the winds of change are a blowin' . . . . .

first of all, let me apologize for the lengthiness of this post. i know it's really looooooooooong. but it couldn't be helped. after all i haven't posted since february. wow. lots has happened and definitely changed since then. i have to start this post with giving God glory and praise. He has been working in the lives of my family in so many ways that it would take several posts to even begin to touch on how. let me just say that He has touched our hearts immeasurably and we are all growing spiritually and deeper in our faith. love watching His plan unfold and His perfect timing for everything. love. love. love.

so, with all of these awesome changes in our lives, i felt the need for changes in my home and have felt my creative spirit return. i've been craving color. so, i have spent some time painting old items new colors. pops of color to be exact. and, i painted 3 canvases. yes, 3. can you believe it???? i've finally started painting. and i love it!!!! it is so much fun!!! and forgiving. :) i have so many things i want to do creatively that it's hard to know where to start! i wish i had so many more hours in the day. and energy.

so, anyways. here are pics of what i've been up to lately.

painting old things new colors......


the frame gets a coat of turquoise paint and the 3 becomes yellow..........


the round frame becomes yellow and the wooden star plaque robin's egg blue........


the wire picture hanger on the wall a new coat of red and i'm going to put black & white pics of my man and me all over it ...........

this box used to be a very dark, muted gold and looks so fun and different a bright shade of turquoise..........

next, i moved things around and hung some things i've been collecting for a while.......

always wanted our initials in our bedroom :)


love this little vintage pic. love a small pic right above the bed. think i want 1 more to put beside it.


i have been collecting o's forever.......finally felt like i had enough for the look i wanted. i love them!!! they make me smile big.

next, i got new lamp shades for my birthday from my man. love them!!


this one mysteriously came with a new lamp base, hmmmm..........


love love love this one. hand embroidered flowers all around..........


who doesn't love a pop of red????

next, some new additions.........


this little guy painted by abbey. made out of something recycled. bet you can't guess what! {thanks ali for the cool idea.}


finally completing this project!!! yayyyyyyyyyy!!!!

and, finally, my first canvases!!!!


this canvas for my bedroom............

i wish you could see the texture in these pics. i layered papers on the canvas first and then painted over them.

this canvas for abbey's room because she is beautiful in so many ways.............

and, last but not least, my version of a canvas that i saw done by someone else. it makes me smile.

well, that's it for now. feeling the need to create again . . . . .

no search parties necessary.......

really. i'm alive and well. for the most part. alot happening in my world the last couple of months. some good. some not so good. my heart and mind are trying to keep up and just listen to God's Spirit. allowing Him to have everything and then wait for His perfect timing. i must admit i'm not the most patient person so this is somewhat of a challenge for me. but what keeps me going is knowing for certain that God is bigger than anything i face. love that. so i will keep my focus on trusting that. hopefully i will be back later in the week with pics of something fun. :) enjoy today! find something that makes you smile big . . . . . . . .

leaving on a jet plane.......

that's right, folks. tomorrow i'm leaving on a jet plane headed for atlanta for some much needed girl time with my bestie e. cannot wait. miss her bad.

so, i will leave you with some inspiration from one of my fave paper artists. she uses alot of reclaimed materials and that makes me very happy indeed. heart her stuff alot alot alot. i want to be her when i grow up........

catch a clue

hello my lovelies. no, i haven't be drug away by zombies or anything like that. just busy. very busy. i'm gearing up for the holidays. christmas presents to be exact. below you will find some clues of what i'm working on for christmas. have fun trying to figure out what they are for........

a time for everything

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." -- Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

i have always loved this scripture.
it soothes my soul that God makes everything beautiful in its time.
right now, i'm in a time of renewal.
a time of hungering for the word and a deeper relationship with my Father.
my spirit is thirsting for God.
i can't remember the last time i felt this way.
i truly feel that God is guiding me and working around me.
my heart is listening more.
my eyes are seeing more and more of His love being revealed to me.

so, i will leave you with this quote that really spoke to me this week:

"God did not create you for time; He created you for eternity. Time -your lifetime on earth - provides the opportunity for you to become acquainted with Him. It provides occasions for Him to develop your character in His likeness. Then eternity will hold its fullest dimensions for you. If you live only for time - the here and now - you will miss the ultimate purpose of creation. If you live for time, you will allow your past to shape your life today. Your life as a child of God ought to be shaped by the future - what you will be one day. God uses your present experiences to mold you for future usefulness here on earth and in eternity." -- Henry Blackaby

it's time for me to allow God to shape me and mold me for His purpose today and every day................

fabulous friday.

hola my friends. it is friday. love fridays. they just make me go ahhhhhhhh. so, in celebration of friday i decided i would share some things that i love right now.

this new toy. cannot wait to really learn and play with my new baby.



this boy. he ALWAYS can make me laugh. whether he's playing a foam guitar or making pirate faces...........love him so much!

how incredibly creative and artistic my man really is. he rocks!

completion!!! love completing fun little albums.

so loving my sweet daughter's heart and how deep she thinks. love her beyond words.

the anticipation of fall and the change of colors, smells, sights and sounds. (and of course, temperatures!)

jeans. i look so much better in jeans.

a surge of creative juices flowing again. ready to get busy! christmas is right around the corner. yikes!

packages in the mail containing sweet surprises from china.

boots. so ready to start wearing boots.

homemade vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. mmmmmmmmm.

watching hummingbirds fight for the feeder.

amazing friends that share their wisdom and love with me daily. truly could not survive without any of you.

most of all, i'm loving God and his infinite wisdom. how he brings the right people into our lives at just the right moment. how he knows exactly when to open and close doors. how he has such an amazing plan for my life that i can't even imagine where it will lead me. how he can forgive me of so much and forget that ANY of it ever happened. how he loves me so much and is waiting for me ALWAYS.........love that.

hello 44.

it's official. i'm 44. last friday was like any other day. busy with work. busy being a mom. busy with daily chores. oh, and did i mention i turned 44? even though it was an ordinary day i was blessed with sweet bday phone calls, cards, emails and some awesome homemade gifts. gotta love the homemade gifts. first up, the darling owl {i heart owls} felted wool purse from lisa lou that now holds my camera. lisa is amazing at knitting and felting. not to mention freehand stitching. yes, i said freehand stitching. so jealous.

next up, homemade strawberry freezer jam from my brother from another mother, timmy. oh my goodness. yummy doesn't even describe it. bliss maybe? i don't know. must make some more soon!!!

the next gift is not homemade, but makes me very very happy indeed. {please excuse the number of photos. e wanted to see what it all looked like.} i've been wanting to redo the bedding in my bedroom forevah! i found this awesome comforter, shams and turquoise pillow at target. i called brett and he said go for it. he bought me the comforter and shams and my sweet abbey bought me the turquoise pillow that i've been eyeing for about a year and half. i heart it all so much.

as if the turquoise pillow wasn't enough from my sweet child, she decided to make me 2 more adorable pillows to complete the look. she made me a round brown felt pillow with a red flower on top made up of freehand petals sewed on individually. absolutely amazing beyond belief!!! and then she made a pillow that looks like a log. yes, i said a log. we're big fans of woodgrain and trees around here. it is sooooooo cool!!! the pictures do not do these pillows justice. i can't believe how creative she is. she just blows my mind away. oh, and did i mention all of it was done freehand???? no patterns. she's icky cool that way. fearless. i admire her so much.

okay, and last but not least. remember my 43 list???

well, i certainly didn't complete everything on my list by my 44th birthday, but that wasn't really the point for me. it wasn't just a checklist, but rather a way to get me to grow and expand and really {do} some of the things that i've always wanted to do. i'll continue to work on the list until i feel like i've accomplished what i want and then i'll start a new list. it's been a great experience and one i want to do again for sure.

okay, there you go folks. the beginnings of a new year. who knows what it will bring. all i know is i'm ready. bring it on.

Changes

Let's face it. Change is never easy. It can be painful and scary. It can be full of uncertainty and doubts. But, out of change can come incredible growth and strength that you never knew that you had. Change can lead you to depend on God that much more for your focus and direction. Changes are coming in my life and I'm nervous, excited, sad, unsure, heartbroken and a host of other emotions. But, I'm also feeling my dependence on God strengthening and my spirit ready to grow again. Change isn't easy, but I know that God is with me. I trust the path that He has laid out for me.

"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands......" Psalm 31:14, 15

This scripture meant so much to me a couple of years ago when I was diagnosed with a rare condition. And, now I'm returning to it once again as I face yet another change in my life. All I need to remember is that God is my God and my life is in His hands. I just need to trust Him. Nothing else really matters.

hot, hot, hot

Oh my goodness!!! It is waaaaaaaaaaaay too hot for me!!! I feel like the heat is sucking energy and creativity out of me! This is when I wish desperately that I lived in Colorado or somewhere north. Somewhere that struggles to get into the 80's. Somewhere cool and refreshing. I'm trying to get inspired to finish some projects up so that I can start on some major Christmas projects. (I know. Yes, I'm already thinking about Christmas.) So, I've been cleaning off my scrapbook desk today so that I will feel like working there again. Trying to use forward as my mantra. :) I neeeeeeeeeeed Autumn. Crisp, cool, leaves falling Autumn!!