god moving

I have been totally smitten this last little while with art journaling.
It is hard to move past -- there's no rules -- anything goes --
but I am starting to wrap my mind around it.
I love experimenting with different mediums that I don't properly "know" how to use
{i always wanted to go to art school}
-- tearing, pasting, painting, smudging --
and the freedom that color and dimension and no-lines-to-write-on bring.
Daisy Yellow is a blog that has been helpful in many ways --
supply suggestions, prompts, ways to get past blank-page panic.
Most of my pages so far have been pretty, well, personal, but one night I did this page
and felt such a sense of calm and peace while I drew and colored and meditated on those beautiful words.
What about you? Do you want to try it?

drywall vs. decor

We decided to do all our drywall ourselves, and we're glad we did. I think. 

But it really is a pain in the butt.

Drywall or no drywall, I am undeterred.

Hence the V-Day banner, adapted from the ever-lovely Danielle and her recent DIY post.

{how did I forget how awesome glue guns are??}

It ain't pretty (the drywall, that is), but it's prettier than nothin'.

pinned: delicious

It's funny to look backwards through what I've pinned over the past few months, especially in the food department. There's a sudden shift from decadent, rich, celebratory recipes in December to simpler, fresher, lighter recipes in January. {well, some of it, anyway.} What about you, been having any fantastic cravings lately? Because I for one am not one to say no to a craving. And I always like to have a new one. Or two or three.

Some of my faves...

baked grapefruit >> eat sleep cuddle

quinoa salad >> eating for england

tangled thai salad >> canadian gift guide

guacamole grilled cheese >> two peas and their pod

16-minute beef and bean burritos >> the pioneer woman

orange push-up smoothie >> love veggies and yoga

peach crisp with maple cream sauce >> the pioneer woman

{suspend that statement about craving lighter.}

book delicious: my favorite reads from 2011

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{i've been here!!}

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Though the rest of the world may quit with paper and glue altogether, I think I will take my books to my grave.
We had a Kindle for a little while but just couldn't get into it and ended up selling it off.

Looking for a good book to sink your teeth into? Here are my favorite reads from 2011.
Chip in with your favorites (recent or not) in the comments!

what i didn't buy (and what i did)

So many amazing finds at Old Jail Antiques last weekend! It's housed in the old city jail -- vendors can rent jail cells -- which is part creepy, part cool. I normally don't get bent out of shape about what our budget will/won't allow, but I gotta tell you, I so wish I could have brought every one of those pretties home with me.

I did get to bring one of the pretties home, though -- check out that chalkboard! It's double-sided, one green, one black, with the alphabet on each side. I'm not sure yet where it will end up, but I triple puffy-heart it.

low-tech diy valentine's day garlands

pinking shears + pink and red felt + candy-striped yarn

and

sparkly pom poms + sparkly eyelash yarn.

best constructed while freaking out over downton abbey.

layer over paint samples and bare drywall for best effects.

{my man says the sparkly one reminds him of dr. seuss.}

away

My amazing, sweet, generous, understanding man sent me on a little mini-vacation for part of the weekend. I left in the middle of a giant snowstorm, got lost a couple of times, but settled into my {amazing} room at the Sarah Beth guest house with nary a qualm about being, well, cooped up. You know, by myself. 

It was my first time ever way from my little ones overnight. I thought of them -- I called them to hear their little voices and to say goodnight -- and I was so happy to see them the next day -- but let's just say that I wasn't shedding any tears. I painted, wrote, watched HGTV/Food Network {we don't have tv at home so that was, like, epic}, listened to old favorite tunes, wandered the house with camera in hand, drank tea, and ate pastries.

It was perfect.

my word for 2012: praise

Part of me wants to hold back on this post --

wait, can I really do this?

what if I mess it up? and everyone knows it?

So let me take a deep breath and tell you that my word for 2012 is praise.

Other contenders? present. grateful. joy.

But really -- what good thing is there that is not encompassed in the act of praise?

If I can find reason to praise God in every moment of every day,

will that not increase my gratitude and joy? will that not keep me in the present moment?

Anticipating a year of praise gives me a wonderful feeling, like 

toes at the edge of the ocean, like bike-ride hair flying on a warm summer day,

like the sun on my face and joy in my heart.

{download the printable}

I hope you will join me in choosing your own word, if you feel like it.

Don't worry about reinventing the wheel. 

{Danielle, who is already such a beautiful woman of praise, chose praise for her word last year...} 

Just choose the word that tastes good. 

So without any particular plan, I hope you will let me share with you what I learn this year along my bumbling, meandering way on the path of praise. My faith throughout my life has mostly been a quiet sort of conviction. internal. While praise is something I've always equated with voice. exuberance. outwardness. And I think that praise can be those things -- but I also think that praise can be very much a combination of the two -- inward exuberance and delicious, soul-filling zeal, sometimes spoken, sometimes sung, but perhaps most often felt. 

I'm excited to find out.

world peace: nutella hot chocolate

This is my newest favorite late-night trick:

Cheap hot chocolate mix with a giant spoonful of Nutella mixed in.

It will bring peace to the entire world, I am certain. 

My life has felt like one giant crash-landing lately. I am grasping at straws of normalcy to keep from losing my mind at all the change and craziness and chaos. And then I read about what life is like in other places and realize what a jerk I am for complaining at all. 

So: one day at a time.

I've picked a word for the year and am so excited to share my journey with you. That one little word is already sending me in some beautiful + unexpected directions. More soon!