a-door-able

Another part of our new house that will need some updating is the front door. The shutters are black, which I love on the brick, but the door is a fabulous, nineteen-eighties burgandy.

I am itching for a little subtle-brightness and I think a sweet, rich teal is just the answer...

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I've tried to talk Matt into a buttery-yellow door with no such luck. He's just recently warmed up to pretty teals in home decor. Let's not push it... too much, too fast!

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The very first one is my very favorite. Our front door will be flanked in brick as well, so that photo helps me visualize it better. I think this will be one of my very first updates... such a rewarding little project!

Lauren



ch-ch-ch-changes

Some exciting news around these parts... Matt and I are in the process of buying a new house! We adore our little townhome and it holds extra-special memories for us, but we are really excited to make this new place our home. While I have no idea what I'll do with all this new space, I can't wait to start the process of making it ours. We are MOST excited about the gorgeous back yard... we've had a little 12x12 outdoor patio to call our own for the past 3+ years so this is a major upgrade!

There is lots of updating to do throughout this 25-year old house, so I've, of course, turned to Pinterest for every last bit of inspiration so far.

I'm thinking dark gray, putty-colored cabinets and we will be covering the current tile backsplash with a beadboard one...

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Like I mentioned before, there is lots of updating to be done - like eighties-style brass fireplace fronts and shiny, brass door hardware. There are lots of awesome tutorials out there, though, from great bloggers like Young House Love and Centsational Girl. Don't let the brass frighten you!

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I'll even have a space to turn into the mudroom I've always wanted!

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All in all, I'm super excited. Even with all the work to be done, the house is completely turn-key, so we're able to do all of these updates at our leisure. We feel so blessed and can't wait to show you all the changes!

Lauren

Not Our Home

Today we are on the first leg of our trip to Haiti...

I am a lot little nervous and way excited. We will be working in various capacities at the Hands and Feet Ministry and Orphanage for the week... so I basically get to spend my days loving on sweet kiddos! Excited and grateful is an understatement.

Matt and I have talked a lot this week about our expectations - our hearts - going into this. I spent a short time in orphanages and a refugee camp in the Czech Republic right after high school with my church... I loved my time there and walked away knowing, even more so, that I would adopt one day. But this time around, despite not being a "mother" quite yet, I feel like I'm going in with a more maternal heart. I feel it. I think it will be harder this time, for me... To look at these children and know that I could really, truly take them home with me. I am no longer a teenager or a care-free college student. I am an adult. A grown woman. I have a spouse, a home, a real-life, big-girl job. And most of all, I have the capacity in my heart to love them all the days of their lives. I do. I would love them with every fiber of my being. Perhaps I'm setting myself up for some majorly-tearful goodbyes, but it is a fact that my heart can't ignore. I could do something.
My heart is already aching for these children that I've yet to meet. I have cried big, fat tears on my drive home this week after hearing the lyrics to a new favorite song of mine. 

Don't lose heart

Don't forget

This world is not our home

There's a better place where we belong

This place of heartache and strife and orphans and widows and poverty and suffering. It's not our home. Thank you for that, Lord.

Lauren