Deep thoughts and rocks

The other evening I spent some time with my boys outside and we 

found ourselves having some deep conversation.

I asked them when or how they feel God.   Their answers were so precious and simplistic.  It reminded me that yes indeed He is in the simple things and too often we overlook that.

L said he feels Him when he is swinging, that he can feel Him moving past him as he flies through the air.

E said he feels Him when he sees a beautiful cloud that God made.

It's in these tiny moments that we can feel Him in our everyday lives.  Amongst all the running around and multitasking that is the norm these days, it's good to roll the windows down and feel the air on your face, stop to admire how delicately the flowers are made, belt out your favorite song as if no one was listening.  There is so very much to be thankful for.  Let's recognize the remarkable blessing we have simply in experiencing 

all these small facets of life.  Don't let them go by in a blur.

Then my little men and I started 'treasure hunting' for rocks in our landscape.  Both would squeal and get excited over what they found.  "Mom, look at this one!"  There were stripey ones, sparkly ones, rough ones, fossily ones, smooth ones, and spotted ones.  Each one had something unique about it.  How quick we are to look and dismiss something as just a pile of rocks.  

Oh what we are missing when we fail to take a closer look!  

Beauty abounds in the details my friends, 

we need only to stop and look.

These small lessons from my kids are helping me to find peace, grace, and faith.  

I can only hope that I am teaching them as much as they are teaching me!

Linking up with Rachel of course ;)

Found

The contorted filbert tree...

it graces our backyard, right off of our deck, and it is where I found God this week.  

This tree is all twisted and gnarly and well.... truthfully a bit weird.  

It's rather a lot like me.  

I am broken and twisted and half the time don't know which way I'm going.
But even I can see there is much beauty to be found in this crazy tree.  

So it struck me....  

God made this tree and if there is beauty in it's warped nature, then there is beauty in us too.  

He is in his heaven and we are his beloved children.  

A bit gnarly and contorted yes....but loved.   

What could be more wonderful that that?!

Beautifully Rooted

Weekend recap - Miscellany Monday

I picked these beauties with my boys the other night.  There's just something about having fresh flowers in your home..and I happen to LOVE hyacinths.  I really should plant some more of them because this essentially constituted all the available blooms.  Their sweet smell has permeated every room in my house. 
It is an instant mood lifter :)

These babies are kicking my butt.  Me Hubsy bought me this cake pop maker for Christmas 'cause he knew how much I wanted to try them (he's sweet like that).  Well we had our birthday party for the boys over the weekend and I had the genius idea that I would make cake pop that look like planets.  Though this was the second time I made cake pops, they turned out much worse than the first.  Oh there's nothing wrong with the cake pop maker, it produces round cake ball like it should, but icing those suckers is tough!  And hard to get consistent.  After several hours of frustration and crappy sorry looking cake pops, I've about thrown in the towel.  I have one last trick up my sleeves but if that doesn't work out, I may just have to leave this one to the professionals.

My boys all the sudden LOVE the BabyFirst channel....wha?  They're now 3 and 6, are we regressing?  I mean this is painful to watch if you don't have a baby.  I have no idea what the draw is.

As if blooming flowers weren't enough of a sign, painted tootsies definitely mean that spring is here.  We've had unusually beautiful weather in the last 2 weeks, like 70's & 80's, so I've been wearing some sandals but my feet just looked so NAKED without a little polish.  Well I finally had some time to rectify that.  I chose a obnoxiously bright shade of pink :)

If you have tween daughters, they're probably on the Jonas brothers bandwagon.  The Quaker granola bars we recently bought are sporting a nice pic of Nick Jonas on them.  L LOVES these, requests them even....but he says that Jason Aldean is on them.  "I know it's not really him mom, but he's cooler than this guy".  

Well my little man, I'd have to agree.

I've always said you can tell if an orange is going to be good by the way it peels.  Me Hubsy thinks I'm weird but I swear it's true.  If the peel comes off easy, you're golden.  This sad little thing was just destined to be disappointing.  The rind was difficult to get off and the segments broke when trying to separate.  Proof?  I think yes.  Either that or it was the Jalepano cilantro hummus I had just before that threw the taste off.

Lastly I made some "man beads" for my man last night. 
I love that he wears jewelry, does your man?

Hope you all had a nice weekend.
 

lowercase letters

I actually won!

I am not a winner.  Or it may be better put as I'm not a risk taker.  I just don't like the odds.  I don't play the lottery for that reason, I figure I'm better off saving my money that spending it on a one-in-a-gazillion chance of striking it rich.  I don't really enter very many contests either but I do throw caution to the wind and fill out an entry now and again :)  And this time I actually won!  I can't believe it!

Natalie at The Busy Budgeting Mama won from the Martha Stewart Collection from Staples and I figured what the heck, I'll enter too.  And gosh darn it if I didn't win!  (I think I'm as happy about the fact that I won as I am with the actual stuff that I got)

In true Martha-style this folder and organizer are casual yet elegant.

I should get some of the other products too.

Dry erase labels = awesome idea!

Love these post-its.  So much more fun than the square yellow stickies.

Organization....yes please.

Maybe then my home office for Behind the Moon Beadworks would look more like this...

or this...

or this...

A girl can dream can't she ;)
 

Thanks to Natalie for posting about this giveaway.  

Thanks to Martha and Staples for the awesome gift ;)

March - Photo a day project Part 1

1. Up (smoke rising)

2. Fruit (fruit decor in my entryway)

3. Your neighborhood (view from my bedroom)

4. Bedside (nothing fancy)

5. Smile (on my chalkboard in my kitchen)

6. 5pm (dinner time)

7. Something you wore (peep toes)

8. Window (rainy day)

9. Red (Wedding glasses used for our first toast)

10. Loud (not the piano itself but the entire fundraising event)

11. Someone you talked to today (my sweet pooch, she's a good listener)

12. Fork (the good set that I never use)

13. Sign (I pass this place everyday)

14. Clouds (just beautiful)

15. Car (Our Jeep, affectionately named Black Jack)

I'm finally participating in this project and I just love it, 

it so much fun to hunt for things to capture each day!

Are you participating?  

Follow me on Instagram at krista2021 :)

Happy St. Patrtick's Day!

Wishing you all the luck of the Irish this St. Patrick's Day and always!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A little randomness for your Friday

Yep, that's good ole George Jetson on the TV.

1.  The highlight of my week was  getting new IKEA furniture on the cheap, HELLO Craig's List!  We got all 4 pieces for what one piece would have cost new at the store.  Major score.

Now I have somewhere to display this little guy....love owls!

2.   If I had to classify my interior design aesthetic it would be   Eclectic, I like just about every style.

3.  My first vehicle was a 1990 Plymouth Laser, it was hot I tell ya.  Black, 5 speed too.

4. An item I need to have in my day in order to function is  a shower/coffee.

5. My favorite way to waste time is fiddle on my iphone.  I do this way too much.

6. Right now I could really go for  a vacation, somewhere hot and tropical.  Although I have a better chance of dragging a plant into the bathroom, turning on the shower for steam and just using my imagination ;)

7.  This weekend I will be frantically getting all the last minute stuff done for my sons' double birthday party.  And hopefully a little kayaking ;)

Stole this little gem from Diedre. 

Happy Friday gals!

You know it's love when....

it sneaks into your day and makes you cry.

When I got to work today I had this little gem from me Hubsy waiting for me in my email inbox.

heard this song this morning on the treadmill and it made me think about how great my life is because of you. Enjoy. I love you.

Check out this video on YouTube:

Lee Brice - Woman Like You

God do I love that man!

Found

Beautifully Rooted

So I'm doing a new link-up today that I think is just awesome!
  It's hosted by Beautifully Rooted.  The challenge is to find God in your daily life through your camera to serve as a visual reminder that He is with us, always.

This is where I found God this week....

 

In the feet of my little one.  

Those precious feet that will carry him through so much in this life.  He will trudge on them through the hard times and dance on them in the good.  But he will never walk on them alone.

Psalm 121

A song of ascents. ¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.
 ³ He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.
 ⁵ The LORD watches over you—
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.
 ⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
   he will watch over your life;
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
   both now and forevermore.

Miscellany Monday - A random photo journey

Linking up with Carissa for a quick and dirty Miscellany Monday via recent pics...

Out on the town exploring our city

 Working hard to get in shape

My poor boy always seems to be running around with only one sock on.  Not that he cares.

Good morning sunshine!

Putting on the Ritz at the fundraising Gala for my son's school.

Spring is in the air with peep toe shoes!

Loving the fact that boys will be boys :)

Happy Monday!!

Hey jealousy....I'm so over you

I admit it.  
My heart has been bogged down in the icky muck of jealousy lately, especially in the blog world.
Have you ever found yourself having blogger envy?

I guess it's the accessibility of so many personal lives from blogging that led me to it.  I mean, I think I may know more about some fellow bloggers than I do some "real" people in my life.  Lord knows this type of forum makes me more comfortable to share things about myself than I otherwise would in some cases.  Not that this is necessarily a bad thing.  I just mean that with all this exposure, it's so easy to start comparing yourself to others.   I've found myself getting jealous of lots of things out there.

It begins with the blog itself.  I start thinking that my header is not good enough or maybe my blog doesn't have "the right look".  So I start to feel pressure to redesign.  Nor am I a particularly witty writer.  I get envious of those who write eloquently or humorously.  Should I have more followers?  How do I get more followers?

I follow a lot of ladies who happen to be SAHM's.  Oh the jealousy to be found there!  I find myself thinking if only I didn't have to work, my life would be like theirs.  I could be with my kids all day and write all sorts of posts about parenthood, being a mommy, and the funny things my kids say or do on a daily basis.  I would have time to play games with my kids, clean my house, cook wonderful meals, and work on my jewelry designs.  An image of June Cleaver comes to mind :)  Deep down I know this is not the reality for most of you SAHM's.

Don't even get me started on financial jealousy.  Seeing all the beautifully designed homes, date nights, and trips/vacations that people take makes for a covetous me. I don't like feeling that way.  Not one little bit.

The green-eyed monster has even gotten me on relationships.  See me Hubsy and I can't seem to swing getting in some quality kids-free time just for us. The day-to-day "stuff" is starting to get overwhelming for us.

Simply put, I miss him. 

Not to mention I follow/admire a lot of people who live out their faith in ways that I do not.  Jealous of other people's faith!  Can you believe it?  Sad I know, but I'm keeping it real.  I haven't been feeling like my relationship with God is strong enough.  Like something is missing.  I'm reading the Bible but it still seems like there is so much I don't understand.  Or that there is a deeper message in there somewhere that just hasn't made itself known to me.  And then I read some people's posts that are just so convicted and I begin to doubt my faith.

So I've been praying about it....all of it.  And it has been answered.  A peace has been brought to my heart.  Solace to my mind.  And it all comes back to the Lord.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

~Ephesians 6:10-11

Dear Jealousy,
You are no good for me.  There is no room for you in my life.  I have been blessed beyond measure and I will not let you continue to rob me of any more joy.   I'm so over you jealousy.  I know your a tough one and won't give up so easily but believe me, you will not win.

One Word

Love this :)

Here's another quick little "get to know me" post.
I got this one from Jodie, one of my new followers :)
  Check her out at Ramblings of a Fabulous Brunette!


One word to describe your life... roller coaster

One word to describe your love... loyal

One word to describe your body... average
One word to describe your cooking... inexperienced

One word to describe your career... temporary

One word to describe your hobby... creative
One word to describe your style... easy

One word to describe your blog... honest

One word to describe your home... comfortable 


I find it darn near impossible to sum up just about anything in one word but thought this was fun :)
What's your "one word" to describe your life?

The Chair - Friday Favorite Things

Yep, I think I'm THE LAST person on the instagram bandwagon but I'm hooked ;)

If you don't have an overstuffed chair, may I suggest you run right out and get one?  It doesn't need to be snazzy.  This one is about 8 years old now and in shabby appearance but it has held so many wonderful moments.  It's just big enough to fit two people if you really want and small enough that the only way you're getting two people on it is to snuggle ;)  It kinda forces the snuggle....I like that.

I have wonderful memories in this chair.  My first Mother's Day was spent laying across the arms with a sleeping baby on my chest.  Sheer bliss.  I can't tell you how many mornings I have brought a sleepy little one fresh from bed down to snuggle on my lap in this chair.  All tucked up in my arms, smelling of sleep, and skin flushed from just waking.  Such blessed moments that will be gone all too quick.  I am hanging on to them for as long as I can.

Linking up with Rachel :)