Katie's Room...Before and After

Katie's room was so much fun to put together! When we first viewed the house she and her brother were told to choose who got which bedroom. She chose this bedroom because as soon as she saw it she could envision built-ins on either side of the window with a desk in between. She drew her ideas out for Mark and he built them. The color choices were all Katie.

Daniel's Bedroom - After

As many of you know, Daniel is a filmmaker. We wanted his room to reflect what he loves. We went for a monochromatic theme. The border was designed and executed by me. Katie and Daniel picked out the 'screen shots' they wanted to include on the film strip, then I printed them off and used spray adhesive to attach them to the white painted 1 x 6 that Mark cut to fit the walls. I then used electrical tape and black car pin-striping tape to create the outline of the 'film'. I painted the 'sprocket holes' by hand. Afterwards I used some spray gloss finish to protect the project. The headboard is a simple upholstered board. I used letter stencils and white fabric paint to do the letters. Xavious Pictures is Daniel and Katie's production company. The movie posters were created by Daniel. They are from two of his short films.

Daniel's Bedroom-- Before

Now, as I said, this house photographs really well. What you can't see in this picture is that the paint on the bottom was a very high gloss green painted over wallpaper. The baseboards and window and door trim all had peeling paint. The walls had patch marks everywhere.

Our House!

So, I think it's finally time to start posting some pictures of our new house. Well, it isn't exactly new, it was built in 1969, but it is new to us! We had been searching for well over a year following our move to Indiana. We walked into this house and within 10 minutes were ready to write and offer. (When you house hunt for over a year, its not that hard to figure out what you like and what you don't like) This house was full of potential in our opinion. It's in a great golf course neighborhood. Because of its age, the lots are large and the trees are even larger! To say this house has a lot of work that needs to be done is an understatement. Although it shows very well in photos..as you will see when I post the before shots, what you can't see is the years of neglect and bad paint jobs! And so, without further ado...we present to you...our home.

The War- The kids' latest video

Weekend Getaway

You know it just doesn't get much better than this! We spent a fantastic family weekend in Southwest Michigan, driving along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The beaches were comfortably quiet. The warmth of the sand between our toes was strangely unfamiliar, even though we had lived only 50 miles from a beach in Oregon. Could that be because the beaches in Michigan were actually warmer than those in Oregon? It would appear so. We visited quaint little beach towns with all of the usual artsy stores. Although the temperatures were only in the 60's the feel of the sun on our faces made it feel so much warmer.

Spring?

We have not quite figured out the weather here in Indiana. To be honest, I don't think the weathermen have either. It changes so rapidly. This morning as I sip my coffee I have to shield my eyes from the sunlight coming through the window. It's a very deceiving sight as currently the 'feels like' temperature is only 18º. My weather widget on my IMac assures me that on Wednesday we will see highs in the 60s.

Producer Profile: Up and Coming Producer Daniel Hart

Producer Profile: Up and Coming Producer Daniel Hart

Never a Dull Moment

Our kids laugh...a lot! Most of the time I don't even know why they are laughing. (Which sometimes causes me to suspect that they may be laughing at me.) Whatever the reason, it always makes me smile. Laughter should be a part of every persons' life. Young or old, rich or poor, sick or healthy. It's not hard to find something that makes us angry, or frustrated, or sad, but sometimes things that should make us laugh go unnoticed. So take the time for a little giggle now and then, I think you might find its contagious!

Settling In

We have now lived in our new state for over five months. We've settled into somewhat of a daily routine, with school, work, church, etc.
Mark's job is going very well. His involvement has brought measurable improvements to the distribution side of the company which pleases the higher ups. His secret to success, "Seek to please the MOST HIGH, and the rest will follow".
Katie continues to work as a deli-counter clerk along with taking a full load of college courses this fall. Her commitment to a job well done does not go un-noticed in either venue.
Daniel has started his junior year of high school. He is taking a History course at a private Christian school, in addition to schooling here at home. His passion for music continues to grow. He plays keyboard for our church's high school praise band and is having a blast.
I remain very much in the role of homemaker, and all that entails. I delight in sitting down with Mark each morning and chatting over breakfast before he heads out the door for the day with his hand-packed lunch under his arm. Our small condo requires little by way of maintaining which frees up some time for honing my culinary skills as I seek out new and fun recipes for our family dinners.
All in all, this move has been a good one for our family. We are so grateful for God's provision!

Sunshine, how I love thee!

We have been in our new city for three months now and I must admit I have grown quite fond of the frequent days of sunshine. Now the funny thing is, Fort Wayne actually had an extremely wet spring. You couldn't have proved that by me though. Coming for Oregon I know a thing or two about rain and wet springs. Because of the wet spring we are enjoying beautiful flowers and lush green lawns. It really is quite lovely. And now we are in the throws of a beautiful summer with warm days and firefly filled evenings.
We have also settled into our permanent living arrangement for the next year. It's a three bedroom condo with a two car garage and meets our needs quite well. We have enjoyed the amenities that condo life has to offer including the sparkling swimming pool.
The kids are both involved in groups through a local church we've been attending. Katie participates in college group on Wed and Thursday nights as well as Sunday mornings. Daniel goes to a high school group on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. He is also playing keyboard for a newly formed praise band in the group.
Mark's job is going very well. He is enjoying some significant successes in his position and is very well respected. He has had to travel a bit, but nothing overwhelming. He even had the opportunity to visit my brother on a recent trip to CA.
I'm enjoying the summer. I've gotten back in the habit of running and Jenna and I head out in the early mornings for a run along the paths that surround the farm by our condo. I'm also still working on putting the finishing touches on our condo, and trying to thin out the garage to the point where we'll be able to fit two cars in this winter.

45? Really?

Yes, really. Another year has come and gone and I have celebrated the day of my birth in a new city and state. We now call Fort Wayne, Indiana home, and although we have not yet quite settled into a permanent housing situation we are settling into our new surroundings. As in past years my family went all out to indulge my desires for the day. Wanting to acquaint ourselves with all that our new city has to offer, we started the day with a long walk around a local farm park. We later visited the downtown botanical gardens where I was treated to a beautiful butterfly exhibit and even got to experience a butterfly up close as it perched on my finger. We ventured north of town to a local favorite Italian restaurant and my lobster ravioli were cooked to perfection. To finish out the day we reserved the movie theater room in our apartment complex. The kids had made me a birthday video and we watched it on the 'big screen'. Then we sat back and enjoyed a movie and some popcorn. A day to remember as the Hart family builds new memories in our new location.

The view from Mark's world.

An Overdue Update

I have fallen quite behind in my blogging. The whirlwind that has engulfed our lives over the past few months has yet to release us from its grasp, but it has at least slowed its rotation. I shall attempt to catch many of you up on our lives with as much brevity as possible.
To start, Mark has accepted a position with a company in Fort Wayne, IN. Our family will make the permanent move in mid-March when Katie has completed her winter term at Lane Community College. The four of us, make that 5 counting our dog Jenna, will spend a few days making the drive cross-country stopping briefly here and there at various places of interests...to be determined by our navigator and trip planner, Katie. Daniel is working on a documentary of the entire move and we hope to post it sometime after we have set up residence in our new state.
Upon reaching our new city we will be housed temporarily in a three bedroom apartment provided by Mark's employer. While Mark acclimates himself to his new job, the kids and I shall be house-hunting, as well as visiting nearby colleges. We are excited to be starting this new adventure and thankful for God's continued provision!

In My Dreams

Send/Receive

I have a very hard time waiting for things. I remember my frustration with the postal service when awaiting a letter in the mail from a long distance friend. Then the frustration over telephone calls before answering machines became popular. With the introduction of the Internet came the familiar buzz of the dial up, and the all too common busy signal. While every new advancement brought increased efficiencies I still found fault in having to 'wait'.
As of late my frustrations have turned to email. I now have a new nightly routine where I sit at my computer and incessantly press the Send/Receive button in my email program. I am waiting for communication from my husband. With his new job came limited opportunities for us to have free-flowing conversations back and forth. So I send him a message and then hit Send/Receive until I get a response, as if I am somehow able to control the speed at which emails travel.
I've had some time to analyze this somewhat bizarre behavior, and finally tonight came an epiphany! It isn't impatience that fuels my constant finger pokes. Rather, it is an attempt to speed up communication to somehow enable the conversations to feel more instantaneous as they would if Mark were standing right before me. Ultimately, albeit unrealistically, what I am hoping to accomplish is Mark's actual physical presence on the seat beside me. Just as the letters that arrived in the mail could not make my best friend appear on my doorstep, neither are the words on my screen capable of allowing me to rest my head on Mark's shoulder as he tells me about his night. But still, I will poke on, and with each repetitive motion hold on to the hope that one day it just might work. ;-)

November? When did that happen?

I am always in such shock with how fast the year goes by. Of course this year has been such a blur with all that has gone on with our business. But now things are finally starting to slow down a bit. I've been outside two days in a row walking the dog and enjoying the fall colors during the middle of the afternoon. It feels so great to not have to rush home from work and try to figure out what to make for supper. I love having the time now to make us all breakfast and pack Mark a lunch for his 11:30 p.m. break. Every day the stresses are a bit less.

October 29th.......my heart will choose to say..Blessed be the Lord

16 years ago today we learned of God's compassion through a most difficult situation. Our son, Mark Everett died in utero during the 7th month of my pregnancy. While his earthly body was delivered into this world without life, he was welcomed into our Father's arms in Heaven fully alive! We know we will be reunited with him when we are called home. God brought us peace thoughout this sad time and surrounded us with the love of friends and family. Today we continue our tradition of releasing birthday balloons to remember our son who was taken too soon.
Sadly this day in 2010 has some added pain that also could not have been anticipated. Today we close the doors of our business for good. A chapter closed in our lives. For seven years we have ridden the rollercoaster of self-employment, with it's ups and downs and unpredictabilities. While we would never have imagined the outcome of this venture we can find comfort in the love of family and friends just as we did 16 years ago.

October and gladly the end is near...

Yes, I know, a strange title for blog, however given the circumstances that have surrounded our lives for the past two years and particularly the past five months, the end is what we gladly welcome.

Mark's job was such a blessing from the Lord and we are so grateful for HIS provision. Mark has proven himself over and over again an excellent hire. So, why the strange title then, you may ask. Well, with Mark's new employment has come some pretty drastic changes in the Hart lifestyle. We have attempted to keep the business going with my taking over the day to day operations, but the long hours of Mark's schedule, combined with my long hours, combined with almost no family time is taking its toll on all of us and it really must end. Sooner or later a white flag must be raised and a surrender declared in order to salvage the sanity of the participants. That time has come.

The decision to close the business has been one that has been at the forefront of our minds for several months now, but its just so hard to let go of something that you have watched your husband work so hard to build. It really took the kind words of a friend who has been by our sides since the beginning to say, "It's okay to say enough, there is no shame when you have given it all you had". Perhaps that was all we needed, someone other than ourselves to give us permission.


And now that the permission has been granted we feel a bit of spring in our step. We look towards the end of the tunnel and actually can see a light. It won't be pretty or neat, the closing of a business that has been in the community for 15+ years, seven of those under our watch. We certainly won't be walking away with cash dangling from our pockets, in fact you will find our pockets turned inside out, the glaring white emptiness symbolic of our own personal surrender flag. But it will bring about the end to this chapter, one that we welcome with eyes turned upward towards the One who wrote the book and has promised a happy ending.

August.. and life is changing so fast

I've been a little hesitant to write, as things seem to be changing faster than I can keep up with them. I am saddened that I missed my annual letter to Katie on her birthday. Thankfully she knows of the insanity that encircles us all right now and has a gracious and forgiving heart.
As some of you know, Mark has returned to the corporate world. The economic downturn and the strains that it was placing on the business, proved to be beyond our comfort zone. It did not take long for Mark to reconnect with friends from his prior vocation and secure a job that offered the stability of a regular paycheck. In his stead I have taken on the task of running the business. For those of you who know me and all my shortcomings, you are probably laughing as you read this. Somehow fresh baked banana bread doesn't go quite as far in the business world. The good news is, things have begun to pick up at work and the last two months have looked good on the books.
We are however quickly approaching 7 years here in Eugene and are all feeling the itch to move. My mother always said I was the one that got the gypsy blood in the family. It's not that we don't love our friends, or our church, we just got so used to all the moves early on that to be any place for too long causes us to start feeling a bit stagnant. It could be that we've never really had a place that we called 'home', and it could be it's because God does not expect us to ever feel as though there is a place here on earth that is to feel like 'home'. Whatever the reason, the antsiness exists in all four of us. Collectively we four function as one, and have since Daniel entered the world to complete our family. I do also long for the day when we will reunite with Mark Everett and I see my son who left this world before anyone had a chance to know him. So perhaps what I long for most, is eternity.