Leaving on a jet plane

Well I am pretty much exhausted. After work today we had our personal training session and we focused on upper body strengthening....I am so weak! Wow it was a workout! But after that we drove over to a friends house to pick up a dresser and shelf he was giving away since he was moving. I have to stop and say thank you to Jesus for that. I had been praying for a dresser and since we are working away at becoming debt free I almost felt guilty for praying for it. I never expected God to answer in this way: We were at lunch with a friend from work who is leaving/moving out of town and he asked if we would be interested in some furniture one of them a dresser. I was like....are you kidding me? I said sure! And so we drove over and loaded up the stuff. Granted it may not be the fanciest, shiniest, modern dresser, but it's a dresser! What a blessing it will be to use it! I think we are going to paint or refinish it.

But it was funny to pick it up after our upper body workouts, since our arms were soo very tired, then we had to hike up three flights of stairs on top of it. So all that mixed with making dinner and packing for our flight out tomorrow leaves two very exhausted but excited people :)

We fly to NY tomorrow for vacation! I'm so excited to meet my new nephew Jack, and take some pictures of him too! I am excited to see my family again too! What a treat to see them during the middle of the year!

We are not shooting a wedding as we had originally planned, but God knew better for us for reasons we may not know, and I am thrilled we have this unexpected vacation when once again we weren't planning one this year for the sake of money. What a bonus blessing!

So we can just relax while we are there and enjoy quality time together. Please pray for us as we travel as it always makes me nervous flying!

I may not post for a little while, but who knows I may find time to boot up my parents computer :)

Have a wonderful and happy fourth of July! What a privilege to celebrate the freedom of our country!!

new item for itsybitsy!

I created some new art prints for my shop. I decided (with a boost from Jonah) to try and sell some art that is low in cost and a little more generic. This way I can keep some prints here ready to ship out when someone places an order. I debated offering personalization to them but decided it would be easier to have something a little more generic for everyone. I love how they came out. What do you all think?

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27103868

For toddlers

Every now and then I come across great ideas for children- in my constant research of the 'baby' market. I thought I would share this for those of you that have toddlers that don't sleep on a very good schedule. I thought it was so cute:

http://livelovedream.com/catalog.php?category=11

Checked off the list

Well. looking over my to do list yesterday I can happily say I did everything on it except for the last three, which I don't feel bad or guilty about. It was a very productive and busy day and I felt like I accomplished a lot, even more than I thought I would. Jonah ended up helping me flip our mattresses- we even took them off the bed and I dusted and vacuumed under it :) ahh. Nothing like a thorough cleaning to make you feel good! I love my husband, did I mention that? He is such a helpful, loving and hard working man.
I also created two new invitations for Itsybitsy, and I was able to print, photograph and post them- always a time consuming task but something I really enjoy.
Tonight I am hoping to list a couple more items but I don't know if I will have time. Maybe tomorrow....
I just keep plugging away at my shop and I have found it to be a terrific outlet for my creative side. It's still something I really enjoy and don't feel pressured doing so I will continue designing for it. I do hope to market it more but as time allows. I think my biggest hurdle is discovering what people like to buy and hitting a price point that is within their reach.
But anyways it was a good start to the week and I am happy I finished all my cleaning (and laundry!) so that I don't have to think about it for several days. I love the feeling of a clean home!! I hope everyone is having a great start to the week and that today is filled with many joys! I have one joy to write about, my husband is working here at my workplace this summer :)
I can never get too much of him!

Productive Monday! Or so I hope

It's my day off for the summer work schedule and I am soo thankful! I love having a four day work week in the summer, I always get excited for Mondays. I am such a procrastinator so of course I like to push my 'chores' to Monday. But at least I have Monday to do them, and I don't start the work week feeling guilty for not getting my never ending to do list done! This morning I have a list I need to try and work on and I thought I would write it here for fun....and I will check back tonight to see how I did.

1. Finish laundry
2. Switch out clean sheets on our bed
3. Dust Dust Dust (this is one of my least favorites :)
4. Vacuum floors
5. Sweep/Mop
6. Clean bathroom
7. My daily exercise workout (last night I procrastinated until after church, that was fun!)
8. Clean up dishes from breakfast
9. Package and mail my latest order from Etsy
10. Work on a few new designs for Itsy Bitsy
11. Pick out some photos from our vault of pictures- to actually print some
12. Meal plan for the week, as well as grocery list
13. Maybe run to the grocery store- depending on what we need

Hmm, I think that is all for now. First I'll have devotions, and then I can move onto my list. Hopefully today will be productive....and I will squeeze in time with Jonah at the pool (another hot day in GA). Since the morning already started out rough I'm hoping it will smooth out. I started the day trying to get a blueberry stain off of our couch pillow- to no avail- does anyone have a trick for blueberry juice? And then I proceeded to step in my cereal bowl that was on the floor- with milk in it. So I spent some time cleaning milk off the carpet. I hope it won't be an overall klutzy day for me!

Happy Monday everyone!

summer is for strawberries

Proverbs 10

Today I read through Proverbs 10 and decided to do something different. There are references to the wise/just/righteous vs. the wicked throughout the chapter. I took out a piece of scrap paper made two columns and listed out each one I found. It was really amazing to look back and read all the different references God has for us in this one little chapter. Since I don't know how to make two columns in this post, here is what I found starting with the wise list first, then followed by the wicked.

Wise

1. maketh a glad father
2. will not famish
3. gathereth in the summer
4. blessings on their head
5. the memory of them is blessed
6. they will receive commandments
7. their mouth is a well of life
8. their mouth has knowledge
9. their labor equals life
10. refraineth their lips
11. their tongue is choice silver
12. their lips feed many
13. desires of them will be granted
14. they are an everlasting foundation
15. their fear of the Lord prolongs their days
16. their hope is gladness
17. way of the Lord is strength
18. they shall never be removed
19. their mouths know what is acceptable.

Then the list for the wicked:

1. they are heaviness for their mother
2. their substance is cast away
3. sleepeth in harvest
4. violence covereth him
5. his name shall rot
6. they shall fall
7. their mouth is violence
8. their mouth is destruction
9. their fruit is sin
10. heart of the wicked is of little worth
11. they die for want of wisdom
12. fear cometh upon them
13. as a whirlwind passeth so the wicked shall be no more
14. their years are shortened
15. wicked shall not inhabit the earth
16. they speaketh forwardness

It's quite a list I know but it was a different perspective for me, and brought in a new method of learning. I think I may try this again tomorrow. But looking back made me realize how God blesses those that seek after Him, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness..."