Bookin' It.

Another cheesy title... For my own personal amusement. 

Making their grand appearance....

Bookmarks. 

Jarring News!

Ok, the title of this post is ridiculous.  I know.

In a recent post, I promised that I would spend at least a little time this week organizing my craft supplies in jars.  Well, true to my word, I did just that!

The jars do not actually have a home yet, but they are a work in progress. For now, they look quite cozy in their green chair.

While I was on a roll, I decoupaged a few shoe boxes. The small box (which was actually a jewelry box, hence the small size) has crayons in it. One shoe box has fabric in it, and the other has ribbon it in. They, also, are a work in progress.

I will leave you with this cliffhanger:  A new addition has arrived on the crafting scene.  Return tomorrow for its debut!  :) 

The Power of Words

Here are some words of wisdom from one of my favorite pastime: Word searches!

I do not know how well you can read the second one; it is a little small. Michael Johns' words truly capture my ideal of what social work is... or what it needs to be. He says this:

"Economic development is not about getting foreign governments or agencies to build new bridges for third world nations; it is about helping unleash the individual in these societies so that he may build these bridges himself."

Before writing this blog post,  I had no clue who Michael Johns' was.  I did not want to appear to endorse someone with whom I was totally unfamiliar, so I did a little Googling.  Michael Johns is a health care executive, and a conservative policy analyst and writer.  He also happens to be one of several founders and leaders of the U.S. Tea Party Movement.  Pretty spiffy, huh?  Judging from the "About" section of his blog (which is worth taking a look at, even though it has not been updated since October), he is quite a great man. 

In my Googling, I also discovered that there is a Michael Johns who was a contestant on American Idol's 7th Season.  Please do not be confused.  The two are not one in the same!  The singer Michael Johns is actually from Australia, and you can find his American Idol audition video here. 

Snow, Snow... Go Away

When it comes to work, and probably to life in general, I am definitely a type A personality:  a goer, a doer, a list maker.  I love the feeling of satisfaction when I make a checklist of things to do at the beginning of the day and, by the end of the day, each item on the list is marked off. 

Beautiful. 

With that being said, the snow has kind of thrown a kink into what would normally be a "going" and "doing" kind of week.  Instead of home visits and doctors' appointments, my week has consisted of paperwork and phone calls.  Toward about the middle of the day yesterday, these phone calls, and spending minute after minute on the phone with clients began to seem a bit...

Pointless. 

And then, while I was particularly bored during one conversation with a client, I read this, from The Upper Room: 



"LET ME DESCRIBE what it means to be truly present. Being present involves letting go of our constant preoccupations, immersing ourselves in the here and now, and giving ourselves wholeheartedly to whatever is at hand. . . . It’s about becoming more aware, alert, awake to the fullness of the immediate moment. If we are with another person, it means engaging with him or her with all of our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength. Such wholehearted attention requires patience, time, and disciplined effort. And it is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to those around us."

- Trevor Hudson
A Mile in My Shoes 

 

Wow. Talk about stepping on toes. It was more like punching in the face. If all I am going to be doing for eight hours straight is making phone calls to people whose lives I am supposedly interested in improving, then I ought to be as present as present can be.   

The excerpt above reminded me of a quote from Mother Teresa that reads, ""It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters." - Mother Teresa

Anyone can spend a day making a few phone calls and typing down a few notes regarding anything "important" the person on the other end of the line may have said. But people, no matter their age, can tell when you are really listening. They can tell when you really care, and when you are just counting down the minutes on the clock. They can tell when you love them. And that is what matters.

Snow Day

Today was a happy little surprise vacation day. The school where my husband teaches (that is SO COOL to be able to finally say!) was closed due to the snow, and no one at my work ended up going to the office either. Thanks to our surprise three day weekend, I had the bathroom cleaned, five greeting cards made, and dollar theater movie times scoped out... all before 9am! What a day!

Here are some snow scenes from our apartment balcony.  It was way too cold to venture out much further just for a good photo op... It just didn't seem quite worth it at the time.

Honestly, snow is not my favorite thing. It is cold, wet, slushy, slippery, and altogether gross. And winter is not my favorite season. It is also cold, wet, slushy, and gross. Not to mention dreary and dark before 5:00 in the afternoon. I find myself wanting to snuggle into my PJs and get in bed before 7:00 each night. I tend to feel a little less happy and a little more gloomy during the winter.  No doubt, I am a summer gal through and through. 

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

15 Whatever is has already been,

and what will be has been before;

and God will call the past to account.

Blog Hopping

Due to my perpetual lack of internet access these days, I have been a little behind in my visits to new blogs, but here are a few that I found entertaining, inspiring, and, if nothing else, pretty!

Concha is a Portuguese transplant now living in England.  Her work is beautiful.  You can check out her blog, Saidos da Concha (I think in English that means "Said Concha," or "Said of Concha..." something like that?) to learn more about her, and see her work.  You can also go shopping at her Etsy shop!  I love her work, and it is especially fun to look at in the bleak of winter.  In contrast to the cool, crisp colors outside this time of year, she uses lots of bold, bright colors and patterns in her work. 

For those of us who are lacking in our ability to knit or crochet (It is okay; I blame left-handedness), Craftzine has provided us with a step-by-step on how to make fingerless gloves from long socks.  I have not yet worked up the courage to attempt these, but they are definitely somewhere on my "to do" list. 

Image from here

Deanna, at Recycled Lovelies,  has organized her crafting area.  The transformation is incredible!  She used mason jars to organize her craft supplies.  Practical and pretty!  She also has great tutorials that accompany many of her crafting posts.

Thanks to her post, my mission for this week is to organize my crafting supplies in... MASON JARS!  :)   

That is bound to be interesting!

Carded

Here are my most recent greeting cards.  Most of them are for Valentines Day, and were made for a local flower shop.

The owl design seemed to be a big hit... At least with the shop owner's eight-year-old daughter!

And cupcake cards, in honor of the sweet tooth in all of us!

Here is a blue version, for those of you who may not be "pink" people. 

For those of you who are literary "types..."

Ok, that was a cheesy joke.  I know. 

These last two are not Valentines Day related.

What you have just seen is just a small sample of a very large amount of practice that I have done with my new Cricut machine that I was given for Christmas.  Each card is a work in progress.  And, believe me, there is lots of progress left to be made!  The new machine is tricky to figure out (for me, at least), but so much fun to work with.  I used the "Imagine More" cartridge and the "Imagine More Cards"  cartridge for the cards pictured above.  The "Imagine More" cartridge is the one that comes with the Cricut Imagine machine, and the "Image More Cards" cartridge is one that I purchased separately.

Time flies

Andrew and I have now been married FIVE months!

And it is just now getting good  :)

August:

September:

October:

November:

Ok, confession... This picture was actually take December 29th at a Zac Brown Band Concert. What can I say? We haven't taken very many pictures in the last five months!

December:

Today...

Today was a really good day.  I woke up not feeling well and, honestly, I did not have exceptionally high expectations for the day.  But, God being the God that He is...

Today was one of those days when I felt God's presence literally all day long.  I could sense Him in everything I did.  It was as if he was whispering to me little reminders of His love constantly throughout today.  That feeling, that sense of peace and oneness with Christ, is something that I have not experienced in quite a long time.  Nothing particularly different or special happened today; He was just there, and I knew He was there.  And yes, I know He is always with me, but today, I could just feel His touch and His presence in everything.  That "feeling" impacted everything I did all day long.  It affected the way I spoke to others, looked at them, touched them.  It affected my mood.  I was more productive at work that usual. Today was a really good day. 

The thing is, I know that my Lord is always with me.  I know that, as I am His child and He is my Father, He promises never to leave me nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:8- "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.")  In my heart and in my mind, with every fiber of my being I know that God will always be with me.  I know this is true even when I do not feel Him.  So, I should act like this is true even when I do not feel Him.  I should act the way I did today every day; regardless of how I feel.  The way I feel does not change what I know to be true.  I should act like Christ's presence is all around me even when I feel isolated, defeated, hurt, or angry.  My faith in the knowledge and promise of God's everlasting presence should change me inside and out.  It should change me so drastically that it pours out in all that I say and do.  It should change the way I act, the way I work, and the way that I speak.  But it should always change these things; not just when I feel good, but each and every day of my life.  His presence should do so alive in me that it spills out onto everything and everyone around me.

Isaiah 55:12, 13

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the Lord's renown,

for an everlasting sign

that will endure forever."

After reading this, I was slightly curious as to what, exactly, a myrtle is.  In case you wondered the same thing:

Myr*tle
–noun
1.
any plant of the genus Myrtus, esp. M. communis, a shrub of southern Europe having evergreen leaves, fragrant white flowers and aromatic berries: anciently held sacred to Venus and used as an emblem of love. 
2.
any of certain unrelated plants, as the periwinkle, Vinca minor, and California laurel, Umbellularia californica.

I think it is interesting that the passage of scripture reads, "Instead of briers the myrtle will grow," and according to Webster, the myrtle was used as an emblem of love.  How perfect! 

picture from here

Apparently there is also a plant called "crepe myrtle," and this is it. 

I got the first picture used in this post from Cuba Gallery.  All of the pictures are amazing, and well worth the hours that you will probably spend clicking through them!  Just to give you a little taste of what to expect, below are a few more of their photos:

I would like to dedicate this next image to my sister, who just finished cosmetology school, and has landed her first job.  Please do not use scissors like this on my hair!

I would like to dedicate the next photo to my mother.  You would just have to know her...

Now that I am on a roll, here is one for Andrew:

This one is for me Dad.  There is a story behind the reason I picked this photo.  Whether or not he remembers the story is a different matter entirely. 

Theater of the mind

Trying to keep up to date with current events, here is a little miracle that happened for someone today.  

2 Samuel 22:3
"My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.  He is my stronghold, my refuge, and my savior- from violent people you save me." 

Making the Most of Things

In life, it is so important to make the most of what you are given.  That can mean many different things.  It can mean making the most of a bad situation.  It can mean making the most out of an opportunity.  It can mean stretching your resources to their limit.  It can mean making a killer first impression when you meet a potential employer.  It can mean making the most of a dead-end job, because at least you have one!

In my job right now, it is important for me to make the most of each home visit I do, and each phone call that I make.  It is important for me to make the most of people's time and knowledge that I can.  I have to maximize my resources.  I cannot invent new resources per say, but I can make  maximum use of those that are already available.  I do this by utilizing each available resource as often and as extensively as necessary.

In my personal life, I have to make the most of my time.  I enjoy lots of things.  I love to blog, read, paper-craft, and bake.  I also love to watch movies, take long baths (which our small water heater does not really allow), and spend time with my husband.  Unless I manage and organize my time wisely, it is impossible to do all of these things.  I utilize my time in an organized fashion so that I am able to enjoy my hobbies AND have plenty of time with Andrew.  This is another way of working with what you have and making the most of it!

In my home, it is important for me to make the most of the limited space I have right now.  Andrew and I live in a 600 square foot apartment.  In order for us to live comfortably, and still have access to the things we use from day to day, we are having to learn to ORGANIZE, and to maximize our storage space.

Here are some inspirational ideas for storage.

Martha Stewart suggests organizing jewelry in bowls. I have not implemented this idea, because it is not particularly practical, but it is definitely cute! Here is the slideshow the picture above is from.

Better Homes and Gardens suggests this idea for organizing a craft space.  They suggest using an unused bathroom cabinet to keep papers organized.  I like that the cabinet they chose has pegs on it.  You can hang practical things from them (like they did with the lunch pail), or you can use them to hang whatever is inspiring you each day right in front of you... to keep the creative juices flowing!

BHG also suggests using a shower organizer to hold crafts.  I love idea.  Shower organizers are inexpensive, and they make great containers for almost anything!  Why haven't I thought of this?!

True to their name, Real Simple makes staying organized seem so... SIMPLE!  They suggest using pegboard to keep your closet uncluttered, and to keep your last minute accessories easily accessible. 

Well, now that we are all nice and inspired, happy organizing!