Wow! I guess I have taken a bit of a break from the blog world! There are always times in my life where I do more writing in my head and living in the moment and it is just a bit beyond my grasp to actually get it all down. Or some days, I am just not feeling all too inspired and overflowing! I am sure everyone can relate with that.
My last two weeks have been filled with both-amazing moments filled with gratitude and the everyday mundane stuff that just feel like a broken record I am spinning on. My pillow has been my good buddy too, just a bit more tired than normal. So, instead of glaring into my computer screen, I have chosen to cuddle with my pillow and dream.
I had the privilege to share last Sunday a small part of my testimony in our 4 church services. As the youth leadership is moving to encourage our church family to be committed to pray for the youth in our church, I was able to share how profound of an impact that has had in my life!
I was incredibly blessed to have an older women in my life pray for me from the time the Lord was knitting me together in my Mama's womb, to the day that she went to be with the Lord! Ruth was a very precious part of my faith and I am sure I do not even realize the scope of the work the Lord has accomplished in my life because of her faithful prayer for me. I will tell any one who asks how they can help the youth today-"Do battle for their souls, on your knees!" Prayer is where so many battles are won! There is nothing better than spending time with Jesus , he wants to hear from us, He loves us! So, after the nights of tossing and turning, due to incredible stage fright, it was awesome to share what the Lord has done in my life-recounting the ways He has been faithful! I am so excited to see the work He will accomplish in the lives of our students!!!
Even better than that, I was able to do it right along side my hubby, who preached that week. I will never tire of listening to him share his heart for the Lord! I do not get a chance to serve right along side him very often anymore, being the stage of life we are at. I joke with many that while Matt runs the youth groups at church, I run ours at home. With 5 wee ones, homeschooling and working from home, I am not in the midst of it like I used to be. But I know how quickly seasons change, and am enjoying exactly where the Lord has me right now!
We have also been blessed to have been given a beautiful wooden playset for the kids outside-how amazing is that! So, we have been getting the yard ready for that. Lets just say the amount of rain has not been the best for putting in a playground! I even mowed the yard in the rain yesterday, because it just could not wait any longer! Our yard looks more like a mudpit right now, not that the kids have any complaints-yikes-I have to stand guard at the door to make sure no escapees get past covered head to toe in this brown gook! Thank goodness for rain boots! But this playset is a dream for our family, one we never anticipated having! What an awesome gift that our kids will surely spend hours upon hours on! Thankyou for loving our kiddos dear friends!
We are getting ready for our first ever sleep over-I know I am in over my head! But a good friend has assured me I will be just fine if I run the boys hard outside and feed them well:)! Sounds like a plan to me! I give you an update if I in fact do survive!
And !!!! It arrived-it is finally here! It is official! I received my first copy of my first ever published articles! Altered Couture contacted me some time before Christmas to design some dresses for there summer edition and after recieving the dresses, Beth asked if I would write an article for them. But! I was able to also get an apron and article published as well! Yeah!!! I had never expected or sought to do this, so this was a wonderful experience to participate in! The funny thing about this whole thing is-These magazines are the only ones I ever purchase, they are like beautiful books for any creative! So cool! I did have to do a little giddy dance when it arrived in the mail-I must admit-I am not too proud:)
Just enjoying a quiet rainy evening with my favorite magazines and a chance to think through some new ideas! Cozy creative-my favorite! Nothing better than an old favorite chair to snuggle up in and dream.
A very fun, three page spread for the dresses! Yeah!
A sweet second article that I did not know they were going to publish-what a treat!
On the creative side- I was able to make a new tote for my mama's birthday. She loves shabby chic and had a fun little list of requests for this new bag. I was able to use some very pretty, very shabby vintage bed linens. I was also able to happily quilt it with my new toy as well! Happy Birthday Mom!
I was able to do a little work on a new skirt-it is still in the works! I have been playing with deconstructing and reconstructing skirts into something new. I have so far used one pair of pants and 4 skirts on this project!
These are some of the skirts I am reusing. I love the rich reds!
Lots of layers and long!!! My favorite!
In cleaning out my studio, I came across the clothing pieces I have been saving to create a purity quilt in all whites and creams. I have been wanting to make an all white quilt for some time and finally had enough to make a baby quilt. That is almost ready to be quilted.
I have made some pretty new napkin sets for the shop, some fun Star Wars IPOD cozies, new Happy Saturday clutches, and a few new pillowcase dresses in honor of my article:).
I now have another purpose for bed linens! But I am not actually using them myself! My son is the creative one in this! My mom has taught the older three how to crochet, so Cole has no taken to crocheting with fabric. He has been working on his first rag rug. It has been pretty cool to watch it come along! He is determined to finish it as a floor mat, long enough to use for sleeping on at his sleepover! I have to cut up a huge pile of strips for him each day. He works on it in between classes, while watching TV, and when he is supposed to be asleep:)-I had bought him a headlight flashlight so he could read at night while his baby Noah was fast asleep across the room, he has managed to come up with plenty of other uses for it, including crocheting till midnight, little bugger!
Spring cleaning has also gotten it's hooks into me unfortunately. I tend to get a bit obsessive when i get into these projects! I always seem to get myself in way too deep! Half way through ripping some room apart, I want to sit down in the middle of the floor and cry. It seems impossible to put it back together! Why does my garage never actually get clean!? I lose so many hours out there with no redeeming thing to show for it! But the other big one was my studio which has now taken over half of the basement. It is a bit interesting, fitting a shop within our house! But I did manage to get through that feat this week when the shop was slow. Thankfully I finished before things picked up again.
I finally moved my main sewing machine upstairs out of my studio, with the inspiration of my friend Lora from Eagerhands. She had a photo of her sewing machine by a window and I knew I must accomplish this too, for my sanity! I was desperate for sunshine and fresh air and just could not spend all my time in the basement. So after parting with some things to make room for my machine, I now have a sweet spot near my livingroom window-ahhhhhh. But get this! I finally move upstairs to do my work and my lovely laptop decides to checkout! Figures doesn't it:)-Guess where my desktop is located!-YEP-the basement-haha, joke is on me.
I have been nursing this old laptop for a silly amount of years, but it has done me well! I have only one request from it-make me a living:)! Not much to ask, right?! My dad has kept this ancient going for me, amazing! But, I am starting to see the end of the tunnel-so this week, I have been backing up everything because there is no guarentee it will even turn on next time. Fun stuff-what a blessing though it has been to me! I hated computers until I opened my shop-so it has been a wonderful tool that I have grown quite amused with.
One last lovely detail! I found a real treasure yesterday on my hunt! A victorian book of days. For those of you who are not fimilar with this, it is a unique way to journal-for me at least. I found my first 12 years ago before I was a mom. I have been using it ever since and it just plain did not have any room left! It really is meant for only one year-but I have managed to cram in 12 years worth. I am a very inconsistent journaler and many times only really wanted to capture the essence of an event, so this was perfect! But what I never expected or forsaw was how neat it was going to be to see the events of multiple years for the same day. I have to be careful about when I decide to read through it because it can be all consuming-seeing just where life has taken you from year to year. For instance, In 2002 on Feb 17th, we took Joslyn to our Valentines Banquet -she was 6 days old, that is where Dana held her for the first and last time, being she passed away not long after that Joslyn's birth. Joslyn Dana was named after her. Then On Feb 17th in 2005, I was experiencing contractions with Isabell who ended up not coming until March 7th, and then in 2006, Matt took Cole to Monster Jam. It is something that just amuses me-it is a curious timeline. I always wish I was better at keeping it. And if you are not fimilar with these victorian book of days, there is one more fun thing about them! They smell so good! They all have a floral scent, my book of days from 12 years ago, still has it's scent!!! It is a calming and fimilar friend!
