How to go to Church with a Three-Year-Old

I'm pretty sure that I am done with my blog challenge.  I didn't do it EVERY day but I did it most days and that was pretty good for not-follow-through me!  This month is so full of family visits and wedding meetings and birthdays and trips across the state that I know I will not be having time to write as often for awhile.  I know you are super bummed, but we must be strong!

Today's post is an illustration of my Mass time this week.  Any mamas out there are probably familiar with all of this to the point of it being mundane, but maybe seeing it from the perspective of someone who doesn't have babies at Mass every week will put the humor back in the situation for you.

So here is my step-by-step instructions for taking a three-year-old to Mass (or any church worship):*

Step 1:
Make sure you sit in a pew that has an empty pew in front of you.  This will come in handy for many heart-attack moments during the service as your three-year-old excitedly runs up and down the empty seat.  They are blissfully unaware that one wrong move of their little toddling feet will send their head into the pew ahead of them and the rest of them into the book holders below.  Looking back this should have been foreseen but please remember that only hindsight is 20/20.  Don't be too hard on yourself or worry though; as you try to correct your mistake and catch them they will think you are starting a delightful game of Tag and will squeal excitedly in the middle of the day's readings while running even faster in the opposite direction.

Step 2:
After you finally manage to get your three-year-old back, the only way they will stay in your pew is for you to hold them for awhile.  Please be aware that they are now full of energy and so will try a number of acrobatic moves in your arms to try and get that energy out.  A favorite move that I have noticed is the throwing back of the body with no prior warning so they can hang their head upside down.  Your entire body will be forced forward and only by some primal instinct do your feet stay glued to the ground, thereby preventing you both from tumbling into the empty pew ahead (see Step 1).  You look down to see your three-year-old with arms hanging and hair standing up straight as though they have been electrically shocked.  The thought goes through your head that perhaps electric shock actually is the reason they just tried to kill you both, but please note that you will think that maybe this is a reason for them doing a lot insane things.  It very rarely is the reason however.
They will have a look of pure joy on their face which will make it very difficult for you to convince them that they should look at the world right-side-up for awhile.  Do not be surprised at your child's sudden ability to turn themselves into an immoveable sack of potatoes; this is a normal side effect.

Step 3:
Give them a water pen with its special color-changing pad during the sermon.  This will keep them happy and quiet for maybe 5 minutes and you will find yourself able to actually listen to the wise words you came to hear.  Please don't be too shocked, however, when you turn back to your three-year-old to see them screwing and unscrewing the lid of the marker and taking little sips as water pours all over their clothes.  As you wonder to yourself if this is really a problem and therefore worth the screams involved when you try to stop them (after all, its only water), their older sibling will have noticed the situation and come to the conclusion that it is in fact life-threateningly dangerous.  They grab the pen and your three-year-old commences screaming until they get the pen back.  Even then, however, they will still be quite shaken up and may require some hugs.  Be sympathetic as they point a finger to their sibling and bury their head in your shoulder, the only actions they can muster up to convey their feelings of betrayal.

Step 4:
Bring someone to Mass who thinks it is funny to see what they can get a three-year-old to do and sit right next to this person.  You will have contributed to bringing two new best friends together and witness many games being invented.  So what if they older lady at the end of the pew is shooting daggers at you with her eyes?  The melodious sounds of a child's innocent laughter, even during the Consecration, is worth it all.

Step 5:
It is important to instill in children that giving money to those less fortunate is important.  One way to do this is to let the children put money in the collection baskets.  As your child thrillingly stares at the money in a way that lets you know they are having an experience you wish they would feel for the rest the Mass, try to prevent them from putting their mouths on the dollar bills.  Another tip is to not let them feed you the dollar bills, which they will try to do as their way of bringing you into their excited moment.  There will be many other occasions where a three-year-old will try to feed you; sometimes it will actually be food but even in these instances do not eat it.  Their sense of accomplishment will make them so proud they will try to feed you too many bites at a time with such an insistence that you will become worried they are actually trying to kill you.

Step 6:
As the end of the Mass draws near, your three-year-old will have finally gotten used to the fact that they need to sit still in your lap.  However, they do not see anything interesting in the rows of heads in front of them so they will turn around to face you.  You may be shocked to realize that your face is, in fact, an excellent toy.  Squishing cheeks and touching eyes, violent kiss storms accompanied by a surprisingly strong grip on either side of your head, and trying to feed you their fingers are all "games" you can expect to be played as they read the final announcements.  Refer to step 5 for more information on three-year-olds trying to feed you things.

Step 7:
The Mass has ended, go in as much peace as you can.

*Note: Some of these steps are not exclusive to Mass/Church time and may include other ages of children as well

The 3-year-old 

Hope your day is blessed and filled with laughter!

Princess Time

Today I got to babysit my future nieces and what a fun time it was!  I got to spend time in that elusive world of tea parties and princess dresses and whirling dances and I left that world with smiles to spare.  What a blessing :)  Here are some photos that show our good time:

Sista love

And you thought you had style...

She is smiling ALL THE TIME.  Unless she's laughing.

Hope (the little one) had a great time wandering down the hall and then charging back in the room with her head thrown back in a laugh until she would fall on her bootie because she remembered she only started walking a few weeks ago.  HILARIOUS.  I tried to upload a video but apparently that's against blogger rules?  Grace (the older one) loved running around her room showing me all her treasures with a steady narration of "just one more thing!" And then we ate sandwiches.  

This is the life :)

Snazzy Suits and Save the Dates

Today my man and I picked out the suits for his guys for Wedding Day!  We got a coupon that said everyone gets $40 off their suit if they order before a certain date so we got that taken care of.  It seems sooner than I would have thought but, hey, $40 is $40!  We picked out light gray suits with baby blue ties and vests- a nod to the North Carolina Tar Heels.

No one can say I didn't try to include my man in the celebration planning.  Light blue and light pink are the colors....hopefully it doesn't end up looking like a baby shower of some sort.  I'm sure it will be fine...

In other wedding news, I meet with a photographer on Saturday and I'm pretty excited about that.  This company has a photography/videography package, which is just so smart in my opinion!  I then meet with a wedding coordinator on Sunday since my reception site doesn't allow us to start setting up until way late in the day.  Like, halfway through our church ceremony late in the day.  Silly.  So I need a wedding coordinator to get that taken care of.

I've been addressing Save the Dates for two weeks now and let me tell you it is HARD WORK getting my fiance to get his necessary addresses.  Praying for a miracle in that respect.  Both of us also have such ginormous families that I have hand cramps just thinking about the giant stack of envelopes I've been working on.  Let's hope they enjoy the fruits of my labor :)

In-Between Time

This is the time of year that I enter Wal-Mart and feel my eye twitch.

I drive down the street and see decorations on a store front and want to go rip them down.

Ads on websites become red, white, and green and I change the page.

This is the In-Between Time and I spend a lot of it trying not be irrationally angry.  All of the Christmas decorations that over-take everything before Halloween has even passed point to a bigger problem in our culture.  I get so upset by the blatant greed and lack of focus on the present day that I hardly go anywhere at all.

I'll go out and about after Thanksgiving.  My blood pressure can't handle it before then.

Grateful to BE

I just returned home from the most lovely dinner party!  It was thrown for me by my lovely mother-in-law-to-be and attended by a great majority of my fiance's family in honor of my birthday next week.  Let me just say that I am lucking out with my fiance's family; I'm so overwhelmed with the love and acceptance they exude!

This is actually a perfect segue into what I wanted to talk about today: love and acceptance.  The priest today gave an excellent sermon about loving yourself the exact way you are.  Same old story about not being unhappy with the way you look but given with such joy and belief in the words that it was like the idea had never been voiced before!  This is definitely a priest I will be returning to hear more from!

One of the things that he said was that God made each one of us "with big ears or a lump on the nose," stepped back, and said "This one is my absolute favorite so far!"  What a beautiful thought :)

For myself, I switched this to describe the inside rather than the outside: God made my personality the way He did for a reason!  Trying to be someone else or at the very least hiding my truest thoughts and opinions for fear of what others might be thinking is such a waste of the specific way He made me!   I know this with my whole mind and heart yet this fear has had a ruling hold on my life for so long that the thought of living without it is, for me, the most intoxicating of dreams.  Just imagine, though, if each one of us embraced the unique mix of gifts and talents that we were given rather than always thinking we should have different ones.

Thanks Genie!  Don't look annoyed Aladdin....you need to hear it!

One thing my fiance's family does that I love in theory but have trouble experiencing myself is their tradition of honoring each other on their birthdays or at special milestones. Since it was my birthday dinner tonight they each took turns saying wonderful things about me.  Let me just tell you it was SO hard for me to listen!   I wanted to curl up under the table while they were talking so no one could see me and then return each nice thing said with compliments for each of them.  Neither of these are the point of this exercise however: you must sit and completely take in the honoring.  You cannot turn the compliments away; you must accept them, OWN them.  For this one day in the year you are given only the nice parts of yourself so you can stop focusing on the negative.  How hard and yet how necessary!  See- I told you I was lucking out with in-laws!

"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one." This excellent quote from Eleanor Roosevelt is a good way to summarize my point in this post.  Know yourself; know your weaknesses, and know your strengths.  In this way, in each moment of the day, we can be truly useful.  I pray in this moment that YOU, dear reader, may know yourself and love yourself.  Say the same prayer for me :)

What is your favorite thing about yourself?

Saturday Living

Day 17/30 in my blog challenge!

I woke up this morning to rain pouring down and snuggled back down into my comfy bed with a smile...no blazing heat for a couple more hours anyway :)

Is there anything better than a rainy day when you are allowed to just sit inside with some tea and enjoy it?  I submit that there is NOT!  (Imagine Brian Regan saying that and now you're smiling.)

I'm going to sit here for the next couple of hours before work and learn more about the wonder that is essential oils, make a to-do list for the growing number of wedding things I need to get done (I will not panic, I will not panic, NOT PANICKING!), and just rejoice in the fact that I can move my eyes in all directions without intense pain; really wrapping up this sickness folks!

Let's do this, Saturday.

All Saint's Day

Wishing I was in Poland today celebrating All Saint's Day!  As it is I am celebrating by making a spicy spinach and artichoke dip for my man.  I like to put lots of extra cheese in it, but I forgot to pick up mozzarella at the store so I'm going to be trying out colby jack and seeing if that is a total bomb.  I'm using jalapeno cream cheese to give it a nice kick :)

Who out there just loves All Saint's Day?  Oooo oooo pick me!  Pick me!

What's there not to love?  A day that is in honor of a specific saint has traditionally been celebrated by all who share that saint's name; St. John's day is celebrated by all John's and so on.  It is still a bigger deal than birthdays in some countries!  Presents, special food, everyone is happy for you.  Its great!

On All Saint's Day, however, EVERYONE gets another "birthday" because we are celebrating ALL saints!  Wooo hooo!!

Its also a day where you get to really think about all of your loved ones who have passed on already.  Don't think about them in a way that gets you all down and sad though!  Pray for them in case they are in purgatory (if you haven't been doing that already) and think about them being all crazy happy in heaven :)  That's why its a required day of going to Mass....there are so many souls in Purgatory who need our prayers!  Life is busy and we so often forget to pray for those who have gone before us; this is our built-in opportunity to remember.

What a great day!

The Pumpkin Life

Happy Halloween!

Recipe of the day:  Appropriately fall.  This is a recipe I made for a house-warming party for my soon-to-be in-laws a couple weeks ago and it was quite a hit!  After all, who doesn't like to eat out of a pumpkin??

Props go to Ginger Snap Crafts for this great idea!  That link takes you straight to the recipe, so I will just add my pictures with explanations on how I changed it up.  The comments of people who had tried the recipe said it was a bit bland, so I added a couple of extra spices to jazz it up....yummy!

Turkey, corn, green beans, and rice mixture

This is the mixture of spiced ground turkey (instead of sausage...we have red meat allergies in the family) with the frozen veggies.  I want to make this again and really experiment with different veggies!  I added a little bit of nutmeg to the meat as it was cooking since there was nutmeg added to the inside of the pumpkin; it tasted great!  I also added quite a bit more pepper than the recipe called for.  I tried to keep it as simple as possible since kids were eating, but I think the use of more herbs would be even better!  We actually served it with a pumpkin soup piled on top, so we were not lacking in any flavor :)

This is the inside of the pumpkin after it has been scooped out and the salt, pepper, and nutmeg added.  I'm not sure why it looks like the remains of someone's sneeze, but I assure you it was all spices!

After the mixture was added :)

This is the part in the recipe that I felt could have used a little more explanation: the steam tent.  In order to get the water for the steam tent I filled the cookie sheet about halfway with water and then put another cookie sheet opposite way with the pumpkin on it so the pumpkin didn't get soggy.  I don't know if that's the way to go, but its the only way I could think of!  Hope the picture is clear enough.

And this is the pumpkin all wrapped up and ready to be baked!  Full disclosure: I picked too large of a pumpkin for my oven so I couldn't fit whole contraption in.  After spilling the water everywhere and slightly panicking for 5.2 seconds I realized I could just take the lid of the pumpkin since the foil would keep the steam in regardless (and no one was going to eat the lid anyway).  Crisis averted!  

I realized after the dinner that it might have been kind of funny to cut a hole in the side of the pumpkin that looked like a mouth and then drawn some eyes as well- it would have looked like it was puking haha!  Maybe not the most appetizing, but it would definitely be appropriate for Halloween :)  

No good?

Tissues and Tea

I was on high stress for so long this year that my immune system was weakened.  Now that my stress levels have been reduced my body felt the need to pay me back by totally taking me out of commission for the last couple of days.  I don't remember the last time I was so sick and even today, day 4, I am not feeling quite ready to get out of bed.  

Sweating or shaking with cold?  Decisions, decisions

I used this time as an opportunity to learn even more about my essential oils (when my eyes didn't hurt too badly to read a computer screen).  

I learned that peppermint brings down a fever when applied to your forehead and the back of your neck (note: do NOT let the peppermint drip into your eyes unless you want to feel the sensation of your eye trying to melt out of you head.  Should this happen, use coconut oil, preferably the one provided by doTerra since it is in liquid form, to rinse out your eye. NOT water).  You can apply the Peppermint as often as every 15 minutes to get high fevers down.

I learned that Oregano is a ROCKIN' oil to use when sick.  I added 1 drop of Oregano to my chicken soup when I felt like eating and used it in an oils shot: fill a small shot glass with water and add 1 drop Oregano, 2 drops On Guard, and 2 drops Lemon.  Gargle (they say for 5-10 minutes but seriously- that is pretty much impossible!  I go for as long as I can past 1 minute...which means I do it for about 1 minute and 5 seconds) and swallow.  You WILL gag, feel like your mouth is on fire, and think that no healing is worth this kind of discomfort but suck it up and just make sure you have some juice or something to quickly follow it with.  Discomfort only lasts maybe 2 minutes. Do this about 3 times a day.

Pretty much how I reacted after my first Oils shot

Another protocol with the oils was to apply Oregano, Peppermint, On Guard, and Melaleuca (an anti-viral oil) to the bottoms of my feet as often as every hour.  I applied Eucalyptus oil and Breathe blend to my chest to relieve my coughing and put Lemon in my water, which I drank as often as I could....the oils need water in order to move through your system effectively.  Lemon is excellent at removing toxins from the system.

The last thing I did was put On Guard and Eucalyptus in my diffuser to keep the air cleansed and my lungs clear.  

I'll keep doing all of this today to get the last of this vile sickness out of my system!  I don't even want to think about how bad this sickness could have been or how long it would have lasted without using the oils!  Experiencing how quickly other sicknesses have been eradicated while others around me with the same sickness suffer much longer has proven to me that these oils work faster and more completely than the pharmaceuticals on the market can hope to do.  If you are interested in learning more about how to get these oils, please contact me!  

In the meantime, eat as healthy as you can (especially a variety of fresh veggies!), load up on the Vitamin C, and PLEASE do not get a flu shot...they do much more harm than good!  

These are 2 great articles that discuss the truth behind flu vaccines:

http://saveourbones.com/flu-shot/ This one also gives the top ways to make your immune system more healthy so it can fight off the viruses naturally.

http://vactruth.com/2013/02/01/8-damn-good-reasons/ This one discusses the top 8 reasons not to get a flu shot, one of which is for pregnant women.  Some shocking statistics discussed here folks!  

Weekend's End

I know you have all been just DYING to know what costume I chose so I will leave you in suspense no longer!  Thanks to my dear sister-in-law's idea I was....wait for it.... Little Red Riding Hood!  Quite the hit I might say, especially since I spent $5 and 10 minutes getting ready :)  Thanks to A Simple Nest for posting these wonderful instructions.

Rockin' the 'hood with my hood

What I like best about this outfit (and which is very hard to see in my terrible-quality picture) is that I got to wear red lipstick! Score!
What I like least about this outfit is that way too many people decided to sing "Little Red Riding Hood" to me.  Google it if you don't know it after these lyrics: "Little red riding hood, you sure are looking good...". These people then proceeded to tell me that they were watching out for the big bad wolf for me.  Thanks for the backup, random tipsy guys.  Feeling safer already.

Other than that I'm not feeling so hot again.  Clearly there is something fighting for attention in my body.  I'm loading up on Echinacea tea and oil, Flu Bombs, and On Guard blend.  Hopefully a good night's rest is all that's needed again to kick this sickness!  So off to bed I go :)

Costume Anxiety

Day 10/30 in my blog challenge

If you've read my blog before today (awww!  Thanks so much for your continued reading!) you might notice there has been a slight change to my blog's face.  A makeover, if you will.  Just moved a couple things around and made the title bright pink because pink is more joyful than light green.  Right?

I was procrastinating from finding a costume, if you want to know the truth.

The restaurant I work in is in the middle of a party zone.  Which means that for a big holiday like Halloween you better get prepared for some...errr....FESTIVE times!  I'm a little frightened honestly.

At any rate, if I don't dress up while working I will feel tremendously out of place and super boring.  I'm not a fan of either thing; hence the costume anxiety!

Usually I'm super prepared for Halloween and can't wait for it to get here.  I'm at least going over costume ideas in my head while the month of October slips by.  Not so for this year.  Moving houses and planning a wedding sort of got in the way.

My bad.

I at least thought I had until the actual holiday to figure something out but it turns out the major festivities are tonight.  My version of what should happen is never what the majority thinks.   I'm pretty sure this is why people think I'm....unique?  Naive?  Weird.  I prefer awesome, but whatever ;)

I'll never be as awesome as this kid though so that's enough about me

Anywho.  The whole point is I'm completely lacking in creative juices right now.  I was thinking of being Merida from Brave but I'm just not sure about working in Middle Ages Scottish wear.

Just found out this is a job at Disney.  Dream job: FOUND!  Who says procrastination doesn't pay?

I hope all of your costumes are going better than mine right now!  Just know that the best has already been done and you can't beat it, so don't stress too much if you're still working on ideas:

Stud.

Also, just because I'm still LOVING my doTerra essential oils, I'm going to end by sharing how they are still changing my life for the best!
I have ALWAYS had trouble going to sleep and staying asleep but now every night before bed I put some Ylang Ylang (ooo that's fun to say!) oil on the bottom of one foot and some Serenity oil blend on the other (the foot has the most pores of anywhere on the body so the oils are absorbed quicker) and I sleep like a zombie!  If zombies sleep that is.  Not sure.  Anyway the point is I sleep HARD and this has never happened before!
I also ordered one of their new products which is fondly nicknamed the Flu Bomb because it a softgel filled with every anti-sick oil there is!  I felt super terrible the other night so I took just one of those little beasts and went to bed thinking I was for sure going to have to call in sick in the morning.  I woke up feeling better than ever!

But back to the major point: what is your costume this year, or what was your favorite from years' past?

Fall Around the World

In light of the fact that I have no pictures of changing leaves this year, I thought it would be fun to post pictures of all the places I have been in the past during this wonderful season.  Enjoy!

Kirksville, Missouri: my college town :)

A view from my home in O'Fallon, Missouri

The fruits of Polish soil!

I made so many things with that pumpkin!  And its 3 brothers....

I was shocked that there were different pumpkins than our orange ones in the States.  These, as you can see, are big and green and have quite a bit more meat than our Jack-O-Lantern counterparts!  I definitely got a work out cutting those pumpkins into small enough pieces to fit in pots to soften them up!

Polish Fall

Poland's Autumn was 99% golden.  The world was literally paved in gold!  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  The few bushes that were ruby red stood out like jewels in a crown.  I would go back in a heartbeat!

Polish Cemetery on November 1: All Saint's Day

Another Cemetery

All Saint's Day is a huge deal in Poland.  For weeks beforehand there are groups of people cleaning up the cemeteries to prepare for every citizen to come traipsing through.  Wherever there is family or close friends buried near you, you go to the grave with flowers, a special candle, and a broom/rake.  You clean up whatever leaves may have fallen on the grave since the massive clean-up, light the candle, place your flowers on the stone, and say a prayer for the soul's release from Purgatory.  My host family and I visited 3 different cemeteries in the Poznan area that day and the Autumn splendor mixed with this wonderfully strange tradition made for one of the most memorable days in my year abroad.  The best part was going back to a cemetery that night; all the candles were still burning and the effect was so lovely that its hard to explain.  Here's a picture to not do it justice at all:

Each candle represents a family/person who visited that day!

And then there is last Autumn...my one weekend of blissful escape from the heat to experience a little bit of New England fall for the first time!!  This is a Vermont Inn that just begs you to come inside and enjoy the fire with a cup of your favorite hot beverage!

Sorry if this took forever to load...hopefully the pictures were worth it :)  I have definitely been blessed in my ability to travel around.  Maybe next year I'll have some new pictures to add to my collection!

What is your favorite fall memory?

Dem Fall Days :)

Day 8/30.  Rockin' this challenge past the week mark!

Song: Sail, AWOLNATION.  I feel so chill and cool whenever I hear this song.  Love it!  Video is a little weird (but also kind of awesome...).

Weather: FREAKING AMAZING.  My windows are open and I have a blankie on to keep me nice and snug.  Just looked at the thermometer (i.e. my iphone) and saw that it is a brisk 70 degrees!  Oh my.  Florida has killed my internal cold monitor.

Confession:  Somewhere in this Land O' Hot there is a tree that has leaves that turn red.  I found evidence of this while at work and standing outside trying to convince people by my happy demeanor that my restaurant was where they wanted to eat.  I looked down and saw there a beautiful red leaf!  I picked it up and stared in rapturous wonder at it while passers-by looked at me strange and walked by with caution.  I then sniffed the leaf with glorious satisfaction; I closed my eyes and imagined walking through a forest saturated with that smell and color.  Needless to say, I was asked to go back indoors so that customers wouldn't be afraid to come eat.

Worth it.

"Am I My Brother's Keeper?"

I have a confession to make.  Ok, a couple of confessions.

Firstly, I missed a day in my blog challenge.  (Oh no!  Yet the world is still moving on...) Internet went kaput and I only just got it fixed this morning.  I still had internet on my phone but somehow writing a blog post on there just didn't seem too appealing!

My second confession leads into my ramblings for the day, which is the only reason I feel the need to share.  I have a very active imagination so when I am in a situation where I must sit and wait and there is no stimulation (music, tv, etc)...such as when I am hold with internet support....my mind wanders itself into some pretty weird situations.   Apparently I have a flair for the dramatic because most of these wanderings go into some heroic situation where I end up dying and I have to come up with my last words.

I know.  I'm weird.

Today's mind wandering led instead to me being the final comfort in someone's life and how I wanted to give them strength with God's word.  They responded with the understandable and oft-heard question, "How can there be a God who is good if He lets pain such as this happen?"

I have to say that this is one of those questions that I am kind of scared to get in real life.  How do I answer?  Its so hard when you are put on the spot!  What if you say something wrong and instead turn someone FURTHER from God?  I guess that is why God helps me by having me ask myself these questions when there is no pressure.  Practice makes perfect right?

Anyway, He shared with me a wonderful answer.

Since our God is a god who loves us so much He will not take away our free will, He cannot just come down and stop us from doing evil.  If He could, there wouldn't have been much need to send His Son to die for us, would there?

God shared with me how much He needs us.

Wait a second...did I just write that??  GOD needs US?  Sinful, prideful, ever-failing US?

Yes.  He NEEDS us to be a witness to His love in the world.  He NEEDS us to care for the poor, the suffering, the lonely.

The well-known verse popped into my head: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain says this to the Lord as though accusing Him of not caring for His own well enough.  God's response puts the blame where it really belongs though....back on Cain.  "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!"  In re-reading all of this in Genesis:4 I realize that God warned Cain directly before he even raised a hand against his brother.

"If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you but you must rule over it."

The very next thing Cain does is kill Abel.  *Sigh*

God gave us literally everything we could ever want or need- even a way out of our tangled messes.  He tries desperately to get us to hear Him so that we don't have to deal with the pains of sin but more and more His voice is drowned out by constant noise, constant media interruption, constant tv shows to catch up on.

We expect love and happiness and the popular mindset is that when you get more THINGS you will be loved.  When we are comfortable then we can happy.  If there is any discomfort or if anything happens to our things or money, we have every right to complain!

What do we do to ensure that someone else is getting happiness and love?

We see people being abused and used and we do nothing except shout about how wrong it is.  Someone else needs to take care of these wrongs!  I would, but I'm a little busy right now so someone else needs to do it!  Probably the government!  Someone should start a group or something!  We need funding!

How about just visiting those in prison?  Or the homebound?  What about simple acts of kindness to spread a little love?  Words of encouragement to the kid you know is probably considered weird at school?  Offering to babysit for the parents who haven't been on a date in way too long?

"Am I my brother's keeper?"

Yes!

Good little reminder as we go out to change the world ;)

Frugal Living

In an effort to make my life a little easier, healthier, and less wasteful of money I have come up with a few ideas to re-define "fast food."

Today I made up a big batch of taco meat with homemade seasoning.  Making homemade seasoning is extremely easy and much healthier due to the reduction in sodium and the lack of preservatives.

Easy, healthy, AND delicious?  Sign me up!

With this taco meat at the ready in the fridge (and half stored in the freezer so I don't get sick of it) I can easily and quickly make tacos, nachos, mexican eggs, and salads.  Yum!

I also picked up some english muffins, some pizza sauce, and cheese to make mini pizzas that are MUCH healthier than the within-my-budget frozen pizzas.  I can even put some of my taco meat on one or two pizzas!

The last thing I am pre-preparing this week is boiled eggs.  These are another extremely versatile and healthy food!

I feel good about this small change in my life.  Not having to cook EVERY day when there is hardly any time to do it anyway makes one less worry!   Besides, I know I can't be the only one who is sometimes very bored at the number of times I get hungry in a day.  Making food every time can be exhausting!  :)

Long Days Filled with Love

Day 4/30 in the blog challenge.

It was one of those days that you prepare for mentally for at least 2 days.  Every time you think about it you're like "Ooooo that day is gonna be no good...sigh."

And then....

The day arrives and you wake up to softly chirping birds.

Traffic is non-existent.

The meeting was better than anticipated.

The church sermon is about hearing God's voice in your life. (Doesn't that sound familiar?)  Or, since this is third person and in no way illustrative of MY specific day...the church sermon is about that thing that clicks just perfectly with your current life situation.  ;)

Work is slow but friends and laughter are abundant.

An excellently generous tip makes the night worth it.

The man has cleaned the house for you while you are at work. (Swoon!)

Homemade macaroni and cheese.

Looks like there were differently plans in the works for that "no-good"day.  What a humbling thing that fills my heart with love :)

Marriage Preparation

Day 3/30 in my blog challenge.

Today felt like an age and a half.

My man and I went to our county's Pre Cana course, which is a required marriage course for the Catholic church.

In general, I feel that this is an excellent thing.  They go over important topics that many wide-eyed couples who split their time between Cloud 9 and wedding planning tend not to think of.  Financial issues, communication, what to do when "the honeymoon is over" to keep the love alive, wills, etc.

Turns out, however, that my man and I have a pretty good talking relationship and we already talked about most of these issues.  Hearing them discussed in depth for 7 hours while a beautiful Saturday beckoned out the wall of windows was a little trying.

My brain feels squishy.

The Daily Question

Day 2/30 in my challenge!

My diffuser is gurgling happily in the kitchen (which connects to the living room....I live in a fairly cozy place) as I type and I can just feel the Balance blend and Wild Orange getting my mind ready for the day!  I added a bit of On Guard, which helps fight colds/flus, since I woke up feeling a little under the weather, and now any airborne pathogens are saying their last goodbyes. (Those are three of my essential oils, by the way).

Dang it feels good to be a hippie!  (Only a slight variation to the Office Space song...but said with the same gangster attitude.  Maybe a little extra excitement.)

I wake up today with a question on my mind that I ask myself, and my man, a lot.

"What is God trying to tell me today?"

I love this question!  It focuses my mind to be more God-centered while giving me a chance to really sift through all the superficial thoughts in my head to the real meat of my problems.

What IS God trying to tell me?

There are as many answers to this question as there are people in the world.  I find that if I keep the question in my mind all day I realize God is actually saying a lot to me!  It continues to amaze me that God has a personal interest in my life but I have had enough proof of this to convince me of its truth.

I hear Him speaking to me when I turn on the radio and someone is talking about an issue I am dealing with and ways to cope.

I hear Him speaking when something hurts me...why is it hurting me?  What wounds from my past still need to be healed?  After all, no words can hurt us unless we consider them to have some truth to them.  We should love and allow ourselves to be loved but we shouldn't let others' human-ness upset our happiness.  Realizing hurt is one of the best ways to hear God talking!

I hear Him speaking in nature.  He is begging us to see the beautiful gifts He has given us!  Imagine if you gave someone a bouquet of flowers and they didn't even notice!  He gave us an entire world and we can't even see it sometimes.

I hear Him when I do something wrong in the day (so I hear Him a LOT).  He shows me patterns in my negative behavior so I can work on it.

There are so many other ways to hear Him!  Start listening and you will be amazed at how much you have been missing :)

Its such a great way to start a conversation and really get to the heart of what is going on in someone's life.  It is an excellent dinner table question to rehash a day.  A bedtime question to aid in searching your conscience.

So.  What is He trying to tell YOU today?

Back to the Essentials

In the midst of my crazy life right now, I am taking a 30-day challenge to write in my blog every day.  Now that I have my internet up and running it should be a piece of cake!  Right??

I notice that my mind works better when I get my thoughts down, and even though I feel kind of ridiculous writing in a blog that I'm not positive anyone really reads, I keep feeling a call to write it.  Plus, if I'm only writing this so that other people read it then its kind of pointless. :)  Maybe God has some plan for this blog that I'm not privy to, so on with the challenge!

I wanted to start my challenge by writing about something that has transformed my life for the best....essential oils!  This is a topic I know will be coming up quite often in my future posts so I think an introduction is necessary.

Plus, I just want to gush about how amazing these are for a minute! Or ten...

These oils are from a company called DoTerra and they are so crazy cool they had to come up with a new category of oil since they didn't fit with any of the others: Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade.  They are 100% plant derived for some good old-fashioned healing from the sources God put on this earth to heal us with!

Surprisingly enough, pharmaceutical companies were not invented in those first 6 days.  I'm not convinced pill mills were in the cards for our ultimate well-being.

Ooooo pretty!

I was amazed to learn that in order for an essential oil to be categorized as "essential" the FDA says that it needs to contain 20% of the oil it claims to essentially be.

20%.

What is the other 80%??  I don't think I want to know. And this is in places that advertise organic and other health food stores!  I don't know what percentage other places have, but I want no part of them.

Now, the good news about this is that if the FDA is saying 20% is ok, it must mean the essential parts of these oils are pretty powerful.  This is the only conclusion I can come to as to why such a low percentage could be considered ok.  This is also the conclusion I have come to after trying these oils.

Since they are 100% of what they claim to be, just ONE drop is powerful enough to knock out most problems.  Topically applied they get into your blood stream in 30 SECONDS, and since they work on a cellular level they fight problems from the very source.  Pharmaceuticals cannot fight at that level.  Within 20 minutes of applying the oils they are in every single cell of your body.  I don't have a scientific enough mind to be able to understand this part, but there are websites filled with the research and proof.  I really only need the proof in my own life though.

 Since they are 100% plant based they are the only essential oil on the market to be able to be ingested.  You cannot overdose on them.  Not one oil has only one function; each oil can be used for so many different things!

Household cleaners, bug repellant, energizers, mood lifters, hormone balancing....the list goes on!

I just can't get over how awesome these are and how well they work.  I'm sorry for the seeming sales-shpeal (anyone know how to spell that word??) but this style of living is something I have wanted since I can remember.  I wanted a big garden from which I ate and made my medicines and household cleaners and lotions etc.  I still want a big garden but now I can just eat and cook the fruits of my labor instead of learning from scratch how to be all medicinal :)

I feel better than ever and I'm only a couple months in to exploring everything!  Its a beautiful world...and I feel more connected to it than I ever have!

If you're interested in learning more, check out this page and the links on it
http://www.doterra.com/us/essentialDefinition.php
Or contact me if you are done depending on dangerous chemicals in your life :)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The most wonderful time of the year isn't Christmas for me (though I do LOVE Christmas!).  It is and always has been FALL for me!

Yay Fall!!  I know I'm a little slow to jump on the celebration wagon but its only because I have been grieving over my first Autumn that includes no changing leaves.  Every other year of my life I have had at least a weekend of wonderful crisp days crunching through leaves while a kaleidoscope of colors swirl and thrill.

Not so for this year.  My heart aches knowin it is out there without me to revel in it.

But I carry on!  Not that its TOO too hard...life is pretty good right now :)

I'm just loving fixing up my new little house (hence the lack of posts in such a long time) and wedding plans for sure keep me busy.  I go to pick up my dress next week (Eeeeee!!!!) and even though it won't be hemmed and such until much closer to the wedding, it will be so exciting to know that I am in possession of THE DRESS!

God continues to teach me every day how my imperfect ways need work, and what a blessing that is!  Those days when its like "I've sooo got this whole being Christian thing!  I'm rocking it!  Look at me giving all these spiritual responses to things and look how I'm doing this or that like I should!  Sainthood is EASY!"  And in the back of my head I'm thinking "Oh dear.  I'm about to get a big lesson.  But I'm not gonna worry about that in the midst of my rockin' it right now!"

Not that those days come very often.  Thank Goodness!

Biggest lesson God is teaching me right now, in the midst of my missing the season that seems to make up a part of my very soul, is that there is always something to cry about.  There is always going to be something that is going to try and get you down.

But our God is, without a single doubt, a God with a sense of humor.  I mean just look at the platypus! And if God, who sees EVERY SINGLE misery that happens in this world, can have a sense of humor and playfulness and CALM in the midst of all of it, then so can I.

If I forget, all I have to do is take a moment to focus on what is going on outside of me- birds singing joyfully and playing tag in the air, flowers soaking up the sun in glorious colors, rain that makes music as it falls, strangers exchanging smiles, car dancing in traffic, a child's delight in what has become commonplace to the rest- I could go on forever!

In the end there will always be more good than bad in the world.  God is in the details people!  Don't get downhearted by the world shouting bad news at every opportunity so that they can get a sensational reaction!  Take a moment and find God in the quiet of your heart and you will see the world for what it is:

The Kingdom of a Mighty King who will not let evil and strife last forever.

Then allow yourself to laugh :)

Earning My Shower....And Haunted Restaurant Times

I have a confession to make: I don't necessarily see the point of showering every day if I didn't really do anything to warrant taking a shower.  I like to really earn my shower.  My favorite showers are after yard work or mudding or anything involving paint.

Today, I earned my shower.  I went in to my work (restaurant) to clean out the wine storage room and left 6 hours later covered in dust and grime and old food.  What terrible thing did I do to warrant such a punishment, you might ask?

Nothing.

I volunteered for it.

I also volunteered 2 weeks ago to organize the storage room.  And last week, the liquor room.  The liquor room took waaay longer than I had thought it would, but once I start a job like that its hard to stop and feel okay about it (for me anyway...).

It was a job that needed to be done and so I did it!  However,  there was one thing that really had me debating whether I should have stayed all three days that I worked.

That was the ghost(s?).

My man thinks I'm crazy for even entertaining the thought.  I thought my co-workers were crazy for entertaining the thought!

Until 2 weeks ago that is.

That's when the drips started.

There are three stories in my restaurant, the building of which used to be a bank 100 or so years ago.  The second story has three windows that look down on the first story, and directly under the middle window is the archway that leads from the dining room to the service area.  Ever since I told my friend that I didn't think there were any ghosts, at least once a shift there are 2 big drips that fall right in front of me as I go through this arch.

That's not so strange, right?

Well, once you consider that it only happens after the second floor is closed down for the night, and that when I look to see where the drips come from, there is nothing (when the size and speed of the drips would suggest that there was a big leak in the ceiling, or at least water on the floor...neither which happens any time) it gets to sounding a little weird.

I talked to my manager and said how weird it was.  He said that the middle window was where a lot of people have said they see someone walking past who never comes down the stairs.  He told me that a worker once saw a man outs of the corner of his eye standing near the door when he was up there by himself (you can't be silent getting in or out of that door).  He believed in the ghost and said, without looking, that he was just cleaning and was almost finished.  He looked over and the man was gone.

Then there is the little girl ghost people see all the time on the third floor who stays near the men's restroom.  She was recorded saying "Help me" by a group who was interested in ghost stories and wanted to check the building out.

This floor is the one that all the storage rooms are on.

The floor that people routinely hear someone who turns out not to be there.

Now, I don't necessarily ACTUALLY believe there are ghosts....but when you are alone on the top level of an old creaky building with nothing but your thoughts for company as you work, it gets a little spooky!  Is that someone coming up the stairs...or a creepy specter making their way to me??  Is that a cloud moving across the sun....or will I see an unearthly face when I turn around??

All valid questions when your manager insists on jumping out at you any chance he has, increasing the fear.  I said quite a few "Hail Marys" and "St. Michael the Archangel" prayers while working for sure!

The other night my co-worker who is terrified of the third floor had to go up there with me at the end of the night to drop off some linens.  It was dark and creepy with everyone on the first floor.  I was wary of the bathroom as always but valiantly ignoring the fear when the bathroom door opened!

I screamed and threw my hand over my mouth which caused my co-worker to scream and shout "What?!?" while almost falling backwards down the stairs.

My manager, who was using the facilities, screamed as we screamed and it took us all a moment to realize that there was nothing to be scared of.  We laughed hard for the next few minutes!

It really is fun to be a bit scared sometimes :)

Blown Away By Love

Too, too often I let myself forget how incredibly rewarding studying the Bible is.  When I do allow God's gentle yet persistent call to penetrate my heart, however, I am filled with so much conviction and joy and love for our Creator and all He has faithfully done and has promised to do yet!  The Spirit has encouraged me in a most unrelenting way (He can be kind of disrupting to your day when He wants can't He?? :)) to share what He showed me in these passages.

To begin, these past few months have been very life-changing-- moving to different cities twice, moving in with strangers who have become family, getting engaged, beginning wedding planning, searching for houses-- and I became kind of exhausted.  I wasn't sleeping as well and so things started to grow big and scary in my mind.

In typical human fashion I convinced myself "I've got this" and barreled through the days with a feeling of un-fulfillment that frightened me. I began to over-think the state if the world and all its problems. I was so wrapped up in myself and my mind that it took God quite awhile to remind me that I while I might be crossing items off my check list (LOVE doing that!), I wasn't leaving time for my relationship with Him.

So God kept knocking.  I finally opened the door.

Anyone else know the feeling?

I decided to randomly open the Bible and go from there.  2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 couldn't have been more perfect!!  These verses reminded me to reset my focus on the BIG picture, to keep fighting the good fight.  They renewed my faith that the state of the world should have no effect on my peace of heart and devotion to the Truth.  I wrote in my prayer journal that these verses reinforced my knowledge that worrying is not only useless, but is not of God.

Well if its not of God, it has no place in my life!  What a weight off my shoulders!  Worrying not only isn't necessary, its like a poison to my soul?  Problem #1: solved.  (Now just to keep remembering!)

I read over the verses again. What else was He trying to say here?  I read verses 10-11: "...They persish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so they will believe the lie."
Whoa, whoa now.  God wants people to be deluded?  This sounds a little vindictive to me. "Wait, wait... you don't like my gift?!"

A vindictive spirit doesn't exactly fall in line with the all-loving, all-merciful God we adore, does it?  I decided that while my history major didn't prepare me to solve this by myself, it did give me a deep love for research and compiling other people's studies.  So I looked up commentary on the verses as done by people who have a bit more Scriptural experience than myself.  Here is where I found the very enlightening words of Barnes, Clark, and Gill that I will return to often with questions such as this.

Barnes says that "If a man strongly prefers error to truth, it is not wrong to allow him to evince his own preference."  In other words, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.  Or something like that.

This explanation made perfect sense to me and was such an encouragement to read!  Too often I find myself unwilling to take an opportunity to spread my faith because I am afraid of how a person will react.  What if I end up turning someone further away from God?  How can I make them believe?

1) You can't MAKE someone believe anything.  Free will anyone?
2)  My joyful life lived for Jesus should be a witness to why it is the Truth!  It is our duty as Christians to gently point out an error of ways in case someone is acting without knowledge that their action is harmful to their souls; beyond that all we can do is pray and NOT WORRY!

How freeing it is to just LOVE my neighbor and share what makes my life fulfilled instead of carrying the weight of their soul on my heart!  It is a joy and comfort beyond words to know that our God is a loving God who cares so deeply for my well-being that He would patiently wait out my ignoring Him and still share with me words that are a salve to my very soul.

My hope and prayer today is that whoever might read this will answer that soft call in their hearts and experience that joy and comfort.

"...for the world is loud and God whispers."

How has God shared His love for you lately?

Will You Be My Bridesmaid? Wedding Project #1

One great thing about being engaged (one of many!) is that it is providing ample opportunities to let my creative side loose.  The first project I'm going to post about is something I must admit I am pretty proud of- my bridesmaid invitations!

When I first saw something on Pinterest about bridesmaid invitations I absolutely loved the idea.  I liked this one and this one and I really liked this one, but nothing felt quite right for me.  The box one was really hard to say no to, but I have limited funds and too many bridesmaids that I had to mail these invitations to!  Plus, I don't really like to copy/paste, and that includes seeing an idea and following the step-by-step instructions; I have to make it my own!  I encourage anyone who sees this and happens to like it enough to use it for their own purposes to use this idea as a template only and let your creative juices flow, but feel free to do it the same way if that's how you roll :)  I'm still fairly new at this whole taking step-by-step pictures thing, so excuse these pictures if they aren't the most clear!

I started out with white square scrapbook paper.

All fresh and waiting to be crafted on!

And picked up this cool scrap paper pad at the craft store.

I love this look!

These papers are double-sided, with each side having a different pattern.  This cover shows the majority of patterns to be had in the booklet but there are also solids on some of the pages.  Quality, thick paper!  I loved it!

Next step was that I folded in the four corners of my scrapbook paper so that it made a sort of envelope (sorry no picture of this particular step...hopefully you can envision how it looked).  I then unfolded it and lined around the creases with strips of the fun paper, like so:

It was so fun to mix and match the colors on each invitation!

This step was a bit time consuming (in fact this whole project was a bit time consuming. I turned on Grey's Anatomy from episode 1 and thus I made it ok for me to sit watching tv for hours because at least I was being productive!).  I used the first strips I cut as a template for all the other ones which made cutting a bit quicker.  I also used rubber cement, my preferred method of sticking things together, for this whole project.

The next step came after staring at my 6 folded and bordered pieces of paper for quite some time because I was pretty much making this up as I went along.  I had an idea of what I wanted to include in these invitations and I wanted to make them a reminder of the relationship I have shared with each of the women I chose.  

*A quick side note: I have since added a 7th bridesmaid, Michael's sister Kristen, who was the one (with her husband Matt) that introduced Michael and me and was one of our biggest supporters while we were dating.  She (and the rest of my soon-to-be in laws!) makes me feel like such a welcome addition to the family and I am so sorry she didn't get one of these invites!  

The nostalgic side of me is a pretty big one and so I LOVE pictures and knew that had to be a part of this project.  I had lots of fun walking down memory lane picking out pictures of myself and each bridesmaid to include! 

MOH #1, my sister, then and now :) 

At this point I realized I had lots of paper pieces left over from cutting strips so I set to work cutting out hearts to use as fun accents on the invitation.  Because who doesn't love hearts for a wedding?

Two hand cramps later I was rather pleased :)

The next step was to fill my bridesmaids in on what kind of wedding to expect so they could say yes in good conscience, not wondering if they just committed themselves to some kind of crazy themed wedding or a scuba-diving extravaganza or something like that.  I'm kind of a wild card and they would have wondered uneasily in the back of their minds without reassurance.   Lucky for them I'm going more traditional :)  

I got pictures of some bridal parties that had mismatched dresses like what I am going for so that those of my bridal party who do not scour Pinterest all the time would know what I was talking about.  I also got some paint swatches because I am a visual person and like to have all the details in front of me, and I of course assume everyone is just like me.  I added a personal note about why I chose them for my bridesmaid on one of the triangle flaps (tears may have been shed) and wrote out details of what to expect- location, general date, outdoor reception, etc in the center.  This last part was a little boring, as I had to hand-write the details over and over again, but the end product was worth it I think!

The finished product :)

The final step was to fold all the flaps back down and tape it shut, with a little note to open it carefully.  I wrote the addresses on the back and shipped them off!  I liked knowing that I was sending off a bit of happiness to each of the girls on the day it arrived in their mailbox.  Who doesn't like to get mail that isn't bills??  I also didn't tell anyone who my bridal party was before they got these invitations, so it was (mostly) a surprise for them!  

Hope you enjoyed this project!  I'll be doing lots more of these as wedding projects come up for our DIY celebration :)

Thoughts after the Big Question

This is kind of a long one...sorry!  Guess I had more to say than I originally thought :)

I have recently experienced that one day that little girls dream of: the love of my life bent down on one knee and asked me to marry him!  We took a hike in the state park where we first said "I love you" and were forced to take shelter under a tree because of a storm.  He decided that this was a good spot (read: his nerves wouldn't survive much longer) and he popped the question :) We realized the tree was one stump with two separate trunks and it felt like a fairy tale with the rain pouring down around us and such a romantic detail that we couldn't have planned for.

Our tree

Immediately after the big question...the view under our tree :)

Since then it has been the expected happiness in our families and friends and the more unexpected onslaught of negative opinions.  Michael and I only met in January and then started dating in mid-March....we got engaged the day after our 4-month anniversary.

In today's world, this is a very short amount of time to determine whether you want to spend your entire life with someone!  I've heard people tell me that I shouldn't even consider someone until I have lived with them for 2 years.  LIVED with them for 2 years.  That means we should have been dating for any number of months/years before moving in.

I've also heard that I shouldn't marry someone if I've never had sex with them....what if there is no chemistry? (I defer anyone with THAT opinion to this article, compliments of my SIL Steph....and US News: Devout Catholics Have Better Sex, Study Says).

Mostly, though, I just get the raised eyebrows and the "Well, congrats!" while the actual opinion goes unsaid.

I find that these opinions all point to the terrible loneliness that people in this world feel.  I feel that Hollywood rom-coms and romance novels have a big part of the blame- they all paint an unrealistic view of what romance should be and make you feel as though you are settling for less than you deserve if you don't have flowers everyday and a house in the suburbs your first year of marriage.  Then divorce is as easy and acceptable as shopping at the mall, for whatever little reason you can think of.

The other big culprit is pornography.  Its everywhere, even in advertisements, giving both men and women unrealistic views as to what they should expect from their mate.  Humble marriage doesn't stand a chance against these shiny holograms!  Such an attack can only be coordinated by the Enemy; and the Enemy fights hardest against that which is most important!

I understand all the fears, and have of course entertained a few myself.  However, I have something that most people in this day and age have unfortunately deemed archaic and too simple to work: I have faith.

I have faith that even though I don't know everything about Michael, the things I do know give me a pretty good idea of what to expect.  There are things that will come as surprises down the road, and maybe I would find these things out if I lived with him for a couple years before saying yes, but these things won't change the fact that I love this man.  And true love is supposed to be unconditional!  Besides, people change and I feel its a pretty safe bet to say that in 5 years, and again at 10 years, and so on, we will look back on the people we are now and marvel at how different we are.

The point is, if you are meant to be together, you know pretty quick.  If you aren't, any amount of time spent with them beforehand isn't going to change that.

However, just because you are meant for each other doesn't mean its always rainbows and sunshine, but don't let that be an invitation for you to throw in the towel!  It takes work; but I am so confident that its the best...and most rewarding....work I could ever hope for :)

Teacups! And other happenings of the week

Sorry ahead of time if there is a slow loading time... I couldn't resist a bunch of photos for this post :)

I have developed an obsession intense interest in teacups throughout this year.  Not that I didn't like teacups before; its just that once I started really getting into thrifting, I started noticing how amazing and varied the teacup is.  Soon after, I found inspiration for a project I can use lots of teacups for and now I search them out like they are the key to my survival.  In my current room that has three surfaces for putting things on, I have used two whole surfaces just to store my teacups.  I find so many other things in thrift stores that I save in boxes for my future decorating attempts but with these cups I feel I am doing the world an injustice by hiding their pretty flowers and elegant designs.

The Blue Collection

Flower Power

The Crazy One

I find my gaze wandering towards them consistently throughout the day and sometimes get embarrassed to find 10 minutes have gone by with nothing to show for it but a greater fondness for those silly cups.  Then I remember one of my fave quotes by a William Morris: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." And goodness do I find them beautiful!  Useful too, for that matter ;)

All-time favorite thrift store teacup

Just know that this is maybe half of my collection, but feel better for my bank account when you find out that the mass majority have been bought for no more than $4!  Some were 50 cents!  One man's trash...

Ok enough about my teacups.  I've been having a lot of fun in thrift shops these days and have a lot to show for it, but my highlight this week was going to visit Koreshan State Park on the 4th of July with most of my family (missed you Beth!!).  Florida has been trying to make up for its drought status last year by drowning its citizens but the morning of the 4th was gorgeous blue sky and a few hours blessed relief from humidity!  Perfect outing weather :)  With a playground, a bunch of historical buildings, and a lazy hike by a river, there was no shortage of fun...but maybe of water haha.  I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves!

Me and my man

I loved how they covered a brick in fabric for a doorstop!

Moving on to the next part of the hike

The whole gathering.  If I wasn't busy snapping pictures I might know why they are all gazing in the river.

This one was just too cute.  "Here mom let me get that tied for you."

Thanks for stopping by :)  I have lots of projects that need before and after pictures posted- coming soon!