Decorating Dilemma

If you're visiting for the first time from Serenity Now, welcome! I hope you'll take the time to look around, and I'd love for you to become a follower if my blog interests you at all.

Whether you are new or not, I would love your advice on a decorating dilemma at our new house.

In the master bathroom, there is a spa tub (yay!), but it also doubles as the shower. Right now, there's no shower curtain hanging because a standard rod (or even one of the curved ones) doesn't fit. (You would think that having to watch myself take a shower in the mirror directly across would motivate me to stop baking brownies, but so far, no luck!) I am aware that rods can be ordered for this type of shower, and we're planning to do that in the near future. My dilemma is how to keep such a large area from looking like a "stage" once a curtain (or probably two curtains) is hung up. Any suggestions for making it a little less "dramatic?" We're renting, so tearing it out or other major changes are out of the question.

Thank you so much for your help!

Check Serenity Now for other dilemmas in her blog party!

Encouragement

There's a new site that has burst on to the blogosphere: (in)courage. It's already become super-popular because it's sort of a compilation blog done by about 20 bloggers who are well-known in their own right, plus the Dayspring division of Hallmark.

Anyway, they've challenged readers (and dangled the carrot of winning a new T-shirt) to write posts on the topic What Encourages You?

I've been giving this a lot of thought over the past several days, and particularly today. There is so much to be discouraged about right now in the world at large, so this exercise has been very beneficial for me.

The word I keep coming back to is new.

New things encourage me. New people, new opportunities, new environments, new challenges.

Here are some specifics:

1. New neighbors.

On Sunday afternoon, our next-door neighbors brought us a plate of brownies to welcome us to the neighborhood with a note including their cell phone numbers in case we ever needed anything. It is so encouraging for someone to reach out to us. You wouldn't believe how uncommon this is, even here in the South. The first time (and only other time) anyone has done this for us was the first time we moved to Knoxville. While we were busy unpacking, our neighbor, Rose, brought us a plate of brownies. We were so impressed by how thoughtfully simple that gesture was that we have made it a point to pay it forward. Whenever I see a moving truck on our street, I head to the grocery store to get a box of brownies.

But if you are the new person, let me encourage you not to wait around for your neighbors to make the first move. They most likely won't. Do it yourself! It doesn't have to be fancy. In the words of one of my favorite bloggers, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."

2. New environment.

I really enjoy exploring a new territory. My husband calls it "filling in your map." In other words, as you get to know the main streets of a place, explore a little further to discover how they're connected. Get a map of your new (or old!) town just in case you get lost, and just start driving. You may be amazed at what you find, even in a place you've lived for years. If you're in a new place, this is especially important. Few things will make you feel more quickly "at home" than feeling like you know your way around.

3. New opportunities.

Perhaps the very best thing about moving is the chance to start over with a blank slate. How encouraging! While I don't recommend trying to be someone you're not (it won't last very long), it's always good to try to be a better version of yourself. Even if you're not moving at all, you can still make changes every day. Want to be more organized? Start with one drawer (or a shiny sink, a la FlyLady). Want to have more friends? Join a group like MOPS or a Bible study or a tennis club.


4. New ideas.

image from here

This past Sunday was our first time visiting a local church here in Fort Smith. In the Sunday school class, a Messianic (Christian) Rabbi was the guest speaker. (We're Southern Baptist, so that's not common at all!) He showed us things about the Hebrew alphabet and language that pointed to Christ in ways I had never known of before. Having gone to church all my life, it's rare for me to hear something completely new. This captured my interest.

New ideas are encouraging because they keep us from staying stuck in our own ruts and habits. Looking for new ideas? Go to the library. Check out area museums. Sign up for a class at the community college.

5. New mercies.
"The Lord's lovingkindnessess indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Nothing is more encouraging than knowing that the Lord never gives up on me. I can have a clean slate with Him anytime, day after day. Every day is a new day. He doesn't hold my past mistakes against me.


So what encourages you?

The First Week

Just a post to get you caught up on our past week. It started with a massive deep clean of our apartment. It's amazing how much stuff can get caught in crevices and overlooked for months at a time - or maybe that's just at my house. It's also amazing how moving and cleaning can make a person a bit crazy. For example, here's my dear husband sitting in the refrigerator, just because he could.

He's going to do a guest post later on about how to load a moving truck, but here's shot of the load right before we started unloading at our new house.

I know it looks like a huge mess in the picture, but it's amazing how much stuff is packed in there. We hired some professional movers to come help unload, and they offered David a job. (I was glad David finally got some recognition for his packing prowess!) :)


There's always a part of me that wants to just leave things on the truck because a nice, clean, empty house soon turns into this.

But later came the best part - unpacking pretty things I hadn't seen in a year. I must tell you that I have never - not for one moment - doubted my choice in fine china. (For that matter, I also love my white "every day" pattern, but I didn't take pictures of it.) Brookhollow by Noritake. I don't think it's made anymore. I just love it. Look at those dainty cups! I have got to use this stuff more often than the occasional Thanksgiving!

Can I just say again that I have missed having pretty things? Now, I must tell you that my kitchen is open to the family room, and this pottery clashes horribly with my living room furniture. I thought about not using it. But I decided that, at least for now, I would rather be surrounded with things that I loved, even if they don't all match each other. I love this pottery, and I use it as accents in my kitchen.

Now if I could just get new couches....

Meanwhile, we have also made two big trips to WalMart, explored our new territory a bit, and made our first trip to the DMV. I say first because David managed to get a driver's license, but he had to go back later to get our new car tags, and I can't get a driver's license until I get a new copy of our marriage license. (Apparently, a social security card is not enough proof that my name is, in fact, Laura Baggett. ARGH!) Has anyone seen our marriage license? I haven't seen it in almost 11 years. Oh well. Just think how much more exciting a trip to the DMV will be when I get to go alone with the two kiddos. I can just imagine how my picture will turn out as I try to keep Nathan from running out the emergency exit. I'll let you know if it turns out to be "post-worthy."