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Monday, April 29, 2013

New Project


I have been looking for a really lovely antique desk to turn into a vanity. I've been looking for about a month for the perfect desk. I didn't want just a plain old 1990's desk... I wanted a nice, vintage style. 

Today, I went to a new thrift store. It had SO much furniture! I found this beauty! 


$40.00! I tried to barter with the woman... but she wasn't having it. It was on sale already she says... 

I am contemplating what color to paint it! it's not in the best of shape so I am going to have to paint it. 

Seafoam green?!!? White?!?! Coral?!?! We will see... stay tuned for the after photo! 


Today was spent with all the windows open and enjoying the 70 degree weather! Millie was loving it! 




Happy Monday! 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

A Break



Time is something we all love to waste. 
I don't know about you, but I am a procrastinator. I won't deny it. At times, I admit that I can be downright lazy. I am really good at wasting time and making excuses to not do the things I need to be doing. 

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post about how I have been feeling about the internet and social media. I posted that not to say that I no longer want to blog, or delete my Facebook account in complete rage and hatred of all social media. I wrote it to express how I am feeling about it. 

While sitting at church a couple Sundays ago, I felt convicted about my time. I felt convicted about my envy and jealousy. 
I felt truly convicted that life is not wrapped up in this tiny square screen. So, why do I spend so much TIME sitting in front of it.
 My life is around me and I am letting it pass me by as I sit here looking at other peoples lives and feeling lesser than...

I decided to take a break from all of this. For one week, I was not going to look at Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and specifically no Blogs. 

That week, I felt blessed. I started to read more. I read my Bible more (still not as much as I would like, but more is better than none!) I started reflecting on what God wants from my life. I started to think about the direction HE wants me to go in my career. (this is another post for another time...) 

 the weather started to change and the sun came out (something we haven't seen much of here in Michigan the past few months). I spent time outside. Millie and I went on walks, we spent time at the puppy park, we baked, we cooked, we spent time in real conversations with long lost friends. 

This is what I wanted. I wanted purposeful, loving conversations with the people I love. I wanted time to myself. I wanted a clear mind. I wanted to stop feeling like I wasn't good enough. I wanted to stop feeling like my apartment wasn't cute enough,  that my body wasn't good enough, that I didn't cook enough, or that my life wasn't as good as the others surrounding me. 


Another issue was Matt and I. I found that (like most couples I see out and about), Matt and I would spend "time" together, but we would be on our computers, or looking at our iPhones. That week Matt and I had more time together in actual conversation rather than looking at social media.

This is something I encourage every one to do. You don't have to give up all of it all together. Just cut out some time that you spend... think about making a phone call to a friend you haven't talked to in a long time, or use the time to do something special for the one you love. 

Spend some time outside... taking in God's great creation. 





Tuesday, April 9, 2013

My Happy Place


There is something about creating. The whole concept of starting with a few different items and shaping them, crafting them, and forming them into something completely different and lovely.

I love to bake. It's something my mammaw and I used to spend our days doing. I literally learned from the best. She used to make wedding cakes. She made my mom and both my aunts wedding cakes along with many others for friends. 

I took a cake decorating class the first fall that Matt and I were married. It was my birthday gift to myself. I really enjoyed it! I love to make cakes from scratch. I love to try new recipes and make something delicious (usually.. hehe)!

Baking is what I do for my "me time". I always need a minute to myself. Time to not think about the world and life. I need time to separate myself from everything. I am the type of person that can be doing a million things physically at once and my mind will be in 20 other different places at the same time. When I am in the kitchen it's my time to just be. I focus on the task at hand. 

Today I had some "me time" in my Happy Place-the kitchen. 




Chocolate, chocolate chip cookie dough and peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough. Together at last!!!! 

Recipe HERE

They turned out so well. I'm anxious for everyone to enjoy them at our small group tonight. 

What's your happy place!? 

Friday, April 5, 2013

Honesty


Blogging is something I have done since 2006. (See first blog post ever over here)

I have always loved to write. I love to put my words out there for someone to read. Over the past years I have struggled with blogging. I've struggled with envy, jealousy, low self-esteem, feeling like my life is lesser than others. I've blogged, stopped blogging, started again. Then, I got married and moved, and started a new blog. I felt like I was finally in a place in my life that I believed people would want to read about (once again blogging for the world and not myself). Although I have no kids yet, can't be a mommy blogger... I felt like I was in a place where others can relate. 

Yesterday a close friend of mine posted this article from RELEVANT magazine

This quote truly hit home. 


"My life looks better on the Internet than it does in real life. Everyone’s life looks better on the internet than it does in real life. The Internet is partial truths—we get to decide what people see and what they don’t. That’s why it’s safer short term. And that’s why it’s much, much more dangerous long term.
Because community—the rich kind, the transforming kind, the valuable and difficult kind—doesn’t happen in partial truths and well-edited photo collections on Instagram. Community happens when we hear each other’s actual voices, when we enter one another’s actual homes, with actual messes, around actual tables telling stories that ramble on beyond 140 pithy characters."

Truth is, my worth is not in how many comments I get on this blog or how many "pageviews" I have. My worth is not built up in how many pictures of coffee shops, my macbook, my puppy, some close up shot of something I can't even tell what it is because I'm trying to be "artistic". My worth is in the Lord. My worth is in the real world. The now. My life is summed up of love from those in my life right now. Friendships and community. Time spent with my husband, my family, my friends. Time. Time is something I waste plenty of looking at blogs and pinterest, and Instagram. Sitting and daydreaming that I had a house full of antique and vintage rustic tables and white walls and "mint accents" (as the author of this article so sweetly refers to). I look at pinterest and want my closet to just change itself and fill itself with cute adorable outfits of all the things I have "pinned" from Pinterest. I want to be in great shape and motivated like all the people I read about working out and then I want to go bake a delicious cake the next moment.  I waste so much time searching the lives of others and reading about others. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that we spend hours every day looking into others lives and focusing less on our own. 

I love blogging. I love the blog world. I love that we can get ideas from others. That the world is so connected that we can see into the daily life of those around the world.
I am not going to stop blogging. I enjoy it. But I do hope to spend less time being envious and so concerned about how I can become more "popular" in the blog world. 

Is anyone else with me?! Or am I all alone in this feeling?!?! 

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Music to my Ears


Matt and I have all the windows and blinds open today and our place seems so bright and shiney (something it hasn't been for quite some time). 

We were just sitting on the couch and I said "Matt LISTEN! It's BIRDS CHIRPING!!!" We both were giddy (even though I genuinely hate birds... sorry bird lovers. they scare me!) Signs of spring are popping up every day. I know, I know... I will shut up about spring eventually! I think for now though, I will continue to post about it every day. We're all in the spring fever phase right?!!?! 


Speaking of music to my ears... Matt and I haven't been to a concert in a long time. So today, I purchased tickets for a band that we both just sort of discovered and loved.

Lord Huron. 

So spring like and airy. So excited to see them live!!!

Take a listen. While you're at it I added Local Natives new album as well because I've been listening to it on vinyl nonstop lately! 

Enjoy! 


Spring 2013 by Katy Estel on Grooveshark

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Spring Prep


Matt and I live in a duplex/house in downtown/Eastown Grand Rapids. We don't have much of a yard. This really bummed us out when we were looking for places here because we really wanted a nice deck or back yard... but this place had everything else we wanted. So we sacrificed. 


We do have a potentially nice little area in the back. We have a long driveway and a high fenced in back yard (think Mr. Wilson style from home improvement).  We have a brick area that goes pretty far back beside our garage. 

Here is an above view from my kitchen window. 


(so ready for that last little pile of snow to melt! it's always in the shade!) 

I want to make that little space between the garage and fence like this: 

 (unsure of source. via pinterest. no link)

With pretty boxes of flowers around like this: 

and these hanging from the fence: 

and garden parties with sweet tea and fruit and cheese: 

Right now it's beautiful outside. It's only 41 degrees but it's sunny and quite lovely. I just took Millie outside and was delighted to see these beauties growing in the backyard along the house. I think I'll leave these. 




I'm so excited to eventually have a lovely Saturday out back working with Matt and Amanda (our neighbor downstairs and one of my best friends) making our little area out back a place to hang out and enjoy all spring, summer and fall.

I imagine the pups outside running around. Having parties, grilling out, eating dinner out there every night, smoking matt's pipe (tobacco only people!), and drinking sweet tea and blue moon's with an orange by moonlight. 


So ready for spring and summer! bring it on Michigan!!!! 

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Easter 2013


The original plan for our Easter fell through the week before. My parents were originally planning on coming to visit us and bringing my grandmother with them. The week before Easter, my grandmother was in the hospital for a week. She went home on oxygen and that kind of ruined the original plan.

Matt and I decided it would be a good idea for us to go home and visit our families. 


We had an excellent time! It was so great to spend time with everyone!!! 











We did all the fun things we've always done. While we missed some of our cousins and family, we had a great time coloring eggs, doing a small egg hunt, and getting Easter baskets! 


Here's a (rather long) video of our weekend if you feel like you have some free time to enjoy. hehe!!!