Interest Pinterest

Who all is addicted? I am. Why? Because it's a place where I can collect all the ideas, products, places, books, etc. that I find, while searching the web. It keeps them all "on file" and organized for me. Especially, my closet. Oh man, is this site bad for my wallet. There are way too many times when I'm off to the store due to something I pinned.

Like....

 Ok, maybe I don't go buy this. But it's adorable.

On a DIY I found (yes, on pinterest) that these are very easy AND cheaper to make. 

Isn't this to die for? Maybe not die. But buy. What the heck. I can make that too.

Now these I will buy. I can't crochet. I guess I should consider getting some lessons. New Years resolution? I think yes.
http://pinterest.com/whiteshores/pins/

Girl, Girl, Grace, Girl, Girl

Grace is the middle child. There's no one like Grace. She is our artist in the family and most definitely puts even our doodles to shame. Her signature is even a work of art. It's amazing and annoying all at the same time. Grace, or also known as "Katie Grace" is the kind of person who can hardly hold a serious face. And no matter the situation, she somehow finds a way to make me(at least) laugh. She's also really good at embarrassing people. You could even say she "lives" to make awkward moments. When she comes home from school, there's always another story to tell and someone to laugh at or make fun of. Grace can make you laugh at yourself even if you want to cry. Grace isn't a multi-tasker, and that's probably why she's so good at drawing, painting, sketching, making, and even listening. Grace doesn't put up with drama. She won't have it. (And I agree with her.) Katie Grace isn't the kind of girl that paints her nails, dresses up for fun, or likes the color pink. She'll be fine with a t-shirt (most likely from the men's section of the store) and jeans. And that's why I love her. Ok no, that's not exactly why. But I do love her. She's been there for me through think and thin. And I probably owe her my life. Yep. I definitely do.  How will I repay her? Do you have any ideas? Yeah, me either. Oh well. I guess you never can really repay God for a blessing. Therefore, I'm thankful, very thankful.

Up on the ridge is where I live

Pictures of you, pictures of me

One of my best friends, Maggie, decided to join the Appalachian State family. She's going to major in photography, and she's gonna be good. So, with her website already set, her next step is to put together her portfolio. That's where I (and my other best friend Amy) came in. Photo shoot! Girls love this kind of stuff. At least I do. Amy and I were her models obviously, and OBviously they turned out great. But it wasn't due to my skills.  I have a hard time keeping a straight face, or knowing what to do in general. I felt stupid most the time. But after a hundred pictures, she told us she was done. Within an hour or so she had them edited them and posted to her site. I wasn't freaked out....ok, maybe a little. I mean really; my overly dramatic face, that was trying so hard to live up to those six foot, hundred pound, perfect models from "America's Next Top Model," was then permanently placed in public. Yikes! But after seeing the pictures, I'd like to think I gave those girls a run for their money. In all honesty, she did a great job. She's definitely got "the eye." And Amy? Well, I try not to think about how much better she is at this than I am. Simply gorgeous and a natural. Sometimes I ask myself why I have such talented, beautiful, loving, fun, godly friends. And all I can figure is, I'm simply blessed with the best. I couldn't be more thankful!
So now, here are a few of those award winning pictures.

One of Five.

I am the second to oldest of five girls in my family. Nope. No boys. Just all us girls. So I decided I would do a post about each of them. I'll start with the oldest...

Hannah. She's my big sis. She's the actress, singer, and dancer. I think in the "Hollywood world" they would call her a triple threat. Hannah Banana was the little girl who would sing at the top of her lungs in church, practice her ballet down the isles of the grocery store, and act out everything she thought or experienced. Let me just tell you, that hasn't changed much, except that she's getting better and better at it every day. So I highly recommend that if it's a dance party, don't dance near her. You'll feel clumsy and uncoordinated. If it's the game of charades and she's not on your team, you'll lose. If it's karaoke night, don't even volunteer to sing if she's there, you'll just embarrass yourself. Even though she's a "threat", once you meet her, you won't be able to forget her. No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to NOT dance with her. You'll find yourself singing along. And you'll even find that charades has never been a more fun game. Her personality is magnetizing, and her smile is contagious. And I definitely don't think I could live without it.

Kaleidoscope Colors

I'm a shopaholic. I really am trying to get better at it. Looking through racks and racks of dresses, pants, skirts, shirts, shoes, bags, jewelry, hats, scarves, etc is so much fun. I can do it all day  long. I've done it all day long before. For days in a row even. But when I'm looking for something specific, I can get a bit stressed. Al in all, shopping is my jam. For Reals. And just recently I had to make a hard decision on how I'm not going to shop for anymore clothing or accessories till after my birthday. That's almost two months. A long time right? Well, for me it is. Hey, but it doesn't mean I can't "window shop" or just browse online and not buy anything right? So, it's all good. I'll just admire from afar for a while...

Be Forever Thankful

There's a book one of my best friends let me borrow over the summer that I've absolutely fallen in love with. It's called "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. I couldn't recommend it more. Within the first chapter, I was hit hard with the realization that I wasn't as thankful as I should be. And how my life should completely revolve around thanks, no matter what is going on in my life. So, as my new project, I've been motivated to list one thousand things I'm thankful for. At first I was recording things like "family", "friends", "church", etc. But then I quickly noticed that if I was going to be so general, I would run out of things I was thankful for. So in stead of being so impersonal, I began to list even the little things I'm thankful for. Things that I probably wouldn't think about being thankful for. Right now I'm on number one hundred and seven. I know that sounds like I haven't gotten very far, but any of you that think that, I challenge you to do it too. Wright down one thousand things your thankful for. Shortly, you'll find yourself happier, more positive. And maybe you'll even find yourself being thankful for things that you've never even thought of. And you don't have to sit down all at once and record it. Just keep your list with you, and when you see, feel, hear, think of something, wright it down. One at a time. You'll be thankful.

 I'm thankful for...

108. Being able to play the piano.

109. Baking with my sister.

110. When it's just cool enough in the mornings to sit in the hammock wrapped in a blanket. 

111. Listening to my dad study his sermon. 

112. Tears of happiness when seeing old and dearly missed friends.

113. Rereading my favorite books.

114. Studying a Bible verse, and finding a new lesson in it each time.

115. Homemade sweet tea.

116. Laughing till I cry.

to be continued...

Let's Review A Bit

Harry Potter. It's about to go down ya'll. I'll be in line with hundreds of others tomorrow at 11pm, fighting off the crowd for a good seat. I know how it ends, because I'm a true fan, and read the books before any of the movies. But I'm sure they'll leave a bunch out and put loads in that was and wasn't in the real story. None the less, it'll be worth my 6 hour drive to a theater to meet my sisters to watch the final installment. It's a great story, (to those who haven't read them) it really is. And let me just go ahead and say now, I'm gonna cry when it's over. And I can bet the rest of the room world will too. Maybe. Anyway, since I'm so hyped up about the movie, I was looking at some pretty cool pictures of them, and this is what I came across. For those of you that are fans, you may get some good laughs out of them. 

First off, check this kid out. Now he's ready to go.

Hermione vs. Bella

Did anyone ever notice how Emma Watson never had that "awkward stage"?

Let's do it.

 Is it sad I knew most of them?

 When you read these next two, don't tell me you didn't read them in a british accent or in their exact sound of voice.

There were a few other funny ones, but I'm afraid that they were too much of spoilers for those who haven't read the books.

Ok. I'm done. No more Harry Potter geek stuff. For now. No, I'm sure there will be more.

Sometimes I crave weird things, like laundry detergent...

Yep. Now everyone thinks I'm crazy. Ok, so maybe I am a little bit. But everyone has cravings right? Mine just happen to be...random.

Today was just one of those long, tiresome, work days at the office. One where I kept finding myself thinking about random daydreams while waiting for a file or document to load. But the thing is, they weren't really daydreams at all. It was just things. Craving things. Such as:

Laundry detergent. It smells good. (I was going to post just the bottle of detergent, but when I came across this, well I obviously had to use it.)

Mason Jars. *note that I adore them, and they will turn back up in upcoming posts. Many posts.

Lace. Vintage lace. Beautiful.

Spoons. Spanking spoons. Cute spanking spoons. aka wooden spoons.

The letter "r'. And that creepy little clown.

Lap giraffes. Google it. (I want one too)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

And zucchini. I had it for dinner.

What are your random thoughts about? What are you thinking about right now? Lap giraffes? I knew it.

Enthusiasm Is Key

Let's encourage all kids to tell their stories like this.

I'm A Fool Too

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of songs by Michael Card, and I came across one I had heard before but never really understood or paid attention to it. When I actually started to listen to the words in this song, I realized I couldn't agree more with what he was saying. Here are the lyrics to "God's Own Fool" Enjoy!

It seems I've imagined Him all of my life 
As the wisest of all of mankind 
But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to men 
He must have seemed out of His mind 

For even His family said He was mad 
And the priest said a demon's to blame 
But God in the form of this angry young man 
Could not have seemed perfectly sane 

[Chorus:] 
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise 
He played the fool and He opened our eyes 
When we in our weakness believed we were strong 
He became helpless to show we were wrong 

So we follow God's own Fool 
For only the foolish can tell 
Believe the unbelievable 
Come be a fool as well 

Come lose your life for a carpenter's son 
For a madman who died for a dream 
Then you'll have the faith His first followers had 
And you'll feel the weight of the beam 

So surrender the hunger to say you must know 
Have the courage to say, "I believe" 
For the power of paradox opens your eyes 
And blinds those who say they can see 

[Chorus] 
So we follow God's own Fool 
For only the foolish can tell 
Believe the unbelievable 
Come be a fool as well

What Is Home After All?

To most people, home is a specific place in this world, like a house or town. But to me it means something different. To me, it means where I am most happy. And that's with my family. Wherever they may be, home is sitting right next to them. Home is that first embrace from your sister when you walk through the front door. Home is safe. It can be hard to be at home sometimes, believe me, I know. But throughout life, I've learned that you can't always be home. You would never grow. You couldn't learn to appreciate home as much when you haven't gone without it for a while. Everyone needs a home. And the fact is, everyone has a home if they want one. That one home though, many of us have in common - heaven. That's my true home. Every time I go visit my family, I'm filled with such thankfulness, emotion, and love. If you've ever experienced this, you'll understand when I say there's an excitement that runs through your body when you step over that threshold and into your family's arms. It's a feeling that's difficult to describe, but a feeling I know I'll have when I also enter my home of homes.  But for now, when ever I'm laughing with my sisters, talking to my mom, or listening to my dad, I'm reminded of how much greater heaven will be. The excitement of having an everlasting home sends a surge of energy through my soul that one day will not be contained, but will make me dance and sing in thankfulness, as I enter that door.