Jesus was a carpenter... I decorated my house...

Yeah, I tried to tie this post together in the title, but I'm writing about two totally different things. Face the facts, Lauren: you're writing about Christ's resurrection and the seat cushions you bought at World Market. Stop trying to come up with a witty title.

So, yeah, where to start? Jesus? Seat cushions?

Jesus.

Although the past week of weather has been royally horrible, after last night's Good Friday service, I found some sort of joy in it. As any Chicagolandian (right?) will tell you, the past week of weather was so crappy - cold, rainy, and far too wintery for mid-April. And yet, we can't really complain, because we've chosen to live in this place.

But today is amazingly beautiful - sunny and warm.

And as we're in the midst of Easter weekend, I know we're supposed to really take each part of the season seriously. Leading up to Christ's crucifixion, we're supposed to mourn him - to be humbled and saddened by the seriousness of what happened.

And when He is risen, we're supposed to take seriously the supreme joy and life-giving-ness of this event. To be amazed and totally content and joyful at what has been done so that we may live.

But I guess I normally don't feel that way during Easter season. I know I should, but since I know He defeats death and we are saved because of Him, I sometimes hard it find to truly mourn in the days leading up to Sunday.

But I think this dramatic shift in weather this week has been an interesting metaphor for this season... I don't know, maybe that's a little hippie-ish of me (but hey, I AM going to San Francisco next week), but I've been moved - spiritually - through this week. And I credit the rain for that. And maybe that's not the most spiritually sophisticated way of looking at it, but if we believe that God created everything, I don't think it's a stretch to find these meanings in all of his creation.

I'm also quite happy this week because I'm currently on DAY 2 OF 10 OF MY VACATION! I can hardly even wrap my head around how long of a time that is. I feel like I'm in college again.

So far, vacation has been very productive around the house. I cleaned the study, cleaned most of the kitchen, and made granola.

I was also fairly productive last weekend, cleaning our breakfast nook and finally decorating that area. You'll remember that my dad made Dave and I a table and some benches for our nook area, so that we could have a place to eat dinner that's not the couch. Last weekend, I painted the benches and spruced up the rest of the area.

Here's the result:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The lighting in the nook is... less than ideal (can my landlord read this?), so the pictures aren't that great, but it will give you an idea of what I did.

I used "honey lemon" paint on the benches, and then bought some bright seat cushions from World Market. The candlesticks are from Anthropologie, and then candles are from Yankee Candle. Dave was slightly terrified when I walked in the door with a bag from Anthro, but I was like, "Don't freak out yet. They were 80% off." And I successfully went in and out of this store without so much as trying this on, so I'd say I deserve a pat on the back. I also successfully went to Yankee without caving on the clerk's request that I: make sure I smell the new Pink Sands candle, buy any two candles ("they're buy one, get one half off!"), be added to the mailing list, give them my email address AND my phone number, come look at the cute new candle holders, or buy a car scent. Not kidding. I wanted to tell that woman to "SUMMA DONNA. The more you talk, the more you make me NOT want to take you up on any of your offers." I even went so far as telling her my husband doesn't allow me to pick out scented candles because he has very specific tastes (only half lying...), but she was NOT deterred. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: Anthro and World Market - great customer service. Yankee Candle - you're making me rethink me love of "Mistletoe" and "Sage and Citrus."

So anyway, here we go - the results of my craft-time: