Q U E S T {youth weekend}

At our church they're always doing events specifically designed for students. Constantly. 

And I think it's pretty awesome. 

A few weeks ago they had an event they call Quest. It's a weekend full of worship, fellowship and community service. 

This was my first experience volunteering for Quest. And I'm definitely glad I did. 

If you've ever been to any kind of student event, you know how awesome it is. They seem to "let go" more. They worship more freely and seem more open in discussions. I think sometimes kids are a little too scared to ask some of the tough questions when their parents are around. So when they get away like this, they ask stuff like "What happens if someone has never heard about Jesus and they die? Will they go to Heaven?" or "How do we know there is a God?"

To give you kinda a rundown of what happens at Quest - we left the church in buses... and lots of em... on Friday evening and headed to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. When we got there, we had to hustle to our rooms, drop our stuff and get over to the worship service. 

If you've been to Opryland Hotel, you know it's a really big place. And my group had a hard time navigating all its nooks and crannies. 
All.weekend.long. 
But we weren't the only ones. ;-) 

The worship service Friday night kicked off with Rhett Walker Band leading us in worship. It was great. But the first night is always a little tight. I guess everyone hasn't really settled in yet. The minister who shared from the Bible and preached was awesome. There were lots of students who responded and one girl in my group gave her life to Jesus. :-)

After service we all went back to our rooms to have some discussion about the message we had heard in the service. Small group time. It's always good to get in a smaller group and kinda talk through things, make sure everyone got something from it. 

Saturday was a packed day. Devotion time and worship in the morning followed by a quick lunch on the bus on our way to the service projects. Some were tasked with clean up duties, landscaping, and painting, etc. But our group collected cans of food for our church's canned food bank for those in need. We pounded the pavement knocking on doors and smiling at strangers as we asked for donations. There was a really cool thing that happened with my group and you can read about it here on our church's website - God's multiplication

That night we had another worship service and a dozen or so students were baptized (they had been saved during the weekend). It was so awesome to see students committing their lives to Christ in front of all their friends. 

Sunday morning we headed back to our campuses to be in service as a group. It was the perfect way to end a God-filled weekend.

Here are a few pics ~ 

 I never get tired of seeing a room full of students worshipping 

: Devotion time :

It was cool seeing the girls reading the scripture and taking notes

These young ladies really blessed me. 

It was an honor to spend the weekend with them worshipping, learning more about God and serving our community. 

why this day has been awesome

I'm sittin' on the porch listening to the peaceful sounds of country living and it's 60 degrees. 

Yes, SIXTY degrees at 9:30 on a March night. 

Anyway, this is my first time to blog from the porch. So there's that. 

I just want to tell you why this day has been awesome. 

First off, I had half the day off work. It was a gift from my boss. Ahhhh

I also had an exciting weigh in at my Weight Watchers class today. I recaptured my goal weight. 

Can I get a yee haw?! Or at least a courtesy clap.

It's taken me about a year to get here but I've worked hard and didn't give up. Ok, well I might have given up a week or two here or there, but overall I didn't give up. 

I went shopping after Weight Watchers and when you feel good about yourself, shopping is a little more enjoyable, ya know? I tried on several things and was even able to go down a size in a couple pieces. I might have done a tiny happy dance in the dressing room. ;-) 

ALSO, we got word today that our pastor (who was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer a year ago) got another CLEAR SCAN from the doc. God is so good!

Did I mention the weather has been absolutely perf today?! 

When I got home I put on a tank and some shorts (it was 71 degreeeeees) and went out to the back yard and sat in a chair in the sun. I just sat there with my eyes closed soaking in the beauty of the afternoon and trying to get some color on these ghostly legs before capri season. Anthony poked his head out and said "are you really just sitting out here like that?" I said YES I AM and I AM LOVING IT! 

Next we went to our accountant and did our taxes and praise the Lord for a nice refund heading our way in about a week. Woot woot! 

We rounded out the day by going to our favorite eatery of late.. . . Chuy's! nomnom What's really cool about that is our friend Bridgett ended up joining us. Unexpected friend time! We chatted and laughed. And talked and laughed. And laughed. And laughed. It was soooo good. We don't get to hang out as much any more. She's busy student teaching and all. I even hugged her when we left. And you know I'm not much of a hugger. 

So now, this day is drawin' to a close and I'm out here on a gorgeous night listening to my sweet hubby play his guitar and blogging to you awesome people. 

I'm thankful for days like this. God sure has blessed us! 

a different spin on selfies

If you're on ANY form of social media, you know what a selfie is. 

These smart phones most of us are carrying around - they have this spiffy little feature that lets you see yourself as you take your own pic. I think they call it the "user facing camera" feature. Or the turnaround feature. Whatev.

Everybody's pretty much done it. If you're a teenager you've probably done it every day since you got your smart phone. Multiple times a day. 

But I digress. 

Well, lately I've taken a few selfies with my cat. Haven't posted em anywhere. 

Til now.

I haven't talked about her on the blog in a while, but I hang out with Tinsley a lot in the evenings after we've finished dinner.

She thinks she's supposed to have her 14 pound furry self in my lap most of the time. If the lap is vacant that is. 

She's pretty spoiled.

So without further adieu, I present you with....  
SELFIES WITH TINSLEY 

 pondering

eh, just slightly annoyed

 ready for my closeup

 matching eyeliner bwahaahaaa

happy nappy

Pardon the poor quality of the indoor iPhone selfies. 

And pardon my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt from the late 90s in the last shot. Um... I promise I'm not a hoarder although I've been accused of it.

I hope your cat makes you as happy as mine makes me. 

Or your dog. Or your hamster. Whatever floats your boat.  

hangin' with my bestie and painting and such

Spending a Saturday with your bestie is always the best!

Leslie asked me to go to a painting class with her.. and of course I jumped at the chance to be crafty & creative! Our time together seems to get more scarce with those boys of hers and their busy-busy schedules.

My poor church friend has been trying to get me to go Goodwill-ing for months and I had to cancel on her this cold Saturday. Apparently the first Saturday of the month is half price day. Because it's not already cheap enough I s'pose. ;-) I'll get there eventually! 

But back to the painting. 

There was a nice pro painter who led the class. She's just started a biz and if you wanna get a group together and do it, GIVE HER A CALL! 
Heather Viramontes is her name and her phone number is 270-618-0702

Here we are with our 
       :: M A S T E R P I E C E S ::

Pardon my sweatpants. It was SATURDAY people. 

This picture collage sorta shows you how we got there.  

If you're a perfectionist or a little OCD about trying to make it look just like the pro's example {cough cough} you may find yourself stressing a bit during the process. . .  

Les & I wouldn't know a thing about that. 

Have I hung mine up? No. But I do like it. 

And the best part was doing it alongside a chic that knows me better than just about anyone else. 

And still likes me. 

Friends are cool. And so is painting. 

Call Heather!

Monday Rewind: a Valentine's sweet treat

I realize it is February 24th and Valentine's Day was 10 days ago. 

What of it? 

This snack is yummy and I feel compelled to share it with you. 
So there. 

:: Sweetheart buddies ::

This was another little dandy I found on Pinterest. here's the link

I didn't have time to go out and get the red candy melts so mine isn't as pretty as the original creator's, but none of my friends complained. HA! 

I'm toying with the idea of trying this as a lemony treat - if I do, I'll be sure to post the results and a better picture. 

cheer someone up OR save it for your Valentine

I made this for Anthony for Valentine's Day, BUT it could easily convert to one of those cheer someone up kinda things. Could even be a quick teacher gift. 

After all, who doesn't love being told they're THE BOMB?!

What you need - - 

 

3 packs of Rolo candy

Red cardstock or scrapbook paper

Black cardstock or scrapbook paper

1 Black pipe cleaner

Two sided tape

Glue pen & Cricut machine (optional)

 

What you do -  - 

Measure the paper to be the length of the Rolo with just a little of the foil peeping out on each end. Cut with a paper trimmer to ensure straight edges.

 

Put a strip of two-sided tape on one end of your paper. Wrap the paper around each Rolo to act as a wrapper and press firmly to seal the "cover."

 

Once you've done this with all 3 Rolos, stack them together like 3 sticks of dynamite. Tie with the pipe cleaner. Cut off a short piece to stick in the top as the fuse. There's really no need for adhesive. 

 

I don't trust my own handwriting so I cut the phrase out with my Cricut. Then I stuck the letters down with a glue pen on a circle shape. I mounted the red circle on a slightly bigger black circle to give it a little separation from the red of the wrappers. Had to hole punch it too of course. Then I stuck it through the pipe cleaner and cut off the excess. 

 

This was simple but oh so cute, don't you think?! 

 

Like I said, this isn't just for Valentine's. 

 

It could be a little thank you for a coworker that helped you out. It could be a pick me up to your kid who's had a rough week at school. 

 

Go make someone's day - everybody loves thoughtful gifts involving chocolate & caramel!  #yum

another crafty card

While we're on the subject of crafty, homemade cards...

I also recently made this Pinterest inspired birthday card for our little nephew who turned 2. 

here's the link to my inspiration

If you don't own a Cricut, you should!!! 

That's how I cut out the numbers. You just have to turn your paper every which way to make the numbers turn differently. 

The whole panel on the front of the card is raised because it's mounted on 3D glue dots. One of my scrapbooking/crafting staples. 

I wrote the word "celebrate" myself. 

And instead of a button I did a metal eyelet. Couldn't find the right size or color in my stash of buttons. #crafterprobs 

Inking the edges of the paper just always makes it have a bit of a pop in my opinion. I just like the look.  

This is an easy card! Not much time involved here. But a good result! 

cure for winter boredom - a crafty birthday card

Sometimes when it's gloomy & cold outside I get bored. It's not that I'm an outdoor girl so much, but I think it's just the fact that you can't really go out and do much for very long when it's the bitter cold days of winter, ya know? 

We've had a lot of those kinds of days this winter. BOOOO !

The other day I felt like making a cute birthday card for a friend. I had seen it on Pinterest and when I clicked the pin, it took me to a blogger who was kind enough to share the tutorial. 
Step.by.step.by.step.
For a detail oriented girl like me (with a dash of OCD/perfectionism) you can't imagine how happy this made me.  
{ s w o o n } 

Anyway, here's MY CARD - - 

happy birthday message was a Stampin' Up stamp

The front of the card was the last thing I did... 

I like how it turned out! 

The dry embossing on the lighter green strip toward the bottom was pretty much a waste of my time. {lesson learned} But I think the wet embossing of the Happy Birthday circle design gives it a bit of texture & shine. I also put the 3D glue dots under that, which gave some dimension to the front. 

Here's the link to Ms. Lisa Young's blog and her tutorial for making this card - - Lisa Young's blog

If I'm being honest, it took me a couple hours to make my card but I was flipping through papers, searching for ribbon, playing around with things on my Cricut and what not. 

If I did it again (and I plan to) I think I'd be able to do it much faster the second time around. 

Now go make a card! Stat! 

Homemade is A L W A Y S better than store bought!

r a n d o m t h o u g h t s

~ I'm excited about American Idol this season. Love Harry Connick, Jr. & Keith Urban on judge's row with JLo. . . looks like this year they're bringin' in some good talent. Hopefully we're done with putting imposters in the winner's circle. {cough Phil Phillips cough} 

~ I'm tired of the cold. I hate winter. It's official. I know other areas have it much worse than us. So I'll stop complaining now. I do like scarves and boots, but enough is enough!

~ I just need longer days. And more sun.

~ I'm dying for a pair of skinny jeans in a bold color. 

~ I'm ready to don some brighter colors and lighter fabrics. SPRING SPRING SPRING hurry on up! 

~ My friends are the best. I was mega stressed out recently and they encouraged me, prayed for me, and gave me scriptures to help me. Ahhh I'm so blessed! 

~ My hubby and I are in a bit of a food funk, if you will . . . I need some new recipes or somethin. I'm definitely ready for grillin' season!

~ 2014 is going by kinda fast already. Seize the moment people! 

How's that for random? 

300th post

You read that right - this is my 300th post. 

 

I started this blog in September 2010. Read the first post here.

 

And in just a little over 3 years, I've posted 299 times. 

 

The hub and I have aged three years of course... 

here's a "then and now" if you're into that sort of thing... 

Anth has converted the Coca Cola tshirt to an undershirt. Thus the cutoff sleeves. And apparently I switched my part in my hair. Eh... I felt like my hair looked better in person than this pic shows, too. That annoys me. Anyway.

 

It's kinda stupid how fast these blogging years have flown by. I can't say I have any "significant events" to reminisce about. Same jobs. Same house. We've changed a car or two I think. And we both finally joined team iPhone. I guess our church change was kinda significant. 

 

I still feel like my blog is random. But I'm okay with that.

 

So thanks for reading. I hope my blog entertains you once in a while.  I really do.