A place to call home...

So now that the comcast guy just left and I am sitting in the middle of MY living room in awe of the fact that I am living in my own apartment with real live internet....I figured I would take a break from painting/organizing/picture editing to give a little update on mine and Jenna's life right now.
currently I am becoming a pro at opening boxes, assembling furniture, putting clothes on racks, etc. Not exactly my cup of tea and really not bringing in enough money to pay rent, but, its a job. We finally we able to move into the apartment after postponing it about four times. It still seems unreal and it is still very empty.
Other than working the 4:30 am shifts at Old Navy and Pier 1 I have also been doing a lot of babysitting for some wonderful families, running a few photo sessions (please let me know if you want one!) and getting to tag along with this wonderful lady while she shines like a pro and I watch on hoping someday to be as cool as her ;)
So as much as I have been frustrated and slightly on the glass half empty side lately....life really is not treatin me to bad. It's an adventure and a crazy one at that.

Enough talk...here are some pictures to show you more:

eating our first dinner in our living room :)
this is why we were eating on the floor...our great deal table was a "great" deal because, well there was some assembly required
before we even braved opening the box-our one and only piece of furniture in our apartment
my window is the one on the second story
move in day...pretty much felt like move in day at college except everyone just stares at you while you struggle to carry a huge dining room table box up the stairs...which eventually just got pushing up the stairs while we were almost peeing our pants from how ridiculous we looked...yeah no more 3000 college students all moving in together and helping each other out deals
hmm phrase of the day "Whats that?" "Uh, I don't want to know"
Living room...oh so spacious and empty haha
Jenna's glamorous bedroom
my wondeful bedroom...you should have seen the look on our landlord's face when we told her we didn't have furniture or beds....she thought we were insane

YAY a piece of furniture (still missing two chairs which are still sitting un-assembled, they were pretty painful to put together)More to come...hopefully when things start looking a little better. But we are so thrilled to finally have our own place. I am currently working on painting my bedroom and we are hitting up some garage sales this weekend hoping to find some more filler furniture!!!

The I Heart Revolution

This will definitely bring you back to being thankful for what you have and at the same time, challenge the purpose you have set for yourself in this life....
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/inbox/?folder=[fb]messages&page=1&tid=1213888118026

This is just the trailer, there will be a showing of the full documentary in select theaters on November 4th...look to see if it will be playing near you. If you live in the Nashville area it will be playing at the Green Hills 16 and also the Opry Mills 20 plus IMAX!

Sweet kids/Eliana's Gotcha Day!!

Well these pictures are totally backwards but I am too exhausted .....

I have been surprisingly BUSY the last two days! YAY!   Yesterday I woke up at 3:55 am so Jenna and I could get to work, it was quite the morning of unloading new merchandise from the truck at Pier 1. It was kinda like Christmas you never knew what you were going to find in the box.   

I then got up this morning and babysat for 8 hours for an incredible family, they have two boys, two girls adopted from China and they are heading to Uganda soon to pick up the next two kids, the Oatsvalls (check out their blog). We had lots of fun doing crafts, going on a nature walk, playing and swinging outside....such precious, gorgeous kids....

So after running to an interview after babysitting I then ran across town to see my sweet girl Eliana and watch her and the Moore's boys who are also ADORABLE and such sweet fun kids.

Well it is Eliana's Gotcha day! I cannot believe it has been a year since our sweet baby girl finally came home...We decided to celebrate tonight but well only having two hands, three toddlers, a lit candle and a camera...it was slightly a disaster. As I was trying to get a picture Eliana was trying to grab her cookie so Micah was holding her hands down while sweet Elliot sat there patiently which is when Eliana saw her chance...bam she had Elliot's cookie in her mouth before anyone knew what happened then was reaching for the lit candle..Micah was freaking out and yelling at her and I am trying to get across the table without dropping the camera or knocking over a kid...well she grabbed the lit candle before anyone could stop her and put it out without blinking an eye and she had the cookie in her mouth....Looks like someone has been watching a little too much cookie monster....

Happy Gotcha Day Baby Girl!!!

May we all be Coffee...

So like the last post describes...the last couple days have been filled with trying to change perspective, looking forward to the challenges and trials that come my way and learning not to complain but use every situation for the Glory of God. Well I received this email from a good friend and to be honest I usually just ignore the whole "chain mail/forward" emails but being a coffee lover and seeing the subject mention coffee I was intrigued....I also am bored these days so anything random to read can be entertaining.
Well this is what I found when I opened it and I wanted to share it with you all because I'm not sure about you but being the visual, creative person that I am I learn and am impacted a lot stronger through analogies...this is a good one.

Subject: may we all be coffee

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.


A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.


Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.. In the first she e placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.


In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'


'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.


Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg.


Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ' So what does it mean, mother?'


Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.


'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?


Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?


Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?


Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?


May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.


The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.


When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling..
Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying..

Perspective

So everytime this past week I have told someone my situation and this long, boring wait for a job and how if we don't hear about jobs by wed we don''t get our apartment...everyone has responded with..."Kelsey, God never works that way with you...you know that you are not going to find out until Wed if you have a job."
Then Mamma Scott being the wise person that she is...says "You just need to wait, then wake up wed morning expecting a job."
so we kinda hit our days of being ready to give up this weekend...we were complaining about the weather, the waiting, the not having money, the not being able to have a schedule, not being able to eat healthy, etc, etc....In the back of my mind I'm going, Kelsey you are SO blessed, there are people who literally have NOTHING...but does that stop me? Of course not.
SO we went to church this morning and the first round of worship was incredible and slowly eased us into what was about to be a big face smacking. They did songs about trusting God and stepping closer to Him, He will never let you go, depend on Him...you starting to see where this is going? I was but again...Denial.
Then it was all laid out....Paul and Silas, in the prison, singing praise. But not just light and fluffy like that, nope with great detail about the pain they endured, the conditions they were in, the fact that they had EVERY reason to complain...but didn't. Then the pastor goes on to give examples of what we complain about...to bad the examples ALL applied to me :( "Why are you complaining and worried about not having the finances? Not knowing your living situation? Not having the job you want? (By now Jenna and I are glancing at each other "guilty" written all over our faces).
He put it this way...if you were a writer you don't just write things on accident...it is all with a purpose, even if the reader doesn't see the reason right away. This life, this journey, is not your story to write...This is God's. we need to choose if we are going to stick around long enough to see the reasons and the results. Then we end and again come the songs of, trust, surrender, perspective.
Perspective was a word used a lot this morning throughout the sermon and it has really stuck with me...we choose which perspective to take and I seem to be pretty good at taking the doubtful, pessimistic one....when really I should be excitedly taking the perspective of Wow, God is doing something incredible here and I am honored to be considered a part of it.
So back on track and ready to face the week....jobs by wed=apartment no jobs by wed= taking positive perspective and seeing what else He has in store.

VOTE FOR ELIANA!

Ok Please vote everyday for my sweet niece Eliana...I know this is a little shallow compared to the last post but we gotta have some fun and joy in our lives :)
You can also go to the facebook event!
http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/lindseyewheeler/93799996/

Food Shortage

You ever feel homesick and completely helpless all at the same time? I would love to be home in Guatemala right now but maybe the helplessness would be even stronger if I was....please pray for these hurting people...please pray for my dear family Andrew and Hannah, Scott, Melissa, Madi and dear baby Caden as they are living in Guatemala. Please pray for my dear kiddos at Casa Bernabe...and especially, pray for all the people struggling to provide for their families.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8254841.stm