I could listen to this all day.

Today is one of those days that I just don't feel normal. Feeling a bit sad and a bit blah to say the least. So please enjoy a bit of happiness from me to you.

And yes, I am slightly obsessed AND I am also counting down the days until Hunger Games!

Me.

This is the real me. 7:49pm at night. Just put son to bed and built a "house" for Moosey out of blankets. 

This is me. Sans makeup and clean hair, desperately needing a shower.

This is me after a few hours of pulling out my hair and stubbing toes on wooden fruit.

This is me after popping legs for disobedience and kissing fake boo-boos.

This is me after a day doing a killer kettlebell  workout, yet being too tired to actually cook a real dinner. (It's just me and the kids)

This is me working on the computer, blogging, tweeting, facebooking, Pinteresting, and trying to get my etsy shop back up and running.

This is also me finishing up school work so I don't have to deal with it the rest of the week.

This is me trying to work on the computer now, so I can spend some real time with my Jesus. 

This is me contemplating how to be a better wife and mom.

This is me wishing I could turn this house that I hate into a home.

This is me trying to figure out what I am doing in this world, and what is my purpose.

This is me daydreaming of moving to Asheville, opening up a handmade shop, and getting more tattoos.

This is me hoping that one day, my husband will be home at night and will have a job that makes him happy-because he loves it.

This is me asking God to put my husband and I into a ministry where we can be used by Him

This is me hoping that we won't be old when He decides we are ready to take on that task.

This is me having a slight bit of baby fever.

This is me not wanting to get pregnant until I get this dang weight off.

This is me hoping that one day, I'll have that great best friend to pray with, go antiquing with, have play dates with, and be able to take stupid Instagram photos with.

Yes. This is me.

Linking up with The Paper Mama and her self-photo challenge!

10 Etsy loves

So here are some fabulous items I found while checking out Etsy. Next to Pinterest, its my crack.

emandsprout

I would absolutely wear these every day! I love fawns :)  Seriously considering a fawn tat. What do you think?

optic

I want these dolls for Moosey (Melody, my two year old)  to play with! They look so pretty!

claylicious

This one goes without saying. I love love love owls :)

printinggrounds

I want to collect tea towels. This was just screams to come home with me!

printinggrounds

Another tea towel from printinggrounds! They have TONS of really fun ones. 

SonAndHeirVintage

This is so dang cute. Definitely want to grab this and head on a jet plane.

geekusarcadius

This is a TARDIS cover for your nook! I want this SOOOO BAD! I need to make an entire post about all the awesome Doctor Who stuff I find!

Rewoodtoys

These teethers are the bees knees! Next baby, I am definitely going this route! They are super pretty and  seem to be a lot better for baby than those ugly plastic ones. 

pippoko

Studs are my favorite. I think I would love them even more with hedgehogs!

snottub

I already advocate for people to stay away from nasty nuggets, so I think I need this. I do have a  PETA sticker that says the same thing on my laptop. Look up the ingredients in McDonald's nuggets. It will seriously gross you out.


So that's it for today guys! I am thinking of doing this every Monday! Come back next week and see what other goodies I find!

New Design!

So...have you noticed anything different around here? I got a custom blog design!! Whoo hoo! FINALLY! I am horrible at html, so I was glad to find someone who wasn't! Ashton from Something Swanky did a wonderful job fixing the blog up for me. It looks streamlined and fun, which is exactly what I was looking for. PLUS, it didn't take her very long to do-and she even installed for me. If you are looking for quality-I would highly suggest checking her out. I found her through etsy. She is very smart and talented at what she does!!

Thanks again Ashton!


XOXO,
D. Lynn

Tim Tebow fans.

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Just read this! AMAZING testimony! For all of you Gators or Broncos fans, or even for people who love to hear of God's work...read up on this!

“The rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say:   I think you will find this very interesting.       In a recent email, I read about a woman named Pam, who knows the pain of considering abortion. More than 24 years ago, she and her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant.   Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue. While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If you will give us a son, we’ll name him Timothy and we’ll make him a preacher. Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987 . Pam’s youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines . He also plays football. Pam’s son is Tim Tebow. The University of Florida ’s star quarterback became the first sophomore in history to win college football’s highest award, the Heisman Trophy. His current role as quarterback of the Denver Broncos has provided an incredible platform for Christian witness. As a result, he is being called The Mile-High Messiah. Tim’s notoriety and the family’s inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women’s centers across the country. Pam Tebow believes that every little baby you save matters. I pray her tribe will increase!   May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always!

Thrifting!

I love a good junk store. The more back woods it is-the better! Last weekend was the first time in a while that I was able to go. Off by myself I tackled a few stores in town. One of my finds was the set of book ends. Umm...hello-who would get rid of these???

Anyone who knows me, knows I adore owls. I have to bring them home with me! So I did. And I spruced them up a bit.

This is what they look like now. I think they turned out mighty fine if you ask me!

Next on my list was a need for lamps for our master bedroom.

Here is what I found.

Isn't it gorgeous!? Hahaha. Not what you were expecting huh? I actually bought two of these for 5 bucks a piece. The other is brass as well, just a bit taller-which is okay with me. So this, became-

this, which became-

THIS! Sorry about the horrible picture. It was late at night and none of the pics were coming out very well. A new lampshade and new paint job spruced this up a bit, wouldn't you say? I came out a lot less than the 60.00 dollar lamps from TJ Maxx my hubby and I were drooling over. 

Whoo hoo! I also got a new love-seat ( I have to sell my old set, it takes up too much room and I HATE the red.) a new stool that needs to be painted an covered (post on that soon) and some vintage cloth napkins. We are getting rid of throw away paper towels (post on that even sooner). 

Oh yea, I also tried out a new recipe this week!

This is crispy tempeh with a tamari glaze and sticky rice. OH-EM-GEE. It was completely awesome! My inspiration came from this post I got off of Pinterest. 

So what do ya think?

***Check out my Blog Parties tab to see where I will be linking up!!!

Ikea iheart thee...

I am so happy that there is an Ikea so close by! Only about 45 mins away is a huge warehouse sized store of greatness. You literally have to make a day out of it. Once you're in-there is no going back!

My hubby and I are trying to organize our home, plus we have gotten rid of so much crap, it was time to streamline some things. Here are just a few of the highly inexpensive items we picked up.

Ikea.com

Okay, so this little guy has nothing to do with streamlining, and everything to do with our (hubby and I) 

disgust with modern toys. We recently cleaned house in a sense when it came to our children's toys. Most of them were modern electronic ones that did nothing for building their imaginations or any sort of skill. I think they were created to drive us mad. We decided to try to replace their toys with ones that made them actually use their minds. Call us toy Nazis if you want-but our kids like these kinds of toys better. My daughter has been playing with the 10 dollar wooden train set we got from Ikea forever. That's the first thing she wanted to play with (and this Mr.Broccoli guy) when she got up this morning. She hasn't even asked for any of the toys we got rid of last week. 

Ikea.com

Now this baby was a find! It's a large chopping board that goes over your counter. It's nice because it looks good, was ten bucks, and I don't have to haul it in and our of our small cabinets!

Ikea.com

My curtains for the living room. Ten bucks a pair! They look white here, but actually look more like muslin in person. They reminded me of some I had seen at Urban Outfitters, but at like 40 bucks a panel-that's just not cutting it. I got these because my current curtains are brown with a damask print. Very pretty, just not my style. 

Ikea.com

Another adorable toy set! I think this was about 8 dollars. I have been wanting to get the kids the felt food for awhile, but they are pretty pricey. The Melissa and Doug sets are about 20 bucks. I am trying to buy one set here and there because the hubs is going to be building the little ones a mini kitchen. I can't stand those plastic ones from Walmart. SOOOOO tacky. 

Ikea.com

Then there is this. Probably one of the most famous Ikea finds. I needed a wine rack, but it had to be one I could hang up so the kids wouldn't be knocking back a bottle. We put this on the side of a top cabinet and it looks great. But alas, I only had one bottle to put in it!

What are your favorite Ikea finds? Have you ever been to one?

Pray.

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Please. I have a uncle in the hospital with cancer, and it isn't looking good. It's 3:43 am and my heart hurts. 

I know who the Great Physician is, so I am relying on Him in this situation.

He has a plan, it's my part to trust in it.

Simple day.

This is the face of a little snot nosed boy that is supposed to be taking a nap like his big sister. *sigh* It rarely seems to work out that they actually take naps at the same time. He did however shower me with his snotty and slobbery kisses for awhile. Now he's trying to climb from the couch to on top of the side table. Oh boy. 

My day has been pretty simplistic. I almost feel like I am under house arrest. The past few days, I have had to stay at home waiting for the heating people to either call or come by. They either don't or come by after G gets home from work. Today is another one of those days. The heating people we supposed to come by, and they haven't and my hubs will be home in about 30 mins. 

I did clean up some and do a bit of laundry, but I was DYING to get out today in this pretty weather. 

I am surprised at how well my kids have bee the past couple days. 

So I snagged this beauty of a book at Food Lion for 1.99. I loved the cover. And the fact that the little girl's name is Adele. I thought that was a pretty kick butt name for a girl. Not sure why, but it is. 

I also picked up this cute set of forks and spoons for the little ones at well. The brand is Re-Play and I picked them up at Walmart for less than 3 bucks. They are made from recycled milk jugs! How awesome is that. They also have bowls and plates that I plan on getting as well. I snagged a set of two sippy cups for the kids too. All their stuff was from IKEA, but it was looking pretty bad, AND I didn't realize they weren't BPA free. So I am trying to get them new stuff, and I love that these are American and made from recycled materials. 

Other than this, my day is extremely laid back. I do need to workout since I kinda sorta slept in until 9! I will be making some No Bake Energy Balls I found on Pinterest as well. I'll share how those turned out tomorrow! 

What has your day been like?

Most important meal.

Oh breakfast, how I love thee. 

I really and truly do. It is by far my favorite meal, and I love playing around with it. Ever since I vowed to get healthy in 2012, breakfast has been the most fun to come up with yummy things to eat. 

So what did me and Ms. Moosey (my daughter's nickname. Has no meaning. It is just what my mom starting calling her the day she was born. Everyone calls her that now) have this morning?

This is Moosey's of course. She had cinnamon toast, with raisins and blackberries. She also had a bit of green apple since her little brother had some.

My plate! Yummy blackberries, granny smith's with a sprinkle of coarse sea-salt, and a slice of Jewish rye bread with vegan butter and chia seeds. YUM YUM YUM!

Washed it down with this bargain friendly wonder. Yup, .50 at Big Lots! I will be picking up more of these TODAY! These use Stevia instead of sugar-and it's the last ingredient! Both of my kids gobbled this up too.

Well, now I have to be stuck in the house until the guy gets here to fix our heater. It's been broke since before Thanksgiving. We have little space heaters all around the house. The big company in town quoted a LARGE amount of money, but we just tried a smaller local business, and they worked out an awesome deal.

Praise the Lord who provides!

What's your day been like today? Anything special going on?

Much love and yumminess, 

D.Lynn

In vain I have struggled...

"In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

By far one of my favorite lines from Pride & Prejudice! I bawl like a baby at this point every time! So, to honor my love of literature and of love itself-I took on a project!

When my hubby and I first moved in, the realtor gave us a huge canvas painting. It was pretty modern with red poppies on a lime green background. The was nothing wrong with it except it had a small 6" cut around the bottom corner. It hung in our Realtor's office, but when it got messed up she gave it to us-and replaced it with the exact same print! What a waste really. BUT, I don't mind getting a $200 canvas I can customize myself for free!

The print hung in out new house for a few months until we filled our home with stuff that was more our style. Then it hang in our garage for 3 years until this week!

So I covered the canvas with old book pages. I just went to the junk store and found some yellowing book from the 60's that I had never heard of before. It was a bit hard to tear up a book like that, but they weren't being loved on anyways.

I applied the paged with Elmer's Spray Adhesive. I thin sealed the whole piece with about three coats of matte Valspar Sealer.

I wanted the piece to look like a scribbled love letter, so i just free handed the lettering. I am not a painter by any means!

Once it was finished, I wasn't too thrilled with how messy it looked. So I went over the lettering again, and was very pleased with that! It looks a lot darker and smoother. 

Here is it on my wall! I love, love, love it! Even the hubs was impressed. This project definitely took some time, but it was definitely worth it! 

***Check out my Blog Parties tab to see where I am linking up!

Alone time with Jesus...

Google Images

When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples- Mark 4:4

   How much alone time do we really spend with God? I had to really think about this one today. I read the devotion over at My Utmost for His Highest, and this was the topic they were discussing. 

   One of the things that were written that hit me the hardest was this:

"But as long as their is any there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone."

   What is being said here, is that it's only when we are alone with God that we can truly see ourselves in His light. When we don't see the things that are poisoning our lives, it's where God does close in on us until we can be alone with Him. 

   I have questioned since I have lived here, why I wasn't making true connections with people? Why did I feel so alone? While reading this passage, I had tears in my eyes. I understand now, that it may just be because I haven't gone to the Father as much as I need to be. I haven't chosen Him to be the one I cry to when I hurt, or vent to when I am angry. I don't spend as much time with Him as I should. It's a sad state to be in. The One person who loves me beyond anything I can imagine is the One I shut out the most. 

  Of course, it is also funny that the day I read this is the day that I begin my morning with yoga. Meditation on Jesus and how I need Him to guide my day. Funny how He prepares out hearts for a message before we even realize it. 

  In other words, I know that reading that message was sent from Him. This morning is already filled with His wonders. No wonder what I have been missing out on.

Now, an example of the closest I have ever felt with God?

Me and Chaney in India. 2007

   Never in my life have I ever experienced God in the way that I did in India. I felt that is Jesus was physically walking the earth right now, He would have been where we were. In the slums, helping people. Feeding them, healing them, quenching their thirst with the Word. Best days of my life. He also gave me the best birthday there too. I turned 21 and celebrated at the Taj Mahal. It was awesome! I need to get back to the mindset that I had while there. There were no distractions, so focusing on Jesus was a bit easier than the domestic life I have here at home. 

   I need to be alone with Jesus more often...

Post Workout Goodies and a Green Monster Salad

I died today. No really, I did. Do you remember the workout I posted not too long ago? The workout that claims to do wonders in only 4 mins? Yea, I did another round of that this morning, and it took about 20 minutes to get myself off the floor. Nauseous and sweating like a pig I was. BUT, it was still a killer workout. So what do you eat after such a hard core workout? (Umm...don't judge, I want you to try the workout and tell me how you pan out) After adding some randomness to a bowl, this is what I came up with:

This yummy concoction is made up of one whole banana, cinnamon Life cereal (just a little), raw sunflower seeds, a spoonful of Trader Joe's crunch PB with whole flax seeds, and a splash (literally a splash) or organic soy milk. WOW! This was so darn yummy! Filled me up completely! My son was even grabbing what he could out of the bowl while I was trying to eat. Definitely my new post-workout meal.

Now after having such a a great workout and breakfast, I didn't want to ruin it with lunch. So here is what I ate. It's my Green Monster Salad. Tons of goodness here. I made one for me and the hubs, and we gobbled them up in no time.

This salad included: spinach, broccoli, green peppers, green onions, chickpeas, radishes, almonds, soy nuts, pumpkin kernels, dried cranberries, green apples, red grapes,  raw sunflower seeds, and I topped mine off with Annie's Natural Lite Goddess dressing. My hubs went with French (eww). Needless to say, this salad was flipping awesome! We are big salad eaters in this house. I used to make them all the time with chicken, but since we don't buy meat anymore, I had to figure out a way to make them filling. The chickpeas definitely help with that. I don't go by any sort of recipe, I just mix together whatever we have around the house. Keeps a bit of variety going!

The Money Saving Mom's Budget

Just wanted to give you guys an awesome head's up. If any of you read Money Saving Mom's blog, then you already know how awesome she is. Her tips and tricks are dead on when it comes to how to save money. Now you can have her new book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget on Amazon.com! If you purchase this book, you can also receive her e-book, 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life, for FREE! Just check out this link to find out how! Let me know if you have read either, and what you think!!! Don't forget to let Money Saving Mom know who sent you!

Wanna join?

I am officially pledging that for one entire month, I will only drink water (or hot tea). Not sure why I am doing this, but I don't drink enough of it. My goal is to drink anywhere from 2-3 liters a day.

Anyone wanna join me?

Yes, this is a bit of randomness. But at least it's healthy randomness. We need more of that in our lives anyways.

My Cry...

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Oh sweet Jesus. What have I done? I feel that I have put you on the shelf like an unwanted toy. My excitement and desire for you faded for a time, and now-I feel lost. I don't feel You shining on me like the sun on my skin. I don't hear Your voice in the laughter of my children. My heart feels broken and empty without You. The rush and waves of my sins and faults feel consuming. They drown out every bit of Your voice. Have you called out to me? Have I neglected You for the last time? Oh my Lord, my Jesus. Please hear my cry. Please come and dwell in me and change me from the inside out. Help me to desire you more and more each day. Help me to focus on You more than the money in my bank. Help me to focus more on you than the sickness in my body. Help me to focus on your more than the loneliness I feel. Light up my life again. Strip away the fear that this world has beat into me and replace it with Your peace. Teach me to love like You love and to give like You give. Hear me, Abba. Hear me, Jehovah. Save me, Jesus.