Giveaway Winner!

Congrats to Meli K. for winning the 31 Bags Giveaway! Sorry it took so long to post this. I've been pretty sick the past few days.

Keeping and Making Memmories (A 31 Bags Giveaway)

As I have shared on here before, one of my main goals with this blog, and my life in general, is to record my families memories. I've been attempting to do this more on paper as well so that my kids have hard copies of these memories and not just words on a screen. I have been trying VERY unsuccessfully to do Project life this year. I have pretty much given up on daily or even weekly but I have been capturing certain moments on paper in my own, very messy, way of scrapbooking. (Really I just like an excuse to buy pretty paper and tape!).  My favorite place to work on this is on the sofa, by the fire, so I have come up with my little mobile scrap-book center!

 



 

I LOVE 31 products. Though, as you can, see I don't always use them planned. This is the make up bag above and bellow is the note pad keeper that I use to hold my stationary.

 



 

Not only are 31 products great for keeping your organized while keeping memories they are great for MAKING memories! And, since I have an awesome 31 consultant who also happens to be a close friend, we decided to team up to give away a Hostess exclusive item that is perfect for memory making and keeping!



The Organizing Pack is an awesome one shoulder back pack that is perfect for family adventures. Best part is it has amazing removable compartments that also make it a great camera bag!



Bag Details:

Measures approx.: 16"H x 13"W x 6.5"D

So many uses! This Hostess Exclusive has interior compartments galore, making it a great camera bag or diaper bag … just fill it with whatever you need for the day! The inside organizing compartments can be removed and rearranged so they’re just the way you need them. It even comes with a thermal-lined water bottle holder in a coordinating print! Valued at $120.00, it’s a Hostess Exclusive. *From the 31 Catalog

Meredith is giving away this bag in the Pick Me Plaid pattern and I have agreed to ship any where in the USA! Simply use the raffelcopter bellow to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Why Washi?

SO! I have been pretty quiet on here since last week and there is a very good, though very long, explication for all of that. I promise to share later. However, some times when things get crazy you just have to step back and focus on some fun simple things. So today I want to share some pretty inspiration with you.

I am sure that you all are familiar with Pick Your Plum! (If for some reason you aren't familiar with them they are a "deal" site that offers ONE craft/creative item daily at a really big discount.) My sister-in-law Marge got me hooked on them forever ago and I adore them! I have gotten amazing elastic, bakers twine, stamps, washi tape, hair pins kits, earring kits, and fabric from them.

Well last night I got a sneak peak at what today's "Plum" is......



Valentin's Day Washi Tape!!!!!



 

I am so excited! I was up last night thinking of all the ways I can use this. Doesn't matter that I already have some, I can always use more! It's one of my favorite craft supplies and one of my kids favorite's as well!

Just in case you need some ideas of what to do with this beautiful tape check out my Why Washi Pinterest Board.

So, tell me, why/how do you Washi?

Gratituesday

So I have a few friends who post Gratituesday posts. Liz over at Sincerely Liz Inc and Erin over at Better Than Doing Laundry.   (Though I think Erin shares hers more on her facebook then blog, but it's still a great blog to check out.) Any ways, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and join in.



* I'm grateful my mother got to go back west and see her family. It was under sad circumstance yes, but it sounds like it was a time of reconnecting and telling old and new stories. I'm so thankful she had the chance to do that and I look forward to hearing some of the stories of where she came from.

* I'm grateful for the Starbucks gift card in my stocking that covered Maddie and I's Monday morning treat and had a little left over to bless the girl in line behind us.

* I'm grateful for the gifts of pretty paper and a tank of gas one of my favorite ladies bestowed on me yesterday.

* I'm grateful for the chance to break bread and fellowship with some amazing ladies tonight.

* I'm grateful for my kitchen full or reminders of people who love me and blessings God has shown.

* I'm grateful for the comfy new maternity sweat dress that some one bought me.

* I'm grateful for the warm weather headed our way.

What are you grateful for today?

 

 

Stillness in the Brokenness

 

I was planning on writing a Menu Monday post today. Then, I sat down at my computer and pulled up my e-mail. I get the She Reads Truth devotional sent to my e-mail box every day. Normally I read it off of their site, but if I don't have that reminder in my inbox that it needs to be done I tend to forget. I'm attempting to make first thing first so, before I opened up WordPress I clicked over to She Reads Truth. WOW!!!!

"This is where Redemption’s work is done. Right here, in our fear and helplessness. Right here, among the broken and weary."

The reading today was Exodus 14. It was about some tired, discouraged, confused, broken Israelite who in their fatigue told Moses they would have been better of dying in Egypt.  And right there in the middle of it all.... God worked....

A friend who is doing the study with me posted this on her facebook wall today.

"The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still." Exodus 14:14

Ouch! Still is the last place I normally am. Especially when I feel scared or hopeless or broken or even weary. I tend to be like a child who is exhausted, but won't slow down lest I get the rest I so desperately need. Like my oh-so-stubborn 3-year-old I am determined I can "DO IT MYSELF!"

But I don't have to. If I would slow down and be still in my brokenness and my weariness then He will fight for me and the work of redemption can be done in my life. Something to think about.

 

Looking Forward

 



With 2012 now nearly 24 hours in the past and 2013  upon us, it would seem the thing to do is take a look back on 2012. However, I feel like I have done quite a bit of that this past year. With so much having happened this year I feel like I have already one a good bit of reflection. If you would like to read those posts you can here and here.

At this point in time I am ready to look forward. I am ready for a new adventure. I am ready to dream, plan, set goals, and draft a map. I'm ready for change.

I'm not entirely sure what exactly I want these goals and plans to look like. I know I will be taking some time off for my shop and drastically reducing my custom spots when I do. I want to focus more on creating as the mood strikes, sewing for my girls, sewing for friends, making what makes me happy, finish the huge pile of WIPs.

I want to focus more on my writing. For The Clutch Guide for The Motherhood Collective for my own blog, and journaling. I want to make a point of being a memory keeper. I love the idea of Project Life. Not sure if I will attempt 365 days strait, but would love to make a habit of at least weekly capturing the stories we are writing now, as well as those that come to mind from the past.

I want to focus more on our home. Not entirely sure what all that means but I I want to declutter our home and make space. Not sure for what, but space is always good. Getting rid of excess helps me breath easier. I also want to be more intentional about what I bring into my home. (Does it serve a purpose, do I already have something that could serve the same purpose ect) I am hoping this will help with being a better steward of both our money and our space.

Ultimately I want to invest in what matters most to us. Our faith, our families, and our friends. I want to live more intentionally and be more aware of how I am using our resources.

What are you goals for 2013?

Memmory Keeper

 

A few favorite instgram photos from Christmas. An unexpected White Christmas and sleepy girls on the drive up. Some how all seem to fit with this theme of silence, and waiting, and listening.

Normally I am ready for the last week of the year to be over. Ready to move on with routine and schedule and life. But something in my heart aches to cling to this in between time. This time of low expectations. The thought of moving forward hurts just a touch to much.

My aunt passed away today. She was my mother's sister and, because of a large age gap between her and my mother, was more like a grandmother to me. The past few months have been about reconnecting for me. Reconnecting with my past, with my families stories, with the women in my family. I have had the beautiful opportunity of "meeting" a cousin on my mother's side through facebook this winter. I was doing research for a story for The Clutch Guide. It has been an unexpected and wonderful experience.

Over Christmas I was sharing a story with my brother and his wife of a Christmas our family spent at the beach. Neither had any recollection of the moment. Laughingly my sister in law said she was glad some one remembered her life. That it was a comfort to know that though she forget things, friends and family remembered moments for her.



I have wondered lately why I write. Why I blog to be more precise. So often it feels like no one is listening/reading. The past few days I have come to realize, that it doesn't matter at all if any one reads this at all. I am a story teller, a memory keeper. It is in my blood to notice the beautiful and to hold on to it for a rainy day. And, in the processes, I have found a new found connection and relation to aunts, cousins, old neighbors, old classmates. It's important to tell our stories. They make us who we are. They bind us together. They keep us alive.