On the Road Again

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I woke up to a quiet house and wandered upstairs to make my chai. I joined Matt in the sun room just in time to watch the glow come over the horizon. He was busy plotting our route to Nashville and I snuggled into my chair to do my morning Bible study. I’m doing a 12-day study of James and it’s SO GOOD. James just gets ya right in the heart every time. I was particularly struck by 1:19-20, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not product the righteousness of God. Our world celebrates a “quick comeback” or a zinging reply. Instead, we are to be CAREFUL what we are saying at all times. God celebrates a kind, thoughtful response. God even celebrates no response at all:

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Proverbs 17:27-28

That last part always makes me giggle. Just stay quiet and people will think you know a lot of stuff. LOL! I get along really well with my family…but I’m definitely going to meditate on these verses as we go into the holiday week. There are encouragements to tame the tongue and temper over and over in scripture, so I want to pay attention! So helpful in parenting as well.

We are veteran road warriors…but It still takes some time to get this beast ready for the road! This is the first time we are towing this particular vehicle so there was some extra prep. For those who are new around here…we traveled full-time for 10 years and have had many different rigs. This particular one is a 45-foot 2005 Tiffin Zephyr and we love it! There is a king bed and 2 bunks in the back…and a double bed in the front. I took a video of it right after we remodeled it…so take a little tour if you want to see!

Maggie dog driving the RV

Maggie and Maia are overjoyed that they get to come along for this trip! We have left them at home with the farm sitters the last 3 trips, so they were getting a little nervous.

It’s always hard to leave our other animals at home though…I think if Lucy had her way, some of her favorite chickens would come along for the ride! LOL This beauty is “Copper”. She’s a Black Copper Marans + Silkie mix and has just started laying the sweetest little brown eggs.

Janssen family photo in RV

Family photo and prayer time before we embark on the journey…we’re all stocked up with art supplies, books, movies, and snacks. Let’s gooooooooo!

The Little Things | November 2021 (Week 3)

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We had a delightfully busy week with grandparents and snow and birthdays and building things. Click on the photo to enlarge and scroll through.

Schmearing the Brick: The woodburning surround is done and the stove is in! Yay! Be sure to go read the post I wrote about the process!

Spicy: One of the projects of the week was organizing our spices in pretty bottles…Lucy loved putting the stickers on and lining them up in rainbow order.

Mama: Every morning when my mom is here, we go to the office and read our Bibles together. We’ve been reading through the Old Testament all year, and then the New Testament…and then Zooming with our sisters and sister-in-loves each week to discuss. It’s been SO good.

Snow: Our very first snow came in with a roar! We had 50 mph winds and a few inches of snow…just enough to get the sled out and make it pretty for awhile!

Kale: Despite the snow, my kale was still kickin’ under our covering. It’s on it’s last legs, but I love having greens in the cold! Next year I’ll built a proper cold frame closer to the house.

Sage: We dried the last of the sage for tea and spices!

Churchy: On Sundays, we gather in our basement with my sister’s fam and watch Athey Creek. Love our time together! Pastor Brett is a fantastic teacher who teaches expository style…straight through the Bible book by book with no added fluff. I love the prophecy updates he does once a month as well.

Goodbyes: We said goodbye to Nana and Papa after their week here…but we’ll be seeing them next week in Nashville for Thanksgiving…we’re loading up the RV and we leave on Sunday!

Hello: A few hours after they left…Ama and Grandpa arrived for a week’s stay! We had back to back grandparent visits and it’s always so fun! This is high on the list of reasons why we moved to SD from TX…to be closer to family. So when I see them pulling in the driveway, it makes my heart so happy. I grew up seeing my grandparents all the time, and it was such a special time.

Tour: Of course we had to give them the tour of all the work that has been done since they were here last! Matt’s Dad has helped with all of the shiplap and so many other projects around the farm. It’s such a blessing to have him visit and work alongside Matt. This week they did the woodburning stove, and 2 ceilings with shiplap. Matt’s mom is so encouraging and lovely…and she always does a puzzle with the girls when she visits. Which is wonderful because I am NOT a puzzle person. ;-)

Climb: Bella is LIVING at the climbing gym these days…and having SO much fun. Every time she comes home she has a new friend. She’s so excited to move to Des Moines next year to be even closer to an even bigger gym!

Birthday: The 18th was my 45th birthday! It was a restful day…full of audiobooks and bird watching and special gifts and meals. I felt extremely loved. My sister’s birthday is just 2 days before, so we went out for dinner to celebrate! Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes!! I wrote about my 44th year and all the changes it brought to my life…check it out here.

If we are faithful to God in little things, we shall gain experience and strength that will be helpful to us in the more serious trials of life. - Hudson Taylor

Let's German Schmear the Brick!

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In my years of Pinterest perusing, whenever I would come across a brick fireplace with the German schmear technique…I would fall in love again and again. I think my first exposure to this idea was on Fixer Upper…when Chip decided on a whim to schmear the fireplace. LOL! So when it came time to build our woodburning surround in our sun room, I knew exactly what I wanted!

This method dates back centuries…and it turns out different every time, much like a unique work of art. And because I want my house to look like a quaint European cottage, this was the perfect choice. I love the distressed, rustic look…and I’m so glad we did it!

But before we could schmear (and yes, that IS a word…even though some people may say “smear”)…we had to BUILD the surround first! We headed down to Hebron Brick in Sioux Falls and picked up some thin brick from their Americana series. We chose the Bell Tower color because we wanted a little variation in tone.

We wanted to try something fun…and decided to do herringbone on the floor. It turned out so fantastic…Matt amazes me every time with his endless skills! Oh, and do you see the front windows completely covered in ICE?! It was a sure sign that this warm little corner is highly necessary in South Dakota! :)

The most stressful moment occurs when you’re putting the mortar on for the first time. Ok, Matt wasn’t stressed, I was a little stressed. After watching 29 tutorials…he was like “just let me do it babe”. LOL!

Here is the finished product! So perfect! The floor turned out with more coverage than the wall, but over time it will wear down as the wood is piled up. You can see that we also got the pine put on the celing and the dry wall is starting to get finished. All that’s left now is to finish the trim and paint! We’re planning to get that done in early December so we can decorate our very first upstairs room for Christmas! The hardwood will go in sometime in the spring.

And just a peek at what it looked like when we moved it!! Lots of changes and many more to come!!

Our first fire…just in time for my birthday! The stove is a Blaze King Ashford 30…and we got it on marketplace for $500! It’s a super high quality stove that will heat our entire first floor if we would ever lose power in the winter. Hooray for self-sufficiency!

I’m so excited and thankful to have the glow and cozy warmth of a woodburning stove this winter. Be sure to scroll through the process photos below and ask any questions in the comments!