hello.

hello Monday >> after being away at SNAP! all weekend, I believe today is going to require at least 2 cups of coffee...

hello home & husband >> SNAP! was amazing & I'm so thankful I got to be there, but my home is always my favorite place to be.

hello laundry >> not my favorite chore, but it needs to be done. first load is in now!

hello inspiration >> as soon as I got on the plane yesterday, I had to pull out my notebook & start scribbling down ideas. feeling refreshed & inspired as far as blogging goes, so keep an eye out for some upcoming posts. ;)

hello priorities // I'm realizing that I struggle with prioritizing & time management... not good. making an effort to put the truly important first & not sweat the small stuff, but also to (hopefully) not waste as much time in the course of a day.

hello Australia >> I haven't forgotten about sharing pictures from our trip! we just took SO many, I have to pare it down to the best ones. (you can see the first part of our travels here)

hello winner >> Katy P won this pretty scarf! congrats!

///////////////////////////////////////////

I'm linking up with Lisa Leonard today.
hope you all had wonderful weekends!

2013 // simplify

if i have to choose one word

to describe my goal for 2013, it's

simplify.

the simple life.

the life unencumbered by things, by stuff,

by material nothing-ness.

not that i think i can attain this perfectly,

but it is my goal.

to clean out, to purge, to live with less,

to stop shopping so much.

((my husband bought me

Organized Simplicity

for Christmas,

and i've already devoured it.

looking forward to re-reading

& putting into practice.))

what would your one word be?

also, the goals i posted about

last year are still ones i'm working on.

farewell 2012

hello blog world! it's only been a month+ since my last post... ah well. such is life.

today we say goodbye to 2012, looking forward to a new year. there's something so, i don't know... fresh about the new start on january 1st.

i have goals + plans + dreams for 2013, of course, and i plan on sharing some thoughts very soon. blogging is on my list of "things i want to do", but i don't plan on being chained to it. life is too short to be dependent on my blog, you know what i mean?

see you in 2013! much love to you all!

fresh start

Well, hello there!

When I announced my blog break, I was thinking a week. It's been almost a full month! But, you know what? Taking a break is not a bad thing. I missed blogging, I missed the community, but it was also nice to not have the pressure of putting a post together every day (I am terrible at scheduling posts in advance!).

Taking that time off also gave me time to really think about my blog/content/purpose/etc. I had kind of started to feel like I was posting purely to have something new on the blog, and I don't like that feeling. If you take a look at my header up there (and the new blog design! thank you to Five Sixteenths!), you might notice that I changed my tag line. It now reads "just this girl's story" instead of "capturing joy in ordinary life". Because really, that's what this blog is. It's just my story, no matter what it is.

This paragraph from Danielle's great post really says it all:

>> "being true to yourself. sharing your heart, your happenings, the things you desire to share, not what      anyone else is telling you to share. the things you never want to forget. the lessons you have learned, that thing your kid said that made you pee your pants. the picture you took that took your breath away. that time you felt the Lord teaching you something that you just had to share, in hopes that it blesses others as well."

So thank you for sticking with me, and hopefully you'll continue to share my story; I so appreciate everyone who reads my little blog!

dear February,

You've been a good month.

Some of my favorite moments?

Celebrating our first Valentine's Day married.

Going on a real date together.

{true story, we were never allowed to go on dates

by ourselves before we got married.}

Spending weekends together.

Finishing the Couch-to-5k program.

Stitching up pretty projects.

Opening my shop on Storenvy.

Celebrating a birthday & a baby shower.

Starting a quilting class.

Drinking lots of coffee, of course. ;)

Hoping February was a great month for you, too!

What were some of your favorite things about this month?

a blog break, simplifying, and being sick.

source

{aren't these flowers cheerful & gorgeous?}

Not posting anything last week wasn't my plan, but it was a needed break.

Sometimes you have to take a step back to be inspired, you know? 

*****

I've been working on new lovelies for the shop, and I'm excited to share!

I just need to finish up a few things, take some photos, etc.

I'm hoping to get it all done in the next week or so...

*****

My go-to breakfast is coffee & peanut butter toast. Yum!

*****

I've been reading Hayley's The No Brainer Wardrobe,

and I started cleaning out my closet last week.

I have SO many clothes that I never wear,

and I need to simplify my wardrobe.

We'll see how it goes!

*****

I spent most of Saturday with my mom & sisters-in-law,

taking a mini road trip to another sister-in-law's baby shower.

We had a fun time, and I even won one of the shower games...

I get pretty competitive when it comes to games. ;)

I love my husband's family, and I feel very lucky

that they all like me so much, too.

*****

Yesterday I started coming down with some kind of head cold,

and it's making me feel yucky. Hoping it won't last long...being sick is no fun!

I hope your Monday is a great one!