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!