All The Wild Things

I got a little note from Blogger saying I can't upload anymore pictures because I've met my quota. I didn't know there was a quota. I'm frustrated.  Whatever decision I make, I end up having to spend money. Either I pay for more storage, or pay to move to Wordpress. It's dumb. That's all I have to say. Sad Face.

I wish so bad that I could truly share my heart with each of you over a nice hot cup of coffee. I wish that you were sitting across from me in a local coffee shop, legs tucked up under in a big comfy chair and your favorite drink was being sipped and holiday music played in the background and I could look into your eyes and tell you what really is going on in my heart. It just doesn't seem fair, to read it online... I wish ever so much it was in person. A year ago I would have never seen myself the way I am today. We never know what to expect in a coming year, and we know there will be good and bad and yet we cannot ever imagine what life will really look like. Sometimes it's a physical change, something tangible. Like watching your Mama walk graciously through breast cancer or your Dad go through open heart surgery and then only a few months later run in a 5k race. Or you move, or you get a new car or your kids are taller or your hair is grayer. Sometimes it's

I love me a Birthday. Today's mine.  29. I feel 23.... Been a lovely weekend full of lovely people and I am so blessed.

I am SOOO excited to share with you something amazing and inspiring that I am a part of now!! I had never heard of Trades of Hope before seeing the display of gorgeous jewelry and handmade items at our church holiday bazaar a few weeks back. It wasn't just the stunning pieces that caught me, but the story behind each one. I hung around for awhile, and found myself going back two more times, the final time asking the lady selling the items what I needed to do to sell them myself. Trades of Hope is set up like a home party. Think, candles, makeup, kitchen supplies, bags etc. There are no end to these types of parties and businesses, and they are fun.  But get this, Trades of Hope is the ONLY one of these that is selling Fair Trade  products made by women from all over the world in impoverished communities.  Here are some statistics: 1 . 40% of all working women make less than $2 a day.  2. Women are paid, in general, 25 cents to a mans dollar.  3. Of the world's 1.3 billion pe

October: Waste Guys, this month just sucked. With Trev on Sabbatical and us gone for almost 2 weeks in the middle, and then again some other days here and there....we just didn't do a good job. We decided not to plant a winter garden, we forgot our reusable bags all but one time, we did do our best to remember to recycle but we didn't do great. The good things:  Being October in Southern Oregon means (usually) no heater on and no AC, so that part we did good in! We didn't buy any paper towels, napkins, baggies, foil or cling-wrap. We had to get creative for sure, but we did just fine. We won't be going back to paper towels, so that's a positive! Although we didn't buy local, I did do an amazing job with our groceries and pared our budget down even more, and we ate it all up...hardly any waste. That always feels good! This is definitely an area we can continue to improve upon and we will! November is about Stress . Jen takes time at 7 different places throughout

While on vacation, I was almost completely unplugged. I didn't post to Facebook once we arrived to our destination, posted a few pics to Instagram the following two days and never got on Twitter or my Blog. Once we got home I didn't feel like plugging back in. I still really don't. I love this little space of my own, I love that I get to share my precious family with our friends and family that don't see us every day and I love to share what God is doing in my heart. I don't have a product to sell, or a side business. I don't have a gazillion followers that I have to make sure and post at least 2x a week for. Guess what? I'm really glad about that. That's pressure I just don't need. If I feel led to write, I will. If I want to post some pictures I will. Even if I go three weeks without doing it. All that to say, I removed my most of advertisements along with the buttons for other blogs. I also won't be hosting a weekly link-up and I am no longer