NYC Crayon Skyline

If you're reading this post you may have seen my previous crayon art, the melted Seattle skyline. My cousin's wife saw it and wanted a New York one to give my cousin for his birthday....It was either New York or Las Vegas and I wasn't so sure I'd be able to melt all the intricacies of the Vegas skyline! So I attempted to make a melted New York...what do you think? I figured if I could get the World Trade Center and the Chrysler Building then it would be recognizable as New York City :)

As my brother said, "It's New York, circa 2000." :)

Preschool Thankful Trees

What are you thankful for? Most of us would quickly say our family or friends, or maybe our home. But what if we think a little further. Are you thankful for your heater? running water? a soft bed? food in the fridge? The best way to think simply about thankfulness is to ask a 3 year old. This month in my classroom we have been focusing more on thanking God for our blessings since Thanksgiving is coming up soon. We find ways to be thankful year round during our chapel time and by praying before meals but now it's specifically part of our curriculum.

My favorite kind of art project is one where the kids get to personalize it in their own special way. For this project I asked them what they were thankful for...(in a variety of ways so they would understand, because I know thankfulness can be a bit abstract for a preschooler.) The other preparations for this craft included cutting out leaf shapes from magazines and brown rectangles for the tree stump. Overall a very easy craft to make, and if you have older kids they could cut out their own leaves!

My favorite is the one that says, "Mommy, Daddy, God, Jesus, and Mickey Mouse" :)

Clothes Pin Christmas Card Wreath

How do you display your Christmas cards? Do you tape them to the stair railing? Throw them in a basket? Magnets on the fridge? Last year I put ribbon around my kitchen cabinets and used mini clothes pins to hold the cards in place. I liked that all right, but I'm always looking for new ways to be creative. A few weeks ago I was inspired by {of course} the one and only Pinterest. I found this wreath made out of clothes pins to hold Christmas cards so I thought I would give it a try... I was originally inspired by Craftiness is not optional but I ended up doing a few things differently.

 First, I painted all my pins with acrylic craft paint in red, green, and white. After letting them dry I wanted a little something more so I added stripes to the white pins and polka dots to the red ones. After that I found a wire hanger and {mostly} bent it into a circular shape. Then I put the clothes pins on the hanger and sealed the ends of the hanger with my handy glue gun and added some ribbon to cover the leftover wire.

Ta-Da! My final product. What do you think? Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Now to put it away for a few more weeks until I start getting cards in the mail!

Where, Lord, where?

Today was just another Tuesday. Another day of tantrums, pushing, screaming, poop, snot, coughing, and more. When did this become my new normal? When did I switch into survival mode just to make it through the day or even the week? You'd think that I was a mom with kids going through a crazy phase making me want to pull my hair out and hire a nanny. Could I hire a nanny to come take my place for a while at the child care? Probably not, but I've thought about it.

Work has been making me question my happiness lately. Am I happy? What in my life currently makes me happy? And how can I get more of that? I believe that happiness is an active choice and if we don't do something about being happy we will always be miserable. SO what am I doing to make myself {and others in my life} happy?

First things first, ask Jesus. True happiness will come from HIM. Lord, grant me the wisdom to make choices in my life that glorify you and also bring happiness to my heart.

What's the next step? That one question pretty much sums up my life right now. If you were someone who keeps asking me about my future I would tell you I'm planning on going to grad school next year to get my teaching credential in California. Is that what I want to do? I'm not entirely sure. Will that make happy? Not sure about that either. BUT at this point in my life its the most logical next step to take.

Earlier today I was reading an article called "Single and not waiting" and the author says,

There seems to be a deep understanding and appreciation for the gift of marriage, but not so much for the gift of singleness (if it’s treated like a gift at all). Rather, singleness is something to be cured. Like I've got a disease, and introducing me to your single friend might perhaps cure us both. Singleness is the lump of coal, the gift that is never on your Christmas list.

Hmmm. Is that how I see my life? Honestly, it's hard not to when everyone you know is getting married or having a baby. And I'm so happy for them, I truly am. But I feel like my life is missing something. Am I unhappy because I am single? {Because that is not a good reason for it if you ask me...} But I don't know how to embrace this singleness and be the best I can be in it. It's hard. I suppose Paul never said it would be easy to be single. There are tons of manuals for how to be a good wife, husband, mom, dad, etc. but the "single" books aren't exactly flying off the shelves at me.

Post-college pre-marriage life seems like a waiting room but it's not. It's life. Trying to follow God's calling but it seems there is water in my ears, making it difficult to understand. I'm reminded of Isaiah 6:8 so often lately... "Here I am, Lord! Send me!" It's just a matter of figuring out the direction I'm being sent. Where, Lord, where?

Advice to College Kids

Get Involved

I may not have always been great at this, in fact most of the time I was opposite of involved. After being super involved in high school I was ready for a break and I feel like there were things I missed out on in college. So go do stuff with people!

It's okay to say NO
While it's great to be involved, don't feel like you HAVE to do everything. It's okay to say no sometimes and watch a movie in your dorm. If you start saying yes to everything you'll be exhausted and nothing will get done. So pick and choose what you want to be a part of. Also, if any part of you thinks that something is dangerous or illegal, DON'T DO IT, because it probably is and at some point in your life you'll probably regret it.

Go to a friend's house for a holiday
Being from a different state I wasn't always able to go home for Thanksgiving or Easter. I think visiting another family for a holiday can teach you a lot about different family dynamics, about who you are, and what you appreciate about your own family and traditions.

Call your parents (and grandparents)
While you may be just fine, your mom might not. Or maybe you're a wreck and you don't want your dad to worry about you. Well guess what, your parents are definitely worried about you and many don't want to "intrude" on your new found independence at college. Call them anyway, even if its just for 5 minutes on your way to class. They'll appreciate it, and odds are, you'll feel better too. (Same goes for grandparents. They're not going to be around forever and once they're gone you'll regret not spending more time getting to know them.)

Take a random class
Learn about something new! My sophomore year I took one quarter of Greek. Do I remember any of it? Not really. Do I really need to know Ancient Greek? Probably not at all. But it was a good experience and now I can say, "Yeah one time I took Greek in college..."

And most importantly...

Be a good friend
This will look differently for everyone, but college is a great time to truly get to know people. And its the only time in your life when you will be living with your best friends. Be there for them. Love them. Pray for them. And most importantly be good to them, just like you would want them to be to you.

2008- my first roomie and one of
my best friends

Can I also just say I'm very thankful that we all grow up and don't stay 18 forever? Who thought those double braids were a good idea? yikes.

Happy back to school, college kids!

Careful what you wish for...

The last month or so I have been very ready for fall weather to arrive. I was ready to say goodbye to my shorts and flip flops to greet my boots and scarves with open arms. Last week people were still in capris, maybe wearing sandals, holding on to that last bit of summer-ish weather. And bam! I'm not sure what happened, but WINTER arrived this weekend. We skipped right over fall and went straight to COLD. Its been around 50 degrees, which is not crazy cold, but when it was 80 very recently that is a big change. I suppose I got what I wanted because I'm able to wear boots and a sweater, but it seemed like an awfully drastic change.

Isn't that how life is though? You look forward to something for a week, a month, maybe even a year, and then all of a sudden it's there. And you're left wondering wait, what just happened? Wasn't it just a week ago that I was doing this or that?

Today the new SPU students are moving into the residence halls across the street and I feel old being so far removed from that stage in life. It was 6 years ago that I moved into Emerson Hall and started my journey at Seattle Pacific. Now I'm an "adult," paying rent and going to work every day. (I put quotes around the word adult because I still don't quite feel like one...I'm waiting for the moment where I don't feel like I'm playing pretend being a grown up. Although a 4th grader told me I was too old to say "dude" last night and guessed that I was 30....)

Now my question is, what's next? What am I wishing for? What change is going to sneak up on me like this cold weather? What's my next step?

I'm so thankful for the different seasons of life, but they also terrify me. Unlike the weather changing or holidays arriving, I can't always prepare myself as well as I'd like to for those big life stages. Thankfully God is with me no matter where I go or what I do, and I should always lean on him in those circumstances. But I'm still learning how to do that. How can I not think about, worry, stress over, or just be scared of what the next step is?

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

fall is here

At the beginning of every season I'm always excited for something. When it's spring time I'm excited to see more of the sun and all the beautiful flowers blooming everywhere. When summer comes around I can't wait to wear flip flops and lay out in the sun endlessly reading books. When winter comes...well, I love Christmas so winter is good because of that (however, by the end of January I'm at a loss for things to like about winter). And then there is fall. My favorite of all the seasons. What's not to love about fall? Cooler weather. Boots. Leaves. Scarves. PSL. Fireplace. Thankfulness. Candles. Oh and pumpkin {everything}.

Right now my house smells so lovely ~ coffee beans in my kitchen table centerpiece, new apple ale candle, and pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars baking in the oven. Any time I can use pumpkin, molasses, and fall spices in the same recipe I am a very happy girl! My parents are coming to Seattle tomorrow and the whole family will be here for dinner so I'm breaking out the crock pot again to make a pot roast. Crock pot cooking isn't all that fun when only one person is eating (or I end up with a million freezer meals of the same thing!). I can't wait to have people here to cook for and to eat with. My home feels empty with just one or two people. I crave a crowd.

I blame my mother for this feeling I have. Growing up there were always people in our home- after school, coming over for dinner, holiday meals- everyone came to our house for these things. It wasn't until middle school that I started to realize it wasn't normal to have people over for dinner three or four (or more) times a week. Feeding people is both my mom's love language and her spiritual gift, and I feel that I have inherited these things as well. Making someone a home-cooked meal or bringing treats to work is my way of blessing those around me (and also feeling blessed myself). Why not make someone's day a little bit better if I have the time and ability to?

"...Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35b