Roxtas 4 Eva

anyone notice something "off" about the smaller picture on our header?

lemme give you close up:















maybe it's the fact that rachel has fushia eyebrows, hannah's wearing a belly chain as a belt or i have safety pins holding my shirt together? yep...i would say those things are very "off"....especially if you know us well.

back in high school, on a friday night, if we weren't out cheering on the valley tigers (state champs...03 and 04, baby!!), often times you would find us in rachel's bedroom, trying on ridiculous outfits and making even more ridiculous cameos using an extremely old video camera.

our parents should've been proud.

we weren't out drinking and partying like the average 16 year old. no, we were spiking our hair, putting on rachel's mom's prom dress from the 80's and rocking out the air guitar on the bed. and all caught on video for the sake of watching it 10 years later and having many 'pee your pants' moments. i can't tell you how many times we documented our silly, high school, fun and honestly, i have NO clue where those videos ended up...let's pray their not on youtube. but the hours and hours of sheer comedy it provided for us, was absolutely priceless.

this specific night, we rifled through rachel's closet, found the hottest shade of purple eyeshadow in her mom's make up bag and dubbed ourselves "The Roxtas."

and boy, did we rock.

I FELT Crafty. Part 1

If nothing else in the world mattered, I could probably spend every waking moment working on décor projects for around my home.  I love sprucing up our environment and I especially love doing it at next to no cost.  We busted out our Christmas decorations this year and I was slightly underwhelmed.  We’ve never really bought much for decorations and on top of that, much of what we have was given to us the first year we were married.  Since Santa cookie jars aren’t necessarily my style, I planned on accruing some new decorations this year but still wanted to be mindful of our budget.  I like to try and challenge myself to make projects where I have most of the materials already on hand. 

After putting up the Christmas tree, I decided I wanted some red and white décor on the other side of the room. I ran to the store to get a few items and then set to work on some DIY projects for around the house.  I broke out the best set of scissors I own and created some felt poinsettias for three little vases I love.  It added the perfect touch to the area and since I can tend to go overboard with decorations sometimes, I left it simple and sweet.

It’s hardly rocket science, but I thought I would detail my work here in case you are looking for an inexpensive, fun and fool-proof project.  I like that it leans toward a modern aesthetic when so often, Christmas décor can be ornate and over-the-top.  I like clean lines with a hint of sparkle every so often. 

• Start by drawing a petal on felt with a pen
• Trace at least 5 for each flower 
• Cut them out- sharp scissors make all the difference
• Stitch around edges for emphasis- you could do a simple stitch or an embroidery stitch
• I sewed mine together but you could probably use a glue gun if you wanted
• Attach or glue a button to the middle
• Attach a pipe cleaner for the stem 
• Don't water and enjoy:)

I'll be posting another felt post soon. Let me know if you decide to make some, I would love to see pictures!

thank(FULL)

When I was in high school my sister introduced to me the concept of a "Thankful Journal". You take time out of each day to write down five things you are thankful for. At first it's easy, then after a few days you get a little stooped (let's see here...I've already thanked God for my family, my friends, my house, and dog...how in the world can I think of five different things every day?!)--not that you have to be thankful for five different things every day of your life--there are times in our lives where we are thankful for something for an entire season, and things that we are thankful for for an entire lifetime! And then you remember all the things you take for granted that you are (or SHOULD be) thankful for. Running water, a toilet, a warm bed to sleep in, etc. And once you get REALLY good at being thankful :), you even start to be thankful for the trials in your life! "When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." James 1:2-4

Some may be wondering...why journal it? Why not just say it? Well, there are probably a few reasons, but my favorite reason is simply for being able to go back and look at it. It can be quite fun, and even a blessing to look back on your life and see what you've thanked God for in the past! Sometimes it brings a rush of emotion and a special intimate moment with God by more clearly remembering that specific time in your life.
Just for fun...take a look at this timeline, straight from my thankful journal:
2.24.99 "I am thankful for no homework!"
4.19.99 "I am thankful for such a wonderful guy for Heidi-Kevin" (my sister and now brother-in-law) :)
2.20.00 "My mommy (which I might add...spoils me rotten!)" mmm..wonder what she got me that day?!
2.20.00 "Boys, he, he!"
2.24.00 "Cool pens, school dances, stars"
10.30.02 "Conversation, encouragement, wisdom, tears"
4.14.04 "Forgiveness, experiences, guidance, friends"
8.23.06 "Hope, hugs, smiles, beginnings"
9.10.06 "Photographs, love"
9.11.06 "The Holy Spirit, new beginnings, prayer, fellowship, seasons"

:) That's just a glimpse! You can see how my thankfulness matured over time (haha). It is definitely neat to look through and see the things that are timeless (family, friends, smiles, laughter, etc.) and the things that are a bit more unique that make you wonder what happened that day to make you say that. I have to admit that I stopped doing this a long while ago...4 years ago in fact. 9.12.06 is the last entry. I'm planning on starting again because after reading through my journal again, I wish I could (and am physically yearning to) read what I would've written between then and now. There's been so much I've been thankful for.

My challenge to you is to join me and try to daily think of things you are thankful for. Practice making it as natural as breathing. There's no minimum or maximum to the list. Simply take time to reflect on all the blessings in your life. Our lives are literally brimming with blessings. Let us be outwardly brimming with blessing and full of thanks. Let us be thank(FULL).






P.S. What are you thankful for?

When life gives you meatballs, drink toilet water?

Sunday mornings can be somewhat hectic around here.  My husband plays on the worship team for church about every other week, so I am left to get our son ready for church all by my lonesome.  If you see me at church you can always count on the fact that I haven't washed my hair those mornings in an effort to get us out the door faster;)

Well, a few Sundays ago, we were rushing in a particularly scurried manner.  Jude needed a diaper change before we left, so I quickly put him down on the changing table and attempted to get the dirty job done.

As an important side-note: we recently started solids with him, so his "number 2's" have been a lot more firm.  Lovely, eh?

I took off the diaper in haste, thinking it was just pee-filled, when out came a wandering turd.  It was perfectly round and very large.  Since I had moved the diaper so quickly, my motion propelled the "meatball" out of the diaper and onto the changing table.  It quickly rolled across the table and back towards my baby's bottom (I guess it wanted to go back where it came from) like a soldier crawling to safety.  And landed right on his church clothes, only to leave a nice little skid-mark.

After staring at it in amazement, wondering how something so large, round and food-like (!) came out of my tiny son's bottom, I picked it up with the cloth diaper he was wearing and attempted to toss it in the toilet. On this particular morning, the "meatball" rolled right off the diaper (isn’t it obvious it was formed with an amazing ability to roll?) and fell into the toilet.  Success!  Oops, only except for the splash right afterward.  Care to guess what happened?  Water jumped out of the toilet and landed right on my upper lip.

Who doesn’t love fresh poo-water on their mouth in the morning?  I know I do, especially right before church.

To my pastor: "You don’t even want to know what organisms are living on my face this morning.”

To my husband: “Trust me Jared, you DO NOT want to kiss me this morning.”

Like I said before, I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to wash my face.  So in the end, the hand sanitizer had to suffice.  It works for everything- trust me!  Seriously though, have you ever tasted that stuff?? 

The whole way to church I thought of the song On Top of Spaghetti and how closely I could relate to the “I lost my poor meatball” part, except my kid didn’t sneeze, he pooped.  I could just picture his “meatball” rolling right out the door;)

So there’s a little look into my everyday life.  It’s fun, exciting and sometimes dirty.  But someone’s gotta do it and in this case, it’s me.  Thankfully I'm not alone and am blessed with ample amounts of help from my handsome husband Jared and the Ultimate Helper. Despite those sometimes messy moments, I wouldn’t trade my "dirty" job for the world.  

I hope that through this blog you can get to know me better and that my reality can bring a dose of laughter or encouragement to your life.  I am big on transparency and that’s how I will be here.  I am not perfect, my life’s not perfect and my husband and baby aren’t perfect but we have a lot of joy to share and hope you will come along on the ride with us.  

unbutton your top button, folks. it's thanksgiving!

all i've done for the past three days is research food, shop for food, prepare food, smell food, dream about food, EAT food, feed food to peyton, talk about food, re-heat food and eat some more food.
needless to say, it was a great thanksgiving:)

but enough about food...let's talk about the real meaning behind turkey day.

earlier in the month, our small family of three started a new tradition (actually brandon and i started it...peyton will jump in in a few years). i grabbed a jar out of the cupboard and dubbed it the "thankful jar." i cut up some patterned, scrapbook paper, set out two pens and each day, we would each scribble something we felt especially thankful for. although peyton can't quite contribute yet, my hope is that we continue this tradition each year, so that she (and future kids!) can participate. at the end of the month, we'll dump the jar, read each card and be reminded of all the things we have been thankful for. i will keep the note cards in my holiday storage bin (ok..who am i kidding? i don't even have a holiday storage bin. they'll probably end up in a desk drawer somewhere and we'll find them on thanksgiving 2027...) and pull them out each year to read past thanksgiving's thoughts.

here are few of what we thanked God for this year:

I am thankful for....

-snuggling on the couch
-God's continuous love. no matter what.
-a husband who helps with a fussy baby in the middle of the night...(teething crisis of 2010)
-supportive friends and family. AND family who helps us move 2 times in 1 year:)
-my wife and the wonderful mother that she is.
-babies who sleep ALL night. hallelujah.
-every afternoon when daddy comes home from work and plays with peyton...oh, the giggles!
-a really good realtor
-the first time i heard the word "mama".....priceless.
-new beginnings
-God's grace
-quiet moments of reading a story
-a car with good gas mileage
-peyton's laugh


"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 107:1






Q: what are you thanking God for today?

Simplicity and the Road of Least Worry

Thanksgiving has come and gone for 2010...can you believe it?! This year is just FLYING by! I've heard as you get older, time goes by faster...and I'm finding it to be true. I'm not quite sure what to think of that. Is time really going by faster, or is it the older you get the more wrapped up in busyness, bills, activities, to-do lists, etc? If you think about it, when you're little, your biggest worry is building your barbie house and dressing perfect for Ken. Life revolves around not getting BORED. How many of us can say there are very many times these days that you find yourself trying to run away from boredom? There may be a few, but not many...in fact, most of the time we are looking for a small glimpse of time or reason to sit around and do NOTHING! Most of the time we are consumed with stress and worry.

Stress and Worry. Two bad guys that steal our joy and freedom. Two things that Wonder Woman quite frankly needs to whip in the butt!

My brother and I were over at our sister's house the other day and watched as our 3 year old nephew ran out of the shower butt-naked and said "just wait a minute guys, I gotta get some clothes on!". No care in the world (and might I add, no shame in running around the house naked!) My brother turned and looked at me and asked if I remembered what it was like to not have a care in the world? To wake up knowing that I would be taken care of. That all my needs would be met. That my biggest choices in life would be what book I wanted read to me before I went to bed or what toy I wanted to play with. I laughed in agreement, remembering those good ol' days (oh how we don't realize then that we're taking them for granted!).

As I thought about it a little bit more, I realized I SHOULD be waking up with that same feeling--resting in the peace of knowing that I WILL be taken care of. God tells us not to worry. "Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?" Matthew 6:26-27

I have been reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan with our Life Group (it's awesome by the way!) and here is the insight Francis shares: "Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives. Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control." WOW. I don't know about you guys, but when I get stressed, I definitely lack grace toward others and am more impatient...it sucks! I don't want to be like that. I want to trust that God IS big enough, powerful enough, and loving enough. He is.

Although it is easier said than done, my prayer (especially during this hectic season) is that we can all practice the life of simplicity (aka less stress) and the "road of least worry". Rest in the Father's hands, my friends. And I'll channel my inner-5 year old and focus on fixing up my house and dressing perfect for Eric :)






P.S. How do you practice leading a life of simplicity? What do you do to stop the worry? Please share by posting a comment!