You Are My God...

Pain.

It's everywhere, all around us. No one is immune to its wrath. Lately it's been on my mind. Pain, that is. The pain of this world. Just because I believe in the God that created this world doesn't mean that that pain is avoidable. I truly believe that God uses our pain and suffering as a way to draw us closer to Him, I just don't like it very much.

Whether it's physical like the pain that tears at my body every day......

or emotional, like the pain of a hurting marriage.....

or a baby lost whose mommy and daddy never got to meet their sweet face.....

or that of an orphan so far away that we'll probably never see them or have to hold their starving little body in our arms and feel how much they truly hurt.....

whatever kind of pain it is, there is a God who longs to hold us close through it all.

Have you ever felt so desperate that it took every bit of strength you had left to just breathe in and breathe out? I have.

Have you ever felt like you've cried out to God....begged him and gotten no response? I have.

Have you ever questioned God's plan for your life and wondered how "this" could possibly be what he wanted for you? I have.

In spite of all the pain this world can offer, it's so amazing to know without a doubt that there is a God who is mine. Sometimes it's easy to trust in Him and praise him through the pain, and other times it takes a conscious effort to raise "trembling hands" and ask him to help us trust in who He is.

I came across THIS SONG today and it just absolutely spoke to me. I turned it up loud, like um....very loud.....I just closed my eyes and let it wash over me. I hope you have 5 minutes today to just be still.....turn it up loud, close your eyes and just let the words speak to you. It's pretty sweet.......

Berry no more......

I don't know about the rest of you, but I had quite the fun and unexpected weekend. Mom and dad decided to make an unplanned trip to town to visit all of their favorite "little people" as they like to say. After some fun bouncy time at the local bouncy house play area we all had lunch at Pizza Ranch (super yummy and SUPER fattening pizza buffet). Then, while the little ones were napping and the 2 older boys were at the park with grandpa, my mom and sister and I ran to this place. It was fun but to be honest, just a BIT over-priced in my opinion. I love salvage/flea market type shopping! This place had some of that and also some antiques and all of it was very high priced! Kind of a bummer!

Later Saturday night, all of my sisters and mom and I went out for some quick Mexican and then mom and dad headed back home. Sunday was church, then naps and then out to the hubby's parents for dinner. The boys had a very competitive game of Wii bowling (you didn't hear it from me that my husband has a VERY hard time when his 5yr old son beats him at Wii bowling)....ahem, anyway....fun was had by all (only b/c Scott had to play one more time so he could beat Drew).

While Reed and Ali were napping Sunday afternoon I ran over to my favorite place in the entire world (a.k.a. Goodwill) and walked away with this beauty.....


don't you just love her holly berry and fig decor? She's all Christmas-y and ummmm....ugly?

Anyway, after removing her little berry/pinecone/evergreen goodness, adding just a quick coat of spray paint and then some sanding and "distressing" she's SO much more stylish!





A $1.99 very well spent!

Hope you all had a refreshing weekend as well!

Linking up with....


and

empty frame turned jewelry organizer

Ok, so I know this is nothing new or original. It's actually been around blogland for quite some time. It's been on my "list" for at least a year but somewhere in that year I got pregnant and had a baby and it kinda screwed up my whole schedule! ;) I have a decent amount of jewelry and I always struggle with a good way to organize it. I HATE it when it's all just jumbled up on my dresser or in drawers tangled and dusty and grody! This morning while Drew was at school, Ali was crawling around getting into things and Reed was quietly watching Sesame Street I dug out an old frame, some black felt, my glue gun, scissors and some raffia type stuff (not sure what it really is, it's from an old basket that came unraveled) and turned an empty frame into this fun jewelry organizer. I haven't hung it yet cuz to be honest that's just not my thing.....good thing the hubster will hang whatever I tell him to, whenever and wherever! He's so well trained! ;)




All I did was wrap the glass with the felt and place the glass back into the frame and secure it. Then I cut the wicker/raffia stuff into the lengths that I needed and hot glued them to the felt. Very easy. My necklaces are hanging on the raffia as well as some earrings and other earrings are simply stuck right through the felt. I've seen these jewelry organizers done many different ways with an old frame. I chose to leave the original glass IN my frame and just cover it because if I had taken the glass out (like I've seen done) knowing me, I'd have lost it or broken it before the days end.

It looks a bazillion times better than what I had going on before! Check that one off the list!

Easy and Fun Hair accessories.....

On Saturday, my sister and I headed downtown to this sweet lady's open house. It was super fun!! Lots and lots of adorable handmade items at VERY affordable prices. Doesn't get much better than that! Check out the super cute headband I purchased! I've already rocked it atLEAST 3 times (and that's just since Saturday when I purchased it)....ahem, yes....I tend to go a little overboard with a new purchase that I'm excited about! Why not? Right? =)



So, Saturday night as we were having a girl's night out with my big sis for her B-day, one of her friends was admiring my new hair piece (and the one I purchased for my sister for her b-day) and asked if I could make her one similar for a very important date this weekend! ;) She needed red to go with a little black dress and some seriously rockin' red pumps! I put together two very simple ones for her to choose from. We'll see if she thinks they'll work with her outfit. What do you think?





They're super easy, fun and very addictive!

a little pillow love....

This crafty "project" might possibly win the award for the cutest/easiest/most-FUN project EV-AH!!! I am sooooo thrilled with how it turned out. Pillows are kind of like accessories! ya know? Like, if you have just the right necklace or pair of earrings, you can make any outfit look cute. Well, I've got a thing for pillows right now. Just the right pillow combination and the couch suddenly goes from "um, honey-we-need-a-new-couch-cuz-this-one-is-so-not-cool anymore" to "man, that looks soooo CUTE!" And, the best part of it all? All four pillows combined cost me $3! Yup, that's right. THREE whole dollars. The black and white flower/vine fabric was FREE(I won it in a giveaway at this fabulous blog) and the felt for the adorable flower pillows was on sale at JoAnne's for 2.99 a yard! So, actually it cost less than $3 because I still have felt leftover!

Check out this pillow that cost $49.95 from Z Gallerie



Here's my $1.75 version of the pillow. How can you NOT love that! =)

Wall Candy

It's another GIVEAWAY! If you sew (or even if you know someone who can sew) you WANT to win some of this awesome fabric! Go check it out!

Starfish

If I won this giveaway I MIGHT just pass out! I LOVE these necklaces!! They are so.stinkin.cool! I want one with 3 charms on it, for each of the kids' names! Check it out!