4th of July - 2013

This year the 4th of July again saw us traveling. Honestly, being away from family and friends on special occasions is one of the hardest parts of deputation for me. But, we always try to make the best of it and we usually do. I decided to try something crazy for packing this time and for our two week trip I packed the three of us entirely in clothes that were red, white, blue or gray. Don't worry, not every outfit was patriotic for the whole two weeks! I ended up wearing mostly blue. July 3rd was a Wednesday so I dressed my daughter up in the outfit below and thought she was absolutely precious! (I can say that even though I'm her mother, right?) We even had matching hair flowers. She didn't end up wearing the play necklaces to our meeting but she enjoyed playing with them. 

The next day, the 4th, we had about a two hour drive to our next destination. We stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and Dida very much enjoyed her .50 cent "I-seam" cone.

We then had a few hours to settle in to our next place and shop for groceries before we headed out to a local golf and ski resort to partake in some festivities and watch the fireworks. We only knew to go there because the pastor of the church we were at also happened to work there and her gave us the tip.

 I was so thankful that we had purchased a shower curtain to sit on because about an hour before the fireworks there was a big rain storm so the ground was pretty wet. Instead of feeling silly for having a shower curtain instead of a blanket, I was feeling pretty smart! Dida also enjoyed the bounce house and being in grass where she didn't have to worry about being bitten by ants!

 Sadly, we found out the hard way that our daughter is NOT ready for fireworks. This was the first time we had taken her and we really weren't sure what she would do. About 3 explosions in, she was done! Daddy had to come to the rescue and take her inside, where, he later told me she kept pointing as far away from the fireworks as she could get and saying "No wan-ne!" (meaning I don't want . . .) I'm still not sure she has forgiven us as she now clings to me every time she hears a lawn mower or motorcycle! We'll try again in a few years I guess!

Third Baby Shower

So, I decided to throw my best friend a third baby shower. I'm not really sure if that's something you do, but who cares? I'm at a point in my life where I feel like celebrating as much as I can, while I can. Although we are still not 100%, it does look like my family is going to make our goal of finishing deputation at the end of March 2014, which means we will be moving to Costa Rica in April! But that story is for another day. The only relevance here is that it is making me take the time I have with my loved ones more seriously.

A little back story on the Mommy-to-be (hopefully any day now as she is already over-due): she and her family are also missionaries on deputation.When their first daughter was born they were living in a a very small (one room, one bathroom) place with no storage, so as her daughter outgrew things she had to get rid of them as there was no where to keep them. Then, we both got pregnant, her with her second, a son and me with my first, a daughter. She started giving me the hand me downs (some of which I have been able to to return to her) and our families moved in to either side of a duplex our church owns, just in time for our babies to be born. This gave her a lot more space, but sadly it was too late to hang on to any baby clothes under size 9 months (which is when she started giving them to me). So, here comes round 3 for her and it's another baby girl with nothing to wear! I just couldn't let that happen, and neither could her other friends, so I threw a baby shower asking solely for cute new outfits. Here is what I did for the shower:

I kept the food simple. The menu included perminto cheese and (store bought) chicken salad on Hawaiian rolls, carrots and cucumbers with (store bought) ranch dip, strawberries, blueberries, and vanilla waifers with Dessert Dip, chilled dill pickles, cheese cubes and Ice Cream Sandwhich Cake. To drink, there was lemonade punch and coffee punch, with extra whipped cream from the cake for topping.

For games, as an ice breaker I gave everyone a few diapers and a marker to make Late Night Diapers, and I also had them fill out their address on a envelope for a thank you card. For another game I came up with questions to ask the Dad and filmed him answering them before hand, then at the party I had the Mom answer the questions and then played back his answers. We also had a sock sorting competition with the new socks going to the Mom and the grand champ winning a prize!

 Some of the guests and all of the children!

 Games and favors table

The Mommy opening her new outfits!

While the Mom was opening her gifts I gave everyone a "binkie" and the first one to finish it won a prize. 

 Me and my two best friends, all pregnant at once!

Favors! I ended up with several of the extras but didn't mind!

I think the Mom to be enjoyed it as well as all who came so I consider that a success! In another month and a half I get to co-host a boy baby shower for the girl on the left in the above picture and I'm totally looking forward to it!

More Maternity Outfits

I'm at the point in my pregnancy where I don't mind taking outfit pictures again, so here are a few more! We have been traveling a lot recently and then when we were home we had camp meeting at church, I put on a baby shower for a friend and I had a lot of house projects to catch up on. I haven't been doing a lot of cooking or crafting but I hope to have some time to again once I stop traveling before baby girl #2 comes!

I wore this for lunch with a friend and dinner with my family. It was sooo cool and comfortable! 

Dress: Wal-mart (wish I had gotten more than one!)

Necklace: Gift

Belt: Charlotte Russe

I put on this baby doll top one more time before putting it away. I loved it with my cobalt maternity skirt and bubble necklace. Leopard shoes seemed more interesting than black. Also, my sweet daughter has to be in on every outfit picture. I usually crop her out but she just looked too sweet (and was too close) in this one!
Top: Kohl's
Skirt: Target (maternity)
Necklace: Beall's Outlet
Shoes: Payless

I got this shirt for $4 because it was long sleeve. It looked really stupid with long sleeves they were sewn on right where mine stop) and I wanted it short sleeved anyways, so it was an easy fix! I just cut them off a few inches below where I wanted the new length to be and then cuffed them twice and tacked the cuffs down. I have loved wearing it and will continue to wear it when not pregnant as well.
Shirt - Old Navy (altered)
Skirt - Target (maternity)
Shoes - Kohl's

Style: Using Inspiration Photos when Pregnant

I have a Pinterest board full of outfit inspiration photos that I am just waiting to try, but that is a bit of a challenge when I'm pregnant! It seems like every other day I try something on and "Oh look! Here's another one for the closet shelf that I won't be wearing again until November!" I know I'm lucky that I do have a lot that still fits though. I know some women have to buy a whole maternity wardrobe while I am able to make a lot of what I already have work for a while. So, to make it more fun, the last time we were home I tried to make outfits with as many of my inspiration photos as possible. Here are the results:

I took this inspiration photo in the window of Franchesca's. I loved the pastel colors with the cream and camel brown. For my version I paired a lavender maternity top with a blush pink cami and necklace. Sadly, my camel brown belt no longer fits so I went with the gold from the buckle instead.

Tee - Target (maternity)

Tank - Aeropostale

Skirt - Vanity

Necklace - Charlotte Russe

Belt - Forever 21

Shoes - Payless

I've had this one on deck for quite some time and you may see the color pairing again in the future. I was going to visit my grandparents at the nursing home (where my grandpa has the heat on in summer) so I wanted to keep things as cool as possible and thus went with a tank that did not need layering and earrings in turquoise instead of a necklace. I also have a bracelet on in that color which is hard to see in the pic but that ties it all together.

Tank: JC Penny

Skirt - Target

Earrings - Flea market

Bracelet/ Flip Flops - Payless

I originally pinned this after I bought a navy dress, but I liked the colors together so much that I decided to wear this version for church, but you may see this color pairing again as well!

Tee - Kohl's

Skirt - altered

Necklace - Beall's Outlet

Belt - Vanity

Shoes - Payless 

I got a compliment from a teenager working behind the Chick-fil-A counter on this outfit. It is quite possible that she was only being nice so I don't really flatter myself but it took me by surprise! I really love the chambray shirt trend and you will definitely be seeing more outfits with them from me in the future. I didn't go so much with the colors on this one, as the concept: denim shirt, floral skirt, big necklace in complementing colors.

Shirt: Altered

Skirt - Old Navy

Necklace - Gift

Belt - Target

Shoes - Payless

I didn't actually plan this one after the picture but it must have been in the back of my mind somewhere. I will be doing this one again with yellow!

Shirt - Wal-mart

Tank - Kohl's (maternity)

Skirt - Target (maternity)

Necklace - Gift

Belt - Body Central

Shoes - Rack Room Shoes

Go Chic or Go Home - Your Virtual Closet!

Recently I found Audry of Putting Me Together on Pinterest and have really enjoyed following her blog. The first set of posts I read was her Building a Remixable Wardrobe series and I really enjoyed how she put everything in simple terms and basic rules. I especially enjoyed the post about Layering Pieces or "completer pieces" as she called them because I have realized lately that those are what can really take an outfit to the next level.

 But this post isn't about her, awesome as she is! It's about another website that she introduced her readers to: Go Chic or Go Home. I haven't had a ton of time to play around with it yet but there is one feature that I am truly excited about: the virtual closet feature! I have been wanting to have a digitized version of my closet for quite some time that I could use to keep me more organized. I knew that if I just took photos of my clothes and kept them on my computer that I would have to do a lot of work to really use them in the way I wanted to. GCOGH does the organizing for me. You start by taking photos of your clothes and then and then uploading them to the site. Then you label each piece by type and color and the site organizes them and you can drag and drop them to create outfits. You can save those outfits and access them/change them at any time. I plan to use this as a resource for trip planning as well as outfits that I want to feature on the blog. On the website you can also view outfits and clothes from other users and share/glean ideas with each other. There is also a section where you can get coupon codes for stores that you like. Here is an outfit I built and then wore recently to take my daughter to play at the mall.

T-shirt - Ross (maternity)
Gauchos - Wal-Mart
Shoes - Kohl's
Scarf - Wal-Mart

Click here to request an invitation to join the site!

Fearless - Book Review

Here is another Blogging For Books review. For this round I decided to pick something entirely different for me. I really like to read books about things that I don't know anything about. I love learning about new subjects and the lives of Navy Seals is certainly ground that I've never covered!

Overview: This book tells the amazing life story of a man named Adam Brown who battled more than just the Taliban. In the midst of it all he found Christ and that is what saw him through. Adam grew up in Arkansas and wanted to do nothing but play for his older brother's high school football team. He wasn't a star but he did his best. He also was just an all around good kid, until after high school that is. After graduation he fell into the wrong crowd and ended up a drug addict, putting his family and friends in danger and ultimately himself in jail. After serving his time he went through several attempts at rehab but always failed, until he met his future wife. After meeting her he still had slip ups with the drugs but he had finally turned a corner. Through a series of small miracles he actually was able to enter the Navy on the tract to become a Seal and was able to put drugs behind him for good. The rest of the book follows Adam through his amazing accomplishments as a Navy Seal despite numerous injuries that would have sidelined other men, and an account of the battle in which he ultimately gave his life for his country.

Pros: I learned a lot about the military that I was not aware of by reading this book. I also got a different perspective of the lives of military wives and children and gained an even greater respect for them. And, not that I ever doubted it, but reading accounts from the "War on Terror" strengthened my conviction on the necessity of it. Also, this book is a real testament to what someone with a real faith in God can be capable of, and of God's grace to see them through.

Cons: Adam's life was not pretty. This is not a book for children. Adam's family wanted his story to be told without reserve in hopes that it could help others. That being said it covers alcohol, heavy drug use, profanity (in some of his correspondence), and violence on and off the battlefield.

Conclusion: I enjoyed reading this and I would recommend that every American Christian read this book or one like it. Our Military deserves to be revered and respected for what they do for our country and we need to be remember why they must do it.

You can find out more about "Fearless" here.

Kohl's Convert

If you had asked me a few months ago if I liked or shopped at Kohl's I would have said, "Not really". Every time I had been in there in the last few years I couldn't find any good deals. Everything seemed so expensive! I had bought a few things there in the past but it was not on my top list of stores! Then I was sweetly given an amazing amount of gift cards for Kohl's. A church had a "Christmas" for us and a lot of what we were given was gift cards. I kept laughing as I opened yet another Kohl's gift card. I thought, "I guess I'll have to learn to like Kohl's!" Well, the first thing I did was sign up for the store e-mails. They sent me a $5 off coupon just for signing up! That got me started on the right foot with them. Then, as I started to watch the e-mails I noticed that there were cycles in which you could earn "Kohl's Cash". You could get $10 for every $50 you spend. Armed with my $5 coupon and my gift cards I decided to give it a try. My plan was to get as close to spending $105.00 as possible. I had a long list of things to look for (baby shower gifts, 4-5T clothes for my daughter, some Maternity basics, shoes, etc.) so it wasn't much of a problem. The good news was, however, that everything was on some kind of sale as well! Nothing I picked up was over $10, except a pair of shoes that I fell in love with and those were a whopping $15. Before I could get the to register though I was approached with yet another deal. Did I want to open a Kohl's charge card and save another 20% on everything? I explained that I planned to pay with gift cards and although I didn't mind applying, could I still use my gift cards with the 20% off today? She said that would be fine and started getting my information while I set about figuring out how to spend my extra $20 (20% off of my planned $100). I literally felt like one of those extreme couponers! When I got to the register I had done my math the best I could and just hoped everything would work out. I used the $5 off coupon for a couple of small things and paid about $1. Then I piled everything else on and watched my tally go up. My total after coupons and discounts? $101.00! And I walked away with $20 Kohl's cash to come back and spend the next week! Here's a few of the things I got:

Everything on the bed is from Kohl's (not all the same trip) except the pink dresses on the bottom left and right corners (which are form Target)

I was super excited to get some matching things for my two girls! Some of those clothes cost as little as $2.40! I also got 3 t shirts and 3 maternity undershirts for myself as well as those adorable new sandals, a pair of earings and a few gifts! Something else great? You can also use your Kohl's cash with other coupons and someone told me that they will even take expired Kohl's cash (although I'm a little afraid to try it). I guess you could say I'm a Kohl's fan now!