dear august

Dear August,

You came and went faster than the blink of an eye... with work travel... company dinners... girls' lunches... farmers markets... taco trucks... homemade birthday shirts... supper club... tomatoes... date nights... community group... benefit dinners... karaoke... craigslist postings... new church building... adoption paperwork... just because flowers... home inspections... whew.  That's one busy month.

Among your craziness, I've been learning a lot about anxiety vs. trust... what it means to not get swallowed up in the "to-dos" of life... the crazy work load... the stack of adoption paperwork... the list of never-ending home renovations...

August, you have been a month of newness and transition... and I'm okay with that.  Looking forward to what September will bring!!

Goodbye August... Hello September.

Love,
Julia

thankful thursday {link up}

{Link up your own Thankful Thursday post below...}

This Thursday I am thankful for...

1) Chill time.  Last night my friend Shelby came over for dinner and we just chilled... no real agenda... just catching up over dinner and chocolate chip cookies.  And we may have watched the first 3 episodes of Pretty Little Liars (season one)... yes, I am fifteen.  What more can you ask for??  Girl time... cookies... and trashy television.  Great way to spend a Wednesday night if you ask me:)

2) Johnson's Lavender & Chamomile lotion.  The bottle claims to "melt away stress" and "helps calm your senses" ...and it does not lie people.  I love this stuff.  The smell is fabulous (subtle and calming) and it has a great powdery finish... not greasy at all.  I load up on the small travel sizes which are perfect for keeping at your desk or by the bed... or for traveling, duh.

3) Dishes.  I may not have a dishwasher, but I am grateful for the fact that I have dishes... that I have the ability to have a warm meal whenever I want... even if that means I'll be hand-washing plates and bowls for days.  I spend a lot of time complaining about the dishwasher I don't have, rather than the warm food and dishes that I do have.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab the Thankful Thursday button from the right sidebar and link up your own post below. Be sure to visit the other Thankful Thursday participants and share the love!!

Also linking up with:

Kate Says Stuff

The Fontenot Four

First Day of My Life

A Punk, a Pumpkin & a Peanut

dear diary :: anxiety vs. trust

Dear Diary,

Why is it that in the battle of 'anxiety vs. trust', anxiety always seems to win out?  Are the weapons of worry and stress stronger than faith and belief?  Is overwhelming fear more powerful than overwhelming hope?  Does anxiety defeat trust?

Or is anxiety just easier?

Somedays it just seems easier to fall victim to the overwhelming stresses of life.  But in my internal battle of anxiety, am I doubting God or trusting God?

Doubt is easy.  Trust is hard.

We have been so programmed to go... and do... and fix... that the mere thought of opening our hands and trusting God seems so foreign.

Instead of, "go... and do... and fix..." 

What if we were to, "stop... and pray... and trust"??

Is it easier to hold your hand in a tight fist or rest it open?  (go ahead, try it...)  Yet, we still grasp so tightly to our "to-do lists" and "life plans" that we rarely see any room for how God can fit into our tiny balled up fists.  When I'm consumed by the overwhelming stresses of life, I'm failing to see the actual Giver of life himself.

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

Anxiety vs. Trust.  Anxiety may seem easier, but trust is always more powerful.

Love,
Julia

project organization :: free the stickies!

Confession: I have a slight sticky note obsession.

Okay, okay... maybe a huge sticky note obsession.  It's a problem, really.  But I'm seeking treatment... limiting my sticky note writing... meeting with fellow-sticky-note-addicts... joining a support group.

I consider myself to be a fairly organized person... I prefer clean, tidy places that are appealing to the eye.  But you probably wouldn't guess that by looking at my sticky-note-infested desk.  My desk was at sticky note capacity.

But what to do??  I couldn't just throw them all away.  Most of them were still valid and contained information that I needed... an array of work reminders, photography appointments, adoption deadlines, and blog ideas.  One thing's for certain... I'm a visual person, no doubt.  So I needed to think of a system that works for me...

I found some old cardstock in my stash and got to work creating some quick "title pages" in the categories that naturally made the most sense for my current sticky note collection...

The categories I used were: 1)work... 2)photography... 3)new house... 4)adoption... 5)finances... 6)blog...  Yes... perfect.

Stepping back to admire my work... I'm not sure if it was the fact that I actually got to use some of my washi tape or if I was suffering from a major Sharpie high... but either way, this was shaping up to be a really brilliant idea.

Now, I just needed to transfer the gazillion sticky notes from my desk, to my new door system... Free the stickies!!

This solution works great for me right now... I'm still testing it out, but I love that everything is still super visible and that I created a system that works for me...  not the other way around.  I love that I didn't spend any money and that the whole thing is portable.  And if I decide in 2 months that this isn't the best system for me, I won't lose sleep if I end up trashing the whole thing... it's paper.  And the best part??  My desk went from this...

...to this...

Oh crap.  I still see one lonely sticky note on the side there...  Dangit. They're everywhere!

What about you?  Any organizing secrets or systems that you've recently discovered?  Or what about the tried and true systems that never fail??  Do share...

weekend festivities...

This weekend was fun-filled and jam-packed with events.  No complaints here though... I'll take a weekend filled with benefit dinners, dance parties, art galleries, and karaoke any day.  I mean, anytime your weekend starts with a delivery of "just because" flowers... it's going to be a good weekend...

 

{just because flowers}

{Nadus Films benefit dinner}

{love these girls}

{dance party}

{epic karaoke night}

{clean dishes!! ...finally}

{office cleaning... pile sorting}

{St. Vincent's grand opening & art gallery}

{first Sunday in our new church}

{more pile sorting... with Little Cat's help of course}

What about you?  How was your weekend?

happy sunday

I hate when that happens.

thankful thursday {link up}

{Link up your own Thankful Thursday post below...}

This Thursday I am thankful for...

1) Walking weather.  The weather this past week in Louisville has been amazing!  Perfect walking weather... and yes, I walk in a cemetery... don't judge.

2) History.  This Sunday our church is moving into a gorgeous old cathedral... it's an old catholic church that's rich with history and full of promise.  An old building... with new hope... (here's a great little news clip about our move into the new building)

3) Snuggle time... with Little Cat.  I mean, how can you resist... just look at him.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab the Thankful Thursday button from the right sidebar and link up your own post below. Be sure to visit the other Thankful Thursday participants and share the love!!

Also linking up with:

Kate Says Stuff

The Fontenot Four

First Day of My Life

A Punk, a Pumpkin & a Peanut

as of late...

As of late, we have been...

 ...enjoying some "supper club"...

...pen-paling with my nieces... 

...eating guacamole for lunch...

 ...and pizza for dinner...

...enjoying date nights... 

...playing a little mexican train... 

...soaking up the awesome weather... 

 ...selling my massive jewelry-making supply...

...working on my green thumb skills...

We've been busy as of late... what about you??

top 10 :: grown-up school supplies i need

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It's back to school time!  And although I am well-beyond my own school days, my heart still goes pitter-patter when I walk down the school supply aisle.  Sigh... mechanical pencils... colorful paperclips... new sharpies... crisp notebook paper... organized dividers... I just can't help it... gets me every time.

If you're like me and go out of your way to walk down the school supply aisle... (or even worse, plan trips to Staples and Office Depot just for fun)... then you'll appreciate today's post.  Here are the top 10 grown-up school supplies i desperately need...

1) Kate Spade designer notepads

This paper would seriously brighten up my to-do lists.

2) personalized address stamps
Love these... and hopefully will need to order a new stamp soon;)

3) painted bulletin board 
This bulletin board would brighten up any office space.

4) bicycle paperclips 

Seriously??  Too cute!!

5) monogramed binders

I.need.these.  Thinking this would be perfect for my life binder.

6) colorful leather journals
Maybe I would journal more if I had these?

7) clipboard workspace 
I love this idea.  Such a great system for us visual people.

 8) library card notepads
These could totally replace my sticky note obsession.

 9) personalized phone case

Almost as important as your first-day-of-school outfit.

10) pretty pencil pouch
I mean, who doesn't need a pretty pencil pouch??

Linking up to Many Little Blessings.

across the tracks...

We have some train tracks about a half a mile from our house.  With just a simple step over those tracks you leave one world and enter another... from Germantown to Shelby Park... from one economic group to another... from one racial class to another... from one social status to another.  It's crazy that in today's day and age we still live by such visual dividers.

Over the past year, God has really been stirring in our hearts... challenging us to truly be here.

To be in Louisville...

...across the tracks.

For us, this means putting down some roots... committing to a community... buying a house... all across the tracks.  We have recently put an offer on a house in Shelby Park...  It's barely a half mile from our current house and directly behind the old cathedral that our church has just moved into.  This house actually used to be the nunnery and butler's quarters for the cathedral... which is pretty cool if you ask me.  The house is well over 100 years old and needs plenty of renovating.  It's quite charming and has room to grow.  It was well-within our price range, making our mortgage less than what we currently pay in rent.

But we didn't choose this house based on its nunnery history, sheer size, or even affordability.  We chose this house because of its location.  We feel that God has called us to be a light to the neighborhood of Shelby Park... to be intentional in this community... to initiate change.  We're not entirely sure what that will look like, but we're prepared to be a part of it.

Please continue to pray for us as we step out in faith in this decision.  We are hoping to close on the house within the next month and start renovations immediately.  We are excited to see what God has in store for us... across the tracks.