Tomorrow is a new day

Today will be another one with two posts.  Yesterday was a blah day.  Sometimes those days happen, and last night when I went to edit and post the photos from the day I just was not feeling like doing it.  Thankfully I have a sweet husband that even when I am crabby and mopey loves me and attempts to make me feel better :)  Last night he planned an outing for us to go watch the sky change colors as the sunset and even bought me cute wine bottles to enjoy while we watched.  It ended up being a little chilly and the sky did not want to change, but it was still nice to just spend time with him after feeling like a failure most of the day.

Enjoy the pictures from my day 9 of 365 and I will be back tonight with pictures from day 10!

Psalms 37:23-24
"The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives.  Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand."

One for One

Today was my first day back at work.  The break was wonderful, and I cannot say that I was super pumped to head back today, but it was a good day as far as work standards go ;)

This break seemed to fly by (which could be due to the 9 days on the road) and this past week was the only one that felt truly relaxing.  It was nice to go back this morning and feel rested and ready for emails, event planning, and preparing for classes next week.

If you follow me on Instagram and Facebook you have already seen this story, but I wanted to share it again because it has really touched me.  One of the burdens God has placed on my heart (and thankfully on my hubby's as well) is the desire to be a foster parent one day and adopt most (or all) of the children that will be in our home.  This sounds crazy to some, but my heart hurts when I think of the children in the foster care system that will never know what it is like to have a forever home and family that loves them unconditionally.  We want our home to be that for child out there.

Last night I read the story of one family who has had their foster daughter since birth and is now trying to adopt her and make her a permanent part of their family.  Joy blogs about her family at Small Town Joy and has created the "One for One" challenge to raise the funds to adopt "Pie".  This is a chance for this one child to know unconditional love and stay with the only family she has ever known that loves her and wants her.  If you feel led to donate to their adoption visit her site, and if you do not have excess funds consider praying for this family and their journey.  I want to read sometime soon that "Pie" has been officially adopted, and see their new family photo with her in it.

Two scoops please

Today will have two picture posts because I failed to post last night.  We celebrated our friend John's birthday last night, and like the old lady I am, when we got home (at 10:45) I went straight to bed ;)  I love when birthday's come up because it is a night where we are guaranteed to see and hang out with our friends which can be really hard to do in the hustle and bustle of life.  Last night a group of us topped off the birthday dinner with delicious Braum's and it was wonderful :)

For anyone with a goal for the new year to participate in a daily devotional I came across this verse the other day that is serving as my motivation to take time out daily to spend time in the word and converse with God.  Maybe it can serve as motivation for you as well!

Colossians 3:10 "Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and become like Him."

This new year is a chance to make a commitment to God that I will get to know Him better and let Him transform me through His word and teachings as I discipline myself to meet with Him daily.  I am excited to look back next January and see what He has accomplished in me!

Happy day 5 of 365 (a day late)

Run lady. Run!

I busted out the sneakers for my first run in the new year.  It was cold and my nose was running by the end, but it felt good.

 Now we are cuddled up on the couch watching MIB3... even Duke is in on the action ;)

Enjoy Day 4 of 365

All of my hairs are cut

Today was another low key day of Christmas vacation.  I am trying to soak up every ounce of relaxation before I go back to work next week and it has been glorious enjoying it with my husband.  We both got our hair cut and my head feels so much lighter!  Cameron always asks which hair I had cut and it is now a joke in our house to say we are going to get our hairs cut.  Sounds silly but it always makes us laugh :)

We enjoyed a trip to the flea market after and found new movies to watch tonight.  Our new television is getting a lot of use!

Enjoy day 3 of 365.

Thankful November

What a lovely weekend we had here in the Calef house!

photo shoot with my favorite family

date night

spur of the moment bonfire with friends

and trying out a new church

This weekend I was so thankful for the relationships that I have.  I have a loving husband, great friends, and the opportunity to meet new people and create new relationships.

Today I am thankful for the right to vote.  I know that a lot of people are telling you that today, and they do because it is important.  We live in a democracy where we have the right to elect individuals to public office.  How cool is that?!  People through around the phrase "it is my right" a lot, and not always are they correct, but voting is a right that we need to exercise.  Beyond the fact that it is a right, voting provides me with a high like no other and I always leave wishing the next election would be here tomorrow so I could do it again (minus all of the political campaigns... those can go away).

My goal for the month of November is to write something that I am thankful for everyday.  Some days they will make it on to the blog with a story or lesson that I am learning, other days they will be documented in my prayer journal.  I want to go through this month remembering that God has blessed me in countless ways.  My life is beautiful and there are days when I am trudging through the mundane pieces or the midweek blues and begin to lose sight of that fact.  I hope that through intentionally working towards a thankful attitude I will allow God to transform my heart and see my life the way that He sees it. 

Here is to a Thankful November!

Fear

Happy Monday!  I had intentions of sharing a quick fruit dip recipe, but I started reading my book and felt guided to share some musings.  Fruit dip recipe can wait a few days ;)

I am currently reading "Making Room for God in Your Hectic Life" by Keri Wyatt Kent.  I bought the book a while ago, but have really started getting in to it this past week and felt so rejuvenated by the topics and encouragement that is part of each chapter.  

The chapter I am currently on is called humble and it is discussing the inner struggle between living simple and honoring God's wishes and living in a race with everyone around us.  It discusses reasons that we feel a pull towards competing with those around us, and one of the biggest is fear.  Lately I have had a strong fear that I have no skills and will graduate with my masters no better than I was before.  I fear never finding a job that I am excited and motivated to go to, and that truly makes a difference in my community.  I look around at the success of friends and classmates, and wonder what I am missing or am doing wrong.

At the time when I needed it God used this book to set my worries straight and encourage me to continue following Him.  God placed me at Missouri State again and he provided me with a graduate assistant position.  I have to trust that he placed me where I am and that he is going to use my education as a catalyst for the future he has planned for me.  I do not need to compare myself to others because God created me to be an individual and he has a specific plan especially for me.  Why would I want someone else's life if it means I miss out on the blessings God has planned for my own?

Matthew 6: 33-34

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Please pray as I work out these fears and work on following God and listening for His voice as he directs my path.  If you are going through something similar let me know!  I would love to pray for you as well :)

Living Room Update... Finally

We have lived in our house for almost 5 months!  I honestly cannot believe it has been that long, and when I look back at pictures of how our house first looked I am blown away.  We have done so much work to make this house our home and I am so proud of it.  I thought about doing an entire house update in one post, but then decided that I would break it up by rooms in order to show more pictures and details and make the fun last longer!

If you want to look back at all of the pictures from when we first moved in here is my initial post.

Our living room when we moved in was dark, dirty, and in need of TLC.  The walls were a dark hunter green, the trim was painted over with dark, muddy brown, the ceiling fan was brass, and the wood floors had seen better days.

 

We spent two weekends with my amazing in-laws working to paint the house and work on the floors.  They even came back while we were gone on vacation and polyurethaned the floors in the living room and bedrooms!  It was a long process but the end result in the living room is the perfect living space for us :)

We chose the color "Blue Lagoon" by Behr for the walls and LOVE the color as well as the paint.  It took us ONE, yes let me repeat one, coat to cover over the dark hunter green!

The floors look so much better after a good scrub and a coat of polyurethane.  If I was redoing floors in my permanent home I would have sanded, re-stained, and covered the floors with a couple of coats of poly, but this worked great to make the floors look clean, be more durable, and we were able to do all of the floors in the house with one can.

This shelf had a makeover and now acts as my "mantle".  I love it for showcasing sweet mementos during the year, and I am really excited to dress it up for holidays!

The hutch looks so good up against the blue walls!  I love how well all of the bold colors pair with one another in the space.

This is a lamp that we DIY'd out of a fun lampshade I had to have from Target and a pendant light from Home depot :)  It helps to define the "dining" part of the space.

It is hard to see, but behind the door we have a coat rack for purses, school bags, and jackets. You have to get a little crafty when you don't have a coat closet!

We also tackled the ceiling fan during our living room makeover.  It used to be brass, but one day we took it apart (part to paint and mostly to clean) and spray painted all of the metal parts with oil rubbed bronze.  It looks so much classier!

There is the tour of living room!  It has been a long time coming so thank you for being patient :)  There are still blank walls that I would like to have photos on, and I am still on the hunt for the perfect curtains , but it definitely looks and feels much more like home!