Sore Thumbs

These wreaths are addicting and I've got the sore thumbs to prove it! They come together so quickly and provide instant gratification! They can be made in a lot of different ways, but I make them by using straw or styrofoam wreaths and using floral pins to secure the mesh {hence the sore thumbs}. These are great beginner crafting project and are really fun - I encourage you to try your hand at one if you like them. Everything can be purchased at Hobby Lobby (Sams club has gold deco mesh where I live).

Woo Pig Sooie

I maintain that my voice is not physically capable of calling the hogs. It's too high pitched for my low voice tone! Nonetheless, we live in Razorback country. The Mizzou tigers still hold our heart, but while we're here in Fayetteville we are making the most of local events (which pretty much only consist of Razorback related events). Since Sean works with the athletes and gets tons of free gear, it makes it a little easier to cheer for them. :)

 Sean's dad and his wife came in town for the South Carolina came a couple of weeks ago. They brought some pretty amazing tailgate food with them!

 Isn't Sean handsome?! This is us tailgating at the Tennessee game (after we watched Mizzou beat Texas of course!). Our friends Jon and Kristin have a pretty sweet tailgate setup - complete with big screen TV mounted in a trailer.

 My husband has worn Converse shoes since he was a little boy - he even got married in them! I've never been that attracted to them, but bought my first pair this weekend (on sale at Ross!) and really like them.

The news that Mizzou joined the SEC throws a bit of a wrench in our ability to easily cheer for both teams. We will have to see how that plays out with time!

Let's get it on: Destiny in Bloom

*Mom and other family that might read this blog: this post is about sex. Don't feel awkward reading it because I don't feel awkward writing it.

Yep, we're going there.

The other day I stumbled across this blog: Destiny in Bloom. It's a blog written for Christian women and covers topics like family, marriage, parenting and self image. I was really drawn in by the author's level of honesty and willingness to have frank discussions {albeit, online}.

This blog post, entitled 'Let's Get It On' caught my attention. This is good stuff, friends! Discussing healthy sex relationships is often considered taboo for some reason, especially among more conservative-natured people. Why? Don't get me wrong - it's a private and very tender topic. But here's the thing - God created it, right? God knows our every need and created sex within the context of marriage to be a safe and beautiful thing.

The main topics of this article are:
1. If your husband feels like a man outside of the bedroom, he will inside of the bedroom too
2. Take care of your own emotional junk
3. Use your imagination
4 Have fun with each other
5. Don't use sex as a weapon
6. It's a spiritual connection you only get to have with him

My favorite line of the blog post mentioned above {read it when you have a few minutes} is this:

"Treat your husband as if he already were the man you want him to become. I mean, you have a vision for who he can be, right? So instead of correcting, nagging, trying to get him there, treat him as if he’s already arrived."

What a piece of advice to treasure and heed!

Another resource I would point you to if you're interested in the topic is a book called Sheet Music by Dr. Kevin Lehman.



Deco mesh wreath decorating party

This past weekend I had some girlfriends over to my place to make Christmas wreaths together! I made a couple deco mesh wreaths a few days prior and was surprised how quickly they came together. It's easy enough for beginner crafters and is great for instant gratification! I'm still planning to do a quick video tutorial on how to make these and will post that soon.

We laughed a lot, enjoyed some Christmas tunes (including Bieber's new album) and had some pretty fun wreaths for the girls to take home!

Here are some of their creations: 



Visiting Family

Fayetteville is really growing on us and one of my favorite things about living in NWA is how close we are to family. Sean's mom lives here in Fayetteville and the drive to my parents house is only about 90 minutes, making weekend trips SO easy.

My parents just bought this really pretty home in Branson Creek - it was fully furnished and is really beautiful.

 A couple weekends ago, my Nanny came to visit (mom's mom). Isn't she pretty?! I sure hope I age as well as she does!

 During her visit we went to dinner at the Candlestick in Branson - SO delicious! Here's mom and dad before dinner:

 My little brother Austin and I at dinner and me and dad before we left. I think Austin and I look a lot alike! Austin is a spitting image of my father when he was his age.

This picture is taken from my parent's master bedroom looking into the bathroom. There wasn't a door for privacy! The actual toilet room does have a door, but the bed looks straight into the jacuzzi tub and mom wanted a bit more privacy, so I sewed these drapes for them. The picture isn't that good, but they are mostly green with purple and gold trim.

 I also made mom this Christmas wreath. People decorate for Christmas very early in Branson - it was only Christmas music at the Landing when I was there in early November. 

 My papa (dad's dad) visited Branson last week, but I wasn't able to make it up there due to work. Thankfully, they made a special trip to Fayetteville so we could meet them for breakfast. My papa is arguably the nicest man on the planet! He loves Jesus dearly, has taught preschool Sunday school since I can remember and volunteers somewhere different almost every day of the week (hospitals, driving friends to doctor appointments, a pharmacy, a theme park for special needs children). His heart is so generous and giving and I'm so thankful for his example!

What a blessing our family is!

Random updates and adoption reads

I'm here and will have some craft posts up soon. I love to craft. A lot. But sometimes life just takes other turns. I'm in the 10th week of study of Beth Moore's Daniel study - it's fantastic! I have to approach it like an actual class otherwise I will get behind on my daily assignments. I encourage you to check it out - you can buy the book online or in a local bookstore and download the video sessions on iTunes!

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Sean is eager to finish school. Prayers for wisdom as we start the discussions on our next steps would be awesome.

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We really love our church and small group here in Fayetteville. Both have made our transition in this city SO much easier and we feel more comfortable here than ever. 

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I've been reading and trying to learn a lot about adoption and orphan care, something that Jesus called his followers to be a part of. We're not really sure how adoption will fit into our lives, so for now I'm just trying to learn a lot about the process, educate myself and Sean and staying in prayer. There's so much information out there! Here are a few of my favorite reads online if you want to check them out:

How to support a family going through the process of adoption. She writes with a good sense of humor and transparency what not to do and what would be helpful.

Katie Davis, a 22 year old who has started a great ministry in Uganda. She has taken in 13 girls and it's interesting to see her view on adoption in context of the devastation the children are facing.

Evangelical Adoption Crusade This one is long but a good read. The writer has a pretty cynical view towards Christians adopting, taking a few notable examples (i.e. the group who got caught trying to sneak children across the Haitian border post earthquake) and trying to turn it into a larger message. I wouldn't stand by a lot of what she discusses, but there are some interesting facts on the number of adoptions and how adoption patterns have changed over time.

A Christianity Today response to the above article. This takes some of the points of the previous article and talks about what we might need to learn from her criticisms.