Using excerpt with Origin theme

I’m using the Origin theme by Elegant Themes and the text that is being excerpted on the homepage is too long. I’ve entered shorter ones on the post edit pages, but they aren’t being pulled up to the homepage.

http://triciabateman.com

I’ve read about the_content() vs the_exceprt() but I’m new to editing wordpress templates and I’m not sure what to fix or where to look. I imagine the theme code has something to do with it. (My Elegant Themes subscription just ran out or I’d ask on that forum.)

Oh, one other question about the homepage, in case I have the attention of someone that knows. Is there a way to control the order of items on the homepage? It currently bumps the latest posts to the top. I’m in the process of putting some older portfolio items on my site and I don’t necessarily want them at the top when other work is more current.

Thanks!!

Tricia