Our couch is really big..

We bought it about a year ago and we LOVE that couch.  It's great for company, napping (which I have been wearing it out doing), and for jumping as Eden has discovered.  But recently we came to a realization that we may have to get rid of it.  I thought this was an investment that we would have for years to come.  As our babies grew up they would have memories of snuggling up to watch movies as a family on it.  Oh well.  So why would we sell such a wonderful thing?  Because in place of it we may be getting this...

Surprised?  Us too!  We didn't even know this little gem existed until one week ago.  Hubby went to look at an old farmhouse that needed redone for fun and on his way saw a sign for an open house outside this bungalow.  (For the record, I have ALWAYS wanted a bungalow).  Upon seeing the inside he called me and told me I had to come see it. 

As I stepped in I whispered "Why are you doing this to me?"  Its so beautiful.  Charming, cozy, not in need of much repair or even paint (ie: good for someone 7 months prego).  It has 3 bedrooms and an office.  Something we have said we really really want and need for what we do.  And a fabulous kitchen.  :)  It's also .2 miles from campus.  A must for the way we most enjoy living and doing ministry.  Perfect, right?  You see,  we were not exactly in the market for a house right now.  The plan was to wait out our lease until March and pray the Lord would have something for us then.  However, my sweet husband has been itching to get us settled before baby #2 arrives in October.  And I would love that.

So here's how it went from there.  We went to the bank and applied for a loan that we were not eligible for 3 weeks ago....and got it!  Ok Lord...that's strange...

We then made an offer on the house and they countered.  I got majorly cold feet and so Tuesday night we sat down and prayed that the Lord would make His will clear to us.  We did NOT want to move forward if all of this was our doing and not His.  When we sat down we both thought we were about to pull out our offer and as we listed out pros and cons and prayed to the Lord, we both felt like we needed to continue to move forward.  So we did...and countered.  And they accepted.  Whoa.

One of the things we decided we needed to put in the contract was a contingency that we find renters for our current house in Greensboro.  We are doing all this a little prematurely and did not feel like it was honoring to the Lord or serving to our landlord to tell her we were potentially going to be out by September when our lease is up in March.  So we have until this Thursday to find a family to rent the house we are living in now.  WOW. 

We really feel that the Lord has done this for us.  Please be praying with us that if it is His will, we would find renters quickly and be able to move forward on this house!

As for the couch, don't worry, we have already found it a great home in a place where we can visit it consistently.  :)

Things We Love

Yesterday was a first for our family.  All three of us dressed up like cows and went out in public.  This is slightly out of character for all of us.  But there was a VERY good reason for such antics.  Yesterday marked the annual Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a! 

If you know us, you know we LOVE Chick-fil-a.  And whats not to like?  Fresh, delicious food and unmatched customer service!  And here are the pictures our our little herd to share!

Nothing like going out to dinner with something that cute!  And on top if it...free combos for mommy and daddy and a free kids meal for the calf!!  Hooray Chick-fil-a!

Natural

I am on this new natural kick.  Some of my motivation is coming from a persistent skin issue I have, that seems to be getting worse.  The other motivation is that I am pregnant for the second time.  With Eden I tried to use natural or at least non-smelly cleaners, but my routine as far as what I put on my body didn’t change.  The more I think about it, and read labels that seem to be in another language, the more convicted I become about what products I use.  This has also been aided by a mother in law who is currently making her own line of natural beauty products (sweet!).  I have switched to her soap, deodorant, and lotion, and LOVE all of the above.  I have also started using olive oil or coconut oil as a facial moisturizer.  I love the feeling of knowing all the ingredients are natural, and the freedom to use them knowing everything that is being absorbed into my body is safe for the little one growing there.  Shampoo and conditioner are next.  As far as hair products, when they start making natural serum and mousse that isn’t $20 a bottle, let me know.  

In the midst of my skin woes, I started looking up mineral makeup.  I learned that not all are created equal and many are not natural at all.  Thanks to Passionate homemaking, who did the homework for me, I started looking at Bare Minerals and Everyday Minerals.  I had recently gone to a store near my house and tried out Bare Minerals.  I wasn’t a huge fan, I think the girl used the wrong color on me.  So I began to browse Everyday Minerals site.  They offer free samples (4 in a pack) of foundation so that you can try them before you buy the big compact of your color.  You only pay shipping.  So me, my mom, and my mother in law all went in together and got 3 different packs: Medium, Olive and Tan.  And I must say, I’m in love.  I have never been a fan of makeup.  I hate the way foundation feels on my face and have refused to wear it except when made to (proms, etc).  But having a baby will make you need foundation.  So I took the plunge into the mineral world, and I am sold.  It looks and feels as if I don’t have any makeup on at all, which is my desire, and you can sleep in it!!!  Thats a big deal for someone who virtually never takes what makeup she does wear, off.   I also ordered some concealer and a little eyeshadow/blush pack called “At the Zoo” (appropriate, yes?).  I have been telling everyone about it.  (Did I mention I love it?)  And here's the best part.  A full size foundation is only $9.50...NOT $25!  Cover Girl can hardly compete with that!  So here is my official thank you to Everyday Minerals for easing my skin woes and quickly and comfortably making me look a lil cuter for my man ;)

Calm Before the Storm

Since the 2 month mark has passed (yikes), let us fill you all in.  You may remember a few months back we blogged about winning a vacation from Lifeway magazines to Captiva Island, FL.  Well, 2 weeks ago we finally redeemed the gift certificates and made the 13 hour (give or take) drive down to the Gulf coast to enjoy South Seas Resort.  The coupon was only good for 2 nights at the hotel.  As the vacation approached, we wondered if it was even worth it to spend as much time in the car as we would at the resort.  But, with SBP approaching, we needed a little get away and, well, it was free!! 

    The Lord poured out His grace on us in so many ways during our stay.  The ride down was a great time for Clint and I to catch up, as SBP preparation has dominated his life the past few months.  We stayed about an hour outside of Captiva the night before, and drove over to the resort at 7:00 the next morning.  The island is quaint.  Little restaurants and gift shops are strewn about the main road, while thick vegetation dominates everything else.  We didn’t expect to be able to check in since our reservation wasn’t until 4pm.  The sweet girl at the front desk told us our room wouldn’t be ready until then but she had two rooms with 2 queens open.  Since we sleep in a full bed at home, it was no big deal to us, so we chose a Harbor-side room on the corner of one of the buildings. 

    Before we left for Captiva I jokingly told Clint that I was going to start praying to see a Manatee while we were there.  We have been to FL twice since being married and both times we have searched for them with no luck.  Its on my bucket list.  I will see a Manatee before I die.  As we arrived there were 2 maintenance men fixing a towel bar in the bathroom.  We asked them what were some must do’s and if seeing a Manatee was out of the question.  Thus the Lord’s first wonderful gift to us.  It was mating season in Captiva, and there are manatees all over the harbor and marina.  I then push Clint out the door and nearly ran to the marina.  At first, no luck.  We looked and waited, me with my Nikon in hand ready to catch a glimpse of the elusive manatee.  For those of you who don’t know, there are only 3000 of these things in the world.  Its a big deal.  And after about 5 minutes we saw something under a boat about 30 feet away.  Two manatees drinking the fresh water from a boat.  I almost filled up my camera card, and got a little teary-eyed.  Mission accomplished.  Later that day Clint saw one swimming about 20 feet away from us in the ocean.  Icing on the cake.  Thank you Lord!

    The second way the Lord smiled upon us was through the weather.  The forecast was thunderstorms the whole time we were to be in Captiva.  But, it never rained, not even once.  It got cloudy and looked as if it were going to storm but all we got was a light mist on a hot bike ride. 

    Which brings me to one of the best the parts of the prize we won: bike rentals for 2 days (cruisers of-course!).  The resort is about 3 miles long and a little spread out so we used the bikes to go to the beach, to other parts of the resort, and our favorite, out to dinner.  There is something quite peaceful and playful about riding bikes to dinner with your spouse.  I felt 12 again.  We biked to a quirky little place called The Bubble Room and had some delicious (note: pricey) seafood.  We biked back and sat on the beach to watch the sunset, one of our favorite things.  Again, the Lord is gracious.

    The second day we woke up a little later than planned (too much bike riding and manatee excitement from day one) and headed over to the beach to relax and read, then headed back to the room for lunch.  While we were eating we saw something out of our porch door.  Lo and behold, there was a dolphin, fishing, 25 feet from our balcony.   Dolphins are Clint’s favorite animal.  We have now successfully seen both our favorite animals, in about 28 hours.  He and a few friends stayed in the harbor the remainder of the day and into the next morning.  Talk about a view! 

    We were sad to leave Captiva, but felt so blessed that the 2 night stay felt a lot more like 4 nights!  We hope to have the privilege to return to this peaceful place, but if not, the memories will surely not fade anytime soon.  Thank you Lifeway magazines for this awesome gift!  The Lore surely used it to minister to us! 

Baby Love

The Darst house has been a little crazy lately!  Having a toddler is, in general, unpredictable in a very fun way.  I feel like Eden learns something new everyday.  Today, it was the word "wow".  There are few things in life cuter than watching a little girl read a book and hearing "ahhh...WOW!" when the pages turn! 

In addition to the everyday silliness of our home, my husband has been working sun-up to sun-down on our Summer Beach Project!  We are expecting our biggest summer ever!  There are projected to be more students on this project than ever before in Campus Outreach Charlotte history!  Praise the Lord!  We are getting super excited as the months quickly roll by!  It will be here before we know it! Please be praying for these students as it approaches.  The SBP has been one of the 2 most influential (the other being one-on-one discipleship) instruments in our lives!  Pray that would be so for the 150(ish) students this summer!! 

This morning added a little peace and much much joy into our non-stop schedules.  Clint and I had the privilege of hearing the heartbeat of baby #2!  We were so excited and so so thankful to hear a good report!  And on top of that...we left Eden with our very first (yes, it is really late for this..) non-family babysitter.  We left while bubbles were being blown in the sun-room and returned 2 hours later to find her playing in the living room.  SHE DIDN'T CRY, NOT EVEN ONCE!  What?  Our child?  The child that refuses to stay in the nursery without crying uncontrollably until her whole head is red?  She had met these girls ONCE!  And she had a blast!  Huh...imagine that!  So, props to you Rebecca and Shannon, you successfully conquered the impossible! 

Needless to say, it was a very very good morning :)  No tears and a healthy baby...this 2 baby thing is working out well already!

Things We Love

I have been wanting to write a lil something about this for a while.  In the Darst family, if you like something, it quickly becomes known to everyone you meet.  My husband is an evangelist at heart...and anything he loves, he evangelizes.  This has rubbed off.  And the thing that follows, we LOVE.

So here goes...volume one of Things We Love.

The number one thing we love these days......

The Mentalist!!  

If you have not heard of it, have no fear!  We are here to spread the wonderful news of great entertainment!  The Mentalist stars Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) an ex-psychic who works with the California Bureau of Investigation to help solve crimes.  After a serial killer watches his psychic antics on a morning talk show, Jane comes home to his wife and daughter murdered.  Jane then declares his psychic abilities nonsense and explains that he only "pays attention to detail".  He joins the CBI full-time with implicit motives to catch Red John.  The plot weaves Red John in and out of it's weekly shows, but never ever disappoints. 

Hasn't pulled you in yet?  Here are some reasons we love it.

1. It delivers CSI-type suspense without all the gory (and sexual) ickiness

2. It has the MOST likable cast of any TV show we have ever seen!  Patrick Jane is witty, charming, and unpredictable.  Cho is another favorite, his blunt dryness is very endearing!

3. The writing is excellent.  They somehow keep a light air (via Jane) to the otherwise darkness of crime scenes and death.  (ie: its not too scary for me to watch!)

We are on a mission to convert people to the wonderfulness of The Mentalist.  If this serves to push you in that direction...please do share! :)

Its been a while!

Obviously, life has been a little crazy!  We have continued to travel a lot and have some really fun times in our own house.  So....hes a recap of frenzied February:

 

With the end of football season, we begin preparing (and praying for the Dolphins) for September!

 

We get a (very late) Christmas gift...that she LOVES.

Daddy goes to Asheville for our annual Winter Blast, and Yaya comes to visit!

We enjoy the few days of warm weather by helping Daddy pick up sticks from all the ice and snow!

We have a Team Leader retreat to prepare for our Summer Beach Project and host 12 student leaders in our home!  Momentum builds as the months roll by!  This is our biggest event every year, and one that has changed our lives!  

We find out some fun news....

WE'RE Pregnant!  

Frenzied February indeed.  :)