Par-tay!

This weekend was full of birthday celebrations.

The first being my little sister's 25th birthday! We celebrated on Friday night and it was a lot of fun. I wanted to do something creative to make her feel special, so I set up a couple of fun things.

First of all, I printed up a bunch of pictures of her...through the years...and strung them on yarn with mini clothes pins. I added some little colorful pieces of paper to make them stand out a little bit more. She did this at her wedding with pics of her and Andrew along a fence, so I thought it would be fun to do this to look back at her 25 years.

I then cut up a bunch of pieces of that same colorful paper for people to write a prayer or a wish for Bridget on. I cut some of them in squares and some with my Victorian scrapbooking scissors so they'd have fun edges. Bridget had this cute leaf bowl that I put on the table for people to put their wishes and prayers in.

I then bought a frame with a mat. I decided we'd take a group pic of everyone that was there to celebrate her birthday. I put the mat out so people could write a birthday message to Bridget on there, so she'd always have it to remember who celebrated her first twenty five years with her.
I had a few extra pics I couldn't put up on the wall, so I spread them out on the table with the papers and the mat.
Here are some pics of the party itself!

(Jeremy, plural)

(Group pic without me)

(I am hoping to be able to cut myself out of this one and add me to the other pic. I haven't ever done that before, though, so I'm hoping it will work out ok)

(25 candles!)

(My cute sister and her hubby)

(She was very excited to receive this spaghetti spoon!)

(Sister love!)

*********************

Our next birthday celebration was for our friend, Jeremiah. He turned 30 this last week, so his girlfriend, who happens to be my bestie, threw him a party. Here are some pics to commemorate our celebration!

(Singing Happy Birthday!)

(Me and my bestie)

(This is my friend...we call her the ninja...she kinda hates that nickname...but oh well. It's pretty much the truth)

(My sweet friend Katy!)

(Me and Mama Candi. We all love Chance's mom!)

(My amazing friend, Lisa. She's pretty much a rock star)

(My hubby and his best friend of over 20 years)

(Three generations!)

(The birthday boy and his lady)

(My hubby and Jeremiah like each other a lot)

(The birthday boy's party hat!)

We had a fun weekend celebrating milestone birthdays!

New Headband

I was very excited when my husband brought in the mail today...

Because this little beauty was in it!



I am SO excited about my new just.lovely.things headband! Heather of just.lovely.things makes one of a kind, vintage-inspired headbands...and they are just gorgeous!! To see more of her stuff, visit her shop. Her items go really fast, though...so if you see something you like, you'd better snatch it up right then!

And here's another pic just for good measure:


I am SO excited to wear it out...especially when my hair looks better.

Sheesh!

(That's what I get for taking pics at the end of the day)

I have other things to blog about, but it's late and this will just have to do for now. More to come!

Some Pretties

So...I haven't made any new jewelry yet...

But, I'm definitely itchin' to...especially since I bought some really pretty beads in CO!

The reason for this post is to showcase my friend Angey's new Etsy shop! She used to design jewelry in L.A. and took a break from it for awhile. She is now back into the swing of it...and she's creating beautiful pieces! I'm very excited that she's regained her passion for it and I wanted all of you to see what she's been creating! You can check out her shop here.



Isn't her stuff so cute? Be sure to check out her shop to see more!

Fun Times

So remember that fun trip I kept mentioning that was coming up?

It finally happened!

We took off last Tuesday on a plane to Denver, CO to see our sweet friends that live in Colorado Springs!

We were there in October (which I posted about here) and were really looking forward to the next time we'd be able to go out there. Thankfully, we got enough money back from our tax return to pay for plane tickets!

We got to do a lot of fun stuff again while we were there. We went to Manitou Springs and Cave of the Winds. We ate at fun places like Meadow Muffins, Fargo's, Five Guys, and Josh and John's Ice Cream (Emily got a pic of the boys in front of the shop. I'll have to share it when I get it from her). I found a bead store (!!) in Manitou Springs...and of course I had to buy some. We went bowling with some of their other friends that live there...and we played lots of Super Mario Bros on the Wii. We went to church with them, and I got to go to work with Emily on Friday and meet the guys she's always blogging about. We had such a good time...but our time flew by so quickly...even though we were there two days longer than we were our first trip.
Their little beauty is SO big now! She's talking up a storm now. She even started trying to say Josh's name the last day we were there! She kept saying, "Jah?" She's so stinkin' cute! And, I'm super excited that she's going to be a big sister in just a few more months! I'm eagerly awaiting the news of what Baby.O #2 is going to be!
It was very hard to come home again this trip. I have such a hard time with goodbyes...even though we don't say goodbye...it's definitely see ya soon.
Here are some pics from our trip:

(For those that know my husband, this number is pretty significant in his life...and he gets really excited when he gets that order number at restaurants)

(A guy playing bagpipes in Manitou Springs)

(We tried the water from the spring...it wasn't very good. Tasted very much like sulfur and too much salt. Very bitter)

(Me and the little beauty. She had a lot of fun at the old arcade)

(The boys and Harper.girl)

(Inside Cave of the Winds)

(We took a picture of the $10 pic they tried to get us to buy. Such cheaters...)

(This pizza place is super cute inside. Very turn of the century)

(Me and Em inside Fargo's)

(Such a sweet, beautiful little girl!)

(Josh playing with Harper after church)

(The mountains on our way to the airport. It snowed the night before, so there was a fresh coat of snow)

We are definitely looking forward to the next time we get to go to Colorado and see our friends!

Letting Go

Remember this post I wrote a few weeks ago?

I felt on top of the world when I wrote that. I knew that God loved me immensely, that He had amazing plans for my life, and that He had never left me. Yet, two and half weeks later, I had forgotten all about that.

Things didn't go the way I thought they were going.

I was let down.
I was hurt.
I was broken.

I actually spoke out loud to my husband that I thought that God didn't want me to be happy or have anything good in my life.

Needless to say, he was shocked.

And, to be perfectly honest, I was a little unnerved. I didn't understand why I felt that way...why I would really think something like that...when I know with absolute certainty that it's not true.
I know God loves me. I know He has good things in store for me...and that He wants good things in my life. I know that.

And yet I let satan tear me down...and I believed his lie.

I'm tearing up just thinking about how low I was in that moment as I bawled my eyes out.

How could I ever doubt the incredible, unconditional love of my Savior? How could I lose sight so quickly of every amazing thing He has done in my life? How could I tell my husband that God didn't want me to have good things in my life, when he is one of the best things that ever happened to me?

(We had lunch at Buca di Beppo on our way. Yum!!)

The theme of the women's retreat I went on this past weekend was Beyond my Comfort Zone - I'm Letting Go.

A.maz.ing.

Isn't it so crazy how God works to get our attention?

I had no idea what to expect for last weekend...and I was blown away.

I met some amazing women, got to know some other women much better, heard amazing messages from our awesome speaker, and allowed Jesus to heal my heart.

It was fabulous...even with all of the crazy weather and roads being closed.

Jesus knew exactly what I needed to hear this weekend...and He made sure I heard it. Loud and clear.


Our theme song for the weekend was perfect, too. It's called I'm Letting Go by Francesca Battistelli. The lyrics are so perfect.

My heart beats, standing on the edge
But my feet have finally left the ledge

Like an acrobat
There’s no turning back

I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
I’m losing control
Of my destiny
It feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go

This is a giant leap of faith
Trusting and trying to embrace

The fear of the unknown
Beyond my comfort zone

I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
I’m losing control
Of my destiny
It feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go

Giving in to your gravity
Knowing You are holding me
I’m not afraid

Jesus is amazing. The fact that He truly does love me so much, even through my doubting, is beyond me. I'm so grateful for that love.