News!

Wow...last post was April 8th. Unacceptable. However, I have a very good reason for not posting from early June until now. I was not feeling great because...I AM PREGNANT! I am 14 weeks along now and due January 30th. Weeks 9-14 were especially rough with the nausea, but hopefully I'm on the upswing now that I'm out of the first trimester! We are very very excited. In other news, please pray for a job for C.J. His structural/civil program at WashU is disintegrating, so he graduated with a Master's in May, and has been looking for a job here in St. Louis since. We've had lots of disappointments and we are wondering what this means for our lives! We would love to stay in St. Louis, but need to be open to the possibility that God has something else in store for us since a LOT of doors have closed here so far. So, I guess..rejoice with us and pray for us!

Spring!

We are definitely getting an early spring here in St. Louis! With the exception being today, most days have been in the 70's and 80's over the last few weeks. We have been loving it! Here are some pictures of a walk we took in the park on Easter!

Mani and Keri walking under the pear blossom trees

Forsythia and Redbud

C.J. and Keri under the magnolia tree

Magnolia blossoms

Keri and Mani by orange tulips

Love the color combination in the front garden down the street!

Mani and Michigan

First of all, I am fully aware that by posting this many pictures of my dog, I have become one of "those people" although I tried so hard not to be. We went to Michigan to visit my (Keri's) parents for a weekend and we also got a new camera. What else to do on a 7 hour car ride? Take pictures of your cute dog, of course! So here they are:

He has decided he prefers to be under the hammock so he can be as close to us as possible

His nose really isn't this big :)

His favorite way to ride in the car

Keri and her parents on a hike in the woods

Mani loves to be free for walks in the woods!

Keri and CJ overlooking Lake Michigan in Grand Haven

Mani in the hammock on the way home--sacked out!

We are doing well! Spring has sprung in St. Louis and we are enjoying all of the bright green, flip-flop wearing, and blossoming trees and flowers. We continue to pray about CJ's future job. There are some possibilities on the horizon...

New Art

C.J. here. I've been on spring break this week, so I decided to finally act on a painting idea that I've had for a while. We have this massive wall above our piano, and I thought that my painting would fit in with our decor perfectly. It's on a 4'x4' piece of plywood, and I used cheap acrylic paint mixed with some stuff to thicken it up. I really dig paintings that have texture--I always want to touch them in the museums. I painted the sky and black for the buildings first, then cut it into 6" strips. After cutting it, I offset the pieces so the sky has a cool effect (at least I think so) and the buildings form a skyline. Last painted were the Arch and the windows. It was about a four day process, but it has been really fun!

Original idea planned in Paint on the computer

On the wall

On the wall in context

2nd Floor Bathroom!

The second floor bathroom is....drumroll please....DONE! Our friends, Bill and Becca, started on the demo on January 11, and finished about 8 days later after a gut rehab of it. They got all of the big stuff finished and we have been working hard since then to get every detail (paint, lighting, cabinets, etc) done so that we can just enjoy it and not have it in process! Pretty much everything you see is new! First are some pictures of the middle of the work, followed by some before and after pictures. We tried to do a video tour, but it wouldn't upload, so we will post that when we figure it out in case you are the type of person who wants to see it all put together. We love it and love progress!!

Before from hallway

After from hallway

Before vanity and mirror

After vanity and mirror (yay for double sink!)

Before tub

After tub

Before toilet

After toilet and towel bars

Before laundry

After laundry

New shower curtain

New blinds on window