patterns and wipes

There are a few things in the works that I am so excited about! Oh man, I cannot wait to tell you about it. Can I tell you now? no no I can't. I just can't. As soon as everything is put together I will be sure to give you all the details. As for now, I will just show you a couple of things I worked on today!

pattern making.

let's be mindful that I don't, nor have I ever, made a pattern before, but there's always a first. and they are very important. I learned that real quick.

and woah is right. there are more.

Anyways. Come back by sometime tomorrow. And I won't be here this weekend because......

I am going to Canton!!!! First time, so excited, cannot wait.

control

I had a thought today, and it makes so much sense.

The things spoken of in my previous post are uncontrollable for me. They just are. But they are completely controllable for God. And that is what matters, because I place all of my hope and trust in Him. Or at least I try.

Psalm 33:20-22

'We wait in hope for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield.

In Him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,

even as we put our hope in you.'

Are there moments in your life, big or small or medium, that just catch those things in the deepest part of your heart, those things that you purposefully place down deep so that they won't get in the way of life, or so that they won't have to be dealt with truly.

I am just so thankful that I can know God on a personal level and be able to place my trust in him, where fear is cast out. Gosh, I am so undeserving of that. But Christ loved me enough to die for me in place of my own sin worthy death. And that love is more than enough. He is more than enough.

not held together by glue.

I have a confession to make.

There is something I love deeply that I don't think all of you know (or would even care to), but that's okay because I am about to tell you....right now.

I love gospel music. The sheer heart that is behind the music is one that is full, and joyful, and in constant awe of how great God really is. And who doesn't enjoy sharing in that. And then add a little upbeated-ness to the tempo doesn't hurt anyone.

There's a reason for this confession, but I will get back to that later.

----------------------------------

There are some things happening in life right now that are really rocking my world. I won't bore you with too much detail but its something that has the potential to weaken the spirit, specifically mine. I am trying my best to keep my complaining to a minimum. 85/15.

85-keeping it to myself and 15- a complaining cathy.

I have a problem with my eye. It doesn't work the way it is supposed to. It never has. Which, in turn, causes me to see double at times. But after a surgery last December to straighten my straight-ahead vision, I gained some unwanted after effects. I won't ever be able to look to the left with my left eye (which is what I have always had), which is fine. But now I not only cannot look to the right with that same eye, I cannot look down as I could before either. or upward very much. So basically I have very limited vision. Everything else sees double.

And I'm going to take this time to be honest. This all comes down to a very frustrating day. Because your eyes are body parts that do not stop moving. ever. They're always active. And that is so annoying. You get to a point of the day when you think 'I'm so tired of this not working, I wish I could just make it work. so that maybe I could see straight, or it won't hurt all the time, or maybe I can look at something with ease, or so I can read for more than 30 minutes.'

Well now, by the grace of God, and a couple of amazing ophthalmologists (yes I had to look up how to spell that word), I have another opportunity to fix it, as much as it can be fixed. But that opportunity is a 2.5 hour flight from home and involves me making a yes or no decision. It also involves taking an exponential amount of time out of my parents' lives to help me in this.

So what will I do? Well. Right now, I will be on my knees praying about what I should do, praising the God who created me in such an intricate way, giving thanks that I have eyes to see, that I have feet that can walk. I thank God that He is constantly reminding me who He is. That He is powerful, that He knows my every move, that He is for me, that He will never forsake me in my weaknesses. Never.

I am His child. And I am fearfully and wonderfully made, even in the parts that don't seem like it. Psalm 139:14.

--------------------------------

'Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. All fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future. Life is worth the living, just because He lives. This child can face uncertain days because He lives.'

That song I just roughly quoted is one that has come up on my Pandora, Gaither station, THREE times in one day. And if any of you know what Pandora is, you know that the likelihood of that actually happening is very rare. Because He lives is one song that has been a sustaining heartbeat to my joy the past week. It has been such a reminder.

Now we all understand why I was talking earlier and randomly about my love for gospel music.

On top of that, my newly 3 year-old niece brought over a picture that she made at school last week, and can we say GORGEOUS!

See. She came to our house with only one eye. By the time she made it to the fridge she didn't have any. What a crazy reminder that at least I have eyes that see, and aren't held together by glue, but by my Maker's hands.

you have a baby on the floor.

Need something to lift the spirit? Go take a peek at this.

This is the result of a mom on her maternity leave, making the most of her baby's nap time. I don't know about you, but when you scroll through these scenes, my jaw drops. This is just too creative to not share!

My dear friend meredith told me about this blog, so props to her! mer has a blog too! Go check it out!

Don't worry, from what I read she puts her baby right back in her crib.

She doesn't sleep on the floor.

{via Mila's Daydreams}

Prayers Needed.

Hello all (five of you).

I meant to talk about this earlier and then completely forgot that I hadn't!

There is a little girl by the name of Ellia. She is three, the same age as my niece, and is going through a tremendous amount of pain, suffering, with an uncontrollable body. And no one, especially that age, should have to go through something like that.

Listen here.

My older sister is friends with Ellia's mom from Baylor. My sister called and told me about what was going on and now I am sharing it with you.

Here is a short quote from Brett Gibson (Ellia's father) explaining what happened, "Ellia had what is called post-viral rhabdomyolysis, which is essentially a breaking down of the muscles. Usually rhabdomyolysis is caused by injury, but it can also be brought on by a virus. Ellia, it appears, had a virus a little while back which, after it had dissipated, attacked her muscles".

Here is a note written by Brett about the first episode she had. PLEASE take the time to read this.

A brief explanation of Ellia's Illness.

Here is a note explaining the second episode Ellia experienced, just two weeks ago.

Ellia's Illness - September 2010

Now, after twelve days in the hospital, they are back home figuring out life and she is still being a warrior princess girl unable to walk.

Back Home

More than anything, I only write this post in hopes that you will be willing to lift this little girl up to the Lord in prayer. That is the best and most caring thing you could do for her and her family. Prayer is a powerful thing. Won't you join me?

Also, if you'd like. Ellia's dad gives constant twitter updates, so you can know how they are doing at the time....Twitter Page.

Psalm 8:2-4

2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

Sew excited. Sew finished.

Hello.

So I've been receiving some suggestion about my blogging...like actively blogging more often. And not leaving you with my ever-so-interesting blog post about nail biting for more than a day.

But really, I couldn't agree more.

So this past week or so, I've been working on an outfit for a baby dedication happening this Sunday. There were a few 'firsts' through this project though.

1-dying a piece of clothing

2-skirt making (this involves many more 'firsts')

Okay, that doesn't look like too many but it really was while in the process. And let us not forget that I haven't touched a sewing machine since high school (4 years ago). So this was a learning process to say the least, but I enjoyed it completely.

Anyway, I wanted to show you a few pictures of what I did. Here is one with just a majority of the materials needed and used.

I found a tutorial for the skirt on happy together, a fantastic blog full of sewing tutorials and such. She really is a creative gal, and I sew appreciate all that she shares! I am LAME. I should take that back. That's not actually funny...

This skirt is called the dress-up skirt. how cute is that. here is the link for the tutorial.

I decided to add a little gold flower to the skirt, just for grins. All it is, is some trim wrapped tightly around itself, stitched together, along with a stitched pearl in the middle.

Here is the head band. Now its not too big, but I made that mistake the first time for this sweet baby. She is just a lot smaller than I recall when making things like this. small babies don't call for too giant of headbands. there's a balance.

And the outfit all together. Pardon the poor photography skills. This all happened swiftly.

Close up shot.

The full effect. I mean, if we're being honest here, I would wear this.

I would.

I had my mom stitch the date of her baby dedication on the inside of the skirt. Just a nice memory. Thanks mom for doing that and helping me out whenever I needed you, which was quite often.

Here it is being packed away to go to its owner.

This was fun for me to try my hand at. Despite the fact that the kitchen & living room look like the sewing machine blew up, it was enjoyable.

Don't worry, I cleaned it eventually.

nail biting.

you know you need to find more activity in life when you start telling a story with, 'the other night, I was biting my nail and.....'

I mean really.

Its true.

Purl Soho & Free Yoga

Last week my mom and I took a quick trip up to New York to visit and have a last hoo-ray before things get even more hectic. The one place I truly wanted to go visit was Purl Soho...in Soho. They carry all types of notions, yarns, fabric, buttons, thread, books, etc. It is completely wonderful. Oh gosh. I just loved it. love love love.

Here is their new store on Broome street. The sweet lady [hand to left] was spinning (spinning is not the correct term. but it works for now) my new skein of yarn. The yarn of which I am currently using while 'learning' to knit. Emphasis on the learning. It's pretty darn difficult.

look at that front area!

so precious and I was so in love with all of these things I just had to take a picture!

*if you're ever in that area, go check it out. here is the address:

459 broome street, new york, ny 10013

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something else I did while in nyc, was take part in the free yoga in bryant park. um, amazing. there were at least 400 other people participating as well.

Look that is just the first half!

It was one of the neatest things I have ever experienced with strangers. Not to mention one of the most uncomfortable with there being quite a few people sitting at tables, minding their own business, and watching all of us for an hour.

If you are in the area, again, until the end of September you can join in with them.

Here is the link.

Thanks mom for taking pictures. you're the best.

Listen.

You don't even have to know how to do a chair pose, or any other pose for that matter. As you can see, everyone does their own thing, there own way of moving. You can just go, they even have a few extra mats for you to use.

Its the neatest thing to be smack dab in the middle of nyc with all of the sounds, and chaos and pollution, to do some yoga and calm oneself down.

morning airport thoughts

I had to be at the airport at 6:30 this morning. At that time of day, everyone at the gate was keeping to themselves. very calm and quiet. It was enjoyable. I had my coffee waiting to board the plane, and then I thought to myself, 'I really want to just yell really loud right now and see what people do. I wonder what that would be like'.

And then the sane part of my thoughts thought, 'uh. weird. why did you just think something like that. just go get on the plane.'

On that note, have such a good rest of the day today. more blogging to come today!

-loren

hip ropes

A quote from a very beautiful, very precocious, very tall, very vocal, very sweet three-year-old.

her: 'here loren, you can do this hip rope'. while handing me a hula-hoop.

me: 'how do I do it?'

her: 'you just wiggle your hips and your body like this', while wiggling her hips in a very coordinated fashion.

i then attempted and failed at doing the hip rope.....10 seconds later....

her: 'here, i'll get in with you and [the hula hoop] will be a train. we're going to hawaii......okay now we're in cananda.'

travel shmavel.

I am currently sitting on a hotel bed. in raleigh-durham, north carolina. But I wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow night. why, you ask? well i'll tell you. God invented something called a tropical storm. that tropical storm decided to come in-land and not tell anyone last night. or I was unaware of it until last night. And I just admitted my neglect to watching the 5 o'clock news.

Anyway, I have a very exciting ophthalmology appointment on thursday morning and it cannot be missed. I cannot walk, bike, or ride to my appointment, it is just too far of a distance. dallas to durham, no thank you. So in order to fly out before t.s. hermine arrived, we had to leave a day early. which brings me to this lovely hotel bed.

we'll discuss more about that on a later date.

last week, I went to new york for three days. It. was. amazing.

I learned many a few things just within the first hour of being there. Here are a things to remember or keep in mind:

-first and foremost, new york is not like texas

-do not look at anyone, especially strange men.

-do not smile at them, even if its a habit. they will say things to you. and you don't want that.

-keep your sense of direction, especially when exiting a building

-don't get your feelings hurt if store employees aren't the nicest of folk. they might be having a bad day.

-go outside of midtown. take adventures to the other parts of the island. its not that big.

-take plenty of pictures. its interesting how you can forget to do that.

-go to all the 'tourist-y' places. its fun.

-go to places and do things that interest you that are not in the norm of tourist attractions

-be prepared for a little culture shock

-take the time to appreciate the architecture of the buildings. its so easy to let them pass by when driving in a frantic taxi or on a crowded street.

-mentally prepare for the chaos and fast-pace life

I think that is enough for right now. my mom was gracious enough to take me on this trip and i enjoyed it so much with her. If you ever want to go on a trip and see just about everything you could only see in a week, in two days, you come join us. Because we probably didn't see our hotel in daylight for more than an hour at most. But our feet payed for it.

September, you're here already?!

It's time to wrap up the month of August, which I cannot believe is already over. I mean really. Did that not just go by in about two weeks? give or take? In order to keep myself somewhat accountable for this 'to-do' list from last month, i'll just show what i did and definitely did not get done....it's visually helpful for myself. a visual aid, if you will.

For myself:

-watch a meteor shower a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

-unpack all of my boxes (for the sake of my denial and my parents sanity) 75% done

-finish a book I think i have like 50 more pages...progress.

-work out more regularly (its a start) again, its a start. but i did try a night jog the other night, it was a first. i loved it!

-finalize plans and go on a trip new york!

-take a visit to lubbock so good for my heart

-finish certain applications almost there

-go to the dentist date set

-start learning another language saving up for that

Creative means:

-finish classroom mural you can check it out here

-finish something secret...for now. on the finishing touches...more about that later.

-make at least 3 new things Ruffle Necklace, no-sew top (a brave attempt), and something else, can i count the mural as one? maybe?

-start learning how to knit or crochet bought what i need!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now on to September. There are new things ahead and new goals to set. and the others to finish of course.

September

For myself:

-finish that book!

-finish those applications, pronto.

-unpack those boxes, completely.

-work out, for the love of my backside.

-dentist. i have an injured tooth so it kind of needs to happen.

-buffalo exchange in dallas

-mckinney or canton.

-set up shop at etsy.

-john mayer concert okay, so i just accomplished this last night, but it was already on the list.....and it feels good to cross things out!

- learning that new language......

Creative means:

- baby dedication outfit, first and foremost. I have the pleasure of making one of these for a fantastic family who is trusting me blindly with this.

which also involve some firsts:

*dye

*a cute skirt

*embellished onesie

- finish a certain secret something

- clips for my nieces

- continue the track of knitting.

- bow ties. that's right.

- booties

- DIY bowl and vase

There is a lot more going on, but this will suffice for now. As discussed in my previous post, there has been an excess amount of traveling going on this past week and a half. And will continue on this next week. But after that I will be home for ever. I have so much I want to tell you about. And I will....ill just let you wait a little bit longer.