Hope & Sail

I feel like my entire life has been leading up to this moment. It actually has, I guess, all my moments have led to this one, and this one, and now this one; if you’ll follow my thinking. I think of Jo March before she left for New York, the Pevensies before they walked through the wardrobe, Scout Finch at the beginning of the summer she met Dill, Anne Shirley waiting to be picked up by the Cuthberts, Mary Lennox before she had the key to the garden. Like these dear friends of mine, I have found myself at the end of a page with no idea what will happen when it turns.

But what I know is this: hope & sail. The idea originally came to me in a dream, in the space between asleep and awake. In it was the loveliest boat, warm ocean breezes, and the sweetest voice: “hope & sail.” To make it on any voyage one must have a destination and a means.  Hope is a destination; the dreams and expectations I have for my life are places I am headed. A sail is the means; with the wind of the Holy Spirit propelling me towards my destination.

I also feel challenged to look at "hope & sail" as a verb, calling me to action. I need to hope - to trust that God will give me the desires of my heart - and actively go after it. This season of my life is one where I can freely hope and then sail towards those things I hope for. It really is an exciting time.

Hopefully next week I'll have some information to share about a voyage, so to speak, that epitomizes hope & sail for me.

Closet

I made a lot of progress on my closet yesterday, which was great. I still have work to do in the bedroom, but for now, I'll show you the closet.

This horrible pile of stuff was right outside my room.

 Closet before. Note: mixed up clothes, books everywhere, shoe mess.

 Closet after. Not 100% but much, much better. Also, only a few shoe cubbies have 2 pairs of shoes, whereas before 2 was the minimum!

 From the door.

 Other side. Once again, still needs work, but at least I can see my clothes.

Pile of donations. And trash. See there are some books in there! ;)

*also, the reason so much doesn't fit is because when I moved out I got a queen sized bed, as opposed to the twin I had been using for years. So 1 bookshelf and a piece of my desk didn't make it back in, which, surprisingly, added a lot of storage!

Anybody else cleaning up and clearing out at the start of the year?

Welcome!

Welcome from my new home! I'm looking forward to a new year, a new blog, and many new experiences.

This week I moved back into my parents house. My landlord's other home sold faster than we expected; but I was able to just move home. I think it's going to be good for us all. I learned a lot in those two months. A lot about life and also about myself.

This moving process, however, has revealed something that I'm not OK with. I don't know how I did it, but in 2 months I acquired more stuff than I left with. The amount of meaningless junk I packed into my car is horrifying, Moving all of my clothes twice has shocked my system into a major purge. It is a cut-throat process and nothing is safe!

All of my craft supplies are going to be cut in half. - I just decided that right now, I hope I can stick with it. - And I may, may get rid of some books.

Stay tuned for the embarrassing photographic proof.

Christmas Trees!

I happened to have yards and yards of this mossy green felt.

 

What would you do with this? It has served in some projects, (the back of my fabric flowers, for example) but really? This much green felt is almost impossible to get rid of.

Until I found this pattern and knew I would be making a forest of tiny Christmas trees.

My trees don't look as cute as the colorful ones on Allsorts, but I still love how wonky and "Island of Misfit Toys"-esque they are! They are super easy and take less than a movie to finish, which is great for unwinding and being creative for awhile. I can't wait to use up all my felt and make some for friends and family. I may even need a big one. ;)

Also, I have a fun new photo app on my phone. :)

Multi-Tasking

I have a problem. I am addicted to multi-tasking. It's true. At home I find myself watching a movie while crocheting, flipping through a magazine, probably eating, and texting. At the office, I can be editing video, watching a podcast, drawing/making lists, and staying caught up on Facebook.
I think we live in a time where it's easy to do so. If I can do one thing on a desktop computer, have a laptop on the desk, and my smart phone in my hand and it is accepted as normal, then I think it's an indicator that multi-tasking is part of our society. But the other day I realized it has moved on from unconscious "efficiency" to something that I actually crave.

I have a 35 minute drive to work and basically any shopping/entertainment/dining establishments. I noticed while I was driving home that I was drawn to my phone. Like it was actually begging me to pick it up and check my Twitter or RSS feed. And that's when I realized that if I can't even drive home without multi-tasking, then I need to clear some stuff out. Not to mention the safety hazard that comes into play when you are not 100% attentive to the vehicle you're operating at 65 mph.

I have made a conscious choice to be intentional about the things that I do. If I'm going to look at a magazine, then read the magazine. If it's a movie, then only a movie. I should take more time to enjoy the food that I'm eating, even if it's take out. :) If I'm working, my work will end up being a better product if I focus a solid hour to one task than countless hours flipping back and forth between the multiple tabs and programs I have open. And if it's driving, then it better be only driving.

Anyways, that was just stirring around in my head. And even though I have 2 tabs open and 4 programs, I've stuck to this post the whole way through. This is progress, people!

What about you? Do you find yourself doing a ton of things at the same time? Anyone else bad about multi-tasking in the car?

My New Place!

Banjo and I are taking a step into adulthood (I guess it's about time) and we moved out of our parents house into a rental house! The house is actually closer to my niece and her parents (we used to live 2 streets away, now only 1!) and is really nice.

I have roommates coming in December, so for now it's just me and Banjo!

 My very blue bedroom :) I still have some pieces of furniture to move over and get my bed off the floor. :)

My purple office/crafts/media room. I'll have my desk and computer in here as well as my sewing machine and crafty things.

 Bathroom that is all mine! No brothers allowed!

  Looking from the back door towards the front! (I have no furniture, haha!)

I'm excited for this next chapter in my life. I pray that God uses it as a time where I can not only learn about myself but a time where I will be challenged and stretched to think farther beyond myself and truly embrace others.

Winds of Change

It is interesting to me how you start to get a rhythm with your life and then something changes. I've found that I finally get a groove with work and then the season changes and my workload (and brain-load) changes. I think that's why I've felt so tired for the last two weeks. We're coming into fall (still not totally here in sunny AZ) and things at the church are changing; normal, "coming-into-fall" changes and also "specific-to-this-time" changes.

I may also be tired because 2 weekends ago, our student ministries group went on our annual Red-I trip to Magic Mountain. Here's the run-down: at 10pm Thursday, students show up at the church. At 1(or so) am, we pile into vans and drive all night to Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA. We spend all day riding roller coasters, walking around the park, eating junk food and getting soaked. At 11pm, we meet up and head to In-n-Out for a giant (but fantastic) cheeseburger that will sit in your belly the whole ride home. We load up and drive all night back to AZ and get to the church around 7am. :) *We have designated drivers who spend a little bit of time at the park, but then go to a hotel to sleep so they can drive us safely back.

I think that will throw anyone off for a while. But, it's such a fun trip and an amazing time to connect with students. The experiences and conversations you have on a trip like that would never happen anywhere else. I love my job!

This post has no pictures, but the next one will because....I moved into my own place! Stay tuned for that update! :)