blueberries and blessings: all things in abundance

Most of you know that I'm a nanny. I don't know how many of you know what Matthew does. When we began our marriage, {and many years before} he was in landscaping. Unfortunately, landscaping is a seasonal job and in the winter he had to pick up two part time jobs just to keep us in the black. We decided this was our last winter of landscaping especially with that company {the situation hadn't been what was originally promised to us}.

 Then, out of the blue, {in God's perfect timing} someone who I knew years ago called and said that God had laid Matt on his heart. He offered him a job at Fish Window Cleaning. Matthew started a little over a month ago, and he has already been told he's up for a raise. People rave and rave about how he's the best they've ever had and for the first time since we've been married, a job appreciates his meticulous work ethic. Blessing.

The paychecks have been amazing, but we're trying to save as much as we can. So, I got online and found a virtual assistant job {sending daily text messages and reminders + doing things that can be done online from a different state}. It's brought in a little extra cash flow. Blessing.

Recently, one of my best friends has been working on a farm. It's not only her job, but her new found passion. Also, it's blueberry season. So when Kirshtin informed us that she needed help picking in the evenings, Matthew and I both took it as an answer to prayer. We get off work, eat dinner together and then head out to pick blueberries until the sun sets. It's cash in the bank. Blessing.

Miraculously, {yes, I do believe that extra jobs are miracles} the farmer offered Matt a legit job in the evenings. Now, I'm a nanny/personal assistant/blueberry picker and Matthew is a window washer/farm hand. Any day now we'll have enough money saved to buy that home in Virginia. God has been so faithful to us.

dresser love

When we got married, all of our furniture was either hand-me-down or curb pick up. Literally, every piece. That doesn't bother us. We're totally cool with taking in orphans around here.

But, only some of our hand-me-down furniture fit our style. Some of our starter stuff has great lines and gets to stay, but the dressers were too ornate for our taste {not to mention huge and heavy}. They served their purpose for over a year, but yesterday while Matthew and I were walking through a local thrift store, I fell in love.

Like a running, jumping up and down like a fool, and gasping for air kind of love.

With the new dresser as the foundation, I got busy. I adore the new look. It's like a giant leap toward "You can finally see our style in here!"

Rhino: From Haiti {Gift}

Tray: Thrifted {Gift}

Cork Board: Saved from the curb and recovered with a $0.10 pillowcase

Mirror: Yard Sale $3

Dresser: Thrifted $60

Jewelry Bowl: Target Clearance $1.50

Dresser, thanks for being all my dreams come true. And for having fabulous legs. Really. Thanks.

estate sale #2

I experienced my first estate sale... here. Maps, pillows, gravy boats, material, and (in the end) a fabulous mirror. Our second estate sale was finishing up when we arrived at the scene of the goodness, but we dug through the remaining treasures.

Vintage sunglasses for $0.50 a piece?

Check.

Our first actual Thermos brand thermos. $1

Check. It's a little girly which I totally dig. :) Lately I've been gravitating toward pink...

source

source

Matthew wasn't quite ready to paint the front door pink, so instead we brought home a chick thermos. That's a completely fair compromise. :)

origami bows

are not easy to make.

thrifty thursday: wooden stove

Dude, my kids are gonna have biceps. Not just from all the pancake flipping they'll be doing on their new stove, but from lugging it around. Yes, it's portable and it weighs a solid ton. I exaggerate.

I had promised myself that I would stop looking at kid's toys in thrift stores. We aren't even pregnant... So what did Goodwill start doing? Putting the best toys right next to the counter, so that seeing them isn't optional. But.

• It's Melissa & Doug {favorite kid's brand}.
• It's gender neutral.
• It's wooden {hence the wieght}.
• It has a magnetic clasp to keep it from falling open {everything is more legit with a magnetic clasp}.
• It has a handle.
• The knobs turn.
• The sugar bowl is adorable.
• There's major storage under the stove {from the side} for all the wooden pots and pans we will eventually have.
• It was $7. Almost too much, but not quite. Just perfect.

Hey good looking, whatcha got cookin? :) Actually, there's Cranberry Pumpkin Bread in the oven, and I'm about to whip up some Chicken Quesadillas. I rock at this whole making food thing, and now our kiddos will too. :)

just checkin the mail

So, I'm driving down the road, on my way to work, when I notice that some people get way more interesting mail than me. I'm not talking about mail that's actually addressed to you, or coupons for things you might think about purchasing... even more interesting than that.

Someone please mail me a cat.

ragdoll

I made my first rag doll.

I kidd. Just kidding. I'm a kidder.

She's actually my childhood forever love that I snatched up when I was at my parent's. I love her minimalistic print and big blue eyes. Plus, I'm pretty sure she knows how to milk a cow, which is amazing; but obviously she milked that cow inside a barn, since it's obvious her skin has never seen the light of day. She's a complex farm girl.

Did you notice she's got the whole horizontal pleat thing covered? It makes my heart rat-a-tat-tat. She's my inspiration for all things rag doll-ish. Maybe and hopefully enough inspiration to actually complete one of my own.

experiences

The more I blog {is blog an acceptable verb?} and the more I read other people's blogs, the more I realize that what I like to read is what people are thinking and experiencing. Sure, I'm on the DIY train, but tell me who you are, not how well you can redo something that has been done before. Tell me what makes you tick. Tell me that you danced in the rain last night.

That being said, here's what's been going on in the Nowak's casa lately.

First off, we traveled home to Virginia Beach for my brother Andrew's graduation from high school. He's the cutie on the right. The oldest four are me and my three siblings and two youngest cuties are our only cousins on my mom's side. We're a kind of attractive group of humans.

We got to see both of our church families... which involved all sorts of good times, including someone jokingly saying something about me being pregnant, and someone else over hearing and not understanding it was a joke... yeah. I love awkward moments like that. 

One of my favorite parts of the entire trip was driving through Virginia Beach with my windows down. Cold nostalgia chilled my fingertips as I admired the consistency of that which is my hometown. Nothing ever seems to change. 

I also got to see my childhood pet, and life long standard setter of how amazing cats are, Misty. Please let my next cat be this fluffy.

While we were home, we grabbed our cake topper {that had been in my parent's freezer chillin for over a year} and drove it home. We sliced up its lemony goodness upon our arrival in Knoxville. Let me just say, "Delish."

Another recent happening here is a new little hobby we've picked up. And I'm pretty good {from 30 paces back, straight on, with no wind}.

However, when it's over my biceps feel plum tuckered out. Which is why I often lay on the ground afterwards, looking a little like Snow White.

Haha, Matthew can be my Huntsman any day. :) 

thrifty thursday:brass toilet paper holder

"Enough with the brass already! Your house is going to look like an old lady threw up in it."

That was you speaking and, to be frank, it was rude. My brass hoarding is justified in that I have old lady taste and I'm not ashamed. :)

Plus, this was made in India. Minor correction to previous statement: I have world traveler old lady taste, which is (obviously) way classy. Doesn't it kinda sing "Arabian Nights" to you? I'm tempted to link it up so you can daydream about magic carpets for the rest of the post.

Also, I bought eight plates today. These are the Corelle tea cup kind...

... and these are the Thanksgiving dinner kind. Not just in color pallet, but also in "I can hold the whole turkey if you need me to" size.

I hardly ever buy pictures or prints, but I fell in love with this little nautical print. In general, I shy away from beachy/touristy things {having grown up 10 miles from the ocean}, but this one was too sweet to pass up.

I can almost picture the family who owns that boat and the children who run up and down that dock. 

Speaking of 10 miles from the ocean, I was definitely house shopping online today and I'm pretty excited about all the square footage that we will gain in that move {which is still a year away}. :)

quilting

It has been years since I've quilted. Mostly because we currently have one bedroom, one bed, and more than enough blankets to keep us roasty. But, where I used to think of quilts as a blanket that an old lady tosses over a tattered couch, lately I think of them as hand sewn goodness with a story and a purpose.

When I went home last weekend, my Grandmother gave me a box full of fabrics that a friend of hers wanted me to have. It was just the kick in the pants that I needed. I've been searching through my pin boards and here are the different ones that have caught my eye.

My problem isn't which fabrics to pair together, or how to arrange them; My problem is that I'm a fan of long triangles, right triangles, squares, and honeycomb patterns. I still haven't decided which direction we are headed with this one. As always, I'll keep ya posted. You can give input if you want. We'll probably make all them eventually.

when the moon hits your eye

Like a big homemade pizza pie, all covered in goodness.

That's Amore.

We didn't go out of our way to make this pizza, but found all this happiness was already sitting in our kitchen. Score. Matthew and I have been making meals together more often and there's something immensely fun about sharing the foot of counter space and generally more "being together".

For the record, I am a fan of all of the above.