Little things that make a place feel more like home...

Pretty 'Butterweave' warmer!

It has been a long road to making this apartment feel like home but it is slowly being accomplished!  When we were preparing to have part of my family down I was able to get a few more things up that really made a difference.  A big one was taking down the blinds in the living room over the big patio window and putting up curtains, it doesn't seem like it should be a big change but I like it so much better and it made the place feel a lot more like my own!

We also got some pictures up that have been waiting for frames and a shower curtain up in the very blue bathroom.  I decided yellow would compliment that bathroom and maybe mellow it out a bit!  My newest addition didn't get here in time for the family visit but I am excited about it all the same!  Except for some yellow towels it is the last piece for my 'Very Blue' bathroom!  

The 'Very Blue', and now yellow, bathroom!

My dear friend Sarah Edmundson is a consultant for Scentsy, and I am a new fan of their warmers and bars.  I feel safe about using them since there is no flame... I'm bad about forgetting to blow out candles even though I love them and Chris is afraid I'm going to burn the house down!  Point of story, I bought one of the smaller plug in warmers for this bathroom and it looks great!  If you are interested you can visit Sarah's site and check them out!  I highly recommend 'Sticky Cinnamon Bun' for a scent, it is a nicely spicy cinnamon reminiscent of 'Home Sweet Home' from Yankee candle! 

New (to me) Computer!

So Mercy was helping me get a program installed on the laptop she purchased for me when I first came to UF and mentioned that if I ever had any problems with it to let her know because she had a bigger computer that was also pretty new that she was no longer using.  I admit, I was pretty much lusting after for several reasons but the main one being it had a much larger and nicer screen.  I liked this because as I have been writing I notice how much strain it puts on my eyes looking at the computer for any amount of time.  I didn't remember this being a problem while writing my thesis on our home computer and asked Chris about it, he said it was probably due to the size and quality of screen.

So rather reluctantly I asked Mercy if I could switch.  I was afraid to ask because I didn't want her to think me ungrateful and I knew it would be a bit of a hassle getting things off of the current computer and onto the new one.  She was super cool about it though and agreed immediately and helped me get everything switched over.  

It has been so nice!  There are some things that are different, like this has word 2010 instead of 2007 which I am used to, but the adjustment is going very smoothly and I have noticed a huge difference in eye fatigue since using it!  Once again an unexpected answer to prayer!

So please welcome the newest member of our electric family, Eva!

Did I mention its a really pretty purple too!?

And so it begins!!!

Seeds in the bag with pearlite.

So I started planting the peach seeds for my rootstocks this week!  It is so crazy to see the material confirmation that I am really committed to a four year project.  

When you eat a peach and find that hard pit in the middle that is actually part of the fruit not part of the seed.  Back in August I took 1,000 of those pits and cracked them open to get the real seeds out.  Then I soaked them for five day and put them in a bag with pearlite (kind of like little pieces of Styrofoam, it is the white things it bagged soil mixes).  Next the seeds went into a big cooler that kept them at a constant 45 degrees Fahrenheit.  This was to trick them into thinking they were experiencing winter so they would germinate.  Well now they have germinated (well half of them anyway) and it is time to put them in some soil and into the greenhouse so they can start growing!

New baby roots starting to grow

Hard to see but there are seeds poking out of each cell!

Only about half of them were far enough along that I could plant them so the rest went back into the cooler and should be ready in the next week or two.  We wait until they start germinating and growing their radical (baby root) before planting them to be sure they have had enough of the cold.  It was interesting to see how shallow they wanted me to plant them too, they wanted the tops of the seeds poking out!

It is exciting to see this progress but strange and a little scary at the same time because it is evidence of my commitment to this project and our time in Florida.  The Lord is good though and continues to reassure me every step that this is where we are supposed to be.  One of the assurances was actually in these seeds germinating.

In the same cooler as my seeds is a bag of a different variety of seeds that one of the professors needs for a project next year.  They have been in the cooler since July 4th and not a single one has germinated yet.  It should only take peach seeds about two months in the cooler to trigger germination.  They haven't molded or decomposed in any way, they are just sitting there.  Everyone is stumped.  At first they were concerned it was a problem with the cooler but now that mine have germinated they know its not the cooler.  So in a way I feel that the successful germination of my seed is another confirmation that this is what I'm supposed to be doing!  


It is always so amazing to me the ways Gos has designed His creation for success.  I mean think about it, if these seeds didn't require soaking with lots of water and a cold period they would germinate as soon a the peach flesh came off... at the END of summer.  They wouldn't have enough time to establish their roots, get good mature leaves and stems or store carbohydrates for the coming winter months.  They wouldn't survive!  But God designed them so the would have to be exposed to lots of water and a long cold period before they would start to grow, so that when they DID start to grow it would be at the best time for a new plant to start, spring!  And they would have all summer to grow and store up carbohydrate for the coming winter!  So Cool!

We serve a God who plans ahead, can see what's coming next, knows how to best prepare us for it and wants our good!  If He cares so much for the next generation of peach trees, how can I doubt that He cares for me, who is much more precious to Him?  Thank you Lord for the visible reminder of what you told us in Matthew 6:25-34!    

 

"He's Still Working on Me"

Do you remember the song, any of us who went to Sunday School or VBS would sing, "He's still workn' on me"?  I used to enjoy that song mostly because of the hand movements that went with it, even though my Granny did a great job explaining what the song meant and how cool it was.  Well now that I'm grown up I realize what an amazing encouragement it can be to know that "God's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be".  I was reminded of this song while listening to Brandon Heath's "Wait and See" song on the radio.



I love the line "There is hope for me yet, because God won't forget, the plans He's made for me, you'll have to wait and see, He's not finished with me yet".  I love it because sometimes I feel like there is no hope for me, like I've made that mistake one too many times, but that is a lie of Satan!  There is always hope for me!  I also like this line because of the emphasis on God's plans for me. I often question the purpose of us being in Florida, but this is a gentle reminder that God has a plan for our lives and Florida happens to be a part of that plan right now. 

Finally that line is encouraging to me because God doesn't expect us to be perfect right now.  He expects improvement, but sanctification is a process, and it emphasizes the fact that God has an ultimate purpose, or goal, for our lives.  Anyway, this was uplifting to me so I hope it can be encouraging to you!

Family in Florida!!!

Part of my family was able to visit over homecoming weekend!!! I have been missing them terribly so it was a treat to have Mom, Deborah, Andrew and Hannah come and stay for four whole days!  I had to be at class one of the days but it was so sweet to spend time with them!  Andrew couldn't remember going to the beach so one of our destinations was Ormand Beach, it was a beautiful day and warm enough to enjoy the surf.  I don't think anyone enjoyed it as much as Andrew though!  He didn't want to be out of the water very long and loved the waves hitting and tugging him around.  For safety reasons mom did not want him to go out any deeper than his knees, but you could just tell he so badly wanted to go deeper!  He would go out to his knees, then get on his knees and the waves would hit him higher on his chest.  Chris offered to hold his hand if so it would be safe for him to go deeper, so mom said he could go out to his waist.  Andrew was thrilled!  Chris also took Deborah and Hannah deeper, but I think Andrew went out the most.

While we were there we also got to see some dolphins jumping close to the beach (at first we feared they were sharks!), a sail boat and lots of birds.  The tide was higher than I have ever experienced and it was wild to watch it coming in throughout the day.  We kept expecting to be pushed off the beach by it but we left before that happened.  Deborah enjoyed scouring the beach for shells (we might try to find a beach with more shells in the future) and Hannah enjoyed chasing the birds!  Unfortunately our sand castles kept getting eaten by the waves!

One of the days was dedicated to girl shopping.  Deborah and Hannah needed some new winter clothes and shoes and Mom needed some shoes so we hit the stores around Gainesville.  We had a mostly successful but long day shopping.  It was challenging to find modest clothes for the girls, and also nice dress clothes.  It seemed like church dresses for girls had disappeared!  I can sympathize with the families who make many of their own clothes because they can't find suitable ones in the store!  Good shopping news however, Hannah, who is usually hard to find jeans for because of her long legs and skinny waist, found four pairs of pants! (two pair of jeans for 7$ each! go TJMaxx!)  I was pleasantly surprised, but a little sad, at how grown up Deborah is becoming.  A couple of her dresses were from the ladies section and she is into ladies shoes now.  I was very proud of her modest and ladylike sense of fashion however!

While the girls were shopping for clothes Chris and Andrew were having fun too!  Andrew found a new remote control helicopter (he loves mechanical toys and gadgets), they played a little video games, had lunch ready for us girls, then went back to Granddaddy's and fished and played Life!

While we were relaxing at Granddaddy's house I got to help Mom plan out her fruit orchard!  It was so fun to look at the different varieties, and quite a challenge to think about pears because they need a particular pollinator.  I got to help her narrow down the peach selection and she also picked out several apple and pear trees.  If all goes well they will have lots of fruit in a few years!

It was such a luxury to have mom around and get to talk to her in person about lots of things that have been going on the last few months.  Don't get me wrong, we talk on the phone, but that is always limited and neither of our preferred methods of communication.

It was so hard to see them go early Monday morning, and I think tears were shed all around, but I am cheered to think the time until I get to go visit them again won't be as long as this last gap!

Loving the surf!

Looking for treasures...

Sand Castle!

We only saw empty crab shells, no live crabs...

Riding the surf in!

Hannah taking a break!

Cool bit of seaweed Chris found

Andrew fixing the sweeper!

Flowers from my Hubby!

Sorry, I know I haven't updated for awhile so I hope to fix that over the next few days!

Several weeks ago Chris treated me to some flowers!  This was the same day I bought some gourds for decoration so I was in a fall mood and the selection reflected that!  I don't usually favor Gerber daisies but these were so bright and cheerful they made me smile every time I walked past them!

I just loved the dark centers on the yellow and orange daisies!

Such cheerful colors!

Encouragement...

So I was tooling around on the radio Friday trying to find something worth listening to and came across this song.  After a moment or two I found myself joyfully worshiping along and thanking the Lord for whoever wrote it.  Moving to Florida has definitely not been an easy move but it is where we feel God wants us right now, though my heart has frequently rebelled against where God has brought us, He has patiently reminded and assured me that this is where He wants to use me.  Over the last week I have been trying to train my heart to be content where God has me, to acknowledge that His purposes are above mine, that He is in control, and above all that He wants our good.  (My heart is often tempted to believe that this isn't true, that the Lord doesn't care for me that way, and that is a lie.  I have to look it in the face, call it what it is, and point out to myself from scripture where it is wrong.)  While I am still struggling with where God has us right now, I am happy to say I could worship with this song in agreement, and perhaps some hope for the future that this will become more and more true of me.  Hope you enjoy!
Chris Tomlin- I will follow