Creating Moments That Matter
Here’s my crazy Maven’s friends! I know you’ll recognize many in the photo as fellow bloggers.
Here’s Cheryl and Julie who I wish blogged. Their stories are hilarious! I’ve got to say that Julie is laughing in every picture I take of her. 😉
Here’s Tatiana and Lisa. We didn’t share many tips this time. I took the place mats I made as my tip but no one had a circular table, so no one could use it. Bummer. Tatiana was host so we got to see her amazing new house. Yeah for her! She drew for the door prizes. Luckily I won!! this is what she made for us.
I can’t tell you how much this means to me. I’m a loser and hadn’t heard this quote before. I grew up in a house where there was nothing but work, I started my career in a dental office at age 15, and I’m a work-a-holic still today. I’ve been trying very hard to plan fun things for my kiddos and plan family vacations but it’s something that I struggle with. I feel like I should be productive all the time, work on making myself a better person, and keep focus on my goals.
So having this quote in my kitchen as a constant reminder by a Prophet brought me to tears when I put it up in my kitchen. I have such a hard time smelling the roses and relaxing. I feel like I still have too much to prove.
Thanks Tatiana!! You’re also looking at Christmas gifts I’m giving away this year. I hope this powerful message will enlighten others the way it has me. (Don’t worry – the people I’m giving it to don’t read my blog.)
I did something very nice for myself this year. I did all the boys school clothes shopping online! Yep, instead of dragging all three boys into several stores and spending hours coordinating outfits; it took me one hour to purchase them all online. 🙂 I shopped 3 different stores, found all their sizes, bought hard-to-find slim adjustable shorts, and was still in a good mood afterwards. It was such a treat!
Since I don’t have any cute girls to dress, I do coordinate some of the boys outfits. Simply for my personal enjoyment. Not all of them and I don’t make them match everyday. They decide what they want to wear each morning. I just like to have matching clothes on hand for events like, trip to Grandma’s, zoo, 6 Flags, etc.
It all started when Davis was little. He would take off in public all the time. I would make sure the boys matched so if I had to find Davis, I could point to Dylan and say, “He looks just like this!” Also, I would take a picture of them with the digital camera that I brought with me so I could show it as well. I know, it sounds awful. But just until a year go trying to keep Davis safe and with me at all times was a huge problem. I’m so grateful we have it under control now.
I went through all the boys clothes and decided what we’re giving away, what we’re donating, what we’re keeping, and what we still need. I love cleaning out the boys closets and getting them back in order. I think it feels good to start off the new school year with a fresh start.
How do you get ready for school?
Can you believe it, 2 girls night outs in one week! You can tell all my friends are back in town. Yeah! Rochelle gave all the details on our very adventurous Friday night.
We had an exciting evening in Dallas with dinner, a movie, a fire drill, and ice-cream. Yes, I said fire drill. With only about 20 minutes left in the film, Becoming Jane, the fire alarms went off and we had to exit the building. It was actually kind of a relief to me because I had to go potty really bad! Luckily they paused the movie and after a bathroom break we were able to go back in a finish the movie. Good thing too because I wasn’t going to drive an hour and pay $9 to see it again.
*Spoiler Alert* If you don’t know about Jane’s life and want to go to the movie surprised, skip the next paragraph.
I really enjoyed the movie. Don’t hate on me, but I’m not a Jane Austen fan. I’ve seen a lot of films based on her books recently because several of my friends are fanatics. It’s enjoyable but not my first pick on a film. I’ve got to say that I loved the ending in this movie. I felt that it wrapped it up nice and neat and gave me closure. I really wish that Jane had given the shy wealthy guy a chance. Seriously, I think he had a lot more character than she was willing to admit. Too bad she ended up alone and never married in real life. Bummer! I feel more for her sister. At least Jane had her romance novels to fill her cup. I wonder what her poor sister did? I would think that after having had love and losing it in the war that you would be able to find it again?
Lisa and I had some sister time in Canton on Saturday. This is all the stuff she got. I got the big iron on the left, but you can only see part of it. We’ll hang it today and I’ll take a picture. Jason gave me a $50 limit. Can you believe that?!? He’s never done that before and at first I was insulted. Then I remembered that next month is my birthday! I’ll make up for it then. (he he)
We went to Canton because Lisa moves into her house this weekend. Yeah! I’ll be driving down to help her unpack and decorate. Her house is amazing. This is not your average starter home – she has such great taste and it’s going to be eye popping. I can’t wait for this weekend.
I am so excited about my new Layer’s new shirt, the Ella! I can hardly stand it. It’s a little pricey, which I’m a little bummed about. But I’m in heaven it’s so beautiful! I think it will look so cute with a skirt and capri’s. I can’t wait to wear it to Dinner Club and church. I think it’s going to be a new staple in my “Dress Up” wardrobe.
Click here to check out the Ella and the other New Summer Arrivals!
I’m so lucky to have my sister, Lisa, staying with me again this week. She’s a reading fanatic these days and was using a check I gave her as a book mark. Shameful! Not in my house! So I made her a black, red, and white bookmark. I decided to make me a pink and green one. You can never have too many.
My friend Lisa (I know a lot of Lisa’s) came over to work on our card swap and since I was on a roll, made her a teal and pink bookmark as well. (Doesn’t it POP with that teal book.)
Here’s the full view. Click here for more pictures and directions on how to make.
Here are the cards I made for my V.T. and card swap. I’ll never forget the first homemade card I received. It was after giving a talk in church and a couple days later I got this beautiful card in the mail with the most heart-felt words inside. She had made this same card in maroon. Needless to say, this card is very dear to me.
(Here’s a close up view.) I still remember those sweet words Lori wrote and how special I felt when I received it. I’m hoping I can do the same for someone else. Has someone given you something so small but it made a big impact on you?
So my girlfriend is getting all ready for girls camp and she was telling me all about her theme. It’s Camp Belle’s and their motto is “Be M! M! Good.” So brilliant! Anyway, I couldn’t help myself and volunteered to make all her girls shrinky dink necklaces. So, that’s what I did today was make 24 of these awesome necklaces.
Ok, I also went grocery shopping, cleaned out the fridge, and made other necklases too. See Tip Junkie for those cute ideas.
As Christmas presents for some of my girlfriends, I made Pride & Prejudice pendant necklases using shrinky dinks. They eneded up wearing them on their Jane Austen tour of England. Yeah! You can print out the images for the neckalce and the bracelet here.
Today I was surrounded by elegant beauty! Rochelle completely out did herself and hosted book club in her backyard today. You can read more about it and see more pictures on Rochelle’s Blog. Seriously, it was so breathtaking that when I sat down I didn’t want to eat. I just wanted to sit there and take in all the “girly beauty”. (I’ve been around blue, rockets, bugs, and sports too long.) I couldn’t believe all the love that Rochelle put into the afternoon. It was truly amazing! I really need it.
To top it off, each setting had a little floral sprig with a quote from the book, which we got to take home! Everyone read their quote out loud and agreed that each quote fit us perfectly. My quote was, “It’s so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn’t it?” I’ll let you be the judge if that fits me. ;-} (However, I don’t think I’ve shown that side to you yet. he he)
Ok, so I admit, I’m completely obsessed with these flower clips (Flower Clip Anonymous here I come). I mentioned back in my Summer Hair post that you can use this as a bow on a gift and Here It Is! As you know, I was making a bunch of these clips for my friend’s little girls and it just so happened to be her birthday so I topped off the gift with this cute flower. What do you think!?!
