Childless by Circumstance, Happy by Choice...

Our Town

We're coming up on the 1-year anniversary of purchasing our homestead, and now that the weather is turning warmer, we're having a great time getting to know our little town!

We've enjoyed hikes and drives through the Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive, the entrance of which is just 15 minutes away. 

Our dogs, Emmett and Graham, are also enjoying their new digs!  We've found a wonderful new vet and groomer, and both pups enjoy having a large yard space to explore.  We're also discovering that EVERYONE around us has dogs, and many of them like to wander over for visits (including 'Tiger', the Yorkie from next door and 'Jack/Red' the Chocolate Lab who came to visit for a whole weekend!).

We've also become involved in our church - Front Royal United Methodist - in a variety of ways.  Jean and I both sing in the 8:30 choir, Jean plays upright bass with the Praise Band and occasionally drives the church bus, I serve as the Adult & Family Coordinator (putting on weekly 'Seed & Feed' dinners), and Jean serves on the Worship Arts Committee.  Jean has also been hired to do several renovation and repair jobs for the church.

And just a few odds and ends from around town.  Our town :) 

Happy New Year!

Maybe it's nostalgia,  maybe it's perspective, maybe it's an aging memory, or maybe it's just the half bottle of Prosecco I put away for breakfast, but I can't seem to remember one really bad thing about 2012.  Even the trials and difficulties all lead - or are leading, we're sure - to something bigger and better.  Jean and I had a wonderful 2012 full of fun, laughter, and accomplishments, and are looking forward to an even more joyful and fulfilling 2013.

Remember our Resolutions & Goals posts back in the beginning of 2012, outlining our New Years Resolutions?  Here (and below; in photos) is a look back at just how we did:

• Buy a home 
• Move to my parents' town 
• Conceive our first child
• Scrapbook our wedding
• Scrapbook our honeymoon
• Learn to crochet
• Learn to knit socks

In like fashion, we've come up with just a few new goals and resolutions for the coming year (in addition to carrying over incomplete goals from 2012):

• Speak with gentleness, both in voice and content (both)
• Start - and get up to date on - our Christmas/New Years scrapbook album (M)
• Consistently, successfully roast a whole chicken (M)
• Go hiking at least 1x/month (both)
• Pursue leadership/reading/solo choir opportunities at church (J)
• Study Proverbs (both)
• Finish basement living area (J)

Do any of you make New Years Resolutions?  What are they?  Any tricks for keeping them?

Happy New Year!

TFH

Spring . . . Summer . . . Fall

So much has been happening on the Finstad Homestead over the last few months, we haven't had time to post!  Here's a quick recap (with more detailed posts to come):

In June, Jean and I, along with several other NSA friends spoke to our good friend Carl Herder's graduate fluency class about stuttering and about the NSA.  This is something that we've done a few times now, and we really enjoy it.  What a lucky girl I am to be surrounded by so many awesome stutterers and to have the Herders as friends!

On April 21st we found - and made an offer on - our first house!  It's a 3-bedroom/2-bath rambler with a full basement, sitting on just over one partly-wooded acre atop Apple Mountain.  Just a few days later our offer was accepted, and we began the process of purchasing our home (loan approval, inspections, etc.)  Because we went with a USDA loan, the process was lo-o-o-ng and arduous, but well worth it in the end.










On June 15th, Jean celebrated his 31st birthday.  What an old man!  Once again, I baked him a rainbow-Nutella-Fruity Pebble cake (4th year in a row!) and we celebrated with a quiet evening out together.

In July we head down to St. Petersburg, Florida for a week for the 29th Annual National Stuttering Association Conference.  The Friday before we were to leave we received a call that our home loan had been approved!  The bad news was, since it had taken so long to process, we needed to close on the house the following week, the week we were meant to be in Florida.  We scrambled and were able to change Jean's flight and shuttle reservations, and I head down to Florida alone on Monday morning, and he joined me on Tuesday night after buying our home that afternoon!

We returned from Florida on Monday July 9th around 1PM, and we were already packing by 3PM that afternoon!  Needless to say, we were excited to finally be homeowners, and couldn't wait to get started.  Not sure what we were thinking, though.  Packing sucks!

July 15th - Moving day is finally here!  Several of our friends came over to help us load up the U-Haul, and we were able to move everything in one trip (more or less).  Jean and Carl were NOT happy to be moving the piano up and down steps and around corners, though :)

The day after moving in we hit IKEA to purchase some of the furniture and items we needed for our new home.  It was QUITE the shopping trip!  Let's just say, we're glad we kept the U-Haul for an extra day!

On September 30th we became members of the Front Royal United Methodist Church and couldn't be more thrilled!  Jean has been doing handyman work for the church and has been playing with the Praise Band during services on Sunday mornings, and I have been invited to serve in several different ways as well.  We love our FR-UMC family!

Fall is here now, the leaves are changing, and we're loving getting settled in our new home on the mountain.  Though the home was newly-remodeled when we bought it, we've done quite a bit of work putting our own personal touches on the place, including painting, refinishing furniture and the deck, and remodeling the fireplace.

Week in Review: Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone!  Our Lenten Challenge is coming to a close.  How did everyone do?
 

Weekly Goals (week of April 1)

* Complete 2 honeymoon scrapbook pages

* Work out 3x  FIVE times.  BEWM! 

* Complete April menu   

* Make monthly grocery shopping trip to Aldi

* 3 Acts of Service for Jean

* Weed the garden

* Bake sheep cupcakes for Easter Egg Hunt

* Make a batch of dog food

* Complete all daily Lenten Bible Readings (via YouVersion)

* Finish Janice & Kevin's baby booties, start a scarf for the NSA Live Auction in July, start the sock's mate, start and finish at least 3 dishcloths for Sarah D Finished 4 dishcloths, in addition to a few other projects

 

 

                      April 2012 Menu                                                                             Baaaaaa!

Lenten Changes (things I'm refocusing during the Lenten season)

* Complete all daily Lenten Bible Readings (via YouVersion) on time
* No snacking! 3 modest meals a deal with nothing solid in between. Also, no meat on Fridays. I kind of petered out on this . . .
* Actively speak Jean's 'Love Languages' (Physical Touch & Acts of Service) more often and more effectively


2012 Resolutions & Goals (the 'big-ticket' items I/we would like to accomplish this year)
* Buy a home  On Monday, 4/9, we found a home that we fell in love with.  Our mortgage guy says that it is a 'fit' for us financially, and we're hoping to see it in person (more than just walking around the property and peeking in the windows) soon!
* Move to my parents' town (hopefully we can kill two birds with one stone for #1 & 2!)
* Conceive our first child We are nearing the end of our testing for infertility treatments, and will soon need to make the decision if this is the next step for us.
* Scrapbook our wedding
* Scrapbook our honeymoon 
* Learn to crochet

* Learn to knit socks

Lent may be over, but there are still 8+ months left of 2012, so check back often and we cross items off the list!

Week in Review: April 1

It's the last week of Lent!   Lent is often a time of year when people give up certain foods or habits, or add practices to refocus certain habits.  Given its timing, just a few weeks after making New Years resolutions, I've tried to use this time to solidify those resolutions into everyday habits.  Here's how it went this past week, and what I have coming up this week: 

 

Weekly Goals (week of March 25)

We were out of town for my birthday this past weekend, so the list was a little short :)

* Make a trip to Scrapbooks Plus

* Work out 2x 

* Work on April menu  

* 3 Acts of Service for Jean

* Complete all daily Lenten Bible Readings (via YouVersion) I fell behind the first two days we were out of town, but quickly caught up on day 3

* Finish Janice & Kevin's baby booties and pullover baby sweater, finish (start!) a scarf for the NSA Live Auction in July, start the sock's mate. I finished the sweater, and started/finished another blanket

* Prepare food/treats to take out of town with us

 

                      Overall, not a bad birthday!

Lenten Changes (things I'm refocusing during the Lenten season)

* Complete all daily Lenten Bible Readings (via YouVersion) on time
* No snacking! 3 modest meals a deal with nothing solid in between. Also, no meat on Fridays.   Yeeeaaaah, not so easy on vacation
* Actively speak Jean's 'Love Languages' (Physical Touch & Acts of Service) more often and more effectively


2012 Resolutions & Goals (the 'big-ticket' items I/we would like to accomplish this year)
* Buy a home 
* Move to my parents' town (hopefully we can kill two birds with one stone for #1 & 2!)
* Conceive our first child
* Scrapbook our wedding
* Scrapbook our honeymoon 
* Learn to crochet

* Learn to knit socks

Weekly Goals (week of April 1)

* Complete 2 honeymoon scrapbook pages

* Work out 3x 

* Complete April menu   

* Make monthly grocery shopping trip to Aldi

* 3 Acts of Service for Jean

* Weed the garden

* Bake sheep cupcakes for Easter Egg Hunt

* Make a batch of dog food

* Complete all daily Lenten Bible Readings (via YouVersion)

* Finish Janice & Kevin's baby booties, start a scarf for the NSA Live Auction in July, start the sock's mate, start and finish at least 3 dishcloths for Sarah D

Week in Review: March 25

Two posts in 24 hours?  Wild, I know.  This productivity stuff is pretty cool.  Check it out!

Weekly Goals (week of March 18)
* Complete 2x honeymoon scrapbook pages I never made it out to Scrapbooks Plus this week
* Work out 3x Nope...only twice
* Start April menu  
* 3 Acts of Service for Jean
* Clean out plastic drawers in bathroom
* Complete all daily Lenten Bible Readings (via YouVersion)
* Finish Janice & Kevin's baby booties, and finish (start!) a scarf for the NSA Live Auction in July.  Once again, I completed a LOT of knitting, but not the projects I set out to do!
* Deep clean both the kitchen and bathroom floors Jean read last week's post and returned my mop :)
* Bake treats for lunches/desserts

The first of my 2012 Resolutions is complete; I've knit my first sock! 
Now I just need to muster up the motivation to knit its mate. . .

Lenten Changes (things I'm refocusing during the Lenten season)

* Complete all daily Lenten Bible Readings (via YouVersion) on time
* No snacking! 3 modest meals a deal with nothing solid in between. Also, no meat on Fridays.   I accidentally sprinkled bacon on our salad at dinner.  Oops.
* Actively speak Jean's 'Love Languages' (Physical Touch & Acts of Service) more often and more effectively


2012 Resolutions & Goals (the 'big-ticket' items I/we would like to accomplish this year)
* Buy a home 
* Move to my parents' town (hopefully we can kill two birds with one stone for #1 & 2!)
* Conceive our first child
* Scrapbook our wedding
* Scrapbook our honeymoon 
* Learn to crochet

* Learn to knit socks Yee-haw, what's up?!

Weekly Goals (week of March 25)

We are headed out of town for my birthday this weekend, so the list is a little short.  It's a hard life :)

* Make a trip to Scrapbooks Plus

* Work out 2x 

* Work on April menu  

* 3 Acts of Service for Jean

* Complete all daily Lenten Bible Readings (via YouVersion)

* Finish Janice & Kevin's baby booties and pullover baby sweater, finish (start!) a scarf for the NSA Live Auction in July, start the sock's mate.

* Prepare food/treats to take out of town with us