Awhile ago I wrote a post on feeling like I am a sojourner.
I went back and read it and it was a good reminder for me in the midst of this
ongoing transition period. To be reminded to have a heart that is full of
unquestioning obedience to God. To be willing to go where He leads and be okay
not knowing why, or, even more than that- maybe to never see why.
Truthfully, it’s hard to write an honest post about how I’m
feeling in fears of offending someone. It’s difficult for me to spill my heart
on the world wide web and think that I might be met with judgment or criticism.
Sometimes it makes my heart cringe to be so openly vulnerable. But I need to
and I can’t not.
When we left Little Rock I was heartbroken but confident
that God would provide all our needs- like a house, a new car, community, etc.
And I was confidently thinking that He would do it ASAP. I was fine waiting a
week, even two if necessary, but I thought, “Surely if He is calling us away
from something so good and something we love so much then He will quickly bring
these provisions.”
And it’s not that He hasn’t…He has provided for us 100%
completely. We’ve lacked nothing. It’s just not in the way I had hoped for/expected.
I’ve laid out our needs morning after morning to God and
have asked Him to miraculously provide. To show up in a way that brings Him
glory and to provide for our needs. We need a new vehicle. We need a home. We
need community. We need doctors and dentists and hair stylists. Etcetera. So I surrender to Him and trust Him and
expectantly wait that day for a miracle (along with relentlessly researching). And
since we are on a budget we know it will take a miracle to get the kind of
vehicle we would like and a house we love. So we pray and get excited knowing
that God is able and wanting Him to get the credit. And day after day passes
and we are still in the same boat.
I’ve been looking at my heart lately and wondering why I get
so frustrated that we can’t afford these things that we want. My flesh is
telling me we deserve them. I mean
God took us from something so good and on top of that we were serving HIM. Ha! Maybe
that is part of the problem. How easy it is to slip into the mindset of
entitlement. It’s been a roller-coaster of emotions like “we should be ‘entitled’
to this” juxtaposed with “I am so grateful we have a roof over our heads”.
So I read this morning about dying to self. And it struck me.
I read this quote “We leave a growing area of ministry at His command- then He
provides one better than we had ever dreamed. We surrender all our cherished
hopes and die to self- then He sends overflowing joy and His ‘life…that [we]
might have it more abundantly.”
God’s ways are above mine. His timing is out of my
understanding. He plans don’t make sense to me. But that’s okay. Because as
long as I keep coming back to Him He provides for my every need. I don’t need to worry about what I think we need or deserve. God is clearly
able to take care of those things and as I look back, I can see that He always
has.
We have had a couple of disappointments. We put an offer in
on a house last week and after a few counteroffers it wasn’t accepted. That was
hard. It wasn’t so much that I felt horribly distraught about THAT house it was
that I so badly wanted a home. So I cried, hard. We talked about it and came to
the conclusion that God must have something else out there even better (typical
coping mechanism, right?). And as I type this we are saying yes to renting. It’s
not what I had hoped for- I had hoped for a place of our own, our first house.
We’ve dreamed of projects, etc we would do one day to our home. But this rental
is a miracle in itself. It’s within our budget (because of generosity), it has
a garage and a basement (which we prayed for specifically), and three bedrooms
(which we had realllly wanted). It’s exactly what we need right now. And it’s
for a reason.
I’m still not to the point where I can say I’m so happy and
excited and even thankful for all of these changes. I will get there.
Eventually. I will because there is so much good and so much to be excited
about and so much to be thankful for- if I choose to live looking through His
eyes, not mine.
I love this quote by F.B. Meyer, “Indeed, there is nothing
God will not do for those who will dare to step out in faith onto what appears
to be only a mist. As they take their first step, they will find a rock beneath
their feet.”
here are some random pictures of life lately:
7 months old!
4th of July
Last weekend we went to Michigan to celebrate with Amy & Matt for their wedding and I was super honored to be one of Amy's bridesmaids! It was SUCH a beautiful wedding!
Well we have officially been in Illinois for a week now. It
comes with so many mixed feelings. It comes with so many new decisions. Our
first week here was more of a vacation. We had planned to be here that week a
long time ago because my family was all going to be in town. It was emotionally
confusing because I kept thinking at the end of the week we would make our 9.5
hour drive back to Little Rock, but reality kept hitting me that this is home
now. Today is really the first day it’s starting to become “real”. Seth starts
his new job today and Gracie & I are at my parent’s house alone. It’s beginning
to hit me that we aren't going back and this is my home now.
The last week in Little Rock was HARD. Hard because we had
to say goodbyes to so many precious friends. Hard because we were up so late
packing night after night. Hard because we knew that it was our last week
living in Little Rock. Hard because we did not quite know what was ahead of us.
It was kind of chaotic to put simply.
I would not trade our two years in Little Rock for anything.
God moved us there and taught us more than we could put in a book. He changed
us and refined us. We are still a work in progress and this new chapter will
continue that growth, I’m sure of it.
We had a couple weeks of “lasts” in Little Rock. We said a lot of goodbyes. It was full. We
were blown away by the depth of friendships & community that God gave to
us.
Here’s some of the goodbye’s/lasts:
-We did a bacon bomb with some of our dear friends. It was
something Ted was telling Seth about one day and since that day Seth couldn't
stop talking about it. What is a bacon bomb, you ask? You take a pound of
bacon, weave it into a sheet and wrap that around a pound of sausage. Then
grill it. A man’s dream? Yep. The fellowship with these sweet friends is truly
what was the incredible part. We love you, friends!!
-My last get together with my Monday morning bible study
ladies. What a send off. I arrived late due to Gracie’s 6 month appt. But I
arrived to a beautiful lunch and sweet cards & gifts. We all sat around a
beautiful kitchen table and shared about what lay ahead for the summer and what
God was doing in our lives and our family’s lives. I just sat there listening
to these women pour out the hearts and their wisdom and their desire to grow
closer to God and I just soaked it in. These women were my friends- my sisters
& my mom’s away from home. They walked me through pregnancy and the long
days that followed after having Gracie. They brought me meals and cleaned my
house and offered me continued reassurance that I could do this mom thing. They
loved on me and poured on me wisdom that I will carry with me forever. I loved
watching them do life. Some had babies, some had teens, some had children my
age. But every Monday morning we would meet and get into the Word and share
prayer requests and watch God work. We cried together and we laughed together.
Ladies- I’m so eternally grateful for you. You’ve left an imprint on my heart
that I will remember always.
-We had a last play date with our little friends. Brandi,
Tracy & Em- I have loved walking through this mom & wife journey with
you. I love watching you raise your babies and the way you teach them about
Jesus already. I’m inspired and challenged as I hear you share about your
struggles/victories in wifehood/momhood. Thanks for loving on my Gracie so well
and for continually encouraging me that God will provide and give me wisdom and
helping me figure out how to handle each new phase of raising my baby. I love
you girls so much and see God in you radiantly!
-We had a last potluck with our Global team at FamilyLife.
What an incredible group of people who are wholeheartedly seeking God and going
to the ends of the earth to build families and marriages. We have learned SO
much from simply watching y’all do life. Your work ethic, your hearts, your
desire to teach us, you love for Jesus- it’s been incredible. We are honored
and so blessed to have been a part of this team. You each have specific and
unique gifts from God and it’s awesome
to see how He uses such diverse personalities to function as a complete team.
We will deeply miss you!
-To all of the individual friends- I won’t specifically name
you but you know who you are. I miss you and I love you deeply. Thank you for
the long walks of accountability and being a listening ear. Thank you for the long
nights where we would stay way past too late having deep heart-to-heart
conversations about life and struggles and victories and doing everything we
could to stay awake because we wanted so badly to keep talking even though
sleep was getting the best of us- thanks for asking such thoughtful questions
and being so instrumental in our lives. Thanks for loving on Gracie and
accepting her as one of the group and putting up with her spit up (no joke.)
and crying fits in the middle of a restaurant. Thanks for helping us through
the long recovery after having her and bringing us food and helping me recover.
Thanks for inviting us to be a part of your “family” when holidays or
birthdays, etc came around. Thanks for helping us with car fixes, computer
fixes, physical therapy, nutrition, baby advice, spiritual milk & meat, babysitting Gracie, etc. Thanks for trusting us to share with us.
-To our small group- You showed us community like we never
knew. You prayed through each wave and believed in God to provide. You were the
hands and feet of Jesus. You showed up when people needed help, offered your
skills and gifts, prayed & prayed. You showed us the beauty of transparency
and vulnerability. You lifted us up countless times after Gracie was born-
through the joys & sadness & challenges. You love Jesus so raw-ly and
so intensely. Thank you. We miss you deeply & love you deeply!
-To our multiple mentors- thank you. Thanks for the
emotional support & encouragement to work through difficult issues. Thanks
for the wisdom in finances, in family, in marriage, in parenting, in work, in
planning for the future, etc. Thanks for being a sounding board and stretching
us out of our comfort zones because you knew it would grow us. We are so
grateful for the love and time you poured into us.
-To PATH. You were SO hard to leave. If I could use one(ish)
word to describe you it would be blown-away. I am blown away by how
miraculously God is working and providing. It’s truly amazing and He is doing
some out-of-this-world things. It hurts so badly to leave you because our
hearts beat for the cause of ending human trafficking. We know this is
something God has called us to and to be a part of you from the beginning has
been nothing short of amazing. The friendships we’ve made with so many of you
have been beautiful. We saw servant hearts here like we never saw before. People
sacrificing their jobs and their comforts to give their time to building &
creating this refuge. And what we saw all the time was complete joy in your
serving. The many work days where it was hot and sticky and could’ve been
down-right miserable- you worked with joy & no complaining. You gave your
time, moved your families to be closer, poured out your hearts, met week after
week planning and creating a program. You gave up weekend after weekend and
still you had a pure joy. We are SO deeply impacted by your friendships- your
realness, humor, love and passion for justice & redemption. We cannot wait
to see how God continues to use this in your lives (and ours) and how He
continues to grow PATH and bring forth the plans of good & redemption that
He has.
-We did some “lasts” just us. We climbed pinnacle mountain
one last time, went to favorite breakfast joint (a few times), got dressed up
and went on a date to an awesome restaurant, took walks, etc.
-Monday girl’s group. L.
I cry just thinking about leaving you. I really don’t have adequate words for
how much I love you and how much I appreciate you. We’ve walked through life
together- marriages, boyfriends, school, work, babies, struggles, victories. We
studied God’s Word together, we cried a lot together, we laughed a lot
together. I will always cherish the memories of walking into Aileen’s house
every Monday night and sitting around her kitchen table together doing life. I
will miss your soups and your salads, Aileen! You taught me so much about
Jesus, being a wife, being a mom, being a daughter & a sister & a
friend. You taught me how to sew (though I might have already forgotten!) and
how to entertain well. You taught me how to be thrifty and content and make a
home. You most importantly have taught me how to be free in Christ- through
your words but more so through the way you live. Girls, we have prayed for each
other and shared SO much together. Through it all, I am amazed at how God has
worked in each of us. I don’t want to leave you, it hurts, BUT I know that God
is doing awesome things in your lives and I will always be praying for you and
cheering for you!
-Pregnancy Center ladies- you rock. Seriously, you’re
amazing. What an incredible group of women who are giving up their lives to
fight for life- not just for the babies but for the moms & dads as well.
You amaze me with your perseverance and your love for these girls who walk in
those doors. Your desire for good for them is so evident. Thanks for helping me
through me pregnancy and having Gracie and all the awesome ultrasounds of her!
I could name you all individually and speak so highly of you, but you know who
you are and I love you dearly. I will miss seeing you on Wednesdays and will
miss your friendships so much!!
-Little Rock- you were a completely shocking blessing. NEVER
in my life did I ever think I would move there. My plans for my life were to
move to Africa and be a missionary nurse and Seth do construction. Then God
came in gently but powerfully and intervened. He instead moved us to Little
Rock, AR. A place that will be forever dear to our hearts. A place where He
took us and shook off a lot of things we clung to. Things that were strongholds
and idols. Things that got in the way of loving each other well. It was not
always pretty- in fact it was downright painful & excruciating at times.
But the joys and victories and freedom we have found- I have no words but Thank
You. Thank you Jesus for intercepting our lives and doing what You knew was
best for us, even when it made no sense to us.
-This is not an exhaustive list. I know I forgot to include
some. It’s just a list of some of the many gifts in my life. I appreciate,
cherish and praise God for each one of you. Know that you blessed me more than
I can write- I love you and I miss you. AND I know Heaven will be even more
awesome someday knowing that I get to do it with each one of y’all.
A song that God
continued to bring to my heart to comfort me through all of the chaos of those
last few weeks was by Jon Thurlow called Fountains. In all of my confusion,
sadness, anticipation, business, etc God continued to beckon me to keep coming
back to Him. He didn't get sick of my ups and downs and slightly
overbearing-at-times emotions, He just kept telling me to bring them to Him. I played this song over and over when I was driving or
walking or packing and took such comfort in knowing He could handle it all
.
Here's a few pictures of some of the last days in Little Rock:
Some of Gracie's little buddies!!
The bacon bomb....I told you, a man's dream.
Our fancy date night! Thanks Miss Rhonda for babysitting :)
Our last climb up Pinnacle Mountain! Thanks Grandma&Grandpa Buchholtz for babysitting :)!
Monday night group- you're not all in this picture, but I love you all. so. so. much.
Our FAVORITE breakfast place...Root Cafe. We frequented here several times.
Of course we had to leave well, so we went to Root Cafe the day we left LR.
Krecia- my pregnancy buddy, i'll miss you and Carson! Loved my time with you at the CPC.
Wednesday CPC ladies...and the surprise lunch they made for me. Y'all are amazing and I love you!!
a few of the AMAZING crew that helped up pack & load our apartment in 103 degree heat. We cannot thank y'all enough for helping us clean, load, pack, babysit, etc. You are amazing. It takes a true friend to clean someone else's bathroom :)- love you.
Miss Rhonda- we love you girl. Thanks for all you have done for us and helping us with Gracie and babysitting her. You have a room waiting for you here :)
This was right before we officially left. We had been cleaning and last minute packing all day and were exhausted by this point. We went halfway that night.
At a rest stop...it was a loong trip home. Seth drove the moving truck and I drove the minivan but got sick on the way home so it made for several stops!
At a rest stop, getting out to stretch! Gracie driving the truck :)
We love you Little Rock and will always remember you!
Life has been a little…chaotic lately. For me to finish a
task I’ve started would be a major accomplishment. Usually it looks something
like I start packing something over here and on my way I see something else
that needs packed and get intersected by that and then find something else that
needs packed….you get the idea. I wish I could just press a pause button on my
brain for some moments. We’ve been running on little sleep and packing until
past midnight every night. We will be in the same room but not even talking
because our minds are both racing to a million different things. For example,
one of us will ask the other a question and instead of responding with an
answer to that question, we will answer it in our head and respond with a
thought about the next thing. We just aren’t making much sense lately.
We’ve been saying a lot of goodbyes lately. And it’s been so
hard. In the midst of pushing through packing I’ll occasionally just break down
as the realization hits that we are really leaving. As I look around our
apartment and see the massive piles everywhere, it hits me. I haven’t even
really arrived at the point of thinking ahead and about what’s next or what
life will be like. I’m still consumed by the goodbyes and wrapping things up
well here.
We have had some painfully sweet goodbyes. It hurts my heart
to the point of aching at times, but I’m glad. I want to feel that ache. I
don’t know- it just feels good to love so hard that it hurts.
For now, that’s all the blog-processing I have time for…more
boxes await my attention. The moving truck arrives today and we leave tomorrow.
It’s go-time. It’s craziness. It’s watching God provide in every way and
finding ways to laugh at each other’s make-no-sense-comments. Cherish each
moment, right?
On a different, sweet & very hilarious note:
We had Gracie dedicated at church this past Sunday. It was
definitely bittersweet as it was our last Sunday at Redeemer but also an
exciting day because Gracie was being dedicated to Jesus! We tried so hard to
make sure we planned her naps & feedings accordingly before church so she
wouldn’t be cranky or hungry during the dedication service. Also,
(embarrassingly) it was our first Sunday since Gracie has been born that we
actually arrived at church BEFORE the singing started…for us, that is amazing.
We are sitting there feeling great about ourselves…the
morning went smoothly, Gracie was smiling & kicking in her carseat, the
worship band started playing & we were there on time! This was going to be
perfect!
Ha. That’s when I should’ve listened to my better instinct.
Our sweet little Gracie Mae is NOTRIOUS for having MAJOR blow outs in her car
seat. We call it the car-seat-laxative effect. [about 80% of the time we get
ready to walk out the door after strapping her in, she has a blowout & we
end up being late (more late) to where we were going].
So the announcements get over & Bob [our pastor] asks
all the young parents and their babies to make their way to the front of the
church. We excitedly grab Gracie out of her car seat only to find that our
darling little daughter had a blow. out. Through her diaper. Through her dress.
All over the carseat. True Gracie Mae fashion right there.
We start cracking up. What else are you supposed to do when
the church is waiting on you and your daughter has a major blowout on the
Sunday she’s supposed to get dedicated? I quick shove a burp cloth under her to
protect Seth’s shirt from the damage and we walk up front trying to stifle our
laugh. Bob looks as us, smiles & asks if everything is okay. We, laughing, barely
mutter the words that she JUST had an accident. He decided to forgo holding her
out, haha. Beyond that, though, the dedication service was awesome and we loved
being able to dedicate our baby girl to Jesus and for the church family that has
helped us raise her thus far. You can check out the dedication service at www.
Redeemerlr.org & click on this past Sunday’s service.
I’ll write more someday. Happy Wednesday.
Before we knew what was hiding under there
Sharing about Gracie & her verse & thanking the church
All of us who were dedicating our babies. Love these parents, they've been such a gift to us!
How can three rather simple words be tied to such complex emotions? When asked, "How are you feeling?" I am bombarded by a rush of emotions on both sides. I am excited. I am thankful. I am peaceful. I am anticipating new adventures. I am hopeful. I am happy. I am nervous. I am so so sad. I am heartbroken. I am torn. I don't want to leave. I don't want to say goodbye. I want to feel all the pain of saying goodbye and yet want to dodge the goodbyes all together. I want to hit pause and fast forward at the same time. I want to live in two places and live two lives at once. I am trusting in what God is doing and who He is.
To make a long story short- about a week ago Seth accepted a construction job in Illinois. We've spent the better part of the last 5 months praying, seeking, searching, wondering, counseling, talking and dreaming about what is "next". Now we know- just like that. What seemed like an endless process in making a decision is done and we continue to move forward in it. Why is it the things that seem to take SO long, sometimes seem like a blink of an eye in retrospect?
We are confident that this is right. We are peaceful. We saw God close all other doors and open one door. I'm so glad God made this decision for us because I don't think we could've chosen on our own.
I prayed that God would reveal it through Seth because I knew I couldn't trust my heart and I wanted the stability of hearing it through my husband. Through making the decision about this job Seth felt excited and peaceful and would tell me how He saw God working in this and how He knew God was directing him to take this job. And then i'd ask him to tell me again. And again. And again. I kept asking him to tell me again because I wanted to be sure this was of God and not us. And he patiently would say "Baby doll, I am 100% confident about this". I asked God to reveal it through my husband, and He did.
So now starts the painful process of goodbyes. We have already said goodbye to people we may never see again on this side of Heaven. People who are so dear and who are "family". We've started our let's do this "one-more-time" list. I've cried a lot. But i'm soaking in the sweetness of the painful goodbye- and I want it to hurt- I don't want it to be easy to leave- because it means that we have loved much and deeply.
I was telling my mom on the phone the other day that it's not that i'm not excited to move back- I am. But I have to go through the "goodbyes" before I can get to the "hellos". One thing that my brother, Tony, taught me was to always let people know you love them and how much they mean to you- never leave without leaving right- love with all your heart.
So that's what we're in the midst of right now- looking ahead & making decisions but also pausing where we are at and savoring the sweetness of this community and these friends and feeling the weight of this "goodbye".
Thanks to all who prayed, loved and counseled us through this decision- we love YOU!
In other news, this past friday was Seth's bday. We had a fun day making one of his favorite breakfasts, visiting him @ work with lunch, and taking him on a bbq picnic at one of our favorite parks complete with a "campout" inside! Here's some pics:
Our dear friends had a birthday party for him Thursday night, what a blessing!!
LOVED spending the evening with these dear friends!!
Best friends- Isaac, Gracie & Elia :)
Glen has been such an amazing & dear friend for Seth!!
Birthday morning snuggles with his baby girl :)
We had a picnic supper for his birthday and sweet friends offered to babysit Gracie!
From our favorite bbq restaurant here- whole hog! What better for a man's birthday than good southern bbq (maybe a big steak, but nonetheless :))...seth's pick- pulled pork & potato salad with baked beans!
My favorite- pulled chicken bbq salad, it's amazing!
Birthday dessert- strawberry shortcakes in mason jars...haha his was obnoxiously huge
one happy man :)
We played some good old catch in the park, it was honestly a blast!
I love this guy & am so proud of him
This park is called Two Rivers park in Little Rock. It's just minutes from our house and you get to it by crossing this bike/walking bridge. It's connected to over 20 miles of biking/walking trails.
A view into the woods from our picnic area...behind us is the river
We blew up the air mattress in the living room and put in a movie. We were going to make smores but we were too tired, haha oh well, it's the idea that counts :)
Better late than never, right? I've been meaning to take nursery pictures...rather I meant to take them when I was pregnant...but I guess that means I would've had to finish the nursery before gracie was born. We just finished it. So I finally took the pictures.
I wanted a nursery that was shabby chic vintage. At least that's what I was going for. Thankfully there's lots of margin in that. I love lace. I love girly but not overtly girly. I love floral but not suffocating floral. I love colors but I love neutrals as well. I love lots of stuff but I hate too much clutter.
We had a lot of fun doing "projects" for it when I was pregnant. My goal was to do it as inexpensively as possible...which means a lot of diy things. A lot of the fabric we used was free, cheap, or old sheets cut up. Seth even got to use some of us carpentry skills....he built our diaper shelf and cut out the letters on the "grace" wall and painted them. Some of the decorations were gifts that were used as decor at my baby showers. The dresser/changing table was my grandpa kieser's...he built it himself and we painted it and cleaned up the original handles. I love love love this piece and cherish it because I never met my grandpa but have heard about the godly man he was and I love having something that he built with his hands to pass on to my kids to tell them what I know about this great man of faith.
At first I didn't want a white crib. I mean I wanted a white crib for a girl but we intend to use this crib for all children, one of which may be a boy someday, and I didn't know if white would be a "boy" color. But then I saw other boys use white and loved it...hence our white crib. I love it.
Seth's mom sewed our crib skirt. I. love. it. I really wanted a ruffled skirt because it's super girly and I love super girly so I was going to sew one. After starring at instructions and getting frustrated before even getting the sewing machine out, I decided this was not a project I should tackle...it was bound to be a disaster. Enter my talented mom-in-law and voila a masterpiece!
Enjoy your tour:
Our "grace" wall. Seth cut out the letters from some wood and painted them & I used fabric swatches placed in embroidery hoops. Some fabric was my grandma kieser's, some was free, some was discounted, and some I just loved.
I wanted to make a mobile. I had an "idea" in my head but wasn't sure what it would end up looking like. Two of these balls are christmas ornaments and the other three....I kinda just made something up and this is the finished product...imperfect but unique.
Her jewelry holder for her first pieces of jewelry.
I love the bird and the clock because they are from the sparrow's nest (which is a resale/repurpose store in LR that supports PATH- a shelter for trafficked women) and I want them to stand as a reminder to gracie of the importance of having a heart of compassion & justice for this cause.
Her first piggy bank....they gave this to her at the hospital.
Her crib- I love it. And the bed skirt- I think I shrieked out of joy when I received it in the mail!
My sweet friend made this for a baby shower for gracie, so it hangs on her doorway.
The dresser that was my grandpa's. The white diaper shelf seth built. A mirror we found at a garage sale and spray painted. And a banner of fabric swatches that I sewed- one of the ONLY things I can sew :). The lamp is from a garage sale.
The letters were from a baby shower. The large frame is from the sparrow's nest. The bottom two were made from my talented sister-in-law, Jackie, for a baby shower. The bottom left frame will contain her life-verse once we decide on what that is...one day. In the middle, the left is a frame I simply wrapped fabric around and put her ultrasound pic in and the one on the right was in my room when I was a little girl.
These were pieces I already had...the two on the right were clearance hobby lobby and the picture on the right was a photograph I took a couple years ago.
She LOVES this butterfly for nap times. Pretty much as soon as I put on "her" song, her eyelids get heavy :)
The frame is from tjmaxx and inside is a printout from pinterest. I found the mug at garage sale for .25 cents:)
My sis-in-law, Jen, made these incredible bows. I didn't want them to sit in a drawer because they are so stinkin cute so I made a bow holder. It is a frame (that was free) and old sheets ripped up that I wrapped around and glued down the ends. Then I stapled (rather, seth did) ribbon the back to hold the bows.
The curtains were fabric I found at walmart and just sewed simple pockets for the rods and at the bottom.
