Happy Birthday Kate!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful friend Katelyn!!!

Here's to all of the wonderful memories we have shared, and here's to many more!!

I love you!

Friendship

I am so thankful for friends!! Friendships are probably one of the most important things in my life, probably because much of my childhood was lacking in them. God has been so gracious to bless me with some wonderful friends. This past weekend was a great chance to catch up with and hang out with some of my dearest friends.

I had really been struggling with feeling a little left out, so a relaxing weekend of laughter, chatting, good food and chick flicks was just what the heavenly Doctor ordered! :) So here's to a refreshing weekend that lifted my spirits and hopefully made my beautiful friends happy as well!!





I sure do love these ladies!!

Craft Inspirations

I do not have the time (or the money) to do any new craft projects right now. BUT I have lots of great ideas about things I would like to do, so I wanted to document them. :)

First, I would like to refinish this coffee table that Chris and I got for $15 from Carolina Thrift. I want to stain it the dark turquoise color of the wall art (pictured below). A transparent stain, where the grain of the wood still shows through some. Currently, there is way too much brown in our living room. I have been accused of being too attached to that color, so turquoise here I come!







I also want to sew a dark turquoise pillow with beige leaves that looks kinda like this one:



I found this candlestick at Carolina Thrift that I think ties the theme together nicely without being too matchy-matchy. :)



I would also like to refinish this bedside table, also from Carolina Thrift. I haven't decided on antique white or black yet. Our bedroom is cranberry, grey, black and white. It won't get done for a long time, so I'm in no rush to decide.



Also on the list are stockings, a tree skirt, a pear pincushion (whenever I get a sewing machine), shell candle holders (I already have the shells), and some more things I don't want to upload pictures for. So I know this sounds very ambitious, but I'm sure it will take me 125 years to ever get around to doing it all. :)

My Favorite Things

So, my last post was a bit of a downer. So, I decided to do one that focuses on the positive. I photographed some things that make me happy, make me smile. These are a few of my favorite things:

1. Real Simple. This magazine makes my type-A soul happy. My wonderful hubby got me a subscription for Christmas!! It focuses on ways to make your life more simple - tips for beauty, cleaning, cooking, organizing, and more. Oh, and did I say organizing? :)



2. Tea!! And not just green tea - all kinds! My personal favorites are chai (especially chai lattes, which I cannot make at home), earl grey, and lemon zinger. I will occasionally deviate and drink hot chocolate or apple cider, but since I very much dislike coffee, tea it is!!



3. Pandora. Music is one of the loves of my life, and I can play any music I want for free! Perfect!



4. Scrapbooking. This is my scrapbook drawer which, sadly, has seen very little use lately. Unfortunately, scrapbooking supplies cost money, and I need to acquire more before I can do my next project. Well, that and finish all my school work. :)



5. eChef. I found out about this program through Real Simple (perfect, I know), and it is amazing! It's a program that lets you enter in all your recipes and pictures, and it catalogs them. You can search for recipes based on ingredient, difficulty, time cooking, cooking method, type, etc. Then, if you pick out a couple recipes, it even combines the ingredients and creates a shopping list for you!! SO great! I haven't put all my recipes in yet, but I probably will once we get a real kitchen and I start cooking real meals. :)



6. My newest craft project. Well, not super new, but it's the most recent one. I am quite proud of myself! I repurposed a frame from Carolina Thrift by painting it and painting wire mesh to glue to it for organizing my earrings! So great!



7. My super cute Bible! My study Bible that I've had since forever was seriously falling apart, so I had to finally break down and get a new one. Why not get a cute one while I'm at it? And I think it was only $10 too!



8. Last but NOT least, MY AMAZING HUSBAND! He can always make me smile, no matter my mood, and he's way better than #1-7. He is clearly my favoritest of all!




p.s.- Leeann, since I know you will read this, you have my full permission to sing the song from The Sound of Music :)

Helpless

I am broken, without control.

I can do nothing to help myself. I can do nothing to "be on top of things" like I so wish I could. I cannot get all of my work done on time. I can't will myself to do any more than I am already doing. I simply cannot.

I have nothing to offer. I struggle to adequately feed myself - both spiritually and physically. I try to give and try to serve, only to find that I am giving and serving out of nothing. There is no comfort or guidance that I can give to anyone. How can I, when I am in need of comfort and guidance myself?

I am helpless to alleviate any burden. I am helpless at being the friend and wife that I need to be. I am helpless to ease pain or soothe hearts. My heart screams out that I want to do something - anything - to make things better. But I am helpless.

I am empty and hollow. I am supposed to be filled with Christ and His love. So why do I feel so empty? Am I grieving the loss of worldly fulfillment? Why does my complete dependence on Christ leave me in sadness? My sinful heart craves other things, yet I am forced to give them up. Are you happy, God? You are the only thing left. Does it grieve your heart, as it does mine, that it has come to this?

I am broken, nothing, helpless, empty, hollow, without control and fully leaning on Christ.