Update!

I am happy to say that I am back from a short blogging vacation, Pandamania VBS is over, and we are no longer living out of boxes in a smelly apartment. PRAISE THE LORD! Last week during VBS was so busy! Stephen would go to the house after work and I would stop after VBS to help him. We painted and brought boxes with us each time too. By Friday, the kitchen was unpacked and had everything we needed...except food in the fridge. Thank goodness my wonderful FIL helped finish the painting that we were not able to tackle during these late nights. Here are some peaks at the colors:

The dining room was already red, and we love it. We painted the two upstairs bedrooms and the both bathrooms. I wish I remembered the names of the colors so I could share with you, but I totally forgot them. I do know the green one though, "lettuce alone". I was just tickled by that name so I might never forget it!

Saturday was our big moving day and I woke up feeling icky. Thank you T1D for that one...on a more positive note, we had TONS of help arrive right at 9am with trucks and trailers. We were so beyond blessed by the help from members of the church and family members too. Believe it or not, the entire apartment was loaded up and we were pulling out of the apartment parking lot before 10am. It took less than an hour!

...so long Kuder Estates!

The drive to the house did not take long...it is about 30 minutes away from our old apartment. When we arrived at the new place we were excited and blessed to find several women from the church set up with cookies, snacks and drinks for all the workers. The sweet women even helped carry boxes and belongings into the house. With everyone working as a team, everything we owned was in the house within an hour as well! Praise the Lord!

We did have to get creative getting some things into the house...like our mattresses and box springs. Oh and the couch! That is another story entirely! Let's just say that for a few minutes I thought our plan of waiting to buy a new couch was out the window...it looked like we would be going couch shopping the next day! Several of the men spent a little time wrestling with that thing to get it in the door and eventually had success. I was so grateful!

The rest of the day Saturday, Stephen and I worked so hard. We really got so much accomplished though! The house went from looking like this:

To something a little more livable:

The house even looks different since these pictures were taken. I was able to stay home from work on Monday to work on some organization and hanging pictures on the walls. It is amazing how much homey a place can feel when there are pictures on the wall!

We are getting settled and loving our new town and neighborhood!

I will post more pictures of each room as I get them completed. Thanks for all your prayers during this time and all your help if you were one of the volunteers last weekend. We could not have gotten in the house and unpacked so quickly if it had not been for you and your hard work. We SO appreciate all you do!

Blogging Vacation!

This week I will be taking a blogging vacation. Between work, VBS and the move all on my radar this week, I just feel like I am juggling one too many balls. I do plan to post about VBS and the move all the week following, so you won't be left out. That means the next time you hear/read from me we will be living in our new old home. Praise the Lord for his blessings!

Please pray for our Pandamania VBS this week. So much time, energy and money goes into VBS productions and we need all the prayer we can get. Pray for the children, that they will invite and bring friends, have open hearts to hear the Gospel and for us teachers that we can have the energy to keep up with these kids and love them like Jesus loves all of us!

"Rejoice always, pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in

Christ Jesus. "

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

Well friends, I am off to Pandamania...

Have a great week!

Just because...

Just because today is Friday...

and because I love black and white pictures...

and because I love old, antique pictures...

and because we all need a reminder that lifelong marriages do exist...

and because today would have been my grandparent's 58th wedding anniversary...

I am going to share some of their wedding pictures with you.

I don't believe this is a wedding picture, I think it might be their prom...

This one is not a wedding picture either, but wasn't my Papa handsome?

"Two are better than one,
   because they have a good return for their labor."

Ecclesiastes 4:9 NIV

Gram (because I know you are reading this) I hope that you were able to relax and enjoy your day today. Please know that even though Papa is not here, we are all celebrating your love today. I know all your children and grandchildren that are old enough are thankful and appreciate the example you set for all us for our marriages. I love you!

Happy Anniversary!

"Taste and see that the LORD is good;
   blessed is the one who takes refuge in him"

Psalm 34:8 NIV

Who doesn't love rice crispies?

I have always loved rice crispy treats, always. I think I get that from my Mom, who also loves them. When I read about this fun twist on a traditional treat I knew I had to try it. Our 4th of July pool party was my first excuse and opportunity to make these yummy things! I recommend adding more cake batter than the recipe calls for so the flavor is a little stronger. Either way, they were delicious!

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
• 1/4 cup yellow cake mix
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Directions:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting.  

Update!

Right now we are up the our eyeballs in boxes (and still collecting more!) at our apartment. We have painted it back to white and almost have everything packed up. I still cannot believe we are moving next weekend. The time has gone by so, so fast and for that we are thankful! Next week promises to be a busy one! I am working at VBS this week and also we are going to try and paint the interior of the new house! I thought I would share some pictures of the packing process that I took last week.

Bye, bye red dining room!

The pathway in the hallway continues to get narrower and narrower...we might need to relocate some boxes :)

Can you say TO.MUCH.WHITE?!

I am so thankful that we have the 2nd bedroom in our apartment that is devoted to storing boxes and things for the move. If all this was in the living area we would not be able to move!

Since most everything is packed, cooking has been sort of difficult. Twice already this week we have eaten out for dinner simply because we were not sure what to cook or how to cook it. Lucky for us the 4-H Fair is in our county this week so we had a lovely impromptu weeknight date-night :) You won't hear me complaining about that! The 4-H fair is also in the county we are moving to this week, so we will probably go there on Friday evening to see more beautiful animals!

Here are some pictures from the fair we went to on Tuesday night:

Please note that Stephen's tenderloin is almost as big as the paper plate it is on!

Fried Oreos...do I need to say more? No, I didn't think so!

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

They had these for part of the cat show-they were so beautiful!

Whoa!

Okay, I want one of these...I may have researched them already and determined where to buy them. They are so cute, the cutest little bunnies!

Elephant Ear...I think it is a requirement at the fair!

A pink tractor! This one was probably my favorite of the antique tractors. Although, I did really like the one that had a sign saying "if you are not one of my grandchildren, do not touch or sit!" Haha!

Last night was a special night for us too. We had planned on making tacos for dinner but Stephen got home late and we were both tired so we decided to go out. I did cook the meat for tacos before we left because the meat needed to be cooked. Of course, I needed a spatula and did not have one. Stephen came into the kitchen to find me cooking ground beef with a tablespoon. I only burned my hand once! At least the meat is ready for tacos tonight! :) We went to Steak N Shake and since I have recently been on an avocado kick I had a grilled chicken sandwich with guacamole on it. It was DELICIOUS! The menu said that they make their guacamole fresh daily...does that mean they open a new container daily? We were not sure...not that it matters though because the guacamole was the best part. Yum!

After dinner we went to Kohls to spend (and earn) our Kohls cash. Stephen bought me my birthday present (a little early). We are now the proud owners of a KitchenAid stand mixer. Oh, I am so excited to use it once we are in the new house. Also, if you are in the market for one wait until you have a 30% off coupon and can earn Kohls cash too. Re racked up the savings!

Please email me or leave me comments telling me what your favorite item to make with your stand mixer is!Feel free to email/leave recipes too! :)

Lastly, I just ordered 150 tulip bulbs to plant this fall at our house. I am so excited because I love tulips. BUT, they do not grow in FL so I know basically nothing about them. Let me know if you have planted them or have any tips for storage, planting and/or producing!