Musings

Happy Monday everyone :)  My day of work was actually good after a refreshing weekend and good talk with a friend from training.  Sometimes it just feels good to share the insecurities and have a friend help you work through them.

This post is three-fold which is the reason for the post title.  These are my musings and a recap of the happenings in our lives right now.  Read on if you want a glimpse of my crazy mind or don't.  This post is for me.

First, remember the post from last week where I introduced you to some amazing flea market finds?!  Well I am happy to say that they are up and making my kitchen happy :)

I was immediately thrilled that I had a place to display some of our favorite mugs and organize the pens in the kitchen, but the area was lacking a little color so I set to work incorporating bright turquoise.  I just mixed one part paint that I had in my craft drawer with one part water and washed it over the "mugs" cup hanger.

It is subtle but I love it and I wanted to share :)

I also wanted to tell you that I have a really fun diy project coming up that involves beautifying this:

We are working on a few finishing touches so hopefully I will be able to share the finished product as well as a couple of tutorials from the process later this week!

The final reason for this post, and by far the most important, is to share what God has been working with me on over the past week.  I have shared on here a few times that I do not love my current job, but I have never shared the reasons behind my dislike.  It is not a dislike of the job that I am doing, because I am a talker and love to meet new people, but it is the way I feel while doing the job.  The devil has used this job to stir up self-doubt, make me feel worthless and weak, and encourage me to tell myself that I will never succeed at this job or any other one that I pursue.  I reached a point before the Christmas break where I broke down in heaving sobs because I did not want to face another day where I was a failure.  The first day back to work after break I cried again because for two glorious weeks I was surrounded by family and friends and felt like me for the first time in months.  

I have shared these feelings with a few people, but mostly I fought the battle by myself because I felt that I should be able to handle it.  Last week Thursday I was driving and a song came on the radio and the one part that stuck out to me was "you were made to fill a purpose that only you can do".  I just started crying and began to see for the first time that the devil was really at work in my hatred toward my job, and that I had the power of the Kingdom of God on my side.  I shared my struggles for the first time with our Financial Peace University class at church, and was so encouraged by the outpouring of support from everyone in the group.  I felt such a huge weight lift off my shoulder, because I knew that God had placed warriors around me that would help me fight the battle.  They are praying for me, encouraging me, and working to remind me that my identity is in God and God alone.  

Now I am working on having a healthy relationship with my job as well as putting in the time with God each day so that I go out into the world with the armor of God on me.  Most mornings when I get ready to leave the house I still get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I am trying to rely on the word of God and pray to Him to help me through the struggles.

Thank you for letting me have a post for "me" where I can really put into words what I am battling and solidify my resolve to battle it with God on my side.

2012 Goals

Happy New Year!  To start 2012 off right the hubby and I have been enjoying a wonderful date day together :)  We went to Starbucks for coffee and crocheting, followed by a trip to the antique mall where we found some really neat things!

Fun coffee mug shaped wall hangings that I plan on putting pens in to help our kitchen become a bit more organized:

A "mugs" holder for displaying our favorite coffee mugs:

And an adorable tea cup pin cusion:

I am so excited to try my hand at making these pin cushions as gifts for other people.  I love all of the ideas that I gain when I go to the flea markets and antique malls.  Some of the booths are so creative!  When we perusing the booths I came across one where the booth owner had made recipe card holders out of candle sticks, a wood plaque, and a clip.  I will be making one of these!

Now we are home making lunch and gearing up for an afternoon of crocheting and movie watching :)  I love my husband!  He seriously is the best match for me :)

So enough of our fun day, the real point of this post is to share with all of you some of my goals for 2012.  I have been reading a lot of goals of bloggers that I read on a regular basis and it has been so inspiring!  My thought is if they are written out for everyone to see I not only have a reference for the goals that I made, but I also have some accountability ;)

2012 Goals:

*Write more blog posts and get on a consistent schedule.  I love my blog and I love writing and sharing what is going on in my life, my marriage, and my craft room.  Writing each post is fun for me, so I do not know why I have slacked since the wedding in writing consistent posts.  My goal is to throw more of myself into the blog this year!
*Sew a dress.  I have done a couple small sewing projects since I got my sewing machine, but this year I want to tackle a dress and I want it to include a zipper :)  I live in dresses most of the summer so making a piece of clothing that I would use hopefully will serve as motivation to accomplish this goal.  I even have an inspiration dress that I found on Pinterest:

*Really get into crocheting :)  Anyone that is my friend on facebook has seen my updates lately as I have restarted learning how to crochet and I am having so much fun!  In 2012 I want to learn more about crocheting, try different projects, and do a project based off of a pattern (which will require me to learn the crochet lingo)

*Take lots and lots of pictures and have fun editing them!  My wonderful hubby and in-laws bought me a Canon EOS Rebel T3 for Christmas and I want to learn what it is capable of doing and just have fun developing a new hobby :)

*Find a volunteer opportunity that is fulfilling and related to children and families.  My job is not the career that I want to have, but right now it is a blessing that I need to appreciate and work at becoming better at.  In the meantime I have begun to realize that I need to find fulfillment in other areas related to my passion for children and families.  I will keep you guys up to date on volunteer avenues I am pursuing.

*Get into the word more.  I started a plan to read the Bible in 40 days, but got off track over the holiday season.  I want to get back on track and allow the 40 day plan to create a habit of being the word and coming closer to the Lord.

*Work-out on a consistent basis.  I used to love to work out, but after I hurt my knee last spring and had to have surgery I let it fall to the wayside.  Cameron and I now have a gym membership and my goal for this year is to be consistent with going and working out as well as expanding my horizons of fitness activities.

*Join a couples Bible study.  We love our church a lot, but one area where it is lacking is group opportunities for young married couples who do not have children yet.  We have a few couples that we are friends with that we absolutely love hanging out with, but I would also love to find a group of couples that we could study God's word and grow spiritually with.  Maybe we could even start the group...

There you have it folks!  My goals for 2012.  2011 was an interesting year with a lot of ups and downs, and I am VERY excited for what this new year will bring :)  One of the blogs that I read on a consistent basis, Fitnessista, shared a really cool way of making your goals for the new year physically visible to you year round.  She makes and inspiration board each year that has pictures and a list of a her goals for the year and places it in her closet so that she can see the commitment she made to herself at the beginning of the year and hold herself accountable to the goals she set.  I am going to work on mine today and I encourage any of you that are looking for a way to remind yourself of your goals to do one as well :)

Love you all and cannot wait to see what 2012 brings!

What to do with all of the wedding cards

Happy Wednesday :)  Today is my handsome hubby's 22nd birthday!!!  Here are some highlights from our celebration:

Birthday Brownies and candles in the shape of a "C" :)

I like this one of him blowing out the candles

Coffee and birthday brownies to celebrate :) A very chill and low key night at home to welcome his 22nd year.  I love nights like this and birthdays are a perfect time to make it a priority.

The second purpose for this post is to share a project that I did to make a keepsake of all the wedding cards we received.  The cards have been sitting in a box in the living room waiting for a project to use them with.  I didn't want to throw them away because I am overly sentimental and love reading through all of them, but I also knew that they could not stay in a box in my living room forever.  Then one day I stumbled across this brilliant idea on Pinterest:

From the blog Something Turquoise

What a clever way to save all of your wedding cards in a presentable format that you and guests to your home can enjoy!  Loved it right away and set out immediately making our cards into a book :)

I enlisted the help of the hubby to help hole punch the cards because some of them were super thick!  And once all of them were hole punched I sorted them into three books.  One book was just cards from our engagement and showers, and the other two books were from our wedding.  Once sorted I measured the largest card in each stack and made the front and back covers 1/2 inch larger on both sides to created a nice finished look.

Once the front and back covers were cut I attached ribbon to the back cover and made sure that it was long enought to wrap around the front and tie into a bow.  

The rest of the books were purely cosmetic, so I of course decorated them in our wedding colors and added some Lauren flair ;)

I excited that I finally came across a way to use our wedding cards and really enjoy them :)  

Also if I could ask all of you to say a little prayer for me I have a big opportunity tomorrow and I am really needing postive thoughts and prayers sent my way.  Thank you!

Deck the Halls

Hello All!  What a wonderful holiday weekend with family :)  Splitting time between the families was an interesting experience to work through, but I'm hoping that Thanksgiving helped us to see what works (and doesn't work) for the holidays so that we are better prepared for Christmas and are able to spend quality time with both of our families :)

As much as I love Thanksgiving, I ADORE Christmas!  This time of year is so special and hopeful, and I am really excited for our first Christmas as a married couple :)  One aspect of the holiday that I was really excited for was decorating our house, and after emerging from my turkey coma I set to work making a beautiful tree skirt for our tree.  I used these examples from Pinterest as inspiration:

DIY Tree Skirt

DIY No Sew Tree Skirt

I took tips from both ideas and forged ahead making my own.  I used about four yards of fabric total that was divided into five different kinds of fabric.

Here is the fabric breakdown:

*Largest Ring - 1 1/2 yards

*Second Ring - 1 yard

*Third Ring - 3/4 yard

*Fourth Ring - 1/2 yard

*Fifth/ Sixth Ring - 1/2 yard

I used a cheap $1 44" felt tree skirt from the dollar store and set to work.  I started by cutting the fabric into 4" wide strips (this takes a while so recruiting help is always good).

Once the strips were cut I loosely sewed one side and scrunched the fabric to create a pretty wave effect. When all of the strips had been sewn I began applying them to the felt tree skirt.  I measured three inches in from the edge of the tree skirt to mark the first place to attach the fabric strips.  I chose three inches because I wanted the fabric to hang off the edge of the felt tree skirt an inch.

I chose to go the no sew route of attaching the fabric strips and hot glued them to the existing tree skirt.  If you are handier with a sewing machine you could also attach the strips that way :)

When I got to the center of the skirt I chose to do two layers of the same fabric although you could choose one more fabric option.

I am THRILLED with how the skirt turned out and total my project came to around $23!  Cheaper and prettier (in my opinion) than any that I have seen at the stores this season :)

When we got home we went right to work setting up and decorating our tree so we put our tree skirt around the tree!

Here is the final product:

I am looking forward to a wonderful holiday season!

Why must marriage be anything but good?

Each day of my job I get to build relationships with the physicians and office staff that I call on, and because I only see them once every two weeks it is a slow process.  One of the easiest topics to talk about is the fact that I am a newlywed :)  Many of my offices remember me, because I got married and left for my honeymoon after only calling on them once!  Each time I go in I get the question of "how is married life?" and I happily reply "WONDERFUL!!!"  The response I get a lot of times is "Wait a bit, that will end" and I joke that I will be looking out for that.

Lately though I have been thinking, why do people place the expectation on marriage that at some time it will stop being wonderful?  I do not mean to say that marriage is not hard work or that there will not be days where arguements take place, but why do some feel that there is a point in every marriage where it stops being an amazing experience and becomes a burden?

I believe that there has to be a commitment to making your marriage be a place of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and growth.  At church on Sunday Pastor Mark shared a story of conjoined twins who were joined at the heart and he stated "Since separation is not an option cooperation becomes an obligation."  This is the mindset that we should enter into marriage with.  Marriage is not a temporary high that goes away, it is a committment to another person that should always be honored.  It is work and dedication, but at the same time it can be a place of great love and beauty.  In order to be at that place, we must work on our marriage diligently and not let separation enter our minds.

Matthew 12:25 states, "...Any kingdom at war with itsef is doomed.  A city or home divided against itself is doomed."  This is what stands to happen to marriage when both parties are not fully committed to cooperation and working to build a strong, loving bond between them that cannot be destroyed.  Marriage does not have to be a union that ends up bad no matter what, but our choices can lead it to that place or they can lead it in a healthy direction.

I apologize for the randomness of this entry, but it has been on my heart for a while and I wanted to share it :)  Happy Wednesday

Friday Favs: Week 2

Happy Friday!!!!  The drive home on Friday always seems extra long :(  What an evil way the world works sometimes!  But now I am happily home with my hubby getting ready for a lovely Halloween weekend and I wanted to share some of my favorites this week... so here goes :)

*My lovely friends.  This sounds cheesy, but this week they are at the top of my list.  Last night I had my weekly date night with Laura and Mina to watch Vampire Diaries and Grey's Anatomy, and they were exactly what I needed after a long day.  They are always so loving and inspiring, plus they make me laugh :)  And this morning I got to share an early morning breakfast with Michelle and Ashley.  There was no better way to start the day than over a delicious breakfast with two fantastic people!

*Our brand new "From the Calefs" stamp that I bought off of Pick Your Plum!  They had personalized stamps for sale a few weeks back and it came to under $13 for the stamp and shipping!  Heck yes to a good deal and the stamp is so cute.  I have been using the stamp this week on the back of thank you cards (yes I am STILL working on them... making them by hand is a lot of work).

*The Pinterest Challenge put on by Young House Love!  I am participating this week and will unveil what I decided to do next Wednesday :)  You should all participate too!  Pinterest is awesome.

*Speaking of Pinterest this is my favorite idea that I found this week.  It would fit anywhere in our house right now, but maybe in the future...

Hope everyone has a lovely Halloween weekend! BOO!

Mirror re-do

With my job I travel a lot and must get creative with ways to spend my lunch time in different towns.  One of my favorite places to go in Branson is TJMaxx.  They often have a better selection than the one in Springfield, and they have a really good clearance area.  This shopping trip I was looking to see if I could find some cute fall decor (which I found) and stumbled upon a fantastic mirror that I knew I had to have.  First the cute fall decorations just because I love them :)

And now on to the mirror.  It started its life like this:

I looked past its hot pink frame thanks to its $15 price tag and decided that I could make it function in our master bedroom.  I bought a can of primer and a can of sunshine yellow spray paint for the re-do.  The primer was a must with the frame being a very bright hot pink :)

I was so excited to get the mirror up and on the wall that I decided to paint it right after I got home, which meant that it was dark outside so sorry about the dark pictures to come ;)

It took about 4 coats of primer and 3 coats of color to cover the hot pink, but the finished project is amazing in my opinion :)

I was squealing with excitement when it went up on the wall!  Living in a rental presents that challenge of sterile, white walls that you can't do anything with.  I am always looking for fun ways to bring bright colors to our walls and this mirror definitely did it in our master bedroom :)  

See you tomorrow for a Friday Favorites post!