Gift after gift, I want to write them down...

  In all our many renovations that have been going on since moving into the lake house, we haven't completely 'unpacked' all of our boxes yet.  Every week more boxes come from the workshop into the house and get unpacked, and last week some of my special books were found.  I have always loved to read, but after I had my third child, for some reason I just had a little less time ;) that's when I found and ordered the book 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  It had been recommended to me by a few friends and I decided to get the devotional book because it was just a few pages to read every day, and I knew I could probably keep up with that.  1000 Gifts turned out to be one of my favourite books, and to date I think I've read through it 3 or 4 times now!  Last Spring I decided to actually follow what the book asks you to do, and that is to write down 1000 tangible things of thanks and gratefulness. Yes to write down 1000 specific and named gifts that God has given to you.  Now it doesn't ask that you write all 1000 in one day, one month or even one year, but the idea was to have a journal out that you can fill with your 'gifts' every single day.

After reading through the book and seeing how this process of thanks which Ann calls 'eucharisteo' has brought her closer to Christ, I felt compelled and convicted in my heart to do the same.  So I started my 1000 gifts journal!  At first I was really good at remembering to write in it, and then after the first month I wrote in it a little less.  I went through these 'spurts' of writing in it every day and then slowing down again, but I always came back to it.  Some days I wrote 20 things and some days I only wrote 2 things, but there was ALWAYS something to write.  I was at 273 'gifts',  Then I packed the journal away when we moved (looking back I really should have just kept it out with my bible!) and just found it again this week!  

Firstly it was SO wonderful to read back through all of my gifts of thanks that I had already written.  It was a blessing to see all of those gifts written on paper, one after another!  Second, I realized how much I wished I had kept it out during our move, and first months at the lake house.  Alas, instead of regretting what could have been, I picked up a pen, and started writing in it again that day.  My goal when I started last spring was to get to 1000 things, and that is still my goal.  I keep it by my bed and bible and I like to write in it at the end of the day.  After the kids have gone to bed and I can have some quiet time and reflect on the day.  One gift after another, the Lord has given us SO much to give Him all the thanks and praise for.  Sometimes it's big things, like answers to prayers that we have been praying for for years,  and sometimes it's something more small, like the way the sunlight is pouring in to your window as you wash the dishes.  All of these things big and small deserve His thanks, and in doing so you will be drawn closer to Him and learn more about Him and His love for us, his dear children.  If you don't already have the book I encourage you to go on Amazon.ca and pick up the 1000 gifts book (you can get them lightly used for a good price!) and to begin your journal of thanks!  I picked up my journal at Winners for about 5 dollars.  We can do it together and keep each other accountable :)  there are so many gifts from the Lord in each day, and I pray that He would open our eyes to see them and that we would take the time to acknowledge them and give Him all the thanks and praise!

I'll check in again soon and let you know how the journal is coming!  I Hope you all have a great week :)

Love Always,

Shelley

First things first, the peonies in our garden are starting to bloom!  I wasn't sure what colour they would be when I could only see the buds, but turns out they are a soft blush pink and they look heavenly!  it is currently really dark and thundering out and I am low key worrying that they will be destroyed in a storm!  Hopefully they last a bit longer, so I can deliver some bouquets to my sister in law and nieces who live down the street.  It's been so lovely living so close to some of our family, and being able to do 'pop over's' for little visits and have the cousins over to play.  It is one of the main reasons we chose this house in particular!  Since moving in we have changed and renovated nearly 70% of the house so far.  With lots of hard work and elbow grease we have been able to bring this sweet lake house out of the 60's and into the present :)  I am looking forward to sharing lot's of 'before & afters' in the next months, and to start them off I decided the guest room would be a good one to share as it is one of the most dramatic.  I debated using the word dramatic, but once you see the pictures I think you'll agree!

BEFORE:

So above is the room we now call the 'guest room', BEFORE!  Just take a good look at the picture and soak all the details in.  Between the stuffed fox, palm tree mural accent wall, pink carpet, fake wood paneling and eclectic decor it was pretty 'special'.  But we basically looked past all that stuff and saw that it was a big room with lot's of space,  a decent sized closet, and a bright window.  We knew it had the bones to make an excellent guest room for our overnight guests!  

First thing we did was deal with the palm tree mural.  I have to be honest and say that it actually grew on us the first 1.5 months we lived there, we almost decided to not change it (Mia our daughter basically threw her little body in front of the wall and told us to NOT paint it!) She was very serious, so we thought of a solution and decided to do a rustic wood accent wall.  Before I explain any further let me share a picture of the room AFTER so that you can get a good feel for all the details and changes we made.  I found it a bit difficult to take pictures of the room, (thumbs up to real estate photogs!) so I hope the photos do the room justice, it really is so cute in person!

AFTER:

My husband Chris found the wood for the accent wall at Home Depot, it was pre stained and ready to go which was wonderful!  Also, we only needed to nail it on top of the mural, therefore not needing to paint over the mural, and it makes us happy knowing it's still kind of there :)  Then we painted the fake wood paneling a medium tone grey.  It covered the paneling great and it actually gave a neat effect having the lines on the wall, very cottage-y.  We also painted that beam going between the two big lights white to match the ceiling, as it was brown and we wanted it to 'disappear'.

Next I took a dresser that used to be in our oldest son's room, and painted it this lovely mint.  The colour is called 'clear aqua' and I think I could probably paint 10 more things in my house this colour, I love it so much.  We wanted to bring in a pop of colour and that truly did it!  My Mom gave us the mirror over the dresser that she had sitting in her basement not being used, and my sister gave us the art hanging over the bed as she had changed her decor and didn't need it any more.  We already had the king sized bed, and the headboard as well as the bedding and pillows from our previous house, so we just decided to use what we had instead of purchasing all new bedding, which can add up! (evenutally Chris wants to make a platform for the bed, so that we don't need to have a bedskirt around it, who invented bedskirts? They are pretty much the worst! Which is why we just decided not to have anything there for now)

I also already owned every bible verse print, frame, picture and candle you see in the room. I went 'shopping' in my boxes of decor and used what I already had :) I love going shopping within my own house. If you ever feel like switching up decor, always try doing that first before you go out and buy things new, maybe you can even re-paint something to give it new life!  You can see we also painted the closet door in the same mint as the dresser to bring in a little more colour.  I had seen the idea of painting colourful doors on Pinterest and knew this would be the perfect instance to do it.  We kept the big florescent light fixtures (for now) as they serve their purpose even though they aren't super pretty, and the room is so bright from the window they wont need to be used that often.

We already owned the bedside tables, and we left them with the wood showing instead of painting them just to keep some warm wood in the room. We have had those side tables since we were first married and though a bit dented they are still in pretty good condition!  We did purchase the lamps on top of the bedside tables for 16$, but painted the bases of them white to keep them bright.  We installed hooks so that guests could hang their sweaters, towels and jackets (upon my Mom's request, and a smart request it was!). And we brought in some succulent plants from the garden and planted them in a fun mug for a little nature on the window sill.  

The pink (and very stained) carpet would have to go, so we bit the bullet and had new carpet installed, and we are so glad we did.  Basements can be cold in the winter and it will be so nice to have a cozy carpet under foot down there to keep it warmer.  Chris put in the nice white baseboards that match all the other rooms in our house, and lastly we painted the window frame, door frame, closet frame and ceiling trim WHITE!  Since moving here I have never painted so many things white in my whole life, but I am always so glad I do it.  It REALLY brightens things up, but it typically takes 3 to 4 coats to truly cover all the dark wood that was in the house.  Like I said, lots of elbow grease ;)  We are so happy with how the guest room turned out, sometimes I just go sit on the edge of the bed and look at it.  My Mom said it feels like a little 'bed and breakfast', I love that,  and I am so happy to think of all the family and friends that will hopefully stay there and enjoy good rest and happy times at the lake!

What room before & after should I share next?  My bedroom?  The kids room? The living room? There is so much to share from our fixer upper house.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely day!

Love Always,

Shelley

Hello friends :)  I am so glad you stopped by to check out my new blog!  Welcome!!  

So here's the scoop...Around 10 years ago when our eldest son was a baby and we had moved out of the country to Schroon Lake NY, I started a little blog as a way to share pictures and stories with family as we lived far away.  Since I was a young girl I have loved to write, and take pictures, so a blog was a natural way for me to share and create family memories.  Then when I started my photography business over 8 years ago I began a 'photography' blog, which was a way for me to share clients photos and little captions about my shoots, it acted like a portfolio for potential clients to look through as well.  I enjoyed posting clients's 'sneak peek's and sharing my portrait photography with everyone!  Fast forward to this Spring, I had been toying with the idea of starting a blog again, for many of the same reasons I first began 10 years ago.  To use as a creative outlet other then my photography business blog, and I am so excited to use this space to share, encourage, love, and get creative!  As a portrait photographer, sometimes when I only take photos for my clients I can fall into a rut, so to have a space to take and share photos that I am taking just for FUN is so important for that creative flow.  I also love to share recipes, home DIY's and decor, family life, bible verses and devotional encouragement, homeschooling and more, so I knew I would have lots of ideas for a blog!

 Now for the blog name!  Many of you know our family made a BIG change this year!  After an amazing 8 years working and serving at our dear church, we made the decision to resign and move.  But this was not just a little move down the street, we moved all the way up to a small town in Northern Ontario and bought a fixer upper house on a beautiful lake!  There were so many reasons we came to this decision, and we spent so much time in thoughtful prayer about making this change, and as hard as it was to leave our beloved church family, sweet friends and our own families, we knew that God was calling us to something different.  A change of pace, new opportunities, concentrated family time, more time in nature, serving community, and so much more.  We could see God working in so many ways, and we know that He brought us here, and orchestrated all the details and for that we are thankful!  My husband Chris and I have spent the last 3.5 months renovating our lake house, and it's been a lot of hard work and so rewarding!  We have learned so much and are getting into a new routine as an up north family and enjoying every minute (even all the bugs ;)).  When we purchased the home in the winter, we weren't able to see every detail of the property as it was covered in snow, and so now now that it is spring we are in AWE of all beautiful plants and flowers that grow on our property.  We found out that the lady who lived here before us had a green thumb and devoted much of her time to planting a beautiful flower garden around the property and home.  We are now enjoying new flowers popping up everyday.  Since April there have been daffodils, tulips in many colours shapes and sizes, lilies, daisy's, peony's and more types that I have never even seen before until now!  Flowers bring me so much joy, God's way of showing us what an artist He is, so to have all these beautiful flowers growing all around us are a daily reminder of His goodness, and I am so thankful.  Hence the new blog name Lake Flower :)  

If you've read this far, I thank you for taking the time, and I hope you will come back soon! I have some fun posts planned!  Also, in case you didn't know my husband runs a 'VLOG' which is called 'Live Love Lake' on youtube where he shares our family life on the lake in video style, so go check that out if you get a chance, he works so hard on the videos!

Vlog link here: LIVE LOVE LAKE

Thanks again for stopping by, don't forget to say HI in the comments so I know you were here :)

love always,

Shelley