Cozy Saturday morning

Happy Weekend everyone! Aren't weekends great?? Well for the most part. My hubby is working all day today which makes it a little less great, but thats ok!

I just felt like commenting on how nice it is to get things accomplished and relax a little on Saturdays. I had a small to-do list this morning and was able to get everything accomplished (which is always a great feeling). Then I thought I would sit down and do some emailing and blogging along with a cup of my new Cinnamon Apple Spice tea! Now let me first say that I am not a huge tea drinker...give me coffee over tea any day! However, last night I got some new tea and decided to try it out today. It was remarkable! Typically I have to put some type of sweetner in my tea, but not this one! It was so tastey and sweet all on its own! Just sipping my tea while catching up on emails and such really made this morning feel cozy!

Hope you are able to relax this weekend! Its getting so busy with Christmas just a week away, but hopefully you can take some time out of your busy-ness and just enjoy this season!

Now, I'm off to help Mom get things ready at her house! Family will be arriving in just 6 short days and there is still much cleaning, decorating, baking, and gift wrapping to be done!

Enjoy your Saturday!

Blessings and Peace to you during this Christmas season!

Flowers...again

Remember last week's post with the flower hair clips?

Well ever since I did those , flowers have been on my brain! I have done a tiny bit of knitting in the past and decided to try to knit a little flower and see how it went! I was quite pleased!

I've been REALLY wanting a cute new hat to wear in this crazy, snowy weather we've been having lately, so I thought I might put my flower creation on a hat and see how it looked. I found this hat at Hobby Lobby, bought a pin to sew to the flower (so it will stay on the hat), a flower shaped wooden button, and a rhinestone. The completed project is super cute (in my opinion)! I absolutely adore it!

I think I will wear it today :)

snow, snow, and more snow!

That's what we're getting today!

When they called for 3"-6" today, I didn't believe them...oh me of little faith!

I needed to go to the post office to mail some things today, and this is what I saw when I went to get in the car!

Oh yeah, and I had to go to the AT&T store because I dropped my phone in the toilet and its not working. So I decided to brave the snow! :)

Not sure what's going on with the city of Charleston, but who would have thought
living downtown would be as dangerous as living out in the middle of nowhere!
They haven't cleared our street (as you can see)
or any of the streets downtown for that matter! Just driving to the mall (3 blocks away) was treacherous! I basically slid there! Just crazy!


I'm not really a fan of being stuck in my little apartment all day, all alone while Mike is at work! But I guess I'm going to try to make the most of it!
I have gotten some cleaning done...which is why my phone is now ruined! Guess the house will be super sparkly clean by the time this day is over!

Happy Snow Day!
And be careful on those awful roads if you live in Charleston!

Finals and free cupcakes!

Its finals week...so that means lots of studying and writing here in the Ervin Household...especially today! Tomorrow is my last day of finals and I have 2 papers to hand in and 2 exams to take!

Today I took a final and then Mike and I spent some time together! That sweet man of mine took me to Taylor Books and got me coffee so I could work on my two papers without the distractions of laundry, dishes piling up in the sink, the list goes on and on!

While we were there, we were pleasantly surprised by a FREE cupcake! This wasn't just any cupcake either...it was a vanilla cream cupcake and it was fabulous! The lady who makes them owns a business called For Goodness Cakes (cute name huh?). Taylors sells her cupcakes and she was there to do an interview with the local newspaper! After the photographer got a photo of her and all her yummy creations she gave one to each person in the shop!

It went great with my coffee!

Oh! Another interesting thing is that the lady who owns the business is a Christian! The cupcake was delicious, but I also know that it was a providential blessing from my Jesus! He used that sweet lady to brighten up my evening as I sat there staring at the computer screen for hours!

Thank you, Lord, for little surprises that help make writing papers more enjoyable :)

Flower Hair Clips

I got this idea from a hair clip I saw in a friend's daughter's hair the other night! I thought it was so cute that I would try it out for myself.

They are made of felt and attached to a small metal hair clip.


I really wanted some rhine stones for the center of the flower, but didn't have any on hand, so I just used a bead in the middle. The rhine stone would make it more sparkley and fun, but this will do for now!

Thinking about putting the larger purple flower onto a head band...but haven't had the opportunity yet! I'll post pics once I do!

And, as with all the little crafties you see on here, these cute little things are in my shop!

Good-byes

Last night we said "good-bye" to some very special friends who just happen to be members off our family! We have spent roughly the last year with them both in Uganda and here in the States, so saying good-bye seems so strange!

The Mc's are heading back to Uganda at the end of this month and last night was our last chance to see them. It was strange and hard to say good-bye, but we are hoping to make a trip to Uganda in August.

We are praying for you McFarland family and we love you! Can't wait to see you again in August!

Love,

Mike and Rachel

Sugared Nuts and Biscotti

Today officially marks the beginning of Christmas baking in my little home!

We are having our traditional Call Family Cookie party in about a week, but there were some things I need/wanted to try out today!

The first thing...

Cinnamon-Sugared Mixed Nuts

I've never made this recipe before, but I had been wanting to! And boy are they tastey...not to mention EASY! You can find the recipe here.

And they look so cute all wrapped up for giving! :)

On to Cappucino Biscotti-another new (and easy) recipe!

This is the first time I've made biscotti, so I'm hoping it tastes as good as it looks!

This is obviously the pre-chocolate stage :)

Dawn Treader

It's finally here!

Mike and I are super excited that today is finally Friday December 10, 2010! We've only been talking about this day for months!

C.S. Lewis' Chronicle of Naria: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader comes out in theaters today!

I have never actually read the books (I know...shame on me!), but

this one happens to be Michael's favorite of all the Narnia books (so I think he may

be more pumped than I am for tonight)!

As we anticipated the premier of the movie, we started reading the book together, but didn't make it very far! I think I am going to spend a little while reading it today so I can

have some type of clue to what's going on in the movie! Its a nice day for reading by the fire...

Zoe thinks it a nice day for napping by the fire!

Isn't she precious? We just love her! ;)

The anticipation is building and our long wait will be over in a few short hours!

Letters of Love Store

I wanted to inform all of you blog readers out there that I just set up a little store where you can purchase the crafty items I have been posting as of late! Since I'm not working these days, I figured I could try to help with the income by just putting these things out there for anyone who may be interested! :)

It is still kind of in the works, but feel free to check it out!

My Little Store

Reusable Snack Bags

I have been wanting to make these little guys for a long time now! I think I even posted that I was going to make them back in October or November and never got around to it...until today!

I don't know if you are like me or not, but I use ziploc snack bags all the time! Mike and I both usually pack our lunches so they get used there. Whenever we go somewhere and Zoe (our dog) tags along, I put some treats or her food for the day in a plastic ziploc bag. The uses for those things are endless and I tend to use them a whole lot! That sure isn't very GREEN of me! Or economical since once they are used I have to throw them away and eventually the box is empty and I have to go buy more!

So, when I saw these reusable snack bags I decided to give them a try! They were pretty easy to make, but don't look too closely...these were my first attempt so they aren't perfect! :) For someone who is a beginner they didn't take me that long to make either! I am excited to try them out...although I don't know if Mike will carry these particular ones in his lunch since they are pretty girly looking ;)

Also, these little bags are 100% machine washable and you aren't required to use them for food! As I was looking at them I came up with about 30 different things I could use them for including travel makeup bags, storing jewlery, etc! Use your imagination!

Christmas Cookies

Every year when I was growing up my mom would host a Christmas Cookie Party! Sometimes it would include aunts and cousins, sometimes friends, and sometimes just Mom, Bekah, and me! Talk about a fun time! We have so many fun and crazy memories from those cookie parties! I think maybe that is why I simply love baking around the holidays!

Some of our staples were sugar cookie cut outs with homemade icing (a favorite of mine I must admit...so much fun to decorate!), peanut butter kiss cookies (Mom's all-time fav!), plain peanut butter cookies (for Dad who doesn't like chocolate...crazy I know, but he doesn't), fudge, Chex Mix, and sometimes hard candy. Most of the things we make have recipes that have been in the family since before I was born! We have occasionally added some other goodies like chocolate covered pretzels and puppy chow, but we seem to always stick with the basics!

This isn't a picture of our cookies, I just found this one online because we haven't had our baking day yet! :)

As Mike and I begin new traditions for our growing family, I want to keep the Christmas baking alive with the traditional things we make, but also add some new things in there too!

I would love to hear what some of YOUR family's Christmas baking traditions and recipes are!

'Tis the Season!

We FINALLY got our Christmas tree up last night!

I am not typically the type of person who get super excited about Christmas before Thanksgiving even rolls around, but this year I have been that person! I think it is because last year our Christmas was really overshadowed by leaving for Uganda (we left Dec. 28) and it didn't really feel like Christmas for us!

Anyway...we got the tree up! And the best part was that while we were putting it up it began snowing! Snow in our city at this time is not typical, but its been flurrying for days which excites me to no end!

I am definitely in the Christmas Spirit now! Can't wait to do some baking in the next few weeks!

Our completely decorated tree! I was honestly worried that we didn't have enough ornaments, but we had more than I thought for only having had 2 Christmases together!

Sorry the picture is a bit dark, but I feel like it helps capture the coziness of our little apartment! I love it!

other crafties

I cannot take full credit for this idea...I must give some credit to my mom who saw it elsewhere. I simply took the idea and did something with it!

It only took me a few minutes to put these together, and they still need some tweaking because the magnets I used aren't really strong enough to hold anything, but they look awfully cute decorating my refridgerator!

--Just a side note--

any of the handmade crafts on my blog are available for you to purchase, so feel free to send me an email if anything strikes your fancy :)

Final Product

I wanted to share my final product from the "Letters of Love" post I made a few weeks ago. I was finally able to print out my photos and hang them in Baby's room!

I am quite satisfied with how it turned out! I think it will go great with the rest of the decor in the room (once we get it all put together).

refreshment from the body

The past few days have been stressful and hectic for our little family. While Michael seemed to be the one really dealing with all the pressure, I was there with him helping him deal with all that was coming at him.

Needless to say, we have both been completely drained! Mentally, physically, emotionally, etc! There were several times (daily almost) that one or both of us cried because of the amount of energy it was taking to deal with everything going on in life (family, work, school, etc) at this particular moment! This week has not been easy!

Last night, however, God truly provided refreshment for us through His church!

Our church only has Wednesday night meetings on the 1st Wednesday of the month (which happened to be yesterday). We went around 5:30 for dinner and stayed through the 7:00 Ministry Update until around 9:45.

As we were walking to our car Mike asked, "So how do you feel?" My answer was that I felt totally and completely refreshed, like I had just been rained on. It was an amazing sense that I cannot really ever remember having before. God's people were so uplifting, even though they really had no idea what we were facing and how much we needed encouragement. God knew and He provided that through the body!

Praise Him!

December 1

Happy December 1st everyone! The transition to the last month of 2010 was marked by the first snow of this season!

I don't know about you, but I just love to watch the snow fall...it makes everything feel so cozy (as long as you are inside that is)!

Hope you all enjoy this day that the Lord has made!

Free amazon $25 gift card!

In order to get the $25 gift card, you have to follow a few simple steps!

http://www.itsthoughtful.com/christmas-gift-contest/12273/ln/

Use that link to sign up for the Christmas contest (which just requires giving your name and email address) then invited 15 friends to sign up too. You could be the next person to win a free amazon giftcard!

Thanks to moneysavingmoms.com for this tip!

Saturday...

Saturday is here again, which basically means Mike is working all day and I have some time to myself (except for the time I'm planning to spend with Mom today).

Also, as it seems to be becoming a habbit these days, Zoe (for those of you who don't know Zoe she is our little Yorki-Poo) has been waking me up almost immediately after Mike goes to work...which by the way is EARLY!

So needless to say, I'm up much earlier this morning than I had planned on being! As I was sitting here eating breakfast and browsing the web, I finally found a blog that I had been looking for! Mom had shown it to me a few days ago and it had these great reuseable snack bags on it and I really wanted to try my hand at making one! I found the tutorial here and I think I am going to try it out today! I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Letters of Love

"Letters of Love"

I believe that's what I am going to call this!

This project actually began because I had the idea to hang photos spelling the word "love" in our baby's room! But, I wanted to offer it to others of you out there who might be searching for a Christmas gift for a loved one, or something to decorate your own home with!

I can make just about any word of your choice, either in sepia tone or black and white. My thought is that I would simply sell you the prints and allow you to frame them or hang them however you wish. If you would like, I will frame them for you for an extra cost (as long as you give me the type of framing you would like).

Please contact me if you'd like more details/information.

Prices would be $1.50 per letter (4x6 inch photo)

$1.75 per letter (5x7 inch photo)

plus shipping (unless you are local, I can hand deliver) :)

As I mentioned previously, if you would like for me to frame it for you, that can be arranged but there will be an additional price depending on the length of the word, etc.

I would love to hear any thoughts you might have! :)

Love,

Rachel

Diapering

Ok...so I think this post is officially marking my blogging as a Momma! :) But I wanted to put it out there for any of you who may have some words of wisdom, thoughts, advice, ideas, etc!

I am pretty certain that I want to use cloth diapers when diapering my baby. This may seem like a strange concept to some of you, but to others it is very familiar. Cloth seems to be gaining popularity! My only struggle is knowing WHICH brand to buy!

There are SO MANY CHOICES! I think I might be set on Bummis brand,but I'm still not sure.

Anyone out there tried Bummis? Or cloth for that matter? Any thoughts on what's worked best for you?

All comments are appreciated! :)

Thanks a bunch!

Believing & Trusting

Recently I have been going through one of Beth Moore's Bible Studies called Believing God. I must say that it is definitely challenging me right at this particular moment.

At the beginning of the sessions I was challenged to compose a list of areas in my life where I would like God to teach me to REALLY BELIEVE HIM. Last week I took a glance at that list (because I didn't remember what I had written) and to my surprise the item on the tip-top of the list was exactly what God had been and is continuing to work in me.

My struggle isn't with knowing that God will do what He promises (I KNOW that in my head) but the struggle comes with living like I KNOW it!

The past few weeks have really been a struggle for Mike and I as we try to decide what is best for our family in the days we are living now and in the near future, but God is using this trying time to cause me to have to BELIEVE and TRUST Him for things that I would typically try to handle myself.

Believing IN God and Believing God are two very different things, and though its hard sometimes, I'm Believing God, His Word, and His promises in this trying time. :)

Love,

RE

chilly days, candles, and coffee!

One of my very favorite things about this time of year is when Starbucks begins serving coffee in the red holiday cups! I'm not exactly sure why, but for some reason it just gives me warm fuzzies! :)

Yesterday Michael said that his store broke out the red cups for the first time, so this evening it was rainy, dreary, and cold, but we decided to warm up with a nice cup of Starbucks Thanksgiving Blend (one of our favorites).

While we were at the mall we stopped in for coffee and went into the Yankee Candle store (because I had a coupon). It just seemed to festive to be in there with all the Fall and Christmas scents wafting through the air. Needless to say, I have begun to get super excited for Christmas and it is only the beginning of November. Oh well! Going to enjoy every second of this Holiday Season!

Sewing Attempt

For the past few days I have been wanting to try out a little sewing project. I am really not that much of a seamstress, so this task was something that I was both nervous and excited about!

I was wanting to make some diaper burp cloths for some friends of ours who recently had a baby girl (I will eventually make some for our baby too).

So here is the finished product. It really only took about 45 minutes to make both of these, and I am sure as I get more practice it won't even take that long!

They aren't exactly PERFECT, but I thought they turned out pretty cute! :)

P.S.

I never formally announced on this little space, but

Mike and I are expecting a baby in mid-March!

Hooray! We are so excited about this blessing that God has given us!

We have created a little website for Baby Ervin that you can check out if you want. I hope to keep up with it and add pictures along the way...the key word there is HOPE! :)

http://RachelErvinBaby.ourbabychannel.com

Time

Where is it all going?!?

24 sounds like a pretty decent size number...doesn't it?

Well it is but not when we are counting the hours in a day!

It seems, lately, that time is simply flying past! Am I the only one who is having a hard time believing that it is already past the middle of OCTOBER?!?

Don't get me wrong...this means we are getting closer to:

1. Trick-or-Treat (very fun!)

2. Thanksgiving Break

3. The end of the semester!!!!!!

4. Christmas

5. The arrival of Baby Ervin

6. etc, etc, etc.

However, it also means that my life is flying past! For the past 2 months my life has been filled with a whole lot of sitting at this computer typing away at papers and assignments for school. Let me just take a minute to say that I will be so excited when graduation day finally comes (whenever that may be)! This month also marks 5 months that we have been back from Uganda...which is about the amount of time that we spent IN Uganda. I must confess that the time on this side of the globe has gone by much faster. I think this is due to the "busy-ness" of life in America.

When we were in Uganda, I decided that I wanted my life to SSSLLLOOOWWW down, but since we have been back it has been extremely hard to slow it down in this fast paced culture. Everything and everyone seems to be demanding some portion of my time! As a matter of fact, I just had to check the time to see how much time was left on my parking meter...even the parking meter is demanding my time! AHH!! :)

On a more positive note, Mike and I have been really trying to spend more time just the 2 of us, and it has been really rewarding. We have had to say "no thank you" to some invitations to dinner, or just to hang out with some great friends and our families. Even though saying "no thank you" was pretty hard (because we LOVE being with people) we have truly benefitted from spending time just the 2 of us...actually I guess there are technically 3 of us ;)

So...just some thoughts about time. I wish there was more of it, but then again, if there was more of it, it wouldn't be so special now would it?

I am going back to enjoying my time, sipping a vanilla latte, and browing the web!

Hope you can take some time to enjoy time and life. Examine your life and find out what can be done to give you more time to truly LIVE and not just rush. Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." Make sure you are really living...and not just hurrying through life like many in our busy society!

{today}

So right now I am putting off working on homework...I'm sitting in the computer lab at school waiting on my next class to start (in about 1.5 hours!) I really should be working on some assignments that are due in the next few days, BUT its obvious that I am not! :) I figure while I'm stalling I should do something productive, so I thought I would write.

But...what about?!?

How about...just life today!

Its been wonderful! Went to bed on a very cool evening and woke up to a rainy chilly morning (which I loved)!

Zoe (my beloved yorki-poo) and I decided to go for a little walk through the city and over to "magic island"...praying the whole way that it wouldn't start to rain on us!

We made it home...safe, sound, and dry about 40 minutes after we began our little adventure!

At this point, I began to get ready for my day...you know, shower, brush teeth, fix hair...all that hooplah! I also decided that I wanted some hot tea to take with me to class...typically I am not a huge tea drinker, but for some reason I wanted some this morning! So I looked in the cabinet and Mike had brought home an assortment of Tazo Teas from the Bux...I decided to try the Organge Chai. Let me just say it was delicious! :)

I also put pictures up on FACEBOOK from Mike's birthday last weekend and our little day trip to Evans Orchard in Georgetown, KY this weekend...now that was a fun day (and a post all its own...once I get pics up here!)

So off to class I go! It really hasn't been bad today..pretty interesting lectures and such, but with it being so rainy and chilly all I really want to do is go home, put on some sweats, bake some cookies and take nap (cuddling with Mike and Zoe of course).

So now, I am just sitting here wait on class to start...I should probably start on that homework that seems to be a never ending pile!

You know...sometimes I look at my days and how I spend my time and feel that it is somehow futile...but really its just life. It may not be extremely exciting all the time but I am enjoying it! Writing about my day today has actually caused me to look back on it and be very thankful for the type of life that God has blessed me with. I am not over worked, over stressed, under-fed, homeless, etc. As a matter of fact, I am extremely blessed with what I do have! So...thats the thought for today! :)

....now on to homework....

No Other Gods

I began a new journey this morning...a journey through the Word.

From the recommendation of a friend I obtained a copy of Kelly Minter's book No Other Gods: Confronting our Modern-day Idols.

For those of you who are regular readers, you will probably get bits and pieces of the book as I continue on this journey, but after reading just the introduction and completing the first session, I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a new study.

I find that it is difficult for me to be in the Word daily when I do not have some type of a plan. With this book, She gives Scripture and it is in a 5-day 8-week study format which helps to keep me in the Word on a more consistent basis.

It is set up that you can complete the study on your own or in a small group. She actually says that she and 4 other ladies began this study together before she had even written the book and they got together for dinner one night a week, then sat in her living room and talked, prayed, etc. Hints the name "THE LIVINGROOM SERIES". It is very interesting that she points out that she did not want a stuffy study where everyone spoke Christian-eese, but she wanted a study that got right to the heart of dissatisfaction and the things that are plaguing our lives as women in the church.

I'm dying to share some of the things she said in the session that I just completed, BUT I really don't want to because I think it would be more powerful for you to dig into it yourself! The title gives away the subject of the book-idolatry.

The main question is-what do our idols look like?

I guess I will leave to you answer that one for yourself...how would you define a modern-day idol?

the beginning of...

So many things!

This week has been just the beginning of several different things in my life!

1. It was the beginning of the FALL SEMESTER of classes! Woohoo!

But seriously...I was very excited to get back into the routine of going to class-that is until I realized just how tiring it was! My routine for the last month has just been to wake up whenever I desire and do whatever I desire just about all day, every day. This has definitely had to change! I think the biggest exhaustion of it is simply having to get up, get ready, and be somewhere practically all day! Not that sitting in a lecture classroom is really exerting that much energy, but just being out and about and having so much to think about! Thinking can be exhausting! :)

On the positive side, I have really enjoyed getting into classes and having my own little schedule. I seem to do much better when I have a schedule and I have a little more discipline in my life!

2. It was the beginning of a new nightly routine (my days have changed...so have my evenings!)

My sister will be the very FIRST to tell you that for the past month or so I have only been paying rent in Charleston...I have actually been living in St. Albans :)

She says this because I have been spending a lot of my time at my mom's house in the evenings because Mike has been working the closing shift at work...and who wants to sit alone in an apartment until 10 pm every night? NOT ME! So I have been spending my evenings having dinner and just hanging out with my mom and sister.

This has changed though! Since my days have been full of classes these past few days, I have actually just been coming home at night! (Actually...tonight was the first night)! I spent my day in class, went to Starbucks to get some homework done (and see that handsome hubby of mine), went to Target to pick up a few things and came home to finish homework, have some dinner, hangout with my precious Yorki-poo Zoe, and of course...spend some time sitting on the porch writing to you!

My nights are definitely going to be a little different from here on out...now that I have lots to keep me busy at the apartment (homework and housework).

3. The weather is changing...FINALLY!

So I thought yesterday was a total fluke! I woke up to a 68 degree, slightly overcast morning. I got all ready for my day (first day of class remember) and wore what I would typically wear for an August day...a tank dress with sandals. Luckily I am usually a cold natured person so I brought along my handy jean jacket which has been my constant companion these past few weeks! Its a good thing I remembered to bring it with me, because it never warmed up like I thought it was going to! I mean...it got warm, but not in the 90's like it has been! It finally just settled somewhere around 75 degrees and partly cloudy! It was an amazing day! I was actually chilly when I was walking outside from class to class! It was GLORIOUS!

Today proved to be just as wonderful...if not more so simply because I did not anticipate another fall-ish day!

The rest of the week is supposed to be similar and I am just so excited!

Have I mentioned on here how much I LOVE FALL!?!?!

I think I have. :)

So there you have it...some simple beginnings this week that were most definitely inspiring! I predict many more posts since fall is coming (or here!) because fall tends to really inspire me and get my creative juices flowing...why is that? Not sure, but I'm excited to see what this fall brings!

fall

I don't really know what it is that makes fall so special to me, but I know that it is! When I think about fall my heart just gets all warm and a smile appears on my face!

I think some of the reasons I love fall are...

cool weather

leaves changing colors

homey, spicey smells (usually coming from the kitchen)

trick or treat

thanksgiving

spicey sweet pumpkin snacks

soup

apples

apple cider

jeans and long sleeve shirts

jackets

football

the just plain coziness that fall brings!

This year I am so much more excited for fall to arrive! I have already snift all of the fall scents at Yankee Candle (I am loving the Hazelnut Coffee, Spiced Pumpkin, & Vanilla Pumpkin) and the ladies in the store gave Mike a great deal on one of my favorites just the other day! I vowed I wouldn't burn it until it really was fall because I felt that it would be cheating to burn it now, but last night I broke down and burned my Spiced Pumpkin candle...as a matter of fact it is burning right now and I am absolutely loving it!

One other reason that I am so ready for fall this year is because I have been living in summer since December! After 8 months of scorching hot sunny weather, I am totally ready for a change! Those who live in places like Uganda year round are probably used to heat all the time, but my body is saying its waaayyyy past time for summer to be gone!

So its August now...football season starts in just a few days (woohoo!)!!! School is just around the corner and the cool weather, homey smells, changing leaves, spicey sweet pumpkin snacks, and everything else will be here before I know it! So bring on FALL!

esty

so...maybe its because I live in WV and we always seem to be a little behind on things or I guess it could be because I spent a majority of this year in the bush of Africa, but today was the first time I had ever heard of the site Etsy.com! I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of it before! They have so many cute, handmade things for just about any occasion! Jewlery, handbags, baby bibs, the list continues!

I absolutely love it! I love to give gifts that are a little out of the ordinary...plus the site totally inspires me and gets my creative juices flowing :)

So is it just me or are there others out there that were unaware of this site?

Hot Showers

One thing (out of many) that we so often take for granted!

As I was standing under the hot water of my shower this morning I was reminded of the times in the past year that I would have died to have a hot shower rather than one that was freezing cold! I recalled how absolutely amazing it was to finally have a hot shower after months of icey ones!

Its funny...its only been 2 months since those cold showers were part of my daily life, but for the past 2 months I have taken a hot shower every day and not once really truly been thankful for the hot water coming out of the shower head!

That said...I'm challenging myself to truly be thankful for what God has blessed us with each day! I challenge you too! :)

simple summer fun

Its a Friday night...no real plans...and not much money to spend on fun. So what did we get into? TIE DYING!

Let me just tell you that while both Rebekah and I have done tie dying before (while we were at college), it had never been done at our house before and Mom had not done it since she was in 4H...which was a while back :)

Needless to say it was a night full of fun, laughter, and just being us!

a day off...together!

Mike's work schedule hasn't been exactly what we expected it to be lately...he's been working 4 evenings a week! YUCK! But the blessing in this is that he has all day on Wednesday off-and so do I! NO work for him and NO class for me! This Wednesday we decided to take a trip...just the 2 of us!

We left our little apartment around 7:45 am and made our way to Fayetteville, WV (about an hour from home). There we drove to a predeteremined hiking spot and took a 2 hour (roughly 6 mile) hike! It was amazing to just enjoy God's creation and have some time to ourselves just to talk.

After our hike we ate lunch at a picnic area and then made our way to "downtown" Fayetteville to the Cathedral Cafe where Mike enjoyed an AlmondyJoy Latte.

From there we headed home.
It was a short little trip, but an extremely fun day!
There aren't enough of these in our lives...I think we are going to start making more of them!

a beginner's attempt at thrifty decorating

So I am trying to be a little "thrifty" and work with what I have as I decorate our new place...here's what I've come up with so far!



Mike's coffee jars
50 cents for the jars at a yard sale and $4.00 for paint, brush, and chalk!



Someone from church gave us these chairs (they originally came from Subway)...needless to say they needed a little sprucing!




So they got painted! I plan on covering the seats soon too! Not sure exactly how it will turn out, but at least I've enjoyed it!