Intentionally Gracious Neighbors

This is what I saw when I looked out of the Jitney Studio window yesterday...


Remember (on FB) when I talked about our water bill being outrageous?? Well, the utility guy came out Monday and checked for a leak. 

Which we had.

We were losing about 1/2 gallon per hour so our friend, Shane, came over Monday night and helped JD with a solution. JD came home early yesterday from work and began fixing the leak.


I'm not sure what he would've done without all of the little neighborhood helpers though....


Kid: "Is Mr. JD a hard worker?"
Me: "Yes. Mr. JD is a super hard worker!"
Kid: "Yeah. I'm a hard worker too." (with arms folded and nodding his head)

Haha! Oh, I loved it.

In all seriousness though...

When we began our house search, we fervently prayed that God would place us in a neighborhood where we could share the love of Christ. 

On the contrary, one of the first things we recognized when we moved in is how stinkin' awesome our neighbors are and how deeply they share the love of Christ with us. Seriously. Almost every one of our neighbors came to our house to introduce themselves to us within the first three days of us moving in the house. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but we feel like that's a pretty rare gift.

What these photos don't show are the men in the neighborhood who walked from the comfort of their homes to help JD with a solution. One of our neighbors is a former plumber, so he actually rode to Lowe's with JD for a small item he needed. He gave him a play-by-play in what he needed to do. 

These men (and kids) saw JD outside and chose to help a neighbor in need instead of sitting in their comfy chairs in their warm living rooms.

From unloading our packed Uhauls to car rides to freshly-baked cookies to cookouts to finding / killing a snake to helping with the lawn mower, our neighbors are always there with a helping hand. Just yesterday, I saw our little neighbor, Blake, push our garbage can from the curb to our garage door because the wind had tipped it over.

That's not normal. 
But it should be.


While all of the neighbors are amazing, I do feel the need to shed some light on two special families we've grown close to...

(I actually drafted the blog post below in the summer but I'll share it with you now.)

Our next door neighbors have three precious kiddos and we have so enjoyed getting to know the family. The parents are incredibly gracious and we've never met kids that were so eager to serve others. Alyssa (5 yrs old) asks me every day if she can help me water our garden and Blake (7 yrs old) walks over with his mom's gardening gloves to help us pick up sticks in the yard. The youngest daughter normally follows Alyssa around and helps water the garden too. :)

Blake walked up behind me when I was working in the garden one day with his hands behind his back. "I've got something for you, Wincy" (we're still working on the whole name-thing here). Knowing that he was a 7-year-old boy, I'm thinking he's holding a spider or cricket in his hands with the hopes of scaring me. I was shocked when he held out his hands with this lovely little peony he picked from his mom's garden. 


The day we were moving in all of our big stuff, our neighbor up the road, Julia, brought us a basket of goodies (Pringles, granola bars, pretzels), raspberry sweet tea, lemonade, and this fantastic bouquet of flowers she put together from her garden. 

Did I mention that God has blessed us with incredibly gracious neighbors?


We are in constant awe of where God has brought us. We know that it's only through Him that we live on such a wonderful street and that He has surrounded us with yet another family to join into.

JD and I have a LOT of work to do in terms of loving our neighbors more deeply and being intentional in helping them out whether in need or not. 

Do you have any ideas for helping to draw your neighborhood together?



Jitney's Journeys : Ecclesiastes 3:11 Painting


What an amazing promise from God!

One of my friends asked me to make her a customized 16" x 20" art piece for her home with Ecclesiastes 3:11 being the main focus.

Color theme should consist of blues, grays and purples
with a tree somewhere in the painting.

The biggest challenge of not having a whole lot of initial vision for a piece is just that... not having a grand initial vision for the piece. 

But I went with it. I'm honestly not even sure how I arrived to completion with this piece because it started out way dull and kind of dark. Then I started highlighting areas and made the leaves (unrealistically) purple, turquoise, gray and white. It brought a whimsical flair to the piece; it brought hope, which is what Ecclesiastes 3:11 is all about. 


Confession: I wish I could say that I free-handed the wood grain on the tree but I used a stencil. I've been wanting to use this stencil for forever, and I finally did. It was worth the wait. Everything else was freehand though, I promise.


The sides are painted in gray and lavender stripes to highlight some of the lavender she has as accent pieces in the room.



I've really never done a piece like this for someone, being without a mixed media theme, but it was super fun to make. I hope Nicole loves it as much as I do!!

Jitney's Journeys : Rustic Wooden Frames (Chalkboard & Photos)


One of my closest friends is expecting!! She's still keeping it hush-hush but she gave me permission to post the chalkboard I made for her. 

Here's our conversation via text that led up to this marvelous piece:
Her: Any ideas on where I can find a neat chalkboard?
Me: I would try Etsy first, Hobby Lobby or even TJ Maxx.
Her: Thanks! Let me know if you see any while you're out and about.
Me: Thought... So I can probably make you one.

Please note that we've never built a frame before (we leave that to the handyman, my Dad), especially not a chalkboard with a frame from all bare wood. But we're always up for learning something new and trying to conquer a challenge. The result?

Not to step my bounds here, but I was kind of obsessed with how well this turned out. She wanted something rustic and with a chalkboard size of 11" x 14". So JD and I rummaged through our scrap wood, found a solid 2' x 4' and cut it ourselves. The frame looked awesome as we pieced together the first three sides... but then we got to the fourth side and the measurements were way off. I'm not even sure how we could be off by that much.

So we went back to the rummaging pile, found another large 2' x 4' and walked it up to our neighbors for a more precise measurement. Whew. It worked that time. 

I sanded the boards after they were cut to the right size, distressed them, stained them, then nailed in some massively intense nails to keep the frame intact (nails also courtesy of Julia, our awesome neighbor). The final dimensions are 17" x 20".

Voila!

I left one nail head jutted out a bit to give it that rustic vibe.


After making the chalkboard, I covered it with paper and drilled a few screws in the back to hold it in place. I also added some wire for hanging and later added a photo hanger in case they wanted to hang it vertically.


Before she came over (and knew that I wrote "Coming in September"), she asked me to write "12 Weeks, baby is size of a lime". So I erased my previous message and went with this instead...


I think she would've been pleased either way but oh well-ity. The saying turned out super cute too. I'm just an all-around pleased designer today. :)

I've also decided that this is the technique I want to use for our dining room photo wall. Whoop whoop!! Finally. Some more clarity in home decor.

Here are a couple of other chalkboards we've made recently using antique baseboards but both have been sold...



End Note:
I'm thinking we'll start carrying the thick wooden frame as a new line for Jitney's Journeys in the Todd Nest Shop and our Etsy Shop. Both chalkboards and photo frames. What do you think?



Todd Happenings : Two-Week Recap

Things have been pretty crazy around the Todd Nest the past two weeks. The big snow storm hit last week and JD got to take three days off his day job work (but we still had to hit the Jitney studio pretty hard). 


Readers from more up north probably think we're crazy. But it's a rarity that we get snow, especially this much...


The majority of our neighborhood gathered together and walked up to the golf course for the best sledding hill close to us.  


The kids were ecstatic (until they were too cold to play) but I think the adults had the most fun. The men went into full combat mode during several snowball fights while the women settled for speeding down the slippery slopes. 

A few of us couples had downhill races...



JD left me in his snow dust during our downhill sled race. I asked for a head start, which I obviously needed.

Denied. 
Face full of snow dust.

And then the sun came out and we steadily went back to work.

Fast forward to Monday...

February 17th marked this handsome man's 29th birthday!! Whoop whoop!



Gosh, is he a stud or what?! 

While I'd love to spare you the sappy sentiments, I simply cannot.

Ode to JD:
You are the laughter that wakes me in the sleepy mornings
and still, the sweet laughter that sings me to sleep.
In fact, you always make me laugh,
except for the times we're being serious, 
in which you're instead the epitome of a deeply pensive thought.
Your intelligence baffles me. 
You love books and movies.
Moreover, you love correlating movies and books to scripture.
Even with the most ridiculous of movies, you can relate it to the Gospel.
How do you do that with such ease?
I'll quickly admit that I'm often wrong in our heaviest of arguments.
And when I'm right, you're quick to express your faults.
Even in our arguments,
you stay cool-headed and soft-tempered.
You ensure that our disagreements are solved at length and with boundless grace.
You also aim to resolve them quickly 
so that we can bask in the joys of loving each other more deeply.
You're the greatest travel companion ever
and I love exploring this world with you.
You are hands-down my most favorite dance partner,
whether in the kitchen or throughout life, in general.
Your leadership is strong and zealous.
I love walking through God's Word with you on an eveningly basis 
and throughout our conversations. 
I love your heart for people.
I love your heart for our friends.
I love your heart for our family.
I love your heart for your wife.
I love your heart for Christ.

I love you.
And I can't wait to throw you a surprise 30th birthday party.
;)


--> Also, our house has been taken over by ladybugs. Any suggestions for repellants?

New Blog Design & a Valentine's Day Tradition

Happy Valentine's Day!!

This past week has been filled with lots and lots of snow and super exciting moments (and epic fails falls). In the midst of it all, I decided to change up our blog design into a more clean look. I used the amazing free graphics from Hannah at We Lived Happily Ever After. Please stop by her blog, check out the lovely things she creates and show her some love. 

Today will mark mine and JD's fourth Valentine's Day together. While most couples go out to eat, we prefer the traditional eat-in route. This is our menu for the evening:


My good friend Sarah Gill (the best coffee roaster EVER) helped me make this amazing meal before JD and I had our first non-date date on May 29th of 2009 in Auburn. JD and I ended up cooking together (starting around 5 pm) and didn't finish cooking it until around 10 pm. We had a few minor issues like burning potatoes, peppers and zucchini that almost caught on fire, and undercooked brownies. We were obviously still chefs-in-practice. But it ended up being absolutely scrumptious.

In celebration of that first meal, we've made it every Valentine's Day since. AND in keeping with tradition, we set up our ironing board and place a candle and flower arrangement on top. So romantic, we know. Kind of takes you back to the days of The Little Rascals and we're totally okay with that. 

So while we're enjoying dinner by candlelight on an ironing board, we'd love to hear what your plans are on this holiday of love... 

Todd Nest








...more to come soon!!



---PAST HOMES---






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Jitney's Journeys : Burlap Corkboard with Frame and Pocket

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Lauren invited me over to her house to help her design a collage wall for her front entryway. 

 "Great is Thy Faithfulness" is the theme of the wall with rustic red, black, white and burlap accents.

 As we were envisioning the final product, we decided to add a third burlap piece. Thus, came this:


Lauren will fill the pocket with letters from the kids they worked with in Africa and put a 5 x 7 photo on the left. It's going to look AMAZING on her collage wall she's putting together!!! 

Here are the details if you'd like for us to make you something like this...
For Lauren, I made this piece a corkboard with a burlap covering. The pocket has a lovely ivory trim and Love painted on it. Other ideas for the pocket could be... Family, Memories, Letters, a quote or Bible verse.

Price is determined by size and materials (for example, Lauren bought this frame so that cut out the cost of a frame). I know I say this often, but I seriously have the greatest friends / customers to work with. It's such a joy to envision such amazing pieces with them and then to actually bring those visions to life. What a blessing!