Home Sweet Home: Our First House

We've dreamed of this day for a very long time, but never saw it in sight until recently. Greg and I moved out of our duplex rental into a family members house to save money and begin the home buying process. We thought we'd be with them a lot longer, but Jesus had other plans. We found a home we fell in love with immediately while walking through it. Is it our style? Somewhat, yes, The bones are FANTASTIC, the hardwoods are beautiful and "style" can be fixed by paint and filling it with the right items.

We officially closed on 05/03/17 and this cute little key is officially ours. We can't wait to share this journey with you as we renovate, paint and go through the roller coaster of emotions that comes with home-ownership.

As we begin to paint, clean and move I want to leave you with a few verses that are speaking to my heart at this moment in time. Enjoy!

Proverbs 24:3-4 “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established;
by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

2 Chronicles 7:15-16 “Now my eyes will be open
and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be
there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time."

1 Samuel 25:6 “And thus you shall greet him:
'Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.”

Proverbs 24:27 “Prepare your work outside;
get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.”

1 Kings 8:13 “I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

Luke 10:5 “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’”

Fasting

My husband and I are participating in a biblical fast during the month of January. It's called "the Daniel fast." We're super pumped for this opportunity to move forward in our faith and marriage. 

I fully intend to update you via our blog during the month, but also remain active on Instagram and our Etsy shop. If you're wanting to stay in touch and do not currently have a way to do so, please don't hesitate to reach out to us before we deactivate our remaining social media accounts. 

Has anyone done this specific fast before? Any recommendations? Thoughts? 

We're excited! xoxo 

2015. New outlook. New goals.

"Home is wherever I'm with you..."

Christmas time and New Years are always a wonderful time to reflect on your life. I typically spend time gazing at the tree, writing cliche resolutions or goals for the new year. This year was different. Christmas Eve I got to thinking about life and all of our blessings, but also all of our complaints or excuses. I didn't write our typical New Years resolutions, because they weren't important to me. I spent time praying. I spent time focusing on my husband and our dog, plus their needs, but also the needs of my kids at work and my wifely duties. I found myself focusing on the real meaning of Christmas and the real blessing of Him. It helped me to put our life into perspective & see how much the good out weighs the bad.

 I realized I spend a lot of my mornings drinking my coffee, driving to work and dreaming. Sometimes I get so involved in planning out our week, month, baby nurseries, DREAM house and future plans that I get lost. I lose track of what is real. I lose sight of the present. I miss the moments that matter now. 

It sometimes takes me quiet moments staring at a Christmas tree or the peaceful silence of nap time at work to wake me up and realize the blessing that NOW has to offer us. A home is not about the appearance, space or value. It's about the memories you create in it with the ones you love. Christmas isn't about the presents, santa or the snow. It's about Jesus and all he has done for us. Life is meant to be a journey and a walk with Jesus. I don't know about you, but this isn't our "home" forever. Heaven is our goal, so why put so much thought into the feelings of others and try to constantly please this world and the people in it?

Today I am thankful for these simple reminders, our current home and everyday blessings.

Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas!

My husband and I celebrated our first Christmas in our new apartment. We were married last Christmas but lived in a house with a bunch of friends, and it wasn't as meaningful without all the home decor and family surrounding us, like we had this year. We really tried to incorporate the true meaning of Christmas into this year, because it seems like so much of the world is forgetting the true meanings behind Christmas. I'll share more about our holiday and the many blessings we received in our next update (tomorrow).

It was a year of smiles, tears and laughs. We're sad to see 2014 go, but know that 2015 will bring many new blessings, memories and challenges. We're ready to go running with the new year. Are you?

I haven't been updating much lately due to a new job and the busy of getting used to working full time and the holidays/beginning of the school year. I'm back with a full line up of updates for you guys- starting tomorrow! Are you ready!? I'm ready to be back!

xoxo

F A L L to do's

Where has this year gone? We're coming up on my birthday, Greg's birthday and our wedding anniversary. I can't remember the last time I was able to update this blog. This summer got away from us too quickly, while leaving one too many things on our to-do list for fall.

First things first: What's new with us? Well, the Day Camp program I was working is now over and we're in the process of the "before and after school" program. It's part time and it's a split shift which is hard on my schedule, but I'm making it work. Greg started a new job at F&F Tire about two months ago. He loves it. Greg also started ushering at church on Sunday's. I'm so proud of him and how hard he works to support our family. Juno is doing good. He's starting to slowly, but surely, gain his winter weight as we have less time to spend outside, but he's happy and sassy. That pretty much sums up any chances we've got going on around here.

We've got a lot of things we want to do this year as a family. This is not our first season of holidays as a married couple, but we lived with friends until March of this year so we didn't get to do all the cute fun stuff that newlywed's get to do together for the first time. This year we're planning on doing it all, from pumpkin patches to buying our first Christmas tree :) and I'm beyond excited for every step. We've already started adding movies to our "holiday" selection and decorated for fall. We're in the process of phasing in our fall recipes, but our kitchen is a disaster right now as we're finishing up our kitchen chair remodel. I'm putting together a list of things we're going to do this holiday season and plan to share it with you all over the next week. What are some of your favorite fall traditions?

I've gotta get back to work but I will leave you with a fall recipe. We made this last week when we had friends over for the PACKERS SEASON OPENER....and a lot of you asked us to share, but we never actually got around to posting it. Here's the recipe!

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P U M P K I N | C H I L I

You'll need: 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 red onion, 2 lbs of either spicy sausage or beef, 2 cans of beans (we used one red and one black), 1 can of pumpkin, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste and one can of green chilies. You will also need the toppings of your choice. We used Frito's, sour cream, green onions and cheese.

Directions: 1| Chop up all peppers and onions

2| Brown your meat

3| Drain your beans

4| Combine all canned items

Place everything in the CP & cook on low for 4-6 hours

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Enjoy xoxo

Garbage disposal stink?

Ive recently noticed that the warmer it gets outside the more our garbage disposal stinks. I ran to the internet to find ways to get rid of the stink and came up with this recipe. It's simple and healthier for everyone in our household. 

You'll need:

1 cup of lemon juice 

1/2 cup of baking soda

Mix the two in the large mixing bowl and pour down drain. Let sit for 2 minutes and the run garbage disposal with water for 2 minutes. 

Wal-ah! Your kitchen and sink smell amazing. 

Enjoy 😃👍

Becoming the Roberts: Living room revealed

       

DUN DUN DUN... onto images of our actual living room. Here's our reveal:

This is the basic layout of our living room from left to right, while standing in the kitchen. We were going to paint the wall with the window on it, too, however we decided that'd be a bit much for the small room. Our apartment offers a bay window with wooden ledge in each unit rather than a patio or balcony. We love this, because it allows a lot of light into the apartment, but also the freedom to close the blinds if we're not in the mood for daylight at that given moment. There is a horrible glare on the TV if we leave the window open, due to them being directly across from each other. Disclaimer: I didn't pose Juno in any of these images. He seems to hate having his picture taken when I want to take, but loves to photo bomb shots I don't want him to be in - thanks Jubuggy.

LIVING ROOM ACCENTS AND DESCRIPTIONS

Upper left hand corner: This image is my absolute favorite! It gives you an idea of the wall color we choose, along with a bunch of items that have tons and tons of meaning to us. The upper left hand corner was a gift from my grandmother the day before our wedding. It reads "Greg & Kristin 09-21-13". She captured my heart with this piece as it's extremely vintage and it has the golden metal as words. The upper right hand corner was a piece I had purchased online from a crafter, and had a lady at church redo the writing. It speaks a lot about who we are and how we put all of our trust into Jesus. Bottom left: This is my main inspiration for this entire room. This is from our collection of engagement images from Danah Zoulek photography. We shot them at Old Falls Village in my hometown which is a country western restored park that allows children to see what the olden days were about, & last but surely not least - our last name on a wooden plaque with gold nails and yellow yarn. OBSESSED! Not only does it have my three favorite materials but its original to us and our marriage. This is the main focal point when walking into our apartment. 

Upper right hand corner: The table that has the beautiful decorations is being replaced with the table I posted at the beginning of this entry. The tulips are a gift from Greg on Easter, the golden candle (Micheal's) in the hurricane vase (Signature Homestyles) is our unity candle from out wedding. The white stand (Hobby Lobby) holding the large white melted fake candle (gift from our wedding) was also used as a part of our unity candle. The Owl that is a part of our entertainment stand was purchased from Micheal's, too. I had two [one big and one small] but gifted the other to my mother for helping with out move this past March. She loved it, as do I.

Bottom row: The brown boxes will be stacked next to the side table [beginning of entry] when we get it and the owl and lamp will make it's way on top. The owl I got as a gift for our wedding, and the boxes I bought for $1/box at Michael's craft store. They hold our wedding keepsakes and photos we printed and don't want to forget. I absolutely love pulling them out during long days and going through each of them to relive memories of our marriage and engagement. I plan to get a new box for every single year. The lamp is from target and can hold anything in the bottom. I chose to place these small wooden balls in them because we have yet to go on vacation to a beach where we can collect sand and seashells. We'll replace the wooden balls when we make it to a beach. This lamp was $34 at Target, but $29 with my cartwheel app. The rug that's in the middle underneath the table is a $150 Nate Burkus rug that I scored on clearance for $22.00 one busy afternoon at Target. My bestie and I made a trip to goodwill later that day and saw another one on their floor as a Target reject for $75! I think I got mighty lucky when I scored this baby for our living room.

This is the cabinet that holds our 20 gallon fish tank compliments of our best friends Nicole & Jason. We got the cabinet at Target and it's been sturdy enough to hold the fish tank and showcase our belongings on the bottom. The white basket behind the Showboat picture is holding a ton of fish food, fish receipts and fish tank cleaner ;) - and the Showboat thingy has a picture from our honeymoon inside of it. The awesome yarn rhino is from Target and was a gift from our wedding. He stands on top of all of our diploma's as a symbol to me that you can defeat anything, school and tuition payments included. The bottom shelf showcases an owl I scored for $3 at Bath and Body works, a vessel holding sand and sells from our honeymoon and a wooden sign that I bought of groopdealz.com shortly before our wedding. I love the saying "have a thankful heart".

There is also a close up of the owl with this grouping of pictures that sits in our TV stand. If you can't already tell by this post that my favorite colors happen to be yellow and real and I've got an obsession with owls, then you need to get your head checked, haha.

We love our living room and feel it discribes and fits us perfectly at this point in our lives. It will grow with us and it will surely allow for changes as we add members to our family and change with the seasons. I can't wait to see it decorated for fall or Christmas, but my husband is quick to remind me to have a thankful heart and not get ahead of myself in wishing away time we have today.

We'd like to take a minute to thank the many people who have taken time our of their day to help with decorating, moving and cleaning our apartment over the last two months. Our move wouldn't have been possible without you. I'd also like to thank the many people that supported us in our marriage and on our wedding day. We love you and are blessed daily by each and everyone on of you. Please check back soon to see more awesome apartment reveals. Enjoy your rainy Tuesday friends! We'll be posting our bedroom reveal on Thursday and our bathroom and kitchen reveal on for Five on Friday! 

I'll give you a hint as what to expect....

teal, lots more teal :P    .

xox the Roberts

Decisions decisions decisions...

OUR NEW COUCH IS HERE!!!!! I can't wait for the apartment reveal to show it to you... so I'm showing you now! However, I need your opinions on side tables and a new center table. I've searched high and low for what I want and I finally stumbled upon some I love on the Walmart webpage.

Here's our new couch...
Yes, I'm hiding the wall decor and the rest of the room until the reveal (which is this MONDAY!).

And here's where you come into play. These are the end tables/side tables I have to choose between - as they're the only ones that fit our style and are in our budget. Ones a cobblestone gray (which most of the living room decor is shades of brown), one is a rainwater blue green and the other is a yellow. I'm struggling to decide because they'd all look good in this room. A friend suggested one of each, but I think that might be overboard. Your thoughts? :)

Here's a few close ups of the colors:

Post a comment with your thoughts and I'll wait to purchase until probably next Friday! Thank you!!!

xox the Roberts

Steals, deals and home decor

GUESS WHAT? GUESS WHAT? GUESS WHAT?!

It's good Friday! What better day to share our news of purchasing a new couch and rug than to do it on a FIVE ON FRIDAY, GOOD FRIDAY day?! There isn't a better day!

My husband and I have been searching high and low for a couch that we absolutely loved but also for the right price. We couldn't find one with a chaise that wasn't in a dark chocolate color. As most of you know we've got a husky/lab mix that's a white/cream color with some red in his fur. Any couch that wasn't a perfect cream wouldn't work with our decor or it'd show too much of his hair for our liking. Huskies shed 4 times a year and when they shed - it's their entire coat. We vacuum 2-3 times daily most weeks in order to keep up on it.

Well.... we found the perfect couch! Where?! ASHLEY FURNITURE!!! They're hosting a 25% off sale this weekend so we saved over $400 on this beauty! I've heard both negative and good reviews from there, but we decided to take the plunge and give it a shot. We loved the lady we worked with and she was extremely helpful without being pushy. It should be delivered a week from tomorrow. It's a perfect cream color and it happens to allow us to keep our current decor, have more seating and not show as much of our dogs hair.

Are you ready to see it?! We aren't getting it delivered until a week from tomorrow so you're going to have to deal with a store picture until that time... but you better believe it'll be in the apartment reveal as soon as I can possibly get everything put together.

Here's the stock picture! I'm in LOVE. I can't wait to see it in OUR space!!

The rug?! I scored a $150 Nate Burkes rug from target for $22! Can you feel my excitement?!!! I can't wait to share a picture of our actual rug on our apartment revealwhen we get our new couch! Here's a picture of the rug, however ours has a blue/teal weave through it. Apparently there were only 40 made in our style! EVEN COOLER!!!! I feel this savings calls for a giveaway! I'm going to be posting one this weekend for a $20 Target giftcard and possibly something from my sisters shop ;)! Check back for more details.

I also used my cartwheel app to save 50% off a bed in a bag set for our bedroom. I'm in love with Chevron and it's the perfect teal blue color to match our sheets and the golden yellow accents in our bedroom. I'm keeping this item a secret until our reveal.

& AS PROMISED here's my 5 on FRIDAY -
1) New couch pictures coming in a few hours
2) ITS SPRING BREAK! What's better than that?! Nothing!...Oh wait, it's better with sunshine and above freezing temperatures... and we're blessed with that, too!
3) KARMA WATER! Have you tried it? I'm in love and completely addicted to it. It's a water that offers vitamins in the cap. You peal of the seal, push in the crushed vitamins and drink it. Try it! You'll love it.
4) Easter Sunday! We're so excited to celebrate with loved ones. I pray none of you forget the actual reason for the season. I was raised, as was Greg, to know it's about Jesus and not a fake bunny that gives you gifts.
5) My new rug picture coming soon! I'm so obsessed with the Nate Burkus line and if you haven't checked it out yet --- you're surely missing out! It's amazing quality and cute decor for your home or apartment!

xox I'm off to enjoy this beautiful weather before we paint the apartment this evening. I love painting.
- the Roberts

#targetdoesitagain

Yes... I titled this entry with a hashtag and I know some of you may find that annoying, however I don't care. Why? Because TARGET is AMAZING and I always get treated like royalty when I go into a store. 

I've been questioned many times how I save money at Target stores and I figured instead of explaining it to many different people I'd just post a blog update about it. Here it goes....

CARTWHEEL - It's an app on Android and Apple that Target releases coupons with an expiration date. You get to pick and choose which coupons you add to your "account" and it gives you ONE barcode to scan for ANY of those coupons! It's AH-MAZE-ING! This application also gives you the option to link it to your Facebook and share deals your friends. This application has coupons for clothes, diapers, food, housewares, pet supplies and EVERYTHING in the store.

RED CARD - Target has a special card you can link straight to your checking account so instead of them paying the credit card companies the fee's the run your credit or debit cards, they run your red card and save you an extra 5%! We weren't sold on it with the cashiers sales pitch of it but when we bought a new grill and realized we could save $20 on it then we couldn't fill out the application fast enough.

TARGET WEBSITE COUPONS - Did you know if you go to the Target website that you can click on the upper right hand corner by their categories and print at home coupons in which you can stack with manufacture coupons to save even more money? Well now you do! I do it often to save on groceries and typically get many items cheaper than you can find them at Aldi's.

BANK REWARDS - I'm not sure if all banks offer this but our bank gives us cash back on every purchase and we can redeem them for Target gift cards quarterly. This past quarter we got $50 free at Target for using our debit card. We cashed the giftcards in for a two shelf cabinet that now holds our fish tank. 

#targetdoesitagain

Target always gets the best of me because as most people know - I typically can't go in and spend under $100 while walking out with EXACTLY what was on our shopping list, but because of these quick, easy and fun saving tips I typically can get the things I want while saving on the things I need, and not overspending. I hope you can too! 

Now onto the fun part... How I've scored this awesome beside table while using the deals above... ;)

Do you see that little yellow bedside table!? It was orginally $98. I paid $52 ;) HOW?! Easy. There was a cartwheel coupon for 20% off a threshold housewares item + 5% off on my target red card + 20% off because there was a scratch on it. I also had a gift card worth $40  (from a in store return) so I ended up only paying $12 for it. YAYYY SCORE!!!! I'm 110% in L O V E!

xxxoo the Roberts

Something 'bout a T R U C K

My husband and I had been having lots of problems with our truck. He's taken all the coworker mechanics advice and decided to finally sell it and start on a new project. Project trucks are Gregs absolute FAVORITE. He searched high and low for a 1994-1996 Chevy Silverado with a solid engine, back seat and solid transmission. He finally found one and immediately listed his truck for sale. Within 2 days his truck sold for more than he was asking, or what it was worth.....THAT'S GOD!

Gregs new truck?  Here "she" is....as he'd say ;)

She's solid and she will need work on the body, but that's right up his alley. The muffler is loud and the tires are new. The interior fabric on the roof will also need to be fixed. We're pretty proud of her.

I'll update you with pictures as we do more work on it :)

xo The Roberts

Teaching: St. Patricks day crafts and fun

Tomorrow the district I work for has off school, so I went onto Pinterest to try to find some fun and entertaining ways to get the kids excited about St Patricks day! What did we do before Pinterest?! I honestly have no clue. Our days off program is open on days off school from 6:00a-6:00p. 12 hours! It makes for a long day, so sugar + fun is a definite must to keep them occupied and behaving.

*Disclaimer: I found these ideas on pinterest and copied the pictures straight from my saved boards. I just figured I'd share them with you, since most of you have kids of your own.

We'll start our day coloring and making traps on the four tables I covered with a huge white roll of paper. This will probably be their favorite part, because they get to be creative and have no limits as to what they can do. I can not wait to see what they create :)

A few more ideas I've got for the day include:

1) Making a maze throughout the playground using rainbow colored yarn with a treat, or "treasure" of lucky charms and green milk with FUN straws at the end of it. I know they'll LOVE this part. Who wouldn't like to have a special treat of lucky charms?!

2) We're going to be using green, yellow, orange and red peppers to make Shamrock paintings.

& lastly, we're doing a science experiment! I spent a good 20-30 minutes tracing large Shamrocks, which they will cut out & then I'll mix 1/4 cup green paint with 3/4 cup of baking soda. After they're done painting, we'll squirt them with vinegar! The kids shrill with excitement watching it fizzle & bubble.

I hope these crafts help you have a little bit more of an exciting Saint Patricks day with your kiddos, and if they don't - and you chose to celebrate other ways, then I pray for your safety and smart decisions. I know we'll be celebrating by staying home, snuggling and watching The Voice! We're obsessed!!!!

Happy Saint Patricks Day to you and yours.

xo The Roberts

Recipe: Chicken Taco Soup

Before I share this fabulous recipe I wanted to take a minute to shout out to my sister, Katie Guth, for redoing my blog layout for me. Doesn't it look amazing? She captured my country style with a little girly twist that I absolutely adore! Katie has many talents and has always been my #1. She works full time at a car restoration place as the receptionist, but also runs a full time photography business - and makes the cutest screen printed baby leggings! If you're interested in finding out more about her photography business you can find her images at: www.katieguthphotography.com - Thanks Katie!!

Who likes TACOS? Who likes soup on a chilly 29* day? We do! 

We moved into our apartment on 03/1 and I scoured the web for crock pot freezer recipes for that first week. I didn't want to have to worry about cooking dinner while unpacking, organizing and working. It worked. I had off that Monday, so I prepped all the meals in gallon size freezer bags and froze them. Each evening I grabbed one out and thawed it, then threw it in the crock pot before leaving for work. 8 hours later when we arrived home, wah-la dinner is served!

Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans

1 (15 ounce) can of black beans

1 (8 ounce) can of tomato paste

1 (15 ounce) can of whole kernel corn, drained

1 (12 ounce) can of beer [we used non alcoholic]

2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

1 package of taco seasoning

3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips for toping/serving purposes

Combine ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for FIVE hours, then shred the chicken ad place back in on low for another TWO hours. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and crushed tortilla chips.

We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. 

xox The Roberts

Reno

Please excuse the dust as we redo the layout of our blog.

I promise you... apartment tour coming soon! I'm just so busy with work that I don't have time to finish our decor and my perfectionist personality won't allow me to show it to you until its 100% complete ;).

My husband finally got his 55" TV. I keep telling him it's too big for our living room, but he begs to differ. I must say, it's AWESOME doing workout videos on + watching our favorite shows: Greys Anatomy & The Voice. He also surprised me with this cute TV stand that I've been wanting for YEARS. I LOVE IT.

Despite the weather still dropping snow and cold temperatures through the midwest, I decided it was time to decorate for spring. I'm in love with our new high table and bring colored kitchen decor. It makes this cold, nasty weather a little easier to handle.

I'll be sure to come back and share more pictures of our apartment for all to see after our blog redo.

Thanks for your dedication and patience.

xox the Roberts

Recipe: Salsa Pineapple Chicken

As I psoted in my last entry, my husband and I moved into our own place on March 1st, 2014 and we're thrilled to have our own space and the ability to cook dinner. Our busy schedules only allow us to cook together on Sundays, but we pick out crock pot freezer meals and prep them together, too. This is one of our absolute favorites and so easy to prep and execute on a busy day.

CROCK POT SALSA PINEAPPLE CHICKEN:

Ingredients:

1 16 once jar of pace salsa (we prefer medium, but you could use any)

1 jar of pineapple preserves

4-6 pieces of boneless chicken breasts

Ingredients for the garnishing:

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

Avacado

Combine salsa, preserves and chicken in the crock pot for 4 hours on high. Shred the chicken and serve with tortilla chips and your choice of garnishes. Easy peezy and completely delicious. 

Enjoy :)

MOVING

This past Saturday we've moved into our new apartment and we do have internet, however I won't be updating much this week due to the move. However, I am putting together a crock pot challenge for you mama's who are working with young kids, or newlywed's who struggle to get dinner on the table when you're working a long day. Stay tuned for more details on the crock pot challenge and images of our new apartment.

Transitions: Moving

The Roberts family is heading in a new direction and we couldn't be more excited to embark on this new journey for our family.  We're moving! Yep, you heard that correctly. March 1st, 2014 will be the big day!

Although we dreamed of this day coming for years - it's not exactly as we expected, but we KNOW God has a bigger plan than we could ever image. Our dreams included moving into a home we purchased and make it our own, however that dreams been put on hold until we decide if we're going to stay in Wisconsin or if we want to travel to another state, such as Tennessee or one of the Dakota's. For now, we're moving into an apartment about 20 minutes from our current living headquarters.  This transition is only the start of a new chapter! I'm excited.

I have yet to have a chance to get to the new apartment to take pictures of the unit (for this posting) however, that will come shortly after we begin to move. Over the years I've collected so many different home accessories and decor that I fear having to piece it all together in four short days. I know my style and Greg's are similar and we'll have no problem with the decoration process, but my OCD perfectionist tendencies tend to get the best of me in moving situations. I promise you, within a day or two, our entire apartment will be set up as a home and everything will be unpacked, even if it takes 30 cups of coffee and a sleep deprived me to accomplish it.

My biggest fear with this transition? Our 3 year old husky/lab mix Juno. He's been in our currently living arrangements since the day we brought him home and he's not used to an apartment, but instead a house, with little to no noise from neighbors. He's used to people coming and going, but he's always been able to greet them right away. I know he'll be fine and I'm just a worried pet momma, but I can't help but take precautions. Here's a few things we did to make his transition easier:

1. Bought wet food - I read many articles about this topic and we won't use it if we don't need it, however most pet parents said that their animal stopped eating for a few days when moving, and they had to mix wet food with dry food for a week to get them back onto their normal eating schedule. Juno has never had a typical eating schedule to him being a husky, so this may not even affect him.
2. Bought new toys and brought some of his old toys to the new place so that when we go to move boxes, or unpack, he has some new (excitement) but some familiar toys, too.
3. I did NOT wash his dog beds. I wanted him to have his safety of the smell of the old house with him to help him adjust to the new apartment. However, within a month of us moving, I'll probably wash both of them because I typically do them 2-3 times a month to keep them sanitary and prevent the hair build up.
4. Made more frequent trips to the dog park: Juno has ALWAYS been a dog park dog, if that makes sense. He loves to run, socialize and swim. We've made sure that his daily routine of walks and trips to the DP weren't interrupted.

I pray this new transition for our family goes smoothly and we ask that you do the same for us. Thank you for taking the time read our news and share in our joy. We couldn't be more excited!

Posts to look forward to in the new few weeks: Bare Apartment walls to a decorated home & A view into our 09/21/2013 wedding via our photography pictures. We look forward to sharing this journey with you.

xoxo the Roberts

Social media break

I decided that this week I need to refocus our lives and let go of my addiction to social media. I know some may not consider this an addiction, however, I do. I watched a video on Facebook a few days ago (linked HERE) that hit home pretty hard. This specific video focuses on the use of a cell phone blocking out human to human communication, along with the effects it can have on many of the relationships in your life. Phones have become such a big part of our culture that people are forgetting to take a step back and really look at the world and who is around them. I don't want to be that type of person, much less that type of wife or mother (in future tense).

Social media has become a big part of my life due to running an online rummaging website on Facebook. I've recently emailed the other administer on the page and announced my removal from it. I would spend hours upon hours on the website removing items that had been sold, correcting drama situations among members and making sure people were following the rules. It wasn't fun for me anymore. It caused me to need to be on my phone a lot more than I ever thought was possible. Sure, I'll miss being the first to see all items posted, but I'll gain a whole lot more in the process of removing myself.

Our Pastor preached a message this Sunday on why we believe what we do about water baptism, and our identity as Pentecostals. I love attending a church that has new members and allowing myself to still learn every service. I left this service thinking about the time I give to God daily, and what I ask of him or what I thank him for at the beginning and ending of each day. I realized that I spend more time on social media than I do giving to God in prayer, reading and study. That's not who I want to be in life. God paid the ultimate sacrifice for me (and you!) and we should not, under any circumstances, allow social media (or the media in general) to pay a bigger role in our lives than Jesus. I discussed this with Greg and we both agree that what is best for our walk with Jesus, together and individually, is to take a step back and give more of our day to our savior, than we do anything else.

In order to do that, I need to take a step back from all the popular social media sites such as instagram, facebook and twitter. I know there's more but those are the ones I typically use daily. Will I be back in the future? Definitely. I do believe that a healthy amount of these website is good for you - at least in the sense of keeping in touch with family and friends from out of state or whom you don't see on a daily basis. This is also good for advice. 

In other news:

Our family is in for some big changes in the next few months, regarding living arrangements, and we couldn't be more excited. We've tried to keep it hush hush, because we're not quite sure where we are going to be moving yet but we do know that we need to find a healthier environment for me and my husband. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the next few months! 

We wish you all a blessed Monday and the beginning of February - xoxo the Roberts

Winter colds

We've been fighting some real nasty sicknesses in this house for the last 2-3 weeks. I had bronchitis and Gregs been dealing with a horrible cold. It's causing him to not be able to hear at the moment. I think we're finally on our way uphill (and if we're not we're taking a trip to the doctor before the week is over to finally kill these nasty bugs). I will not be dealing with anymore of this crud this winter, after we've added many vitamins to our weekly intake. We've had our fair share of sickness, and we're donso. It's no longer welcome here ;)

I feel like everything is finally falling into place with our little family and can't wait to update you all on it, however, you're going to have to wait a bit for that update. My macbook charger broke last week and I'm waiting on my new one. Updating from my phone sucks.

Hope you're all doing well.

xo the Roberts

Consistency and balance.

I saw this year already going in the pattern that most years go. Everyone has new years resolutions, but rarely ever follows through with them through the whole year. I refuse to be one of those people. Greg and I made sure that we wouldn't be one of those people by making our new years resolutions more of goals than actual resolutions. I know I already did a post on what those were but I wanted to highlight some of the things I forgot or give updates on how we're doing - in hopes you'll find motivation to pick up the ones you've almost nearly left behind and forgot about as we're into the second/third week of the month!

My goals for the month of January? De-clutter and begin to pack away stuff we don't use everyday or don't need right now. I've gathered so much stuff over the last few years for our future home that I don't have anywhere near enough storage to store it all until we find the perfect place to call "our home". Thank GOD for Greg's parents being so generous to let us borrow part of their basement to store the majority of our stuff until we do move... which should be in a few short months! :) 

Lose weight: I'm down 5lbs. It's not a lot, but in 10 days of being sick, exercising and eating healthy - I'd say it's pretty darn good. I'm not giving up. I've even got Gregs mom to workout with now that we've gotten them memberships to the YMCA, too. I'm ready for some spin classes. I'm ready to be a better version of ME. I want to be in the best shape of my life by the end of 2014. I CAN DO THIS. 

Laundry and house cleaning: I've kept up on it this far and intend to keep up on it even more so throughout the year. I'm excited that for once I'm not sitting around doing nothing, and I'm feeling better because of it. Anxieties are subsiding the more I get active and get out of my normal routine or not doing much of anything, and feeling sorry for myself. BRING IT ON 2014!

Here's a few other updates on things we've promised to keep consistent and balanced this year 2014.

I had previously talked about a savings challenge that Greg and I are doing for 2014. We intend to save more over the months, but I wanted to encourage others to do with me so I opened a separate account to show our progress. If something would happen and we'd need to take money out of our savings, it wouldn't come out of this account - it'd come out of our "extra" savings account. Here's the screen shot of weeks 1,2,3&4 in the savings. Have your transferred your funds yet? Join us today!

Greg and I also started the bread challenge I mentioned in another post. Most of you don't know our religious background, because we feel it shouldn't matter what religion we are, but more so that we believe in Jesus Christ and live everyday to his perfect timing and grace. We haven't always live that way, but we made a goal and a promise to ourselves to follow through with his word and plans for our life in 2014, and we intend to do just that. There's nothing sweeter than starting every morning with Jesus, coffee, breakfast and my sweet husband.

We hope you're keeping up with those resolutions. We're praying for you!

xoxo the Roberts