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!!

Check, Check

Yes. It has been a while since I've blogged. But, as you can see, I've been checking things off of my list. Been having some fun making totes for fun and for gifts...........

Made my 2 Polaroid Christmas albums that I've been wanting to make...............

Making something fun with these...............

Let's just say that I'm having lots and lots of fun creating and making and doing and MOVING FORWARD!!! I have loved my word so much this year. I've never felt so productive and motivated. This word has pushed me in ways that I never really thought it would. I think I'm going to keep this word for next year too and keep the momentum going.

Nothing else really new in my world except for being a mom taxi for my daughter to her job 5 days a week. The first day was a bit emotional to say the least. My baby is WORKING!!! It felt like the first day of preschool all over again. Not sure that I'm ready for her to be so adulty......

I will close out this post with a pic of some visitors that we had this evening. This little duck couple flew to our driveway and walked into our garage while Brett was out there building an airplane. So cool. They didn't seem to be too afraid of us. Maybe it was all of the bread we kept throwing at them. You think?

Happy Momma Indeed

Happy Momma's Day to me because I have this incredibly cool painting hanging on my wall painted by my ever so lovely and uber talented daughter. I asked her to paint me a tree. I was picturing a small canvas with a little tree. But noooooooo. My sweet daughter painted me this large, amazing canvas......................



And, it has this sweet message on it with a heart hidden in the trunk...............

And, these adorable little red birds.......................

AND, this sweet hidden message on the side........................

I {heart} this so much. Not just because it is so beautiful, but because my Abbey took time and thought to give me something so creative. I could not have imagined a more beautiful gift evah! Love love love it.

i {heart} rain

what is it about rain?
i absolutely {love} rainy days. i really really do.

i love. . . . .
the smell.
the clouds.
the different shades of grey.
the coziness of being indoors.
the sound coming from the gutters.
how everything seems clean again.
how the grass and plants seem brighter.
how lazy the pets are.
the sound of the raindrops hitting the windows.
the peaceful beauty of it all.

i think i could totally get lost in a rainy day. . . . .

{True Beauty}

this girl.

she is {true beauty} to me.

inside. and outside.

a beautiful heart. beautiful mind.

creative spirit. passionate soul.

my girl. can't believe that she's mine.











by having courage to be herself,
she put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.

52Q

So, here's what I've been working on lately. This really cool Aussie, Emily Falconbridge, has a question a week journal card project and I've been {playing} along. Using up bits and scraps of this and that. Reusing and recycling. Love doing that. Seriously, just playing and using up old photos. So much {fun}. You can find Emily on my sidebar if you would like to play too. Hope you enjoy. Some of the photos are a little bit blurry. Sorry. I think I might make a little fabric or felt pouch to keep them all in...............