Good morning friends. My mom and dad are still here. We've been running all over the place eating...antiquing...having fun. My dad's got some Elvis gospel playing on my stereo as we drive around. It's forever engraving those silky smooth songs in my mind for future memories:) Hope you've been having a great week as well.
I wanted to take a minute and tell you about a shop that you might not know about. My friend Tiffini started making signs awhile back and when I saw this new one she made...with MY name on it;) I just had to have one! FARMGIRL! YES!!! It looks perfect over my office/studio door.
Love this one.
LOVE THIS ONE!!!
And this one just makes my heart SING!!! You know it does! She is so SO talented...
Tiffini is a soldier. A warrior woman! I love this girl so much. I've watched her journey. Her struggles with her health...her marriage, and she always takes those trials and runs straight into His arms. She blesses me with her timely posts that speak right to my heart, and her "never give up" attitude is beyond inspirational to witness. I've seen her start a business out of necessity and God has blessed it and provided for her sweet family. Anyway I hope you bop over to her corner and take a peek around. She's offering a 15% discount to her shop. Just use Farmgirl in the coupon section. **She is doing a feature on my shop today too. Check it out for a discount;)
Have a blessed day.
801. my big brother Jim who turned 50 this week!
802. time with my folks
803. a good start to a new beginning for my honey
804. His hand that i know keeps me safe and directs my steps
805. friends in blog/IGland that reach out to me and make me feel so loved!!!
I told you I was done with the Outer Banks pics...but I fudged a bit. There was one night I was waiting to share with you. One veryspecial night where our dear friends decided to break the news to their kiddos that they were expecting their fourth. This is how it went it down...FYI we already knew and had told our kids;)
This is about the time that I was thinking...maybe we shouldn't be here.
He's in complete denial;)
Uh...can we go through the back door?? Maybe we can sneak out and they won't notice...HA!
Ahhhh sweet innocent Sophia...
Seriously the whole thing was such a sweet memory to take part in. The kids were in shock...but quickly warmed up to the idea.
When it comes to baby stuff I was really private. Hard to imagine me private, but I was. I didn't even have my family at the hospital when we gave birth to our girls, so for the Hutchinson's to include us in this beautiful family memory...it was an amazing honor! We are so beyond excited for them and the wee one on the way:))
**BTW thank you to everyone who shared your history with food/diet on the last post. My heart aches for those of you who have struggled...and those of you who continue to battle with food issues. It's a touchy, hard topic and I'm so grateful we have people who can help and a God who can heal! The winner is WHITE WHISPERS 2U.
Have a blessed day.
796. a cozy rainy day where i can pull on my hunter boots and my scary scarf;) 797. a house full of family 798. a community of women who love and build one another up 799. friends who want us to be a part of important family memories 800. the guest speaker at our church who shared truth and didn't tickle ears
When I was a little girl I remember my momma always being on a diet. Her side of the family struggled tremendously with obesity, and it was just the norm for her to be trying something new...to be working on herself. I don't remember the names of them. Heavens back in the day who knows what silly diets they had, but I do recall watching her once chew an enormous bowl of popcorn, and then spit it out after every bite. It makes me sad to think about that now.
As an adult my weight has fluctuated. At one point I weighed more than my Honey! I know!! And you wonder why I keep a close eye on it (#operationzipthosepants). The difference between how I grew up and what we do in our home now is that weight is not discussed. We talk about being healthy...we focus on eating right and moving. We limit sugary sweets, fast food and provide plenty of good stuff to snack on.
Back in the day I don't know if they really knew what to feed us. Seriously Twinkies, Ding Dongs and junk were the norm in my house. My honey grew up eating powdered sugar donuts and hot chocolate for breakfast. He wore Husky jeans...remember those?? Hmmmm wonder why he's so disciplined now?? That husky tag must have scarred him for life;)
I never really liked how my body looked growing up. Obesity ran in our family and I had to really watch it not to fall into that category. I remember hating on myself at my 8th grade graduation. I wasn't even heavy, but I remember crying because of how bad I thought I looked:(
In high school I thinned out, only to gain it all back in our early years of marriage. Have you ever heard of the Master Cleanse? I used to take laxative teas and drink a strange lemonade/cayenne pepper mix to detox and shed weight. Not the best method by the way. All of that to say most of us have some sort of history with food. Most of us have experienced a diet and/or not been happy with our body image. Maybe even done something extreme or dangerous to lose it.
I'm in a different place than I was all those years ago. I don't look at myself and feel sadness or hatred. I look at myself and feel love. Sometimes I get frustrated because my weight doesn't respond to what I'm doing, but it's out of a caring place. I want to eat right and exercise, not only to look good and feel comfortable in my clothes, but because I love my family and want to take care of myself for them. I also do it because I'm aging and I want to be healthy and not struggle with disease.
It can go either way for people...this desire to lose weight. It can obviously become an unhealthy obsession and take over their lives. My friend Emily Wierenga struggled horribly with anorexia. She's one of many of my friends who've experienced an eating disorder.
Emily has written an amazing book called Chasing Silhouettes. I'm so very proud of her for using her history...her past...to help others. It's a valuable resource...if you or someone you love is hurting in this area. She's offering one copy to a reader, but I'd like to encourage you to purchase a copy for your school, church, youth group etc...
You can buy it HERE. Her story could help so many. To enter the give-away just leave me a comment telling me your history with food. Any twitter, facebook, blog post etc...gets another entry:) Thanks for spreading the word.
I'm still making my way through all those PNW vacation pictures. Thanks for indulging me and letting me share;) On this particular day Sasha had a whole special event planned out for us. We were going to stroll the grounds of one of her favorite places, snapping pictures, sitting by the sea sipping sweet tea, and the grand event...kayak with seals. Sounds picturesque doesn't it??
When we got there it took about 5 minutes for her to realize the kayak rental place was closed. I watched disappointment spread over her face. I get it. She wanted to make a memory. She wanted to give me an experience. One with salty sea air and seals under our oars.
To be completely honest I was a tad relieved. I love the water...looking at it. I love hearing the surf and breathing in that air, but the thought of possibly overturning in a sea kayak with enormous seals nearby about did me in. It would have been magical I'm sure...but quite possibly it could have been SCARRING! Like nightmares for years scarring! Eeeeek I say God knew. HE KNEW and he closed the place down just for me. Ha!
We did the next best thing and found old rusty buildings to take pictures of.
And quite honestly our detour got me thinking about friendships. I have so many precious friends. They live all over the map. Sasha is one of my original blog friends. We've moved way past that initial connection, but I'll never forget when her bubbly comments started showing up in my inbox. Her spirit was full of life. She had enough energy for 12 people. She was crafty like me...loved to decorate like me...and she loved Jesus...like me;) The similarities were uncanny. Seriously sometimes it was like we shared a brain. How can this chick who lives on the otherside of the country...whom I've never even talked to in person be just.like.me??
It's interesting the people God weaves into your life. Some are weathered and true. Some only stay for a short season, but for anyone who has let someone in close you know they inevitably leave their mark. They become a part your being somehow...and you carry them with you always.
This picture is special to me. We were sitting on a deck over looking a misty ocean scene and it looked like we were just gazing out into water that went on forever. There was nothing to see...not one building and then Sash said look over there. And at first I couldn't see anything, so I turned away and about a minute later I looked back again and it literally made me jump. What wasn't visible before (at least I couldn't see it) turned out to be an entire city on a hill...right there.
Maybe just maybe...there is something right in front of you that you don't see. I don't know what. Maybe God has a detour planned...a change of course and it's ultimately for your protection. Maybe you need to be that city on a hill and be seen. Take what you want, but it's going to be good. It's going to be just what you need. Drink in His perfect peace and trust the Master planner for your day...your destiny.
