A lesson from a stream in a desert

As you all know I have been pretty busy the last couple of months. Well I have to admit other than this blog, there is another major thing I have allowed to be cast to the wayside, that being my relationship with God.   Don’t get me wrong I do find Him to be a very important supportive guide in my life…Though it’s been a struggle to remember He too deserves my attention. I received a “wake-up call”l the other day when I spent it sleeping right through it.  When I officially woke up it was 7pm, and felt so depressed that I had allowed myself to completely waste my day like that.

So In an effort to avoid remaining in this state, I blew dust off a devotional book" Streams In The Desert " given to me a few Christmases ago and turned to the page which correlated to the month and day I was on. To my surprise that specific page was about God blessing His children with rest! In the first part, the book mentions a story about Elijah(1 Kings 19:4-9)

The second part was this poem,

“I’m too tired to trust and too tired to pray,
Said I, as my overtaxed strength gave way.
The one conscious thought that my mind possessed,
Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest.

Will God forgive me, do you suppose,
If I go right to sleep as the baby goes,
Without questioning if I may,
Without even trying to trust and pray?

Will God forgive you? Think back, dear heart,
When language to you was an unknown art,
Did your mother deny you needed rest,
Or refuse to pillow  your head on her breast?

Did she let you want when you could not ask?
Did she give her child an unequal task?
Or did she cradle you in her arms,
And then guard your slumber against alarms?

Oh, how quickly a mother’s love can see,
The unconscious yearnings of infancy.
When you’ve grown too tired to trust and pray,
When overworked nature has quite given way:

Then just drop it all, and give up to rest,
As you used to do on mother’s breast,
He knows all about it-the dear Lord knows,
So just go to sleep as a baby goes;

Without even asking if you may,
God knows when His child is too tired to pray.
He judges not solely by uttered prayer,
He knows when the yearnings of love are there.

He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust,
And He knows, too, the limits of poor, weak dust.
Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ,
For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,

When He told them, “Sleep and take your rest,”
While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed-
You have trusted your life to Him to keep,
Then don’t be afraid to go right to sleep.”

-Ella Conrad Cowherd

After reading this, I felt a sense of peace knowing He understood my neglect.  Now I’m not saying it’s ok to ignore God…heavens no! What I would like to get across is that when we feel like our hectic lives have strayed us away from our attention to God, He hold no contempt towards us.  AmazingJ

One of these things is just like the others, and one of these thing just totes belongs

                  In the last few days I have gained a few goodies all having one thing in common....

  Free fresh roses (mom didn't seem to want them so I gladly took them)

hp mini 210 netbook! If you ever are looking for something online odds are amazon has it and for a decent amount!

 super awesome rock pendant from one of my faves Leney this past christmas :)

another creative gift was this flamingo made out of book pages by Lauren Fletcher

this very soft bathrobe mom gave me for christmas

So just in case you didn't know pink is my favorite color, and I soo look forward to finding more pink trasures!

Cloudy with a chance of merely escaping boredom

I have always wondered what it would be like to live in a cloud. Yesterday morning I got the chance to experience this cloud world, and let me tell you it SUCKED! Not only could I not see, but nor could anyone else.  For those of you residing in the RVA, you should already know Christmas shopping, poor visibility, and RVA drivers do NOT mix!

 So that being said, I didn’t spend much time out and about in the mess, but then again I’m not one of those people who can sit still. I figured why not put my free time in my to use and cranked out my crafting supplies. I knew unleashing my creative powers would protect myself from the threat of coming down with the dreaded cabin fever.

                                     After months of being on hiatus I still got it

         First time using memory wire and I'm totally impressed with the results

                                                I loved this type of necklace so much

                                      I figured why not make another version of it

By the time the weather cleared up it was evening.  Lucky for me one of my old church friends Erin was home for college, and asked to see little ole me. *bats eyelashes* so we went to one of the most magical places in Short Pump.

                                                  I freaking love Fridays!

Got hooked up w/ free chips&salsa for signing up to their emails(check my previous post for more info) 

               I believe I have found the cure for "shark week" Brownie Obsession!

                        Erin very much enjoyed her portion of this chocolaty delight

                                      I love licking spoons...then again who doesn't?!?

Afterwards I worked on finishing some hand-made presents as well as wrapping them!

Uh I love feeling productive!

Playing Catch-up

I was thinking today that I never really gave  my readers a catch up post of everything I have been up to…so here it is!

Got a new Tattoo (pre-tat face)

    Saw a double rainbow on my way to school...which as you can see really is bright and vivid

Conquered my first semester back at college with a B and 3 A's!

Went to one of the country's most decorated houses(According to TLC)

hung out with one of my best friends and a reindeer

visited Richmond's James Center christmas lights display

Richmond city christmas tree at the James Center

 travled back in time to the late 1800's to see a civil war camp 

  and the Appomatax court house

but actually just visted the set for the movie "Lincoln" (Josheph Gordon-Levitt is in it :])

Changed my hair...again

Got to see one of the coolest kid conquere college (he can speak spanish)

      and won the somewhat approvel from my parents for my tats

well that should put ya'll up to speed on my life! Yeah Now I don't feel so behind anymore!

Callie's day out

Last week I received an awesome surprise at my door…My buddy Callie Gajdica came back from her deployment over in Iraq.  While she was away, we messaged back and forth about life and what not, but the one thing that surprised me was that she wanted to get her hair cleaned up and wear make-up. She felt it was time for a little change…Well who could blame her being gone for so long? He has r doubts sense getting glammed up can be time consuming and frustrating event!  If one hasn’t really done the whole make-up thing than how the mess are they suppose to figure out what goes where?!?

Well...I decided to take her out so she could get a little confidence boost by spending a few hours getting this chick looking refreshed! First I encouraged her to get her hair did,

                                                     Callie  getting ready to get her hair did

patientle waiting for her low-lights to process (yes I changed my hair AGAIN:])

Then Mom called in a favor at Sephora to see if they could resolve Callie’s frustration with make-up. They not only gave her a make-over, but mom told them she just got back from deployment so they hooked her up with some great swag! 

                                                                     her Sephora swag

                           Afterwards we ate an awesome meal, and went off to shoe shopping.

She didn't end up with this pair but who couldn't resist tryin on disco ball shoes?!

                                                         I want these shoes sooo bad!

Although her change was subtle, it was a big confidence booster for her I could tell and if anyone is deserving of this she totally is! That being said please don’t forget to say thanks to those who are amazing and make our country a safe place to live!

A craft show with some "sweet appeal"

This past November I was asked if I wouldn’t mind helping my friend Lauren Fletcher with her booth at her first craft show.  I myself have always been a fan of them, not to mention I think it would be nice to have a booth of my own in the future….so I gladly agreed to help the girl out.  Lauren’s merchandise also known as her “Sweet Urban Appeal” line consists of a various assortment of quirky accessories most of which are made from recycled material!  

                                                                      Lauren's Booth

                                         a few of her goodies (I like the flower headband the best!)

                                                Lauren and her trusty sidekick...me!

While we had a little spare time, I asked her a few questions regarding her experience.

As a first timer what did you think?                                                                                                        "It definitely was a learning experience"

Would you try this again and if so what would you do differently?                                                 "Yes I would, I would pick a location closer to what my “Sweet Urban Appeal” line is centered on.  What’s at the heart of my line is Richmond, culture and the people."

Where would you like to set up shop?                                                                                            "Being that I’m a craft show newbie. I’m not familiar with the regular shows, but Carytown, Richmond interest me."  

                       Oh also To our surprise guess who had a booth next to ours?!?! Leney!

Leney and her trusty sidekick Landon

So of course I had to take advantage of this opportunity to also pick her brain about her experience here as well….

o    Compared to your last existence being apart of a craft show, what did you think/feel about this one?"This one was a little more well attended, being a bigger craft show and more well known, than my previous one. Definitely a lot more going on and more people and vendors. It was super fun though! I also got to have a table next to a friend of mine so that was also a plus. I acquired a lot more commissions from this show than the last one too.
My last show wasn't quite as expensive to be in as this one (a benefit of smaller shows) but I gained a pretty decent profit from both so I've been happy so far with my limited craft show experiences! However having done two shows I get a better idea of what some of my popular items are that sell really well and I can make more of as opposed to some others which aren't as popular. Which helps me know what to focus on for my next one!"

o    What would you do differently?"Be more prepared in advance. Make a list of things I need (cash to make change, mirrors, table cloth, a water bottle, gas in the car... ) and go through setting up and the days events in my head to make sure I have everything. Being ready the day before would also be ideal and have what I can packed in the car the night before. Also, getting a good nights sleep. I tend to get a little stressed out when trying to prepare for something like this and I always have so many ideas for things I want to make I often get in over my head with 45 unfinished projects. I try to remember it's not about quantity but quality."

o    if you were given a choice where would you like to set up shop?                                                                                                               "A little hole in the wall place somewhere downtown or in a place like Carytown would be so fun!"

 I too personally had a great experience at the craft show too and I am so happy I was given the chance to be a part of this!

My first Groupon

Who has two thumbs and has the time to blog again *points thumbs to self* this chick! Due to school and not having a laptop has made it quite difficult to find time to post, thus the reason for my absence sorry guys.   That being said, although my experiences will not be in chronological order… for my loyal readers (I hope I still have some…*nervous face*) I will still write about what I have been up to J

                                                                    Most recently…

Yesterday I finally got to spend my $20 groupon mom gave me back in September to use at  fandangle bead store .The store is surprisingly rather large and filled with unique beads, pendants, charms, and most importantly other accoutrements that are necessary for jewelry making. An awesome aspect of this store is not only having vast variety of almost everything for your jewelry making needs, but they also have classes for those who are interested in broadening their crafting horizons. I spent my first 45 minuets walking around the store nervously due to not having a clue where to start. Then a very nice employee came over and gave me a bit of guidance. She told me the best way to start is to find one item I like a lot and then go from there!

                                                           This is just the middle of the store

                    slice of ruby, carved rose and red bead made of quartz, oyster ruby beads, hand-painted   beads, metal leaf, and crystal? leaf all for $20

                                                             Necklace my little sister is wearing made from the slice of ruby

I ended up having a great time and look forward to the next chance I get to go back! For those of you who do reside in the Richmond area I highly recommend visiting this place. Odds are they more than likely have what you’re looking for to satisfy your needs!