base, along with valentine stickers that can be read when the lamp is lifted, to give the red tint and filled with oil. The flowers in the chimney were just for show of course.

Spring break has come and gone. Even though it was only two short weeks back, after going back to teaching this past week I feel as though break was eons ago. I can't believe there are only 8 weeks left of my first year of teaching! To make the most of my break, I created a long to-do list of all I wanted to accomplish before the week was over. This included groceries, shopping for items for my classroom (this happens most constantly), finishing plans and paperwork for when I returned to school, sewing anything just to satisfy my desire to do so, reading up on blogs, packing for our brief trip to NC, among other things. I'd like to share some of my spring break efforts.

*Easter started my break. Matthew and I were invited to have an Easter lunch with a couple at our church and their family on Saturday. We really enjoyed ourselves as we played Bocci in the yard, conversed with church family, and ate yummy food. The next morning we went to church for the Easter service and headed over to the beach for some fishing. We certainly did our share of fishing... only without the fish. What we did catch was too small. We saw more wildlife that day than we had in a long while. We love going to Canaveral National Seashore because of the privacy of the beaches and untouched nature. We saw raccoons on the bank searching for clams, many many porpoises (it was unreal how many we saw that day - usually it's countless manatees), and horseshoe crabs that swam quite close to me.

Outside our apartment Easter morning. Notice our apartment number is on the ground. Guess the painters didn't feel like replacing it when they finished their job.

Taking a break from fishing to move to another location in hopes of more fish. No such luck.

*Before we left for NC, I tried my hand at sewing again. When you don't really have anyone to show you how or what to do, you spend a long time looking at photos online or reading pattern after pattern - at least I do. I thought I'd be basic and sew a simple skirt, and by simple I mean no zippers or buttons, just some handy dandy elastic. Using some fabric I had lying around, I set to work and the skirt turned out alright. It's a bit big, but I wore it to school this past Monday. I began working on another one and need to finish the hem and waist. The Wal-mart closest to us hasn't remodeled yet like the others meaning fabric is still there! For a little over $5 and some time, I can have myself a new skirt. I don't wear shorts much when it's warm, so skirts and sundresses are my favorites. Having more skirts for school is always a bonus! Here's a photo of the navy skirt I finished, the almost finished skirt, and then some fabric I haven't yet touched. I'll have to think of something crafty to do with the scraps.

I hope to be able to whip these skirts up in an hour or less one day. I do love the idea of making my own skirts for $5.

*I have also been working on a crocheted fabric rug. I was browsing Wal-mart's fabric section over the break and came across these rolls of fabric called Stripz. I had always wanted to buy some, but couldn't decide if spending the $20 would be worth it. To my surprise, they were marked down to just $9! There happened to be a print I fell in love with so I snatched it up and headed home. I had a vision of this pretty crocheted rug in my future laundry room. Right now our "laundry room" is more like a closet so the rug won't work in there. I began working on the project and love it. I sewed the strips end to end and used two rolls. I believe I'm going to go back and crochet some rounds of darker green fabric to finish it off. I bought 3 rolls, and am saving the last roll of my stripz for some sort of matching curtain? when we have a laundry room. Maybe I'm thinking too far ahead, but what wife wouldn't want something pretty to look at while doing the chore of laundry?

I finished my second roll of fabric and am now on the hunt for a darker green to finish it off. Such a simple project!

*In North Carolina we had a relaxing time. Sadly, my youngest sister and mom were away on a trip to Europe with my sister's school. Ok, sad for us, but definitely not sad for them! We really missed seeing them though. We did enjoy visiting my other sister at UNC Chapel Hill for a day and hanging out with my dad around the house. Matthew and I visited my grandma and cousins in Virginia, and played in the tall wildflowers at my papa's house. We were sure to stop by Missy's Grill, the local hotdog place, to get our fill of the delicious hotdogs. The 10 hour drive was worth it as always, and we look forward to the day we are there for good!

Outside of Missy's Grill. Hotdogs with ketchup and slaw... yum, yum.

With the sis at UNC. Can't wait to see her more!

Wildflowers a.k.a. weeds. I tell my husband that I've always wanted to wear a white sundress with a straw hat, and have my photo taken in a field of all sorts of wildflowers. This is the closest I've come, lol.

That about sums up my break. It's dark out now and my mind is slowly switching into school mode as I think about what I need to gather for tomorrow. We've planted lima bean plants this week and our caterpillars arrived as well! Much excitement in the classroom as always :)

Happy Resurrection Day!

"Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? He isn't here! He has risen from the dead! Don't you remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again the third day?"
Luke 24:5-7


What an incredible story! Matthew and I began this morning by having our Sunday School class read of the resurrection in the book of Luke. Today's focus was on the gift of salvation, and the lesson related salvation to a "parachute" - meaning, when we make the jump from this life to the next, we can have a parachute of salvation, guaranteeing a safe landing into eternity. We can choose to wear this parachute, appreciate it, and understand its purpose - or we can grab a parachute because we believe it will enhance enjoyment in our life. If we choose a parachute for the latter reason, it won't be long before we shrug it off at the first sign of problems, difficulty, or pain. When we have an understanding of our parachute (salvation), we push through trials and tribulation because we know the parachute on our backs serves an eternal purpose, one that gives us a hope and peace. We had the class brainstorm reasons why people don't want to accept a parachute and also the benefits to having one. A student brought up a good point when she said, "I would want others on my plane ride to have a parachute too. I would tell them about it!" Her statement made me smile because that is exactly what Jesus told the disciples to do after the resurrection, when he ascended up into Heaven. He told them to go and spread the news with all nations, so they may have life. We can't just sit back with our parachutes and ride in neutral - we must share as we were commanded to do. Our Sun. School class had a lot of good things to share today. We ended with prayer and another youth prayed something that is so very true: "Let us remember the significance of Easter every day, not just today..."


Our church service was nice as we all joined in singing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," wearing our pretty Easter Sunday clothes :) It's certainly been a day of joy and thanksgiving. Matthew and I took some photos down by the lake after the service. We plan on sending them out to family as a Spring Greetings postcard later this week. This is what we decided on:




We ate a wonderful, filling meal at Cracker Barrel and then headed home for a relaxing afternoon. We decorated the four eggs I had boiled earlier in the week with tissue paper (it seemed like a good idea in the magazine, but I was reminded that they are professionals...) Our eggs are cute, we just have to remember to throw them out before we leave to visit my family in NC on Wednesday or else our apartment will not be pleasant when we return! After decorating, Matthew had me hunt for my Easter basket. It took me about 20 minutes or so and it was filled with delicious Godiva chocolate and some jelly beans! He made the "basket" himself out of neat scrapbook paper. It's something he wanted me to be able to reuse, and I certainly will. It's quite creative.


After hanging out here, we left and headed to Wal Mart to have our Spring Greeting picture printed out. We then got some ice cream from Marble Slab. I came inside just a little bit ago from sitting down by the pool with my sweet husband. We were eating our ice cream, playing some card games, and just enjoying each other's company. I'll be off to bed soon, wondering whether or not I'll get called to sub tomorrow. Hopefully one day soon this little stress will be gone because I will have a class to call my own :) One day...

Happy Easter!