Monday, May 12, 2014

Feeling Emotional And Furniture Shopping

I wanted to do a post about Mother’s Day, in tribute to our moms and grandmas and aunts and spiritual mentors. But to be honest, it’s hard. We miss the wonderful women who have poured out countless hours and sacrificed much to teach, train and raise us. I miss my grandmas. Trying to gather pictures, I smiled through tears at warm memories and as I neared our time of goodbye in pictures, the lump in my throat grew and I decided to save that one for another day.  Thank you for loving us so much. We love you and are so thankful for you.

For today’s topic, I will do something non-emotional. (Which is hard for me. I can get emotional about almost anything, happy, weird, sad, it doesn’t matter, I can cry about it-especially here. I am like a fountain.)

Furniture-

For the record, I don’t think I have cried over furniture-YET. Though, I am sure I can find a reason to tear up.

One day, I saw on an Addis Ababa online forum, that a man, who worked for the German government, had to return unexpectedly and only had one week to wrap everything up. 

Used furniture goes as fast around here as chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven. I immediately called Peter and told him we would come over. He wanted to sell all his furniture in one deal and so with little effort, we got a dining table and chairs, a small sofa, two chairs, a bookcase, coffee tables and other odds and ends. Victory! Imported things can be purchased but they are so expensive. As we live in a furnished apartment, we stored these items at a friends.

Now, we are gathering other things we need. Last week, we went to a wood workers shop that was recommended to us so we could order beds. (It works best to have a general design and sketch as well as measurements). We had heard that this guy does great work. 

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Here’s his shop. Jon tried to order beds but Noah, the highest recommended man in town, is gone for two months.

We also went and picked up our couch. 

This process was over several months and involved 5 stops to the couch shop and one stop to a fabric store where I looked for the upholstery we needed. 

I drew the couch and gave measurements We said we needed it long enough for someone to sleep on. 

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Yesterday, they called, 2 months later, they had it done.

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It was a success! Comfy and well made.

Now, to find paint, appliances, beds, mattresses, dressers and other household items. :)

3 comments:

Kim Plattner said...

Happy Mother's Day, Amy! Thankful for God's provision for you as you get ready for your move. We love you and are praying for you all.

MJgerst said...

Happy mother's day! You are an amazing mom! I love the couch!!

Christen Leigh said...

So glad your furniture fell into place so well! Also, happy belated mothers day!! :)