A picture update

It has been a while and a lot has happened.

In May my brother came to visit.

It was fun to have him in the same town as me and to visit with him. We had him over for dinner a couple nights, watched a movie and hung out. I miss him.

In June my brother-in-law and his family moved out of state for a job opportunity. All the siblings got together one last time the day they were leaving. It was a bittersweet time. I'm super excited about their new adventure together, but I miss them so much!

 My sisters-in-law and me

All of us. 

At the end of June (the day before my birthday) marked one year of a good friend's passing. I will never forget our time together and I don't think I will ever stop missing him. 

 I wrote about my friend Jared here. Take a minute and read it.

Jeremy and I have been together for 4 years and in a couple of weeks we will be celebrating 3 years of marriage! 

We took a trip to Santa Cruz awhile ago, just for fun. 

I've been working on new jewelry ideas:

If you are ever interested in any of my jewelry, feel free to tell me. 

I am sold out of the owl earrings and necklaces, but have more owl items coming! 

 

 I have been spending a lot of time with this cutie! My adorable niece.

I have been missing these wonderful nieces of mine. 

They took a piece of my heart with them when they moved away.

So, there is a little picture update for all of you. I would like to say I will be better at writing in the future, but I can't promise that. We will just have to wait and see what the future holds. One thing I know for sure, God has been blessing my life and opening my eyes to new things and new possibilities.

A humbled heart

I know it has been forever since I have written... I will post an update and once again apologize for not staying connected as well as I had hoped I would. This post, however, is about something deeper than any of that.

 A week ago, Jeremy and I went out to eat. We don't go to sit down restaurants as much as we would like, so this was a special treat. We had a great time talking and just being together. Afterwards, we headed over to Joanns so I could browse the jewelry and scrap-booking items. We actually left without buying anything! (Seriously, amazing!)
 On our way out of the shopping center, we saw a man with a sign that simply read, "Hungry" I usually look right past people begging on the street corners, I hate to admit this but my heart is hard when it comes to the poor and needy. Now, I fully support homeless shelters, I pray for people who are homeless, jobless, orphans, etc. I have helped at such shelters, I donate items to the needy. However, when it comes to men and women begging on the streets for money, I typically look right past them. I am sure you have heard about people that pretend to be poor to make an easy buck. My thoughts have always been, if they are really homeless and need help, they will find it. (I know kinda harsh.)
 Looking at this man standing there shaking(it looked as if he didn't have full control of his arms and body) holding a sign that didn't ask for money or drugs, it just said hungry. I encouraged my hubby to turn around and give this man our leftovers from the restaurant. It wasn't much, but it is what we could give in the moment. Jeremy gave it to him and said, "God Bless you." The man said the same to Jeremy and immediately opened the box and started eating.
 It broke my heart and as I watched the simple exchange I broke down in tears. I felt helpless in a world of lost and broken people. Lost and broken people that I look past on a regular basis. A hurting people that need nothing more than the true Bread of Life.
 Jeremy and I have had our financial troubles(as most young couples have.) We have wondered if we could afford to do this or that. We have never gone hungry. We have never been without a warm bed. We have never been without clean clothing. We have never felt so alone and hopeless.
 I don't know how this will change my life style. I do know, though, I won't just look past hurting people. I know that I will be more thankful for what I have been blessed with. I will try harder to reach people, to love people, and to further the kingdom of my amazing father God.

source

 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"  -Matthew 25:35-40

Blog-erview

Just a quick update to tell you all that I did a blog-erview over at Agape Love. Check it out! I hope that you are having a fantastic week!

Days 3 - 10 plus more

(Day 3- A picture my brother made my hubby and me. Isn't he amazing?!) 

  I am putting a hold on my Etsy shop. I am planning on working, organizing, and scheduling time and having a "re-launch" sometime closer to the summer. There will still be a few things up for people to purchase and even some new items, but there will be much more to look forward to as the summer draws closer. I am hoping to net-work better and get my blog and myself out there more. Ideas are welcomed!

 (Day 4 - Teddy, my Dad gave me this bear the day I was born.)

(Day 5 -I made this necklace. The hubs bought me the heart pendant in SLO

and the chain came from his great grandma.)

 (Day 6 - My amazing hubby, Jeremy)

 As the new year started, Jeremy and I decided that we needed to do things differently this year. Three of our main goals as a couple, 1. Eat better and exercise more. 2. Take more pictures. and 3. Go more places and do more things! 

 Everyone says they want to eat better and exercise, but we really are doing it! We are not big on veggies and fruits. We have entered some into our diet and I am keep a "food journal". I can already tell the difference by just adding these foods. Now we just need to work on a daily exercising schedule. 

 The reason we decided to do the 365 (in this case 366) project is so we can take more pictures and hopefully this will encourage us to get out and do more. We are such home-bodies and lazy bums. It is all changing!  

 (Day 7- This is a doll found at my father and mother-in-law's house. 

It is pretty scary, but much scarier because of the bag on its head.)

 (Day 8 - Jewelry making! I already sold the key necklace and the heart bracelet to my awesome neighbor!) 

 (Day 9 - I am CPR certified!) 

(Day 10 - Me)

 Something else that I have made my personal goal, as I stated earlier, is to blog more and to get out in the blog world more. I was doing so well when my schedule was a little calmer during the summertime. However, I now work full time again and do about a million other things for everyone else. I am trying to work on setting aside some "me" time, which is when I plan on doing crafts and blogging and sometimes pampering myself in other ways. It is so important to take time away from the busy-ness and be alone and that is what I am trying to do. I'm such a do-er for others that I all too often forget about myself. I'm sure there are many that can relate! 

Day 2

This is my beautiful cat, Tay. She walked into my family's home before Jeremy and I were married and she adopted us. Once we got married and my parents moved out of state, guess who came to live in our apartment with us? She is our first pet and we love her so much!

Day 1 and my Resolution(s)

My hubby and his cousin are doing the 365 day project and I thought that it would be a wonderful idea to do one as well. I thought it would be fun to post my pictures on facebook, and then come on my blog and post the picture and write a little bit about it. I am hoping that this will get me posting at least something once a day. I hope to post more often.

I looked up the term Resolution and this is what I found:

 a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.

The word resolution becomes a common word to use around this time of year and usually it just means something you hope to do, but probably won't. My goal is to be a woman of my word, therefore when I say I am making a resolution, I mean I am making a firm determination to change to do something new. 

I want to take more pictures in the year 2012, I want to post more often, I want to be healthier, I want to try new things. This past year was a bit tough and I am hoping for a more promising and better new year! 

Day 1- 

 This is a picture of a drawing my oldest brother-in-law made of our family. My hubby and I are the ones sitting by the cat on the far right. My hubby's family has meant the world to me and I love them dearly, so I thought why not start the new year with them! 

And, just a few pictures from the holidays:

 My sisters-in-law, me, and my nieces

 Me with Payton and Sophiamarie 

 Jeremy and me while in Michigan visiting my family

Shop Time

I had an amazing Thanksgiving that is actually lasting all weekend long! My family is great and I have loved spending every minute with them. We are getting ready to visit my parents, brother, and other family in Michigan this week and we are so excited! There is so much to be thankful for!  More pictures of family to come.

I have been working hard, making new items, taking pictures, editing and uploading. So excited to share my new items with you! Not only that, but if you look on the right of my page ----> I now have an etsy section and you can see some of my items! So exciting! Here are some new items that are in my shop!

 Cross Necklace

 Butterfly charm with matching earrings! 

 Love Necklace

 "Peace" Heart and Key Necklace

 Pirate Ship Necklace

Beautiful Adjustable Rings

There are some of my new items with more to come! (If you shop now until the end of December, with each item you purchase, you will get a free pair of earrings!) I hope you all will take a look at my shop and share me with your friends! I am getting excited for things that are in store for my future, and can't wait to share more with the blog world!

I am also participating in  Casey and her friends' attempt to support small businesses with their follower fest. Check it out.