I've Moved

Hi, we moved to a new blog: click here to keep up with us.  Follow the new blog if you're interested.

Thanks,
The Lowthers

Taking a Break

Taking a break from reading fiction for a bit.  This is going to be tough.  I love fiction.  Sometimes reading novels becomes an idol in my life because I run to my stories rather than run to the bread of life.  Sometimes? Ok, frequently.  It's sad, really.

So, I've resolved to not read a fiction book until I've finished the books that our church is plowing through this summer in our small groups. 

For now, I'm reading the following:
Bible-going strong(ish) on my reading plan
Radical-David Platt (summer reading plan)
Gospel-J.D. Greear (summer reading plan)
Don't Waste Your Life-John Piper
Power of a Praying Wife-Stormie Omartian

This is harder than it sounds for me.  Have you ever just wanted to escape and turn your mind off?  That's what I do when I read fiction.  I engross myself in the characters and basically escape from reality.  I'm in the middle of a 5-book series and have put the brakes on.  Screeeech.

I need to fill up my mind with useful stuff, not junk.

Pray for me!  Pray that I will be filled with the knowledge of God, that I will taste and see that He is good, that I will eat of the bread of life and be satisfied. 

We're also in the midst of preparing to go to Africa!  Our church has adopted an unreached people group and Brian and I get to be a part of team 2!  We and a another couple leave out the last week of June.  The people we will be visiting are a part of an oral culture so we have been brushing up on some key Bible stories to tell them.

Pray with us that the Lord will be preparing hearts to hear and understand the Word and that many would repent and turn to Christ!  We long to see the nations reached with the Gospel of Christ.  More details about the trip to come.

Need your Opinion!

So, Brian and I are preparing to paint the exterior of our home!  We're excited and daunted at the same time.  We need your help!  Below are a few ideas we're throwing around for updating the colors on our siding, shutters and doors.  We can't decide if what we've picked is wonky or right-on!  Let us know what you think!
There's a few so bear with me!

Classic French Gray w/ Needlepoint Shutters (1)

Storm Cloud w/ Black Swan (2)

Night Owl w/ Iron Ore, Decisive Yellow Door (3)

Peppercorn w/ Naval (4)

Proper Gray w/ Folkstone, Nappery Door (5)

Serious Gray w/ Web Gray (6)

Smoky Blue w/ Cyperspace (7)

Wall Street w/ Naval (8)

Ready, set, vote!  And these colors are far from set.  We may end up with none of these!

Bedroom Makeover: Frames

We knew we wanted to put something over the bed.  We tossed around a few ideas and settled with a frame collage.  We brainstormed ideas of where to get inexpensive frames.  We were working on a fairly tight budget for this project.  Brian’s mom offered some old off-white and brown frames that she had in her attic.  We pounced on them.
Once again, we turned to trusty spray paint to get them looking a little more modern and our style.  You’ll notice we chose another bold color.  As I reveal more of the room you’ll understand that the blinds and the frames are the brightest pops of color.  So we figured it would be ok to make them a statement.

I guess you get a better shot of the blue blinds here too.  Sorry, again, can’t give you a great shot because it would reveal too many other things. Once we got the frames on the wall we had to decide what we wanted to put in them.  Below shows what made the final cut.  In order starting clockwise from top left: Washington Monument, NM (some huge field, sorry Bec can’t remember the name of it), Ferris Wheel on Santa Monica pier, wedding photo, NM sky, Savannah staircase, NM highway (it’s hard to see, even in person).

The frames may look crooked in this photo…but believe me; Brian did an excellent job measuring and leveling to make sure they came out juuuust right.  We like them. 

Bedroom Makeover: Blinds

So, another item we made over in the bedroom was our blinds.  We originally had these ugly orangebrown wooden blinds.

  Ick.

We saw this on Pinterest and wondered out loud if it was really doable to paint your blinds.  Our verbal processing went something like this:

DH: sure, let’s try it.
Me: really? won’t it turn out kinda crappy?
DH: nah, we’ll just lay them flat and spray paint them.
Me: what about the edges and sides?  we should take each slat out to paint them.
DH: good point.  and while you’re at it wash them off (they still had dust on them from our ceiling job we did 3 years ago…ack!)
Me: well, I guess here goes.  and if we hate it we can just go buy new blinds.

  There was SO much spray paint dust. Everywhere. Even got some blue boogers…

About mid-project, we realized these blinds, although ugly, were rather expensive being real wood and all.  Periodically had project-remorse until they were finished.

  What do you think?  Sorry; I would show you more, but it would reveal too much of the other make over items.  You’ll see them in a later post and if you don’t have an opinion yet you can let me know later.

I think it took about a week to get everything painted and cured.  We ran through about 8 cans of spray paint for this project.  Definitely wasn’t cheap, but way faster, smoother and easier than brushing them.

Bedroom Makeover: Chair

Done with the bedroom make over.  Have been for a while.  I’ve really not had time nor the energy or desire to sit down and edit photos and prepare a blog post.  But I’ll do my best.  The whole bedroom makeover was DH’s plan for a fun anniversary present to ourselves.  Instead of taking a trip we funneled the money into making our bedroom somewhere we’d actually feel comfortable and enjoy.  Overall, we are really pleased with how it turned out.  My photography skills are zero…so the pictures to come really don’t do it justice.  You will just need to come by sometime to have a looksee for yourself.

This fun chair Brian rescued from the dump pile at his work.  It was in sad shape.  Dirty, worn and old looking.  Nothing a little sanding and a fresh coat of paint couldn’t fix.  We stuck to our tried and true gray and it became a nice addition to the bedroom!

Forgot to take a true “before”.  But here is what is looked like with just the top painted.

And after, with a nice new pillow.

Happy Birthday!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRIAN!!!!

Love you, husband!  I am thankful for you and so happy God made you 29 years ago :).

Love,
Your Wife

Hunger-Cooking!

Off to see The Hunger Games tonight with a few coworkers!  Excited.  Hoping the movie isn't a let down from the book.  Looking forward to dinner downtown and my 2nd movie experience at the IMAX.  Was talking to Brian about the movie and both agree it's pretty cool that several scenes were filmed right here in NC.

Makes me think about how much I enjoy this state and love living in a beautiful place.


Also looking forward to some Chinese cooking this weekend!  Our Chinese-American friend, James, is taking us to the Asian Market and is going to teach a group of us white kids how to make dumplings and Won Ton!  Woo!  Looking forward to a fun time of fellowship and I'm sure some funny mistakes and stories along the way with good friends.

So thankful this week is coming to a close and the weather keeps getting better and better.  Wearing a pink dress today that makes me feel like Spring.  Ordered some new shoes for the warmer weather.  Bring on summertime!

Sleep Deprived

Been sleep deprived lately.  I haven't been sleeping soundly very well the last couple of weeks.  Stress?  A good book I can't put down?  Whatever it is, it's not fun.  And most likely, it's a little of both those issues.  

I woke up an hour early yesterday to prepare some meatballs for our office lunch and even though I fell asleep at 9:45 last night I'm still feeling the gritty eyes and foggy head.  You know the feeling, where you just want to put your head down on your desk and take a catnap?  Or, you can't really process something with full comprehension because your thoughts kinda wander into la-la land.  Yeah.  That's me.  

Thankful tomorrow is Friday.  But don't want to wish away my weeks longing for each weekend.  Glad it's light out later these days.  I am such a lover of the light...and warmth.  

Hope your week's been livelier than mine!

Watch your Mouth

First, have you ever been so overwhelmed by clutter that it sort of paralyzes you?  For example, my desk looked like this moments ago:

As you can see, papers everywhere no room to even really put my arms to type except on top of the mess.  I was beginning to feel frantic.  So what did I do?

I shoved it all in a pile.  See, that's how I have to operate.  One thing at a time.  I'm actually not very good at multitasking.  I am easily distracted and forget to go back to project A and finish it if I've been distracted by project B or C or etc.

Ahh, I feel like I can finally knock out my pile of stuff to do now that i have to look at only the top item.  And no, it's not in any particular order.  So if I get to something I can't immediately attend to or finish it's going to the bottom of the stack.

Today has been one of the most frustrating work days I've had in a long time.  Instead of trumpeting my complaints here, let's just suffice it to say that customer service is hard work--hence the reason for my blog title.  And now I'm going to remind myself of truth.

Proverbs 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back."
Proverbs 16:32 "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city."

Proverbs 26:4 "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself."

If you're the praying type, join with me in praying that these truths will be seared on my heart.  Because out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks!

*UPDATE* the moment I hit "publish" on this post my phone rang.  A Board Member was calling to just tell me what a good job I was doing and to hang in there and not let anyone drag me down!  First of all, in our industry praise is a very rare occurrence. Secondly, the timing of that is too perfect to be called a coincidence, thank you Father for your kindness to me.  Isn't our God good!?

jump, hop, spring, bound, vault

Happy Leap Day, everyone!

Four years ago today the bridal party was gathered and rehearsal was in full swing!  The eve of our wedding day!  After rehearsal, we enjoyed a fun dinner at Biaggi's in Cary.

Fun memories and exciting times!  I also think it's fun that our rehearsal dinner invitations said, February 29th!  It's not every year you get to write that. Literally. :)

What hoppy things do you have going on today?  Anyone throwing a leap year/day party?





Also!  A shout-out to my sister Tracy and her husband Rob!  Happy 3 years of marriage!!  They got married exactly 364 days after we did on February 28, 2009!  Love you guys!

It's Coming Along

Our bedroom, that is.

In other news: Brian and I celebrate 4 years of marriage this week!  Whoa!  Exciting!  God is good.  He's brought us through a lot these last 4 years and I can honestly say the things we've experienced in our short time as a married couple are more than I ever expected to go through, ever.  Through it all, our Lord has remained faithful, even when we aren't.  Couldn't have done it without Him!

As part of our 4 year anniversary celebration, Brian and I decided to do a bedroom make over.  The make over includes: new bed sheets, new duvet, new art on the walls (new, considering we haven't put anything on the walls yet), a fun, spruced up set of blinds, new table and chair, new accent lamps, and new bathroom towels & floor mats. 

We  haven't finished it all yet so no pictures.  But we did spend a little time this weekend working towards our end goal.  We also hit the American Tobacco Trail with our friend, Seth.  It was our first run in about 3 weeks or so.  Although it wasn't in the 70's like it had been the day before, the weather was clear, brisk and windy, it was definitely ideal for a jog!

via

Looking forward to a relaxing, meeting-less week this week!

Dancing Across State Lines

If you haven’t seen this video by Rhett & Link you need to.  Here is Brian & Becky’s rendition.  Makes me laugh every time.  I love how Becky continues dancing several seconds after Brian gives up! 

Haha, I love you two!  Thanks for the good times.

32 days

…until spring!

I’m not sure why I’m looking forward to spring so much this year.  It’s not like it’s been a brutally cold winter or anything.  I think I’m just really looking forward to wearing some girlie dresses, basking in the warm sun and getting back to some fun outdoor activities.

My hubby is good to me.  He brought some spring inside for me!

He said the orange roses reminded him of our wedding flowers.  I’m enjoying the pops of color throughout the house.

Oh, and that white lamp…that’s kind of a sneak peek of some additions we’ve been making in our bedroom!

I Heart You

Valentine's Day has never been one of those holidays where i NEEEEDED to get flowers, or chocolate or whatever.  But I won't deny that it makes you feel special when you do.  And my husband is good at making me feel special.

Woke up to breakfast in bed:

And I have some pretty flowers to keep me company at work:




















Thanks, sweetie!

Sneak Peak-Snowboarding Edition

(Pun intended)

I’m working on a montage that will hopefully be done by…well, I’m not going to make any promises.  Editing 62 videos + perfectionist/not having a great editing program = I have no idea when I’ll actually get it finished.

Because there won’t be any commentary on the montage (most likely) here’s a brief rundown of our trip to CO.

A few months back Becky and I, bemoaning the fact that we’ll be turning 30 soon (as in today-if you’re reading this on Feb. 5th, eek!), decided we needed to do it up big.  Unlike our older sister who celebrated her 30th on her own on a solo trip to the beach, I think subconsciously I wanted to remind myself that you’re only as old as you feel.  So we started brainstorming what kind of fun things we could get into. 

We threw out ideas of going to Lake Tahoe but decided that heading somewhere closer to where Jack & Becky live would ultimate be cheaper and just as adventurous!  We planned to go to NM and then trek up to CO and hit the slopes at Wolf Creek for a little snowboarding.  Only problem?  Brian and I didn’t have any gear nor had we ever tried snowboarding (unless you count the one or two times I went my senior year in college where I mastered getting down the hill in once piece, annnnnd that’s about it). 

So, we bit the bullet and got our own gear!  I mean, doesn’t everyone go all out and buy all the bells and whistles of a new sport they’re getting into?  OK, maybe not.  But after borrowing friends’ gear we decided, why not?

Two practice rounds in Boone later we were ready to head out to the big guns. 
Once we decided to go to Wolf Creek in Pagosa Springs we were on the hunt for a nice VRBO (which I highly recommend over staying in a hotel if you’re going somewhere for several days).  We found the perfect cabin called the Lazy Bear.  It had everything we wanted: enough beds for everyone, a fireplace, a full kitchen, multiple bathrooms AND a hot tub!!
We had 4 nights 5 days in Pagosa and got in 4 days of snowboarding and a day of sledding.  We had a great time, great weather and no one go seriously injured. Except Jack broke his tailbone sledding!  Anyway, here are a few pictures.  Gorgeous views from the top of one of the lifts.

Things are Happening

After quite a lull in home improvements, Brian and I are back on the decorating/updating train.  We're in the process of making some changes to our living room and we finally found a new lamp to replace the broken lamp in our guest room.

I'll post pictures soon.  The next two weeks are a bit crazy with work stuff.  I'm honestly glad for the change of pace.  You can only surf the internet for so long during a slow workday before you begin to hate it.

I'm reminded, though, not to put my identity in what my house looks like or the things that fill it.  B & I are thankful for the resources to make our house comfortable and hopefully a place where people feel welcome and can find rest.  But we're also mindful that we are but stewards of the great things God has provided us.  We want to make sure we're using them for His glory, not ours!  

Good reminders here (shorter) and here (longer).

Gray...

The new black?  Well, in any case, it's what the ol' blog is looking like for now.  I'm liking it better than stark white.  A nice, soothing change, in my opinion.

No worries, a new post is coming soon-ish.

Cheers!