Pruning the roses with a spiritual parallel

My littlest one was home sick for day #2 today but because we needed something for dinner tonight, we had to run out to the grocery store.  While pulling back into our driveway I noticed that both roses bushes that flank the driveway were full of blooms.  I had thought about getting some fresh flowers at the grocery store but I am so glad that I didn't because what's better than FREE flowers?  Roses are not my favorite flower, but free is my kind of bouquet.  I posted this on my instagram account and thought I would further expand on it here on the blog. 

Stopping to smell, I mean arrange, the roses.... Today while cutting these roses God reminded me of the verse in John that says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5. Apart from God we can do nothing....just one example of another simple, yet not so simple, truth from His Word (and this verse) for me to meditate on in this season of life.

I'm going to be completely honest and say that this season of life for me has been very tough spiritually, emotionally, everything-ally...  I was laid off from my job the day before Thanksgiving and am still unemployed.  At first, I really enjoyed being able to savor being with my family through the holidays and not feel like I was rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off.   I took pleasure in being able to stop and enjoy moments that I traditionally had not been able to because I was working.  I could have my quiet time anytime during the day without fear of interruptions because my kids were in school, I actually was able to complete the studies we were doing in my small group, and dinner was always before 7, which had not been happening while I was working my last job.  This feeling of freedom and enjoyment soon turned to sadness, confusion, and ultimately desperation.  Sadness because I love to work...I am not a good stay at home mom.  I have the utmost and greatest respect for those who do it day in and day out, but I am not one of those women.  Confusion because I did pray for God to move me away from my job, but I honestly thought it would be immediately into another one...I can hear God chuckling at His perfect plan and how I still don't see it, but I am trying to be faithful in waiting.  Desperation is just the latest in the emotional tsunami that I have felt.  Desperate because I want to be in His will and want the next step to be only for His glory, not mine.  Desperate to walk with Him so closely that I know 150% what He does and does not want for not just me, but my husband and my children.

Long story short, there are days I feel like I am drowning and then there are days I feel so excited in the possible directions God is leading me.  One of them is this blog.  To get down to it and be completely raw for a moment, I didn't want to start blogging again...I have felt God pushing me to blog again since mid December.  I really didn't start until last month...I  have kicked and screamed the whole way, making excuse after excuse as to why it's a bad idea, but I started.  I don't know why He has put it on my heart and I don't know the direction, but I am blogging...blogging about life...that's all I can do.  

The verse above struck a cord with me today so I opened my Bible and read the whole section of the beginning of John 15.  Just like my rose bush needs to be pruned so that it will grow and be even bigger, I need to have God prune my life.  I need to have Him cutting into my heart and showing me the sin that needs to be dealt with and the areas of my life that I feel are important, but truly don't further the kingdom or His will for my life.  If I don't stay connected to Him, like a vine to a branch, then I am not receiving the fullness God has to offer. Instead I am doing what I want, when I want, how I want...and that is not abiding in God and the truths of His Word.  

It's not always pleasant to have to go through the process, but the result will always be worth it.  I am incredibly thankful for Godly people in my life too...family, friends, the sweet girlfriends in my small group, and especially my hubby!  I know they will all be so glad when I get a job... :)

I may not have the answers to what is coming next for me, but I know that it will be in God's perfect timing and will be His best.  I will have bad days and good days but I know that God is always there for me, to catch me when I fall, love me when I am unloveable, give me mercy and grace when I do not deserve either, and He will always give me His best.  

And in the meantime, as a gentle reminder, I will have beautiful roses adorning my kitchen table.

xo-
heather

diy~ dining room table re-do

let me just say that i so love when a plan comes together and it includes friends that are more like family...

so let me explain...i had been looking for a round dining room table for months when a sweet friend called and said she was remodeling her kitchen and would no longer need her table and did i want it...i jumped on it because it was not only a great, sturdy table but it was also my favorite word...free!  i said i would take it and within a day or two her hubby delivered it to my garage.  this was in january...and i just finished it this past weekend!  in my defense, i wasn't exactly sure of what i wanted to do and so what's a girl to do in that situation...pinterest, of course.  well, if you've been on pinterest you know that it's never ending...and addictive...and makes me very indecisive.  anyone else have that problem?  so after much hemming and hawing, i chose to follow a tutorial for my table from Remodelando la Casa

 i decided that i loved the finish and would use the same stain, paint, and wax to get the same effect on my table.   the before of my table mysteriously was deleted from my camera...but my table looks almost identical to the one above.

after priming the table base, i made the mistake of using an oil based white paint.  why was it a mistake you ask...because oil based paint STINKS!!  i am not overreacting AT ALL!  it literally took over a month of sitting in my garage and on sunny days sitting in my driveway for the stench to go away.  i even googled and pinterest-ed ways to get the smell to go away faster, and NONE of them worked.  and unfortunately, that is not the only hiccup i had...sigh...

 i did use my Wagner Paint Sprayer for the base since there were so many crevices and nooks/crannies and it did make it a lot easier to paint than a brush. it was the first time i had used it and was pretty impressed until i had to clean all the little pieces...i will use it again, but it will be on a larger project.

 



 the table base after being both primed and painted.







once the base was completed i started on the table top.  i sanded and sanded until i was down to what i thought was the raw wood.  i then attempted to stain the top in Rustoleum's Driftwood stain.  i got it to the color that i wanted with two coats of stain and then another hiccup happened...i couldn't find the same type of wax that the tutorial suggested, but found Amy Howard's dark wax, which is similar.  i started to apply the wax and noticed that the stain was coming off...not just a bit, but ALL.OF.IT!  tears happened and maybe even a slight two year old temper tantrum did too... :(  yes, i admit it and no, i am not ashamed...

after visiting the hardware store i bought the wax from and them not being sure what to do, searching the internet on what i may have done wrong, and then finally a local store that refurbishes furniture,  the sweet lady there said my table top wasn't real wood, but particle board with a piece of laminate over it...more tears may or may not have happened on my drive home...

a few days later i went back to the hardware store and purchased Amy Howard's One Step paint in french blue...i chose this color because it is more of a pale, grey blue and was close to the original stain i wanted.

so i painted the top, waxed the bottom part of the top and was in love...now to figure out what to do about protecting the top.  it is a dining table after all.  after much more hemming and hawing on what to do since i didn't want a shiny, but matte finish, i thought i was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this project...wrong, again!

i tried the wax again, but didn't like the way it looked so i tried using a clear matte spray...or at least what i thought was clear....it turned out it was white...yes, someone had apparently switched the lids...more tears people...i feel like i cried more over this project than any other one i have ever done...maybe i am pre-menopausal...or just weepy because this project felt like it was never going to be finished...  :)  

soooo...i freaked out about the white and before it was even able to completely dry i was sanding that table top like a crazy person. my neighbors think i am a loon, i'm convinced of it...

this has turned into a very long post, but i hope you have gotten a few laughs at my expense...it's ok, i'm used to it...my family laughs at me all.the.time!

without further ado, here she is in all her glory...and guess what?  i.love.her!  i think i'm gonna call her elsa...because she's an icy blue and white, with gray tones...and i think she's a beaut!

meet elsa...thank you to my wonderful hubby and my favorite son for putting her back together, and making sure she was perfectly aligned with and without the leaf.  sorry these pics aren't great, but we haven't had sunshine in several days and this was the best i could do.  i will post more pics of her all dressed up in the coming days, but for now...this is elsa!

xo-
heather

I have  a confession to make...I am not a fan of wordpress...I thought it was going to be sooo much better and well, it hasn't been.  My love affair with them has been short lived...mainly because the content from here doesn't look right and it just isn't as user friendly as I thought it was going to be!  
I posted the little diddy below the beginning of the month and since I haven't been able to get it the way I want...the prodigal daughter is returning to blogger!


To say this post has been a long time coming is an understatement!  I honestly don't know what happened to the month of March...I feel like two days ago it was the beginning of March and BAM, we are now in April!  Crazy, I know!
Our family doesn't do resolutions at the beginning of the year...we set goals.  One of the things that I was encouraged to do by my 8 year old was to read more. Yes, you read that correctly, my 8 year old...  She is a lover of books...set a goal to read 100 this year...has already read at least 30...with most of those being 100 pages or more.  With that being said, I have also made a goal to read...mine much less than 100 :)   My goal is 15 but am hoping to blow right by that number...we shall see!  This picture is some of the ones that I am dabbling with reading/re-reading during this year.
Let me know what you're reading!  
xo-
heather

New things are coming shortly.

What is that saying, "Good things come to those who wait..." I'm not going to apologize for not blogging in several months because good things have been happening.  I have been in the process of moving everything to Wordpress.  I am hoping by the first week in March to have all content moved.  The new site address will be posted shortly.  Thank you for checking in and being patient during this transition. 

xoxo
heather

Better Late than Never...

I cannot believe that 2 years have gone by since I last blogged...what's that saying, "time flies when you're having fun..."  It feels good to be writing again.  Cathartic in a way...  Well, it's good to be back and I will be sharing more often...I promise it won't be another 2 year gap in the posts! 

Here's a little sneak peek at some things that I will be blogging about in the coming days...

I will be detailing the above DIY projects and my favorite planner over the next couple of days.  Once again, it feels really good to be back in blog-land.

h

A Few Good Reads

I am a book nerd.  That is probably a mild description, to be honest.  I love to read!  Especially books that capture your attention from the first line.  You know the ones I am talking about, don't you!  I also have a really weird obsession with the smell of books... (picture the SNL Skit with Molly Shannon  where she smells her hands after putting in her armpits.  That's me, but I smell books instead. I told you it was a really weird obsession, so don't judge me.)  :)  

I owe my love of books to my grandmother, or as I called her, Nannie Boo.  She actually turned me on to my love of a good mystery book by giving me the Mary Higgins Clark thriller, A Stranger is Watching, when I was in high school.  I have expanded my love of books to other topics, but I do LOVE a good mystery.  I have been reading books lately that are what I deem period pieces.  They are set during a specific time that is important in history and also usually revolves around a serious social issue like war, slavery, the Great Depression, etc...

Recently I finished a book that I could not put down once I began to read it.  It moved me, stirred things in me, pushed the boundaries of what was considered right, acceptable, expected, and done to humans regarding slave selling/buying/trading.  WAIT!  Before you quit reading this post because you do not think this may be a topic you are interested in reading, think again.  This is not your typical book about slavery.  This book follows the intricate weaving of several families on a plantation.  It is written from the perspective of two girls...One who is of Irish descent and was purchased by a "master" and taken to his plantation to work as part of the help.  The other, a girl, was also made to work as help even though her roots could have allowed other conveniences...Curious?  Well, I did not leak all the twist and turns, and believe me, there are many but check out this book and then come back and leave a comment on what you thought.  I'd love to hear if you were engulfed by the same desire to see what happened next...Oh, right, you need the title!  Here it is...The Kitchen House

Later this week I will be posting some great gift ideas for everyone on your shopping list this season!  Make sure you check back to see if anything strikes your fancy or gives you an idea for someone on your list!  

h 

First, it has been a very long time since posting last!! I have been a total slacker, as my husband would call me... :)  The good news is that I have decided that I am going to start blogging on a regular basis again.  I have been pinning lots of DIY projects from Pinterest and want to share all of my successes and failures (and there have been some doozies) with you too. 

Second, I am beginning today the Making Your Home a Haven Challenge with Courtney from Women Living Well Blog.  This is the third year she is challenging us to make our homes better for not only us, but our family too. I heard about this challenge last year when it was almost over and decided that I would participate this year if she did it again.  So here begins my challenge of getting rid of all of the rest of the worlds views and ideas on what my home should be and how it should look. Week 1 is simple.  Light a candle and every time you pass by it or see the flicker of the flame, pray for peace in your home and within your soul.  You can click on the above link and read Courtney's entire post for more inspiring words of encouragement too.

Third, I follow some great blogs and several of them are participating in Favorite Things Gift Giving Guide and Giveaway.  One of my fav blogs is Tatertots and Jello.
 Scroll through her post and check out the giveaways that grab your attention.  You might even find another blog that you want to follow.  

Ok, that is enough for today!  Hope you have a great and grand day :)
h

The beginning of the end...part 1

In my previous post I said that some things had changed and I would explain...this is me explaining.

**I am not in any way, shape, or form providing medical advice!  I am sharing the journey that I have been on regarding my health for the last several years.  Please do not read this post and follow what I have/am doing.  Talk to your physician and make a plan or find someone in your medical community that you can talk to before changing anything in your diet!!  I hope that by sharing my story, others will not have to go as long without feeling like they are a hypochondriac or just plain crazy.**

 
After too many years of not feeling well, joint pain, not being able to remember things as well as I should, headaches, and far too many doctors appointments I finally know what is going on with me and this insane body of mine.  I have food sensitivities and allergies...yep, you read correctly!  It is bizarre to me that it took so long for these things to be diagnosed.  I have been going to my primary care doc, endocrinologist, ear-nose & throat, and the orthopedic doc to try and figure out what on earth could be wrong with me. 

Sadly, this is the story of far too many people these days.  After seeing all of these doctors and being advised to take prescription after prescription and still not feeling well, I thought this was just the life that I was going to have.  I had a life changing experience when I was talking to a friend and she said that she had been going through a similar experience until she visited a local FNP-or family nurse practitioner.  She had recently found out that she had some issues that she had repeatedly asked her physician about, but was always told that was not the problem.  She said it changed her life because she finally felt like she wasn't crazy. 

So that I do not bore you with all of the details of it all, let me just say this...February 14th of this year was the beginning of the end to my journey of living with the issues I had previously.  It was the day my FNP told me that I was not crazy and she thought that I may have some food sensitivities.  She said there were several features of my physical appearance that led her to believe this, but she wanted to do labs and we would go from there.  And boy, have we gone!  I left her office that day feeling like all of this wasn't in my head and that I may actually have a life again outside of feeling yucky all of the time.

I will post more about this journey I am on in part deux tomorrow.... 
h

Breaking News: MIA blogger returns!

Yes, it has been an incredibly long time (7 months, to be exact) since I last blogged and a lot about my life has changed...or is changing!  I have discovered some medical issues that were both a relief (to know I wasn't crazy) and have presented challenges...I am not going to apologize for being MIA because I was taking care of me and my family.

There will be plenty of time to blog about it all in the coming weeks since I have fully committed myself to blog about this adventure that God is taking me and my family...there will be tears shed, smiles, laughter, and praising of Jesus on this crazy-frustrating, wild, and life changing ride, but it is real and presently what our life is all about!

Here is a great little tidbit to tide you over until the adventure smackdown begins...

I know, I know, it does not give you any really great hints about what is to come, but soon enough my "young padawans"...i know that you are not child apprentices of the Jedi, but i love using that phrase so deal with it :0)
h

...and the winner is....

Tracy Anderson Method-or TAM...back in August i blogged about making decisions regarding my lifestyle changes and exercise...click here to read that post 
i made the choice to go with the one that provided a structured exercise routine because otherwise i would find a way to wiggle my way out of exercising without it...i plan to read the Made to Crave book once i have gotten the exercise thing well under way...pray for me please!

i am fully prepared to have melt downs, temper tantrums, weaknesses, etc. but have decided that there is no else except for me that is going to change the way i eat and or feel except for me.  i am in control of what goes in my mouth and how much or how little i choose to exercise...i have become obsesses with pinterest lately and have found several inspirations to keep me moving and thinking about what i will feel like in a month, 3 months, or even a year from now....i haven't become how i am overnight so i have no delusions that i will suddenly change overnight either...come with me on this journey as i blog my way to a healthier life overall through not just eating and exercising, but through any means necessary to become the healthiest me i can be!
i have not decided if i am going to post daily or weekly about my adventures with the tracy anderson method, but i will let you know as soon as i decide!  
much love and hugs~
h

all images via pinterest

i am so glad that it is officially fall....this is my favorite time of year and i cannot wait to take a lazy drive over the next couple of weekends to check out the fall foliage and colors...hmm, take a deep breath in and smell the cooler air on its way, hooray!  i am so ready for homemade bread, crockpot meals, fires in my fireplace, and lots and lots of hot chocolate and my favorite sweaters....i am getting really excited just talking about it....hope you have a great weekend!

photo credit

photo credit

photo credit

It's definitely Hurricane season here....

welcome to one of the sacrifices of living at the beach.....


yes, that is Hurricane Irene see looming over more than half of the east coast....we have already been getting rain and lots and lots of wind here in eastern nc....thankfully we are not on the outerbanks, but we are still in an area that will get a massive amount of rain and wind damage.  we are having a family style hurricane party which includes lots of movies, games, books, yummy foods, and sleeping too...b/c eventually the power will go out.  we are hunkering down and praying for the best.  i will add pictures as soon as possible...
h