Gas City Flea Market

I have found a new love.

This is even a surprise to me, fitting into the "who would have thought" category of life.

When we first arrived in Indiana, we were living in a rental home that did not have a washer and dryer.  Mark had found a good laundromat in the neighboring small town called Gas City.

Don't you love that city name?

Here are the street signs in Gas City.

I'll have to research the history of this fascinating little town.

Anyway, on the main street of Gas City is the Gas City Flea Market.

It was calling my name, I tell you!

Much to the horror of my children, I insisted we stop in, 'just to check it out' after our first trip to the laundromat.

It was almost as if the angels began singing in my head when we walked through the front door of this place. 

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!" 

What an incredible find!

Because we had purged so many things in order to move overseas, and have now returned to America, there are several things that we are missing around our home.  Many problems have been solved at ridiculously low prices at the Gas City Flea Market.

(Can you hear the angelic voices singing?!?  I can!)

To begin, here is the Thomasville, solid mahogany entertainment center which I picked up for $300.  (The thing is an absolute TANK!)

Poor Mark went to pick it up with a truck we borrowed from one of his co-workers and just about died when he discovered how heavy it was!  (Oops, sorry honey!)

Anyway, here it is in the store.

And, here it is in our family room with the TV in it. 

Mark had purchased this TV and it remained boxed up until we moved into our new home.  We had NO IDEA if it would fit into this entertainment center.  As it turns out, it just barely fits.  There's about the space of a human hair between each hinge and the TV.  Ha!  I love it!  It is just so wonderful to be able to close the TV off from everyday living.  I am so thrilled that I found this!

Then, there's our headboard.

We bought the headboard in this next photo at a used furniture store just after we were married.  But, we have wanted to replace it with something better for a long, long time.

Guess what was just sitting in the back of the Gas City Flea Market calling my name?  Yes!  A new headboard.

Here it is in the process of being stripped.

It's a strange angle for a photo, but I refinished this headboard in the garage during those crazy hot days.  We brought it into our living room and had it laying on a big box to finish drying completely.

Here's the finished product!  I paid $39 for the headboard, and nearly that much again on stripping materials, the stain, and the varnish.  Yeah!

Another fabulous find was this crate.  We are big book readers in this family.  We borrow hoards of books about every 5 days at the public library.  We've been looking for an appropriate library bucket for our family room.  But, everything we see in the stores is either too small, too flimsy or too expensive.

But, the Flea Market had the solution!  We bought this crate for $10 and stained it blue.  I love it!  It is just the perfect solution to our book bucket need.

Another day, I found this lovely side table for a mere $19.  After purchasing a light oak furniture pen and fixing the small nicks and such, this table looks fabulous in our living room!  Yeah!

Here's the desk and chair I found, which together cost me $80.  I love it that the desk is small and fits perfectly in the corner of our bedroom.  And, it's solid wood. 

And, Mark needed a stool for playing guitar.  I told him, "We just need to check the Gas City Flea Market."  Sure enough!  They had this fabulous stool (that is just the right height) for $10.  Yeah!

Can you see why I love the Flea Market!?!  We are still looking for some more smaller storage pieces, so I'll definitely still be a regular at this place.

Then, there's the story of Lena's headboard.

The day we were moving into our house, we happened to drive by a small garage sale taking place at a Senior Living Home down the road from our neighborhood.

Sitting out in the sun, was this gorgeous headboard.

We pulled over immediately to check it out.

Sure enough, the headboard was SOLID oak!  It was a little dirty, but evident that it was not damaged in any way.

I asked how much it was, and they said "Would five dollars be too much?"  I was floored!  I handed her $10 because they had explained that the money raised in the garage sale would go to an Alzheimers foundation.  I still felt like I got away with highway robbery.  Who gets a solid oak headboard for $10?

Here's the headboard after attaching Lena's bed to it.

And, this is for you, Mom.  This is the painting that Lena insisted on having over her bed.  :-)

So, I believe I have found my new hobby.  I am loving the garage sales and flea markets in plenty in Indiana.  I can't wait to see what treasures I find next!

Startling Contrasts

Every now and then, we find ourselves just shaking our heads in amazement.  The contrast between life just 6 months ago and today is simply startling.  

This was our home 6 months ago.

This is our home now.

 

This was our front door 6 months ago, complete with security pad to open the door.  (Look how small the kids were when we moved to France!!!!)

 

 

This is our front door now.

 

 

This was our street 6 months ago.

And this was the 'entrance' to our neighborhood and the street leading to our home 6 months ago.

 

 

This is the street we live on, followed by the 'entrance' to the neighborhood we live in now.

 

 This was our mailbox 6 months ago.

This is our mailbox now.

 

This was the normal landscape 6 months ago.

This is the normal landscape now.

 It's just simply amazing what a difference 6 months makes.  Gotta love life!  You just never know what is around the corner.

His Way is Tops!

I just marvel.  Walking with the Lord is definitely the way to go!  There's no predicting what is next with God.

It may be trials to stretch you, to grow you, and to draw you closer to Him.  Or, it might be going places you never thought you would go.  Or, it might be investing in people you never thought you'd care about.  Or, it might be incredible blessing you never dreamed possible.

But, in all cases, it is the best way to live.

As I type these words, my husband Mark is in the process of moving offices.

(Just for the fun of it, I am going to interject photos of the kids invading Mark at his office throughout this post.  These were taken in June when we went in to meet his co-workers.  We were waiting to meet his boss who was finishing up a meeting with someone else.)

When Mark arrived at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), he was given an office with a door.  Now,  considering he was a cubical man in his professional life prior to moving to France, and considering our office in France was in our living room, this was a pretty sweet surprise!  An office!  Wow!

But, they quickly apologized.

They felt bad that it this was only a temporary office.  They were planning to reshuffle a few people in the department so that they could move Mark down to the other end of the HR department, closer to the people who report to him.  But, it would take a few months before the move would happen.

Today is the day.  Mark is moving from his temporary office (a really nice office, mind you!), to a corner office with two windows.

How do you like that? 

(Sadly, Todd is not visible in these photos.  He's on the opposite side of the desk from Mark.  But, look at this Lena girl!  She has her hot little hands on a red IWU folder that she is determined to take home with her.)

Mark has repeatedly quoted Psalm 113:7-8 to me throughout this transition.  Here's what it says:

He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

to make them sit with princes,

with the princes of his people.

(Psalm 113:7-8 ESV)

So much about our time in France was fabulous, but at the same time it is also true that so much about our time in France was very difficult.  Yet, it is like God has taken us from an ash heap and put us with princes.  It's just amazing.  

How else do you explain Mark getting a job that started the day after our last day of work with Avant?  

How else do you explain the fabulous work environment and co-workers that God has given to Mark?

How else do you explain the heaps of money that have seemed to come out of thin air that has helped us to buy such a nice house and re-purchase so much stuff that we had given away?

How else do you explain the neighborhood full of kids the same ages as our kids?

How else do you explain the fabulous school district we've found for our kids where the vast majority of teachers and staff are believers?

How else do you explain the fact that we are still sane after all the transition we have been through in the last 4 months?

Yet, we have learned so very much from the ash heap, and we are learning the vastness of the Father's love in this place that feels like the place of princes.

We know that the ride is far from over.  There are most certainly surprises yet to come - good surprises, difficult surprises, things we might not choose to go through,  and who knows what else.  But, we know the ride will not be boring and it will be totally worth it - whatever it is that He has in store for us.

So, one day, I will post a photo of my husband in his new office as a testimony to the greatness of our God.  It's another blessing we don't deserve!

With that, I will end.  But before I do, I'll let you know that Lena DID take that folder home with her.  Mission accomplished!

First Surprises

Within the first hours of living in our new home, we found several nice surprises waiting for us.

Neighbor kids! 

Yes!

Across the street, there's a family with 3 boys.  One is Ryan's age, and another is Todd's age.  They'll all be attending the same school and be in the same grades.  This is extra cool since we have chosen to enroll our kids in a neighboring school district... and so have they!

Additionally, these 3 boys have toys. 

Lots of toys. 

Within hours of being in this home we were catching glimpses of the extent of these toys.

They have skateboards of several varieties, a basketball hoop, every kind of sports equipment, a golf cart, trampoline, play set, two dogs and who knows what else!

Needless to say, our kids love playing with these kids - especially our boys!

Then, behind us, we have neighbors who have kids as well!

And, a pool!

This photo was taken the first day we were living in our house.

Our kids have spent hours in this pool.  In light of the extreme heat this summer has produced, this pool has been such a wonderful surprise!

This neighbor also has a dog.  The family is from India and their male dog is named Jackie.  I think that's hilarious. 

Jackie is a beautiful dog and Lena is thoroughly enjoying helping to take care of him.

Just between these two families, Mark and I joke that we don't have to buy anything for our kids ever again.  The neighbors have it all!  How very nice!

We've also found a home-school family down the street with 3 kids who are similar ages to ours.  They seem like super nice people.

And, we know of another family in the neighborhood with a daughter Lena's age.  She also goes to the Oak Hill school district where our kids will go this coming Fall.  Yeah!

And, we've spotted a few other homes with kids, too.

I don't know about you, but I always want to walk down the street of each house we are looking to buy, just to try to get a feel for 'who's in the neighborhood'.  We didn't have that option, since we had one weekend to look at homes. 

So, it's been a truly fabulous surprise to find all of these kids!!!!  Yeah!