as Jules is DIYing Archives - Page 16 of 45

Where DO You Live?

June 24, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

I just wanted to give a lil update on where we are. Literally.

There is a wide group of people who stop by this blog occasionally. Some are friends and family I grew up with from birth until graduating Fayetteville High. Some are friends I matured with at Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge. Then there are the ministry friends and family I have met along with way over the past 9 years of marriage; anywhere from Walnut Ridge FBC, Parkers Chapel FBC, Central BC, The Valley, and all those we've collided with in between.

I lived in 2 houses as a child; one of those was for 16 of 18 years. Since moving out to attend college I've lived in 1 dorm room, 1 apartment in town, and 1 apartment on campus, as a single adult. Now I'm about to move to my 6th houses in my 9 years of marriage. That's 11 homes in my life time of 29 years {this August}. Since this has all been in Arkansas, I'm not sure if I can wear the same badge but I can definitely relate to "The Humbling of a Nomad".

I've had tons of friends from different corners of the state as well as the town we are currently "living in" have been asking similar questions, all just in the past couple days. I thought I'd take a minutes and let ya know the answers to these FAQ::

Have you closed on your house?

Yes. Depending on which house you're asking about.

We "closed" on our "big blue" house in White Hall and sold it for good! After a year of it being on the market {6 months with an agent & 6 FSBO}, we finally sold it to a perfect family who will be so blessed by the space. God really did turn a hard year of waiting into a situation in which He could be glorified.

No we haven't "closed" on the home we're buying in Vilonia. A week after selling our house in White Hall, we made an offer on a house in Vilonia. To most this sounds like a hasty decision, but if you know us {and the details of this life in limbo then you know we've been searching for a home "in the field" and this is the exact layout I fell in love with when we first began our journey of house hunting that has included hours of online searching, an awesome realtor and over 2 DOZEN houses. This will be the "nicest" home either of us have ever lived in. Don't get me wrong, we haven't lived in crappers but this is the newest and fancier than I ever saw us being able to buy. Just goes to show, God blesses us beyond what we deserve.

We are supposed to "close" any time between now and July 10th!!!

Have you finished moving?

Again, Yes. Depending on which "move" you're asking about.

We moved essentials into our "borrowed" home and then the rest of our belongings after the sale of "big blue".

We have not moved to our new home we are in the process of buying. We are giving the seller a week after closing to move her furniture out as well as to stretch and clean carpets {the only thing not perfectly maintained about the home}. Keep ya posted 😉

Are you excited about your new town?

I bet you can guess this one...Yes. Depending on which "new town" you're asking about.

Conway, the town we are currently living in our "borrowed" house is great. The town feels cleaner and while having all the amenities of "bigger town" without the 1-2 hour commute like ALL the past places we lived, yet still feels small enough to not be overwhelmed.

Vilonia, the town in which we are buying our new home, is only a 15 minute drive to Conway. Although it is a rural community, it still has several gas stations, restaurants, and a grocery store. Plus, our church family is all out there.

When beginning this church planting trek, the first thing they tell all church planters is to "move to the field", meaning live in the community in which you plan to minister, serves, and be a part of that community. Guess God chose to use us a lil differently. Which I love. I think this has let us see, this isn't about us. Often in youth ministry, groups grow based on the popularity and personality of the pastor. Here, He is keeping the truth at the front of everything we do: this plant is about the people God so dearly loves already planted in Vilonia and how He wants to empower them to reach the masses for His name.

Where do you live???

We live in a "borrowed" house that has become home. It really is true, home is where your heart & family is.

Back in March, 1 weeks before our preview services and 5 weeks before our launch date, we were blessed beyond comprehension by a couple who can only be described as "used by God". Through the church that partnered with us for the plant as well as mutual friends, God connected us with a family who heard about our 1 hour commute multiple times a week for services and meetings because our house {WH} still hadn't sold. They allowed us to stay in their home that hadn't sold yet & the former renters had just moved out of...for FREE. Talk about birds of the air.

This transition home has allowed us to be used by God at the valley, wait to sell our home to the perfect family, find the perfect new home for our family, all while being taken care of by God via this amazing family.

This entire God situation deserves a post all its own; I'm just having trouble putting it all into words.

We live on the side of a gorgeous mountain, in a log cabin, with a beautiful view, a huge shop/storage building, 30 minutes from the valley, in a home that was made for just a time as this and our family. God is good.

If I didn't answer your questions about our whereabouts, just ask! I'll keep ya posted on the "final move" and "new home"!

Filed Under: Being a Help-Meet, Homemaker, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about The Valley Church

Water Park Hair for Littles {Thoughtful Thursday}

June 13, 2013 by Jules 4 Comments

I mentioned yesterday that we got to spend the day with friends at a water/amusement park for the 1st time as a family. We were beyond pumped!

Because we wanted to eliminate any possible kinks in the day, I wanted to make sure little girl hair wasn't going to be a constant issue. Ya know, pulling it up all day. Bang in the face. Hair slapping you on rides. Nasty looking, 1/2 dried hair. Soooo

We borrowed little brother's hair glue, "Gorilla Snot" and used tiny rubber bands to created some cute doos that would last all day.

I wet down the girls hair, added a generous amount of GS, and used a fine comb to comb their hair, removing knots, before putting it up.
Because both my girls have bangs or baby hairs/fly-aways, we created tiny pony tails right in the front.
Then we did a little dipsy do. I'm sure there's a real term for this but basically, all you do is make a hole under the hair-tier and poke the ponytail through before pulling tight.
Finally, we pulled the tiny dipsy do back into another ponytail. My oldest daughter has more hair so we ended up doing 3 ponies on one side and a single on the other side but only 2/1 on my younger daughter.
I left the back down on both girls {having only pigtails on the front 1/2 of their heads} so it would be less likely to fall down, since both of them have shoulder-length hair. I also scrunched my younger daughter's curly hair with the GS.

These stayed All Day! AND looked cute 😉 How do you fix your little girls hair when you need it to stay all day?

edit to add pics of hair glue

Filed Under: Hand-Dandies, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Ready, Set, WHAT?!?

June 12, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

I haven't been writing much lately. Not for lack of fun stories, interesting thoughts {or at least to me}, or helpful how-tos...we've been a lil busy. lol I honestly had to go back and look at my instagram to remember what all we'd been doing. {btw: sorry if you follow my instagram via my FB page- its gonna double up}

Shortly before mother's day we found out our #4 is coming to round out the family! Eeeek

Rothacher' Harlem Shake Video {announcement}

Saw a Bunch of former students graduate down in Parker's Chapel.

Went on an awesome day of adventure to Magic Springs water and amusement part with some great friends.

Celebrated our 9th anniversary!!!

Moved the rest of stuff out in 2 days {boooo}
We FINALLY sold our house, "Big Blue"! I'll be doing a follow-up post on the Homemaker's Challenge scheduled for July.
note to self: put the memory card in the camera so you can have that "last day in front of our house when we sold it" picture
Had our 1st block party for the Vilonia community. {the night after 'closing' in White Hall}

Valley Groups have launched! Our ultimate goal and entry point for our church.
Started potty training our 2.5 year old, Jamin. Yay for new-to-us underroos!

We had our long-awaited 1st ultrasound. Baby #4 is due December 24th {but we will likely meet him/her closer to Dec 10th via c-section; entirely different post}

Had an awesome Girls Night Out in Little Rock where we went and saw Steel Magnolia's at Murray's Dinner Theater
Hosted our daughters big 'o 5th birthday party at the park {the next morning after our GNO}

We made an offer on a house in Vilonia! After a year of searching {and waiting to sell}, we made an offer at 3:30pm, received a counter-0ffer {of exactly what we were looking for} at 5:30pm, and accepted at 6:00pm. Did I mention this was the same day as the ultrasound? Busy day 😉

Now we are moving on to the "Honey-Do" list that we are hoping to accomplish before my sweet hubs leaves for Super Summer for a week and a 1/2; leaving me to single-parent {unskillfully} while he's gone.

Sign papers & turn them into the bank for our loan- check
Wii & DVD player hooked up correctly and ready to rock way too much screen time- check
Remove the giant wad of plastic wrap that I tried to use to help the bathtub water leak out slower but may or may not have gone down the drain before I could snag it possibly causing slow drainage and a pretty good clog- check
Go to SAMs Club as a family to get TP & other much-needed essentials so I don't pass out from loading, pushing, and unloading all that stuff by myself- check
Stalk up on simple foods & snacks for the prego & kids at said club- check {but may need a couple things a the big WM, ugg}
Catchup on the dishes, laundry, and big cleaning around the house- 1/2 check
Bring in our microwave from big blue because our current one got tired and doesn't heat any more- Wednesday
Baby pool, weighing way more than I should lift, dumped and refilled with clean water for scorching days- Wednesday
Collect tax return papers after the bank makes copies- Wednesday
Home inspection complete on our New House {within 10 days with the hubs being gone 7 of those days}- Thursday
Mow the jungle- maybe not...
A thousand other random things my hubs will do because he's so good at taking care of me- CHECK

Filed Under: Being a Help-Meet, Birthdays, Holidays, Homemaker, My Husband ROCKS!, The Ones about Jules Life {Randomness}, The ones about the Rothacher Home

WIC Approved Breakfast

June 4, 2013 by Jules 4 Comments

Many of you mom's out there with littles under 5 may know the blessings and woes of the WIC program.

Now that you have the food home, what do you do with it? Today I want to share a breakfast meal my kids love and only takes 1-3 ingredients that WIC doesn't provide but that you likely have in your pantry. Check them out over at the Homemaker's Challenge!

Filed Under: Baking and Cooking, Homemaker, The Ones about Homemaker's Challenge, The ones about the Rothacher Home

How-to Make Scramble Eggs in the Microwave

May 30, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

Last summer, I visited my mom who was working at a diner. Being a "home cook'n" kinda place, they needed to make real food while still pretty fast. She taught me that you can make scrambled eggs in a microwave in about 2-3 minutes. You an also do individual servings of eggs without dirtying an entire pan! They turn out incredibly fluffy!

Scrambled Eggs {in the microwave}

Ingredients:

2 eggs
Tsp Milk
Shredded Cheese {optional for added yumminess}
Salt/Pepper {to taste}

Instructions:

Crack eggs into a microwave-safe dish {preferably the one you will eat them in so you don't have to do more dishes}
Scramble the eggs with a whisk {or fork- again on the saving on washing dishes}\
Blend in the milk {and cheese}
Place dish into microwave and cook for ~2 minutes {maybe less if your is high-powered}
Remove & fluff with fork
If there is still more liquid {eggs or milk} in the bottom of the dish, return it to the microwave, cooking for 30 sec at a time
When ready, salt & pepper to taste and serve!

Did you try it? Does it work? I really enjoy this...especially being pregnant, craving eggs, but getting nauseous at the smell of them cooking over the stove.