I am reading an amazing book right now called Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst. She is filled with some amazing insight and wisdom.

This saying spoke to me. Lysa repeats it three times so its hard not to hear it! LOVE LOVE LOVE her God centered focus on being healthy and fit!

bad hair day.....

I don't know about you, but about every other haircut just doesn't seem to work out. I have the same stylist and she does a great job. I always leave feeling like I got a great cut and I have! The only difference is me!

I have been keeping my hair pretty short these days. I have an inverted bob and I love it for all its sass. But for some reason this time around my hair is really bothering me. To the point that I want to CHOP it extra short and have a pixie cut. Something I can honestly say I have NEVER done nor ever really thought about doing before.

So this morning I woke to a mass of nothing to brag about and was in just a tizzy on how to do my hair. I had no desire to stick my head under the faucet to re-wet my hair so I could blow dry and straighten my hair into submission.

SO I decided to try a scarf. I have had this scarf forever! Got it at a thrift shop and then never wore it. It just never seemed to fit my mood. But it seemed to fit my mood today! I don't usually wear scarves on my head either. Well, my hair is covered, no one can see the mess and I think it turned out alright....might see me in them more often.

my sunshine

You are my sunshine. my only sunshine.....

We all know the words. We all have probably sung it to our children. The song holds a special place in my heart since I do sing it every night to my kids before I kiss them goodnight. The soothing song lulls them into dream world and I leave them both in their beds with a smile on my lips and love in my heart.

SO, when I saw a gorgeous metal pendant on craftgawker that was adorn with a lovely sun surrounded by the words "you are my sunshine" I dreamed of a day I would own one for myself. My dilemma was that I had no clue who could make me such a precious jewel.

That was until this fall. I went to the annual craft show in New Richmond, WI and met Brittany Martell. What a gem!!! She is amazing and so are her amazing pieces. Don't believe me? Check her out for yourself here

My mom had gotten for my birthday two disks with each of the kids name on it. When my mom had accidentally misspelled Isaac's name I got in contact with Brittany. She was able to help me get that mix up fixed and I happened to mention to her the pendant I saw. She saw it and told me it would be simple for her to whip up. Ah heaven! So I just have to brag about her great work and also about how much I truly love it!

green thumb.....we will see...

I can't lie. I am no green thumb. But I do love to get my hands dirty every spring and plant my pots and my veggie garden. Two years ago I even convinced Dustin to take out the dying evergreen bushes so I could plant a lovely perennial garden. So every year, my garden gets lusher and my thumbs get greener.

Its January people. IN WISCONSIN!!! Right now it is sub zero, dead and barren. I have been craving something green. SO I finally bit the bullet and bought a little 4 inch potted plant. It didn't come with the little stick thing that tells you what it is, so I have no friggin clue what it is. All I know is it is green and it is alive. I just hope I can keep it that way!

Date Night In

I don't know about you, but with two little ones, date night out is a thing of rarity. Kyla is just shy of four and we just found a lovely teenager who lives four blocks away! We are lucky enough to have Dustin's younger sisters who can watch the kids, but the two hours of driving to pick up and drop off makes that not the most appealing option.

So, date night out is a huge treat for us! Date night in, now that is a whole different thing. Dustin and I have been making huge efforts to have a date night at home at least once a week. So it made me think, " I bet there are more people out there that would really get encouraged if I put together a list of ideas for a date night in! So here goes!

First off. We put the kiddos to bed by eight! That is our rule for date night.

Watch a movie or TV show that you enjoy
Play a game (our favorites: Cribbage, Rummy, Checkers, Chess, Scrabble, Swap, Phase Ten, Skipo)
Play a Video Game( My hubby and I don't have video games, but I BET that if my Hubby were a gamer he would love it if I played a game with him!)

Buy a simple appetizer( we like fries) and share them
Read a book together
Candle light picnic on the floor.
( MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!) wake up early and have breakfast together and watch the sun rise. ( we do this in the summer almost 2-3 days a week!)
take your laptop into the car and have a drive in movie in your driveway!
Lay a blanket outside and star gaze
Dress up and have a late night dinner
Wine tasting night, Find a 3 or 4 wines you have never tried
Make or buy a sexy dessert and enjoy it together.( maybe even feed it to each other)
Do a Crossword together
Listen to podcast and discuss after
Send the kids to the grandparents! Then you have the whole house to yourself
Get on the roof with a blanket, radio and snack and enjoy the night sky
Get out the photo albums and reminisce about the great memories

Ok, so that is about all my brain can come up with for now. I may have to make a part 2 if I think of more! But you now have quite a few ideas for a cheap fun date night in!

All photos were found in Microsoft clipart

same style different dress

I have been sewing again.... I don't know if I mentioned it on Facebook or my blog that I have been wanting to make another strapless creation once I made my first one. It was such an easy pattern and the dress fits me so well I bought enough fabric to make two more dresses. I think my second dress came out very nicely!

I have got to take some time and cut out the next one. This dress is a New Look pattern and I am not kidding, it took me maybe an hour and a half after the cloth was cut!

TKO -todays kickin outfit

I was pretty excited when I put this outfit together. I had been wearing my new dress that I just made when Kyla went into my closet and started pulling stuff out asking me to put it on. The skirt was the one item I stopped on. I have had this skirt for over 3 years! I got it at a thrift store after I had kyla cuz it was heading into summer and I just wanted to feel pretty post pregnancy. Well, this skirt needs to be taken in now, its just too big, but I was able to whip up a whole new outfit that I have never worn. Again found a treasure in my closet!Thank you God!

wearing: cardigan, belt, tight:Target, blue beaded braclet(actually a necklace): Amazima Ministry, Necklace: Serindipity Thrift Store, shoes: Thrifted, Skirt and tank: mine

I was drinking out of this cup and had to smile at what it said. I hope that I can live up to this lofty verse!

seeing red....

I really enjoy changing my look daily. And there is one way I really enjoy changing my look with MAKEUP!. This sassy rouge is what I am wearing today!

I am wearing Cover Girl Euphoria
Just remember this rule! If you want to wear something this bold everything else should stay neutral. Or you may look like a circus performer!

Sitchin some sassy

There is something about creating that brings you a little closer to understanding why GOd always said it was good every day of creation.

Now I am NOT GOd and I did not create this amazing universe and our planets and all that inhabit it. But I did create this lovely strapless dress. AHHHH was it fun!!! Just like my cooking, it only turns out great when you follow directions. SO I am not one of those cool fashion people who can litteretly sew something just from their own drawings. I followed a pattern that I got years ago! I wish I would have really looked at how easy it was,I may have made one of these sooner! My only problem was that by following the measurements on the back I made this dres WAY TOO big. SO I had to take it in, but luckily that was all my issues!

I bought this fabric on my birthday and I was excited to make something sweet and dainty. I think that I did a pretty good job.

TKO laid back style

I have to admit that my style is mostly laid back. I don't dress up everyday and the reality is, if I dress up twice a week I am feeling pretty proud of that. I have two amazing kids Kyla is 3 1/2 and Isaac is 1 1/2. Two very active kids who always want mommy to play with them. So cute skirts and dresses just don't mix with wrestling and blocks and all other things requiring me to be on the ground and mauled by my kiddos.

So for this TKO I had to whip out one of my latest and GREATEST thrift buys! TO be honest, I got it for free!!! My lovely blue and white striped wool Gap sweater! ahhhh!!!!! Serendipity is a thrift store in Baldwin, WI and I LOVE IT!!!!( click here to go to the Facebook page) They have a great program where if you spend $10 you get a punch and get 20 punches get $20 off your next purchase. So on my birthday I went in with my filled card and was able to nab this beauty for FREE!!! yeah me!!! I have to admit that when I got home I started mixing and matching it with all of my dresses, skirts, shirts, boots, you name it I was having my own little fashion frenzy.

everything I am wearing is thrifted.

Serendipity for the sweater,necklace and orange top.

Treasures from the Heart for the jeans and shoes.

Bowls as hats.....a new fashion?

Bowls as hats......a new fashion trend? Probably not. But who can resist two adorable children asking so sweetly for mommy to participate in their fun.

When my little guy walked up to me with a bowl and pointed to my head I just knew we were in for a good time!

TKO!!!! Todays Kickin' outfit!

I thought of an acronym! TKO. In the boxing world is means Technical Knockout. But in my little blog world it will mean Today's Kickin Outfit! Yeah me, for figuring that out!

So whenever I have a new look that I have come up with that I want to share I will put TKO in the title!

Ah, now that that is done, I can get back to the task at hand. I grew up an only child. My parent were amazing and I think they did a pretty good job in the spoil factor. I grew up getting pretty much what I asked for Christmas every year. SPOILED. I also grew up buying new clothes every year school. SPOILED. But for the most part my parents were also realistic. Target and Kohls, JC Penny's were my main shopping stores and I never owned a pair of brand new Gap jeans until I got married and THEY WERE MATERNITY!!!

The one thing I never knew, was the value of a thrift store. We went to the local Good Will and Savers but it was never for clothes. We were into camping and my mom found a lot of helpful handy stuff for that. Also, BOOKS!! My mom and I were book worms and it was also a great place to get a lot of books for SO cheap! I do remember once getting a cast off mustard colored bridesmaid dress for dress up purposes, but I rarely bought clothes that I would wear for everyday.

Partly I think it was the stigma, you are wearing someone else's "cast offs". Well, I am much older and wiser now and I see the value in thrift shopping for my clothes! When I was given my $200 for buying new clothes, 70% was spent at the thrift stores. I bought the other %30 at target and Walmart and I bought a dress from Modcloth that was ON SALE! There is only one item I bought full price and it was a pair of jeans for $15 at Walmart. Yes that is right, WALMART! I don't care anymore. Labels don't really mean anything to me. Sure I love my banana republic pencil skirt, but I love it mostly cuz I got it for $10!!!! I would have bought the same skirt by some other brand and loved that just as much if I got it for so cheap.

So, I am thanking God for Thrift stores these days. I am grateful for a place to go and find cute things that help me feel all girly, sometimes sassy, even sexy.

Blouse: Serendipity Thrift Store, Sweater and boots: mine for years, Necklace: Handmade, Jeans: Faded Glory, Walmart

feeling Nifty and thrifty!

Someday, I will come up with a fun acronym for when I find a treasure in my trove of clothes!
I had fun putting this outfit together. I actually went to bed the night before thinking that I may have a hit. I woke up on Friday morning just giddy with the idea. I actually wasn't so sure about the top at first, but all my fears were ceased. I was beaming! I knew I had a hit the moment I looked in the mirror. The best part is that the only real new thing in the whole outfit was the blue pencil skirt. I purchased it at Serendipity Thrift Store. I spent $10 on this gorgeous Banana Republic Skirt! So worth it!!!!

Skirt: Banana Republic(thrifted), Cardigan and Tights:( Target), Blue Bracelet(actually necklace: Amazima Ministries), Tank top and necklace: mine for years, shoes (Thrifted)

Whats the opposite of Blue?

DO you know my favorite color??? Well, the title might give it away. Its blue! I love blue. Its a peaceful color to me. I think I look good in blue, I feel good in blue. BLUE BLUE BLUE!!! If its a choice between yellow and blue, I choose blue. When I think of some of my favorite shirts they are blue. Yeah you are getting the point by now!

Well, one day I was on my friend Kara's blog. Go here to see her amazing work!!! In a session she did about a year ago I saw the most adorable couple. I think it may even be her cousin! Back to the topic. She was wearing a lovely ORANGE sweater with lovely BLUE shirt poking out on the bottom. I was kinda in a state of shock and awe. Orange and BLUE! come on! It was BEAUTIFUL! I could not get over the lovely contrast and I couldn't help myself.....I copied her! I had to see if it would look alright on me, and it did, of course!

My mom was the first one to remind me of the color wheel and how orange and blue are actually opposite on wheel, so they compliment each other in their contrast!

So, needless to say there is probably more orange in my home and in my closet than I ever thought I would. The funny thing is this, the things I love about blue. I love about the orange that I wear. ( more pumpkin color than orange orange!) Its peaceful, I feel like I look good in it and I feel good when I wear it. SO Blue, you are still my first love and will forever be my first choice. But please don't make me choose between orange and you. I may have to choose you both!

Bits of wisdom from the "girl" who is another year older

I am 31 today! Gasp!!!! Can you believe it! I told the entire world my age......Well with the world of Facebook everyone already knows how old I am anyways, so why not just embrace it and enjoy it.

Reflecting on what I would possibly write today I just came up with this. Simple bits of wisdom that you have probably all heard before!

1: Write out some goals for your life that you want to accomplish. I am so grateful that I did. I don't know that I would have ever gotten to the healthy point in my life without a written goal I looked at everyday.

2: The Bible has it right( in more ways than one!) Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself, Today has enough troubles of its own.(Matt 6:34)

3:When we get to the end of our lives, most everyone doesn't say...."oh, I wish I would have made more money, worked more, or bought that car or gone on that Mediterranean cruise, fill in the blank with anything that preoccupies us..." instead when we get to the end, most everyone wants one thing. Time. Time to spend with those we love, regret over time lost doing things that don't matter. Time to right the wrongs and mend the bridges we have burned. Time is precious. We don't know the hour that God will call us home to Heaven. So use what you have wisely.

4: Facebook, Twitter, Texting or BLOGGING can not replace the most valuable thing ever. Interaction with people. Face to face, over the phone, real friendships and relationships. I enjoy all these outlets, but they give you a false community. You think you are connected but you really aren't. To prove the point, I took a break from Facebook once and no one noticed that I wasn't on posting things. So, don't spend so much time in the Internet world trying to find meaningful connections. Connect with your neighbors, friends and family, that is real!

5: Be you and don't care about what other people think or say. I would rather swim against the current that look, act or say everything that everyone else says. Be who God created you to be.

Drum roll please!!!!!

6: Check out the awesome guy named Jesus. We are coming up on the day we celebrate his birth. Its pretty significant.... God decided to take on our lowly human form, was born, lived sinless and died for all of us. He didn't stay dead though. He rose from the grave and now is seated at the right Hand of God. He loves you, and he would love for you to get to know Him. If you have never read a bible before in your life, check out the Gospel John. Its a great place to start.

Virgin Online clothing buyer NO more!!!

Its funny how you see advertisements on the side bar of your computer everyday and most days I don't notice. But one caught my eye. MODCLOTH! oh my yum! I fell in a deep state of like with this online store. I know I talked about being a bit obsessed about my new nail polish and its all Modcloths fault! But To be honest I was falling in love with all the pretty dresses, skirts, shoes, tops, EVERYTHING!!! I felt like it was an online store that was a beacon of style that I had been craving to add to my own life and wardrobe.

I have never bought a piece of clothing online. Frankly, its scares me to death! I mean, pay shipping charges get the dress and then if it doesn't fit or ends up being a flop then what???? I may have saved time by shopping online, but not hassle.......

Lucky for me, all those things really didn't matter when I saw this lovely dress on sale.....

Dress: Modcloth,Sweater: Target, leggings: Walmart, Shoes: Naughty Monkey(thrifted),
Bracelet(actually a necklace): Amazima Ministries, Necklace:Mine for years

For those of you who don't know me, I made a deal with my hubby that when I got down to my goal weight that I could spend $200 and buy the new clothes I would need, since I would be too small to wear the clothes I already have. I hit my goal months ago and I have been slowly purchasing jeans, tops, skirts, you name it I was buying! My money went a long way since I bought a lot of my clothes at thrift stores or on major sales.

Back to the details on my "first time." (giggle) When this dress was put on sale, I just knew it was going to be my first online clothing purchase. Lucky for me too, free shipping! Modcloth also has a great return/exchange policy so I felt pretty good about if it didn't work out it would not be a hassle.

When my dress arrived, I was literately giddy and could not wait to try it on. I am happy to say its a perfect fit and I feel like a thrifty princess!