Life Lately

Sean and I have been on the go a lot recently, traveling to Branson for the past three weeks with another trip planned this weekend. We are lucky to have gracious parents who host us each week and take good care of us.

A couple of weeks ago we drove up to the Lake of the Ozarks for a wedding. Brandy (the bride) was a sorority sister of mine and president of Phi Mu the year after me. The reception was right on the lake and beautiful!

Last day at Best Buy -- no more blue polo and khakis.

Well...except for this blue polo and these khakis. This is a 6am photo from today -- Sean started his new job as the athletic trainer at Shiloh Christian High School. They really are lucky to have him -- he's a wonderful athletic trainer and will be an excellent example of a Godly man for the kids.

Wyatt loved having his face in the wind while out on the boat this weekend.

I look rough here w/o any makeup but my boys look cute.

Our church does a big fireworks display each year and last night we attended with a group of friends. If it weren't for God leading us to Cross Church Fayetteville and our small group we probably wouldn't be here anymore, but so thankful He did and we are!

We Almost Bought a House

You should have seen me last night, but I'm glad you didn't. I was hysterical. We almost bought a house and let's just say I wasn't handling the pressure well. Social pressure, financial pressure and emotional pressure all at once was too much for this girl to deal with. So, we didn't buy a house.

My sinful nature is always looking for something bigger, better, newer, stronger, shinier...you get the idea. The concept of buying a home was exciting -- new places, new spaces. I was daydreaming and Pinning home ideas left and right. It's a slippery slope. Our "let's rent for another year" turned into "let's rent for 6 mos" which turned into "let's just see what's on the market" which turned into "just looking at houses won't hurt anything" which turned into "I wonder what our preapproval would look like".....all in about three weeks.

In tears last night {I told you I was hysterical, and I wasn't kidding} I prayed that God would guide every step and that we would be receptive to His plans. And He showed up. Funny how that works. After some solid leadership from Sean and a Dave Ramsay budget plan we were once again reoriented to our original goal of continuing to rent and pay off current debt before we make the big financial commitment of buying a home. Not that it can't change, but right now we're not hearing clear signs that Fayetteville is our long term placement, which also plays into our decision.

Being content is tough, but I know that being content is what God wants from us. Content in knowing that He will care and provide for us in ways we cannot even imagine. Content in knowing that our joy comes not from things of this world but from Him alone.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

Recent Crafting

Summer is such a fun and busy season! Sean and I have been on-the-go for weddings, showers, birthdays and all kinds of good celebrations. One of my favorite things about being crafty is making personalized gifts for our friends. Here are a few projects I have worked on recently:

Have you seen these new hair ties? I think the brand name is something like Emmy Jay and they sell for around $3 each. My cheap-o self figured I could make them on my own so I ordered a bunch of colorful fold over elastic and now have no shortage of hair ties that don't leave a crease. I saw an idea online to put a bunch of them in a jar for a friend's bday and will do that soon!

Some friends of ours are having baby boy Palmer in a few months and their shower was this past weekend. They are big Razorback fans, so I tried to combine a pig and my love of monograms for this cute outfit.

Our friends' little girl Zoey is turning two next week so I made this special birthday shirt for her to wear! I used fusible interfacing for the two, cupcake and candles then stitched around all edges. The frosting is ruffled chiffon that I hand stitched onto the shirt.

This is only sort of crafty, but has been a great project. My friends who post over at Thriving Home shared this prayer plan for wives to use when praying for their husbands. I took that list and wrote them out on a spiral index card, which I keep on my bathroom counter top. It has been a great physical reminder to be praying for Sean and over the course of 31 days covers a wide range of topics. I think it's neat Sean can see what I'm praying for each day, too.

 

Purposeful God

We serve a purposeful God. All things He orchestrates are for the ultimate purpose of making His name known. The deeper I get to know the Lord, the more aware I am of his presence and the more He enables me to acknowledge His hand in various situations.

There's a song that I'm kind of obsessed with right now. It's by Matt Redman and is called 10,000 reasons.

Twice last week - once after a frustrating work meeting and another when I was feeling very anxious this song came on the radio as soon as I got in the car. God is purposeful. He knew exactly what my heart needed in those vulnerable moments to be reminded of His wonderful control and that whether in a valley or on a mountaintop, I have 10,000 reasons for my heart to sing!

Sean is super consistent with his Bible study time. Me....not so much. Sean and I aren't doing the same study, yet one day last week God led both of us to the same verse in our quiet times. He is purposeful.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6

How tough it is to be content in this world - with advertisements, Facebook, blogs and other media constantly telling me that I need something different or more of it. I want to resist the temptation to build up earthy possessions and instead build up treasures in heaven. (Matthew 6:20)

I'd love some real world examples on how you guys accomplish this -- please do share!

Pinspiration - nail polish necklace

Well I finally completed a project I found on pinterest! I really should go back through older pins and actually do some of the things I have pinned. This one was quick and easy!

Supplies:

Colored nail polish

Tiny paint brushes

Rhinestone/gemstone necklace

I'm really loving a lot of statement necklaces out there today, but didn't really want to pay $40 for something I wouldn't be wearing all that often. I found this gemstone necklace at JoAnn (with a coupon I paid $7). There is this new Tori Spelling line of jewelry that is pretty cool because the necklaces are interchangeable. They have little hooks on the chain part and you can swap out different front options. I didn't like the dark colored stones, though, so I added a pop of color with nail polish!

Supplies. I thought I would do a clear coat, but after leaving it overnight the paint felt sturdy enough to me, so I didn't do it.

Original necklace

In progress painting. I ended up doing about 4 coats of nail polish for full coverage.

I'll have to get a better pic than this, b/c this looks all one color. Actually, some are orange and some are pink -- my current favorite color combination.

 

 

 

Beach Vacation 2012

We had a great time in Destin -- definitely a place I would recommend to others and I'm sure we will go back in the future. I was a little concerned that after spending time in Aruba a couple of years ago that the Florida beach would be underwhelming, but it wasn't at all! It was so nice to have extended time off with Sean (and from work!). The last time I took off from work was last August for Haiti -- which, while wonderful, was not exactly relaxing like this trip was.

We slept in, napped every day, ate lots of yummy seafood and spent much of our time enjoying the scenery. We cooked in our condo quite a bit, but we did hit up The Back Porch, Jordanos Pizza and Beach Walk Cafe while there -- all three were great. We're really thankful for the opportunity to make this trip! Sean was a road warrior and drove the entire 24 hours -- it's about a 12 hour drive one way from Fayetteville. AND he changed the brake pads and oil in my car when we got home! Love him and his servant's heart!

A couple of pictures from our condo at Sundestin Beach Resort. This was was decorated very nice and it was great to have a fully stocked kitchen for our use!

View from our room.

My handsome husband!

The wind was pretty crazy down by the water!

At dinner on our last night - Beach Walk Cafe. It was yummy! 

Just before we tried our hand at boogie boarding. Was probably good entertainment for those watching us from the beach!

Pups

I'm a dog person -- I just think they're so fun and full of personality! Here are a few pics of some of my favorite pups. After having a small dog who doesn't shed, I'm not sure I could handle anything else -- Wyatt is a good dog, which makes owning a dog much easier!

I think Wyatt looks cute doing just about anything. 

This is Abby, my brother's corgi

Axle, my brother in law's lab.