Taking Up a New Hobby.

When I sat down at the end of 2013 to think about goals for the new year I knew I wanted to try a new hobby. I love being creative and trying new things that develops that creativity in me. This year I decided to try painting. I wouldn't consider myself a painter but I really enjoy it. 

I bought myself a water color set from the craft store and used some thick letter press paper I already had. 

I sat down at my kitchen island one night with some worship music on and just started painting. 

I love that they are a little imperfect. The brush strokes aren't even. 

And my drawing skills aren't the best. 

But this wasn't about it being perfect or even the best. 

It was about trying new things. Doing something new that I've never done before. 

I actually find painting really relaxing, I've painted pottery a few times before and find it relaxing as well. So I knew I'd love this. 

I really love cultivating new habits and trying new things. God's taught me a lot about myself in this last year. To not be afraid to try new things, to not be afraid to put my trust in him. I know we're talking about painting here but I think it's all apart of a bigger picture. 

Trusting God in the little things. Means he'll trust you with the bigger things. 

Have you tried anything new lately? Any new hobbies? 

N O V E M B E R Goals.

Holy crap! October has come and gone. In October we celebrated my birthday, took our kiddos to the pumpkin patch, attended a dear family friend's beautiful wedding, my Husband also officiated this wedding. I attended a great blogging event. 

Whew! It was a busy month! Now that it's November I'm itching to put up my tree but I'm trying to hold off till after Thanksgiving. What about you? Do you already have Christmas decorations up?

Tell me you already do, so I can plead this cases to my Hubby! ;) 

November Goals:

01// Read I new book.

Last month I read two. Pretty excited about that, let's keep the trend moving.

02// Finish Christmas shopping & wrap all the gifts.

Gah! I'm still not done. Almost just two left to get.

03// Finish making all my stock to sell at Phoenix Flea this month.

I got a fresh batch of new notepads to sell. And I need to start printing the prints I will be selling and packaging it all up.

04// Buy furniture for the guest room.

We need a couch in there, specifically a hide a bed one. We have family coming for Christmas and need extra sleeping space, plus I wanna couch in there any way.

05// Start a new workout routine.

Ya'll I'm so bored, I need something new.

06// Photograph new shop products.

07// Address & mail Christmas cards.

They are done. They are sitting in my office. They just need addresses & stamps! Feeling on top of it!

Crest & Bloom Creative Meet-Ups

A couple months back I came across a beautiful creative meet up event while stalking some Instagram friends. I was delighted to see that it was here locally in Phoenix, and I knew I had to be apart of the next event! 

Crest & Bloom Creative Meet-Ups is the collaboration of Jennifer from Henny & Coco and Jenn from Sincerely Jenn. I love their heart to connect other women to each other, to inspire them to be there best. There's no competition here, just genuine women who honestly care about working together and helping each other. 

That is a beautiful thing and something I can jump on board with!

Beautiful banners created by Juney House Shop

Today they hosted their second creative meet up event for bloggers, handmade business owners and other creatives. The beautiful event was held at North Italia in Phoenix. On their beautiful outdoor patio which was perfect for this sunny October day! 

Me and Jennifer. Check out her adorable blog and children's accessory shop called Henny & Coco! 

This is Jennifer, she's one of the masterminds of this great event. I stalked her a bit on Instagram after their last event and quickly found out we have much in common starting with the fact we're both Iowa girls! I loved getting to meet her and she greeted me with the biggest hug! Felt like we'd known each other years! 

I went into this event not knowing if I'd know anyone else who was attending, which as an introvert is super hard for me to do sometimes. Because I'm not the best at small talk. But God has shown me over the last several months as he's growing me personally that it's good to get out of my comfort zone & stretch myself.

I was so pleased to find that every last woman that was there was warm, friendly and genuine about each conversation I had with them. We did sort of a "speed" networking as we sat around our tables I was able to converse with many of the ladies who attended, met some really great people and made some awesome new connections. 

Blown away by this event Jenn & Jennifer seriously knocked it out of the park! 

I'm so excited to attend the next Creative Meet-Up. BIG thanks to these sponsors for helping to make this event happen today; @floatingspecks, @camelbackflowershop, @laurenashbyphoto, @justsimplyL, @eatnorthitalia, @ruffledpaper, @jkyamzon, @urbanwalls

If you're interested in attending the next Crest & Bloom meet up follow them on Instagram @crestandbloom or you can email Jenn@sincerelyjenn.com to be added to the invite list.

Thank you Crest & Bloom for hosting such an awesome event! I loved meeting everyone today and I'm already looking forward to the next! 

OCTOBER Goals.

Where did the month of September go? Seriously. The year is almost over. Soooo, my September goals went pretty well. There's a few things that didn't get crossed off my list (ahem, Christmas shopping) so that's getting moved to my October list. 

View my September Goals here. 

October is a crazy month for us, it's starts with my birthday and then two weeks later is my Hubby's birthday, We also have a wedding this month, and I have a couple events to attend. Then Thanksgiving and Christmas and the year is almost over. My husband is also officiating a wedding this month and we're hoping to get some Fall activities in before the month is over, like visiting the pumpkin patch! 

Here's my October goals:

01/ Read a new book: I've been loving having this as a goal the last two months. It's really kept me accountable to reading and I like that.

02/ 31 Days Writing Challenge: I've wanted to do this for a few years and just never could solidify a topic or idea. But God's been working on my heart and put inside me the idea of exploring the idea of Resting in Him. I hope you're enjoying the series so far as much as I am, if you're not following along catch up here. Follow along with #31DaysofRestinginHim on social media.

03/ Finish Christmas Shopping: At least for my kiddos. I'm almost done, so close and I wanted to have it done last month but it just didn't happen. So I'd like to finish theirs. I've finished my Hubby and now I need to cross off my kiddos from the list.

04/ Prepare for Phoenix Flea: I've decided to be a vendor at Phoenix Flea this year. It's happening the end of November. So this month I'd like to finalize my booth set up ideas and get all my inventory made.

05/ Start Running Again: You guys, I haven't been running lately because it's so hot here in Phoenix. Now that it's cooling down a bit I think I can start running again. Wish me luck.

Rest and Do Nothing.

When I was a new mama everyone told me; "Sleep when the baby sleeps." And for the first couple weeks that was an awesome idea of which I took full advantage of. Which was easy to do when I had my mom, my Grandma, my Sister and a Husband all at my disposal to help me with everything. Those Grandmas they are awesome at making sure you eat, doing your laundry and just keeping your house together so you can just be with your newborn. My husband took a week paternity leave as well. Those first few weeks as a new mom were so wonderful to have all the help I needed to get the rest I needed. 

I remember the day my family all left and my husband went back to work. I said good-bye to them, I had Ava strapped onto my in the baby bjorn. I closed the door and thought; "Welp, it's just us, now what we I do?"

Sounds silly but I'm sure you've had similar moments if you're a mama. If you're not a mom, you're a women too who's trying to juggle it all. And just trying to do her best. I know as women we often don't take the time to rest and take care of ourselves, however let me challenge you with this; 

There's always going to be laundry to be done. There's always going to be a to-do list that could be conquered.

There's always another phone call to be made. But the moments you spend with Jesus are better and should be more than you do all those other things. 

Now, don't get my wrong her I'm not saying you should let your home go to crap, never get things done or neglect what you're responsible for. 

I am saying their should be priority in putting Jesus first. Setting down with him and reading his word, seeking his will in prayer and giving yourself permission to rest because he already has. 

My second challenge for you is this; every now and then do nothing. Rest and do nothing. 

When it's nap time and there's a million things to get done and it's your golden hour, I get it. But, instead sit down and do nothing. Take a moment for yourself. 

When it's the weekend and you want to tackle the things you didn't get to during the week, do nothing instead. Hang out with your family and not feel guilty about not getting something done or being "more productive."

Today during nap time I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time but just haven't. I sat down printed my Instagram photos and put them into little albums. Taking a moment to reflect and remember all these little moments and the life God has give me today. 

Resting in Him.

Instead of the million other things on my mind that I could have been doing. 

I hope you'll join me in this thought of "resting and doing nothing." Rest in him ladies.

This post is apart of a series #31daysofRestinginHim to find out more visit this link for more posts on this topic. #write31days