Welcome to the Mr. Poe-Birthday-Edition of Foto Friday! Sadly, we're celebrating with more housework. This was our sixth week of work; although, it feels like we've been dealing with these projects for much longer (I guess that's what happens when you only have free time on the weekends). Here's what we've accomplished this week:
Living and Sun Rooms: continued laying hardwood (only the to-be-ripped rows left!)
Stairwell: one coat of paint (except in places I can't reach)
Upstairs Hallway: second coat of paint
Master Bathroom: continued to remove wallpaper and paint
S End Table and Wood Shelf: one and two coats of paint, respectively
Upstairs Carpet: areas measured; new carpet and pad purchased
If you're frustrated that I don't have any "finished" pictures to show you yet, just know that I am too! To add to the frustration, I'm also interrupting our three part painting series to talk about...
Removing Wallpaper
I hate wallpaper. I honestly cannot understand how anyone who has ever painstakingly removed it can put it up again, but there are several folks near and dear to me who have. I mean look at this:
Ugh...hours of work, and it's still there. Here are some techniques we've found useful in our wallpapering endeavors...
Water is your friend - spray the paper, spray it again, and then spray it some more. Water helps the glue release from the wall easier, even though it's not the 'cure-all.'
A straight edge is essential - the first week I removed any paper, I was scratching at it with my fingernails to get a good "pulling edge" up; this wore my nails down to the skin. (Ouch!) Make sure you have a straight edge to help you get the paper up: a used gift card, a spackling trowel, a spatula, anything.
Two is sometimes faster than one - when I first started removing wallpaper, I thought I was failing if I couldn't remove the decorative layer and the sticky layer of the paper at the same time. But the longer I worked at it, I found that it took much less time to rip off the layers however they would come off (sometimes together, sometimes not) than it did to finagle the paper to try and get everything off at once.
Patience is a virtue - last week I shared with you that I've been praying for practice with patience...wallpaper-pulling definitely fits the bill. It will take you much longer to de-wallpaper a room than you would have ever thought possible. But "slow and steady wins the race" (and leaves you with fewer gashes in the dry wall)...sing along with a good comfort hymns if you get too worked up.
It's another Theology Thursday here on the blog! As always, I invite you to open up your Bibles with me as we look at a small portion of God's Word.
As the book of Hebrews emphasizes, Christians are under a new covenant, superior to that associated with the Law of Moses. Often since we are under this new covenant, we spend most of our time in Bible study in the New Testament or simply the gospels. It is crucial to our spiritual walks that we read and understand the commands we should follow as partners in this new covenant; however, the Old Testament also offers us important information about God, His character, and His promises.
If we examine the Old Testament, we can see that God had a plan from the very beginning...and that plan was Christ. Jesus Himself said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17-18, "'Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or
one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.'" But when we do realize the benefit from examining the Old Testament, we tend to get bogged down in all the details- the names, places, nations, and battles- and "miss the forest for the trees" so to speak.
Last week, we started a Sunday morning series of lessons called "Bible 101." Essentially these four lessons (each Sunday morning at 9:55 am EST in February) will focus on the "big picture" of the Old Testament and how the major events in this part of the Bible point to Christ and the need for His perfect sacrifice for us. I invite you all to join us for the remainder of the series. If you're in the metro Atlanta area, feel free to stop by; if you're not, you can listen live online here. I hope you can join us!
Note: If you're reading this post after Feb 2012, this series of lessons can be found here.
It's another What's for Dinner Wednesday here on the blog! Tonight I'm going to share with you one of my favorite dishes, quiche.
Ingredients: pie crust, 5 eggs, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup cooked, chopped chicken*, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese*, 1/4 cup bacon bits*.
Scatter chicken, bacon, and cheese in the bottom of your favorite pie-crust (unbaked is best). Beat eggs, milk, and seasonings together with a fork in a medium bowl, and pour the mixture over the meat and cheese.
Bake at 350 until the egg is cooked and set and the crust is browned (about 40 minutes). Enjoy!
*These ingredients are optional and can be changed to fit whatever you have on hand. There is a multitude of veggies, meats, and cheeses that you can combine (or omit) to make this dish your own.
For the next Reading Review, I present to you "Then Sings My Soul, Book 3; The Story of Our Songs: Drawing Strength from the Great Hymns of Our Faith" by Robert J. Morgan.
This is another book that I received free from BookSneeze. I was very excited when I saw the title listed, and I knew that this would be a great birthday gift for Mr. Poe after I was finished reading and reviewing it.
"Then Sings My Soul, Book 3" is divided up into four parts. The first part gives a brief overview of the history of various styles of hymns (ancient hymns, English hymns, contemporary hymns, etc.). The second part contains brief histories of the authors of certain hymns; conversely, the third part contains slightly longer histories of six hymns themselves. The final portion of the book gives some great advice on how singing, understanding, memorizing, etc. hymns can help us personally and makes a good point that Christians should embrace both ancient and modern hymns in worship.
My favorite part of "Then Sings My Soul, Book 3" is the fact that 4-part choral sheet music is included for almost every hymn mentioned in the book; it's fantastic to be able to learn/practice singing the hymns as you learn more about the people and circumstances that brought them into existence. Parts 3 and 4 were my favorite of the book because they were very detailed.
As I was reading, it seemed like the majority of first two parts of the book were too short. Realizing that the intent of the author was to simply include brief histories, I would say he accomplished his goal but often left me wanting to know more. I would also caution readers that some of the theological views indirectly expressed by Mr. Morgan as well as the hymn authors themselves are not in accordance with the teaching and examples given in the New Testament.
Overall, I enjoyed "Then Sings My Soul, Book 3," and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about hymns. Mr. Poe is excited to read the book as well, especially since it contains the stories behind three of his favorite hymns in it.
It's another Money Monday here on the blog! Here are some of the drugstore deals this week:
CVS
Zarbees Children Cough Syrup ($6) - get back $6 in ECBs
Wags
St. Joseph Aspirin ($2) - get back $2 in RR
Pampers Jumbo Pack Diapers ($9.99) - get $2 in RR, use $1.50 PG 1/29
Arctic Naturals Total Omega ($15) - $15 MIR in Wags Feb Savings Booklet
Sundown Vitamin D3-1000 IU ($4) - $4 MIR in Wags Feb Savings Booklet, $1/1 RP 1/01, 1/22
