Another husband post..

5 Loves

I was tagged forever ago by my friend Karis to blog about my top 5 obsessions. It has taken me a while to come up with things that I am "obsessed' with. I wouldn't necessarily call these things obsessions but they are definitely things I love and am passionate about besides the given, my husband, my family, my Jesus.

So onto things that inspire me and make me happy that yes, I do tend to obsess over:

Cats! 

Check this out first:

 I am a self proclaimed crazy cat lady. I DO have a sweater, socks, holiday nostalgia that sports cats, kittens and various felines. My two cats, Dante' and Lola-Jean are the sweetest things. They are obsessed with me. And I too am obsessed with them.

Toes in the Sand!

Beaches=bliss. Time off= relaxation. Exploring new places= inspiration. Travel= fuel to my soul!

 

 

All things domestic!

Making my house a home. Baking myself into a frenzy and then redecorating to calm down. Finding cute little additions to make my space uniquely mine. Finding ways to be more Martha. Finding ways to be a domestic goddess. Cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening, party planning, remodeling refurbishing, rearranging! Love it all.

Come to my house and see! Let me cook for you and help you relax. Maybe I will sew you a set of curtains while you are there.

Ambiance and decor!

Whether it's dim lighting, perfect placement of throw pillows, an arrangement of wall hangings, or the perfect candle adding a welcoming smell to my house, I LOVE having ambiance. Truth be told, I pick restaurants based off of ambiance. I will suffer through tough steak and over-priced food to be able to relax and feel at ease because of ambiance.Places that make you just say "ahhh" and breath a sigh of relaxation.

 

and saving the best for last....

Friends!

OH MAN. This one I am obsessed with. Kindred spirits. Real connections. A partner in crime, prayer, laughter, shopping etc. I love being around people who get me and vice versa. Someone who is like you but adds perspective and depth to your life while inspiring you all the while. That's something to be excited about!

 

So here are my few friends that I am tagging to do the same:

Kim, Corinne, Tiffany

Find your honey

Have an Artsy Fartsy Friday and an inspired weekend!

ps- I will be back next week! The flu and hours of work leave me to tired to type at night but I have a wealth of inspiration just waiting to be unleashed!

Classifrass

A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous

~ Coco Chanel

Inspired to be inspired

I don't know that I've ever experienced so many cool pictures and waves of inspiration as I did when I came across JuBella today! Colors, patterns, pretties and various things.

Inspiration is an art in and of itself. When you find a source, visit it frequently. Make it your best friend. Find ways to make their inspirations uniquely yours. Make it a starting point. Incorperate your personality and uniqueness.

Sigh...she finds all the good stuff.

and what eye-candy it is!

If my thighs weren't so allergic to sugar I would live off of fresh Cotton Candy.

Check out this post based on cotton candy inspired things :

And her recipes she posts are so fun and tasty looking. These bite-sized phyllo dough fiesta's look amazing!

Cocoa. Chai.seriously. YUM!

 

And talk about colorful lovlies! 

Check her out and be inspired . Have an artsy-fartsy Friday and a colorful, inspired and uniquely YOU weekend!

Yep.

What a difference 3 years makes

3 years to the date John and I have lived in the interesting "city" of Centralia.  What a 3 years it has been.

It went from this:

to this:

.

I had lived alone a couple of times before far, far away from home and  I had gone through 2 Iraq deployments with my husband.  Those challenges paled in comparison to this life change. At first we cried our eyes out not knowing why we were here. Seriously. We sat in Monical's Pizza and cried real tears.Lots of them. We heard every train that came by our house and each passing was met with our cat doing meowing laps in our house and John having a spaz attack.  Had we misheard God? Were we suffering from momentary insanity? Had we taken a wrong turn somewhere north of Albuquerque? We came to a place where we knew only our real estate agent and had only each other. Needless to say- we didn't take the transition as graciously as we could have. We were closer to family, yes but not close enough in my book (I thought at the time). We were in what I considered at that time to be a rural God-forsaken town and I longed for my mountain drives to Palm Springs again, military family lifestyles and felt as if I was starving for friendship and connection.  Then at one of the of the lowest times in my life I found an investment opportunity:

Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and a happy purchase.

  Ha! Contentment!...uh huh. This is an art for me.  It does not come easy but it is worth every penny (figuratively speaking..)We became involved  in Orchardville Church and began to be a part of an amazing work in this town which  needs Jesus so desperately. 

 We found friends who embraced who we are, and complimented our differences and we took every opportunity to spend moments with our close-yet-so-far-away families.

John and I  began embracing each other more. We began learning what it was really like to be living in the moment with each other. Living to love. Loving to live..together.

joy

It took 3 years, well about 2 and a quarter, really to get our heads on straight and realize its the journey that makes the destination worthwhile. Where are we going you ask? I have no idea. But I do know that being where God wants me is just where I want to be and not a centimeter elsewhere. Nothing compares to knowing that we did hear Him correctly, we weren't insane and that we didn't make a wrong turn north of Albequerque. We definitely took a road that is not usually traveled and to be really honest, it has made all of the difference for us.

sing with me now..Happy Centralia anniversary to us.

Yes,

happy

.