Made New..

Therefore,

 if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation,

the old has gone,

the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

I love new things. There is just something so exciting about opening something for the first time. Fresh, crisp bed sheets; an empty journal waiting to be filled; a new box of crayons for my kids.. In their prime. Ready, just waiting to be used. We are made that way by the grace of our Lord! He has washed us clean, made us new. There are days that I definitely forget my newness and take on the old. Take on the dirt, the unclean. Take on the weight of all the things I lack in and of myself. However, I am made new.. Perfectly formed for the purpose the Lord is calling me to. I cast off the old, and I remind myself that the Lord makes up for my lack. He fills in all that is missing. So, I am ready..

Are you ready to be used?

Peaches & Pinks

We will be in our new place by the weekend, and I am getting so eager to make the place feel like home as quickly as possible! Because we are buying my Dad's house I have been able to go over there often and dream up all sorts of plans and ideas.

original image {via}

I found this beautiful arrangement and I have pulled some colors from it to use as inspiration for our new dining room. I love the softness of this combination of colors together. The peachy-pinks are so warm, and I think if we pair it with some rough & rustic wood pieces it will be perfect! My husband and is not really the biggest fan of all the pink.. yet.. I am sure there will have many more ideas to come. Stay tuned friends. I will post pictures as we make progress..

A to ZZZZ...

Age: 29 30 29... Nevermind..

Bedsize: Queen, but we are upgrading to king in our new place! WOOT WOOT

Chores that youhate: Cleaning the bathtub.. I hate it. Even more than cleaning toilets. Not sure why..

Dogs:  No. Thank goodness. I used to want to be a veteranarian, but somewhere along the way I went from loving animals to, well, not loving them. 

Essential start toyour day:  Coffee.
Favorite color: White.. Seriously. I am afraid of color.

Gold or Silver: Right now, gold. 

Height: 5"4'.. My sister was blessed with the height in the family.. and the long eye lashes.. I'm not bitter though.

Instruments you play: None well :)

Job title: Mom and all the many titles that comes with.

Kids: 3. Sienna(5), Coen(3), Houston(1)

Live: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

Mother's Name: Sandra.. (her first name is actually Marlene, but she's always gone by Sandra) 

Nicknames: Oh goodness.. Bran, Branflakes, Allbran, B-diddy, Bran muffin, anythingelseyoucanthingofrelatingtoBRAN, whiskey, and many more I can't think of right now.

Overnight hospital stays: 3 C-sections..

Pet peeves:  Chewing with your mouth open. Gross. And loud eaters of any kind. Basically I think people should eat as quietly as possible. PLEASE.
Quote from a movieor tv show:  My brain honestly does not store this type of stuff. I can see a movie for the first time twice.. 
Right or Lefty:  Right.
Siblings: 1 beautiful older sister.
Time you wake up:  Whenever the kids get up. I have this idea of being up at 7 every morning whether the kids are up or not but it hasn't happened yet.
Underwear:  Umm.. really..
Vegetable you hate:  I can't really think of one. I am sure there must be one out there I don't like.. 
What makes you runlate: My husband..
X-Rays You've Had:  Too many to list.
Yummy food you make:  Bahahaha.. Worst cook e.v.e.r. right here.
Zoo Animal:  Penguins all the way. They are so stinkin cute. Also, they make me laugh cause my husband thought that penguins were human size. We once saw one and he said, "look, there is a miniature penguin." Laughed so hard in his face.. I am a good wife, really.

I know this is hardly "embracing the camera".. I tried..

Love is First..

Something happened today that caused me to break down and cry. Not just a few tears.. I bawled like a baby. I handed Houston a banana and he looked up and me and said "tank ooo." Just like that. Just like a big boy. I thought this break down would come last Friday, not today. See, last Friday Houston turned 18 months old. I felt a looming dread as the day approached. For some reason 18 months seemed much harder than his 1st birthday. Friday passed though, and as it ended I thought to myself that I had handled it very well. I guess it didn't hit me until today.. I know this all probably sounds strange. Why would 18 months be something sad? Why would a child learning manners produce a well of tears? Well, because it is my last baby leaving babyland. I am so thankful to have 3 happy, healthy, growing children, but there is a  part of me that is mourning. Mourning the moments of those little firsts I love to watch my littles experience. They go by, never to be firsts again. There will be new firsts, many of them. The first firsts are pretty special though..

Life goes on, I know.

I am grateful..

For every first, and second, and third...

Conversations with Sienna

The other day I was talking to my daughter Sienna while we were driving. We had one of those conversations I love. Another teachable moment like this one. Our conversation went a little like this..

S: I don't want to move out when I get married.

Me: Why not?

S: I will miss you.

Me: I will miss you too. Maybe you could just live close by?

S: Like next door?

Me: Maybe!

S: I am going to pray I live next door.

Me: Ok!

S: Dear Jesus, please let me live next door to mom when I get married. Amen

Me: Sienna, do you know that God tells us to not worry about ANYTHING. He's got the perfect plan for us! He will take care of everything you worry about. So, if you listen to all that He tells you, guess what? You will end up in the PERFECT place. Even if it is not next door to mommy and daddy, Jesus will be making sure that you are taken care of, ok?

S: Ok, but I am still going to pray I live next door.

Me: Ok, I would love that..

I love these moments when I get to teach something valuable to my kids. I want these things engrained in her character. I want her trust in the Lord to be deep and unmoving. More than anything I pray that I can be an example of all these things for her. I've got some work to do!

My Sienna is a clever one. Here are a few other conversations we've had lately...

Me: Sienna, can you please stop growing.

S: I can't stop my birthday. That is up to God.

Me: Please?

S: I need to keep growing so I can get married!  (she associates growing up with getting married.. not sure why..)

S: Maybe you could paint my house a rainbow house?

Jeremy: What about a polk-a-dot house?

S: No, that would be silly.

Oh, how I love her..

<

3 weeks today! (oh Dear)

Dear Husband. 3 weeks. We move in 3 weeks. Just saying.
Dear House. You've returned to your pre-showing-ready state. I'm ok with that. Our home is lived in and it should look that way.
Dear Mom. Sorry I accidentally put your phone number down for those kijiji adds so you had random people calling your house asking to buy your stuff. I fixed it, don't worry.
Dear Coen. You know better than to color all over your toys and your legs with marker. Don't think your little smirk will get you out of trouble every time. It might have worked this time but it won't the next time, hopefully.
Dear Girls' Small Group. Thanks for letting me come speak and hang out with you last night. I was totally blessed. Beautiful people you all are. Inside and out.
Dear Blog Friends/Readers. I love ya'll. A lot.
Dear Jesus. I am so blown away by your faithfulness. You've blessed us with so much. I pray that we will use all you have given us to be a blessing to others.

So...

How does it look? Blog design for the indecisive can be difficult. I had a general idea of what I wanted my little blog here to look like, but actually committing to something was a challenge. I think I designed about 20 headers before I was finally satisfied. Once I got that down though the rest just came together! With all that said, I have actually really enjoyed this learning curve! It is fun to create pretty things (and some not so pretty things).

When I asked my husband what he thought he said it was "girly"..

Perfect.

*****

We are going to have a pajama day here. It is cold and snowing out. I would like to think I will be productive and start packing, but I have a feeling I am just going to take it easy and hang out with my 3 loves...