Let me preface this post with an apology to my mother -- Sorry this is so late Mom!! I didn't get the final pictures loaded onto my computer until today...so I went as quickly as I could!!
Ahem.
This past weekend, Joe and I went to go get our Christmas Tree! Unbeknownst to us, it was part one of a trilogy of impulsive decisiveness for us! And a glimpse of God's provision. :) Here's the story...
Part IOn the day after Thanksgiving, Lovey and I went to go pick out and chop down our Christmas tree. This is normally a grueling ordeal. When one of us isn't picky, the other one is. (Remember
this post of my Mom's??
That one's too fat. That one's too thin. That one's bald on one side. That one has too many dead branches. I just don't like that one.
And the list goes on and on. We were getting a late start, and had a lot left to do on that particular Saturday afternoon, so I braced myself for a long trek around the tree farm, searching for "THE perfect tree".
As we pulled into the Frasier Fir section, we commented on how sparse that particular field looked. But we went on in anyway. And as Joe drove up to the first tree on the right, he commented, "That one looks good."
I glanced over at it. It
did look good. Hm. We glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, and proceeded to get out of our car. To our shock and relief, after circling it several times, we concluded that it was indeed "THE perfect tree". Amazed, we chopped it down and loaded it up and went on home to set it up.
"No way, the FIRST one we saw??"
"ALLLRIIIGHHHTT!!!!!"
THE Perfect Tree :)
Part II Let me backtrack for a minute. Before we went to get our tree, we had made an impromptu visit to our local flea market to see if there was a handy bookshelf there by any chance. Since our current bookshelf is smashed full of books going every which way, and we still have some in piles looking for a home! (What can I say, we love books!!) The photo below doesn't even begin to do this justice, as I had already tidied it up a bit, but it will give you a very small idea of how serious our book addiction and problem really is.
So...at the flea market, we didn't find anything. But decided we would walk down to the Amish Furniture store, a block down from our house later that afternoon "just in case" there was anything there we wanted.
*Background fact: Since we've been married, we have said that we would buy a piece of Amish furniture/wood item every year for our anniversary, resulting in us having a beautifully furnished home. However, we have never found anything we liked and that we could afford. Who knew the Amish were so spendy?? ;)After we set up the Christmas tree, and went about trying to rearrange furniture and find a home for all our books so that I could set up the Christmas decorations, we found ourselves in a pickle. Our house was a mess. And we didn't have anywhere to put all this STUFF!!! (See photo evidence below)
This was the living room mid-sorting.
Joe's attempt at organizing movies.
Just a FEW of the books still looking for a home.
Our sad looking kitchen with loads of Christmas decorations EVERYWHERE.
What a mess!!
So finally I threw my hands up in the air, and insisted that we walk down to the Amish furniture store. "Just in case". And so we went.
If you know me or my husband, you know that we are just a tad bit indecisive. Ok, I exaggerate. We're probably the most indecisive people known to mankind! We rarely can make a decision at any given time. We usually have to mull it over and agonize over everything for a few hours (minimum) before we can make up our minds.
So you'll understand why this next part of the story is so amazing!
As we walked into the Amish furniture store, we commented on how if we couldn't find a bookshelf, maybe we could at least find a coffee table. Surprisingly, as we walked up to the group of coffee tables, I commented, "Hm. I actually like this one!" Joe agreed. We didn't think much of it but kept looking for our bookshelf. After not finding our bookshelf, we came back to the little coffee table and glanced at the price tag.
Hm. It's actually affordable. We glanced at each other with raised eyebrows. "Should we do it?" I asked. Joe agreed. And before I knew it, there we were at the counter paying for a new coffee table. Totally awesome!
But now our house looked even MORE cluttered!
Part III
After setting the surprise-buy-coffee table on our kitchen floor, one of us (I don't remember which) commented: "Maybe we SHOULD go somewhere else to look for a bookshelf. With our luck today, we'll walk into a place and buy the first bookshelf we see because it will be the perfect fit and the right price!"
And so we did what any other couple in our shoes would do. We headed off to another discount market on a quest for the bookshelf we knew must be waiting for us.
Our first stop was a dud. They had something decent...but not quite what we were looking for - a short bookshelf (to fit under the chimney) that might or might not have a door, was on the narrow side, and fit our budget.
So we went on to the next town, another 20 minutes away. As we drove, we tried to think of where we could look, and all we could remember was an antique furniture store that we knew would be terribly expensive, but the only other options were Target or Wal-Mart, so we thought we'd give it a try.
As pulled into the town, we noticed a furniture store neither of us had remembered. Approaching the door, we noticed that it closed at 5, and it was currently 4:45, so we both ran like crazy people through the front door, gasping and apologizing for walking in so late. (We must have looked like lunatics!!)
We explained to the kind sales lady what we were looking for: a short book shelf. (Really descriptive, eh? ;) She kindly led us all the way upstairs, turning back on all the lights they had turned off in anticipation of closing. Rounding the corner, she pointed to a collection of bookshelves in the corner.
We were floored.
They had one the right height! AND the right price!!! What a break!
The sales lady was probably as shocked as we were! Once again, glancing at each other with raised eyebrows for the third time that day, we simultaneously nodded our heads, agreeing that it was the right fit and just what we were looking for. And it was even on sale!!
Upon arriving home, we added one more item to the mess of our kitchen, resulting in the shot below:
But now we had to make it all fit together!!! Thankfully, my husband is a master at puzzles, so he can make furniture fit in a room like no one else can. And after some trial and error, I finally got my Christmas decorations to stop looking so tacky...so here is the finished work! Enjoy!!
Our lovely Amish coffee table. :)
Another view of the living room -- with a CLEAN FLOOR!! :)
Our new bookshelf (on the left). Though none of it matches exactly, it fits our need.
I'm having a hard time getting used to seeing
all those books in one area...it still looks a bit cluttered to me, but it'll get us through Christmas until we can rearrange again!
Our lovely, decorated Christmas tree.
I wanted to name him, but Joe laughed at me. :)
My beautiful Christmas plate collection (thanks to my Mom!) and other "deshorakins" :)
The tidied up kitchen!
