if you live in the dfw area you should go to this concert saturday night. it is going to be fab!

this is my most recent creation. in case you arent sure what it is, it is stationary. i have discovered that being creative and making things that i could buy brings great delight to my heart. figuring out how to personalize, make things with my own style, and make them inexpensive is a little bit of a challenge and i love to conquer it! so, if you want some personalized stationary let me know and i will make it for you! just tell me the colors you want and your initials or name or letter that you want it personalized with and i will make you a set of 12 for $6, plus $2 for mailing. you may think i am kidding, but i am not. i love doing it and i would love the extra cash :)

this is what most of my day has looked like:

slight obsession with this hair accessory:

so to cure my obsession i purchased this off etsy:

i love ranunculus. they are only available february-may, so it is almost time for them. and, i cant wait!



but, as i look at these pretty flowers i cant help but think about how flowers are not the way to my heart from a sweet boy. most girls swoon and love them. for some reason to me flowers are kinda cheesy, i dont know what to do when i get them, and they make me feel uncomfortable for some reason. flowers do not show me love. they show me cliche. my roommate and i were on a walk the other day and we were talking about the ways we receive and give love. God made us all so different, therefore of course we show and give love differently. i think it is so hard to see love when it comes in a form that i dont give it away. my selfishness gets in the way. david wilcox says, "thats the mystery of the love thing. because what they need the most is what is hardest for you to give. and you have to learn to give it." i love that honesty. so all of this to say, a post it note with words of affirmation=love more than flowers=love.

it is cold and rainy in dallas today. this is where i would like to be with my Bible, journal, ipod playing red mountain music, a warm blanket, and slippers.

"he gathers his lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart."
-isaiah 40:11

there are a few things that once i start eating my body morphs into robotic mode and i cannot stop. they are:
graham crackers. (what i am currently eating)
chips and salsa (esp. from chilis or chuys).
peanut butter m&ms.
grapes. green or purple.
if you know a cure for this, please let me know.
that is all.

i do not heart coffee but i do heart these pics :)

today i was missing knoxville. i dont know why. maybe because i was wearing orange. (you know i dont really think that...i hope at least) maybe it was because i listened to jon blacks song about knoxville on myspace at work. maybe it was the weather. it seemed like a typical east tennessee winter day. brisk, cold, sunny. i was listening to "walk with me" by caedmons call on repeat. that song reminds me of the time in my life when i lived in knoxville. when i think of my last couple years in tn it feels very comfortable. i dont remember the first few times of heading to carter high school, being the new girl on yl staff, or figuring out how to have friends out of college when my schedule is so different than most people in the working world. i just remember thursday mornings at chick fil a where jim branch would lead our east side staff into the Word, knowing how to get around town like the back of my hand, seeing a familiar face everywhere i went, cedar springs pres feeling like home, changing and growing in ministry and personally each day it seemed, and mornings at the boulevard in my car hearing the heartbeat of the Lord.
today my heart longed to see the mountains in the distance. i longed to see cherokee boulevard, eat at longs or cardins, drive down kingston pike, hop on over to the young life house, sit in julies chair, eat at copper cellar after quest, spending time with college freshmen i love. but, more than anything i think i longed to be in the place in life i was in when i lived in knoxville. the city, my job, my friends, all felt safe. i was changing and growing so much because everything was exciting and new, but it all was safe. i know that sounds like it doesnt make sense. but, in the midst of all of the change and growing up many things stayed constant, the life things like friends, church, scenery was all the same. and, in all of that change i feel i really became more of who God made me to be. who He made my heart to be in full time ministry, and as a friend and daughter to my friends and parents. thank you jimbranch, demet, krod, jules, tt,melissa, smallgroup, tiffany, megans, clairese, chsyl, and Jesus for playing a part in who i am now.

these are a few of my favorite things (right now at least)...

this cleaning spray smells delicious. plus, it can be used as ironing spray, room scent, or put 1/2 cup in the rinse cycle and your clothes will smell like wonderful geraniums.

this cd is currently in my car cd player pretty much non-stop.

two days ago my wii fit age was 50. yesterday it was 26. i like being younger physically than i actually am.

cherry coke flavor is my fave.

an oldie but a goodie. just started wearing these again and they remind me of my days in auburn and are oh so comfortable on my feet.

i have the day off work today :)

i have been crafting and creating.

at the sewing retreat this weekend (thank you claire, reid, and lucy for letting me invade your life for the weekend!) i made this throw pillow and new polka dot pillowcases for my bed that are behind the shams, you can kind of see them. the seams may not be the most beautiful, but i have slept on the pillowcases for two nights now and they have not fallen apart yet, so that is a good sign.

i made this to get ready for valentines day. hopefully it looks anthropologie(ish) and not cracker barrel country.

i love you more than ______. this is an adorable blog. i love you more than (blank)
here are a few of my faves.





*that last one seems to sum up my roommate alisa perfectly :)

"sometimes, even when we try hard to do so, we just dont see God in our everyday lives or in the events of our world. Epiphany gives us the time and the resources to watch, wait, listen, look, and anticipate the light, life, and truth of the Lord's presence in our midst." i am so thankful for this time of Epiphany and i trust that the Lord will reveal Himself as my heart watches, waits, listens, looks, and anticipates Him in my everyday life.

look at this workspace. love it. love it. love it. if only my office looked like the pic :)

and, this room. the ribbons. the beads. the cute cups with little markers and pens. the polka dot curtains. it is oh so delightful.

if i were to get a tatoo this is maybe what i would get, except my birds would be sparrows not seagulls.

so another heart post. hearts are kinda one of my things. a few years ago my dear friend julie encouraged me to really look at the heart. my heart. the heart of others. and not just to look at the heart but to value the heart. God says that He looks not at outer appearances, but at the heart. so if the heart is what God looks at then it naturally should be what i look at in myself and the people around me. lately that has been hard. i am so prone to fall into the trap where i know the Lord values the heart but i see the world around me valuing other things and i begin comparing myself and seeing all of the places i feel i fall short. but the Lord looks at the heart. He does not look at how i look. how funny i am. if i can keep good conversation with strangers. what kind of music i like. who i was in high school. how i dress. if i am athletic. the Lord looks at the heart. i have started putting hearts up at different places in my house to remind myself that is what the Lord looks at and that is what i want to look at in the people i live life with. that is what He values. and i pray that my heart knows that more each day.

i am obsessed with this blog.
if you look closely you will see many of the same pictures.
(and figure out my secret of where i get many ideas)
www.littlebrownpen.blogspot.com

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart).
-e.e. cummings

today is my little brother jays birthday. he is 26, married, in full time ministry, a college grad, a guy that can grow facial hair, and very much an adult. but to me he is still 4, with a white blond bowl cut, talking in the cutest little baby voice, chubby thighed, loving ozzie smith, letting me boss him around toddler. jay is the greatest brother and has set for me a standard of man to marry that is very high. he loves Jesus, loves his wife, and loves high school and middle school kids well. i am glad God gave me jay as a brother. here is jay as a child, as i will always remember him...

to all you faithful readers out there, it has been awhile. i am back in texas so back to blogging it is. as i rode on the airplane from the old north state (nc that is) i was thinking about my resolutions. but i dont want to call them resolutions lets call them ways to improve my rhythm of life:
(in no particular order)
-take a sewing class. for christmas i received a sewing machine and would love to put it to use making baby and wedding gifts for my friends. and of course, i would like to make some fun things for casita bonita. projects and being creative make me feel as if i am living life more as who God made me to be.
-journal...every.single.day. it is oh so good for my soul.
-play more tennis, so i get good at it. that way i wont cuss when i do play.
-tell people how much i love them and where i see the Lord in them, even if i am afraid they dont love me in return.
-work on not being the queen of the land passive aggressive.
-learn to play a few tunes on the guitar. in other words, take guitar lessons and practice more.

so that is my "ways to improve my rhythm of life" list. i feel as though it will be updated frequently in my mind as the Lord shows me my passions and those unevangelized parts of my heart that need Him.