First off, this is the BEST picture of my two year old niece, Sabrina.
It captures her spirit to a T!
Ok, so on to the painting I promised.
I have some blank walls in my house! Like, a lot.
I thought it would be fun to enlist my nieces help. We took a trip to Hobby Lobby to buy paint and canvases. I let the girls take complete control over their artwork. Ella painted a desert scene and Lanaia used Bindi as her inspiration.
Even Sabrina got messy!
Everyone sing with me!
SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!
What do two teachers just out of the classroom do on their very first free weekend? Why drive to California of course! Seriously one of the best parts of living in Arizona is the proximity to California and the beach. I, for one, don’t take advantage of this opportunity enough.
My partner in crime (Lihau) and I made reservations on Thursday night. (We’re crazy!) We hit the road Friday afternoon. The beach was calling our name all day Saturday.
Something about the beach makes me want to use yellow and brown vintage filters all over the place.
Beer for breaky…old man!
Waiting in the alley for our breakfast.
Walk to the pier
In LOVE with the beach cruisers
Fit our weekend to a T
Milk shakes overlooking the Pacific
Beach dog!
Linking up with Sar and
When I first moved to Arizona, there were people (cough, mom, cough) who said how brown it was. How there were no flowers or green places. Yes, Arizona is brown. And yes, we do have flowers. If you spend enough money on water, you can even grown grass!
After six years of living in the low desert, I have learned to love the subtle beauty of cactus and sage bushes.
Last Sunday, I was getting restless. I packed up the dog, my camera and hit the road for an adventure.
One of my favorite signs to see! I wish I had a picture of the couple that was riding down the road.
Not your typical desert house. Reminds me of home.
If you know anything about Phoenix, you’ll recognize Central Avenue!
It’s Thursday!
Around here that means another round up of random thoughts/brilliantness and my weekly recap of dresses.
But something pretty remarkable happened today, a story too good to pass up!
We’ve been having some shake ups at the school I work for. Nothing too out of the ordinary, nothing earth shattering, but enough annoyance to warrant complaining!
After a long, frustrating and non-linear staff meeting, we retreated to our classrooms where we all regrouped. All I wanted to do was go home and think some unkind thoughts, I tried to focus myself on being positive and going about my business is the kindest manner possible. However hard that would be for my stubborn German brain to comprehend.
The aftershocks of “the meeting” were felt again today. I was very out of sorts, short with the kids, moaned about my aide (who is a dream to work with, by the by!), and was a overall pain in the biscuit to deal with. During my lunch time (which I share with three other co-workers) we rehashed the meeting for the two teachers who were not present. This of course, brought up more bad thoughts, more ugly comments, and all around ungrateful behavior.
We were all in agreement that next year would not be easy, we figure that this is God calling us to our Esther moment. This is our “such a time as this” God is asking us to be warriors even when the odds seemed stacked against us. (If you can’t tell, I work at a Christian school!)
This is such a long set-up to a quick ending, but I promise I’m getting there!
After lunch, I walked back to my classroom still gloomy with a touch of grumpiness. I unlocked the door for my afternoon bambinos to come to school. The first family to walk in happened to be the twins in my class with their grandma. She and I have talked many times about our Bible Study friends.
Here comes the best part:
She stopped me and said she had a word from the Lord she would like to share with me. Her friend had sent it to her and she thought it was so beautiful.
*This never happens to me, I repeat, NEVER HAPPENES TO ME!*
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Grandma kept repeat over and over “Patient in affliction, patient in affliction.”
I lost it.
I was overwhelmed with Love from my Father. Only a gracious God could have known what I needed to hear and when I needed to hear it.
Even through the mess of my easy life, God brings to me a word of comfort through a person who has no clue what we are dealing with.
Amazing, simply amazing.
AND, if you sat through all that (Told you it was good!) I’ll reward you with my dresses from this week!
Monday
Spot the Bindi! I swear that dog thinks she runs this show!
PS. This pink skirt was the BEST $10 I’ve ever spent at Old Navy.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Finally, a new pose!
Linking up with Sar
and
We’ve clearly established the fact that I like pretty things. Whether it’s dresses, shoes, earrings or necklaces I love them all!
Last summer I made my earring holder, which I’m in love with. Totally does the job and makes for some nice décor in the bedroom. The next step was organizing the endless pit of necklaces I’ve acquired.
Things You’ll Need:
*One of those multiple pants hanger thingy (Technical term!)
*HUGE collection of necklaces
(Or whatever you have on hand)
*Hook to hang on wall
*Wall Space
(Could also work on the back of a door)
(Excuse the messy bed and busy bedspread, I took this late at night when I was in on an organizing kick.)
Gather all your necklaces, and your dog.
As you can see, my collection was already so organized!
Organize your necklaces however you will use them best.
I put the chunkier longer ones on the bottom rung and color coded them because that’s how I roll!
The best part about using the pants hanger is the black grippy part keeps your necklaces from sliding around. Also, the bars open which allows for easy access to your pretties.
My thinner shorter necklaces went on the top rung. I tried to spread them out so the two wouldn’t get tangled.
