A Gathering at the Dell's

Our beautiful Home on Spring Street housed her first-ever family party yesterday evening!  To celebrate our new home, Noah and I decided to invite family from both sides to come enjoy good food, fellowship, and of course, our new home!  This party marked a milestone in my role as a homemaker, never before have I hosted my own party in my own home.  Let me tell you, it was a lot of fun.  I've watched my own mother hostess many parties, it seems like she thinks of everything any guest could possibly want or need to feel welcome and cared for.  I have always admired that, and was excited for the chance to make guests feel welcome in my home as well.  I was also excited for Noah's and my family to see all the work that has been put into our Home on Spring Street.  Noah has worked so hard to make this house our home, and I think others see that as much as I do.

Joseph Mark Dell ~ The First Three Months

I'm so in love with this little boy.  A most precious gift from God.

Feeling Like Home

Right now, I am sitting on our comfy couch in our comfy little living room, while my little guy sleeps.  So far today, I have hung pictures around the house, made a loaf of bread, finished three loads of laundry, and watched MJ and Evan (my cousins, ages 1 year and 3 months) for a couple hours while their momma did some shopping.  
Yes, this is home now.
I can picture my children running across the hardwood floor, chasing each other.  I can picture them playing up in the attic and biking up and down our street.  I can picture a yard full of family and friends, gathered for fellowship and a good meal.  It's almost to the point where I feel like we've always been here, and this is where we belong.

Enough with the sentiments. Speaking of family and friends, Noah and I are hosting a party here at the house this coming Friday.  We wanted to give everyone a chance to see our Home on Spring Street.  We are very excited about it and I hope to catch some good photographic moments to share.  Now, for some pictures from the move.

Moving is exhausting!

Our First Home and Moving In

So far I have not been very good about current events, and this journal has been more of an "update-every-two-weeks" kind of thing.  I wish I would have been more diligent about posting and keeping up with the happenings with our Home on Spring Street.  I am hoping that home life will settle into a normal routine soon, it's hard to believe that we moved into our Home on Spring Street almost two weeks ago!  It is definitely beginning to feel more like home.  God has been so good to our family.  I feel especially blessed to have been able to live in such a wonderful apartment for the first year of Noah's and my marriage.  Living right behind Noah's parents is something I have definitely missed, but the good relationships that were built with them is something that will always stand.

Here are some pictures of our beautiful little apartment (It's hard to believe that it's located in a barn, over a milk parlor!)

I felt sad about leaving our first home, but I am excited to see what God has for us living in our Home on Spring Street.  I'll post more about moving in and how the house looks now soon.

Potato Soup: My favorite comfort food

My last post had enough in it for three separate posts.  So I'll keep this one short and sweet.

Today is rainy, dark, and a little dreary.

What do days like today make you crave more than anything? The answer is comfort food of course!

Nothing says comfort like a nice, steaming, bowl of potato soup, so thats what I made.

There are thousands of different potato soup recipes out there, but I think what attracted me to the one I used was the simplicity of it.  There are only four main ingredients; potatoes, flour, butter, and milk, ingredients many people always have in their kitchens.  You can view the recipe I used here.

The nice thing about a simple recipe is that it gives you the freedom to get creative and add whatever you want.  I sprinkled some cheese, bits of bacon, and green onions on top of mine, and it was delicious.

Add a slice of homemade bread to complete a hit-the-spot meal.

Catching a Breath

Whew...  The end of May seems to already be lost in time, and the first half of this week has gone by just as quickly.  This little Dell family has been so busy.  I wanted to take a minute to recap on the highlights.  

Last Wednesday, Noah's former college roommate, Rob came to spend the latter of the week and weekend with us.  Both he and Noah were asked to be groomsmen in another previous roommate's wedding so Rob came down from Michigan to join the festivities.  Thursday, Rob, Noah, and the rest of the groomsmen took a trip to Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati for the bachelor party while Joseph and I went to the bachelorette party (Joseph's first and probably last).  For the bachelorette party, the bridesmaids, and some other close friends of the bride went to a restaurant called Via Viste for dinner, Graeter's Creamery for dessert, and back to the bride and groom's new apartment for drinks.

Here we all are in front of Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati.

Friday night consisted of the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  The food was excellent and the company was even better.  It was such a blessing to catch up with old friends that Noah and I had not seen for months.  Saturday, of course was the wedding.  It was absolutely beautiful, from the ceremony down to the flowers (which my mother-in-law did). 

 

The new Mr. and Mrs. Danny Garay

This matrimony was particularly exciting to witness because these two friends of ours, Abby and Danny, are very clearly devoted to Christ and devoted to each other.  Throughout their dating relationship, they desired to glorify God, and no doubt their marriage will do just that.

Although the weekend was joyful and fun, it was also very exhausting.  Monday found us back in our Home on Spring Street sanding and painting walls, hanging drywall, and peeling wallpaper.  The work required for this project takes much patience and perseverance.  Thankfully we have wonderful family and friends who are willing to help us with the burden.  Monday, good friends from church came to help us work (and brought us Jones Soda!)  Tuesday, our pastor came and helped us by preparing the living room walls for paint, and today (Wednesday), my dad and sister, Haley, came and helped us paint.  Hopefully soon I'll be able to post pictures of newly painted rooms.  I'm thankful for all of the time and energy so many family members and friends have donated to help us get closer to moving into our little Home on Spring Street.  The long days are wearing on me, and certainly wearing on Noah.  He continues to be long-suffering which is very encouraging, but I look forward to the day (coming soon) when he and I and Joseph will be enjoying our Home on Spring Street and catching a breath.

Although he's busy, Noah still takes time to hold and talk to Joseph.  He's a wonderful daddy.

  

A Lesson in Edwardian Architecture

So... I've spent the last two days researching early 1900's home decor.  What started as a simple Google search to find period paint colors, turned into an informational and very fascinating lesson on Victorian and Edwardian architecture.  Our beautiful Home on Spring Street was built in 1905 (or so we were told), which would make it Edwardian style.  The main difference between Edwardian and Victorian style is simply the monarch who ruled in Britain at the time.  The Victorian era lasted for the duration of Queen Victoria's rule, which was 1837 to 1901.  Edwardian style was prevalent between 1901 to 1910.  Isn't it interesting that home architecture in America was so heavily influenced by who was ruling in Britain at the time?  Well, I thought it was interesting, which is why I've spent so much time reading about, and writing a blog post about it.

Edwardian style was characterized by it's open and airy feel, directly contrasting with the previous Victorian style which tended to be dark and cluttered.  Below I've shared some pictures of Edwardian style decor.  Perhaps our Home on Spring Street will sport some of these in the future!