Preachy time... and a little catch up

Hi bloggy friends!

And so we meet again... finally!

Let's just say my creative juices haven't really been flowing the past few weeks.

Mostly just my school counseling and motherhood juices have been flowing,

and I guess I haven't had much creative energy left at the end of the day.

I'm hoping that this will be a different story in just a few short weeks,

thanks to a little something known as

SUMMER VACATION!

Whoo hooo!

Just a tad excited.

Oh, and husband and I just got back from a 4 day weekend in Nashville, TN!

Wes attended a worship songwriting conference all day on Friday,

but then we had all day Saturday to do whatever we wanted.

We had a lovely time exploring the area,

eating lots of good food, checking out the music scene a little bit,

and just taking a break from the responsibilities of life.

It was nice. I highly recommend it. 

Claire stayed at her grandma and grandpa's...

she had a blast too, so I'm choosing to shoo away the guilt of leaving

my baby for 4 days.

Besides, it was good for the marriage, and in the end,

it benefits Claire too.

At least that's the way I look at it :)

Here are all 4 pics I took while we were gone.

{I know. I'm a picture-taking reject.}

{Taylor Swift tour trucks}

So the other reason I wanted to post tonight, aside from a quick catch up of my life,

is to share this interesting little passage I came across today

in my daily Bible reading.

"The Lord, the God of Israel, says some of you are keeping things he commanded

you to destroy. You will never defeat your enemies until you throw away those things."

~ Joshua 7:13

Hmmm. 

What are the enemies in your life?

Financial troubles?

Depression?

Insecurity? 

Relationship problems?

Dissatisfaction with your life?

Mine right now?

Probably insecurity would be my biggest enemy at the moment.

Just being real folks.

Now, could it be that I am "keeping" something

that God commands me to destroy?

Maybe a thought or belief?

Maybe an addiction?

Maybe a comfort source that is taking God's spot in your heart?

'Oh, you mean that nagging thought says something like, "I'm good enough."?'

Yeah, that's what I mean.

{Yes, I just had a conversation with myself.}

So what do I do?

Dump that thought in the trash!

I just love this verse right now, because it reminds me that,

even though God already won the ultimate battle over Satan,

I still have some responsibility in the here and now battle.

Satan still wants to take us out... each and every one of us.

But no way, not this girl!

No siree!

And I pray not you either. 

It's so easy to forget that we are in a battle.

Most of the time, it's completely out of my realm of thought.

But the Truth is, we have an enemy, whether we believe it or not,

throwing his ugly, mean little darts at us all. the. time.

But the good news is, we don't have to take the bait!

We have God's Truth to stand on!

I hope this encourages you to take a stand in your battle,

and throw away the things that God is asking you to throw away.

He loves you and  knows you better than anyone,

and He only wants good for us!

Preach is sista!

{Once again, a conversation with myself.}

Night night all!

And happy nesting, of course :)

Happy Mother's Day! {Silhouette necklace project}

Happy Mother's Day

to all of you special, beautiful moms who might be reading this!

I hope you get a chance to kick your feet up and 

maybe even get a little bit pampered today

because I'm SURE you deserve it...

after all, you are a mom!

A special happy Mother's Day to my own amazing mom!

{Photo taken at last year's Mother's Day family get together. A four generation picture!}

Mom- I don't know how you did all that you did

(teacher, coach, athletic director, kept our home immaculate, spent time with Erin and I,

kept up with the laundry, got dinner on the table, showed up to all of our

events, took us to church faithfully, the list could go on and on...),

but you did it all with excellence and I couldn't have asked for

a better mom!

Thank you for EVERYTHING! You are amazing!

Also- happy Mother's Day to my dear mom-in-law Linda!
Your warmth and love to us are very appreciated,
and you too are an excellent example of what a mother should be!

{Claire with her Grandma Linda}

Now, if either of you are reading this before I have given you your gifts,

please do not proceed any further.

{unless you want a preview of part of your gift!}

Ready?

Ta da!
Silhouette necklaces of my little Claire's face!
I made one for each of her grandmas.

I saw the idea for these silhouette necklaces @

Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss. 

Julie gives pretty thorough instructions in her post,

and since I'm not patient enough to take

pictures of every step along the way when I make something,

I'll let you read her tutorial if you want to find out how to 

make these guys.

And I'm pretty sure you'll want to make some.

The only thing I did differently than she did,
was color in the silhouettes with a black sharpie after I cut them out.
Otherwise, they weren't completely black.
Also, I couldn't find any chains at Hobby Lobby that I liked with the
charm pieces I picked out (or whatever their technical names are;
I'm not so hot with technical terms)
so I bought a necklace cord kit in black to use instead.
However, I couldn't understand how to afix the clasp pieces
that came with the cord onto the cord, so alas,
I strung some ribbon through the charms as a last resort.
I don't think the result is all that bad though!

I had to make one for myself too, of course!
I'm so excited to take this sweet little face with me wherever I go now :)

So there you have it.
I think these little guys would make sweet gifts for just about any occasion.
Plus, they are quick and easy!
{They will be even easier once my Silhouette SD machine arrives!}

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Well helloooo!
Did you miss me?
I thought so.
Life has been busy!
And... the weather is FINALLY warming up,
so the sunshine has been calling me
away from computer time.

Plus, my creating has been on hold because...
I ordered a Silhouette SD and it hasn't come in the mail yet and now why
would I want to make anything without it???
Yay! I'm so excited!
Those hard earned mileage checks I get from my school
for transporting from one school to the other
are finally paying off :)

But in the meantime,
I thought maybe I'd pass along of a few things that
I currently love:

{1}
Gallery walls.
So fun, so personalizeable, such a great way to fill a blank wall space.
I happen to love all things birds in my decorating
(hence, "Nesting Time,")
so here's a lovely example:

Bird themed Gallery Wall

Our Humble A{Bowe}ed

{2}
Cute summery bags/totes.
Who doesn't need more of these?
This little bag I found is sweet enough
to make me want to dust off my sewing machine,
untangle the thread that is lodged inside of it,
and hone my sewing skills!

Ruffle Tote @ Loves All Things Vintage

{3}
Silhouette Art
I love the vintage-y feel of silhouettes,
and the fact that they can really
personalize your space too.
(Apparently I'm into personalizing)
Check out this example and many other's at
Paper Clips and Playpens

love. love. love.

{4}
Claire's new skills.
I know, this one isn't a craft,
but I want a record of some of the amazing talents
of Claire at her ripe old age of 13 months.
Recently, she has started saying "octopus,"
"meow," and "messy."
She also now laughs LOUDLY
as if she heard the most hysterical thing ever,
whenever people around her start laughing.
She loves to hug and kiss,
and she likes to pretend to feed her babies.
She loves being sung to, and she sometimes sings along.
She especially loves "This Little Light of Mine"
and she likes to "shine her light."
She is at such a fun stage and if I let myself,
I can get pretty emotional thinking about the fact that she won't
be this age for long.
So I guess I can't take this time for granted, and soak in
all the special moments each day that I have with her.

That's all I got for tonight, so happy nesting!