new.journey.part.2

I feel like these fast few months have been the start of a transition period in my life. I talked about it recently in my new.journey post. It's time for me to move on and do what God is leading me to do. I'm still in the process of discovering what all that entails, but it's starting to become clearer to me. There are two areas where God is guiding me right now. The first is music. My little private lesson studio is growing; I now have 6 students! Wes and I made a deal, too. If I can get just 7 more students, we can start trying for a baby! BEST MOTIVATION EVER! I'm probably more excited about that than anything! I'm determined now. I even made myself a business card:

I had to make the back cute, too!

So if you know anyone in the Tulsa area who would like piano or violin lessons, give me a call!

The second area is with church. In the past few months, I have been greatly involved with Foundation Church. Wes is a Creative Arts Associate in the instrumental department and recently I have taken over the Visual Arts area of the Creative Arts department. I know God is calling me to this area in the church and I'm really enjoying it. Not only am I involved with the day to day graphic design, I am also building and working with the stage design team, construction crew, drama team, computer team, and video filming/editing team.

Recently, the church went through a name change. What used to be Ridgeway Baptist Church is now Foundation Church. And with that came many changes.. New logo, new color scheme, new stage design, new signs, new bulletins, new EVERYTHING! Visually, the biggest change was the stage. Together with Wes, Monte, Andi and a group of construction team helpers, we spent a solid weekend reconstructing the stage. This is what the stage looked like originally:

 Monte asked me what I thought we should do to change it up. This is what I came up with:

And this is the final result:

Definitely a huge change from what it was. We painted the walls, doors, and trim black. We constructed trusses from PVC pipe and spray painted them silver. We constructed back panels with chloroplast and screen door mesh, and hung spandex in the middle and on the sides. Then we rewired and reprogrammed the lighting system. Not too bad for a bunch of people who have NEVER done anything like this before! We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. But it was so much fun! I can't wait to do it again!

That was definitely the biggest change so far, but we've also been experimenting with video. We'd like to get back into doing video announcements, too. So far, we've completed a 2 minute video testimonial and are in the process of another one. I've never had the opportunity to be a part of anything like this and I'm loving it!

fabric.frenzy

It's been awhile, not surprising really. Life has kept me pretty busy, but not busy enough to keep me from thinking and planning my summer. Yeah, I know it seems like a long way away, but I'm so looking forward to it! I should start a countdown. Today I was looking at fabrics for pillows and curtains. I guess I got all antsy since we got a new couch this week. Amazingly, we got it for FREE from some friends at church. It's a slightly odd color, kind of gold, but really big, comfy, and in great condition. It looks brand new. The gold color looks pretty bad with our beige/tan house, but lucky for the couch, I want to change all that anyway. Picture this: a gorgeous brightly colored Monet painting above the fireplace, light lavender almost white walls, a large comfy goldish couch and a mix match of pillows with the fabrics below. Dream home love. 

 

new.journey

Have you ever just stepped back and looked at your life? What you do, what you love, what you hate, what you stress out about?  Just the overall picture. I've been doing a lot of that lately. Maybe it's just because I have a lot of time on my hands, or because I feel a change on the horizon. Lately, I just haven't had that settled feeling that I'm used to. You hear of people who say that God talks directly to them, telling them what to do and where to go for every decision that they need to make. That's great, I won't say He doesn't talk to people like that, but it has never really worked that way for me. At least not often. For me, it's pretty simple. I pray for direction and guidance, and He guides me. God doesn't audibly speak to me, but He does speak to me through His Word and a special nudging. I don't know if God talks to other people this way or not, but for me it's like I can do what I want and feel is right and as long as God's okay with it, I'm fine. But if God has something else in mind, He nudges me. It's like a little constant unsettled feeling until He reveals His plan and I get back on track.

I know what this feeling is like, and it's happening right now.

I've never been bold enough to write about things like this until after the fact. How do I know for sure that I'm hearing God and not just thinking it myself? How do I know this feeling is not just me going crazy? I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty certain. I've gone through this process enough before that it's starting to become recognizable.

There have been times before when I've ignored this nudging, but it doesn't go away...for awhile, yes, but not for too long. It's like God gives me some time to think about it then comes back and says, "Are you ready to listen to Me now?" It's embarrassing when I think about it. How can I really think I know what I want more than my Creator?!

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to start digging in deeper to God's Word to get some answers. It's amazing how that works every time. And with my new and increasing revelation of what I have in and through the Holy Spirit, I can already tell this journey is going to be different from all the rest.

whirlwind.of.festivities

With all the craziness of the season, and the business of moving, I haven't been able to write about everything that's going on. One major event, and one of the firsts that I mentioned in my last post, was Christmas dinner. This year was my first Christmas EVER away from my Pennsylvania home. I did miss all our traditions and spending time with my family, but I made the most of it and really enjoyed my Oklahoma Christmas. It was a whirlwind of events for sure. In basically a week, we packed, moved out of the apartment, moved into the house, unpacked, and hosted a Christmas dinner for Wes' family. Thankfully, Wes and I both had a nice long vacation from work to accomplish everything. We had a very merry Christmas!

Preparations

This was our first night in our new house. We set up our Christmas tree, danced, laughed, and finally fell asleep on an air mattress next to the Christmas tree. This will forever be one of my favorite memories.

Wes had to give Lucy a Christmas haircut before the big day. She looks so cute now!

Oh Christmas Tree!  Oh Christmas Tree!

Christmas Eve

After church on Christmas Eve, we spent the evening at Wes' parents house. We had a cookie decorating contest, ate lots of food, and opened lots of presents! P.S. I got a piano, a CHI, a sewing machine, and a Vera Bradley bag!

Christmas Day 

My first turkey! Even though it took an hour and a half to get the neck out, the result was well worth the effort.

 

 

 

I made a Banana Cream Pie just for Wes and a Cherry Pie using my own secret family recipe. Yummy!

Now that it's all said and done and I sit back and take it all in, I am overwhelmed by how blessed I am. God has truly blessed me with such a wonderful, loving, caring, and talented husband, a beautiful house, and great family and friends. I am so thankful for all He has given me. And this season of celebration belongs to Him more than anyone else. Happy Birthday Jesus!

new.year.resolution

There were many firsts this year for Wes and me. I graduated college, we celebrated our first anniversary, I started my first full time job, we bought our first house, and I made my first Christmas dinner. It's been an exciting and wonderful year, and I'm looking forward to what the future brings in 2012.

With every new year, many people resolve to do something new or better. New year resolutions are often unrealistic, and there tend to be so many things that you want to change or do better, that within a week or two, with a guilty conscience, you're burned out and ready to quit. Last year I decided it wasn't worth it, so I went with a simple resolution that Wes came up with for me to spend time being creative and doing the things I love. And really, it was easier said than done. Life gets in the way, and suddenly there isn't much time to paint, sew, and write a blog. But I was consistent and succeeded. I've enjoyed journaling with this blog, sewing, crocheting, photographing, and painting. It's been a good year for my 2011 resolution.

So here's my 2012 resolution. I stepped it up a notch, so it's going to be harder to keep. But it's important for our future. My new year resolution is to make a chart of our current financial status with one section dedicated to maintaining a working budget and the other a set of goals to pay off things like student loans, our car loan, and our recent mortgage. It's going to be difficult, but it's a step in the right direction.