CRAFTS!!!!!!!!

Hello!! So who's ready to get their craft on!?! Jamie is so sweet and has a super cute blog. She is here to inspire us all to DIY some perfect gifts :)

Hi friends of Ashley! I'm Jamie from Snow In December, and I'm here today to share with you some inexpensive, DIY ideas for your all Christmas gift-giving needs! To me, hand-made gifts always leave a lasting impression.



Most of the pins I've chosen to share today take no special skills. I encourage you to dust off your craft supplies and get to work, putting a little love (and glue) into each hand-made gift! Your friends and family will thank you for it.



**Each of these ideas came from my pin-boards. There's lots more inspiration where that came from if you want to check me out on Pinterest. I'm kind of a big deal. (Nooooooo, Not really!) ;0)
For Your Artsy Friend:

Source: westermanfam.blogspot.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

For Your Fashion-Savvy Friend:

Source: iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

For Your Bestie:

Source: u-createcrafts.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

For Your Hubs:

Source: thedatingdivas.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

For Your Little Man:

Source: followinginmyshoes.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

Source: mineforthemaking.blogspot.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

And Your Little Woman:

Source: etsy.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

Source: jamieespo.blogspot.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

For the Couple You Double Date With:

Source: google.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

For the Grandparents:

Source: lilluna.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

Source: somewhatsimple.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

For the cute baby in your life:

Source: meggyolks.tumblr.com via Jamaymay on Pinterest

HAPPY Crafting!

Felt Lovelies

Baby's asleep, hubby's on his way home from class, and I'm being super productive... scratch that- I'm watching The Biggest Loser and drooling over gorgeous felt creations on pinterest. I'm smitten. Enjoy :)

Source: mysocalledgreenlife.com via Diane on Pinterest

Source: prettylittlethings.typepad.com via Tracy on Pinterest

Source: smallbirdblog.wordpress.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via D on Pinterest

Source: transformingtownhouse.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: smallbirdblog.wordpress.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: blog.dlshdesign.com via Brandi on Pinterest

Psalm 81:1-7

Today sucks. Sorry for the negativity but I'm kind of in this mood where I just want to wallow in self pity... and bake. (It's my therapy.) But Lil just won't sleep. So I'm forced to put on my big girl panties and be a good mama. Fold clothes. Play with my baby and her babydoll. Smile instead of cry (ok maybe a little of both).

Sing praises to God,

our strength.

Sing to the God of Jacob.

Sing! Beat the tambourine.

Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,

and again at full moon to call a festival!

For this is required by the decrees of Israel;

it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.

He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt

to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice say,

“Now I will take the load from your shoulders;

I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.

You cried to me in trouble,

and I saved you;

I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah."

Fair Trade

I don't tend to be outspoken about much.

Actually I'm usually pretty go-with-the-flow.

But I'm working on taking a stronger stance on the things that really matter.

Lately, I have really been convicted about the way we spend our money.

We try to be good stewards, but I'm realizing that doesn't just mean being cheap.

The cheapest thing isn't always the healthiest or in alignment with my beliefs and priorities.

So what to do?

Well I'm praying. I'm figuring it out slowly.

I'm sharing it here because I would love to work through it with some input.

I have a bad tendency to jump into things I can't stay committed to so...

I'm taking it one step at a time :)

(picture from the Fair Trade website: http://fairtradeusa.org)

First up: Fair Trade.

I've known about fair trade coffee & I usually try to choose it but haven't made it a big priority.

Then I read this. And this.

Please find a couple minutes to read these blog posts.

They are so eye-opening & it's impossible for me to learn about kids being treated like slaves...

So I can have cheap candy bars and coffee.

I pray that your heart will be broken along with mine and that we can commit together.

I've been researching the best place to find fair trade coffee, sugar and chocolate.

The official website has tons of information and resources.

October is even Fair Trade month!

"We believe the rise of the Conscious Consumer will cause a fundamental shift in the way companies do business and create a historic opportunity to reward companies that embrace sustainability."

This quote is from the Fair Trade USA website and is so motivating to me.

It's so easy to go on not knowing better.

But the damage is still being done. We need to be conscious consumers!

Being a good steward of our money means being fair and just in the way we spend it.

Sugar Mama Bakeshop baked goods and mixes are already made with fair trade cane sugar.

I'm working on switching over to only using fair trade cocoa and powdered sugar as well.

I would like this to become part of my business plan and mission statement.

Do you do fair trade? Any tips? Anyone interested in committing to this with me?

Thankful

We've been figuring some stuff out lately.

Some hard stuff. Some fun stuff. Some tricky stuff.

Sorry. I'm not feeling elaborate tonight.

But I am feeling thankful.

I just read this post and felt inspired to be more vocal with my thanksgiving.

So tonight I am thankful for cookies. Let's start simple shall we? I decided to be thankful every single day this month right along with Hannah and I'm thankful for a lot more important things, it's true. We'll get to those.

For now I just love this warm peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.

I'm thankful it's gluten free & vegan and I can enjoy every crumb of it without a stomach ache.

I'm thankful that creating it brings me so much joy.

I'm thankful that I may have an opportunity to share these cookies and support Love146, an organization that is doing amazing things to help end child sex slavery and exploitation!

What are you thankful for?

The Sing Off?

Seriously, does anyone else LOVE The Sing Off? Please someone say yes. I really love it so much.

Mostly because Ben Folds is a judge I think... I really like Ben Folds. Especially when he sings The Luckiest. Go ahead and listen. I would listen with you, but it makes me cry. Every single time. I waited in the back of the church with my daddy while my bridesmaids walked down the aisle to this song more than 3 years ago.

Anyway... The Singoff. So good right?! If you haven't seen it yet, it's an all a cappella singing contest and it blows me away. People are so amazingly talented! The winners from last season are a group called Committed. They are seriously unbelievable. But what I think was so cool about them is that they were confident in their gifts and they used them for the glory of God. Even though they were on tv and it was risky for their popularity. Also cool to me was how much everyone respected them for it. They definitely made an impact for Jesus by fearlessly using the talents He has given them.

Today I pray that I would...

#1 be able to decipher what it is God is calling me to do for him.

#2 do it well!

#3 give him the glory. Fearlessly.

"In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly."

{Romans 12:6-8}

And if he gave you an incredible voice, try out for season 4 of The Sing Off. Do it.

List update.

Last year I made myself a goal list to complete by my 26th birthday. Well, last August I still had no idea that I would be adding 9 (and 1/2) months of pregnancy & keep a baby alive for 2 months to the list. In light of that I've decided to give myself tons of grace on the rest of the list... especially climbing a 14er, get a tat and go snowboarding. Unfortunately I have NO excuse for failing to give up caffeine.

Anyhoo, here's where I'm at a year later. I think I'll revise a bit and keep working on it. Here's to another year!

25 things to do while I'm still 25:

1. Take a photography class Sad. This really needs to happen.
2. Grow my hair really long It's getting there very slowly.
3. Get a tatoo
4. Climb a 14er with Tyler We did actually hike a few weeks ago... No 14er though
5. Make or buy a headboard for our bed Not yet but I LOVE this idea!

Source: google.com via Ashley on Pinterest

6. Read a classic novel
7. Bake every recipe in The Flying Apron cook book I've done a few but I've got a ways to go.
8. Visit/meet Ruth CHECK! AND the Fieleke's have even met Lily :)
9. Wear a nose ring
10. Run a 10k Working on a 5k right now. Possibly a 10k to follow?
11. Snowboard again at least once
12. Send more cards to people I love I would say I've done a far better job!
13. Help Griselda get all As & Bs next semester
14. Read a new Rob Bell book
15. Watch a great indie movie no one has ever hear of I've tried but keep ending up with really weirdo movies... any suggestions?
16. San Diego
17. Take a bike ride downtown with my love CHECK!
18. Do a bike pub crawl CHECK!
19. Watch Trav in a band competition We got to see him in the homecoming parade.
20. Finish the last season of LOST CHECK! We're officially done :)
21. Read the old testament Anyone know of a good book/guide to help with this?
22. Journal every day for a whole month I'm improving for sure even if I haven't made it an entire month consecutively.
23. Make a piece of art to hang in our house
24.Give up caffeine for a whole month ONot even close and now that I'm sleeping a whole 5 hours a night I don't even want this one anymore :)
25. By this time next year I would LOVE to have replaced my current income and be baking full time! Hmm... Not exactly :) But it is my only source of income due to other circumstances :)

Creative force of love.

"Satan's desire is to turn me in on myself to the extent that I become enslaved and become a destructive force in community. The thrust from Jesus Christ is the opposite- to enhance my freedom so that I can become a creative force of love. It is the spirit of self-centeredness & selfishness versus the spirit of openness & self-sacrifice for the good of others."

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Source: google.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I want to be a creative force of love. Anybody else? I'm not sure what it's going to look like but I've been feeling really called to do some lovin' with my creativity. I think I just use it selfishly so many times, which is so sad. I make beauty for myself to enjoy, or I try to figure out how to make money with it, or I think of the process as an escape or relaxation. Not that these are bad things.

But it shouldn't stop there. Hunter and I have been talking a lot lately about finances and what it looks like to truly set aside our pride and trust God to provide for us. I've been struggling since I quit my job because I feel this need to help provide income and I get so caught up in it sometimes that I'm stressed which leads to me not being the best mom to Lily Belle. THAT IS LAME.

That is also why I think I'm feeling such a strong desire to give. I want to be truly generous with the blessings God is giving us. That doesn't mean that as soon as God starts providing us with ___ amount of money we will start donating a tiny portion of it. Unfortunately that's how I tend to think of it. It means that we have a comfortable place to sleep at night, clothing, way to many shoes, an amazing support system, a steady income, health insurance and so much more. It means that if God wants us to own a little house for our children to grow up in, he will provide a way and I don't need to lose any more sleep about it.

It means that I don't have a ton of money to spare but I have got to stop being so dang self-centered. I need to be giving my creativity & my love freely.

If any of you other creative lovers are feeling a similar desire please get in touch with me! Let's be one in heart and mind...let's share everything we have {Acts 4:32}.

"Free is not your right to choose,

It's answering what's asked of you

To give the love you find until it's gone."

-The Avett Brothers

Embrace it.

This morning I was reading one of my new faves and she had this button on her post:

So I clicked it on over to Emily's blog and fell in love with that girl and her 5 babes (who share one room). Seriously read that post because it is good good stuff. It is so sweet that those kids get to grow up in such community. If Hunter lets me have 5 babies maybe we'll try it out!

Anyway, I decided I would take the challenge to embrace the camera... but then I got really tired thinking about getting dressed, putting on makeup AND doing my hair, and getting Lil dressed so we could take cute pictures.

I mean, I don't know how real you all were wanting to get this morning, but I am having some lactation issues and they're keeping me up at night. I have a 2 month old who has decided to bless us with 7 hours of sleep at night. Hallelujah! However, my body still wants to make enough milk to feed her every 2.5-3 hours around the clock. Soooooooo even when she's sleeping I have to get up and pump. Bummer. Plus they just hurt. BAD. I feel kind of weird writing about painful boobs and breast pumps (especially because I think my dad reads my blog sometimes... sorry dad) but such is life right now.

So then it hit me. This little blog of mine is for recording our life and our life is pretty messy sometimes. Sometimes it's up all night and no makeup the next day. Shoot, at least I showered. That's usually the sign of good things to come :) Sometimes it's an extra iced coffee and a prayer journal that says "Lord, please let Lily sleep a lot today so I can take a nap". No joke. I couldn't think of anything else to ask for.

So here we are in our unkempt glory. Enjoy the dark circles, wet hair and pjs, because tomorrow is field trip Friday and I'm planning on getting dressed for the occasion :) Also enjoy Lily's pouty face. She's clearly not as thrilled as I am about embracing.

I accidentally took this shot of the kitchen while I was messing with the camera timer that I couldn't even figure out how to use. True story! It's ridiculous how camera illiterate I am. We've got to do something about this. Anyway, I know it's weird but I really like this picture. The kitchen is my happy place, even if it is teeny and a mess. It's so bright and fun! I think I'll bake cupcakes and clean for my lovely friends that are visiting this weekend. Maybe this day is going to shape up after all.

PS It's the last day to enter the birthday giveaway. Winner tomorrow!!

Oooh this bandwagon is FUN

I've stayed strong for awhile now. Everywhere I go it's all I hear about... Pinterest! But I was strong. Honestly, the very last thing I need is one more thing to waste time on. I really love pretty things and the idea of perusing the entire world wide web pinning together beauty was wonderful but dangerous.

But alas, I caved. Will power is really not my spiritual gift. Plus I justified that it would be my birthday present to myself (one of them). So here I am. Go ahead . Go on, show me your beautiful things. It's likely I'll never do laundry again so bring on the pins! I'm in desperate need of a billion new DIY ideas, more cupcake ideas than I'll ever have time to even consider attempting & enough room makeover ideas for a mansion (to decorate all 900 square feet of our rental house).

It is pretty awesome but I'm going to try and be a responsible pinner ok? I think it shall be my reward for grocery shopping. I can never seem to get to the grocery store. Seriously, pray for me. I hate grocery shopping. I need to grow up and get over that. My husband definitely loves dinner way more than clever idea boards and gorgeous party inspirations.

In other news I bought myself one more birthday present yesterday.

I realize it's backwards from the fancy mirror shot, but you read it right.

There it is. CRAFT PIMP. Amazing. I love this shirt.

It's thrifted from The Buffalo Exchange... who wouldn't buy my clothes back! I'm sorry your "customers actually prefer jeans and t-shirts". I actually do too. Why do you think I'm trying to sell you my blazers and dress pants? Anyway, this is perfect. Now instead of doing laundry I will just wear this shirt every single day while I'm on a pinning spree. Kidding! I think.

Oh and don't forget to enter the birthday giveaway before it's too late! Do it if you're cool.

Aqua love

Gussy Sews is a beautiful shop with all kinds of lovelies. I recently discovered her awesome blog too! She does a weekly inspiration workshop and this week's prompt is YOUR FAVORITE COLOR. Well, this one is a no brainer.

I. love. AQUA.

I love it! I can't get enough, but I just keep trying :) My husband oh-so-lovingly forbid begged me not to paint anymore aqua/ turquoise goodness for our house.

Unbelievable! Good thing I already snuck these bad boys in.

Aren't they pretty?

Aqua+grey felt flowers= YES PLEASE! My new favorite combo! (Beware- you may be gifted these if Hunter doesn't let me hang them in our house.)

I love aqua so very much because it reminds me of the fabulous ocean.

It gives me energy and peace at the same time... Which is probably why I've painted most of my home in some shade of it. It really might be turning into a problem. But it makes me oh so happy! If being obsessed with aqua is wrong, I don't want to be right.