So far So Living Room

So we are making progress! As the days pass sometimes I get annoyed because I feel like it will be forever till we're done, but I am reminded daily that this is process. Last week I decided that we would take it one room at time so as not to get overwhelmed with the massiveness of our project. This week's focus was the living room, we've made a lot of headway, though we still have nothing on the walls. Anyway here are some pics.

Here is the general view of the room. We purchased white leather couches on Craigslist. The pair for $600, a major steal slash divine intervention. For now we are using two side table that I previously painted for our bedroom when we lived in another apartment. I like the pop of color they add but I'm not sure they will stay forever.
If you can see the walls you will note they are a lovely little blue. I labored over this color choice for a few days because of the commitment one has to make for at least a few years-but I think it works. I wanted to choose a color that didn't dictate the way we had to decorate. Overall we are going for a vintage/modern feel. Being that I definitely lean more towards vintage, I went with the blue because it had a clean and modern feel.

In this corner we have a sweet vintage wing back purchased a couple years ago the Habitat ReStore for $40. This is one of my favorite pieces I love the vintage feel it gives to the room with just one piece of furniture. Behind on the side table is our Craigslist lamp. Robert found the pair for $50. They are actually pretty massive, we meant to use them in our bedroom but when Robert saw them in person he realized they were too big for our bedside.
The cool thing is that when you keep the same "feel" through the house you can move stuff around as you wish and it still works! Loving it so far!
What fun projects are you doing in your house?

1445 Bexley Two Week Update!

Well, we have been in our house for a little over two weeks now and we are loving it!! To give you a quick update on our progress. First of all I would like to thank everyone who has come out to lend a helping hand. It has been so incredible to see the Lord just provide especially in the area of labor. Some of our favorite neighbors are the Randalls who live right around the corner on South Street. I think Mike has brought us tools on a daily basis. He and Whitney are so awesome. Check out her beautiful artwork at branchdesignstudio.com

Our biggest project so far has been re-doing our ceilings. There were popcorn ceilings throughout the whole house which was probably my least favorite part about 1445 Bexley. We decided to try and re-do them because if we didn't do it now we probably wouldn't at all. What we didn't realize is how MASSIVE of a job it was. Well, God sent an angel our way in the form of a man named Courtney Jent. Courtney is a friend of ours from church who manages a painting and dry wall company Charleston. He said he would head up the job. He gave us about two weeks of free labor. We learned that skimming a ceiling is not just a Joe Schmo job but that you have to be very skilled to do this. That's where Courtney came in. He did a phenomenal job and taught my Robert a few things along the way. So as of Friday at 5pm our ceilings were finished and painted! Here is a video showcasing just a glimpse of Courtney's talents!



Now That our Ceilings are done we can start getting some order in our home. My first order of business is painting and decorating our living room. I want to have one room finished completely. I'm the kind of person who just has to see progress. Even if it's not the most practical thing to finish one room when you still have gaping drywall holes above a shower and wallpaper that refuses to come down in another bedroom. Thankfully my sweet husband allows me to have sweet little victories like that without making us finish the job completely first. My first was painting our fireplace. It is now a crisp white from the dated brick before. Pics to follow! Thanks for reading!

1445 Bexley

IT becomes more and more realistic everyday that we are buying a HOME! As we poach through Craigslist, check the scratch and dent section at Lowe's for appliances, check out blogs on home decor, and start packing stuff up, we get more and more excited about this house. Check out the listing HERE.

If you don't know, it has been over a year that we have tried to purchase a home. Because of many factors, it just hasn't happened. We determined that it was because it wasn't God's timing. We had to decide to be patient and wait on HIM to provide. It is so evident that He has provided for us (time and again), and it's no different this time. This is the best deal that we ever could have gotten on a home.

The house is a 1950, 1 story, 1500 sqft bungalow in Park Circle. It is sometimes referred to as the Old Village of North Charleston, It is an awesome up and coming community. The location is going to be awesome for us because it's only about 10 minutes from Mount Pleasant (where we both work), Downtown Charleston, and 5 minutes from the Outlets (April will love that).

We are so relieved that the inspection report came back so good! There are only minor things wrong with the home and the sellers are fixing almost all of them before closing. Oh yeah, it is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms AND has a 2 car garage that we will convert into a studio for April/workshop for me! We will have plenty of room for guests (Which we can't wait to have).

Our closing date is set for June 9th so please continue to pray that the process goes smoothly and everything goes through on time. Everything is still looking good, but we're not guaranteed a house until the keys are in hand! We can't wait to renovate our little home. We will be doing white wood floors in the places that have carpet right now. We're trying to find a good word that is a mix between vintage or retro and modern or contemporary. How bout Vintern? or Vintemporary? Anyways, that is the look we will be going for. I'm sure April's artistic design will come in handy :)

Thanks for Reading!!

Robert and April

Our New Home!!!

Well, i know it's been forever since we have posted and hopefully we can do a better job at updating everyone. Today April and I are eagerly awaiting moving into our new apartment at Hibben Ferry (www.hibbenferryapts.com)! We signed the lease this morning!! Now we are both working all day in suspense for what's to come!! We are so excited to finally have our own place. I will make sure to add pictures as soon as possible! This is a great new phase in our lives! A place where we can actually fit more than 5 people!! We can't wait just to have people over all the time (in ALL of our free time!!) Here are some cool things about our new place: a wood-burning fireplace!!, all new appliances, new carpet and floors, a balcony, and a walk in closet (that's April's favorite!)

If you get a chance, give us a call and come hang out at our new place! We hope to be moved in a settled and everything by next week. Hope all is well for you. Let us know how you're doing! Have a fantastic week!

~The Knights

Born in the USA!!

Hey everyone!
Well, we are back and settling in. Sorry we haven't updated in so long. We had a great time with April's family in Maryland and are now in Charleston trying to find jobs. I will start tomorrow working at Charleston Watersports which i am very excited about and April just had an interview at a bridal shop so hopefully she gets that job! It has been tough settling back in, but we are excited for what God has for us in our future! Keep us in your prayers as we prepare for the future! Thanks.

Robert and April

The Time Here is Winding Down

Hello Everyone! Depending on who is reading this, it may or may not be my birthday!! It has already passed here in Australia but it was awesome. We had a great day although i am extremely sore ALL over!! On Wednesday i played squash (which is basically raquetball), and it was the most intense cardio workout i have ever had! it was so much fun though. After that, we (myself and a few other guys) decided to play basketball as well. So we played for about 2 hours and called it a day!

Well, then yesterday morning (my birthday) i was so sore that i could barely walk! All the guys were playing basketball again from about 9:30-11:30 and i debated going, but of course there was no getting out of it! So i went and played and had an awesome time. One funny thing that happened was that somehow, my sweat formed in the shape of a heart on my shirt! It was the weirdest thing and one of my friends pointed it out to me. It was really cool though. that has never happened before.

Then after basketball, we had planned to go to the beach b/c i really wanted to for my birthday. Well, it ended up just being me, April and our friend Adsy! It was overcast and a little rainy here, but when we got to the beach it was great! Only raied for like 2 minutes. Adsy and i surfed for a bit, but it was so rough that we just got kicked around by the waves! I guess i am not cut out for Australian surfing! But it was worth it for April to see the beach and for us to get in the water (even though it was freezing!!)

Ok so then April and i went to Outback for birthday dinner! It was really good, but the funny thing is that everything is more expensive, but they serve smaller portions. Usually you go out to eat in the states, and there are leftovers, but here it is just enough food to be full (which is good too). It was a great dinner.

After dinner, we had a massive ice cream party for my B-day and had like 30 or so people over to hang out and eat ice cream. It was awesome! After that wound down, we played the best game of murder in the dark. We used a fog machine and strobe light during the game with all the lights off so it made it interesting!

WOW! What a great birthday. Thanks to all of you for making me feel so loved! We love you guys so much. Can't wait to see everyone again. I feel like it is coming soooo FAST. To be honest, we are going to miss it here a bit. We have met some really cool people and it has been a fun time. But we are VERY excited to come home as well. My brother is coming to visit which is so awesome, i am so pumped. he will be here 1 week from today!! Then he will visit us for about 12 days, then we fly back with him on the SYD to LA flight, then he is off to Charleston, and we are off to Maryland!

We can't wait to see you guys again! We will be arriving in Charleston again after our 10 hour drive on Saturday the 27th of December. Well, have a great weekend and keep us in your prayers. See you real soon! WE LOVE YOU!

Update from OZ

Hello Everyone!!
I hope that this post finds you well and you are having a great week! I wanted to go ahead and update everyone on things here. April and i have thoroughly enjoyed the time that we have had here so far in Australia. It is a great place that we live in and the people are so friendly. Hillsong is an amazing church that is consistently spreading God's Word all over the world. They have an incredible mission and vision and Brian and Bobbie Houston are great leadership to be under.
As some of you may know, April and I came to Australia for a much bigger reason than us just wanting to go! We came because of a strong feeling that we felt from God. I tell you, God sure has done some amazing things in our lives in this season. We feel as though we have grown so much in maturity and spirituality, and our marriage has never been stronger! We have had a lot of time to grow together in a way that we weren't able to do back home. Our relationship with God and with each other has reached a whole new level. We want to personally thank you for being part of that. Whether you have supported us financially, prayerfully, or otherwise, you have impacted our lives in a huge way.
Many of you know, but April and I have been through a lot this semester. It was hard enough living in a two bedroom apartment with two other girls! We have struggled financially and have gotten by, but it has been tough. God has definitely built our faith through the crazy circumstances such as April not having a job for the first month we were here, then losing her job for a week and getting it back again, and my dad passing away. We have stayed strong through it all! God has totally built up our faith in Him and we believe He is building us up for something huge. We have a big dream and vision that God has given to us and it is so amazing! This semester, God has been preparing us for things greater than we can imagine and we are so excited, as well as a little scared!
Well, one of the big reasons we came was so that i could get some more training musically. I realized after being here for this time, that will not be the case. The college is more of a Bible college than music school. I was under the impression that by studying within the Worship and Creative Arts stream, that i would be more musically trained, but that's not the case. Many of the classes i was able to receive Recognition of Prior Learning, because i had already taken them at CSU. So this semester i have taken one class, worship band, which is a practical class where we have a band and perform worship sets 3 times over the semester. There wasn't much training in this class because it was basically what i was doing while working at Seacoast.
After thinking through, and earnestly praying and seeking God in this situation, April and i have decided that it is time to come home. God has truly place a burning desire in my heart for Seacoast and specifically student ministries, and of course worship. Over this semester, i have learned many things that we may be able to incorporate into our church that will help us to keep moving forward! It has been a great experience for us and we have grown and learned so much. We are also so excited to come home and be with the one's we love most.
At first i really struggled with moving forward with this because i felt like i would be a failure, but i know that i'm not. We have considered many possibilities of why God would only bring us here for a semester, but we see that God wanted us to step out of our comfort zone, be forced to rely completely on Him, and put our faith in Him alone! We debated what God's "Will" was for our lives, to go home or stay here and finish the year. John 6:40 says "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." So God's will for us as His children is to spread the Good News, to tell others about Christ through our words, actions, and choices, no matter where we are. It's not about a location, it's about our heart and what we are doing to reach others! Also, it wouldn't be logical to stay another semester (at least in the college) and be paying a little over $2,000 for only one class. I don't think that would be a financially wise decision.
So it looks as though April and i will be coming home in December. We plan to leave here on the 16th of December and fly to Maryland to spend Christmas with her family. Then we will drive back down to Charleston on the 27th to settle in and spend New Year's with friends and family.
Thank you so much once again for investing in us. God is going to do some amazing things with us and we are confident that this semester has been a building block for our future! May God bless you for your fervent prayers and support for us! We love you and can't wait to see you soon! have a blessed day.

In Christ's Love,
The Knights