Wednesday, April 20, 2011

BAGS BAGS BAGS!

My Etsy shop has been keeping my hands busy… I so appreciate both the opportunity to make some $$ for our adoption fund (update on that coming soon), but also have really enjoyed designing and making so many bags. No such thing as business being too good but…I’ve sold out of the pretty flower coffee cuffs, and the Africa coffee cuffs (planning to make more of those this weekend!) And I had to stop taking custom Bible study/teacher bag orders – I had 2 orders for 5 each, plus an order for 20 (my AWESOME friend Tina got them for all of the prayer group leaders in our Moms’ study.) I had SO MUCH FUN making all of these bags, particularly the ones I knew would be given to my prayer group leader friends. I ended up making 26 so that there would be some choice (I didn’t want the last gal who picked to not have any choices), and so that I could have some inventory left over to sell.

All these orders allowed me to build up quite a gallery of different bags. If you want to see all the ones I’ve made so far, check it out:

Here’s the link if you want to take a closer look.

(And yes, I gave all of my bags girl names…so if people want a specific fabric for a custom order, they can request it by name. And since I’ve only had experience naming boys…I sure had fun naming those bags. Matt thinks I’m ridiculous. :D)

I’m loading the 6 bags I have left for inventory onto my Etsy store this morning, so keep an eye out for them. I have a couple new ones coming as well, I ended up with 3 extra sets of fabric, but stopped sewing at 26 bags, since I figured that would be plenty of choices. A couple of my favorite fabric combinations didn’t get chosen, if you know me well, you can probably guess which ones those are!

While I LOVED making all of these bags, I did have a little bit of sewing-rebellion with all of these deadlines.  A few times in the last month, I desperately needed to make something that wasn’t that same bag pattern.

So I made a little Easter cuteness…

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Plus, a little something for myself. I’ve teen toying with this design in my imagination for a while, and was able to use scraps from some of the bags for the ruffles. Can you guess what the body of the bag is made of?

Favorite

My former favorite pair of capri pants – which were still super comfortable, but hopelessly out of style. So now they get to be my favorite Spring purse!

Hilariously, when I showed it to Luke, he asked, “What about your old purse?” Me: “It’s right there, I’m going to put it away until Fall.” Luke: “What was wrong with it?” Me: “Nothing, why?” Luke: “Well, why did you need a new purse?” Me: Speechless. How do you explain seasonal purses to an 11 year old boy (when his daddy doesn’t really understand that either?”)  But this seasonal purse didn’t cost me a cent! And I love it! It’s a girl thing.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

WELCOME SPRING!

Before I moved to Nebraska, Autumn was my favorite season. I still love the fall – cinnamon, pumpkin bread, the changing leaves, the cooler weather. But in a place with 4 distinct seasons, Spring is by far my favorite.
DSC_7818After a frozen winter, when everything is hard and dead and brown – bare trees, frozen ground, nothing growing or green…. When the first shoots of green start to grow, and then bloom… I LOVE IT. Spring is such a reminder of new life, that even when all you can see is death and barrenness, there is life below, waiting for its season.DSC_7812
And after being cooped up inside, bundled up, and confined, it is downright delightful to be outside again. Winter has definitely stayed past its welcome (we actually had flurries of snow in the air yesterday – I just pretended like I didn’t see them and moved on with my life). But we have had glimpses of outside-friendly weather, we’ve broken out the shorts and short sleeves, and we are READY.
Our street is lined with pear trees that are among the first things to bloom each Spring – it is heavenly.
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When the blossoms start to fall off, they cover everything…the boys think it looks like snow. That is MY KIND OF SNOW. :)
We’ve been outside at every opportunity – over winter, I always forget how much I’m able to get done when the kids can play outside. Fun for everyone. :)
I don’t know what put the idea in his head, but Tobin has been asking to fly kites. We were out in the front yard last week just before dinner, and he found an old plastic kite in the garage. It is broken, and only had about 8 feet of string, but he LOVED it. He ran around pulling it behind him forever, and would have stayed out all night.


Flying Kites from Renee Meyer on Vimeo.

The following Sunday, our friend Cory (one of our college Worship drummers, and one of Tobin’s favorite people) came to church with a surprise for Tobin: He got him a kite. It’s the best one I’ve ever seen, made like a parachute, with no sticks to break, and from fabric rather than flimsy plastic. We took it to the park Sunday night after dinner and the boys (all 4 of them, counting the dog) had a BLAST.
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After a while, Tobin was ready to go play at the park, so Luke took over.
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A good time was had by all. Hope you are enjoying Spring, whether it’s the welcome end to actual winter, or just the short period of lovely weather before you live in the swirl of heat and humidity that is Texas summer!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

My favorite weekend…

image Last weekend I got the BEST gift: I was invited to come down and speak at an event at my Texas church. The focus of the event was on the truth that we all have a story – of which God is the main character, and which we are compelled to share. I got to share the stage with my dear friend Erin Cole, who has such a story of God’s faithfulness and care. After each of us shared our stories, then Erin and I co-lead a breakout called, “Your Story Must Be Told” with tips on processing and sharing your story. Another dear friend (and the only person who has shared in my life both in Texas and here in Nebraska – love having friends in common in both places!), Julie Raymond, gave a breakout on drawing out others’ stories. The whole evening was so well done – I wanted to pack up all the decorations and bring them home with me – those women know how to throw a PARTY.

It was especially fun for me to share my story in the place where it happened, and to an audience that included so many of my favorite people, friends who loved and prayed for me through all of my years in College Station. I was so hyped up on adrenaline and excitement I was practically buzzing. By the end of the evening Friday I was EXHAUSTED. My head ached and my whole body hurt. But it was a good hurt. :)

The entire weekend was like a gift from the Lord to ME, and I am so thankful  for every moment: getting to catch up with so many, for hugs and tears, for REAL conversations, for face-to-face, for laughter and tears (Susie and I went through half a box of kleenex Saturday night, so happy to talk for real and not on the phone!), for encouragement and plain old fun. AND I got to go to a baby shower for my sweet Heather, so fun to get to be there for something, since I’ve missed so many showers, babies, weddings, funerals, everything, since I’ve been in NE.

I didn’t take my camera, since I was pretty sure that several of my gals would have me covered in that area.  So pictures are coming (and they recorded our stories, so eventually that will be up where I can post a link). But so far my sweetie Lauren is the only one who’s posted her pics.

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I started babysitting for the Paine kids when Lauren (far left) was 2 and Michael (between me & Lauren) was a wee baby. Katherine and Nathan weren’t even a twinkle in their parents’ eyes, as the saying goes. And once they came along, they were my babies (particularly Nathan, who was the closest thing I had to a boyfriend before Matt came along.) These giant, beautiful people ranged from little kids to just-reaching-teeny-bopper-hood when I got married and moved to NE 6 years ago. LOOK AT THEM.

imageIt was soooo fun to get to spend time in real life with them. Wish I could have packed their whole family up and brought them back in my suitcase. :) LOVE THEM.

 

So the whole weekend was a gift… But the biggest gift of all came Sunday morning.

I’ve continued to be so thankful for the season of life God gave me in College Station. But this weekend was a great opportunity to step back and think about how much He has continued to bless me here in corn-land.

As I sat in church Sunday morning, so glad to be back in the place where I first understood the gospel, where I have so many precious memories, and in the room where I got married, I realized how thankful I am for my church, friends and life in Nebraska. I love what God did in me through the TX years, but I am equally thankful for what He’s doing in these Nebraska years. I wish there was better Tex-Mex here, but I am content, and that is a gift. :)

Lest you think the boys were suffering without me…DSC_7691

They had a soccer game Friday night (while it was 85 degrees in TX, but 30 in good old NE – I felt guilty for missing Luke’s first game, but with that weather, I likely wouldn’t have been there anyway!)… Went out for donuts, played video games, drank pop, watched basketball, had popcorn for dinner, and made the basement into a giant fort to sleep in Saturday. I’m pretty sure they didn’t eat a vegetable all weekend long, and I didn’t ask about baths because I didn’t want to know the answer. They were very happy when I got home, but I don’t think they missed me at all. :)