Friendship & Fellowship

Feeling very blessed and peaceful today. 

The Lord brings us to one another in times that we might need eachother the most. 

Thankful for my Lord who listens to my prayers and to the prayers of my friends. 

Let us always be an encouragement to one another; to listen, to relate and to remain true and faithful.

I found verses in Beth Moore's book Breaking Free that really encompasses a conversation I had with 

one of my girlfriends. Beth Moore said, "We have Christ's peace. It has already been given to us if we

have received Christ. We just don't always know how to activate it." Isn't this so true??

She also said, "Sometimes when we finally give up trying to discover all the answers to the whys in our 

lives and decide to trust a sovereign God, unexpected peace washes over us like a summer rain. We

sometimes lack peace in far less strenuous circumstances because we are not as desperate or as likely to 

turn them over to God." Isn't this also the truth??

I have found a few verses in her book that really "hits the nail on the head"...

Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep in perfect peace / him whose mind is steadfast, / because he trusts in you."

Isaiah 32:17 "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; / the effect of righteousness will be quietness and

confidence forever."

Isaiah 48:17 "This is what the Lord says- / your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: / I am the Lord your

God, / who teaches you what is best for you, / who directs you in the way you should go"

Isaiah 48:18 "If only you had paid attention to my commands, / your peace would have been like a 

river, / your righteousness like the waves of the sea"

I'll leave you with this quote from Beth Moore, "I believe Christ still grieves when He sees hearts in

 unnecessary turmoil. You can have the peace of Christ, believer, no matter what your circumstances; but

 you must believe, bend the knee, and learn to receive."

Isn't that also SO TRUE!?

I have found my peace today through these words and am so thankful the Lord knew exactly what I 

needed and when I needed them the most. Thank you dear friend, our Lord shines so bright through you. 

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" Col. 3:15

"W" is for Wednesday

I am Wide awake today...not willingly, but I'm here. I went to bed at 3:00 this morning. I have 4 hours that are somewhat unaccounted for, how does that happen? I talked to my husband at 11:00 (out of town), I watched glee (dvr'd), played with my pups, dozed off and woke up at 1:30 laying across my ottoman and couch (maybe for an hour or so), went to bed and looked at the new pottery barn magazine and then decided to check my school email...annoyingly the professors assistant emailed me back about a question way past the deadline...went to my computer to submit something at 2:30 only to find out this morning that it's due today. Aaand then I looked at my phone while crawling in bed...3:00. How does that take 4 hours?

Anyway, so I've had 3 cups of Watery coffee. Normally I make great coffee but today I was not with it for obvious reasons...

Just another reason I need this...

I was watching Wendy Williams this morning and found something she said about herself to also be true about myself...

She said, "When friends ask me for my opinion about something, I don't give my real opinion unless they ask me for my REAL opinion and if they do then be prepared to have your feelings hurt."

I'm not saying that I want to hurt my friends feelings but they all know me well enough to know that if you want my real opinion then just know it's going to be REAL and I'm not going to sugar-coat it. That's just how I roll. I don't do that with people that I don't know very well and usually I can tell when my friends want me to be REAL with them and when they don't. So when they don't I just keep it very minimal with a smile and a nod. 

I was browsing the blogging world today and have noticed lots of jeans that look like this...

Wide-leg jeans/trouser jeans. They are definitely 70's inspired and I want some!

I also found this spring-summer phenomenon that I'm seeing everywhere I look...

I'm thinking I need some White denim in my life, very soon. Both of these are from the GAP. You can never go wrong with the GAP, classic.

I found this Wedding cake on a blog this morning and I fell in love...oh how I wish I had discovered this when I got married 5 months ago...

This would have been my dream wedding cake. It's the exact color pink that I used in my wedding, it's simple, frilly, girly and Perfect with a pink capital P. Seriously in love. (sigh)

I still loved mine, even though it didn't turn out exactly the way I told them to make it. It was still pretty and I didn't want to make a big fuss about cake on our day. Here it is..

The magnolia's were NOT supposed to be pink. They were supposed to be white with gold centers (which they did) and there was just supposed to be a hint of pink in the center. But what are ya gonna do when you walk into your reception and see your cake for the first time? Yep, my thoughts exactly. I'm a married woman now, so who cares.

I Want my dark hair back :(...

I tried something new because I've had dark hair for the past 3-4 years and I'm not loving the new...

I just had a few low-lights put in it, but it's enough to know that I prefer my super dark brown, almost black. 

I really want new Window decorations, also known as curtains or drapes for all of you that speak our native language, English. This is what I bought at Target...

They are cream linen and just kind of blah. I thought I wanted something more neutral but now that I have them I think I need to spruce it up a bit with some color and make it a little bit busier. I'm for sure thinking a print, maybe floral maybe something else. So I was doing a bit of research this morning and came across a few fabrics (I plan on making these) that I thought were just okay. Nothing really jumped out and grabbed me...

Burlap is obviously not a pattern but I love it.  I really need some color and go figure, they're green. I couldn't find any floral that I loved so I'm thinking this will need to be a day trip to fabric stores kind of thing. Maybe a few day trips. I'm going to be picky if I'm going to spend the time and money making these. I will need to make 4 panels because on the other side of our living room we have another set of windows.

My curtains are tied up because of this guy...

They are too long and need to be taken up and our Gus has found his new favorite spot to lay, on top of the curtains. I just love when he sheds all over the curtains, but ya gotta love 'em! Like David says, he's just a big ol' sweet potato...that sheds.

So I was grocery shopping at Wal-Mart on Monday and found these...

$25.00

$35.00

$25.00

Yes, at Wal-Mart for a whopping 25 bucks! I'm thinking that's a pretty cheap deal for a super cute lamp. I really like the silver but silver would not match our guest bedroom, I'll let you judge for yourself...

I'm slowly, key word being slowly, getting our home decorated. This is the room I want to make the large burlap euro pillows for and a few colorful/fun decorative pillows. So many things to sew, ahh! Good thing mi madre is coming into town this weekend for sewing camp. I'm going to have to tell you about where sewing camp came from in another blog. Makes me laugh every time I think about (Kristen).

Now that I've Wasted enough of my day blogging I need to be productive and finish my to do list: 

Work Out (Day 2 of 1/2 marathon training-easy 2 miles)

Fold Laundry

Online Class

Dishes

Maybe to Wally World for the lamp...mom and dad dooo need a lamp in the bedroom for when they visit, don't they?

I will leave with this:

WOW!! David and I have been married for 5 months today!!

How can it be that we've been married for almost half a year and it doesn't even feel like it?! I can actually answer that, he's been working out of town for about 4 1/2 of them...(thinking nice thoughts :) Regardless, I still can't believe it!

Happy 5 months my love!!! I love you! xoxo

Enjoy your "W"ednesday!!!

Top 5

These things make me happy when I think about summa time!

Mmmm! Best Starbucks drink I've ever had, so so refreshing!

Except I get the light version, so mine looks like that minus all of the yummy goodness on the top. It's still delish though!

Our neighborhood pool opens in just a couple of weeks! Yay! Sooo ready for some much needed sun on my pasty skin!

I gave up the tanning bed after I got married and that was HARD to do but I did it! I've been tanning since I was in high school and I was very serious about it. Especially in college, I worked at a tanning salon and let's just say that my skin was orange, leathery and disgusting! Ick! Getting married and talking about kids made me realize that I really don't want to have to go through having skin cancer when we will have sweet little babies to think about. So I'll stick with some real rays and sunscreen! I've never had to kick an addiction, I'm thinking this was pretty darn close!

P.S. Mystic tanning is just too expensive and I'd rather spend my money on something else, just sayin'.

The Salad Bowl! Summer means that I will be eating salad, a-lot! My summer staples: salad,fruit,coffee, water...maybe the occasional mexican beer.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	Stretch & Strengthen	3 m run	2 m run or cross	3 m run + strength	Rest	30 min cross	4 m run
2	Stretch & Strengthen	3 m run	2 m run or cross	3 m run + strength	Rest	30 min cross	4 m run
3	Stretch & Strengthen	3.5 m run	2 m run or cross	3.5 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	5 m run
4	Stretch & Strengthen	3.5 m run	2 m run or cross	3.5 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	5 m run
5	Stretch & Strengthen	4 m run	2 m run or cross	4 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	6 m run
6	Stretch & Strengthen	4 m run	2 m run or cross	4 m run + strength	Rest or easy run	Rest	5-K Race
7	Stretch & Strengthen	4.5 m run	3 m run or cross	4.5 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	7 m run
8	Stretch & Strengthen	4.5 m run	3 m run or cross	4.5 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	8 m run
9	Stretch & Strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest or easy run	Rest	10-K Race
10	Stretch & Strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	9 m run
11	Stretch & Strengthen	5 m run	3 m run or cross	5 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	10 m run
12	Stretch & Strengthen	4 m run	3 m run or cross	2 m run	Rest	Rest	Half Marathon

Hal Higdon's 1/2 marathon training schedule, this is the schedule for beginners. Yep, I'm seriously committing to this. I have to now that I've broadcast it across America and to several other countries (that's what my blog stats are telling me anyway, pretty exciting!). Sooo I began training for a half just one other time (last summer) and I made it to week 5, 6 miles, and then I quit. I should've kept going but I was so busy at the time. I even signed up for the Rock'n'Roll 1/2 in San Antonio and paid $100 to run. Ugh! I'll post my weekly stats on the running. Stat: I started today, 3 miles. Check.

Graduation in August!!!

I never thought 4 years ago when I graduated from ACU that I would go back to school. Except this time it only took me one and a half years as opposed to 5 the first time. I did it and I've loved it but now I'm ready to be done again. I need to join the workforce again, so bad.

Sad Side Note: Education budget cuts at the exact same time I finish my degree. Awesome right?

Sooo I might be looking into Corporate America, yet again, if I don't receive a phone call by August (on the up-side, at least I have the option to work in the business world), fingers crossed.

These are my Top 5 and then I have about one million other little things...but we'll just stick with these. That could take forever.


What are your Top 5?

A Spot For Tea

ANTIQUE THERAPY....

"Cha-Ching!" This is what was going through my head when I stumbled upon this place...

Don't be fooled by this picture. This antique mall is MASSIVE, seriously, no exaggeration here. It took a grand total of 3 1/2 hours to stroll through this delightful haven, and when I say stroll I mean veeery slooowly. This gave me the opportunity to take it all in. This place is visually stimulating and if you blink you might miss something...so. much. to. look. at. I was so excited that I text two of my girlfriends and they informed me that they had been here before. Eh-hem, say whaaat?! Needless to say I was slightly shocked they had been holding back on me but I was in my element and was too giddy to even give it a second thought. I forgive you girls, I won't say names...Ashlee and Alisa, love you! Only kidding lovelies!

Side Note: I spy a desk/table in the back with turquoise legs. Do you see that? That is something I stare at every time I go in there as if my wishful super powers were going to transmit it to my office to serve as my lovely desk. Ugh, why must you torture me you beautiful piece of super old and used furniture?! (sigh)

Here is a sneak peak into this place that I find so captivating...

Okay, so a couple of surprises for you...are you ready? This antique mall has a TEA ROOM...

Yes, a tea room. What woman doesn't love tea rooms? Mmm, my favorite kind of food! So don't run off telling my husband that I told you this but he ate there with me last weekend, I had to beg and bat my eyes. Don't think he did it without a deal, I owe him now. It's a lovely little tea room. So ladies, grab your moms, sisters and best gal pals and plan an entire Saturday morning/afternoon around this place. They even have a pianist on Saturdays and they are open on Sundays until 6.

SIDE NOTE: Great place to throw a shower if you live in the area. 

You can do a little antiquing...take a lunch break...antique some more and THEN....

Shop at the BOUTIQUE! Umm, perfect right? The boutique is called Betty Jane's Boutique. It's super cute! There is a pair of brown and turquoise cowboy boots that I have my eye on, pret-ty cute.

So here are a couple of things that I found myself drawn to and did not purchase...

This table is just gorgeous. It's charming and 100% my taste. It actually resembles a table that I'm fawning over from pottery barn, which makes it even that much better. It is oh-so-perfect for my kitchen...a little big but I could have made it work. But it was way too expensive and we need to maybe spend that kind of money on, oh I don't know--a new washer and dryer maybe?! Why must I be so practical? It's a curse and a blessing.

Okay, don't even ask. All I can say is that I really liked this "head," I mean I don't even know what it is...cow? bull? Whatever, right. It wouldn't match anything but I really wanted it. Maybe if we owned a ranch house (in our dreams...in the future).

So instead, I just bought these. I can confirm that these are deer antlers, painted to appear "shabby chic."

Love'em! (slightly singing)

Not everything in this place is old. There are booths that have new items and I just happened to buy one because I had been looking for something like this forever...

It's a spectacular little chalk board that appears to be an old bread board, but in fact, it is new and it was only $11. I currently have a bible verse written on it. Proverbs 19:21 to be exact. Just a reminder that our future is in the Lord's hands and that he will guide us to our ultimate purpose in life. Stay faithful.

This concludes my tour of LoneStar Antiques: 

5605 N. Denton Hwy

Fort Worth, TX 76148

And another thing, I'm not quite sure if I was allowed to take pictures but I was that sneaky gal on her iphone nonchalantly snapping pics. Woops. It's all for the greater good though, right?! 

I hope you enjoyed this little antique therapy session...it was a long one. 

Voila!

CRAFT THERAPY...

I've been needing something for my earrings, they've just been piled up on my dresser and there is no way to make that look neat and organized. So I decided to make one of these. I'm not sure where I saw it..probably blogging and thought it looked easy enough.

I bought the frame white which was perfect because I wanted to paint it light blue and knew that if I distressed it the white would come through.

Love it when I get the urge to create and I can do it in a day! I do need to fix a few things on it but it's not anything you would notice, I'm just a perfectionist. 

I pulled out my Bernina sewing machine today given to me by my grandmother. Here's what I'm thinking...small burlap pillows for our bedroom and large pillows for the guest bedroom. The last time I sewed anything was in middle school and I think that was mainly on my mom's surger which is much easier than a sewing machine. 

It's put together and plugged in, now threading it...hmmm?

Once I can get the pillows mastered, it's on to  curtains. Luckily I'm not completely clueless on the sewing machine and if all else fails, my mother the master seamstress is coming into town next weekend and she can give me a little tutorial!

Stay Tuned.

Oogling and Ogling...

In my spare time I love to scour the blogging world for new and exciting things to just oogle and ogle over or to share with others. Here are some things that I'm eyeing and want to share with you. Some of these things I'm just oogling because I'm quite the bargainer and can't stomach making purchases larger than what I'm comfortable with, It's this guilt thing that I have. But if someone were to gift me with these things then I would feel completely comfortable accepting! Enjoy your oogling and ogling or maybe you will just take the plunge and purchase! 

I found this website and these are some things that I really want. I love everything about EMERSONMADE and their style is just phenomenal. Classy and flirty and simple all rolled into one. Just love it! This is how I would dress every single day if I could...which I could but sometimes I just don't care to try, sad I know. This is an oogle for me...

I think this one is my fave...

 and this is my fave too...I found this site through a blog and they were giving this beauty away LAST WEEK, SO sad I missed that one!

I think the blouses are my favorite. Don't you just love?! 

This is a very wishful website, Altar'd. They have really great finds for purchase or they offer a tutorial to make your furniture look like theirs. This is an oogle only because I haven't attempted to try this on my own furniture yet and I don't want to pay for someone else to do it when I know that I can do this...

Obsessed! We have a dresser in our guest bedroom that I've been racking my brain over...how do I do this, what color do I want, when should I attempt this major feat? I'm loving this because this is something that I've been waiting and wanting to do forever. I think I'm scared...I just need to dive in and do it...still scared.

This is just a cute little craft that I found online, easy breezy right?! 

I think I'll try it, but I would put a piece of glass over the top. This is not an oogle, I can stomach the purchase of these materials, hello Hobby Lobby 50% off everything like everyday.

This represents the itch I have to purge my closet and go out and purchase a whole new wardrobe...

So instead, I just make a wish list through online browsing, ugh. But I refuse to buy anything new until I can shed about 10 lbs., this 10 lbs. is seriously haunting me. Why is it so hard to get rid of, I don't think I'm trying hard enough. But all I can say is that it's really annoying. Don't judge me for wanting to lose 10 lbs. I think even more annoying than those extra lbs. is when people get mad at you for wanting to lose a few to feel content. This is what I'm thinking when people say that to me: "Get over it, you do what's good for you and I'll do what's good for me. Thanks."

I'm leaving now to go and do some craft therapy...I think I have a few therapies. Blog Therapy, Craft Therapy and Antique Therapy. They all make me really happy, it just depends on my mood. I'll post pictures. I have an Antique Therapy blog coming up, this place is amazing with a capital A! Hope you're enjoying some kind of therapy of your own!