It’s a dark and stormy morning around these parts. Very dark and very stormy. So far, I’ve seen three tornado warnings expire for our county, but another one is issued until 10:45 a.m. You see that big white spot on the map that says “Greatest Risk?” We’re right in the middle of it. Fun times.
The good thing about living in a small, one-story house is that no matter what room I’m in, I’m always on the ground level. The bad thing is that we really don’t have any interior rooms. Our master closet is the closest thing to an interior room that we have, so, basically, if a tornado hits our house, we’re doomed.
I have a long history of fear when it comes to tornadoes. It all started in the fifth grade when an F4 tornado ripped through my neighborhood. I was standing at the top of the stairs when it passed over our house, and I’ll never forget what it felt like to have the house tremble around me. By the time I made it downstairs to the bathroom, it was all over. Four people died just down the street from us. My dad helped search for their bodies. It was one of the longest and scariest nights of my life.
That experience left me quite skittish of days like today. I don’t want to live in fear, but I do have a healthy respect for such violent weather.
I hope you’re all staying safe and dry today. I’ll be huddling in a closet before too long, I’m sure.
Until next time, grace and peace.
A couple of weekends ago, I had the privilege of hosting a baby shower for one of my sweet friends. Of course, I had to design the invitations and details for the shower, and I really enjoyed creating a special event for Heather. I love the simplicity of this umbrella baby shower invitation, and I’m quite taken by the swiss dots pattern. I stuck with a blue and white color palette, and I think everything was lovely, but then again, I’m biased.
Everything was sweet, simple, and lots of fun. Those white daisies are still kicking on my kitchen counter – they were totally worth the cost. For the decorations, I was inspired by the paper mobile tutorial I shared with you several weeks ago. Instead of strips, I used circles in various sizes to match the invitations, and the sewing machine handled the rest.
It was a lot of fun to plan an event for a special friend. I spend most of my days creating pretty paper for other people, so it was nice to be the one in charge for a change. Of course, the invitations are listed in the Senojal Designs etsy shop. You can find link here: umbrella shower invitations. The great thing about this suite is that it may be customized to fit any color scheme, and it’s perfect for gender neutral showers. The invitations can even be used for a bridal shower. So really, the options are endless :)
Next big event to plan? Micah’s second birthday party. It’s only six months away, you know :) Just kidding. I won’t be planning that for a while. I’m not that crazy!
Until next time, grace and peace.
I blinked, and March was over. Seriously, that’s how it felt. I had a whopping three weeks in between writing deadlines, and silly me thought it would be a good time to get life in order. I did manage to clean the master bathroom, shop for flowers, clean the entire house, host a baby shower, print, design, sell, and package lots of stationery, play outside with Micah, attend a women’s conference, teach Sunday school, write on here occasionally, and go running a grand total of 4 times.
Doesn’t just reading that make you tired?
Oh, and I also dragged out the sewing machine that my mom gave me last year and embarked on my first set of projects: {1} appliqued onesies (that I failed to take pictures of!) for my dear friends Heather and Kristen, both of whom are having baby boys, and {2} decorations for the shower that I hosted for Heather.
Micah and I traveled to the big city a few times for various doctor’s appointments. She turned 18 months old and received her last round of shots until, wait for it, kindergarten! My child won’t have another “well baby” check-up. Ever.
Let’s see, what else happened this month? My parents came for a quick visit, we {the youth of IBC} tackled a major cleaning/painting/putting make-up on a pig project in the youth building at church, and I took lots of pictures of the randomness that is our life.
Grocery shopping, laundry, dishes, bills, and all the other things that I do day in and day out kept me pretty busy.
But I’m not complaining.
I’m just making excuses :)
Seriously, I’m planning on jumping back on the running bandwagon tomorrow. And then maybe next week, I’ll get brave and start getting up early again.
We shall see.
Until next time, grace and peace.
Hello, sweet friends. Have the past few weeks been as busy for you as they have for me? I had a little break in between my writing deadlines, and I thought that life would be easy breezy for a couple of weeks, but alas, I was wrong.
It’s been crazy.
I will update you on all of the craziness in due time, but today, I just wanted to pop in and let you know that we’re all still alive. Oh, and tease you with a preview of the things to come :)
Hope you’re all doing well out there!
Until next time, grace and peace.
It’s been another busy week, which is surprising, considering that I haven’t done much real work {the kind that I get paid for} since Monday. We’ve been to Corinth and Florence, and although I haven’t gone grocery shopping, we’ve somehow managed to survive. There has been painting, felt flower making, stationery printing, baby shower planning, bowling, bathroom cleaning, babysitting, and lots of general silliness. The week has been full of this and that, and I’m ready for a weekend with my little family. Nothing exciting planned, just a couple of days off to relax and enjoy one another.
I read a post on Her.meneutics today about the everyday grace of the “quotidian” stuff of life. Quotidian things, according to the article, are the commonplace, ordinary practices of everyday life. I’m certainly not a master of the balancing act required to be a stay-at-home, working-from-home mommy, but I’m trying. As I scrubbed the shower this week for the first time since December {yes, it really was that bad}, I realized that sometimes it’s in the drudgery that character is formed. I mean, who really wants to clean a shower? Or wash the dishes? Or change poopy diapers? Or cook supper…again? But the things that we do day in and day out whether we want to or not are the things that help us maintain an orderly and worshipful life. You really should go read more about it on Her.meneutics.
It’s been a quotidian week. In parting, I thought I’d leave you with a few snapshots from the quotidian life we live. They’re sure to make you smile. Brownie batter anyone??
As Micah would say, yum, yum!
Until next time, grace and peace.
