Inexpensive do-it yourself Jewelry Storage...

...And some other housekeeping today. Can't help but have a clean house with this helper around, complete in her "Cousin Eddie" hat. To bad that thing doesn't work-otherwise I'd have the cleanest couch in town!


And here's something new. Sometimes the beginning of the year invites change and leaves me longing for a new look around the house. But this year is a bit different. I still long for change but the finances to create that change are just not there right now.

So we've had to be creative. I've been slowing revamping our bedroom, on the cheap. I'll share more later but for now take a peek at the new jewelry storage I threw together.

What we had wasn't working, here's the before. Notice that jumble of necklaces hanging from the clock?


And how about now? Pulled a stick from the yard and found some hardware from around the house. I spent $2.34 on small s hooks and that was it. It is so much better, I can see everything and nothing is tangled up.

This so works, an inexpensive (well, how about cheap?) solution to a common problem.


Stay tuned for more of our super cheap, practically no cost bedroom update.

Hope (Motivate Me Monday)

Praise Me. This I ask of you in times when in seems indescribably difficult to do so...I know unequivocally that praise is your only hope for survival...Joy alone is your healer, and you can have it in the darkest hour if you will force your soul to rise to Me in worship and adoration...Why should you allow any human experience to alter or affect your divine relationship with your Father?

Your God is your maker. He is your defender. And He is mighty to save...He is mighty to save from despair, from sorrow, from disappointment, from regret, from remorse...This is not the end. Press on.


I read this early this week from the devotional book Come Away my Beloved, by Frances J. Roberts.

As I read it I was thinking about hope. It seems to be something in short supply lately. The circumstances of our times, the financial unrest, the relational messes and all the other stuff that comes with life seem to be weighing God's people down. But we are not without hope.

We had a string of unseasonable warm weather a few weeks ago. Warm enough to open the windows, to play outside and search for flip flops. It was a glimpse of hope to me. In what should have been a dark and gloomy winter, spring came, if just for a few days. When we should have been bundled up with hot cocoa we were out on our bikes and looking for sunscreen. I found myself out running a bit more than I had been simply because the weather allowed it.

Those runs were glorious, not because of the workout but because God was reminding me that spring will come. All is not lost, there is still hope. You see times are hard, and we know a lot of people who are walking through dark times. We've been standing at the door of that ourselves. But in the midst of trial and darkness we were blessed with a glimpse of what God wants to do.

He wants to restore our hope.

The glory of those runs on those beautiful days will keep me going through runs on cruddy days. Just as the glory of his hope will keep me going when I find myself in the midst of trial and pain. He asks us to persevere, to press on, to take a hold of our faith and go forward. Is it easy? No, but all hard work is worth the effort once we get on the other side. Will we prevail? With his help we shall

"You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy." John 16:20.

That's his promise to us, there will be joy and there is still hope. And because of that we can be encouraged.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33.

Be sure to stop by Sarah Mae's for more motivation and encouragement today, and a great reminder on trusting God.

A Beautiful (but sore) Life

Aren't I silly? I think I just stumbled upon some great truth today.

Well, let me back up a bit.

Here's how it all started. It snowed today, about six inches all day long. That meant my hopes for my regular Sunday treat, a long run, were slowly getting buried under a pile of white stuff. Pretty, but not so fun for running-especially with it blowing sideways and all. So, I did what I normally do when the weather keeps me from lacing up my new shiny shoes. I popped in a TaeBo video. Yes people, I said video. I picked it up at Goodwill a while back, after my old video (yes, you heard right) bit the dust. Even though we live in the dark ages of technology we still appreciate a good workout.

Well, a good workout is what I got. I normally do this video-about 40 minutes or so of great cardio and funky kicks and usually a few screams at the kids to move, lest they accidentally get kicked in the head. Hey, I may be somewhat fit but I sure am not at all coordinated. I got to the end, joked with my man about the silly cool down and then got the surprise of my life (well, perhaps that's an overstatement-but you get the idea).

The video wasn't over.

What?

How could I have missed this?

All this time I had been pressing the stop button and missed the major kick your behind toning part. And kick my behind it did, twenty minutes of leg and ab work later, sweat dripping down my arms and a few "mom, you look tired"s and I was done in.

So in the foggy worn out state of mind that I was in I began to wonder how often we do that in life. How often do we miss the really good part simply because we didn't take the time to look? We'll never see an amazing sunset unless we step outside to catch a glimpse of the view. We might miss the beauty of a meteor shower simply because we did not look up. We may not see the joy and delight in our kids games and play because we were too busy folding laundry. I think I'd like to be missing less these days, at least less of those things that really matter. Tonight I'll not be missing the beauty in the ibuprofen bottle. Tomorrow, as I hobble around the house with sore everything, I'll be keeping my eyes open so I don't miss the beauty that is before me.

photo from the Billy Banks Authentic TaeBo Academy

Oh, do you like my new look? I found it through Smitten Blog Design. Click the link on right to see more blog design templates.

The Power of a Positive Attitude

Having a beautiful life often means choosing to see the imperfection around us, finding the lessons in the everyday events and listening for God to whisper to us what he longs to teach us. It's about being open, making a choice to see the positive and search out the beautiful in the mundane. Here's how it was for us this past week:

Over here at our house, we're the glass half full kind of people. We like to keep a positive attitude and roll with things as they happen. We're not ones to cry over spilled milk. We're just not that way.

We've worked hard to pass this trait on to our kids so that when trials come they will be able to walk through them with confidence and assurance. We encourage ingenuity and all that good stuff. We are so proud of our two year old in this area. She keeps a rock solid positive attitude in the face of most any adversity. When things go wrong she improvises, we appreciate and applaud her ability to think outside the box.

So I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised to find her doing this the other day.


Yes, we truly do not cry over spilled soy milk, we just slurp it up-grateful for the blessing of a freshly mopped floor.

We are so proud of our sweet, little positive thinker. She teaches me daily how to live in the moment and roll with the punches.

What do the little ones in your life teach you?

Head on over to The Inspired Room to see how others are finding beauty this week.

Hall Closet Transformation

So we had a messy hall closet, messy as in open the door and duck hall closet.

It never functioned as it should have and caused lots of morning backups searching for shoes, gloves, hats and scarves.

It looked something like the closet below, but with a vacuum too. This isn't ours, I found it through a google search.

So, somewhere in blogland I had seen a closet makeover. As I was agonizing over a lost glove one day I remembered it. Aha, this was the answer I was looking for. I've always longed for a fancy mudroom with a place for everyone to drop their bags and shoes. That won't happen in this house, but this works for us.

I mentioned the brilliant idea to Zac and boy howdy, he got right on it. He pulled out some leftover trex from his deck building adventure and cleaned stuff out and put stuff in. I love this man who sees a need and fills it, he's quite a catch.

Once the dust had settled and the paint had been touched up we were left with this amazing space.

Eventually we'll take the door casing off, for now we want to make sure it really works for us before we commit to that. The shoes neatly hide in the baskets and there's a hook for each of us to hang our stuff.

And here we are just keeping it real. This is what it normally looks like, crowded but well used. I'll pretty her up once nice weather rolls around and there's not so many coats in there, and by then I'll figure out how to make it pretty as well as functional.

Oh and the best thing, we only had to buy the baskets and hooks. For minimal money and very little time we did something totally cool.

Love that.

edited: Melissa over at the Inspired Room is reminding us to find the beauty in everyday, it sure looks different for all of us. For us right now it's about organization. Sometimes life doesn't always work right, finances can be out of wack and tempers can be high, time can run short and frustrations long. I've found that when things at home are in order there tends to be a little more peace, and sometimes it makes the unmanagable seem just a bit more managable. This little closet transformation has really done that for me, it's a simple thing really but it's done wonders for my mind. I know I'll be able to find my gloves and scarf, I know the kids can easily find their shoes and even more easily put them away. It was a simple solution to a disorganized mess, and it sure has been nice!

Head on over the Inspired Room for more on finding a beautiful life.

Adventure Saturday

The day started off icy with freezing fog. With lunch in the car, off we went to the High Desert Museum. Spent a few hours wandering through the exhibits, wishing the otter and the bobcat were awake.

The it was off to Dairy Queen for some soft serve (swirled, please). And we headed to REI and a few other spots. Found a deal on new running shoes (good-bye sore knees) and a great coat.

Home for breakfast dinner, baths and bed. Had about five tantrums along the way today (give or take a few). Everyone had a great day. We love adventure Saturday, so good to get out and explore.

This was the scene on the way home. And we did stop on the side of road to check out the freeze. Pretty stuff.

A conversation

Thursday morning: Cayden comes downstairs complaining that her front tooth hurts. My first thought is "great, I can't get to the dentist today." I ask her why, what happened, etc. I try really hard to get the story out of her. She's reluctant at first, but slowly it comes out.

"I bumped my tooth," she says. "On what?" I ask. "On my lamp in my room," comes the response. "Oh, are you okay," I ask again. "It really hurts," she says. I ask the obvious, "Well, how did it happen?" This is where it gets interesting. Her reply, "Well, I kissed it and then I bumped my tooth." "And why did you kiss your lamp?" "I was pretending I was married to it." Okay, not sure what's going on in her head but we quickly move to the breakfast discussion. "My tooth hurts but I want to have breakfast." "What would you like?" I ask. "I better have oatmeal. It's softer."

Never a dull moment around here, and the tooth is just fine now. Oh, and she's been eating oatmeal every day since.

Yep, they’re clean.

So this is what happens when you lovingly plan for your kids to have the most amazing bath ever, I mean leave the bathroom for a few minutes with a brand new soap bottle. At least we know they're clean, and they sure had fun.

Pointing to Jesus

Zac and I got the chance to go out for a special date over the weekend. You know the kind, kids overnight with some friends, super nice restaurant, loads of time to hang out...you get the idea. It was a rare treat to be able to get away and go out somewhere nice, a place we'd never take the kids. This was just for us.

We got to the restaurant and were seated in the cozy fireside room. We sat next to another couple enjoying their own date night. But there was something about these two, there was a certain spark in her eyes and a gentle peace about him. We immediately noticed something different about them. We went on with dinner, and they did too. At the end of their meal they casually asked us about ours. We responded that it was just as amazing as theirs, and then that's when it became clear to us. Zac said it first, "You two are Christ followers, aren't you?" They lit up even more with this question and we got to sharing about life and God's plans. It was truly a blessed few minutes as we shared life and God with each other.

There was something very different about this couple and it was obvious. It wasn't because they were passing out tracts or wearing t-shirts with catchy slogans. It wasn't even because they were discussing theology or religion. Their spirits spoke loudly that they had been with Jesus. I wonder if it's the same with me?

I love the story of John found in Luke 3. Here he's baptizing people, preparing the way for God to come. Everyone responded with the same question, "What should we do then?" John's life clearly pointed to Jesus, so much so that those around him were moved to respond and look to Jesus as well.

Our lives should be no different. Do others see something different in me, even if it's something they can't identify? Is Jesus visible simply by my countenance? We are told by Jesus that we are to be light in a dark world. The kind of light that brings warmth to others, and brings Christ's love. Can others see it? How would my days be different if they could? I am challenged to walk by his Spirit more and more so that, like the couple we met, others cannot help but see Christ in me. This isn't a thing that I do on my own, but God does it in me as I spend time with him and yield to his Spirit. And that's a thing that changes others. It all starts with an invitation, God is asking us, "Will you let me move in you? Will you let me use you to reach others?" May our response be, "Yes, yes and Amen."

Visit Like a Warm Cup of Coffee for motivation and encouragment, and a great discussion on modesty.

Cafe Cayden

There she is, isn't she something?

For months Cayden has been making a fort out of the little playroom table and some cushions and the play kitchen. She called it her restaurant and would often take our orders and serve us amazing food. Well, you know, we had to use our imaginations-but it's a pretty fabulous place.

So for Christmas we decided to give her the real thing. It was so simple to do and she absolutely loves it.

All Zac did was cut a piece of wood to shape and build a simple frame. We painted it and that was all. Once it was done I added some trim and the fabric skirt and fluffy tulle.

A perfect place for a girl to play, and as you can see it gets used. I think one of the best things is that to clean the playroom now all we have to do is throw everything into the restaurant!

This was simple to make and was pretty inexpensive because we used materials we already had on hand. It really was the greatest Christmas present.

Christa Taylor

Wow, cute Modest Clothes!

If you're like me (and most any other gal I know) you know the struggle to find cute, stylish clothes that are modest. Well, the search is over. Check these out!

Christa Taylor is dedicated to providing awesome and modest clothes, go check out her site. I know you'll find something you just have to have!

Enoch's Choice

Genesis 5:22 and 24: "...Enoch walked with God...Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."

What was different about Enoch? All the others listed in Genesis 5 "lived" and "died." But not Enoch, he was different. He walked with God. He made a choice to live his life differently. I've been thinking about choices a lot lately. We make them daily, some are big but most of the time it's the little things we choose. Those little things add up to something much bigger. A choice to speak kind words, a choice to get up early and read the Bible, a choice to meditate on God's word, a choice to seek God in all we do. We are faced with countless choices these days, I pray that I choose wisely when a choice is before me. The thing about choices is that sometimes they come at us so quickly that we simply react, without thought. We lose our temper instead of slowing down and making the choice to react in a better way.

Deuteronomy 30:19 and 20 reminds us to "...choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him."

In the end good choices worked out pretty well for Enoch, we're told in Hebrews that "by faith Enoch was taken from this life...he was commended as one who pleased God."

Let's make Enoch's choice today, let's choose life and in doing so please to God and increase our faith.

listening to what matters

Tonight I listened to him say "I was up till the middle of the night. It's almost morning." It was 9:23 and I was getting him tucked him in. He got to stay up late and build Lego ships with Dad. He's usually in bed by 8 but tonight there was time just to spend time.

That picture is him finding his new bike on Christmas morning, wearing his favorite jammies and his bed is made? Not sure how that happened.

So there they were, boys just being boys, love that. We're sure hoping on more of that this year, more time to cherish each other. More time to just be and listen.

That's my goal this year: listen. It's the word I'll be focusing on as the year goes on. Listen to those around me, listen to me and most importantly listen to God.

What's your word this year? What will the focus be? I find myself much more able to focus on what the goal is when I can sum it up in one word. This year the goal is to listen, which means slowing down and talking less. I'm excited for this adventure.

----------

...that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life... Deuteronomy 30:20

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. James 1:19