8.31.2012

contrasting textures






I love finding common themes in things I like. Something I've noticed as a recent theme: The more textures, the better. Really, the more contrast the better. Texture, size, scale, and age. If you contrast those things, you'll have my kind of arrangement. 

8.30.2012

tater tot





I'm about to tell you that we named our kitten after the movie Napoleon Dynamite. You've been warned.

His name is Tater Tot, and he appears to want to be a blogger when he grows up. :) In case you're wondering what a cat would blog about, I'll show you. He seems to be mostly into capital letters and punctuation marks.

,i afc      ================================  givimmm;m.///;   MMMMMMM MNSW  RRRRRRRRReRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ;[RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR 0-------TE-=EWWWWWWWN                                                        P[;P;//ju ['/

He also likes making new tabs, opening my dashboard, and then warming himself by the fake flames. He's kinda fancy.

Oh, and tetherball. He's really into batting at anything that dangles. Around and around and around and around. When we got him from the vet, they had already named him Little Man Tate. We were going to change his name all together, but his tether ball playing mixed with his already name, earned him the name Tater Tot. If you haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite, don't worry about it. It's about a kid who plays tetherball and keeps tater tots in his pocket, but he has a llama not a kitten. I digress.

I might let him guest blog occasionally, but he'll have to work on his content. :)

8.29.2012

perseverance

By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.- Spurgeon





Classes are in swing, homework has been assigned, and I cringe when my alarm goes off before the sun peeks its pretty little head over the horizon. Fortunately, it's my last semester of classes, and with the Lord as my strength, I'll make it.

8.25.2012

25k


I forgot to blog on my blogiversary. No big deal, just a missed opportunity for cupcakes and pinatas. But recently you broke twenty five thousand views for me, and that's a nice big number, so I wanted to say thanks. Thanks for following along. Here, have a cupcake.





8.23.2012

porn


I'm just cleaning house.

I mopped the bathroom floor, washed the dishes, and then placed them into their respective cupboard spots. Next, I went through seventeen issues of Better Homes and Gardens and pulled out all of the pictures of naked women.

Nothing against Better Homes and Gardens. Obviously, their main goal is to inspire me to have a beautiful home, inside and out, but they forget the eyes of the men in my life. I've never met a man who didn't struggle with porn.

Everyone starts somewhere. I remember my first time. At age thirteen, a friend and I were on her computer. We were making paper dolls and looking at pictures of our favorite movie stars. Then, in an act of innocence, we typed "hot guys" into google search, hoping for all of our favorite actors to show up in one search. Oops. We couldn't react fast enough. She closed all the internet explorer windows, we turned off the computer, and rushed into her living room. We sat on the couch, out of breathe, wide-eyed, and accidentally guilty. I literally can still remember the form and shape of the pixels that glared back at us.

I wasn't curious. I wasn't searching, but there it was, and it whet an appetite that I admit to fighting {sometimes half-heartedly} for the rest of my life thus far.

Matthew started differently than me. Lotion ads. Underwear ads. Almost harmless. Not naked women, or, at least, not showing the areas that we consider to be offensive. His internet searches became purposeful. A downward spiral into addiction.

I wouldn't share that if I didn't know that every other boy I've ever known/dated/befriended struggles too. Some more than others. Different ages, different problems, but the same struggle. A lust that leads to addiction.

Don't think I'm ignorant. I know that as hard as we'll try to keep our sons' eyes from temptation, they will see it. It's at the library. It's at gas stations, wal*mart, and woven through every television station. I can't protect them from erotic billboards, but I can make sure they won't find trash in our home. They won't find it in my magazines. We're just trying to help them. We're trying to protect their eyes for as long as we can.

I'm trying to encourage them toward righteousness and give all of the men in my life a liberty to stand fast in.

8.22.2012

wood and paint

We've all seen the wood and paint on chairs that's trending, which I love...


... but I think my favorite place to see it is on children's dressers.











You'll be seeing some of this in the future from us. :)

8.21.2012

the beginning of the end

Today...


  • I registered for my last fall semester. 
  • I took my last school photo. 
  • I bit off two of my nails in the stress that comes with restarting something that you're so fond of stopping. 
  • Matthew sent me texts like, "Love you more than anything."
  • We got the news from our guests that our couch bed is, in fact, comfy.
  • I am going on a date with my husband.
  • My legs are remarkably smooth {is this what people who take showers in the morning normally feel like? amazing.}.
  • I blogged about nothing on my pull-out couch bed, with my jagged fingernails, a bowl of reese's puffs, my smooth legs, and a camera phone.


8.15.2012

lazy days and little white lies



Lazy days like today make me all sorts of aware that school starts up again next week. Next week, I begin my last fall semester as a student. Can I get a whoop whoop?

Also, I'm trying to stop biting my nails. Has anyone ever successfully done this? I haven't bitten them in a couple of weeks, and as long as I keep them painted they are pretty safe. My main problem? Once one breaks... it's over. No point in having nine long nails! Maybe that's the problem, I'm an all or nothing type.

Please, tell me that you graduated from college. The same day you stopped biting your nails, right? Tell me you weren't still chubby on graduation day. Tell me you were pregnant, too. Lie to me, would ya?

8.12.2012

big, cheap art




If you place a picture on a flash drive and take it in to FedEx Office {which used to be Staples} and say, "Hello. I would like you to print this on your largest blueprint printer." They will print you a 4'x3' picture {b&w only} for $12. If they are not satisfied with how it turns out {since it's a vintage, low resolution picture}, they will give it to you for $2.50. Then you will mount it on foam, hang it on your bedroom wall, and point to a window in the top right corner and say, "There. That's the room we honeymooned in."

Trust me. The whole experience is fun.

8.06.2012

finicky

Finicky: To like change so much that people peg you as unpredictable.





Every once and a while, I think we have arrived. As though we've made it to the magical place where everything is meant to be as it is, with no need for change. Never, though have we stopped our cars there. Not for so much as a luncheon, because I, for one, am finicky. I thrive on change. I lap it up, like water from the creek on a blistering day. Change is something {one of the only things} I can create for myself and be satisfied with.

And then, a month later, with no warning whatsoever, a little bit of finick sneaks in again, and I ask those around me, "Why, do you suppose, I moved that here?" To which the reply remains the same, "You wanted a change? Remember?" And in those moments, I never can.

But here we are again, back at the beginning. With different chairs, in the same spots, and no coffee table in the middle, but two on the sides. We knew we'd be back and settle easily into the same mold again.

My children will grow up in an ever changing atmosphere, and I hope it will help them to take change easily, as though lifting their feet as the wave carries them a step backwards. You can always take the step forward again once the wave has set you down, but if you brace yourself against it, you are robbed of the ride.

votive candle upgrade


Easy, right? A couple of candles, a piece of driftwood, a couple of nails. You know the rest. I like this way many bunches better than the cheapo glass candle holders we had them in. Plus, it reminds me of the beach we found it on, which makes it more fun.

Yes, I see that rhino's cutie patootie. Stop staring.



8.04.2012

couch





We did it. After all the moments of, "I'm going to save up to buy that $600 one from Urban Outfitters." we took the plunge and bought our forever couch at a thrift store. Who's surprised? *crickets* Didn't think so. It's retro, tufted, wingback, and has a bed in it. It was $90. Fist pump!

We did make a tiny change to it through, that I think improved its curb appeal immensely. Here's the before and after. Tell me if you can spot the difference (in the couch specifically, not the rest of the room).





Dust ruffle gone. Matt pried it off with a hammer {it took five minutes tops} and I think it looks way amazing. When I first saw the couch, I picked up the dust ruffle to check out the cute little legs and knew that it was time for the ruffle to bite its own dust. Heh. :)

 To save you from scrolling, I'll put the one that shows its adorable feet down here, so we can collectively, "Awww" at the little feet.


Ready? Awww. So cute. Ok, well come visit us! We have an extra bed!

8.03.2012

in case you need some llama art





Really, who doesn't? Forever ago I made "heart art". It was easy, unoriginal, and pretty, but every time I looked at it I couldn't help but feel like it was someone else's idea, and therefore didn't belong in our living room. So... I tore all the hearts off. That sounds violent, but it was really nonchalant. Like "he loves me not" on flower petals. A soft yank.

When it was over, I had a blank, grassy green canvas and I asked for Matt's opinion,"What's something you would choose to describe us?" My mind was going all different directions, but Matt settled them with his random answer, "A llama."

He was right. Playful, random, geeky, and conservative. Whatever that means.

I cut out a llama silhouette, traced it onto the canvas in pencil, and then attached tiny strips of paper via rubber cement to make my "pinata texture" or Shag, the llama. If you're going to make your own shaggy animal using paper strips, just remember to start at the bottom and work your way up, so you get furry texture. Also,be really precise around the edges to make the lines crisp. Happy llama making!

8.02.2012

read






Let's be honest with one another. This is a lifestyle/family/mommy/daddy/baby blog, except we don't have any babies yet. Really. That's what you're reading. A babyless baby blog.

I'm sick of posting about what I buy. Let's continue to be honest. Unless I'm telling you that your favorite store is secretly having a 99% off sale, you don't care. A brass whale that I find at the thrift store will never help you find something similar. Simply put, it's just a useless peek into my world. So, you're welcome for the glimpses, but they aren't the important stuff.

Next order of business. The important stuff. I grew up in a sheltered family. Skirts only, long hair, no PG-13 until I was 13 {and very selective at that point}, no touching boys etc. etc. Before you tell me you're sorry for me, let me continue our honesty streak. Sheltering us was the best thing that our parents did for us. I will raise my children with similar rules that my parents had for me. They will not be posted on the wall anywhere, they will simply be lived out. Again, there are no babies yet, so you don't need to hear our child raising philosophies in full.

Here's the nugget for today. We are reading/re-reading all of our books and stamping the inside with a small four letter word.

READ

Whether you read that like "red" or "reed" the stamp means the same thing. We {the parents} have read this book, and you {the children} may read this book.

I'll be honest, this has been hard for me. I am a big fan of Nicholas Sparks. Having collected most of his books, it's hard to be honest with myself. Isn't that where the honesty streak often ends? I enjoy his style of writing and I enjoy romance. I enjoy sex. But I don't want my children's minds to be filled with the slutty word pictures. Today, before our children are conceived, I have to chose to love them more than I love lust. I have to love their innocence more than I love that dirty pleasurable feeling that comes from reading a line or two of written porn.

My favorite book is "Redeeming Love". I wouldn't let a small child read it, but I will greatly encourage my older girls to read it. It has a wholesome, redeeming message. "READ"

My second favorite book is "The Notebook". I can't stamp it. I can't recommend it to my children. It makes it into our next thrift store pile.

Well, there you have it. A young Christian wife's decision to help her future family. A strangely difficult parting with trashy books to make room for wholesome reading. Not every book has to have a Christian message. Sometimes, children should read just to enlarge their world, but there won't be any written trash in this house.