Adventures of the Unemployed: Staying Busy

It's been a while, right? Well, I've started diligently writing at weddingobsessions.wordpress.com. But I think some personal updates are in order!

I'm on this job hunt, and it is so hard in Clarksville. Just try this list. I'm not an RN or an engineer, and I haven't resorted to working at Sprint yet... But, I did just apply for a job at Austin Peay State that would be really great. I also submitted my resume/application to Kelly Services for a substitute position. This is just not fun, y'all. Praying that the Lord brings me to the right place.

Here are some projects I've been doing since I've had so much free time:

bought these vases at the thrift store - $3

the end result :)

(I love pumpkin candles)

same spray paint, but on a $4 lamp

$9 lamp shade from Target

because we needed a larger piece for the guest room

hammered spray paint - clearance for $6

vase $0.49

spray painted the blue frame and the birdcage candle holder from the wedding

made that headboard for $30

two 24x30 canvases hung horizontally, wrapped in fabric

made this cork wall cross using a cutout from a shoe box and hot glue.
repainted that nightstand ($15 on craigslist)

sanded the edges

2 cans of spraypaint ($12)

recovered the lamp shade ($4)

using spray adhesive ($7)

and a glue gun ($4 for a package of the sticks)

You could say that I stay busy. Now we need a desk for the guest room. I wouldn't mind re-covering the boring black office chair we have with some more of that fabric that's on the lamp! I think once I get a sewing machine from my mom and make a pillow, that will be my second move (the pillow will be my trial run/practice/can I do this? project). Look for pictures/info on that after Christmas. Austin's suggestion so far has been that I should start making and selling crafts like the ones pictured above, but I'm too shy about actually selling those things. I mean, they may not do very well and then what? I've already started working on remaking a lamp I got at Goodwill. Next I'm going to find a good deal on a lamp shade and sell it all for around $20, and maybe look to post a listing on Craigslist... along with our old TV once I clean it up :)

Anyway, Austin and I have been so, so happy now that we are in Clarksville and in a townhouse. We are going to Grace Community Church, and started attending a Small Group there too that's made of other newlywed couples such as ourselves. Now I'm going to get off this blog and start looking for more jobs on the county and city websites. Who knew it would be so rough? It is a small town, though; I guess I should've figured!

Love,
E

In Tennessee!

Aside from the bleak job outlook here, we're happy to be in Tennessee. We're glad that we've found a townhouse that suits our needs very well, but I'm pretty sad we can't get a puppy. They're not allowed in the townhouse, which is fine, since they wouldn't do well in one anyway. We do have a small front porch (just enough room for some chairs) that's absolutely adorable, and we have a large back patio that we're going to buy furniture for shortly. Perfect timing too, since a lot of places (like Target) are having big sales on outdoor furniture. A lot of Target's stuff is only online, but they still have cute stuff in the store. We have KMart here, too, and when we went in Mentor, Ohio, they had some cute sets we liked. We're waiting until after the move to look at those things.

Just to feed your imagination, here are some pictures of our townhouse:

We have one of the ones with the porch. This section actually isn't like ours, because the ones that come further out have a bay window on the bottom floor. I was a little partial to that because they have more square footage on each floor, but they didn't have one available. Ours has character anyway!

Living room

which leads to the kitchen

It's not the most updated and it doesn't open to the rest of the townhouse, but at least it's not a gallery kitchen. I hated that in our apartment in Mentor. The hotel we're in has a kitchen about half that size and no oven, but I'm thankful that we can cook and save some money!!

I've spent the day job hunting and blogging. Job hunting was not fun, because there isn't much of a market for event planners in Clarksville. I want to stay in the game though, so I started this new blog as per the recommendation of my mother (after I wrote Matt's bio for their wedding site. She loved it, I thought it was funny.. "he was touted as a chubby baby.." it gets better, too). Setting up the WordPress blog was confusing, but I chose it because you don't have to login to comment, and I hate that this website has over 1,000 views and no comments. So, maybe this will change that, but really, I hope it grows a lot. I went ahead and made two posts today, and I'm going to try to do five posts per week, at least. In case you're curious (I know you are) here's the site:

http://weddingobsessions.wordpress.com/

A lot of it so far is going to be based off of my own wedding, weddings I've been to, and my brother and Gennie's wedding, which I'm helping plan.

Aside from that, I bought foam piping, felt, ribbon and pins today so I can make a wreath. I guess I'll post later on the finished outcome. I've already cooked dinner, so when Austin comes home I'm going to reheat (improv-ed version of a southwestern black bean soup... with cream) and serve deliciousness. Until then, you can find me on the other side of the room, cutting little circles from felt. FUN!

Love you all,

Elizabeth Marie

guest room inspiration

I made this in Paint. Don't judge me.

Still working on it. I want to add a couple more patterns. Maybe a covered bench at the end of the bed? I also have a brown duvet for the guest room, I may want to exchange that for a white one. Oh the things I can think! I think I might make the headboard square (I don't have a jigsaw to change the shape) and use a print fabric for that too, like this:

It would tie in the blue and tan and bring in this green color that I love!

Anyway... what do you think? I think this little project will keep me busy for a while. Not to mention that these paintings are going in this room, too.

Anyway.. we move in 3 days! (We think we're leaving Thursday afternoon, and we might tow my car behind the rented HHR to save the car the wear & tear. We'll see. We're going to a coffee shop to figure out all the lovely details and make phone calls!)

Love,

Elizabeth Marie

friendships

So, my heart has really been reevaluating my "friendships" lately. I mean, there are just some things that people post on Facebook, specifically, that I don't want to see. I changed my Twitter and deleted some people from Facebook already, but I don't know if this is silly or not. There are some people I keep on my Facebook friends (or kept) because I felt that maybe I was the only "light" they have. I fall short a lot (see the last two blogs for starters) so I don't know that they see it. And, I think in some cases, they post things I don't want to condone or have any part of - including seeing pictures of it. Thus lies the issue. To keep or not to keep? It's been on my heart, but am I being a prude or do we just not have anything in common? Would I talk to them if I saw them in a supermarket? "What would Jesus do?"

Paul drew a distinct line, and told us not to be apart of the world. Don't dabble in it, don't mess with it. It's a line we blur a lot as Americans (or maybe humans), and I admit I am guilty of that one. What does it mean in this instance?

For starters, the Gospel is a game-changer. It makes people mad, it makes people uncomfortable, and it makes people want to push back against it. Why? Because the heart of the Gospel surrounds the realness of Jesus Christ, and a lot of people - especially in Paul's day - didn't like that. To have Jesus proclaimed as their Messiah but not come wielding a sword to save them from the Romans and create a dominant Jewish nation was nothing short of disappointing to the Jews, so many didn't believe. Put into the perspective of all of creation, however, and it makes total sense. God sent His Son to reconcile a broken humanity to Himself, because nothing else could make the atonement for the real heartbreaking, heavy reality of our sin. And He acted as a servant - as a role model for Christians (ouch!) and He gave his life for both His glory and to reconcile His children to Himself.

He then conquered death! What caused death in the garden? Sin! So sin is conquered through the resurrection of Christ (why we celebrate Easter- NOT a bunny that drops eggs of candy). The battle is won for those who believe. And reading some of this, some people don't want to commit fully to this Gospel. Why? Because it means we can't dabble in this world. It means there's something greater than partying it up and "living the life," and other things that separate us from God's love. The reality is that we were created in the image of God, meant to worship Him alone, and that all other things we worship (or try to) will not satisfy us. Yeah, we were created for the purpose of worshiping, so in every moment of our lives, we are worshiping something!

That's just the start. I could keep going. My question, after all these things, is whether God would have me to continue to be friends with some people I met a long time ago that aren't good influences, even virtually. Am I flirting with the world by maintaining these friendships?

That's what's on my heart, and that's what I'm hoping God and I will be figuring out this week. Feel free to pray with me!

Striving to surrender each and every day,

Elizabeth Marie

receiving the good and the bad

First of all, I can't say that Cleveland is all bad. There are some cool things that have happened, which I feel I should write down in case I get really sad... which happens occasionally, but I think that's part of moving away.

1. Seeing my parents/Sam. That may have been a highlight, when Mom, Dad, and Sam were all in Cleveland for about three days. We went to the Rock & Roll hall of fame, baseball games (we even got club seats once!) and got to spend quality time with some of the people I missed the most right after we moved. Awesome!
   
   
2. Going to Finger Lakes, NY. That was amazing! It was beautiful, I got to try a ton of different wines, and take a tour of the beautiful Lake Canandaigua. We had an "experience" with hotels and bedbugs, but we finally found a good place to stay and went to Niagara Falls, Canada the following day. Austin also got to try the original Buffalo wings in Buffalo, NY!
   
   
3. Cleveland Wine Festival! We learned that they have really sweet wines here (I'm assuming by the temperatures here, that its Region 1, which explains all the ice wine) and we like robust reds, so that didn't quite hit the spot but it was still a very fun day.
   
   
4. We got to go home for free! We spent quite a bit while we were there, but the flights were of no cost to us, which is a miracle in and of itself! We're looking forward to being back three times this winter, too. Houston will feel so warm coming from Tennessee!
   
   
5. I painted quite a few canvases! Don't be surprised, family, when you get one. Iamnotkidding.
   
   
6. We got to see The Avengers set! That was the highlight of my rainy Sunday (sorry Texan friends, I really would send you rain if I could and I AM praying that you get some).
   
   
7. We're going to CHICAGO! We're going to see The Second City, with Mark Amshey (only after eating at Gino's, of course) which is where famous people like John Belushi, Tina Fey, and so many others started out. We can't wait! There's also a free jazz festival and fireworks on the pier the next day, and Sunday after a brunch or something we'll head back to Mentor.

Obviously it isn't terrible, but considering that that's 7 things over the span of about 50 days (yes, it's been that long, which amazes me) in Ohio.. that's kind of a small ratio to me.

So, in the midst of all of this, I am struggling. Struggling because I just want to have a place that feels like home, and because I am not used to being so far away. Struggling, because I know that God has a real purpose for us in Ohio, but it didn't make sense to me for so long. I have some suspicions now, but it isn't clear and I'm sure it won't be until we've left, and maybe even later than that. But, God is funny. And Good. I wanted a new book [of the Bible] to read this morning, and I felt like I should read Job. I've read Job, and I had a feeling that God wanted me to read it, and that there was a really specific reason.

I read the first five chapters, and took little notes on some of the parts that I underlined me: the things that struck me about this passage. I'm just going to jot some of them down here, so you can see what God is doing (and then a podcast from a sermon at our church that slapped me in the face) and the things He is teaching me - whether I like it or not!

• Job 1: 1 "... and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil."
  I know this is the Bible and all, but this is the description of Job in the first verse. It's the first thing the writer says about him. Would this be the first thing someone said about me? Youch.
  
  {Job loses everything - livestock, posessions, children!}
• Job 1:20 "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped."
  Uh, excuse me... His first response is to grieve and worship even while he is grieving! No, I am definitely not going through the things Job did, but I can't say I responded this well when I was upset, missing something about/in Texas, or just feeling lonely here. It was more of a "why me, God? What is this all about?" (selfish!)
  
  
• Job 1:21 "And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
  Satan asked permission to do this to Job so that Job would curse the Name of the Lord, but instead, Job is blessing it. Satan definitely does things in our lives, attempting to turn our hearts from the one true God, but Job still worships - how would I respond?
  
  {Satan wasn't pleased with his response, so he asked permission again to go after Job's flesh}
• Job 2:7 "Satan...struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head."
  His wife later suggests he just "Curse God and die" - basically, "get it over with because this sucks so much." But Job persists:
  
  
• Job 2:9 "'... Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?' In all this, Job did not sin with his lips."

In the next chapters, Job starts to kind of wonder why this is happening to him, and his friends come by, which I see both as encouragement to him, but I remember that they also ask/hint that maybe it happened because he sinned (he didn't, but that was the common belief then - bad things happened to you because you had sinned).

Job isn't an unfamiliar book to me. In fact, I remember reading it about a year and a half ago when I was going through a totally different time in my life. But the theme is the same: do we only "deserve" (funny word, we don't "deserve" anything good as sinners, but God is gracious to us beyond belief) the good stuff? And why, when the "bad" comes, do we not like to take it? We get mad at God and blame him because life isn't how we want it (selfish) and we aren't happy with it. Ouch! That's me. Life isn't what I want, and I'm not really happy with it.

It's just my periodic reminder I guess. Thank you, friends, for letting my share my struggles in this life with you, for letting me share about our marriage (which is amazing, and I love this man so, so much) and "Our New Life."

Here's the link to the podcast I was talking about before. It's from Acts, because they're working through it. I highly encourage you to listen to it, too. If you like it enough, you can start from the start ;) It was a good challenge for me, and I keep remembering how it was an unlikely place for Paul. What struck me was when the pastor, Alex, started talking about people in that Gateway congregation not wanting to live in Cleveland. What? Me? Not wanting to live here? What are you doing God?? Yeah, that just happened. Anyway.. check it out and see what we've been getting into each week up here in Cleveland, Ohio (or Mentor).

Please pray with us for friends who are going through big changes in their lives, for transitions here in the north to Tennessee and people who are literally a road block for us (loving them despite that), for our families whom we miss dearly, and for making new friends and building relationships and community in Tennessee.... and that fall would come soon because I'm dying to wear my boots!!

Love,

Elizabeth Marie

September is a lie, and I don't want to be stuck here

I feel like a lot of things are a lie about our time here in Cleveland, which is making me quite bitter toward being here, if I'm honest. I don't know what God is doing here, except maybe expecting me to trust Him and making our life more austere. The thing is, simple is boring sometimes, and our life is still really complicated. I know I can look at this and watch how God is providing for us and how God is giving us more than we could ever need and using that in other people's lives - it's pretty sweet. But, I am not happy in Cleveland. And every time I tell our story to someone new, I get a wide-eyed, "what? really?" ... yeah, really.

While I am grateful for our 200 + gifts from the wedding, we don't have any of them. I know - it's just "stuff" and I need to be satisfied in Christ; the truth is, most days it's fine because we live in a furnished apartment. The trick is when I need a certain pan or dish and I could go buy it, but we have one, or that I need ___ color acrylic (I have 80,000 acrylic paints at home in storage), but that's all 1,000+ miles away, so I get to go buy more. It's wasteful. We had laundry detergent at home, but had to go buy some here because, what? We're here for more than the two weeks we packed for? Whew - glad I over-packed!

I am so incredibly grateful that we get to go home in August for free. Austin's work is paying for his ticket and mine is pretty much covered, too. We're working out ways to get home again for Christmas (driving) and Matt & Gennie's wedding (flight with points) and hopefully a way for me to get home for mom's surgery, but we're not sure whether or not that's possible. Thanksgiving? Nope. Ryan & Tiff's wedding? Probably not. Just another reason moving away sucks.

I guess what I need are prayers for my heart, because I'm just bitter about being in Cleveland and I'm very bored with it. I just want to wallow in that some days. The unsure future of our move just makes it worse, so it's not fun to talk about. We probably aren't leaving in early September, which means I need more clothes from our crazy-packed storage unit... and we're just going to be here even longer.

To make things even better, Austin spends his days at work doing diddly squat for about seven (if I'm lucky) or eight hours - occasionally he builds a cabinet - without so much as an internet connection, and I try to be productive without going shopping and wasting money... which is why I started buying/making Christmas presents. Logical, right? Productive, proactive... lazy. That's me!

I have no purpose here except to be with Austin, and I really don't like this situation. There are positives: we live thirty minutes from like 8 wineries (WHOO!) but that can be expensive. We did get to travel, but we are still in stinkin' Mentor, Ohio; a tiny city with little going on and a deteriorating mall across the street. Random fact: they pump oil from the courtyard of our apartment complex. Whaa..?

I start thinking and typing like this, and I remember this verse (see below), but I still struggle in my heart. My heart isn't in this, because I just want a home - I want to return to ____ where we live and feel at home. Maybe God is just trying to impress on me that this world is not my home, or maybe just to show me that there are a ton of people who need Him here (not that there aren't in Houston, but Churches are closing here because no one goes to them, and rumor has it, Ohio is "over" the whole "God" thing). I really don't know.. but I wanted to be honest about where my heart is here, and say that I need you to pray with me because I know my heart is not the right place.

Philippians 2:14-16

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

My family would tell you I'm no saint when it comes to complaints, but I've found myself complaining more than usual here about a lot of little things because of my general disdain for this place, and I know it's wearing on Austin. That's just another thing to pray against. Pray that this "disdain" for all things Cleveland stops growing and that the love of Christ would start growing in all ways in me and my heart. I know my struggle isn't a physical one, but maybe I should just take a page from Paul's book. Oh Lord, help me.

I don't know. I have mixed emotions because I wish I were just settling in somewhere in my newlywed life. That's how it's supposed to work, right? (God's just laughing...)

Working it out in the flesh until the day of completion, struggling against myself and my silliness, and wishing Jesus would just come back,

Elizabeth Marie

Cleveland Rocks?

I should first let you know we're not actually in Cleveland. We're in an apartment in Mentor, Ohio, which we chose because we though it'd be close to Austin's work, and because it's furnished. It's not as close as we thought it would be since the highways here make no sense. Actually - the highways here make me appreciate Houston's a LOT more.

And, moving to Ohio, I thought we'd be in cooler weather. Well, not so much this week. You'd think we were still in Texas with heat indexes of 112 this week! I have to admit, though, prior to this week, there was nothing to complain about weather-wise, minus an unexpected (by us) storm that knocked out our power, shook the apartments, and flooded parts of the Cleveland area - it was terrifying!

The good news is, I have time to do whatever I want. I've painted two canvases the last few days, and Austin painted one too. I've never taken an art class so I'm literally just goofing around, but don't be surprised when the canvases I've painted come as Christmas presents!

This week we started looking at homes. Take this one, for example. At 1084 square feet, it isn't huge, but it has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a charming exterior, a decent kitchen both in size and decor, and it's only $89,999. Thank you, Clarksville. With some easy fixes (putting in tile, updating appliances as need be, changing the hardware) we think we could make some money off this house in a few short years. The thing is, we know if we go headfirst into this without prayer (please pray over this with us) and without some serious research, we could have the opposite situation. We want to be good stewards of the money God has let us use, and we don't want to waste it. Now at $77,000, we're convinced something is wrong with this one - maybe it has a bad roof or a bad neighborhood. Who knows - we have a lot of options, and we're waiting to see what God has for us. We may even end up renting, but finding a place to rent when all the troops are coming home to our army-base town, or when the college kids are coming in makes it really hard to find an available place!

HOUSTON in less than three weeks! I am so grateful that Austin's best friend (and best man) is getting married on August 13th - not just because we're happy for Adam & Kathleen, but because I miss Houston so much. In Cleveland I've met some people through Gateway Church, at a women's bible study that meets every Tuesday. So far I've met some women through it, and it's been pretty encouraging so far.

Austin is struggling with his purpose at work, too. He's not doing much of anything, he says, and he doesn't have internet so he can't be productive and research things like stocks as he says he would like to do, since he seems to have extra time. This just seems to be a strange season for us - we don't understand the purpose of it exactly, but maybe God just wants us to simplify our lives.

This weekend we're heading to Canandaigua, New York, in the Finger Lakes area. It's about a five hour drive, and we're getting up at the crack of dawn to get there. We're going to tour some wineries (my favorite thing to do, ever) and stay in Rochester, New York that night. Sunday were going to sleep in, for once, and then cross the border and go to Niagra Falls! Last week we went to Amish country in Millersburg, so it's turned out to be a lot of mini vacations for us, which is one blessing about being in Ohio.

In all, it's a struggle. What are we doing here? What are we doing after we leave here? We don't have the answers, but we take it one day at a time and trust that God has a plan for all of this.

Love,

Elizabeth