Spare 'Oom: Part 1

Here it is!
Photographic evidence that the Spare 'Oom did, indeed, get itself painted. =]

Brilliance has Just Occurred

{this picture has nothing to do with jolly-well anything ... I simply found it amusing how accidentally perfect this shot turned out! ;}

Preliminary Messiness =P

I highly advise working with fellow-enthusiastic siblings. +)

The First Stroke 
(er, Roll?)

Strokings, early on . . .

Ah, you can see the lovely change from the discolored-white, to the Gray-gloaming. <3 

I dearly enjoy projects with these two!

Tedious, quite . . .

{by the bye, we had exceedingly perfect weathers for such goings-on!}

Windows - check!

Before

After <3

Beauty painting Beautifully
{this is truth}

Her well-spring of patience was put to good use going over the trim in it's entirety! ;)

The very color clears my thinking.
And to think of the way God provided it, no charge, was an incalculable blessing! 

I was enormously grateful for Friend-Support. =]
Thanks awfully, Sa'ah and Schelle. <3

teehee
Discovering Nephew-Things under the bed!
It's a good thing he came up to claim them, because, we captured him . . .
I hope he leaves more belongings, so we can hold him hostage again! ;) 

So, the morning before painting commenced, I was feeling slightly overwhelmed about turning the house upside-down and inside-out for an entire week, not knowing precisely how long the pro-cess would last, having irrational second-thoughts about the color that was chosen, and blee-blee-blah-blah, etc.! ;P
Undeniably, my God always knows what I'm facing each and e.v.e.r.y day; because, that morning, when I was having my re-charging time with Jesus, He gave me this verse: I Chronicles 28:20

"And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed; for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD."

And when I looked up some of the words in the Greek {which is a favorite past-time of mine =}, it blessed my heart out!

fail; to be slack, be remiss, be idle; let fall, let drop; to withdraw; to let alone, abandon, desert, leave off, quit.
finished; to be completed, finished accomplished, ready; to be at an end. It is the total task, working until the job is done. It is an all-or-nothing sort of word.

Annnnnnd the primary reason for re-doing the old SO, is because that's where our guests stay, and we want to encourage and refresh those who will be staying there - "the service of the house of the LORD."!

God was reassuring and strengthening my spirit. Telling me that He wasn't going to be remiss or let the project drop until the task, in it's totality, was completed, for the service of His house!!

Is that a hug or what! <3
He delights to build my faith in everything - no matter what the size.

Trust - confidently expect - Him to do above and beyond!!

Pip-pip,
Phia

Post Scriptum
We are now in the phase of decoration . . . jolliness, positively! +) 

A Time for Everything

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven . . ."

Ecclesiastes 3:1 

Having established that, September is the season {in the Sophia-Calendar ;} for re-painting, re-decorating, re-doing, re-organizing, and just plain old re-ing! =)

If you've been with my blog for the past year, you may recall this post.

[and it's conclusion.]

I learned so much through experiencing that project - the majority of it was fun! - a percentage of it was not what I would label as 'fun', per se; however, it could be categorized as stretching. 

And while, at the time, stretching experiences are not always my cup o' rosie, I do come to greatly value them.

Because, it's through those times - the ones that make you uncomfortable, and throw you into 'cold water' - that you acquire growth. 

"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

I Thessalonians 5:18

Thusly, by God's grace, I am thankful for that stretching time!

Right ho, moving on . . .
{sorry. I have a habit of following little white rabbits down their bunny-trails =}

'Operation: Re-do Spare 'Oom' has officially commenced!
The entire lower level (with parts of the kitchen) is in an absolute state of topsy-turvey-ness . . .
Such are the joys that come with 're-doing'. =]
But it's aw-wight, because the arrangement is entirely temporary, and [more hopefully than not] there will be less of everything by the time this mission is completed. ;)

Pictures and details to follow!
Oh, and remind me to share with you, the special rhema that I found for this project. =)

Pip-pip,
Phia

Developments in the Gel's Room and Smiling Feet =)

We're not quite finished; but, since you've been most patient, here are some pictures of what we do have ...

~Finishing Touches~

~Not Immensely Inviting ... Yet~

Naturally, repainting a room inspires one to just sort of redo the entire thing (at least, that's what it inspires me to do ;)! So, I have been playing around with spray paint - oolala! and what fun I have been having.

The newly rearranged room now has space for a ... reading nook! I am elated. =D Howevah, the new prospect presented a slight dilemma - in that we had no chair to put there. =/ Not wanting to spend heaps of money (and endeavoring to put into practice what I wrote about in my 'doing' post last week ;), I thought of a chair that we had in the attic ... the hideous, ancient, green-velvet covering wasn't exactly a feast for the eyes, to be sure, but why not try my hand at re-covering (er, rather, Evy's hand, since she was coming up for the weekend any way ;)?

And underneath the 'hideous-ancient-green-velvet covering' ...

I breathed a quite literally audible sigh of relief when Evy agreed to take on my whim. =)

~The Pro-cess~

Another thrifty thing, was that the fabric came from our stash. =) Oh, and did I mention the chair was formerly my great-grandmother's? Vintage furniture = happiness!

~My New Favorite Chair!~

~In Awe Over My Sister's Amazingness~

This whole room decorating thing is too much jolly fun! =D Again, a big hug and 'thank you' to Evy, for inspiration and helping me find good deals. =)

The white baskets were 50% off at Hobby Lobby ... =D!

Ah, a part of organizing and cleaning - reliving memories. <3

~My Nevy - sorry ... couldn't resist putting up more pictures of him ;)~

{pom-pom hat from the very talented Polly }

The Little Man getting all dressed up for his baby-shower

(which I was incredibly disappointed that I was unable to attend ='( - )

~One of the amazing gifts from the shower~

(my wee camera does not portray it as beautiful as it is in real-live-ness =/-)

{by Brooke - whose very name evokes inpiration =)}

~Baby-man~

~I'm his Ahnt!~

*sigh* Sometimes it just hits me - like that 16lb. hunk of beef did the other day (that was strange) =P

~I had to stay home by myself on Sunday because of under-the-weather-ness, so I was trying to cheer myself up by: smiling and wearing my favorite Land's End scarf~

(btw I got the scarf as a gift last year, and I still do not know who it was from! So, if you're reading this, wonderful-person-who-gave-it-to-me, thank you! You really do have excellent taste, and know me quite well - green, scarf & Land's End =} - )

Because it was so deliciously Autumn outside, and I had to remain so disappointingly inside, I felt the yen to make Pumpkin Spice muffins so that I could still bask in one of the many smells of my favor-ite seasons. =)

(and maybe perhaps, because Mum requested that I make them so we could utilize some of the abundant squash produce we have enjoyed this year - Ephesians 6:2)

~This caused me oodles of smiles!~

{free shipping - immensely large plus in my book!}

I have been delightfully anticipating these super-iferous slippers for the past three weeks or so

(not that it took that long to arrive - I simply couldn't make up my mind as to which colors I wished ;), and now I have them ... on my smiling feet. =D

~Can't you see the Smiles?!~

And so that my very-loved-GAP slippers

(from my big brother <3)

would not feel excluded, here are their lovingly-worn, smiling soles as well. ;)

As I type this, with my trusty cup of tea beside me; sitting on my new favorite chair; in my new favorite nook; wearing my new L.L.Bean slipper-ers; using my faithful laptop - Edmond; I gratefully ponder the undeserved-goodness so lovingly bestowed upon me by the Good and Perfect Gift-Giver; yet, because He, ultimately, is the Good and Perfect, His Grace enables me to see a cup of mud, an old ugly chair in an inconvenient house, made of cardboard, with no laptop (or any other electrical device) as a Good and Perfect Gift. Why? Because He is good; not only in the peace and plenty, but also in trials and famines. To be sure, the 'trials and famines' of my life could not hold a wick next to the numerous sufferings which others have endured and are yet experiencing; however, the anguish of spirit they have caused; nights of beseeching Him to remove the suffering, and the times when I felt like the tears would never cease ... He is and has been teaching me, ever so lovingly, how to call Him good all the time - all the time, He is good. A verse of comfort that a dear friend reminded me of this week:

"For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

~Psalm 30:5

So let God hit you like a 16lb. hunk of beef - sometimes that's what it takes for those of us made of the more stub---, er, determined stuff - and remember to thank Him for it. <3

Ta-ta,

Phia

Opportunity & Dreams Realized

I love starting my week off with a visit from him =)

...

{making new fashion statements}

{birthday picnic! hah I'm still working on improving my self-portrait skills =P sometimes it takes ten pictures (or more) to find one where someones head is not cut off ... ah, the joys}

It has been my express wish, this past Summer, to repaint the gel's room! For those of you who are familiar with the DISC personality test, I am a rather high SI (C is balanced, and D is ... basically not on the chart =P) So, this causes me dilemmas sometimes; because, I get all of these inspirations and dreams of fun amazing things to do! Alas, my poor microscopic D is unable to perform. =( Howev-ah! This week I was resolved. I told myself that I must do this week.

{excellent book on doing}

And thus we began ...

{definitely before}

Again, being a high SI, I love being around people and such; however, stepping out of my comfort zone is, regrettably, not my cup of tea. =( Yet, God in His mercy, has seen fit to place me in many situations where I had/have the opportunity to do that. Something that is stepping outside of my comfort zone is doing things spontaneously ... such as serving at an event with one day to spare. =) My initial thought was, "schoo, okay...it's kind of spur of the moment, but why not!" And I am immensely glad that I did do it. =)

{such a lovely time to work with friends, meet new people, and learn things}

{the grounds were g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s.}

{some of the team}

I will be sure to keep you updated with the room pro-gress. =D

{even while painting she's cute!}

{somewhat after; but, not quite there}

Don't give Procrastination and Indecision the time of day ...

do something!

Ta-ta,

Phia