In the shop:

So this is exciting. About a month ago I realized that I never made Fern a birth announcement. I know it's too late, now, to send any out to family- but I wanted to make one for her baby book, and also one just to frame. Just a lovely little piece of art that she can keep in her room. I hadn't painted in years. I actually lost any desire to create art after somebody commissioned me to do an album cover for them, and ended up not using it. Not using it was actually fine, but later I saw the band post the album cover on facebook, and it had turned out he had just gotten his sister to completely trace and redraw what I had. All credit to her. So I put my brush down, and just quit. Leave it to Fern to spark up my inspiration again. (as she always does) I went to Hobby Lobby and found a watercolor set on clearance, came home and created a watercolored birth announcement... and then I did another, and another, and then I decided I could sell these, and then I needed some ideas for the fellas...  Now I have 7 styles in the shoppe that you can purchase and customize to your own babe. Or really anyone.. It doesn't have to be a baby. Anyway, I'm just kind of proud to be painting a bit again.

I'd like to get better product photos, but these will have to do for now.
Anyway, head on over and see all the designs, if you'd like. You can go straight to the "birth announcements" tab to get straight to the newbies.

A Coffee Date with The Circle

I'm having a little coffee date today with the ladies of The Circle. If you'd like to join our coffee date go ahead and answer the following questions, and then link up so the other ladies of The Circle can get to know you better! Make sure to grab a little button for the sidebar of your blog. There's a fun new topic/theme every month. So fun!

1. Where are you seated (near the counter, near the window, near the door, against the wall, etc.)? So, Just FYI, we're at a little joint called Cuppies & Joe. It may sound familiar, because until a couple months ago I worked here! Cuppies is a little cafe inside of an old bungalow turned coffee shoppe. It's so charming. I'm in my second favorite room of the house; the front room. I love this room because there's so much beautiful natural light. There are windows along every wall. My favorite room is the book nook, because it's only got two seats in it, with built in book shelves along two of the three walls. It's the house favorite, so if you ever find it unoccupied you're certainly a lucky duck. :)

2. What are you sipping/munching on? A cappuccino. I'm a slow drinker, and since we're spending our time together talking today, 6 ounces is plenty. If you're not a coffee drinker, I recommend the chai latte. They're the best in town. I also got here a little early (about 9:30am) and hadn't had breakfast yet, so I grabbed some homemade biscuits and sausage gravy. (Tuesday special) It hit the spot. I consumed it before I could take a photo of the deliciousness.

3. What do you want to get off your chest first (can be as deep as you want)? I'm really more interested in what's going on with you today, but since you're kind of quiet today I'll oblige. - Coming back to this little coffee shop really makes me miss living in this part of town. I live so far away now. I'm just ready to finish this class and get my realtors license. Once I do that, we'll be on our way to owning our own home in whatever part of town we choose. I really can't wait to have our own space. I'm also a little flustered because I need to go to Target after this, but I haven't made a list yet.

4. If you could choose anyone (besides us of course) who would you have a coffee with? Hmm.. You know, I'd like to have coffee with a girl I haven't seen in years. My friend Jordyn. We crossed paths when I lived in Texas nearly 8 years ago, and have kept in touch ever since. We're soul sista's: she and I. I'd love to sit down over coffee and have a proper catch-up.

5. What is inspiring you lately? This short film by Spike Jonze titled "I'm Here" It's one of my all time favorites. I've had it bookmarked for years, and I go back and watch it every few months. It always sheds some inspiration when I'm in a rut. Also, theplantshoppe's instagram feed. They're a local shoppe here in OKC who deal specifically in succulents, and they are BEAUTIFUL. I'm thinking of trying my hand at doing a little watercolor photo with some succulents now. If you don't hear another thing about it, it's because it turned out terrible.

6. What are your plans after coffee? I suppose I'm going to get some studying done, since I've carried on about wanting to hurry up and get my license. :) After that I'll go to Target and finish my errands, and if there's time after that I think I'll just take a day off. I'll do some window shopping, and visit some other local shops I also find pretty inspirational. You can join me if you like.

So nice having coffee with you this afternoon.

:: oh! and if you didn't get the memo! A huge Congratulations to Kayla Curran for winning The Night Nights lullaby album giveaway! So exciting!! ::

Life Lately \ Weekly Wishes || 1.

Hi friends, just a little update on Life Lately: Tristan has just started back to film school for the semester, and I'm enrolled in real estate classes online. My car has been listed as "for sale" for months now, and we finally have the sweetest lady interested in buying it. More on that if it's actually sold. It was announced recently that Tristan's dad is being inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. So awesome! I've been getting back into painting recently and have made a few things for the shoppe. Fern has been sick the past couple of days, due to teething. It's the worst teething we've gone through in a long while. I just hate it. Apart from that, she's growing so quickly. She woke up from her nap the other day and I swear she seemed older than before nap time.

Here's a little preview of life lately:

Also, I've just stumbled upon the Weekly Wishes linkup, and I just immediately knew it was right down my alley. I mean... I wrote this post even before I found it, and it just goes so well with the theme. What a great idea, and a great way to stay motivated and focused on getting things done! I'm all about it. Consider this a new Monday ritual. Ya'll should join in too! It'll be fun!

My goals for the week:

|| Finish my current chapter & rock the test
|| Have a coffee date with the girls of "the circle" -done
|| make 2 custom orders from the new "birth announcement" line in the shoppe done
|| take product photos -done
|| make time for a night out with an old friend -done
|| finish the book I've been reading for months. -done

Giveaway!

Do you remember me telling you about my sweet friend Claire and her mother and sister, and how they were recording an album of lullabies? (Memory refresher) well, they did it! The Night Nights  raised all the money they needed on kickstarter, recorded and produced their album, and have already had a CD release party. So exciting! I got my copy in the mail over the weekend and Fern and I are so in love with it! It's truly magical. Guess what else? Claire sent me an additional copy to giveaway to one of you fine readers. How special is that?! You can listen to just a little snippit of a song you can find on the album, so you can get a little taste of what you're in for.
This album is so sweet, ya'll. It's so relaxing. With a great mix of your favorite classic lullabies like "bushel and a peck" as well as some originals, such as  "Merritt Mae", which is guaranteed to get you a little sentimental if you've ever experienced pregnancy before. You've just got to get your hands on this album.  

Fern and I were driving home from a visit with my mother this weekend and I decided to put the CD on for Fern, for the first time. She already knows "twinkle twinkle", and "Jesus Loves Me", which are on the album, so I thought It'd be fun for her to hear them while we're driving. It totally soothed her to sleep! It was 6:00, and she had made it to track 4. Their voices are just magical. 

Just enter below for your chance to win! Giveaway will run for the duration of 1 week. Winner will be announced January 28th via the Rafflecopter below, as well as email. Good luck friends!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

**You can purchase the Night Nights album in the following locations:
cdbaby (online)
Cuppies & Joe (in store)
Collected Thread (in store)
Keep your eyes peeled, eventually the album will also be available on iTunes, Noisetrade, and Bandcamp. 

Let's talk about lies.

In December, I got an email from Ashely, who runs a social media movement called Overcome the Lie.  Their mission is to "empower a generation of women to overcome the lie because Jesus overcame the grave". Overcome the Lie is doing their 2nd annual blog tour right now, and I've been asked to take part in it. I was so honored to be asked. Ashley asked me to "'believe that your words are going to make the difference for someone", and let me tell you, since she asked me to believe that, Satan immediately started telling me the lie that nobody would connect with my story. He's tricky.

I started thinking about lies; more specifically the lies that we believe every day. I think that since we're our own worst critics, we entertain lies about ourselves more easily than lies about others, which is why Satan whispers them so quietly in our ears. The more you listen to a lie, the more truth you start seeing in that lie, even if there's no truth to be found in it. You start shaping your view of things around that lie, until you believe it whole heartedly and you don't even realize it's a lie you're believing. You simply think "that's just the way it is". I believe that every single corruption in the world comes from the root of a lie that somebody has believed.

I've been thinking about this post for over a month, trying to decide if what I had to say was the right the thing to say. I've never been so stressed about a post. Not because I'm worried of what you're going to think of me, or that I won't reach anybody with it, but because it means a lot to me. I could write about lies we all believe about our looks, our weight, our clothes. I could write about how I compare myself to other blog moms on the daily, and I just don't know why my life isn't as bright and shiny as Naomi's (how does she do it?), and why can't I DIY everything, and be a perfect housewife, and keep my nails perfectly manicured while hand cutting every valentine for Fern's V-day party next month... I could write about all of that. But I suspect that those are things we all deal with, and we're very aware of. 

I decided to tell you about the lie I believed about my role as a woman in the church. I grew up in a conservative church. Not the most conservative, I mean, I didn't have to wear a dress to worship, and our ministers let us clap to the upbeat songs, but still.. very conservative. One of the beliefs my church followed was that a woman's role in the church was under a mans. A man is the leader of the church, as he is in his marriage. Women are allowed to teach children's classes, or lead women's retreats, but women are not to lead a prayer in worship, or teach a class with men present. Women are not allowed to lead singing, or be a minister, or an elder, or a youth minister. Women are not to hold any leadership role in the church. 

I know what you're thinking, right? In a 21st century, equal rights, women can do anything men can do, world.. yeah. I know what you're thinking. But before you start trying to find out the location of this church so you can picket it topless for equal rights, let me urge you to keep in mind: The church is not the enemy here. I respect the views of the church I grew up in. No, I don't agree with them, but I know where their heart is in the matter and I assure you, it's not to belittle women or treat them like they're lesser. They don't teach that. They don't teach that, but that's what Satan started whispering in my ear. I know plenty of women in that church who are amazing leaders, and still stay within the boundaries of the beliefs of that church. So let's not place blame there. That's just another lie Satan will try to tell you to get you to a hate an entire denomination of his followers. No sir. We won't do that. 

When I was 17 & 18 years old I spent my summer in Guyana, South America helping the poor be treated by doctors in a medical camp. I trained for 9 months after I graduated High School to be sent out with a team to another country to minister to them for 18 months. I went to New Zealand. The whole time I was doing these things, Satan was whispering to me, that I'm a woman and I'm wasting my time. I can't pray with that person, I can't teach this person. After years of hearing that, I believed it. I came back home from New Zealand, defeated. Feeling like, I made some great friendships there, but on a spiritual level, maybe I should give up missions. 

I left the church I grew up in after returning from New Zealand, but I have yet to find a church family. I've been home for 6 years. After several years of visiting churches who believe that women can, and should be leaders, I realized the lie I had been believing all that time. After being in these churches, I realized how hard it was for me to overcome, which is probably why I still haven't committed myself to a church yet. (despite finding several wonderful ones) After a while of not being in community, and not feeling like I could be an active member of the church, I started believing the lie that God wasn't listening to me at all, even when I was alone. I stopped praying. I believed in God, but I didn't believe that I was a person of significance to Him. I still have to give myself speeches before praying to work myself up to do it. It's work. It takes a lot of effort for me to hang on to my beliefs, and I believe that's because Satan is still torturing me with those lies. Sometimes I still listen. 

 I don't believe that everyone is made to get up on the stage and lead a sermon. I don't like the attention being on me at all, as a matter of fact. But do you know what I DO want to do? I want have a normal conversation with my God wherever I want without having to schedule it, and remind myself that I'm allowed to talk to him. I want to go over to somebody who has a heart full of hurt, and I want to respectfully ask them if they'd like for me to pray for them, and then I want to pray for them. out loud. even if it's a man. I want be involved in serving my community. I don't mean just going, I want to be a leader in that. I want to set up, and take down, and bring food, or whatever. I want to have the ideas. I want to be active, and I want to be healed of being crippled by lies. Especially the lie that a woman's place in the church is quietly tucked away in the corners. Knowing the lie, isn't the same as overcoming the lie. Overcoming the lie, I've learned, can be a process. I have yet to overcome this lie, but I'm working on it. It's important to me, because I know I'm the example my daughter has, and I'm responsible for calling out the lies that she may hear, and I SURE don't want to be the inspiration for the lies she hears. 

Last year I prayed in a small group of friends. A man was present. That's when I began to overcome the lie. I'm still working on my personal prayer life. We still aren't plugged in to a church. 

I know we all have different lies that we believe, and whether or not you believe they're from Satan, or Santa, well that's for you to decide.. I'm not really in the business of convincing you to believe in my God today.. I just want people, who believe in everything or nothing, to stop believing in lies. Regardless of where they come from. Or at least, be aware of lies that you're being told. I want anyone to be able to recognize a lie that they're listening to, to call it out as what it is, and speak against it. That's not religious talk, it's just healthy. 

Also, I think that these lies I've been believing have attributed to my severe state of introvert, and I just don't connect with people like I once did. I find it hard talking to people, and making friends is nearly impossible. I have a lot of friendly acquaintances at best, and a few that've stuck around since high school, God bless 'em. Despite this, I'm a great friend. I really am! Just letting you know that if you have lies you're struggling with, and maybe if you want to talk about them, even if they have nothing at all to do with the lies I've been believing, email me! We'll talk a bout them. I'll be your friend! Like for real friend, not like.. "I'm a blogger and I'll reply to your email after I get done instagraming my favorite coffee mug", but like seriously, email me. We'll talk. I'll give you my number. We'll text and encourage each other and you can look at the moon while I'm looking at the moon and we'll know we're looking at the same moon kind of friends. I'm THAT good of a friend. ;) 

Also, Connect with Overcome the Lie! What a great organization. What a great way to get to know, and encourage other women who are overcoming lies. I love this organization! Connect with them via the links provided below:

website | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest

January Sponsors & their goals for 2014

Hi hi!
I'm so excited to start this new segment of the blog. Last year I started sponsorships on my sidebar, and THIS year I thought it might be a little more fun to have my sponsors do a group post so you can get to know them a little better. So, for our first month of the year, I asked my sponsors:

What New Years Resolutions did you make for 2014? How is going so far?
and:
If you didn't make a resolution, what are some goals you're hoping to achieve this year?

               blog | instagram | facebook

            bloglovin | instagram | pinterest

               blog | instagram | facebook

                 website | facebook | twitter



What great goals! I think it's so important to always have some kind of a goal to work towards. Do you share any of these goals of these ladies? Do you have your own? Let's hear about them!

8 things...

My main girl Christina, tagged me in this fun little "about me" blog post, and I just couldn't resist. I know, right... you're so thrilled to get this sneak peek into all that is me? I knew it. Without further adieu... 8 random/weird facts about myself.

circa June 2011

1. my biggest fear is sneezing while driving, followed by the dark, the dentist (haven't been in aprox. 10+ years) , & crabs.  (it's the way they walk. eeek!)

2.  I once had a bunny named Pancakes and if you know where that came from I invite you to be my best friend. ;)

3. I listen to an array of different music. When I say I like everything, I really do like everything. As long as it's not completely vulgar. That being said, my favorite band is New Found Glory. still.

4. Right after I graduated High School, I moved to Lubbock, Texas for a 9 month bible college course, which led me to move to New Zealand for 18 months to work with a church. I loved and hated it, and I grew more in my faith in that 18 months than I had in my entire life as a christian. It was hard. I cried a lot.

5. In High School I was known as "LuLu Rotten", had pink hair, wore fishnets and a belt made of bullets, read poetry and watched anime, liked loud music, and was a cheerleader.

6. I. DO. NOT. WATCH. SEQUALS.  (usually). The exception being if a movie is made to have a sequal.( ie: Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Ender's Game, Lord of the Rings.) If a movie has "2" at the end of the title- you can forget it. (with two exceptions to this rule: Toy Story 2 & 3, which were admittedly incredible-- and the Back to the Future movies, which are my husbands FAVORITES so I had to watch them. didn't hate them, but I could've lived with only seeing the first. (don't tell him I said that)

7. I am an "INFJ" personality type.(myers briggs) Less than 1% of the US population are "INFJ". It is me to a T.  You can read more about what that means here.

8. The only trivia I am good at is Disney Trivia. ... and I'm really good. I literally do not know anything, about any other section of life. In hindsight of this post, I feel I need to expand my horizons a little bit this year.

circa2009

circa 2008

circa2010

I tag YOU! I don't know who has and hasn't done this yet, but if you'd like to- do it! and then let me know, so I can read it. I love weird facts <3

Happy Anniversary to The Ashcraft Bunch! ::giveaway::

I've teamed up with some other lovely bloggers to throw The Ashcraft Bunch a fun little Birthday Party! 2 years of blogging is no small feat. I've had somewhere in the area of 5 blogs in the last 6 years... math will clearly tell you that never have I made it to 2 years. This is a great achievement for my friend Kenzie, and it's readers like you that encourage us, as bloggers, to keep on keepin' on. So to celebrate, We're having a giveaway! 2 Gift cards! Ya'll.

The ladies you see below are all the sweet ladies who are hosting this awesome giveaway! We love Kenzie and her blog so much that we're helping her throw this party! So much fun!

 

This year we are giving away 1 $60 Gift Card to Target AND 1 $50 Card to Erin Condren! (I know you know how much I love planners) and what a great thing to win to help organize your new year! Please enter the Rafflecopter below honestly.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway will end at midnight on January 15th and one winner will be announced on Kenzie's blog as well as emailed.

Good luck!

Now hop on over and wish Kenzie a happy 2 year blogiversary!

We're breaking up...

A couple weeks ago I was reading my sister-in-law's blog post about slowing down. One thing in particular that really resonated with me, was a particular challenge she gave herself at the end of the post. That challenge was "No phone in the front seat of my car – I don’t need to check it at every stoplight or when traffic is at a standstill." It hit me that I do this ALL the time, and it never even occurred to me that I could be spending my time better in the front seat, having good conversation with my husband.. who is just sitting there driving. How rude of me!

With that in mind, the next time Tristan & I went for a drive, I put my phone in the little slot in the door handle so It wasn't sitting there in my hands tempting me. Let me tell you, I didn't even know I had failed my own test until I was putting it back down again. SERIOUSLY. Did I seriously just pick up my phone, to refresh my instagram feed? Were those 2 new photos from people I don't even know so important that I had to see them immediately? I probably didn't even "like" them. I couldn't tell you, because I don't even remember what they were. It happened that fast.  That's when I knew I had a problem. 

Ladies and Gentlemen... The universe, the technology gods, God himself... whoever you feel should have the credit.. has been nagging at me ever since to break up with my cell phone.Lately Fern has been crawling into my lap everytime I'm on my phone and grabbing my face and kissing it. It's a clear call for attention that's being given in the wrong direction. Last night my friend Sara posted this awesome article about a man "divorcing his cell phone".  So good, together Sara and I made a resolution (but not a new years resolution, because I don't do those) to together, make the effort to break up with our cell phones. Then, this morning, I saw this incredibly and painfully accurate video about not living in the moment... due to cell phones of course. OR how about this post titled "why you're destined to fall in love with bots"   hellllllll no. 

Social media is such a big part of blogging, not to mention I have an entire shop of gently used kids clothes being sold on instagram. I'm not saying throw your phone in the trash and get off the grid Ron Swanson style. I would LOVE to get rid of my iphone, and go back to a simple phone.. one that isn't "smart". I'd love to use it for calls and texting and that's it. I'd love to have a small ipad, for recipes, and catching up on blogs, and instagram. Well I don't have an ipad, and I don't have a free upgrade right now, so I'm making do with what I have. 

I've delted all social networks, games, whatever other time wasters I may have from my phone. I'm keeping instagram, for above stated purposes, but I'm simply signing out. I realized, it's out of habit that I refresh my feed on instagram, not because I NEED to see new photos ASAP! I just do. muscle memory or something, I don't know. So I've signed out. When I need to post a new photo, I'll sign in. and then sign right back out again. This will be done during naptime, and when Fern is at MDO. I won't be on social media when my husband is home. He deserves my attention. I won't be on social media at the dinner table, or out with friends. THEY DESERVE MY ATTENTION. Truth be told, any human being to cross my path, be it the mayor of Oklahoma City ;) or a homeless man looking for change, they ALL deserve my complete attention before any phone does. 

My phone is a tool. I'll use it to call my mother, to text my friends, to figure out how to get from point A to point B. But my phone is not my friend. I refuse to allow it to take attention away from people I care about. I also refuse to fall in love with a bot.. soo...

This is my "not new years resolution. "

See you all at nap-time! 

The Great Christmas Exchange!

There's just something so fun about being able to (uncreepily) stalk somebody you've never met, and send them something you know (or hope) they'll love based on your findings.
I had Amanda, of Keeping up with the Jayneses. She was so fun to buy for! If you visit her blog it's obvious she's a foodie (girl after my own heart) This girl has some fantastic recipes on her blog. I saw that she also loves Anthropologie (who doesn't?) So I got her this beautiful cookbook for small gatherings from Anthro, and threw in a family recipe of my own! Along with a little card to say hello!

There's just something about GOLD glitter tape, am I right?  It's irresistible.

THEN!!! I got this beautiful package from Gini!

She's pretty much the GREATEST stalker ever. She got this sweet little anthro chalkboard canister (directly from my pinterest wishlist board), A Gold monogram (how did she know of my GOLD OBSESSION!?), some sweet little homemade gift tags- which I totally used Christmas day and they look magnificent taped on with some washi tape. holy cuteness. Not to mention the sweetest handmade watercolor card, which I adore. (Gini has her own etsy where she sells her beautiful art)


I've been so blessed to be part of this great Exchange, and get to know these sweet girls a little bit better. I hope we keep in touch. I can't wait for next year's exchange!!

Sponsorship in 2014

I'm fairly new at this whole sponsoring thing. Since starting the ads on my sidebar, and being part of other people's sidebars, I've learned so much! I want to do a little more this year for my sponsors, and really get them involved with the blog.

Currently, depending on the ad space you purchase, you get a blog post pimpin' out you and your brand, or social media mentions. That's pretty much it. That was just a starting point for me. I didn't really know how to do the sponsorships, so I just kind of .. dipped my toes in. This year- we're going all in.

What you'll get in 2014:

++ Group Posts : once a month I'll email a question in the form of advice, trivia, or a little about yourself, for you to answer. Your answer, picture of choice, and 3 links of your choice will be posted as the content in this "group post". 


++You can find these sponsor options available at any time, along with blog stats (updated monthly) via the "advertise" tab at the top of the page. 


HAPPY NEW YEAR!