Family Photo 2012

Merry Christmas from the Lensch Clan!!

A Somber Post

Yesterday was a hard day. And even in that I know that others had a much harder day. But sad it still was. Yesterday our Lady dog was hit by a car going too fast down our road. She had slipped out to run to her apple orchard across the street--a place she knew she wasn't supposed to go and we were still working to patch in our gate to keep her from the danger that she didn't know was there.

It's amazing how much you come to love these little pets that God gives us. We got Lady when she was 3 months old and she lived with us until she was 7.5 months. She was still just a big baby (already around 65 pounds) and quite frankly was a ton of work for me. In the 4 months that we had her I was with her almost every day. She was a little rascal--chewing our books, eating food off the counter, destroying shoes and furniture, getting into our garden and eating all our tomatoes (her favorite--what a strange dog!). She wasn't afraid of anything (except Wolfie's rage when she would steal his bones) and she even tried to jump off 2 cliffs while we were hiking.

But God gave her to us for 4 precious months and the joy she brought exceeded all the work. Lady was my first dog and being a self proclaimed, "not a dog person," Lady wriggled her way into my heart with her mischievous nature, sweet brown eyes, and natural inclination to shake paws. Chris and I are grieving our sweet pup. I don't think we could've asked for a more affectionate and dear Malamute.

This is the second pet I have buried since moving onto our property this year and every time death hits, it is just a reminder to me that there is something very final and wrong about death. Around me I know friends who have buried a baby, friends who have buried a mother, and friends who have buried a grandfather all in the last few weeks. And just yesterday as we buried our puppy, my heart broke for the families in Connecticut who were burying their precious little children. I'm sure their grief far outweighed my own. It makes me long for a day when there will be no more death. Death is so terrible and perhaps the hardest thing is that there is nothing in my power that I can do to reverse it.

But we are not like those without hope because as Christians we can look forward to a day when death will be no more. When we are powerless against death we can look to the One who has conquered death. He is our hope. What great hope there is in the incarnation that we celebrate at this time of year because Christ has come. The Messiah took on flesh as a little baby so that He could conquer death for us on the cross. What a terrible death he died for our sakes but then he ROSE AGAIN! Hallelujah! We long for the new heaven and the new earth.

Chris and I went to the Messiah on Monday night and these words brought such joy and hope to our hearts:

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Job 19:25-26

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 1 Cor. 15:20

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. 1 Cor. 15:51-52

And one more give-away

Sarah at Hearty-Helpings is giving away an adorable Anthropologie apron on her blog! She will ship anywhere in the U.S. If you need great recipe ideas, you should peruse her blog while you are over there. She has a great balance of healthy and delicious in her cooking! Go here to enter the give-away.

Knittybutton Give-away

The bestie is hosting a thanksgiving giveaway on her blog. You can win a hand knit stripey hat for any size that you wish and perhaps the best news for some of you is that she is happy to ship internationally. So head on over to knittybutton and enter to win! And don't forget to check out all her cute photos of baby Sam while you are there.

Hello from Hanover

We are in the Northeast this week visiting Chris' family for Thanksgiving. We are also spending a few days with his grandfather in New Hampshire-my first time to meet him. As a west coast girl it amazes me that you can drive through several states in a matter of hours and we did this on Sunday afternoon driving from New York to Hanover. We are staying across the street from Dartmouth where Chris' parents met and enjoying very much the new scenery as well as the company with his parents and grandparents. Ill try to update again soon but if you don't hear from me before Thursday I hope you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Well, with Thanksgiving in 2 weeks, Christmas is just around the corner and what better time to start thinking about gifts than the present (yes, see what I did there?).

I really like the idea of supporting small businesses and have a few friends with Etsy shops selling their own handmade creations so I thought it would be fun to compile a list for you of the creative shops that I am aware of. If you know of other great (small business) shops that people should check out for Christmas gifts, please feel free to put them in the comment section.

I should note that none of these shops asked me to advertise for them and the following is 100% my words and my opinion.

Jewelry:

Carissa at Carissa's Silver Lining

A wide variety of custom jewelry plus photography and crochet as well.

Specializes in those adorable name necklaces which would be a great gift for any little girl in your life.

*note this is not my shop although I like the name!--my cousin married a Carissa and this is her shop.

Heather at Diddle Daddles

A brand new shop starting out selling jewelry.

Knit Goods:

Ali at KnittyButton

Ali is a knitting machine! She can knit anything from hats to sweaters to stuffed animals. If you are interested in ordering from her, act fast because I know her knitting is in high demand and her knitting hands can only knit so fast. More ideas to custom order on her blog.

Children's Gifts:

Shannon at MayaBella

You have to check out this sweet little shop. She specializes in custom plush name signs which are a unique addition to any child's room.

She is taking custom orders until the end of November so act fast!

Paper Goods:

Taara at Print Line

The most creative paper goods you'll see around! Specializing in invitations, this would be a great option for any holiday parties you have coming up.

Brian at Your Front Page

With several years of newspaper editing under his belt, Brian will create an authentic Front Page to celebrate that hard to buy special someone in your life. These can be framed and hung on your wall to enjoy forever.

Home Decor/Organization:

Patty at Let's Talk Chalk
Chalk labels for anything you can imagine. They sell the chalk pens too so you don't have to try and write beautiful things with a tiny stub of chalk.

Wolfie and Other Things

Have I mentioned yet that we got another dog? Yup. That's right. I went from never owning a dog in my life to having two BIG dogs. Meet Wolfie our German Shepherd. Chris got to take him to work this weekend to help in some of their training but most of the time he keeps me safe at home while I was alone. Chris had to be away for 3 weeks over the last month so he definitely did make me feel safer at night.

Have I also mentioned that Chris started his own blog? He's been thinking about it for a while and finally took the plunge. It has a bit of a different flavor from my blog as it centers around theology, but he is a gifted writer and a thoughtful and wise man so I hope you can glean some nuggets of Christian wisdom from visiting his site. You can find him blogging over at Blessed Is the Man.

And to close off this post, just one more mention about my Norwex party. My house is sparkling now after a little TLC at the party and it was a lot of fun to spend an afternoon with some girlfriends. I'm keeping my party open until tomorrow if anyone wants to place an order and try out their amazing products--I promise you'll never go back to normal cleaning products again. And if you live in Tacoma and want to try hosting your own party, I definitely recommend Andrea for doing it. She did a great job and as a hostess you come away with a lot of free stuff!

Hope you all have a wonderful week! xoxo

Norwex Party

Ever heard of Norwex? Well, if you haven't, I think its worth checking out! It is a cleaning product that I personally believe beats all cleaning products. The wonderful thing about Norwex is that all you need is the rags and water and you can be assured that your house is getting clean without all the crazy chemicals that are found in most cleaning products. The cloths are anti-bacterial so you can be sure that they are cleaning your surfaces and the germs off your kids hands. My sister Ruth is convinced that they were less sick last winter because of using Norwex in the house to keep the germs at bay--and that is with 5 little ones in the house! You can check out their products and some FAQ here.

And all of this promotion is because I am hosting a Norwex party on Saturday November, 3 at my home at noon. I would love for you to come if you are in the area! If you don't live close and would still like to order from my party, just let me know what you would like by Saturday and I can either bring it to you if you are in Tacoma or ship it to you if you are in the U.S.

**Bring a Guest and get a free Gift**

**Spend $100.00 and get free shipping**

Let me know if you want to hear more about Norwex or need recommendations for what to start with.

Some Inside Shots

Here are a few more inside shots that were taken pretty early on when we moved in so things are slowly changing around here. Sorry I didn't share these sooner!

Our Kitchen and Nook: Now painted with some blue walls--cupboards are still white.

The Nook being painted a happy blue

My countertops are the same as the bathroom wall backsplash in the house I grew up in. Must've been the in thing in the 1940s!

Original wood floors! Chris spent a lot of time refinishing them! This is a view from the kitchen into the Living area.

Floors in Progress

Our Fireplace. I go back and forth on whether or not I like the red but I think eventually it will be painted.

Another living room space. This room was an addition to the house so when we ripped out the carpet there was no beautiful 1940s wood floor underneath. We got someone to come match it to our other floors which took some time but we are happy we did it!

Floors all done and the room painted. The floors are a little lighter and not as yellow as they look in this photo.

The fun things of an old house are finding what is hidden under the paint and floors. Love this old wallpaper that we found under the base boards. Too bad it is all covered up again!

Chris found these old newspapers from 1943 when he ripped out the carpets. Really neat treasures!!

Our hopes are to convert the upstairs into our Master Suite but for now our King Size bed takes up on of the rooms downstairs. You don't need much more than a bed right?

Lots of potential to work with upstairs--just have to start the work!

More of the unfinished attic upstairs.

Lots more to do but it is progressing! Sometimes I think it would've been nice to just buy a new home with all the work done, but then again it is so fun to have the character of our little old farm home and its nice to put the work in to make it just how we want our little home!

Interior Design

I realize that I still haven't posted inside pictures of my house for you and I really need to get on that. We moved in almost 3 months ago already but between summer travels, adding new pets, and waiting for some floors to be refinished it has been a slow move-in process for sure. But we are getting closer to really feeling settled and thanks to friends and family who have been helping it is turning into our home.

Here's a peek at one of the little rooms that recently was painted and turned into our guest room/library. Here is where you can stay if you come to visit! Special thanks to Becca and Talitha for helping me paint this room!!

Ready to Paint!

In Progress

Adding Books and More Books!

Summer Photo Dump

Here are some of the photos of our summer adventures that I never posted. I decided to just highlight a few in one post or they might never get up here.

I got to go back to my beloved summer camp this year as a counselor. Its one of my favorite places in the world and was a highlight of my summer. Someday I'll bring Chris there but this year did not work out with his work schedule.

We went to several weddings this summer. Chris was in his friends' wedding in Colorado Springs this summer so we got to travel there. Chris went to college there so it was fun to see where he spent 4 years of his life. I think a highlight for him was having a sword at the wedding. :) His sister Liz drove up from NM to join us at the wedding and I was so glad to have someone to hang out with while Chris was busy with groomsman stuff.

A few weeks later both of Chris' sisters came up to join us for the first week of August. They really went out of their way to help make Chris' birthday special and we had a lot of fun celebrating with them at our new house.

Then we all drove down to Gasquet, CA where we met up with Chris' parents and his extended family to attend his cousin Brooke's wedding. They got married in the river behind her house and the bride and her father kayaked in for their entrance while the guests watched from the rocks beside the river.

We also got to stop by the Nor-Cal beach while we were there and it was incredible to hear all the seals barking even though we couldn't see them. They were on those rocks you can see a little off the shore. We also got to visit the redwoods and enjoy the beauty of those forests.

Chris' parents came home with us after this to see our new place and helped us continue to get settled in. It sure has been a full and adventurous summer!!

Fall Walks

There's no doubt about it! We live in a beautiful part of the country and I just love watching the seasons change. I can't remember the last time it rained (not counting the misty fog thing we had going on a few mornings ago) and it has been a wonderful summer. But after several hot hot days this summer I think I am actually ready for what this fall has to offer: beautiful changing leaves and crisp mornings. Lady and I went on a little hike this morning and got to enjoy a bit of this transition from summer to fall. We serve a wonderful creator!

Give-AWAY

I've mentioned my brother-in-law's business before but here is your chance to enter a give-away for a free personalized front page of your own! It would make a great keepsake for yourself or a wonderful gift to give away (think Christmas??). Go here to enter!

Fresh Garden Salsa

Plundered my garden yesterday and got to turn

This:

And This:

Into This:

So great!!

Lovin' Some Links

Here is a collection of links that I have found interesting/moving over the last few weeks. 

My cousin blogged some thoughts on being introverted a while back and I think I had already saved this link about the top 5 things to know about an introvert in the church. The older I get the more I realize that I am very much an introvert yet most people don't believe me when I tell them this. Maybe I'm only half an introvert? I especially relate to number four.

For various reasons, this article has been relevant in my life of late: http://www.leithart.com/2012/05/21/too-catholic-to-be-catholic/

I think that canceling your wedding would take a lot of courage and trust but I admire this girl for doing it: Today Was Supposed to be My Wedding Day


And continuing with the theme of marriage, these are good ones to read if you are not married yet or counseling someone who is unattached:
For the girls: It Matters Whom You Marry
For the guys: Guys, It Matters Whom You Marry Too

This Story of God's Faithfulness is likely to make you tear up but it is definitely worth watching.

Let me know if you have thoughts on any of these links too!

Lady and the Tramps

Chris loves dogs so one of the reasons we were looking for a house with property is so that we could get a puppy.

 Meet our sweet Lady. She is part wolf/racoon/polar bear/badger commonly known as an Alaskan Malamute.

 Lady was 3 months old when we got her and a 30 lb puppy at that point.

 She is already growing a ton and someday will be between 70-90 pounds.

 This is our piggy...oh wait...no, that is just Lady again.

 Lady is my first dog ever. Can you believe that? Of course I love her but I think my alliances will always be to kitties as a "cat person."

 So now we have 3 little kittens outside in the barn.

We are enjoying all the fun animal antics and trying to figure out how to get our animals to live in harmony. Lady loves the kittens--loves to put them in her mouth that is. So its made for some interesting times on the Sobel farm already. The kittens are growing though and they tend to be the sneaky quick ones which seems to be a fair match for Lady's brute strength. I'm sure there will be more animal stories to come.