Home Sweet Home...one day

I told B today that I haven't blogged at all yet this year. So maybe my first resolution should be to blog more consistently. :) In the next few weeks there should be a lot of blog about: moving from this house into a new home, renovating our new home, etc. We are both so excited about what the future holds. As of right now, we are still in negotiations over the house in Louisiana. It is a 20 year old home so obviously it will need some work done. Our main concern though is the roof. We obviously don't want to pay the accepted price and then a year later turn around and put a new roof on it. A roofer will take a look at it and write up his report before we proceed. With each paper we sign, I pray over it and ask that God's will be done. During this process we have said that we only want this home and this move if God's hand is on it. 

In the meantime, I'm still booking photo sessions in Arkansas and Louisiana and burning up the road in between. I will be so happy when we are finally settled. 

Settled. 

And when we do finally unpack the last box and everything is in it's place, I'll hang this pretty little sign up and sigh and huge sigh of relief. 

Home Sweet Home. 

I found this lovely artist via twitter and I am officially obsessed with her work. I currently have about 10 of her favorite prints in my Etsy's shopping cart. I need to narrow it down but how? They are all so beautiful! 

Check out this lovely artist and fall in love like I did with Katie Daisy. 

Her website: www.katiedaisy.com

Her shop @ Etsy

I hope you are having a lovely 2013. I hope to bring you many more happy blogging this year. 

Monday Monday

Happy Monday, y'all! This weekend was crazy busy filled with wonderful photo shoots and wonderful clients! Head over to my photography site to see more. I try to keep my business and personal separate to the best of my blogging ability but sometimes I wonder if I should just combine them into one blog. There are days when I think it would be MUCH simpler but then again, it's nice to have all of my photography in one spot.

Mondays are usually quiet around my house and I've started to look forward to them.  I have learned (the hard way) that after a weekend full of photo shoots, events and running errands, I usually need a day to recuperate.  When I had an 8 to 5 desk job, Mondays were often hard on me. After long weekends, I would have to get up by 6 or 6:30 on Monday and start my week all over again, not fully resting or recuperating. Now that I work from home, my Mondays are for catching up on laundry, doing dishes, paying bills, watering my plants, taking recycling, returning phone calls, and sometimes, catching up on my DVR. Seriously, everyone needs a day like this. Now I honestly don't know what I would do without my Mondays. We would probably be WAY behind on paying bills, that's for sure!

Whether you are at home or at work, I hope you are having a great Monday! As B & I are making some big decisions around our household, I have been meditating on this verse. I wanted to share it with y'all today. Perhaps it might help someone else like it has helped me this morning.

source

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE & a FUTURE." Jeremiah 29:11

So many things in our life are uncertain, but doesn't it put you at ease knowing that God knows the plans of our future? We might not have a clue what we are doing, but God surely does! :)

January Pinspiration: Pet Area

By now we have all heard of Pinterest. Pinterest and I are BFF. I have so many DIY projects, craft & organizational ideas saved that I hope to one day get around to. I’m making it a goal to pick one of these projects per month to complete. They don’t have to be huge time consuming projects, just something to make our life a little less chaotic. Here’s one project to help organize all of our pet products. Having these four munchkins around our house means having our fair share of pet supplies.

Their leashes, harnesses, treats, food, and litter was taking up too much space inside. After coming across this little Pinterest Inspiration, my wheels were turning. We already kept their food in the garage, but I when I saw this adorable leash holder, I decided to put much my pinspiration to work.

What have you found on Pinterest lately that has inspired a recent project? Stay tuned for next month's project!

30 day photo challenge

I've been in a rut here lately. With all of the editing I've been doing for my photography business, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed. I haven't taken any pictures for fun...for me. In order to keep my creative juices flowing I'm taking Tricia Nae's 30 day photo challenge in hopes to shake these blues away. You should do it too!

Procrastinator

Why oh why am I a procrastinator? I have always been. In every area of my life. I work better under pressure I think... which is weird because I hate being stressed. But yet here I am the day of an event in which I have to present a restoration piece and half of it is sitting on my front porch. UNFINISHED. Yup, that's right. The event is tonight and my piece is not finished. But that's what makes life exciting right? or better yet, that's what gives me migraines. I have less than 5 hours to complete the project, load up my car, charge my camera and head to the Restore and After event.

And you better believe I'll be bidding on this bad boy that my friend Cara made. She never ceases to amaze me. Secretly, I wish I had her skill... and time management for that matter.

Well, I better stop blogging and get to finishing my project. See you tonight!

Weekend Review

Whew! It's been a crazy few days! Let's recap:

Thursday I headed down to Louisiana to meet my new doctor. I have been seeing a specialist in Dallas since 2006 and recently their offices underwent several changes in administration. My doctor is no longer there and instead of going through the hassle of getting to know a new doctor in Texas, I moved my doctor to Louisiana. Yes, it's still a state away, but this new doctor is closer to my hometown. Also, it is the same doc that my mom goes to, so we try to schedule our appointments on the same day.

Thursday after my appointment, I played with my niece Makaylan Joy (better known as M.J. in our family). She is about 3 1/2 months old so I snapped a few 3 months pics for her parents to document her growth. We're still not quite sure who she looks like in the family, but my brother swears she looks like me when I was her age... and I'm totally okay with that. :)

Friday I ran some errands in Ruston including stopping by Songbird where Kelly Moore has her bag line displayed. I have always been a fan of Kelly since I was in a wedding that she photographed in 2006. After taking her workshop, I was inspired to go full time into my photography. Kelly is such an inspiration to my photography. I guess you could say she is my photography idol. Friday morning I went by the shop Songbird in Ruston to buy a new Kelly Moore bag - I need the Libby bag that holds a 17" laptop. I sent Kelly a twitter message and asked her a question about her bags. Kelly was so sweet to come down to the shop to show me her bags personally. Now that's customer service, huh. I didn't end up buying one that day because my color was not in stock but I plan to purchase one soon!

Friday evening we had a family dinner at our favorite restaurant in Northwest Louisiana - family owned and operated, Port at Prince. They have THE BEST CATFISH ever! Seriously, people drive from Arkansas just to eat at this restaurant - I guess I'm one of those people! It is right on Lake Claiborne. Landon had such a good time splashing in the water after dinner.

Saturday morning I shot a birthday party for some friend's of ours. Their son was turning 3 and she wanted a photographer for the occasion. I'm not a mom but I can imagine that taking pictures is hard to do when you are trying to light candles, help open presents, and wrangle a bunch of 3 year olds. That's where I come in. :) Moms don't have to even bring a camera to their kids birthday party. I'll take care of it for you. Seriously, I wonder who will photography MY children's birthday parties. ha! Some of my favorite images from the party are over at my photography blog if you would like to check them out.

After rehydrating and eating some of my mom's yummy chicken salad, I headed back home to Arkansas where Buie and I ended the day with a burger from David's Burger. If you haven't eaten there yet and you live in Little Rock, you are missing out! Go eat the best burger of your life - they're on the corner of Markham and Bowman. Amazingness!

Sunday didn't slow down much at all but we enjoyed some time with Buie's parents. They took us out to eat at Logan's Roadhouse in Bryant. We had good food and excellent conversation. That evening we went to Eikon for a great night of worship with our church friends.

Monday morning Buie and I woke up and went and bought me a new car! Yup, we've been planning for months to buy a new car - well, new to me anyway. It's actually a 2009 but we got a great deal on it!

Whew! Wow. I'm tired just from writing all of that! And now it's currently 4am on Tuesday morning and I really have no idea why I'm still up. B will be getting up in about 2 hours for work! ha! Good night!

Pinterest Inspiration

I just found this on Pinterest and thought I would share it with you, my friends. And if you are wondering what the heck Pinterest is, go check it out and follow me! :) And above all, I hope that this quote is true for all of you.

source

Pinterest

Pinterest. In one word. OBSESSED. I am obsessed with Pinterest. Never heard of it? Well, then head on over and start "pinning" away! You'll quickly learn why this site is so addicting. Browse through thousands of photos in any category imaginable:: home decor, gardening, food, children, photography, crafts, flowers, seriously anything! Follow your friends on Pinterest to see which photos inspires them. Here are just about .1% of the inspiring photos I pinned just today.

Happy pinning!

Live Simply

Last night at church one of my friends spoke on a topic that is near to my heart. He spoke on living simply. What does it truly mean to live simply? Here are a few thoughts of mine I have about the topic:

• Be satisfied with that you have.


• Do more with what you have.


• Improve your life without buying anything more than what is necessary.


• Increase your awareness of those in need around you.


• Be responsible with the things you no longer need.


• Simply use less & give more. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.


• Do not be defined by your "stuff."
  
• Base happiness on yourself, your values and your family, etc.- spend less time comparing yourself to others.


• Define what is important and determine to live your life accordingly
  
• Be a good steward with your finances.


• Remember less is more. :)

You may think this is a weird topic to post before the holidays but to me, this is the BEST time to be thinking about this topic. Americans are consumers. We are surrounded my commercials and the latest gizmos and gagets. Some of them, yes, are handy and makes our life easier. But this Christmas I am encouraged to remember the root of true happiness. The reason for our joy should not be stuff. If it is, then maybe you should do some self examination. Ask yourself what are the most important things in your life. Is it equality to all human beings? Social justice? Peace on earth? Please understand that I am not asking you to sell all of your possessions to the poor and live on the street- I am simply asking for a self reflection. What is most important to you? I have been thinking about these things a lot in the past few years. And I would like to blog about these things more in the future. I would love to know your thoughts.... thanks for your time in reading this and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving spending time with your loved ones.

Related links:

72 Ideas to Simplify your life

Live Life Simply

Peaceful Simplicity

One Big Present

Christmas is fast approaching and that means family, food and gifts! Our family (mainly my mother) has always been big on presents. She kinda goes nutts, to say the least. My theory is she doesn't realize how much she has bought until Christmas Eve when she finally finishes up her wrapping and puts everything under the tree. I'm certain she steps back and looks at the enormous display of gifts and Brittney Spears's "Oopps I did it again" song starts playing in her head. It's true. I get my love of gift giving honestly from my mother. I LOVE giving gifts, not only at Christmas, but year round. I guess you could say, it is my love language.

conner in front of the tree

This year our family has decided to do something a little different. We have decided to pull our resources (in this case, our FINANCIAL resources) and purchase one big gift from a family (ies) in need. I remember doing this exact same thing when I was little. My parents made sure to teach us the importance of giving by tithing year round but also by giving to those less fortunate. Each year we would buy Christmas presents for a family in town and wrapped them all up and brought them to their front door and left them annonymously (whoops I guess it's not annonymous if you blog about it years later... hmmm..) Anyway, my point is, my parents did well by teaching the importance of giving. I still enjoy picking a name or two off the angel tree and going to buy presents for a child who may not get anything otherwise.

So last year, we told mom she was out of control and the gift giving needed to stop. haha. Who would have ever thought children would tell their parents to stop giving them presents!? My brothers and I (along with our spouses) had discussed the fact that we are literally searching for things for our parents to buy for us just so they could wrap it up and put it under the tree. Ridiculous if you ask me when their are so many people who don't even have one single Christmas gift.

my brothers & my husband, overwhelmed with way too many presents!

My mom proposed the idea of giving to this organization in Nicaragua that my home church supports. My mom goes to Nicaragua every year, sometimes twice a year, to hand out gifts, food and other resources to the people in this village. It is incredible to hear the stories of these orphans who literally live in a dump and survive off other people's trash. Think about THAT next time you throw things away! In the past few years, I haven't been healthy enough to travel to Nicaragua with my mother but this coming year I hope to go with her to see first hand how these families and espcially how these children live.

these children actually live at this dump. here my mom is handing out toys, clothes, food, etc. They live off other people giving to them!

These children are in line to receive toys, clothes, etc. Notice the housing in the background. Just pitiful.

So what is our present this year? We are buying a house in Nicaragua. What? Yes. It may sound strange but for Christmas this year our family is pooling our money and are putting it toward the construction of a home for a family without a home in Nicaragua. For about $1800, the mission team from my home church can construct a basic one room house complete with a concrete slab and a metal roof. That might not sound like much of a house to you but that is more house than most of these people have ever seen before. It might just be the best $1800 that our family has ever spent.

this is what a typical home looks like in their villiage.

Here is a family standing in front of a newly constructed home that my home church built.

See how different the homes are. You can clearly see how the one on the right is more solid and sturdy. It actually is made out of concrete and is on a solid concrete foundation, unlike their homes constructed out of scraps of metal they find in the dump.

Why am I telling you this? Not to gain any sort of recognition or to sound super holy, but to challenge you to do the same. Do you find yourself thinking WAY to hard to come up with a decent Christmas list from your parents or in-laws? Or perhaps you LOVE making out your Christmas list - you may already have made one out but it is full of things you don't *really* NEED. Think twice about the money you spend this Christmas and spend it on someone in NEED. Just give up ONE Christmas gift on your list and ask for a donation instead to your favorite charity. There are countless way to give this Christmas, I challenge you to give from your heart.

I love this picture of my mother. She is happiest when she is giving to someone in need. Love you, mom! Can't wait to go to Nicaragua with you!

I was featured!

My good friend Cara Wilkerson featured me on her blog Live the Home Life. She has this fabulous feature where she take a piece of drab furniture and uses her creative juices to turn into something spectacular. Take a look to see what plans she has for our piece. I can't wait to get to work on this!

Inspiration: Home Office

I am in need of a desperate home office makeover. Right now it is the "dog's room" but I would rather it be called "my room" and use it for whatever my heart desires. Every woman needs her own room for crafts, gift wrapping, writing letters, etc. I will also work from this room so it will be sort of a home office, even though I work out of the home full-time (confusing, I know). I have a feeling that it will still be the "dog's room" but I'll pretend like it's mine, too.

This weekend I will be picking out paint colors - I'm thinking a pale grey/blue... I can't wait to get started. The dogs' kennels will be temporarily be moved to the back porch during this process. And don't worry, I'll take before and after pics for you! :)

Have a great productive and restful weekend! Is it possible to do BOTH - restful AND productive?! I sure hope so!

*most of these images are from Real Simple or Martha Stewart :)

Blog Feature: Live the Home Life

Our friends, Eric & Cara, have an amazing home blog, Live the Home Life, that I just adore! I am actually quite envious of their Rehabilitation Station make overs and secretly wish they were my ideas and my fabulous projects to show off, but sigh...alas, they are not! But they are, in fact, inspiring to say the least! Check out a couple of my favorite before and after shots:You like? Well, I need your help fellow bloggers! This Christmas let's show a little love to Eric & Cara. Help me out by heading over to their blog, checking it out and leaving them some love. THEN, don't stop there! Head on over to Apartment Therapy's Homies blog and leave them some love. That's right folks, Eric & Cara have been nominated for Apartment Therapy's The Homies Blog Awards! Let's help them make it all the way! Good Luck, Eric & Cara! Click here to meet the Wilkersons.

PumpkINSPIRATION

Are your pumpkins out on display yet? Here is some timely pumpkin-perfect inspiration to get you in the mood! Find more pumpkin projects on Better Homes & Garden's website!