T-minus 9 DAYS!!!!

Holy Cow how has this day approached so quickly????
We have been packing, planning, prepping and praying constantly over the last month and a half or so non-stop and the time is very quickly approaching where we will say "Goodbye" to California and "Hello" to Washington.
These last weeks have been filled with every emotion I could think of but at the end of every day when I sift through where we are at I go to sleep feeling peaceful and I am so thankful for that!
So many people have no clue what Eastern Washington is like , what Spokane is like and they assume that we will be moving to rain, rain and more rain.
Eastern Washington is the dry side of the state and from what J has told me the best way to descibe the weather is that we will be getting every season very distinctly.
It does NOT rain all of the time but it does snow in the winter (which I have to admit I am pretty nervous about driving in it)
I am so excited for the chance of a white christmas.
Here is a glimps of what our new home is like:

This is a picture of Downtown Spokane with the Spokane River running through it

 This is another picture of Downtown Spokane

 This is Manito Park RoseGarden which is on the South Hill. It is beyond beautiful there

 This is Riverfront Park (downtown) and again it is beautiful.

 This is the HUGE wagon slide at River front park

And this is what my winter will look like :)

 

So there it is a little glimpse of what Spokane, Washington is like. There is so much more to this beautiful place and I will make sure to capture those moments when we get up there.

839 miles

839 miles is the approximate amount of space that will be in between my home now and my new home to be in Washington.
It is so crazy to look back and see where God has been putting things in place for this new adventure to start.
That is currently something I am sitting on and processing as we speak. How God has worked out the details and put things into motion way before I knew what was going on and has orchestrated our hearts to follow after what He has laid before us.
We have always had the desire to move to eastern Washington (for those of you that don't know that is where my husband is from and where the majority of his whole family is) but we never thought that it would happen anytime soon. We were established where we were at, comfortable, had good jobs and never really had peace about picking up and moving our family of four.
That was until a recent trip to visit my husbands family. We left the trip both feeling out of the blue that it was time. Some key factors played into this that I won't get into but it became very clear that God was telling us it was time to go. Making this decision did not come lightly. Jason has a job he loves, we have a church home, friends and family here that all would be sooo hard to leave But after much prayer and contemplation I had peace. Peace that my new home would be in Washington and peace that God would work out the rest.
We took a big gamble and gave ourselves a moving date without a job for Jason to go to. We felt that if we handed it over to God like He was asking He would provide and now as our move date approaches we see where He is showing up just as we knew He would.
I can look back now on the last 6 or so months and see how God has been moving pieces around to make this move happen. I am humbled, thankful and I sit in awe at a God that loves me so much that He would so carefully orchestrate the path He has for us.  Thankful for the new life that we will build centered around Him in Washington. Excited for the chances Jason and I will have to invest in, love on and minister to the people He puts in our path in Eastern Washington.

Ready for a new adventure as bittersweet as it will be to say "see you later" to the people who have helped to shape Jason and I in our walks, marriage, family, friendships and ministry

Homeschoolin

I have decided to take the plunge and homeschool my 5 1/2 year old that is going into Kindergarten. I am super excited and nervous all at the same time. This decision came after very careful and prayerful thinking for my husband and I.
We have always thrown around the idea but never really took the plunge. Up until recently our plan was to send Maddison to Adventure Christian School where she went to preschool and a place that she loved. When I decided to step down from working and be a full time stay at home mom, with that took away the income to send her there. After tossing around numbers and budgets we decided while we could make it work I have the opportunity now (being that I am not working) to homeschool her.
Luckily I have some great friends who have already walked the path ahead of me to help me navigate around the different Charter schools to go through, curriculum, funding and all of the other ins and outs of homeschooling.
So here we are about a month before school will start and I am excitedly and anxiously planning out the school year. Most of the curriculum has been ordered, supply lists have been made and I am really looking forward to being able to plan out her Bible curriculum on my own!

So as one chapter closes (working in Ministry at our church) and another opens.
Here goes another Adventure as I let God lead the way.

Real Life Pinterest- On the Go paper dolls

I seem to find about a billion things on pinterest everytime I log on that I want to create, make, indulge in etc but I feel like I never actually do anything that I pin but I am vowing to stop just pinning and take action on all of the glorious things out there.

Here is my first Pinteresty thing I will be sharing- On the Go Paper/Fabric Dolls
Here is the original Picture from Pinterest

Cute right?
Well I decided with an upcoming 16 hour roadtrip ahead of us this would be perfect for my 5 1/2 year old
So I set out to Walmart for some supplies
I got this 87 cent pencil box that was perfect

a Pair of fun scissors and some glue sticks and some cardstock

and thanks to a friend I got some awesome fabric scraps she had left over

So I headed home and was determined to actually execute this project since I had all of the supplies

The original Pin on Pinterest took me to a website
www.thismamamakesstuff.com
where I found the Paper Doll template (she had several different dolls and animals to choose from)
On her website the images came in full size (8.5X11) which was far to big for my little box so I did some editing and rotating of the image so I could fit 2 on one sheet of carstock and viola

So here it is my completed compact project for Maddy to enjoy on our long car ride

Real Life Pinterest- Baked Oatmeal Casserole

I found this oh so yummy looking recipe on Pinterest and thought it would be a great alerternative to cereal for my hubby and daughter for breakfast

So I headed off for the ingredients (and almost a week later I got around to making it)

My rulings:
 Very yummy but I would make a few adjustments. I would use blueberries and raspberries, that way it would boost the amount of fruit and come on who doesn't love blueberries????
Also next time I wouldn't put the bananas on top. For me they just turned brown and mushy and ruined the texture.
The jury is still out wether or not it will hold up for the week as the Pin claims. I am hoping it does because it was pretty YUMMY!!!

Grace......isnt that always the question

Grace.....
Do we have enough?
Do we give enough?
Are we worthy enough?
Are We given enough?
Are we given Too much?

Grace has always been something that I try my darndest (though not always suuccesful) to dish out more than enough. I have (shamefully) prided myself at extending grace.
To the angry woman at the checkout counter.....who is to say what her day has been like
To the volunteer that Never shows up on time or even at all...........who knows what trials they may be going through at home
To the friend who never has time.......I can be that same friend at times
and so on and so on.

Do I think there is anything wrong with this? Not at all
Do I ever wonder if His Grace is enough? Guilty!

I am currently going through a Max Lucado study (Experiencing the Heart of Jesus) with a couple girlfriends and we just finished up a lesson on Grace.
As I read through the lesson there wasnt much that stood out to me and had me really pondering
I knew we needed grace, I know how and why we recieve grace ......
As I was sailing through this lesson I came across Day 5.... Sufficiant Grace
Well that is a concept. Grace is sufficiant!
I started going back and forth in my head about a few key pointers that Max Lucado touched on.
Being content in Christ and knowing that His grace is enough. How many times have I relied on myself and worldly things to get me through situations? How many times have you?
I think it is very easy for Christians to say " I will just put all of my trust in God and trust that things will work out and rely on Him"
I say it, we all say it. But I am going to get real right now
How often do we actually, fully, completely and willingly put our trust in HIM????
It is very easy to say but to actually do is very difficult (at least for me anyways and if I am the only one then just go ahead and ignore this)

Maybe it is beacuse I became a beliver much later in life so I am used to relying on myself and not Him?????

I read over and over a passage in this chapter that one of close friends in this study pointed out to me (thanks Rachel)
     " You wonder why God doesnt remove temptaion from your life? If he did, you might lean on your own strength instead of His grace. A few stumbles might be what you need to convince you: His grace is sufficiant for your sin.
     "You wonder why God doesnt remove enimies form your life? Perhaps because he wants you to love like He loves. Anyone can love a friend, but only a few can love an enemy. So what if you arent everyones hero? His grace is sufficiant for your self image.
     " You wonder why God doesnt alter your personality? You, like Paul are a bit rough around the edges? Say things you later regret or do things you later question? Why doesnt God make you more like him? He is. He just isnt finished yet. Until He is, His grace is sufficient to overcome your falws"

WOW!!!!! I dont know about you but that puts a whole new spin on Grace for me. It isnt just about giving people grace because it has been extended to me it is so much more. It is relying on His grace because it IS sufficient. It isnt somehting that comes as an add on it is something we NEED.

Challenging myself to Trust more, to trust in God and put more of my life in His hands. Confident that His Grace is what I need.

Yummy lunches take two

Here is a yummy and easy wrap that I whipped up the other day
It has turkey, romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, banana peppers, bell peppers, nonfat Greek yogurt mixed with a teaspoon of ranch mix and voila!
I also added a cup of Campbell's healthy harvest soup and only ate half the wrap which gave me leftovers for the next day

Yummy lunches

I don't know about you but lunch is the one meal I always seem to skimp on or go with whatever is easiest which always adds up to unhealthy choices
So I have decided to take my lunch time back! Over the next couple weeks I will be sharing my lunches with you all.
Yummy, filling and healthy!
Pizza pizza
I got all of my favorite veggies (that I ha on hand anyway)
Muir Glen organic tomato sauce and
Flatout flatbread

Mmm mmm good!

I did not have high hopes for this little snack that I decided to try. I got the idea on a blog and decided to add fresh peaches to livin it up a bit. Rice cakes, almond butter and peaches at first did not sound appealing but boy was I wrong this is delicious!!!!!

snackity snack

Here are some snacks that I will fill my belly with instead of the sugary,sweet,carby deliciousness that I love :)

Chobani Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries
Medium Honey Crisp aplle with almond butter
Air popped popcorn
Unsalted rice cake with almond butter
Edamame
Hardboiled eggs
Grapefruits
Special K bars
Bell Peppers and Hummus

What are some of your favorite low cal snacks????

Gotta get back on the wagon

About 2 months ago I came to the realization (for the 2nd time) that I was not happy with my body. I had packed on and not lost any of my baby weight from my baby who is not so much a baby anymore. I decided I was done not feeling happy in my skin and I was going to change it. I signed up with a local gym and have been sticking to my workouts for some time now yet here I sit not seeing any real difference and feeling like I am at a stand still with my weight loss.
I hate to admit this publicly but here it goes........I have NO willpower!!! I mean none. If i have any sort of sweets in my house I will find them and eat them.
I thought just working out woud be enough but I am realizing now I need to have a SERIOUS life style change and to start it needs to be dramatic! The past few days I have me with a game plan I REALLY hope I can stick to.
I have planned out my menu for the week by meal (inclding snacks) to the T and my goal this week is to stick by it. Not cheat...not even once.
I am going to the grocery store on Saturday and I a going to do it this time.

I am sick of letting my own issues get in the way of losing weight and having the body I desire.
Here it goes, im back on the wagon of finding the balance between my love of food and my desire to feel comfortable in my own skin.
Wish me luck!!!

Master Bedroom Mood Board

My Master bedroom has always been an area that was neglected. I would rather focus on other areas before my own room. It was just never a priority. A friend of mine recently redid her Master bedroom and it inspired me and got me excited to redo our master bedroom.
Here is the plan I came up with. These are just guidelines and I am sure my inspiration may change along the way as I discover all of the wonderful finds out there. I am starting on the journey now to transform our room into a place that we both LOVE walking into. I will post projects along the way and hopefully soon I will have the finished project.

A Year of Date Nights

For Christmas this year I wanted to give my husband something a little different. I decided to plan out 12 dates for us to do throughout the year. One for each month.

As I was browsing the Hobby Lobby isles I came across this awesome little box. It is awesome for many reasons, first- the size was perfect and second- it had a stamp from Spokane, WA which is where my husband is from so I grabbed it along with some neutral colored card stock to make my own envelopes and I headed home

I wanted to make individual envelopes for each month so with a template I made little envelopes and with a handy dandy Cricut I cut out each months name

Here is the finished product. My hubby LOVED it and now we have a fun and cute way to display our dates for the year.

Here is the list that I used:

January- Watch a Bowl Game at Yardhouse with drinks and appetizers
February- Dinner and a Comedy Club
March- Coffee and Antique Shopping
April- Game Night at Home with Takeout Chinese
May- Picnic and Geocaching
June- 2nd Saturday Art Walk and Dinner
July- Sushi and Rose Garden at The Capital
August- Golfland Sunsplash
September- Wine Tasting in Apple Hill
October- Overnight trip to SF with Breakfast at Dotties
November- Mandarin Festival
December- Victorian Christmas

This is a tradition that will carry on, my husband told me that for next year he wants to plan out the years date so we will flip flop each year of who plans out

Fun and Funky cork boards

I was looking for a fun way to display cards from people, random pictures and anything else I deemed worthy to display :) After A LOT of searching at my "go to" places like Target, Hobby Lobby, Homegoods, Crate & Barrell I came up empty handed. I knew in my mind what I wanted (which for me is usually worse because then I can never ever find what it is I have in my head) so I decided that I would just make what I wanted.
I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 2 unframed cork boards
1 yard of this awesome fabric that I love! It was $8.99 a yard but with my 40% off coupon I got it at a great price

I had a roll of twine at home and after a few cuts, a stapler gun maybe 30 minutes of my time I had exactly what I had been wanting and viola

They are great for right by my front door and come Christmas time they will be my Christmas card holder

With the extra fabric I had I decided to cover an old but super sturdy box to put on a shelf on my kitchen island to tie the fabric in. I also plan on covering 2 of my dining chairs in this fabric too (that post coming soon)

Slacker of a Blogger

Well friends my first attempt at being a blogger was a flop! I over estimated how much time I would need to put into it and what I had already commited too. With working, being a mom, wife and friend this blog took the back burner. I am happy to annouce that I have found myself with a lot more free time as of lately. Since I stepped down from my position at our church I find that my "to do" list has cleared up and I now have time to actually dedicate to this whole blogging thing.
So once again sorry for flunking out of my first attempt to blog....I promise I will be better.

I already have some fun posts ready to go from a DIY Menu board, a Master bedroom mood board, a reflection over the last couple years and a lot more so keep your eyes out and spread the WORD!

Art- Show me what your workin with

I don’t know about you guys but my daughter comes home from school and church on a weekly basis with a slew of art projects, paintings, colorings and everything else that she can get her hands on so I end up with a TON of papers and not enough fridge space. I decided to make her, her own wall to display the art where everyone could see

I got the clipboards from target, metallic spray paint (so they would look like metal) from Lowes and we had just bought an activity mat for my son that I decided could live without the A, R or the T

And Woala, I have a space that is easy to change out and can be displayed in a fun, clutter free way

Maddy, Mommy,Daddy Date Night Jar

My husband and I have made it a tradition to each go on a date once a month with our daughter, Maddison.
We usually take the first two Tuesdays of the month and my husband will take her out one week and I will take her out the next.
We have been doing this for sometime now and we realized that we were doing the same old same old each month, movies, Chik Fil A, Frozen yogurt etc...... and we wanted to get creative .
So I stumbled through my cabinets to look for a fun vessel to use for our ideas and I cam accross this fun glass container. It previously had cookie cutters in it but they were always a pain to get out so it worked great for me to repurpose it.

I then took some fun pink scrapbook paper in honor of Maddys' favorite color and cut it into 6x3 inch pieces folded them in half then got to work on a list of fun "dates" that we can take Maddy on. Some of them costing money and some of them free.

So now when the day is approaching for one of us to take her on a date she can just go to her "Date Jar" pull out a pink slip and it will be decided what we will do
Here is a list of the dates that I put in the jar (these will have to be updated as weather and seasons change)

1. Hot cocoa and cookies at The fountains
2. Library Date (go to the library, read some books and get some for home)
3. Sushi dinner (Maddy loves "sushi")
4. Home Depot Date- To get some fun plants for a few pots that she decorated
5. Art Museum Date
6. Art Beast - Art studio in Sacramento
7. Go on a "photo shoot" (this would be one she would do with my husband, I would not be able to help her at all)
8. Movie night and popcorn at home
9. Cupcake decorating contest
10. Pedicures with mom
11. Maddy's Choice (she can pick whatever (in reason that she wants to do)
12. Fort Night (make a fort in maddys room, have snacks and read books)
13. Park and picnic date
14. TuTu making party (Maddy LOVES TuTu's and anytime she can get a new one puts a smile on her face)
15. Wacky Tacky
16. Dollar Bin shopping0 What kids doesn't like the Dollar Spot at Target. Give Maddy a budget and let her shop
17. Go to the Zoo
18. Maddy's Movie pick
19. Flower Planting party
20. Make cookies and take them to the fire station
21. Easter Egg Hunt (anytime of the year)
22. Craft Night- Grab whatever paper, scissors, glitter, crayons, boxes, etc and see what you can make
23. Open swim at the indoor pool (this would be most fun in the winter when she hasn't swam in awhile)
24.Wii Night

Here is the finished product

Mold Me and Move Me

I recently gave my testimony to Fuel High School ministry at our church and leading up to it I was rather nervous, being that this was the first time I would share some very intimate and personal moments in my life with a group of (mostly) strangers. Not to mention they were teenagers who had no idea who I was and why would they care what I had to say?

When I was approached with the opportunity my immediate response was Yes! I knew the Lord needed to use me and I couldnt let my fear get in the way of His plans. As I was preparing for this time in the weeks prior I struggled with what I would say, how I would present it, what details to go into and what to leave out. I didnt want it to be too scripted but at the same time I knew I had to have a game plan. So I mapped out what I would say to an extent and figured the Holy Spirit would take me the rest of the way.

The night came for me to speak so with my husband and a few great friends there to support me I "took the stage" and boy oh boy did the Holy Spirit show up for me. Not only did I refrain from tears (which if you know me this is HUGE) but He spoke through me and it was awesome! As I was coming to the close of my story and I was sharing what God has done for me and how the Good News was Great news for me something unexpected came out of my mouth
"dont let your selfishness trump Gods glory"

 I finished my story and I didnt really think about it until later that night and I just couldnt get the phrase out of my head.


"Dont let your selfishness Trump Gods glory"

How many times do we allow this to happen?
How many times do we selfishly do what we want and we leave no room for Him, His plans or His glory.
How many times in our own selfishness do we accomplish something and He doesnt get the glory?

I would love to say that this isnt the case in my life, that I am never selfish and I always put His plans first but that would be a big fat lie!
His plans are usually scary ones, uncomfortable ones and challenging ones and I find myself always second guessing what I know He is telling me because I am being selfish, because I am scared.

What I can say is that I am a work in progress. The more and more I let Him guide me the more I am leaving room for Him to be glorified through me. The more I draw closer to Him the less fear (though it is still there) I have for what His plans are.

I dont want my selfishness to trump His glory.

Lord, mold me, move me and make me uncomfortable.

What is it all about anyways?

The more and more I talk to real moms about real life the more I realize that we are all a lot more alike than we think. From our struggles, pains, children, husbands and our walk with the Lord. Where we once were and where we are now, we are constantly comparing ourselves to one another not knowing that we are all more or less in the same boat.

When I first came to know the Lord I was carrying around this weight and worry about what everyone around me thinking. I was afraid to go into my past because in my eyes no one had any idea of the struggles I had, no one had made the same mistakes and they had no idea where I was coming from. Everyone around me had it together, their kids, marriages, jobs, households, finances, appearance and there was no room for my errors.

As I started to allow myself  to be vulnerable with people and "be real" I started to realize that not everyone had it as "together" as I thought.

After all we are all humans. We have faults and we have struggles. It was freeing and encouraging to be open with other moms about real life and to share in the joys and frustrations of life.

So here I am putting myself out here to be real, to share my struggles, my life, what works for me, what doesn't, crafts, DIY ideas, recipes etc... It will be a mish mash of goodness but it will be My Life as I know it.