Just a little bit goofy...

Joy comes in all shapes and sizes...

I love these lil guys!

Burn us up...

"Shadrach, Meshach and Adednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you concerning this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace our God whom we serve is able to deliver from it and he will rescue us from your hand O king... but even if He does not let it be known to you that we are not going to serve your gods or worship your golden image..." Daniel 3:16

Shane and Shane were amazing in concert... this is the second time I have been privileged to see them but it is always inspirational. The lyrics, music, incredible harmony and acoustics make for a truly divine experience. Wish you could have all been there to enjoy it with us! 

I am not sure I could pick a favorite of the night but a few that I loved were "Holiday" "Before the Throne of God Above" and "Burn Us Up" which is taken from the verse above. Shane talked about how these three men were confronted with a temptation to run from what was right and yet they stood up and said no and even exclaimed that even if God does not deliver us we will not bow! 

So fun to even got a tiny taste of Christmas with the song "O Holy Night"... I told Gar I want all my Christmas music live! ha! Their new Christmas album comes out in October.

I think the guys had a lot of fun helping to set up the Shane & Shane concert... the photo above has Garrett and then way down there is Shane practicing... both Shane & Shane seem like really cool guys...

Gar would love to go on tour with them...

Tyler & Rachel, Natalie & Garrett

 The opening performance was so good too! Patrick Largen & Tim Seley performed, originally from Christian Challenge when I went there at K-state! They have a website which I just checked out and found the inspiration for one of their songs came from Christy's photo! I remember a few years back that Patrick bought the gorgeous red-shoes print from Christy for his wife and now it has been inspiration for others! 

Go to www.newmusicmonday.com where you can read about and get the song inspired by her print and more free music on Mondays. 

We were blessed...

Falling in fast-forward...

It's almost October which means our first fair of the year is less than 1 week away! I am super busy getting all of my "baby-sized" projects finished up and am thrilled to introduce several new items including our latest line of onesies... "africa baby" :) Just oh so sweet... mini animal prints delicately stitched for extra-extra cuteness! Oh baby! 

My week is looking to be productive! Hope to see you at the Whitewater fair this Saturday! 

Ethiopian feast!

Every year for our birthdays Mom let's us pick the meal! Since it was Dad's choice this week we got to enjoy one of our absolute favorites: Ethiopian!! Perfect combinations of spice and texture and flavor, we can never get enough! 

Check out this Ethi-spice website - Brundo

Happy Birthday Dad!  

A happy little working song...

The old hymns are so inspiring! It took such great wisdom for the writer's to see past their own pain and seek a place of peace and comfort in Christ. Many of them suffered a great more than any of us will ever bear and yet we get these amazing, joyful and encouraging words brought about from their sorrows!

Hope your day is bright and sunny and you are singing a happy song...   

The Love of God

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;

It goes beyond the highest star,

And reaches to the lowest hell;

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled,

And pardoned from his sin.

The love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure

The saints’ and angels’ song.

When years of time shall pass away,

And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,

When men, who here refuse to pray,

On rocks and hills and mountains call,

God’s love so sure, shall still endure,

All measureless and strong;

Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—

The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill, 

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above,

Would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.

Frederick M. Lehman

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trumpet shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

Hello Fall!!

I welcome you with open arms... probably my favorite season of all - although I love something different about each and every new change. 

One of my favorite things to do when the temperature drops is organize! Now many of your know I am an organize and reorganize freak... but I have found that there are others just like me out there who invent things like the Container Store! 

 Oh what I would give for a bright blue office... now there I can see some real work getting done! 

I adore this yellow - cleverly organized pantry... 

And would love this supply & craft closet! A girl can always dream... can't she? :)

Birthday Party Palooza!

Oh what fun birthday week was!! Out with friends, family and of course Garrett... its been so great!! Each day was a new thrill... Garrett spoiled me with gifts and nights out-on-the-town as we enjoyed some new restaurants and shopping! Lovely pink red and white roses & tulips, cupcake cookbooks and sweet supplies, gift boxes filled with girlie little gifts... so sweet! :)

Sumo restaurant date night! 

Out in the new truck to the Rib Crib with Garrett's parents...

a little shopping...

Pizza hut party...

family party....

Gar got me three vases of roses and some gorgeous bright tulips...

Mom made me a cute little brownie marshmallow cake! The theme this year was CUPCAKES! Gar bought me Hello, Cupcakes - so many fun ones to try... Mom and Dad got me all sorts of supplies and the cutest cupcake stand. Lillie helped pick out the softest slippers and a pink cupcake carrier from Matty & Kendra's family... she was so excited to open my presents she told me what it was before I could get it open! :)

Out with sweet Christy girl...Thanks so much for the great week everyone! It was the best!

Happy birthday... to me?

Well I made it! I am now in my upper 20's and can no longer check the box 20-25. I am none too happy about crossing this great dividing line and have been feeling sad as 26 seems boring compared to young vivacious 25... so carefree... ah those were the days :) ha ha... Imagine what turning 30 will be like for me! (smile) 

To make it worse when Garrett and I were renting movies the kid checking us out said, "you folks have a good night!" Folks? Really? When did this happen! But I laughed as we walked out the door and Garrett said, "yah, he was probably born in 1990." Scary.

Other than turning 26 my birthday week has been a blast!! The fun just keeps getting better and better as it continues on, I just love this idea! 

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, calls, cards and gifts! You make me smile :) 

High chair?

Isn't this the cutest lil salon-inspired high-chair? I mean after all baby already has the life of luxury... sleeping round the clock, eating whenever hungry and being the center of attention is ever so easy! :) 

Sprinkles...

Recently I have fallen in love with cupcakes! They just make me smile... and these days you can do about anything with them. I just happened upon this trendy shop called Sprinkles Cupcakes and love their layout and designs and of course the cupcakes. If I was ever to open a little shop it would probably look something like this! 

Ha!

I bought this cute little dress last week and just happened to look at the tag today after I washed it... 

Made in Vietnam of fabric made in China.

Fashion Week... NYC!

I wish I could have hit NYC last week for FASHION WEEK! This year's hottest trend... dresses! Short and long styles, inspiring patterns and adorable-wear-anywhere designs... 

Wii like to party!

What fun we had at our first "Building 20's" Sunday-school class party!! Great food and new friends made for a great night... a little Wii bowling, golf and tennis... even the little kiddos wanted to play.    

Wii bowling...
First try... 

The whole group... minus James... 

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Hope you have a wonderful day on your 40-something birthday! Love you! :)

Flood!

I do love the rain, but generally on days when I can stay inside snuggled up with a pillow and a book! My hair handles the rain very well... mostly I tend to look like a dead rat scurrying around and my favorite part about these huge water puddles I keep falling into is the lovely feeling that my jeans are drenched and falling off... ha! :) 

It's officially flooding! Our rain gauge runneth over!! I can't imagine another 40 days of this...

GOOD morning!

Today has been a lovely day... despite the rain! I spent the morning chatting with my grandparents and dear cousins, Christy and Andrea, while drinking coffee and eating freshly rolled & baked cinnamon rolls - thank you Mom! Delish! 

Grandpa got out a few African souvenirs - an 18 foot python snake skin... 

and our favorite Baboon head... which by-the-way used to be in the toy-game closet downstairs in the basement when we were kids sitting right at our eye level... talk about frightening... those beady little eyes! 

We just love all the stories he has to tell and can never get enough! Thanks for praying for Grandma Val and her continued struggle with ALS. Amazingly she is still full of joy and you can always see a smile in her eyes!

Blizzard winter?

I just happened to catch Paul Harvey on the way home the other night when he said that the good ol' trusted Farmer's Almanac is predicting a "very long, cold, blizzard-like, lots and lots of snow winter" hence the large black caterpillars and humongous hedge apples! My Grandfather's always said that those are signs of crazy winters so I guess we will see what the future holds. Could be in for some fun! 

Fall date night...

Fall is in the air, so we decided that we better enjoy the last lingering days of summer! Since Gar was gone all weekend we enjoyed our date-night on a Tuesday! Perfect day to date as you get into restaurants without waiting in line and movie theaters are complete desolate. We hit Abuelos for some delectable Fajita Chimichangas - as per our tradition, did a little shopping at Williams-Sonoma & Bath & Body Works & of course Target and then hit the movies for an action-adventure. It was one of those really great summer date nights :) 

Gar rented out the whole theater just for us... ha! 

Cupcake heaven!

I love shopping online on days like today. The weather is cool and rainy and it is so nice to settle in and find all I need and want in my jammies! :) With a mug of hot cocoa by my side I have been shopping for books and found this adorable cookbook, "Hello, Cupcake". Filled with the cutest ideas, I think I will have to add this cookbook to my birthday list! Check out these adorable creations...

Embroidery party!

The Stucky girl cousins all wanted lessons on embroidery so we went to the professional... Grandma! We had our first embroidery party with hopefully many more to come :) I think we are all getting a little better at it although Kendra was the only one who actually finished her tea-towel! Great fun!

Lille made us a little snack while Grandpa and Titus thought the boys should hang together... 

Titus got such a giggle out of turning the fan on and off, Grandma Stucky just laughs with him...

New nano...

They are here! The new nano's are out in every color! Thinner, sleeker and a wider screen make them so cool. With fall coming on I am thinking red or orange, but I do always love pink! Not that I need another ipod :) Enjoy!  

A prayer and a hope...

The past few days have held multiple curves and bends in the road and it is often hard to keep from questioning it all. Today Romans 12:12 stood out to me again, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." What a powerful message to never cease or give up even when it feels like all hope is lost. 

John Piper said it like this, "For those of us who know and trust Jesus Christ, tribulation does not destroy joy, it drives the roots of joy down deep into hope. Paul says, 'rejoice in hope... sorrowful yet always rejoicing' is the spirit of all joy in the Christian life."

Hope you are encouraged today to always continue in prayer for those we love! 

Project weekend!

A cute idea popped into my head the other day to make the perfect shaped "burpie" cloth... so I am off to the fabric store to purchase some delicious fabrics... hopefully as cute as the fabrics used in these baby blankies from Quilt Baby... 

I think I might call them "Jelly-Belly Burpies" ... maybe! I also want to make a diaper bag/tote organizer! Hopefully I will have a few ready for fair time! 

Happy weekend.  

Awe Chicago..

My boyfriend Garrett is off to Chicago... leaving me with an entire weekend to finish up all those little (and some big!) projects that never get completed! Our weekends are usually spent galavanting the great "metropolises"... not that I am complaining mind you! :) 

First on my to-do list: a display shelf for the fair. Luckily I have some pretty handy-men around here! 

The End of Summer?

Is it here already?! This summer has been fabulous and fun, but I am thrilled that fall is on its way! I love being wrapped in sweaters and socks and simply watching the leaves fall. This time of year makes me think of God's magnificent plan and purpose for everything in life... even if it is as simple as a cool breeze to remind me that He always has His loving arms around me. 

So long lazy summer days...

  

 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

Starbuck's morning...

Today feels like a Starbuck's day! I am craving a Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino with chocolate whipped cream and sprinkles... and a donut from Drubers or I might just make some of these lovely little creations! Hope your day is just as lovely...

Happy September!!

September is finally here!! My favorite month of the year :) Mostly because we get to celebrate lots of birthdays - including mine! Garrett and I came up with this brilliant idea years ago to celebrate "birthday week" so I get a whole week to party :) All the fun begins on the 14th!