New Digs

Had to share......

AHHHH I'm so far behind on blogging! Part of this is because I keep thinking I am going to switch over to wordpress - but am still trying to figure out how to customize it all...any help would be greatly appreciated!

So, tonight's blog had all sorts of themes...I have several in a line up...a friend recently told me to keep a notebook close at hand for the creative thoughts that run through my mind when I am trying to write and then get a case of writers block. She is brilliant - and a beautiful writer herself - you can check out her work here.
Anyway - I am very much digressing....because I am so excited to show you what God reminded me tonight!
So, I was just sitting here reading through 2 Kings. (making my way through the old testament is taking so much longer than the new...but I digress - again). So I remembered that when I was studying 2 Kings in high school with some bible teacher who could just make the old testament come alive - to a high schooler that is pretty amazing!....anyway...I remembered this story....so I googled it to find more and found this. http://www.glimpsesofgrace.org/html/Coniah.html

OH my this story still gets me EVERYTIME!

Nothing frustrates the sovereign will of an infinite God!! Nothing at all! God used this very problem to illustrate His genius and the credibility of His word.

Oh what joy and hope - when I think about all that is trying to thwart that sovereign will in my own life...and in the lives of my family!
I could shout, laugh, cry, dance around in worship!!! Seriously! This brought me so much joy tonight!! ..so I had to share!!

Where I really want to be today....

Just doing some dreaming....

I wanna be here...



Here..



Here...

Or best of all....HERE....


*sigh....sweet bliss

AMAZING!

That is really the only way to describe my 5 days away!

I have over 700 photos to download and way too many stories to tell.

Once I get the photos off my camera I'll post a super long blog until then here are highlights from my iPhone.

*First, apologies to Milwaukee - I totally made fun of you before I met you and now I totally adore you and your 80 degree weather. You are the cutest little city and I can't wait to come back to visit. Thank you for your sweet hospitality, amazing food, and lovely little neighborhoods to visit.

*To the bride and groom - you two are completely adorable together! Thank you for letting me share in your week. Every blessing possible on you and your life together!

*To the sweet lifetime friends, and the newly formed friends - your lives blessed mine in so many ways. Laughter, tears, and more laughter made this week the best one imaginable! I can't wait to play again someday soon!

A change of scenery

As my last post indicated my soul is indeed restless. So, what do restless souls do when they can't just jump on a plane? We change our scenery. Saturday morning - off to Home Depot I went with the little paint swatch I have been carrying around for months now. Here are the results!

Before:




No I didn't make my bed that morning because I knew I would be stripping it down later.


Color preview....


Wall panels


10 hours, some sore calves & feet (from not having a real ladder and having to paint on tiptoe, and some exhaustion later....
After:


I found these fun treasures while out thrifting one day...



So, they went here...



A yummy reward!

Restless

So last year, I made and kept this amazing resolution that I was going to travel somewhere fun at least once a month. I went all over the place and traveled enough to finally earn Gold status with American.

This year - my resolution is to be out of debt, because I want to go back to school. I am furiously working at this particular goal, but it has very much cramped my travel schedule! The last time I was on a plane was months ago - a 24 hour work trip to Chicago.

Months and months of being in Dallas has been ok. I've deepened some friendships, made some new ones. Learned more about Dallas the city. Found fun and interesting things to do around town - and could probably find a few more if I wanted. I've accomplished somethings I've been wanting to accomplish, like running my first 5K. It has been good over all.

But my soul is restless....my feet are itching. Really my heart is not happy unless there is a trip in the planning. Praying for wisdom as to what the next adventure is that He might have for me....something that requires lots of travel time.

In the meantime, this restless soul will just do a bit of wandering today - and who knows....maybe paint a wall or grab my camera and find something pretty to photograph. Or maybe just drive on over to DFW and jump on a plane......

Failing misreably

For some reason the past couple of weeks I have failed misreably at blogging.
Time to do all that I want simply keeps escaping -

I promise a blog about this past weekend and my first 5k...soon.

Today - due to lack of time *sigh - I simply leave you with a word of inspiration that I try to live by. Have a glorious Thursday, friends!

I long to accomplish a great and noble task,

but is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks

as if they were great and noble. - Helen Keller

Rambling Happenings

This new blog is taking longer than I thought to design.

It has rained for three days in Dallas and I couldn't be happier. I am running a 5k on Sunday...I have never run a 5k.
Ian Hart Nicolato was born today....today is also David Hart Coté's day of birth. Random coincidence on the middle names as they don't know each other.

I can smell the coffee brewing and my mouth is watering in anticipation. I wish I could make cream art with it like this. I'm going to learn!

I would like for Charlee Hope Anderson to make her way into the world - pronto.

I miss California more now than I have in a long time. Praying that one day.....

My cat and my dog are nose to nose..."stalking" each other this morning....they really do make me laugh out loud.

I love waking up happy....there is really no better feeling!
Thankful.

New Blog

So I've decided to switch over to Wordpress....my blog will be silent for a couple of days until I get it all set up. You know in that spare time I have! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!

Love to all!

Wordpress vs Blogspot

Seriously considering switching to Wordpress for blogging - due to fun features that I just can't seem to find on blogspot.
Thoughts? Comments? Opinions?

Slowing down for a minute

I went to Hobby Lobby this afternoon to find them putting up Fall and Christmas decor. I was highly disappointed....why do we want to wish our lives away? If it's Monday we wish for Friday....leaving out the amazing other 4 days with which God has gifted us.

In the past few years it seems the days of my life have flown by; and if my grandmother is to be believed (and she is pretty believable), time will only keep speeding up.
So today is June 17th. I choose to take a deep breath and live in June 17th. I will not wish for June 18th...it will get here soon enough.
Tonight I'm going to sit in my chair, crochet a blanket for a sweet baby soon to make her way onto the scene...pray over this sweet baby while I stitch that each moment of her life will be full & blessed. Pray for my friends that wherever they are right now they can stop and drink in this moment in time and not hurry on to the next.
And pray that God will allow me to see and experience exactly what He has for me - right now in this minute he has blessed me with.

What inspired me today

I took this picture last summer while sitting on my Granny's porch. Today it inspires me to fly.

An Update

A little over 9 weeks ago I wrote about new areas of discipline that I wanted to work on in this blog. Little did I know what God had in store for those 9 weeks.

A quick recap of the areas I wanted to work on:

• Spiritually - I wanted to really spend some time getting to know Him deeper.
• Physically - Seriously working on this size 10 body.
• Mentally - Getting back to reading and blogging and learning new things.
• Business-ly - Working on my Mary Kay and pushing to accomplish my goal of being out of Credit card debt by July.

Oh my did God have some work for my life!

Spiritually - I decided to start by rewalking through a book that I have studying before called Victory over Darkness by Neil Anderson. This book is chock full of scripture - giving one the tools to really understand the battle of the mind, one's identity in Christ and learning how to overcome the Enemies relentless attempt to convince us that we are less than who Christ empowers us to be. having walked through this study before, I knew that there would be some warfare coming, as there is anytime that one decides to go deeper. But I was not expecting the kind of attack that I experienced. I began battling what I believed to be depression. I was experiencing insomnia, then when I did sleep having nightmares, unexplainable fear of things and people, a lethargic nothingness that came out of nowhere, and then the scariest of all came sadness….overwhelming, indescribable sadness. The kind of sadness that puts one to bed, and where one wishes to absolutely never have to get out. NONE of this was who I am. As I know that there is a chemical possibility for me to experience depression, I chalked it up to this. I put on a fake and happy mask and did whatever it took to make it through the day. Only to get home and cry myself to sleep and wish for change that didn’t appear was ever going to come.

I have learned enough in the past few years to ask for help as quickly as possible when these feelings come on, so I went to the doctors for help and all of my blood work came back normal – so my chemicals were not out of kilter. All of my herbal suppliments were at the right dosage and according to the doctors there was seemingly no reason for this state of mind to be. So, I went where I should have gone first; right into the arms of Him who loves me most. In my fear and anxiety I was actually having a lot of trouble even being able to pray – which, again, is very much not like me. So I went to one of the elders of my church whom I trusted with my insecurities and described to him all of my symptoms. I told him that I believed that I was not actually depressed but rather I was oppressed and in desperate need of the blood of Jesus to bind and destroy whatever had attached itself to me.


Praise the Lord! I am now walking again in the freedom and joy that I was walking in earlier this year. However, how sweet and lovely and deeper it is for having walked through this time.

Physically.
Ok so I still struggle with discipline here, but I am proud to say that I have signed up for my first 5K. I am using the "Get Running" App on the iphone. It is part of the "couch to 5K" running program. I pretty much adore the voice that is used for the prompts. It is a sweet woman with a british accent...I've named her "Claire". If I ever get the chance to meet her I will give her a huge hug for helping me making "just 10 more seconds."



Now if I could just be disciplined enough to get up and run early in the morning!



Mentally.
This is probably the area in which I have excelled the most. I have (obviously) gotten back to blogging. I am learning how to play the guitar (but need to be more disciplined in my practice of it). I have fallen back in love with reading....I am reading several books right now and learning new things with every sentence.

And lastly...Ok I'm putting it out here for the world to see...I am applying for Grad school!!! I hope to have my application finished and ready for editing by this Friday - which means I have to put my nose to the proverbial grindstone and get it done. More on this later...but I am soooo excited!

Business-ly
This is the area that has unfortunately lacked the most. With the before mentioned "depression", the ability or desire to do anything at all was completely lacking. However, God has blessed despite my failings and I have several new customers and have had some great business in the past few weeks. Now that I am back to my normal self I am excited to get back out there...and use this business to richly bless and work in the lives of other women.
Oh and you know if I earn one of these along the way......so be it.

I am now onto the next part of discipline which is refining these things. Going back - looking to see where it is I falter in my steps and how I can change.

I have also (as you can see in my last blog post) taken up a 30-day journalling challenge. With this challenge I have simultaneously challenged myself to be part of the 5 o'clock club (getting up at 5 o'clock to get the day started in the Word and not begin my day in such a rush). We'll see what this has to teach me!

30 day Journal Challenge

I have always loved the thought of a journal.
I remember as a child deciding I was going to write one, but thought my life was too boring so I made up stories about my life to put in it. I've also written letters to boys that I was just so sure I needed to have in my life (I guess better to have journaled them than sent them!), and I have also written many, many prayers. I love to look back at those journals of prayer and see where God moved, where I was trying to impress God with my fancy words - as if that was even possible - and best of all...where my heart was changed by Him, prayers were answered and where I stepped aside to let the God of creation do His mighty work.
So recently I was put onto a 30 day journal challenge. It starts today.....you can do it too - it's not too late. Just head over to this blog (or click on the link on the right of my page) and pick up your journal prompt for the day.

Ok I'm off to accept my first assignment and then to work. Have a happy day peeps!

How is it that I pursue Him?

Tonight I was thinking about someone who has tried to pursue me for years. He constantly declares his love for me and yet consistently pursues me in ways that do not interest me at all. As I thought about him, I wrote down these words.

You don't love me - you simply love the thought of who you want for me to be.
That is who you pursue - the version of me that you have in your head.
If you truly loved me, you would put aside all your ideas of how to love me and actually get to know who I really am. Then in that knowing you would know how to pursue after me.

Then my pen stopped.....my hand faltered.....I realized what I was saying and yet who was really saying it to me....

And God whispered....'That's what I've been trying to tell you.'

Metaphors, Analogies and Similies.....

My friend Laura - who always has the most creative of blogs. Stumbled upon this fantastic list a few days ago and shared it with us. Because I believe that immitatation is the sincerest form of flattery....I am copying it (with her permission) and posting it for you to enjoy. The list below is a combination of the funniest analogies taken from high school essays. The chosen 25 were compiled by high school teachers across the country.

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a ThighMaster.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. (my personal favorite)

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Twas the night before the World Cup

Twas the night before the World Cup
by Amanda Workman
Twas the night before the World Cup and all through the land,
Excitement was stirring their Vuvuzela's in hand.
The cleats were all sitting in the locker rooms with care,
In hopes that they would some glory soon share.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of soccer balls danced in their heads.
And the teams in their jersey's and the goalie in his kit
Had just settled down to visualize it.
When out on the pitch there arose such a clatter
The goalie stood up to see what was the matter.
Off to the goal he flew like a flash,
Threw on his gloves and got ready to dash.
The moon on the crest of the top of the goal
Gave an eire glow to the field down below.
When what to his wondering eyes should drop in
But a miniature Ref and two tiny linesmen,
With a whistle and flags, one yellow, one red
He knew in in a moment it must be St. Fred.
More rapid than eagles his linemen they came and
He whistled and shouted and called them by name.
Now Right field, now Left field - keep your eye on the ball
It can't cross that line or "Out!" you must call!
To the top of the field! Look out for that wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!
As sand before the desert storm flies
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So to the sides of the fields the linesmen they flew,
With his whistle in hand, St. Fred followed too.
And then in a twinkling, the Goalie he saw
Two teams take the field with a little white ball.
They were dressed in fine colors from their head to their feet
And they all marched in unison like to a drum beat.
They moved to position one here and one there
As at their opponents they stared and they glared.
Their eyes how they fixed them! Their grins were quite scary!
Their muscles were tense now and their legs were quite hairy!
Their little red mouths pursed in concentration
And their body language screamed "Let's fight for our nation!"
Though they were quite serious, they still were tiny as elves
and the Goalie laughed, in spite of himself.
And then St. Fred with the toss of a coin
Decided who started and who would then join.
And bringing his whistle up to his mouth,
Started the game and the cheers all cried out!
The players they ran and kicked at that ball
They pushed and they pulled and "Foul!" they did call!
The goalies made saves and the defenders defended
The mid-fielders ran and St. Fred almost upended.
Then one of the forwards with his eye on the ball
Flipped and turned and gave it his all
And suddenly as if in slow motion
The ball headed forward and started causing commotion.
This wee tiny player had spotted a hole,
And with one swift kick he scored a GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLL!
St. Fred blew his whistle and the crowd they all cheered
While the goalie collapsed and his eyes they did tear.
The game it was over, the team's fates had been sealed;
Then just ask they'd come the teams walked off the field
But the Goalie heard them as they walked out of sight…
HAPPY WORLD CUP TO ALL!!! AND TO ALL A GOOD FIGHT!

If I know a song of Africa....

If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on, or the children invent a game in which my name is, or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me, or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?

~Karen Blixen

(Mt. Kilimanjaro early this morning)

My heart's desire....

I love this photograph. With all of the amazing Indian women in my life - my heart's desire is that they will all come to know the True and LIVING God.

Pray with me for the country of India today?

Deals and Steals. ;-)

This weekend I decided to make some headway on some redecorating I want to do. However I am on a very very strict budget so all things had to be either found a thrift store for the right price...or things I already own needed to be re-purposed.

Deals:
One wing chair in perfect condition.

Price $54.99 on sale for 30% off...final price $38.50!

...found at my favorite thrift store...St. Vincent's. This store is always clean and organized and full of fun little treasures. Plus it has a little prayer room in case you need to do some soul searching while you are shopping. I actually spent sometime in prayer there this weekend.

The biggest adventure of the chair was fitting it into mini Bobbi and getting safely home.

Driving like a turtle down side streets - back was tied down with twine and shoelace.

Got it home and safely up the stairs.

Next was the big wall behind my desk. I was bored with the current frames that were just hanging there....so I went around my house and into my storage and got all of the frames that I owned and laid them out in a pattern on the floor.

Then after letting my neighbor know I was going to be banging on the wall all day long....I very purposefully and carefully hung this fun design! :-)

Steal: I found two frames on clearance at JoAnn Fabrics. Originally $24.99 - rang up at $.97 each!!

Then my most favorite re purposing...that still needs a bit of work...

Deal: package of ring hooks at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $7.99.

I took a red & gold Indian sari I've had for years....and attached my current curtains to the back of it (for some backing - with my western facing window I need dark curtains!).

Voila!

New pretty red silk curtains!

They need to be ironed and hemmed...but they are up!

That was my weekend of re-purposing.....my cat really got into it....he decided to re-purpose himself as a statue....as you can see he is versatile.

Statue version one.

Statue version two.

More time, more time!!!!

Things I wish I could do simultaneously....

Work on this.....(can't say what it is - cause it's a gift)


Play with this....


Study and help this set of people...


Read these....


Live....here...


Here...

Here...



And here....