celebrate

If you've turned on the news lately or read the recent headlines, it's nothing but depressing. There are such negative things going on in teh world around us; violence, fires, floods, money troubles. It breaks my heart. I can easily get brought down by the weight of the world. I quickly can get wrapped up in what is going on around me and can sometimes be consumed with depressing news articles. There's not a lot of joy in that.

Coming home after a absoluetly, wonderful week of celebrating the marriage of my brother and his beautiful bride, the last thing I want is for my joy to be stolen. Sometimes I just want to close my eyes and pretend all that stuff isn't going on and live in the world of wedding celebrations, good friends, time with family and enjoying this beautiful season.

So maybe that's just what I will do. Continue living in the joy of this life because we're only given a short amount of time on earth and what fun is it to live in the negatives that surround us. Let's celebrate each day, whether there is a wedding, a baby, a new job or just another day. Let's us rejoice and say thank you for another day and share the good that is going on in the world.

I'm so thankful that my hope is found in something other than the world. That I have a reason to be joyful and have a future full of hope.

what I'm reading

Summer is such a great time to catch up on all the books you've collected and have yet to read. Whether its by the pool, on the front porch or lounging at the beach, it's the best time to get lost in a good read. I have a habit of starting a book and not finishing it before I start the next one. I'm almost always reading two or three books over the same time frame. This is what I'm reading right now.

I started this book after I heard about it from another blogger. To be honest, there is nothing super amazing about it. However, it's a really great story. Its told from multiple perspectives but centers around the main character Ramona. She is a baker who has had an eventful life. There is a lot of feeling to the story and whenever I pick it up, I end up reading for much longer than I meant to. Also, there are tons of recipes at the ends of the chapters. I can't wait to try some of the breads.

First off, I love pretty much anything Gary Chapman writes. He writes mostly book regarding human relationships, personality types, and marriage. Since those are my favorite topics, you can probably tell why I like reading his books so much. This book was no different. I found this incredibly insightful, honest, a bit unsettling, and really hard to put down. Now it could be because I do love the topic so much and its pretty relevant to my stage in life, but I loved this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is dating, seriously dating, engaged or newly married. It's definitely eye opening. There are even questions and exercise for you to go through, if you want to take an extra step. Jake is probably glad I'm done reading this book because a lot of my sentences started out as "So you know what I read in that marriage book..." Gary Chapman goes though the major topics, areas of conflict, areas of untruth,  and biggest points of frustration that he and his wife went through during the beginning of their rocky marriage. Don't worry though, he is also a licensed counselor so his advice comes with some validity. I realize that by reading this book it won't make our marriage perfect but at least it opened my eyes to what may be normal that may not always seem normal and help us build a solid martial foundation.

I started reading this book because it is one of my favorite authors, favorite authors. I assumed that I would probably love it because if she was anything like her writing style it would be awesome. It definitely was different than I anticipated. It was significantly more edgy than any other "faith" books I've read before. The beginning chapters really took me for surprise. It was a bit hard to get into it but every now and then I find myself really enjoying it. It has taken me much longer to read than I thought but I think at the end of it I will be pleased. I'll keep you posted.

These are the books that are filling my nightstand these days. Tell me...what are you reading?

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I would also like to briefly mention that today is my sweet grandma Norma's birthday. And although she isn't physically here to celebrate with us, it doesn't take away the fact that a beautiful, special woman was born today. She is forever loved and missed.

life lately

according to my iphone pictures

1. my favorite kind of saturday morning

2. pile of doilies

3. 10 hours of invitation building

4. my first bridal shower

5. flying cupcakes wedding cake - the best

6. dinner of choice

7. sleepy puppy

One week from now I will be heading south for my brothers wedding. I cannot believe that it is already here. It seems like the past year and a half just flew by. I am so excited for this wedding. I may be a bit sketchy here in the next couple weeks but I promise I will return from time to time and with lots of pictures.

inspiration

Whenever I sit down for a few brief, rare but necessary, moment of quiet. Side note, I can't imagine what it'll be like when I have a husband, kids and a house. I can't seem to help but let my mind wander and usually the thoughts that go through my head go something like this, "Ah, peace and quiet. This is so calm and relaxing...I should write about that." or "Oh, look at that beautiful sky, or the smell of the air. This is really just a great moment of stillness....I should write about that." And then I usually proceed to begin writing the story out in my head. Thinking mostly of how I would begin.

For a long time, I felt really bad about it. I felt like I shouldn't be thinking about writing. And I don't always think about blog writing; sometimes I think about the book I'm going to write. I should be soaking in the goodness of the moment. Living presently with what I am surrounded by. So I would try and stuff the thoughts.

Today, I had one of those moments. As I was finishing reading, I was sitting just enjoying being home. In the silence of my house, I began to hear the church bells ringing just down the road. By this, I knew it was six o'clock. But then I started really listening to them. They were beautiful. Glorious old hymns rang out strong. It reminded me of home. It reminded me of the church bell at my home church. It didn't ring like this one, but it still resonated something in me. Sometimes I think I have an old soul. I think I could have lived in the "good ole days" and been perfectly content. This bell reminded me of the wholesomeness that still exists in our world. Then it hit me...

"I should write about that," I thought.

Moment ruined. "Really, is that really what you're going to think about right now," I thought to myself. "Just enjoy the moment and don't think about what you're going to write about it."

Then I had an "ah, ha" moment. I'm not trying to justify my constant need to be thinking about my next move before I've even completed the first one. But it occurred to me that in that moment, listening to the bells, I was inspired. And what do I do when I am inspired. I write. I finally felt like I understood myself just a little bit clearer. Instead of getting irritated at myself for thinking about writing, instead I need to embrace it. Embrace the inspiration. Be driven by it. Write because of it.

If artists try to stifle when they're inspired to paint, we would be missing out on so many beautiful pieces of artwork. Or if musicians didn't write songs because they thought they shouldn't be thinking about music, we would be robbed of so many melodies. So, why should I try to do that to my form of art work.

Now instead of being frustrated with myself for thinking about writing. I will use the inspiration to write down words that are inspired by it.

Hello 100

Well, hello 100.

Today is my 100th post. To be honest, it seems that I should have way more than 100 posts, but regardless it feels likes a monumental moment. I have written to you and you have read my posts 100 times! Sometimes I sit and think about the content of my blog. That I need a certain direction or that I need to be an expert about something. But really, I'm not an expert at anything and my blog is a pretty good representation of what goes on in my brain. It's all over the place pretty much all the time. But I will say that there is one thing that I am an expert at and that is being me. No one else can be me...just me. So basically, in my blog I write about being me and what that really is like.

Simple as pie. (I'm not really sure why people use that expression because pie crusts are not easy).

So thank you for your support and continuing to read all 100 posts. I really do appreciate it.

Also, I love posts that include picture. As much as I love words, I also like looking a pretty things. So since it's Friday, I figured I would get you caught on my latest pinning enjoyment. Here are a few thing via Pinterest that I am loving these days.