day off

 

Yesterday when miniature daffodils priced at 2 for $5 smiled at me outside my Fred Meyer I couldn’t resist.  I needed some spring in my life.  I rarely buy fresh flowers, but I like the fact that potted bulbs can be planted outside after the flowers fade.  I asked for them to be bagged in paper, with a plan already brewing…

 

That, my friends is a five minute pick-me-up.  They brightened up my windowsill for five seconds before I decided someone would drop the blinds on them and I couldn’t risk losing the sunshine they were already bringing to my day – I needed to re-locate them in safer areas around the house…

 

The last one is in the bathroom (which is in mid-makeover, BTW).  I must say, I suddenly felt like I was at a luxurious spa, how nice it was having fresh flowers in the bathroom!  But I don’t get to feel that way for long; there aren’t any windows in there, so I brought it in my room to get some light today.

And do you see those boots, people?  Those boots are Frye’s brand, sitting on my dresser.  As in the Frye boots that Pioneer Woman wears and gives away and raves about.  Well I happened to see these babies at Plato’s Closet, happened to try them on, they happened to be just my size, they happened to be barely broken in, and I happened to procure them for $35 and hugged them close to my person all the way home.  These boots probably sold for about $275 - $325 new, though they are out of stock now. Might be my best thrifting find as of yet!  Though I still think someday when I quit my job (no plans yet – just sayin’) I should take my whole last paycheck, walk into Nordstrom and buy a pair.  The Jane Boot or the Paige Tall Riding boot is my favorite, it’s a toss up.  That is totally rational, right?

I might not be totally rational right now, because I have been inadvertently, but out of necessity, breathing fumes from oil based primer for much of the day.  Out of necessity because the hubby and I would like to be able to watch our nightly Netflix from our bed (are we getting old and lazy or what?).  To do that, I need to bring down the TV from upstairs.  To do that I need to install bigger shelves where it will be placed.  To do that I need to first repair the wall they will hang on and repaint it.  And to do that it is necessary to inadvertently inhale some paint fumes.  No avoiding it.  I can’t wait to bring this project to you… here is a teaser…

And one more hint: it is a wood plank wall.

I better go finish so I can share sometime this century!  Peace!

broken hearts

 

Lately, trying to take control of God’s timing has been the culprit of much anxiety for me.  Both in my own life and in many friends’ lives right now, stressful, ugly, sad and lonely situations abound.  Being a female, I tend to take these worries upon myself, agonize over them, feel for the person and stress myself out about it. 

I tend to come up with a plan in my tiny little head to solve everyone’s problems.  Then I become fixated on that plan, and pray for God to make it happen because it is, quite obviously, better than what he is doing about it which seems to be nothing. 

Reminds me of when I was little.  My mom said I would need something; a toy, an item of clothing, a craft supply… we could go to store after store, and I would not buy anything because it would not be the exact thing I had pictured in my mind.  And even if that that exact thing I had pictured in my mind did not actually exist, I was still not interested in any substitute.  I would just be crabby and buy nothing.

That is how I am treating life’s situations, and my hair brained solutions.  How sinful I am!  God is GOD, who am I to even bring him a plan I cooked up?  God is gracious and merciful, though, and he does tell us to make our requests known to Him.  He knows us, he knows our emotions and our hearts and our minds, and he desires us to seek and know Him and His Son.

This week something disheartening happened.  Amongst all that stress I brought upon myself on behalf of me and others, a little portable at my church that hadn’t been loved since the 70’s, which I had begun fixing up was broken into and vandalized.  I started fixing it up probably over a year ago.  I had the youth group kids help me strip wallpaper, make curtains, paint the walls, doors and trim and decorate one room.  We use the room for My AWANA girls and they loved it.  The vandals broke in through a window that didn’t lock, tipped over my book shelf full of supplies, dumped my leftover paint all over the walls, doors, trim, floors, bulletin board, tables and chairs, and used my leftover spray paint to draw giant male anatomy on my schoolhouse chalkboard, in the hallway and in another classroom. 

Are you kidding me God?  This?  Now?

Standing in that room, even after the youth group had cleaned up what they could and put things back in place… looking down, I took note of the floor.  The FLOOR.  The floor is what started the redecorating process in the first place.  It was heinous harvest green and gold, with highlights of 40 year old scum.  After I fixed up that first room, the board of trustees wanted me to go ahead and finish the whole thing, and said we could even get new flooring.  We tore out the nasty old carpet, but it has taken forever moving forward with getting the new carpet installed… Between getting quotes, picking stuff out, finding out we can’t do that kind, picking out another kind, getting another quote and on and on.  I would get really frustrated at myself when I thought about it, that I hadn’t gotten it done, so I could proceed with all the other improvements.

But standing in that room, looking down at the bare floors with paint splattered all around the room in thick puddles… I got a tiny glimpse into God’s timing.  It might be tiny, but it is a true glimpse of God’s wisdom and grace.  I can’t imagine the stress I would have felt if this had happened to our brand new carpet that I had just encouraged the church to buy.

In this, I was reminded that whatever ideas I may have, and however long He seems to take, God does have a plan, and I know that He “works all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  -Romans 8:28.  I am going to REST on that.  I need to bring my worry and stress to God and not try so hard to conjure up my own plans, but instead, soften my heart and be ready for God to use me to accomplish His plans.

If you, like me, feel that your heart is broken into a million little pieces… know that Jesus saves those broken pieces.  He will put your heart back together again, if you trust in Him.

WIWW

 

Did you all like how I jumped right into What I Wore Wednesday without it being a Wednesday last time?  Was anyone confused?  When I read my first WIWW over on the Pleated Poppy, I was like, “Why are there so many out fits???  She wore 5 different outfits on Wednesday???”  My slow little brain eventually figured out she was posting what she wore for the week on Wednesday.  Slow.  Someone told me last weekend that I need more RAM.  In my brain.  Sad but true.

So since it is WEDNESDAY, I am showing you what I wore this week.  =)

 

Got this green sweater from Forever21 (my new weakness), and really like it.  It was $12.  Goes great over my ON gingham shirt from last summer.  I got the heart locket from F21 for $2.80 (I needed to spend two bucks to get free shipping!), it appears to be sold out.

I had to take a pic of little Susie this week for the first edition of What Susie Wore Wednesday…

Check her out copying my stripes and yellow from last time!  And I know she is blurry (phone cam) but check out her posing, that little sassy pants.  Dress and shoes are Gap Outlet (not online), those shoes are little TOMS copy cats – so cute.  Sweater was Target last summer.  Leggings are Old Navy.

And lastly, I actually took a picture for you using my big girl camera…

I am trying to rock the leggings more apart from wearing them under dresses – but it feels so … naked!  I got away with doing it here with this shirt which is basically for all intents and purposes almost a dress.  I have to ease myself into these things.  I probably should have layered in boot socks, and in fact, I froze that day, so I really should have.  Shirt is from Plato’s Closet, $3.  Leggings are Target (I like their wide waistband).  Boots are BearPaws from Fred Meyer – thanks mom!

Don’t forget to check out all the other ladies’ WIWW on today’s post over at the Pleated Poppy!

Peace!

valentines day craftiness

 

wow I have been pinning some valentines day crafts lately.  We only got around to making two of them.  I was taking the kids to a valentine’s party and we had to have each kid bring 12 valentines so we rounded up some supplies and got busy…

 

 

We let the madness dry overnight.  This morning we picked up where we left off.  The kids started writing “From:” and their names on the valentines, while I worked on the goodies for inside the bags…

  

I wanted to do heart shaped doilies for the little red hots packets, like these on pinterest, but all the stores were out of them.  We put the packets in the bags and tied them up with twine.  The bag in the last photo is the one I made, two simple hearts intwined.  Awww.  The kids went crazy with theirs – they were awesome – covered in hearts. 

For our other card, we did a simple little construction paper card, with a scrap of lace and a paper heart sewn on the front.  Inside, we glued this:

At that point there were no pictures, we were out the door!  See the red letters?  I always thought that was so clever.  Mark got a kick out of the fact that you could write “down” or “regular” which he “didn’t know before.”  =)

I also did a heart attack for the hubby.  I have seen cooler versions, but the one I did was just a bunch of construction paper hearts on our door, on each one I had written something I love about him.  I did it late last night after he fell asleep, so first thing this morning he went to hit the shower and saw the “heart attack.”  Next year, should I cover the lawn?

Do my pictures look super orange to you, or is it just me?  I get the white balance decent on my camera LCD, but then when I load them, they’re still orange.  That’s okay, I’m challenging myself to keep working on it and stick to SOOC (straight out of camera) here on the blog for at least another week – my paycheck on Monday will allow me to buy a new laptop!  I respect my hubby even more for saving all year to surprise me with the van – it took all the willpower I could muster to save a month and a half’s paychecks for the laptop!  =)  I feel like I am in a new clothing famine!  I guess that proves I was buying too many clothes with my paychecks.  =)

Anyway, I gotta go agonize over what to make for dinner.  What are you having???

what i wore wednesday

 

I decided to challenge myself by starting to share “what I wore wednesday” as started by the Pleated Poppy.  Don’t worry, I will not bore you with the majority of my outfits which consist of yoga pants and my MollyMoon shirt, but when I do come up with something presentable, I think sharing it here will encourage me to keep it up, try more often for a great outfit and be brave about fashion!  So here goes, a couple outfits from last week…

First up is date night, and looking at this, it was actually back when we were “snowed in” almost two weeks ago. 

 

Kinda hard to see, sorry lighting was bad.  Manly the Pinspiration was just that I wanted a striped skirt.  How delighted was I to find this one at Forever21 for $7.80?!  If you need one, it is actually only $5.80 now!  I paired it with this sweater, leggings, boots and boot socks, and a belt at the hem of the shirt. 

By the way, I am having a little love affair with Forever 21 right now.  Really love their mix and match atmosphere and LOVE their low prices.  Recently got two sweaters at Gap Outlet - $25/each and that was at 50% off!  Taking them back.  Got two at Forever 21 for $14 and $17.  Also, I love H&M but they are twice as far away, so I don’t get there often.  Same atmosphere, probably even a little more in style or edgy fashion. 

Next we have another outfit inspired by a pin…

 

Love the navy stripes with the bright yellow!  I have a couple yellow and stripes things pinned, actually. 

Lastly, I almost got rid of this dress.  I was showing Leah, my professional fashion advisor =), and we were about to dump it, when we had the idea to add the belt and “untuck” the top of the shirt, shortening the dress, which is okay with leggings.  It works!

 

I have worn it twice, since then Leah! 

So that’s been my good outfits over like the last… almost two weeks!  Or at least the ones I remembered to take pictures of.  How many days a week do you all make the fashion happen???