Decorating On A Budget?

Sorry guys ahead of time for this girlie post! :)

As many of you know I love to decorate. I love the whole process, shopping/searching for the decorations, hanging curtains, hanging a picture on a wall, making flower arrangements, painting, etc. I love to envision how a room can look and then make it happen!

I know these days with the economy the way it's been completely decorating or re-decorating a room can be a challenge because it takes a lot of money and most items are over priced. It has become a hobby of mine to see how cheep I can decorate a room or find a specific item/items. Over the next couple days I've decided it would be fun to do a few posts with tips on how to save money when decorating on a budget. Read along if you'd like! :)

One thing I love to do besides searching for things at garage sales is to go and look around in the higher dollar stores like Pottery Barn and Pier One. I do this to check out the most recent and up to date styles and see what I like for a room I’ll be working on and then go to places like Home Goods and T.J. Maxx and find pretty much the same thing for at least ½ the price it would’ve been in any other store. Pretty much every time something is marked at full price it will eventually go on sale. It isn’t always the easiest thing to wait, but in the long run you’ll get more items for a lot less money.

One of my favorite ways to literally bring life to a room is by decorating with photos, especially with my love for taking pictures. You can usually find a cheap picture frame from Walmart, T.J. Maxx or Target (black frames always add a great touch to a room =) ) and it makes a room feel very warm and homey. Maybe you don’t like the color of the picture frames you have now; well you don’t have to go buy new ones. Go buy a cheep can of paint and paint them… It’s not hard at all and it saves money (kids can also help with this project)!

My all time favorite home décor store is Kirkland’s. Even if I’m not looking for anything I still love to go into the store and just look around for fun (ha-ha in all the spare time I have ;) ). Recently on top of their already low prices they’ve been having a pretty big sale. Everything with a green tag on it (the already marked down price) is an additional %25 off. It’s been great! I’ve been shopping around for my mom because she is re-decorating a few rooms in our house and it’s been such a blessing! Maybe you’ve been searching for the perfect picture or accessories that aren’t marked at a sky high price. If you are, then maybe you should swing on in to Kirkland’s as well and see if they’ve got what you’ve been looking for. You can also sign up here to receive e-mails from Kirkland’s pretty often with coupons and special offers.

Decorating really can be fun and easy as long as you stay motivated!

Check back tomorrow for more on decorating on a budget!

Rising Early

Something I’m trying to be more consistent in this year is rising early to spend extended time with the Lord every morning. Recently I’ve found myself to be very busy with lots of traveling, work, holidays, church activities, and keeping up with daily tasks such as laundry and cleaning. Through all of this busyness I’ve been reminded of the importance and necessity it is to spend time with the Lord FIRST thing in the morning. Mainly because if I don’t do it first thing in the morning there might not be extra time to read and pray later on in my days. Though recently I’ve been able to spend quite a bit of time with the Lord at work and at night I know soon that won’t be the case as my family is about to enter into another very busy season. There is a HUGE difference in my days when I don’t get up and have a quiet time first thing in the morning. When I say a difference in my days, I mean a difference in my attitude! I know as I get busier rising early won’t be something that will happen over night. It will probably take time to get into a different sleeping pattern, but will definitely be worth it!

I’m telling you all this because I would love for you all to ask me how I’m doing with “rising early”! =) Thanks!

Psalm 5:3-” O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

Mark 1:35-“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he (Jesus) departed and went to a very desolate place, and there he prayed.”

“I earnestly recommend that it be in the early morning, unless there are some extenuating circumstances. Entering the day without a serious meeting with God, over his word and in prayer, is like entering the battle without tending to your weapons. The human heart does not replenish itself with sleep. The body does, but not the heart… We replenish our hearts not with sleep, but with the Word of God and prayer.” –John Piper

Here are some helpful tips from the Mahaney Women:

1. Place your alarm clock in a strategic location, preferably on the other side of the room from your bed.

2. Set your alarm for the same time every day.

3. Never, never, never hit the snooze button or lie back down to catch a few more winks. The second your alarm goes off it is the most critical moment in getting up early.

4. Proceed directly to the coffee pot of caffeinated drink of choice.

5. Be prepared to feel absolutely miserable for about ten to fifteen minutes. But the misery soon turns into pure gladness as your experience the delight of meeting with God and reap the benefits the rest of the day. Fifteen minutes of misery is certainly worth fifteen-plus hours of peace and productivity.

6. Remember that our bodies eventually respond to a standard wake-up time. In other words, it gets easier.

The Newest Addition to My Family!

My dad has always referred to our house as a zoo. A zoo simply because it isn’t very often that our house is quiet! There is always something going on. Either kids running around, people talking or laughing, pets making noise, vacuum running, etc. Just when we thought our house couldn’t get any crazier… it did!

Let me introduce you to our new pet bearded dragon, Jack! Yes, we have a pet lizard. Never in a million years would I have thought my parents (especially my mom!) would allow a lizard (a big lizard) to live in our house. Victoria and Karah have always been by far the most adventurous, out doorsy, pet loving kids in the family. They’ve always been the one’s that have BEGGED to get a bird or a pet snake (yes, I said a snake and yes there will never be one living at our house as long as I’m there =) ). One of their friend’s friends had a pet bearded dragon and they were looking for a new home for it. After much discussion with the girls my parents said they could have it. In my opinion it’s a pretty boring pet. It just sit’s in its cage most of the day under its heating light and eats a live cricket every now and then. It has been much entertainment to our other pets though. They want it so bad!

So meet Jack everyone! Maybe our house is turning into a zoo after all!

GO GATOR'S!!!!

Your Goodness Knows No End!

Last night at my home group I was reminded afresh of God’s goodness. How marvelous, majestic, and faithful He is to daily extend grace to me, a horrible wretched sinner! During worship we sang a line “your goodness knows no end.” How refreshing that was to my soul! No matter how many failures I’ve had in the past or will have in the future God will still remain good! He will be my Faithful Father to deliver me from all my fears, He will continue to convict me of my sin, and most of all will continue to extend grace upon my life that I’m so undeserving of. Oh how great is His goodness! (Zechariah 9:17)

Though troubles fall like rain
This precious truth remains,
Lord you so good to me, yes you’re so good to me!
-SG Music

Psalm 23:6- “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 31:19-“Oh how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you…”

Psalm 34:8- “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!...”

For This is The Will of The Lord

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18- "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

The verse above has been playing over and over again in my head recently. As I’ve meditated on it God has been good to show me areas I’ve been lacking in. I pray you find the following breakdown helpful. I know I’ve been convicted!

“Rejoice ALWAYS” This is a very clear command. There is no option set forth. It doesn’t say rejoice when we feel like it. It says rejoice always! Rejoice in all situations! We are to rejoice every second of our days whether we want to or not. For “this is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) As I mentioned yesterday, something I’ve been learning recently is as I delight in the Lord, I find joy in all the daily tasks of life and what a difference it makes in my days! It’s not just an “I’m in a good mood joy”, but a lasting joy from the Lord!

Philippians 4:4- Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say, REJOICE!”

“Pray without ceasing” So many times I’ve been convicted of my lack of faith when praying. There have been times when praying that I’ve doubted God is really listening or that He would even want to answer my prayers, especially if it’s something I’ve been praying about for a long time. BUT God is always kind to extend grace and remind me that I am to pray without ceasing! We are to trust that God will heal, trust that He will provide, trust that all His ways and timing is perfect and have faith for the things that we cannot see. We are to walk by faith, not by sight! (2 Corinthians 5:7) Father forgive me for the times I haven’t trusted in Your Sovereignty and the times I haven’t been faithful to pray without ceasing! Thank you for the grace you extend to me over and over again every time I fail to walk by faith.

“Give thanks in ALL circumstances” This is pretty clear! We are to give thanks in every single circumstance of life; even the ones we think are bad. Something I try to remind myself of daily is even when I think something isn’t going well (Sitting in traffic, bad day at work, car breaks down, etc.) God does! He has planned out every step we take! He has ordained that we face difficult circumstances because they are for our good and His glory and we are to give thanks and rejoice through them!

“For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” It isn’t very often that I think of rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks as something the Lord wills. I’ve thought/think about them quite a bit but haven’t thought much about when we don’t rejoice, pray without ceasing, and give thanks at all times it is going against the will of the Lord. Thank you Lord for revealing this to me!

Here is the last bunch of ski trip pictures... Hope you've enjoyed them!

I Want To Sing of Your Love

Psalm 37:3-7- “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act….Be still before the Lord and wait patiently got him…”

Recently I memorized the above passage and I’ve been thinking a lot about how God Sovereignly uses EVERY situation (big or small) that He places in our lives to draw our hearts closer to Him and deepen our love for Him. This passage has shown me that as we trust in our faithful never failing Father for His perfect timing and Sovereign will, He will slowly place pieces of the puzzle that represent His will for our lives together even if each piece is a trial or circumstance we need to walk through first. As we delight in the Lord He will help us desire the right things and as we find joy in Him, we will find joy in all the circumstances God has ordained (work, family, church, running errands, etc.) that we face daily. Maybe you too are waiting for the Lord to send answers to questions. Let us remember that this “waiting” time is building us up, making us stronger, and drawing us closer to Him!

To know that God is Sovereignly at work in EVERY situation of our lives to draw us closer to Him and His will has been bringing so much joy to my soul!

Here are some more pictures from the ski trip... I will post the last bunch tomorrow.

I'm Back!

Note: Sorry ahead of time if it seems like I'm rambling... I typed this really fast.

This past weekend I returned home from a ski trip in Basye Virginia. The main group that went was there for a week and throughout the week we had many people joining us from different churches and they stayed for a few days. We had a total of seven different Sovereign Grace Churches represented (Jacksonville, Orlando, West Orlando, Gainesville, Charlotte, New Charlotte Church plant, and Gaithersburg). I’ve summed up the trip in three different categories below:

Fun: Overall this trip was a ton of fun! Here a some of the things that made the trip so “fun”!
-Lots of Hiking and being adventurous
- Visited Covenant Life Church and heard an outstanding message from Josh Harris
- Went to D.C. after church on Sunday
- Met some new friends from CLC that joined our group one day
- On Tuesday the majority of the people on the trip went skiing and Jenn, Christine, Jason, Kevin, and I all stayed back. Instead of skiing we decided we were going to explore mid western northern Virginia because SURELY there had to be something fun to do there. FALSE! We started our day by cooking and eating a lovely breakfast together, and then we tried to go to the New Market Battlefield to learn something on the trip. Except they wanted $9. $9 to see an empty field. Strike one. Then we tried to go to the Luray zoo which ended up being a shack on the side of the road. Strike Two. So then we had a picnic lunch in a park where then someone (not going to mention who ;) ) dropped the football into a flowing stream. The football did end up being retrieved (after many laughs and climbing to get to it) and we finally decided “lets take a ride on the Beautiful Skyline Drive” Once we decided to do that we realized we didn’t have enough gas to make it where we wanted to exit Skyline Drive so we then drove seven miles out of the way to find a gas station and then drove seven miles back. By the end of the day we made it back to our town house safe and sound with lots of funny story’s to tell. Though the day didn’t necessarily work out as planned it ended up being a blast! (Some of this story was by Jenn Romanski. Love ya Jenn!)
- Fun games at night
- A total of 40 hours of driving and the great conversations within the cars
- Taking a hike in 19 degree weather with a wind chill of 0 degrees. That was by far the coldest I’ve ever been but definitely worth the hike to a beautiful waterfall!
- Cooking dinners with all the girls
- The traditional Cracker Barrel stop we take on every trip

Refreshing: I came out of this trip feeling very tired but refreshed. I was tired simply from all the fun we were having but at the same time refreshed with God’s love! Going into the trip there were many things laying heavy on my heart. To make a long story short, the biggest thing was contemplating whether or not God was/is calling me to continue working for my dad or to pursue something else (different job, decorating classes, teach dance etc.) My dad asked me to be in prayer about it because he didn’t want me to feel like I was “stuck” working at Bruster’s or feel guilty if I did decide I didn’t want to continue working there. My desire is to seek and follow God’s will for my life, but because of some things God has been laying on my heart lately I’ve been a little confused in seeking what to do next. I was really looking forward to spending a lot of extended time clearing my head and praying for guidance. Every morning when I would sit at His feet I sensed His presence and love pouring into my heart. Though there are still some un-answered questions, the Lord has reminded me out of Jeremiah 29 that His plans are for my good and His glory and plans that will give me a hope and a future. God has continued to remind me to seek, delight, and trust in Him during this “waiting” season. All I sensed God telling me on the trip seemed to overflow into yesterday’s church service. Everything that was said, songs we sang, words that came forth were all for me, I’m convinced! God has been faithful! It just amazes me!

Blessed by the Lord: The Lord was definitely at hand during the entire trip. He kept us safe, we didn’t have too many injuries and we only got lost a couple times… =). We all sensed the Lord’s presence on New Year’s Eve as we reflected upon His faithfulness to us in 2008. The Holy Spirit worked mightily and it was a very fruitful time for us all. Thank you Lord!
Here are some pictures! Check back over the next couple days for more! =)