Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Hats for the Morning Rush



So the hair is not cooperating and you had neither time, nor desire to apply makeup? Simply grab a hat. If you feel you're not a hat person, don't give up yet. Most often that is not the case, but rather finding the right style and fit for your head and face.

This outfit was stylish to me, yet comfortable. It's also a product of purging my closet. Cleaning out my closet gave me a better idea of what I actually need and want.  I made a list of wants/wishes on my phone and refer to it when I'm shopping.

It's a short list, but it does seem to change often...

Long, cozy sweater.  Check.
Long shirts to pair with leggings. Check.

I just read a great blog post about cleaning out your closet, by Js Everyday Fashion. I love her tips on making a list for your future purchases. She also posts outfit inspirations for casual, work attire, etc daily, so you may just want to follow her!

Sweater: American Eagle
TOP: Ruby Ribbon (hand me down)
Boots: Random Shoe store
Necklace: Local Vendor (it was a gift so I'm not sure which one)
Hat: MIL

I'm linking up with the Pleated Poppy. Yay! I love WIWW. :)

Chrissy

 


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Monday, February 22, 2016

Encouragement for My Fellow Fearful

IDo you often run from a challenge? Or do you thrive on the thought of surmounting that next feat? Man, I wish I was the latter!! But alas, I tend to avoid, or even run from certain challenges. What if I fail and look the fool?!

But with great quotes (easily accessible with a quick Pinterest search!) such as: 


"You only fail when you stop trying" 
and
"Don't be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try!" 

I should be grabbing the bull by the horns! 

All kidding aside, perhaps a part of maturity is accepting the failures along with the successes, and not allowing either to define who we are. And is it really a failure if we've learned valuable lessons along the way?

For those that do avoid or run, how often are you thankful you've accepted the challenge once it's complete? 

As mentioned in a former post, this year I'm intent on celebrating even the smallest of achievements or accepted challenges. It helps me to be thankful. It gives me more confidence in the God who equips me for every good work (large OR small). And just maybe, this will encourage another fellow fearful; another fighter of self-doubt.

Today's small achievement... 

Recently, our small group at church was challenged to write a letter to our family and come prepared the following week to possibly read it in front of the group. The idea of the letter was to teach us how to encourage, endear, enrich and enlighten our loved ones with the Gospel of Christ.  I fully intended to write the letter. Really I did. However, that week was a week like any other week - busy, busy, busy.  Sunday quickly approached and I no longer planned on writing that letter.  That is until, the challenger-assignee messaged me with the request to read mine if no one else volunteered.  

Coasters made by my talented sister, Lauren
Saturday afternoon came. Nothing. 

Saturday night, I sat down again to write. Nothing. 

Sunday morning I woke up early, sat in front of my laptop and there it was. 

A gift. Words full of His beautiful truths and promises began to flow. The usual cloudy mind, with thoughts bouncing in all directions came into focus. I knew that He honored my acceptance of the assignment. And you can bet, I was so thankful I said yes.  

Oh! Guess how many lovelies volunteered??? Yup. I read my letter to the group that morning.   

I'm copying my letter into this post. I pray it will encourage, enlighten, enrich and even endear you to our one true God. All glory to Him!

And to my Fellow Fearful?  I pray that we will put our confidence in the ONE who knows us, loves us and wants what's best for us, and...GO FOR IT!!

Chrissy


********

Beloved family, 

I write to you this day to tell you that God loves you. Even though we are sinners; we want our own way, we fight, we steal, we lie, we cheat, He still gave His only Son and we need only to confess our sin, believe in Him, trust Him and follow Him to receive His precious gift of salvation and eternal life. God IS love. We cannot grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Eph 3:18). Is there any greater demonstration of love than to lay down your own life? That’s what Jesus did on the cross. 

Jesus came that we my have life and have it to the full! (John 10:10b) A life filled with the fruits of the spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  We are called to walk according to the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of our flesh, but our flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit. We cannot do whatever we want and still expect to experience this wonderful fruit and produce fruit. (Galatians 5: 16,17)

So how do we walk in obedience and fight our flesh? This will not always be easy. We must be alert and sober in mind (1 Peter 5:8). Not only do we contend with our flesh. But take care. We have an enemy. An enemy seeking to devour. His aim is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10a). This is not an exaggeration or me being overly dramatic. He seeks to tear apart our family. He lies to us. He will tell you, you are no good. He will tell you the ways of the world are better, easier and more exciting than God’s ways. He will try to lead you down a path of destruction. 

Do not be dismayed by this, for Greater is He that is within you than he that is in the world!
And once we are His, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus. When we fail, we should confess our sins and He will forgive us. His mercies are new every morning. He is full of grace, unmerited favor. 

 Again, Believe in Him!  Fear the LORD our God, walk in obedience to Him and love him, and serve Him with all our heart and with all our soul. (Duet. 10:12).

We must love God and when we love God, we will love one another.

We will read our Bibles and pray. For His word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. When we trust Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways, he will direct our paths. 

We must keep our lives free from the love of money and be content with what we have.  He will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)  When we Seek first His Kingdom, He will provide all that we need physically, mentally and spiritually.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. (Phil. 2:14-16)

Finally, we must share and demonstrate these truths to others. For God is sending Jesus once again. But this time it will be to gather His church to Him. We are His church. Oh, God help us to live a life worthy of our calling.

Your loving, dearest, momsicle :)
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Thursday, February 18, 2016

Maximizing Space & Mini-Makeover in the Master Bedroom

Remember how I said I wanted to start celebrating even the smallest of achievements this year? Well, this may not be my smallest and I may leave the tiny ones for IG posts, but today I'm excited to share a first of what I hope to be many for this year.

 My saga of maximizing space continues as the 6 of us live day to day in a small ranch. (Side note - so does much of the rest of the world!) Admittedly, we still have areas we can improve on and it has taken some practice over the years.  Somedays I just want to trade up! My husband and I re-visit that option every year or so, but we always seem to come to the same conclusion...low mortgage trumps the desire for more space when entertaining. I say entertaining because we realize that we don't actually need more space on a day to day basis. I just want more space at times. (Check out my garage entertaining Christmas adventure HERE.)

Today I begin with our master bedroom.  First I'll share how we are making it work space wise, and then I'll show the minor changes we made to the overall look for less than $75.00  

 For space purposes we purchased  2 Wardrobes (Pax) and 2 Billy shelves from IKEA. (We feel understood at IKEA.) These closets would enable Glen to have a place to store his guns and hunting gear and in turn my closet could be utilized for extra storage.  

Side note: Over the summer I purged my closet twice and it felt oh so good!

***Bed BEFORE***

***Wardrobe After Purging...***


This was my favorite!

Alright. Enough about the wardrobes. Let's get to my new bedspread and how it motivated me to move beyond function and add some decoration. 

WAIT! Before you read any further.

This post will not be featured in a magazine or pinned onto Pinterest boards. However, I hope it will encourage those of you who feel decor-challenged. We can stay simple and still love the space we are in. That being said, if you have a friend or two with a knack for it, I see no issue with bugging them for some help. ;) 

***Bed AFTER***

New Bedspread from Belk...and Kitty
Iron Headboard was FREE!
***Glen's Side BEFORE...***

Yes, we went to sleep night after night with that as one of the last things we saw before slumber. 

After hanging the group of 4 pieces, we realized that would not be enough and added 2 more.  The  table, sad roses and pitiful lamp was replaced with our coffee table/bench from the living room. (We searched for just the right size table or bench with no luck. This was our way of improvising.)

***Glen's Side AFTER***

3 Items are from a local artist, Christy Beasley.


Can an artificial plant be considered dead? Ours was. We replaced that with this white folding chair. It's nothing special but we had it laying around and it looked far better with an added bonus of functionality. We can sit on it. (I know. It looks like someone sat on our old plant.) 

***Chrissy's Side BEFORE***


***Chrissy's Side AFTER***


Notice that both Glen and I's closet doors have hangers for coats, bags, scarves, etc. We try and utilize all the space that we can.  

Suggestions for the space challenged sum-up:

1. Clean out extra junk, things you don't wear or don't feel great in. This would help even those who have plenty of space to work with.  It just makes life easier.
2.  Look into a wardrobe system from IKEA and see if it would work with your bedroom layout. They have lots of different options. 
3. Utilize any doors that you can to hang extras. 

Total Cost invested to make me feel like I have a "new" bedroom on the decor end...

New Bedspread: $0.00 (Christmas gift)
New Throw: $12.00
Glen Side/Local Art & Goodwill frames: $37.00
New Throw Pillow: $10.00
Iron Headboard: Free (someone was getting rid of it)

Total Spent: $59.00

Well, that's all my reader friends. How do you maximize space in your master bedroom? Do you have any tips for this gal? For instance, I'm deliberating over the idea of spray painting the iron headboard a color from a bedspread. Thoughts?

Chrissy

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