It was three years ago this month that we drove out to Arizona to escort Alex to college – man, that was hard. Now we are poised to do it again with Travis, however, he is staying close to home. Only about an hour away, but it’s still going to be tough. I just can’t believe another child is leaving the nest and heading out on his own. I just read a great devotional that said, “teach them God’s truths and then trust.” Sending your kids out on their own definitely takes trust. Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it (Proverbs 22:6 NLT). Here is a cute picture from Travis’ graduation in June.

Another big change is that we recently moved Alex out of the dorm and into his own place. I know, huge! We bought a little condo that Alex will be able to live in while he finishes school and since he was just hired as a flight instructor for his school, he will be there for awhile. Yay for having your child gainfully employed in their desired field, right?

We realized that we needed furniture for the new digs, so I just started mentioning it to friends and we were blessed with some great pieces. An awesome desk, a bed, a trunk and a dining room table with four chairs. We also bought a dresser off Craig’s list and a couple of pieces of furniture from the previous owner. The condo is coming together. Alex is thrilled – his first home, no roommate!

The dining table needed the most work so we set out to refinish it! What a fun project! But much more work than I had expected. The blue paint was almost sticky to the touch, so it made it tough to sand it. Plus the detailing was difficult to sand around too. But sanding we did – lots and lots of it and the set looked so much better. Once sanded, it was time to paint the blue parts black. The new place has black appliances so I thought it would look great. Jordan found several example pictures on Pinterest, so after getting the go ahead from Alex, we had a plan. Once all the blue parts were painted black, I stained all the clear pine a chestnut color. This was quick and easy on the chairs, but tough on the table. After several coats of stain and then many coats of polyurethane, Donald informed me that the tabletop needed to be sanded again. What? Are you kidding me? Luckily he did it, while I went into the house to cry, then pout and then eventually come out to see the progress. Once my hard work had been sanded off, I applied a new coat of stain and guess what? He was right. But don’t tell him that. The new coat of stain went on beautifully. After a couple of coats of satin polyurethane, we were good to go!

Ta da! Here is the finished product in the new place. Maybe I just found a new hobby.

Cindy