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Friday 23 May 2014

Our Current Home: We move this weekend.


Bedroom: Reality of how it normally looks, but I love that gallery wall


I realized that just over a year ago when we moved into this home we had waited so long for, I mentioned that I would post pictures once it was painted. I think what I really meant was once it looked like a show home. So this week I devoured Myquillyn's book 'The Nesting Place: It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful' (full review coming soon: its awesome!) and found that I totally was hoping for this beautiful show home to show you guys through pictures.


But that isn't us, it just isn't who we are and how our home will probably ever look, and I'm slowly learning to be ok with that. 
So as I'm boxing it all up to move again to our new home, I figured now is as good a time as any to share how our home has looked this past year. 


Bathroom: That colored ceiling is incredible! My favorite room in the whole place!

Kitchen: Deep Wine red wall - I did hang pictures but apparently I don't have any pictures of the finished look.

Living Room: My African pictures with our warm colored throw pillows.


Reality: Christmas Morning in our Living Room 


My desk: Where many of the posts here have been created during the daily grind of life.
The pompoms were from tissue paper made for a party. 




Some Details I loved this past year:

A Winter DIY: I found these all on clearance at Michaels and made them for about $2 each! 

A Winter DIY: I made this wreath from things I had at home and bought the berries on clearance for $0.20 at Michaels.
Easter Wreath: I splurged and bought this from Target for just under $20


Numbered Portraits: Every year we've been married so far, we have taken a picture with the number. I can't wait to keep adding to this over time and see how our family changes. 
Artwork in the middle was done by the amazing Margaret Barley.

Don't you just love the two she sent me: (I can't wait to switch them out occasionally or start our second frame eventually)


Hope you enjoyed our REALLY late walk through of our home. Maybe it won't be a year before I show you the results of our move this weekend. 

Much Love! 

P.S. I can't wait to head over to The Nester and see all her projects for future ideas :) 

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Thursday 22 May 2014

DIY Moon Dough.


So we had a bunch of rainy days a couple of weeks ago, and the girls and I were going crazy staying inside and just playing. Enter pinterest ideas, something messy that we could enjoy for more than about 5 minutes. 

Moon Dough to the rescue. It was a hit! We have pulled it out several times since and every time the girls will play with it for over an hour with no encouragement required. 

I was surprised about how easy it was and how the Munchkins could participate in the making process.


Ingredients (We doubled the recipe)

8 cups flour (white would work best)
1 cup baby oil


We put all the ingredients into a big Ziploc and then I let the girls pound on it to mix it all. 
I think they loved that part just as much as playing with it.


Then we dumped it all out into their water table (after we rinsed it out from being outside and dried it off). I placed it on a huge beach towel on top of the hardwood floor in the corner of the kitchen. The girls LOVED it! Plus also meant cleanup was easy. 



We threw a bunch of bowls and spoons with some sandbox toys (I rinsed them out first) into the table and they went at it. Making pretend cakes, ice cream flavors and all kinds of things. I might try helping them make a castle next time.

Plus the best part: This stuff smells SO good and makes your hands really soft from the baby oil. 


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Monday 19 May 2014

Passion By Louie Giglio & others: A Book Review.


I should really add a tab on my sidebar for all these book reviews. I just can't help it, I'm currently devouring books like a small kid on Halloween with candy. Maybe a note to self for after my desk is no longer in boxes to remember the little tab. Moving is probably why I'm reading so much, probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense to most. But its because all my craft things are in boxes, and in the evenings when I'm done working on the house for the day, I have been reading to relax before falling into a deep deep sleep. Maybe its more like passing out from exhaustion, I'm not sure. 


After my last review, I was determined to pick something nonfiction this time. Unless a great fiction one comes along, I may just have to stick with reviewing some nonfiction. I've discovered I'm really picky when it comes to fiction, not a fan of historical fiction but then some are ok. Not a huge fan of the bridal stories but again some are ok. So when I saw the list of authors on this nonfiction book, I was pretty sure we had a winner.


I have heard of the Passion conference & our church even sends a group of students or has in the past anyway. We we unable to go and I never lived here as a student, but I was interested to hear about the conference since I respect a lot of the speakers as individuals. I was impressed. 


The book is a collection of talks from the conference itself over the years, and is a great encouragement giving so much food for thought. I will probably come back and read parts of this book again just to glean more wisdom from the pages. Due to the different authors within the book, some of the talks are heavier and harder to read than others, but all of them had really good things to say and will encourage you not to grow complacent in your faith and purpose here on earth.


“You must come alive to the overarching purpose of the entire universe—which is the glory of God.” 
- Louie Giglio

“What matters is that you fall in love with Jesus and with His love for you. And when you do, you will find that He becomes your source of happiness, not what you do or where you go.” 
- Louie Giglio

“What if He asks your generation to sow the seed, but another generation reaps the harvest?

Would the seed still be worth sowing?” 

- Beth Moore


“Don’t be afraid to fail. You have more than a safety net beneath you. You have the arms of God around you.” 
- Louie Giglio

“Very few people have ever said to me, or shown me what I’ve now seen in the Bible, that God chose me for his glory.” 

- John Piper


'" want to beg you to not just study the Bible, but to tremble at the very words of God."
- Francis Chan

"Change comes in our lives,not through amazement of many distractions in our lives but by quietly pondering & meditating on Him."
- Beth Moore


All of the talks were solid in biblical teaching with scripture used throughout. All appropriate and applicable to anyone reading, not just for college students although the conference is geared towards that audience. The stats in the book are about colleges across the nation, but you get the idea of what the speakers are saying. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to read some solid teaching. It will encourage you, yet also stand on your toes. But who doesn't want a little kick up the butt from time to time right? 


Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this novel through BookLook, however all opinions expressed are my own. 


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Tuesday 13 May 2014

Shutterfly Free Photobook.


In case you couldn't tell, I love photography. Which also means that I end up with a ton of pictures and just can't keep up with them all through regular scrapbooking. I try, believe me or just look at the bottom shelves on all our bookcases. But these little gems are a great way to document a special trip. Shutterfly offers photobooks, and I got at least 2 of these from them (the 8x8 ones), I can't remember where I ordered the larger guestbook from. 


But I love them. And I'm not just saying that (I am not an affiliate of theirs)  I just wanted to share a product I love with you, friends. I ordered our first photobook as a guestbook for our wedding. I loved the way it looked, made up of the engagements pictures we had taken and notes from all the guests throughout. 




So when they had a deal going where I just paid shipping, I decided to try and make another one of a family trip we took. Once again, I loved the ease of their software online in making it. You can save your progress so you don't have to complete it in one sitting & the book itself looks awesome! 



I have never been disappointed with the way these have turned out. I even made one for my sister of her wedding (I just can't find the box I packed it in right now to show you). Which turned out just as amazing! They are so fun to look through and easy to make soon after you make a trip (you can upload the pictures onto Shutterfly directly from your memory card if you wanted to).


So why not give it a try?? I actually have the ability this week to email anyone a code for a free photobook (for 1st time shutterfly users,  50% off for all returning customers).

So if you are interested......just comment with your email address.


Happy Tuesday! 



P.S. I have also used Snapfish and FreePrints for other printing services. Shutterfly is usually my go-to. But FreePrints lets me print directly from my phone, very convenient. 

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Monday 12 May 2014

a heart slowly romanced.

I started making my way through a blog everyday a month challenge back in February, well you can see how well I did. Oops. I guess these days I have more time to just work through things here in this space slowly. we are in the middle of moving again after all, but that's a good thing and a whole different story. So anyway the first prompt was on your story/testimony which I wrote several years ago and thought I would share again. 



Many years ago, I sat in the pew of the church shaking a little as I listened to my summer camp group leader talk about what it meant to love Jesus. What it meant to become a ‘christian.’ I read through the little booklet in my hand and wondered what there was to question as I understood the bullet points it had.

  • I believed that I had done bad things in my life
  • I believed that God was perfect
  • I Believed Jesus had died on the cross for me to restore relationship with God as I had done these bad things and they prevented me from being in right standing with Him
  • I wanted my life to change, to live my life for Jesus instead of me


I told my leader I wanted to pray the prayer that followed as I understood and wanted to make the commitment. I tried to make it not a big deal, but I sensed there was something big happening. She prayed with me and together we signed a date. 
I was only six years old at the time.


I was so fortunate to have grown up in a Christian home. I had two parents who introduced me to Jesus very young, took me to church and youth group. They were pretty strict about the upbringing of me and my sister and showed us we were loved. I never doubted the existence of God as a child, He was real to me. Looking back, I believe that I really did understand all those bullet points in the little booklet at six years old. But I still did not understand that last one. I signed that booklet and yet continued on as though everything was the same.




It wasn't until I was thirteen and realizing how much I had tried to live life in junior high for my friends and for the acceptance of those around me, that I truly started to understand the concept of living for Jesus. 
That daily choice of choosing to do something to show His love to someone, instead of doing something because it makes me look good.


So one night during worship at youth group in a new city, with new people all around me, in a new place...this realization came to me and I signed a commitment to rededicate my life to Christ. 
To Live for Him this time instead of me. 


At first it was effort to worry less about what people thought, to walk down the halls of my high school and realize that as long as I was following Jesus, I probably would not be popular here. 
And over time that became ok. I had found something better.


The Lord gave me an incredible sense of His love and peace. He brought friends into my life who shared my love for Him, friends who encouraged me and challenged me to grow in my walk with Him. Not many of these in my school setting.


Finally after a relationship with a guy that I desperately wanted to happen didn't work out towards the end of high school, I began to truly fall in love with Jesus. I began to no longer see him as just a good friend or a father figure to rely and depend on. I began to see Him as my first love. I made a commitment in college to read through the entire Bible, and His word came alive to me during those days as I read about his faithfulness in the Old Testament and his love through the sacrifice of His son in the New Testament. Graciously I even read through the book of Numbers and came away in awe of God and His character. If you've ever read that particular book of the Bible, you’ll see how that must have been a God thing. 


The more I read about Him, the more I understood who He is. He became an incredible constant in my life, a foundation for my understanding of love. Even though once again I was surrounded by people who didn't know Him and didn't love Him, the Lord provided several people to encourage me, to challenge me....often these sweet friends were in a different geographical location to me. 


To this day, I am thankful for that challenging situation where a relationship with a guy I truly wanted, didn't work out. (At least not in my timing)
Because God had bigger plans, plans to show me how much He loved me first. Living life for Him is hard, but we don’t have to do it alone.


So friends, if I could encourage you in any way today. I would want you to know that no matter what situation you find yourself in, there is a person waiting to comfort you. He knows you and loves you so much! 


Run into His arms and begin to fall in love. You won’t ever regret that decision.

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Monday 5 May 2014

Overcoming my Insecurities.


Several months ago I went through a book with such a sweet group of ladies. And it wrecked me in such a beautiful freeing way. It was all about insecurities. And seriously, if you don't think you suffer from them (which I certainly didn't think I did), by the time you've read the first third of the book you might be second guessing yourself.


They don't always manifest themselves in the stereotypical girl who second guesses everything about herself. You know the obvious insecure girl who needs constant affirmation and encouragement to do things in life. Insecurity can present itself in other ways too. Like seeking approval from others, meanness to other girls, always needing to make amends to the point where it can't be others or God-centered. Or even just simply being so focused on oneself that you don't notice others.


It certainly wasn't my first choice for a study last summer when we sat down as a group and wrote a list of which studies by Beth Moore we wanted to look at together. But so far I think it was the best study I have ever done by her, and not because it read the easiest or most encouraging (Esther study was way better for that!). 
This was the best in its step-on-your-toes, transform yourself, get the subtle mess out of you kind of way. And believe me when I say that so many times it was anything but pretty in the process.


I felt like girl who was a hot mess most of the time when we met together. Like Beth literally could see into my own personal journal almost every time I sat and read what she had to say. Probably because what came to light was something I had battled with for years, but maybe I was just never in the position to let it come out into the open and deal with it. Or maybe I just never wanted it to. 


I dislike upsetting people, to the point where I will unhealthily behave or do things different so as not to anger or upset another person. At first glance that doesn't seem like a bad thing, as it can be a healthy way of being away of other people and sensitive towards where they are at. But I think the deeper side of that is why I choose to people-please a lot of the time. It's actually rooted in selfishness and pride.....I don't like to upset people because it makes me uncomfortable, I dislike the conflict. Its actually all about me as to why I choose to please others. That might not make a ton of sense, but believe me it was a huge revelation to me. Chasing the root of that insecurity and trying to change to a godlier response to others.


'Our culture has done us no greater injustice than 
training us to avoid taking responsibility for our own issues. 
In trying to relieve us of the whole concept of personal sin, 
our culture's reordered values have cheated us 
of the right to repentance and sublime restoration. 
They have hijacked our healing. 
A clear heart and a clean path are still only one sincere confession away.'

{So Long, Insecurity By Beth Moore} 



I love these words.
May I never be so blinded to my insecurities that I forget to look upward.

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