I’ve been gone and out and about. Here’s a quick summary of what has happened in the last two weeks.
1. Goodbyes are hard when it feels like you just said hello. A good friend of mine from college and her husband came to live in our fine state but then sadly were relocated a few months later. As much as I hated to see them go, I was so glad for the short time we had together to reunite and be a part of regular life for a time again.
2. Lots of work makes for lots of long days. That sums it up, right? Jobs, freelance work, side projects, additional work commitments–you name it. It’s not super awesome to blog about, but it’s what life has looked lately in our house…which means our actual house looks like a disaster, and we’re just hanging on one day at a time. So, if it’s been in awhile, I’m sorry. Everything feels hard to keep up with right now. I’m tired of that being the case (and tired of being tired), but it’s the reality. The little time we have in between we try to, you know, see each other and talk but even that we seem to be behind on lately. It all feels like too much, but work things seem to be the hardest things let go thanks to a desire to do good work, to provide financially, and to achieve our potential.
3. Faraway family is better in person. As much as we’re grateful for Skype, you can’t hold a baby, hug a niece, or play catch with a nephew over the internet. While it’s definitely time to be done with traveling for awhile, it was good to see these relatives on the West Coast this past week.
It’s been too long since I’ve done a Nifty Thrifty post! But spring is here and suddenly all my clothes seem dated, but not in the vintage and cute way. It’s high time for another awesome thrift store find or two.
I’ll admit it, there have been many occasions that I go into a thrift store and walk away with nothing. On the one hand, I’m glad I didn’t buy something “just because” but usually I’m disappointed that shuffling through all of those racks of clothing amounted to nothing. I much prefer knowing I made good use of my time.
Good news!!
A blogging and Iowa friend of mineis throwing the biggest thrifty online sale I’ve seen and all for a wonderful reason. You see, she is currently a mama to two sweet little boys…but she and her husband, Jonny, are ready to love and raise a few more. Adoption is something very near and dear to their hearts (one of their sons was adopted), and they feel led to adopt again! She wrote down more of the story, so I’ll share bits and pieces of what she had to say about it in a minute (but I’m guessing you’re starting to wonder where the Nifty Thrifty comes in).
Tonight, y’all, you can both support her family’s adoption AND update your spring/summer wardrobe all from the comfort of your home. No racks to sort through or ugly sweaters to avoid. Heck yes. She’s been posting teasers all week…and I have a feeling things will go fast once the sale starts tonight at 8:00/7:00 central.
Here’s a little of Kayla’s story:
I became a mom in a fashion that only God could create. I was a young, twenty-something newlywed learning more about the world, and more about its creator, every day. We weren’t perfect, but we couldn’t help but sense that God was leading us both down a path to parenthood that, in the world’s eyes, was a bit unconventional.
My husband and I both started to feel the tug on our hearts for children who didn’t have families. We both grew up in safe and loving two-parent homes, and we couldn’t shake the idea of little ones not growing up without the structure and nurture a family provides. We knew we couldn’t do everything, but we could be open to doing something. We prayed, and asked God to lead.
Joseph joined our family via adoption from West Africa (you can learn much more about that here), and our lives have been so radically blessed by his presence. We grieve for what he lost with his first family, but we praise God that he writes beautiful stories from brokenness.
Fast forward two years, and we welcomed a second son into our lives, this time the old-fashioned way. Asher fits into our family perfectly, and it’s a joy to see my sons grow and learn and play and explore life together.
And now, our hearts are open to more. And we continue to believe that God will form our family once again through adoption. There are children here and abroad waiting for safe and loving homes, and it’s at the core of our heart that we might have the privilege of being a family for another little one (or ones). Due to logistics, this time our process will happen in the U.S. instead of abroad. We’re not quite sure what this adoption will look like, though we know we want to be a family for a waiting child.
Adoption, as I’m sure you’ve probably heard, can be costly. Social workers, attorneys, agencies — each are compensated to ensure things are handled the right way. We’re a young family that has been saving for a second adoption since we completed our first. Every Christmas gift, every extra bit, has gone into a special account for “someday.” And someday is here!
The Details for Tonight:
We’re hosting a GIANT shop-our-closets sale (tonight) Monday, April 27 at 8/7 p.m.
I gathered more than 10 of my most stylish friends of all shapes and sizes, and together, we cleaned out our closets.
We’re selling it ALL (think 25+ dresses, 75+ tops, skirts, ethically-made jewelry, scarves, heels) in a HUGE Instagram auction-style fundraiser to combat adoption fees.
Each item will have a fairly low starting bid price, though we hope you have fun and bid generously! The sale will go on for 24 hours, and 100 percent of all money is going directly to our adoption account.
I’m excited for this, friends. I know Kayla is a great mom, and I think adoption is an amazing thing. If you feel like donating to the fund or simplywant a new (used) piece of clothing, I encourage you to check out the sale later tonight.I know I will!
Oh, hello. It’s Thursday?! This week has gone SO fast! Three-day weekends are the best, but four-day work weeks are rough. Everything gets crammed into less time, and I just can’t quite keep up this week. It doesn’t help that some early mornings have been involved as every night for me is also a late night. When else is a girl to blog? You think these things just happen? Umm, no. But I love doing it, so it’s okay.
1. Our friends opened their coffee shop. (YEAH!!!) Speaking of things that don’t just happen…after months of hard work and planning, some of our good friends opened their very own coffee shop. There was a pre-party over the weekend and then the official first day on Labor Day. We had so much fun seeing all of their effort finally come to fruition and spent much of Monday just hanging out there as several other friends, neighbors and acquaintances trickled in and out to share in the opening day.
Look at that handsome guy. Could be a part-time model.
2. Old friends make great company. Over the weekend my friend Emily came for a visit. We’ve known each other since 6th grade softball and were good friends all through high school. She recently moved from Iowa to Georgia, meaning she is now only a few hours away. I loved having her stay with us as there’s something so natural about being with a friend you’ve known for so long. We didn’t really do anything too different from an ordinary Saturday, but it was nice to have another person to laugh with and someone to tell you if your outfit looks good or not. She saved me from buying a couple of doozies at the consignment store this weekend.
3. Too many conflicting thoughts make for a long day. I mentioned it, but the week has been crammed tight. With that comes different thoughts and feelings because with each new minute comes another thought or idea or emotion. A few days this week seemed so long (despite the short week) as there were so many different thoughts packed within them. One minute my life seems to be going in the right direction and the next it seems like I am completely behind on all of my to-dos and lose sight of who I am or what I am capable of. It’s amazing what a comment or success or failure can do to your perspective on something. At church right now we’re focusing on the big rocks vs. small rocks. Priorities vs. everything else. Before the series I thought I had a decent foundation on what was actually important. In the past two weeks alone it has become more clear that I am wearing myself too thin and not always focusing on the right things first. I’m trying to make adjustments, but in this time of scrambling to sort through job things while still wanting to be a great friend, hard worker, loving wife and everything else there is to be it’s hard to narrow it down. I don’t believe in glorifying busy, so I need to figure out a way to be less busy and that’s not easy.
