Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. You know what that means... only one more day till dancing to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" and decking the halls like crazy!

I got so excited, I sort of broke my rule of nothing Christmas before Thanksgiving and decided to let the craftiness take over.
I saw this sign and this quote has been repeating its self over and over in my head. I just absolutely love it.

So I set out to make it for the fireplace for Christmas ((had to have the puppy within viewing range))

 Got my wood cut at Lowes-thankfully didn't look like a rookie this time around

Got my stain picked out and asked the guy for tips. This was the only one I got, "don't be intimidated."



I might have developed a little obsession with staining by the way....

I made sure to test one of the scrap pieces to make sure I didn't screw the whole thing up. Just brushed it on and wiped it off with an old sock

 I cracked the garage for some ventilation and turned on my Matt Kearney Pandora and went to town.

You know what they say about watching paint dry... or maybe that's boiling water-either way, we took a nap around here.
 

 Then I set out and got my text all planned out on my computer and printed it out.

After a TON of research I combined a couple ideas and finally decided to use chalk to get the outline on the wood. I just rubbed the back then took a ballpoint pin and traced my outline.

 I took the scrap "practice" piece and made sure I liked the way it worked. 

Gotta add a little touch of red

 Well an hour and a half later we had a sign. I only had one little mistake that with some quick action I was able to fix (problem with using acrylic paint)

 Then I had to attach the small 1x4's to the back to keep it sturdy and attach all the planks-good thing my grandpa-the handyman-is in town. The guy at Lowes cut my wood wrong and we had to fix it. Plus apparently there is a whole science to screwing in screws. I can now say I got it down. My grandpa even told me I did a perfect job. (just 4 mistakes...and he quickly taught me how to remove a stripped screw)

 This is the back:

Make sure to stagger the top two screws and reverse the stagger on the bottom two.

I still can't get over how much I love the sign and the reminder of just how humble Christ is.

 To send His one and only Son and have him be born in a place where animals eat and poop.

Tomorrow is a day dedicated to remembering that message and be Thankful for the life I live because of that little stable.  

God's Hot Mess

It's been almost one month since I've opened up and poured out my soul for the world wide web to read-okay that was a tad on the dramatic side and I blame it on the amounts of gossip girl I've been watching. (**judge all you want on that one**)

But I feel like not a whole lot has changed in the last month. I mean other than the obvious- I got a job and I feel like a mother with a newborn.

Let me pause to introduce Abby. The little "princess" that I seem to love and hate multiple times a day.

She turns 10 weeks old today and for the last 3 weeks I have seen more poop, pee and said "no" more times then I'd like to count.

But she's a smarty. She sleeps through the night (as of 2 days ago) and has already learned how to sit, shake, lay down, "leave it"and what cookie means.

I'm proud of her and love her to death.

Okay, I promise that was it.

for now...

I've started working. 

I love it. 

I get paid to craft and well, if you know me, you know that I couldn't have found a better job.

I love the people I work with and the people I get to help be creative with.

I've been reading a lot and just started a new book.

I'm only about 40 pages in. But so far she's had me laughing and saying "amen!"

(never a bad start)

I had 4 friends come down and visit last weekend.

Gosh did I need it.

I needed the dancing, disneyland, laughing, "hey girl/boy"ing, not kayaking, picture taking and just all around fellowshiping.

I'll admit, I cried when they left. I've realized how much I've missed having close relationships down here. It's so easy to get caught up in day to day life and not realize how much you need community. It's easy for me to go to church on Sundays alone and just slip in, then slip out.

I didn't realize how absolutely terrified I am to go meet people till I felt that void when they left.

I'm not scared I'll be "lonely" forever. I'm just realizing I can't push that fear to the back of my head and yet let it consume my every move.

I can't be sad that I'm not meeting people because I haven't really prayed that I will. (thank you Brian for that reminder...)

I have great friends. I have a great life. 

God has provided abundantly more then I could imagine at the exact times I've needed it.

I may not be on the same mission field as I was in Ethiopia, but I'm on a mission to find God here and now. 

I'm on a mission to be a woman of God (not a Godly woman). 

If I'm going to be a hot mess, it'll be God's hot mess radiating His glory.