Our New House

Big news.....we signed a contract on this house last week!

As you can see, it is under construction, so we're very excited to be able to pick out what we like, 

within the builder's budget.

Right now, we're deciding on cabinets, backsplash, countertops and exterior colors.

It's been a full and fun week in a "you have a few short days to make a lot of decisions" kind of way.

Apparently, I fold under this kind of pressure.

Here's another picture of it so that you can see where the front door is located.

{Pardon the porta-potty}

These pictures were taken on two different days, and this one was on a very overcast day.

My pinterest boards have served me well in this process,

except for the fact that many of the pictures that I've pinned aren't anywhere close to our budget. 

My husband has been enjoying singing his rendition of 

"Back to life....Back to reality" in my ears all week.

{thankful for}
284. a new house to call our own.
285. the opportunity to pick out some of our own things in the house.
286. the neighborhood we'll live in and our new neighbors.
287. one thousand gifts and the way it's challenging some of my theology on grace.
288. all the new life I see sprouting up around me.
289. a great weekend with my family.
290. a date night with jackie, josh, laura and greg.
291. friends who have helped me make decisions on the house.
292. time with my parents on friday at their house.

Gluten Free SWEETS for my PEEPS & A WINNER!

First things first...

Your kids will think you're C to the R to the A to the Z to Y if you take pictures of your food.

They just don't get it at all.

The truth is, I'm not sure I get it.  I have a whole new respect for you photographers out there.

Taking pictures of food is hard work.  I'm not kidding when I say I broke a sweat.

Anywho!  We're hosting our small group from church at our house tonight, so I needed some sweets.

I went gluten free about 4 weeks ago, 

and it's been so fun showing my family & friends that it's not that hard to take gluten out of your diet.

The Peanut Butter and M&M cookies are one of Lissa's tried and true recipes.

{You can click on her name to get the recipe}

I'm telling you, she said they were easy and she was telling the truth. :)

She also said they were delicious, and they are!!!

This was my very first batch of homemade gluten free cookies, and they really turned out amazing.

My kids taste tested them and gave a thumbs up.

In fact, my middle child said they taste so good, he'd be willing to cut gluten out of his diet.

I told him he couldn't have zaxby's chicken fingers anymore, and he took it back.

But, he did say I could make as many gluten free treats anytime I wanted.

My other two kiddos gave their approval, too.

I knew I didn't have time for two homemade sweets, so I bought a gluten free chocolate cake mix.

I whipped it up and while it was baking, I made a homemade fudge icing for it.

I didn't have any cocoa, but I did have some chocolate chip morsels from Trader Joes.

So, I googled a fudge icing recipe using chocolate chips, and found an easy one.

Chocolate Fudge Icing using Chocolate Chips

2/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Bring the first four ingredients to a boil and then remove from heat and add your chocolate chips.

Blend with mixer until cool.

**********************************************************

Okay, random number generator picked my winner for the "You are my Sunshine" sign give away.
The lucky duck is............
Comment # 69 from The Mommy Cracked!
I've emailed you to get your address so we can ship your sign out by the weekend.
Congratulations!
And, thanks for all of you who entered.
We love doing give aways, and I'm sure we'll come up with some grand excuse to do another one soon.
Happy Spring!!!

trusting my story & the give away

I ordered one of these babies this morning. 

Paige has one, and Michelle, who makes them, is giving Paige's readers a 20% discount this week.

I just wrote about how God is teaching me to love my story and not wish some parts could be rewritten.

If you get a chance, pop over and read what Paige had to say about trusting your own story.

But FIRST...go enter to win the "You Are My Sunshine" sign that I'm giving away tomorrow!!!!

learning to trust my story

I woke up at 430 this morning...couldn't sleep.

dang right hip and lower back.  will this pain ever go away?

at first, i was so annoyed.  

it's not like i can take a nap whenever i'd like.

today is a busy day.  

kids wake up and need breakfast whether i sleep a full night or not.

there may be harsh words spoken before they can even get down the full flight of stairs.

and then the mothering will commence. 

husband leaves early on sunday morning for church...staff gets there way before the rest of us do.

i get myself and the three kiddos fed and ready before the 9 am service.

almost forgot the dog.  he gets walked and fed before we leave.

and, due to my mild ocd issue, the beds are made and the house is straightened before we leave.

trusting that one day i'll be able to leave a bed un-made and dishes in the sink. amen.

yeah.  i need a full night's sleep.

me and sleep deprivation aren't friends at all.

and, everyone that lives with me will bear witness of this truth.

so, it makes sense that i came downstairs overwhelmed by my own bad attitude.

it reminded me of all the other days that my attitude has gotten the best of me.

before i realized it, i was falling downhill fast in my thought life.

no need for me to go into details about all of my bad attitudes, but just trust me, 

i've had plenty in the past 7 months.

they come and go and unfortunately, these sweet people that live with me don't know when they're coming.  

i'm usually real quick to say "i'm sorry!" and "will you forgive me for my bad attitude?" 

everyone keeps telling me that i've got some excuses.

...still adjusting to our move.

...my chronic hip/back pain that really just never leaves for good.

...mothering all day everyday from sun-up til sun-down.

but, i just don't buy into the excuses. 

i'm really tired of some of the bad habits i've let myself give over to. 

pain or no pain.  move or no move.  mothering or not.

sharp tones.  impatience.  anger.  frustration at the smallest things.  i'm telling you, bad attitude.

some of us are really good at accepting grace...we can very easily wrap our minds around his gift.

others of us really struggle with accepting that there is nothing we can do to justify our place with him.

i'm sad to say that i typically fall into the latter category.

my first inclination is to feel completely responsible for my own sanctification...my own holiness.

is it just me?  oh, i need someone to say they understand this struggle with grace that my flesh battles.

no need to psycho-analyze me. 

i know exactly why i struggle the way i do. 

it's the parts of my story that i've spent most of my life wishing i could re-write.

after all these years telling my story, i still cry at those parts.

for a long time i convinced myself it was because i was so grateful for his rescue and freedom.

and that certainly is some of the the "why" behind my tears.

but, over this past year, i've had to confess that the most sure reason i still cry is because

i just want those painful parts re-written.

he's teaching me to thankful for my story.

he's showing me that i see him more clearly in those broken places.

he's showing me my need to be grateful for all of it.  every single part of my story.

i'm learning to go a little easier on myself.
to trust in his work in me, even on those days when my bad attitude seems to reign supreme..

it's in the broken places in our lives that we can see Him more clearly. it's true.
we depend on him more because we fully recognize how much we need him.

so, to bring this novel full circle, the severe pain that woke me up this morning...that wakes me up most mornings...is actually drawing me to him.

the parts of my story that i used to beg him to re-write are the parts that make me love him more now.
it's those places in my life that keep my eyes fixed on him.

is it weird to say i'm finally thankful for the messy parts of my life?  this is a game changer!

enjoy one of my favorites from kari jobe!

if you haven't entered to win the "You are my Sunshine" sign, you can go HERE to enter.

Spring is in the air....it's time for a GIVE AWAY!

In a few short days, it'll officially be spring, and I think we should celebrate with a GIVE AWAY!!

This is our newest creation, and it just screams HaPpY.

I put it on my mantle and then immediately told my husband to make us one. 

How many signs can one have in their home?

Surely, I'm reaching some sort of limit. 

In honor of sunshine, blooming trees and pollen everywhere, we'd love to ship this to one of you!

Leave a comment telling me your favorite spring flower.

{please, please, please leave your email if you aren't a blogger so I can tell you when you win!}

 I'll pick a winner with the random number generator thingy on Wednesday, the 21st,

which just happens to be the FIRST DAY OF SPRING. :)

We're also selling these now with our other signs.

It's 26 inches X 26 inches, and it's $110 + shipping.

If you're interested in one, email us at andrewshanelowry@gmail.com.

The Springified Mantle

With temperatures hovering near 80 today in Georgia, I thought it was time to springify our mantle.

The only thing I bought were the flowers from Trader Joes.

Green and yellow are some of my favorite colors in the spring, and it doesn't get better than daffodils.

I think it took me ten minutes to spruce it up...easy decorating is my friend. 

Have you added spring touches to your mantle?

Leave me a comment with a link to yours so I can check it out!

visit The Lettered Cottage for tons of mantle inspiration!

A Weekend of Firsts.

This little one was in her very first wedding this past weekend.

She twirled her way down the pathway that led to where she stood in awe of the bride and groom.

My husband and I met the groom when we became his youth pastors.  

He was just fourteen when we met him, and we can't figure out where an entire decade has gone.

He's from the same small town in Georgia where I'm from, and his wife is from Florida.

This explained why there was a UGA grooms cake with orange and blue cake on the inside. :)

We were honored to make the trek to Orlando for their beautiful wedding.

This is Andy when he saw his gorgeous bride.  

His family feels like our family. 

We love them so much, and we were so honored to pray over them during their ceremony.

b.r.e.a.t.h.t.a.k.i.n.g.

Danielle is everything that we've prayed for in a wife for Andy.

They compliment one another in such a beautiful, only God could do this, kind of way.

They wrote their own vows to one another, and they were the most creative vows I've ever heard.

Andy's dad married them, which made it even more special.

We were privileged to spend a lot of time with the two of them doing their pre-marital counseling.

And, as we watched them declare their vows to one another, we felt like proud parents.

They are as ready as they can be for this journey in marriage they are taking together.

Sealed with a kiss under the enormous oak tree filled with jars full of candles and flowers and ribbons.

It was truly magical.

We've watched Andy grow from a boy into a man.

He's prayed for his bride for a loooooonnnng time, and we are thrilled that he waited on this sweet girl.

I've prayed for the spouses of my children since they were newborn babies.

I love the way Danielle loves Andy's family.
I want my childrens' spouses to love us the way she loves them.
Oh, Lord, let it be!!

********************************************************************************

We stayed the week with our dear friends, the streets.

Their middle son wanted a limo ride with the lowry family for his recent birthday.

This was another first for my kids, and they had a total blast.

We rode in that thing for three hours all over Orlando.

Imagine the windows rolled down, pop music blaring, and six kids screaming...for three hours. :)

Our favorite pit stop was to a 7-eleven for extra large slurpees and candy cause that's how we roll.

Hope you've had a great week....we're home and exhausted and missing our friends already!

This is me and Kourtney pretending we are movie stars.

You don't wanna know how many pictures we took waving to our fans. 

And, this is what it looks like when your kids drink extra large slurpees.

Side note::  We don't care which Street boy Lydia marries as long as she marries one of them. :)

The perfect inspiration for adding color and whimsy

I thought I'd show you the home of one of my friends here in Athens.

She and I go all the way back to our college days here at the University of Georgia.

I looooovvvveeee that we are both here with our families.

We're all grown up with husbands and children and homes!

I wish you could sit and listen to us try and have conversations together.

We cover more ground in two hours than most can cover in a year.
We altar the oxygen levels in the atmosphere.

We've resorted to texting each other before we get together with lists of things to cover in our next visit.

These pictures aren't gonna do a bit of justice to her house.

I literally walked around and took them 

while we talked and unloaded the dishwasher and dished out snacks to the little ones.

You need to know that she's gonna kill me for saying this, but her home needs to be in a magazine.

She pulls off eclectic like nobody's business.

It's the perfect amount of whimsical meets country living meets anthropologie.

 ...neutral meets an explosion of color.

My most favorite part of walking into her home is that it is completely lived in by their family.

I love that you can walk into every single room in the house and experience life being lived.

She went to the Country Living Fair this past fall in Atlanta and scored that piece over her mantle.

I'd say it makes the whole room, 

but there are several other elements that I wasn't able to capture that equal in it's awesomeness.

This picture is horrible quality, 

but it does show you the enormous amount of light coming in off the back of their house.  

Picture the entire back of the house covered in gorgeous windows.

You walk in the front door and face all the light...I'm telling you, it draws you in and begs you to stay.

She has these panels from anthropologie on both sets of windows.

This hutch is on the wall space between the two sets of windows.

The one set of windows is behind her farm table,

and the other set of windows is behind her family room where the fireplace is.

The whole house is completely open and amazing.

This is the guest bath that is right off the front door as you walk in.

I promise to get shots of the whole bathroom next time...it has a huge black custom vanity in it!

This is her amazing kitchen that is open to the farm table and the family room.

I love her cabinets and the white subway tile.

She has the coolest whimiscal birds in each of those glass cabinets up top.

There is also a gorgeous island with a sink in it right behind this stove area.

These little adoreableeees are sitting in front of her sink on the island.

I love all the color that she has infused into her white kitchen.

You can't help but be happy in her home.

this is the other side of the kitchen..I promise to get a shot of the whole area next time!

Right as you come in the front door, this room is to the left.

LOOK AT THAT LIGHT FIXTURE!!!!

You walk past this room to get to her kitchen/family room.

It's meant to be a dining room, but she preferred it be a keeping room.

So, they had the built-ins custom built to cover the whole wall.

They are {todiefor} amazing.

I LOVE them.

She's been busy filling them up over the past week, and I just love what she's done so far.

Her dad's old lunch box.  {melt my heart}

Okay.  this room belongs to that biscuit down below.

Her name is coco, and she's a total rockstar.

The whole room is gorgeous..I'll show more next time.

This room belongs to coco's two older sisters, who are below with my lydia.

I would show you more of the room, but the girls were up to their eyeballs in playing.

next time. :)

Each of the girls has one of these happy lamps beside their beds.

These girls played with barbies until they couldn't stand it and then they played in mud outside.

oops.  they left one naked.

It was a fun afternoon spent in this happy home with these awesome people.

The weather was blue skies and bright sunshine...I think it hit 80 degrees today!

{thankful for}

280. friendship.
281. barbies all lined up as proof of a well spent afternoon.
282. sunshine filled day.
283. gluten free chicken penne and broccoli pasta that my family loved.