One Word ~ Explore

I was recently asked what my New Year's Resolution(s) were and guess what??? I am not making any!! What I will be doing is focusing on One Word for 2013.

I was doing some blog-hopping a few months ago and came across the website OneWord365.com.
The website is based on the principal of picking one word to guide you for the New Year. It challenges you to pick a word that has personal meaning for YOU, not your neighbor, and not your BFF...YOU!
More information can be found on their lovely website.

I have been thinking of my word for a few weeks now and to be honest I have been struggling with it. Nothing was waving at me saying "Here I am.. I am your word!!". After much prayer and pondering I was sitting in traffic the other evening behind a Ford Explorer and since then I could not get the word Explore out of my mind.

This word just is not "Me" in so many ways that at first i didn't acknowledge that this was what I had been praying for. Surely God knows that I am comfy with who I am, I am not an adventurer by nature. I prefer things to be calm and unchanging for the most part. I tend to be a homebody who is happy curled up on the sofa with a good book rather than out with others most nights. Why on earth would He keep showing me the word Explore? Surely there is another word that I need to incorporate more in my life. Maybe Faith, Compassion, or Enjoy? What is so special about the word Explore??
Since I am learning to be more faithful to what He tells me and I know that He knows that I need to get out of this comfort zone in order better myself for Him, I am simply going with it. Thankfully He has given me the gracious gift of loving to learn so I am looking forward to see where this word takes me.

Here is what the dictionary says about the word Explore.

ex·plore: [ik-splawr, -splohr] ex·plored, ex·plor·ing. 

verb (used with object) 

1. to traverse or range over (a region, area, etc.) for the purpose of discovery: to explore the island. 

2. to look into closely; scrutinize; examine: Let us explore the possibilities for improvement.

3. Surgery . to investigate into, especially mechanically, as with a probe.

4. Obsolete . to search for; search out.

verb (used without object)

5. to engage in exploration.

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Romans 12:2 says:
² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

It is time for me to be transformed and to renew my mind and through exploring I know I can accomplish this.


Here are some of the ways I will strive to put my word to use in 2013:

• Explore my thoughts.

• Explore my life.

• Explore my health.

• Explore deeper into Faith

• Explore my marriage.   

• Explore my family.

• Explore my surroundings.

• Explore everything possible for the next 365 days.

I am challenging myself to step out of my comfort zones in numerous ways this year as I no longer want to be dull or sluggish. I have no illusions that this will be an easy task but I look forward to seeing what I can Explore and I will be sharing my findings. :)

Edit to add: Check out my awesome new button made by the fabulous Melanie@OnlyaBreath.com.
Thanks Melanie~~I love it!!

Will you take the One Word 365 Day Challenge with me?  What will your word be for 2013?

A visit with Willly Wonka

Who doesn't love Chocolate?? I know the movie was really about Mr. Wonka but oh heavens the chocolate river was my favorite part. I just wanted to jump in and go swimming. Seriously I did!

The other evening we noticed a sign on the Square that said "Willie Wonka Tour" and we were all like  
"SIGN US UP"!!

Tonight we met up with the Wallace's and got to take out tour of the Chocolate Factory!!

Ok, ok, while it may not have been with the eccentric guy in the purple coat and top hat we did get a fabulous tour of Paul Thomas Chocolates. We also got to sample a few of their yummy creations!

Emma and Mark got to learn how the Chocolate Pretzels are made.

(I thought we needed a smaller version at the house but was vetoed)

I really wanted to sample the beauties below but alas they were not offered :( :(

It was a fun, FREE, evening and if you are ever in Dahlonega and see the sign for the Willie Wonka Tour I suggest that you sign up right away!

Have you experienced anything new in your own town/city lately? If so, I would love to hear about it!

Rainy Day Dreaming

It's a rainy day here in the South and we just got home from a yummy cookout with my parents, so I am spending a little time dreaming on Pinterest this afternoon.

The Handyman and I have talked about going somewhere off-the-chain for our 20th Anniversary next year and here is my suggestion. :)

Or maybe I should be honest and say that I just want to go relax at an Island...anytime!!

I hope you are having a great Labor Day!!

Wednesday Wisdom ~ Postive

I hope your having a wonderful day!!

Perk it Up! Vanity Redo

Project E.M.M.A.: Round 2

1 Free Vanity

1 Teen Age Daughter who detested the beige and gold finish. 

2 Cans of Purple Paint

1 Bottle of Lime Paint

= 1 Fabulous Purple Vanity!!

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In my on going mission to make Emma's room more colorful this vanity was our latest change.

I received it for free awhile back and the beige & gold finish was just not doing it for her. 

She took her own sweet time deciding on what colors she wanted to use but finally settled on Purple and Lime. We grabbed the paint, lightly sanded the piece, and started spraying.

Em seems to be happy with the results so far! 

We still have the chair to paint in Lime and we are going to pick out the material for the seat.

After that we are on to picking out fabric for her new quilt!! 

Before/After

What have you painted to "make new" lately? Did you make it colorful or did you tone down the color?

I would love to see your projects!!

Project E. M. M. A.

I am a MOM on a mission! If I do not accomplish my mission then I will fail as a Mom!!

Yea Right who am I kidding?!? Seriously though, I am on a mission to redo Ms. Em's room. The last major update we had on it was her new bed back in August of last year! Hmm I have been totally slacking!!

If you happen to follow me on Pinterest then you know that I am always on the lookout for colorful pieces to add to Ms. Em's room. We have a few larger projects that we will be working on soon but I stumbled across something this weekend that I knew I had to go ahead and do.

I have always loved seeing my kids names on things. I am sure it stems from the fact that my own name is never on anything unless it is a custom made piece due to it's crazy spelling(love you Mom!) I also have a major love of letters, any kind of letters will do as I am not picky at all! This time I did find all the same style letters in Ms. Em's name so I knew I had to get them. I also knew that I wanted to make some sort of hanging sign and this is what I came up with.

 Plain ole street sign letters(no I did not steal them!!)

 Pick out some pretty papers.

 Trim to fit and ink the edges.

 Stack of letters and finished paper before the mod-podge was pulled out.

 Add some ribbon and WaaaLaaa you have a Name Sign!!

I tied a knot in the ribbon and just hung it over the top of her bed. 

It may not stay here but for now she likes it :) and I LOVE it!!

Is it crazy that I like seeing her name so much? I happen to think that it is cool to see your name on things.
Is your name easy to find on items at the gift shop? Do you have lots of pens, mugs, license plates for your 10-speed bike or are you all sad and nameless too? (laughing -- kinda)

Friday we are starting on one of the bigger projects for her room and I couldn't be more excited about it! Can't wait to share it!

Full Steam Ahead!

The 4th of July in our family always involves the Steam Engine Parade in our hometown. 

It is dirty, loud and ohhh so much FUN!!

Top Left: Tim Hubbard leading the way!

Top Right: The girls are all smiles before the start of the parade: Melissa, Whitney, Colette, Emma, and Autumn!

Bottom Left: My fave parade watcher of the day! Her cheeks were the cutest!!

Bottom Right: The Case Engine and Thrasher that has been a tradition for my family since the 60's!

What are some traditions that you and your family celebrate on the 4th?

Adventures in Sewing: Episode 1 ~ Inital Taggie

So if you recall I was recently given a Singer Sewing Machine so that I could practice one of my new hobbies :)
I wanted to make something special for my new Nephew but couldn't decide what to do until I was looking through some of the 2E's baby photos and noticed their taggie blankets. Both kiddos always loved their taggies so I knew this would be the perfect thing for my first project. However, Me being Me, I wanted to put another spin on things so I decided to do an initial instead of a plain old square.

Since this was my first project of this type there was lots of trial and error to say the least haha but hopefully this little tutorial makes sense.

Initial Taggie 

Materials:

• Colorful Fabric
• Ribbon is various colors, widths, textures.

Step 1: Decide how large you want the letter to be. 

Step 2: Choose your font in a Word program, print it, and cut it out.

(I free handed mine because I was too impatient to wait for my new ink to arrive so please ignore the pencil marks)

Step 3: Place two pieces of fabric face to face and pin the cut out letter where you want it on the fabric.
Step 4: Cut out the letter leaving a 1/4 inch or so extra fabric around the letter.

Step 5: Cut ribbon into 4-5 inch lengths. *Sorry I forgot to snap a pic when the ribbons were piled up :-/
Step 6: Fold ribbons in half and pin around the edge of the face of one of the cutout letters.

Step 7: Place letters face to face again and pin in place.
Note: I removed my ribbon pins at this point simply because I only had long ones and was running out of room haha

Step 8: Sew around the outside of the letter and leave a 1.5 inch wide space for turning.

Step 9: Unpin and turn inside out.
Step 10: Top Stitch place you use to turn inside out to finish the letter.

Final Step: Ohh & Ahhhh and be very impatient until you can give to Little Mr.Adorable for whom you made it. :) :)

It may not be perfect, I won't point out the mistakes, but I am happy with it and as soon as I get a pic with Zach and his taggie I will share it.

I do believe I am going to LOVE this new sewing hobby plus I feel pretty good at already working on one of my resolutions with it only being 8 days into the New Year :) :)

How are you going on your resolutions or changes so far?

Be All You Can Be

If your like me you want your blog to be all it can be. Well since we can't send our blog to the Army I love that Inspire Me Heather is having a blog hop so we can check out each others blogs and give some tips & hints on making our blogs the best they can be!

Check it out

If your like me you enjoy writing your own blog but you also love reading other blogs and seeing what sorts of ideas others have. I know certain things bother me(like music that auto plays and weird fonts) but other things make me smile(great photos and funny writing). It is always cool to see what others like or dislike when reading blogs so feel free to comment below and let me know what you think about my blog as I would love to make it better and reader friendly.

   Hope your having a great weekend!

Sneak Peek: Adventures in Sewing

It seems that someone was listening to my not-to-subtle hints about wanting a sewing machine because my MIL gave me one for a Christmas surprise!!*Thanks Honey for listening and passing it along :)*

I have always wanted to learn to sew and have been doing all sorts of "research" via Pinterest the past few weeks. Then today I finally set up the machine and then found a project that looks simple enough for me to start out on.
**UPDATE 1/7** I have decided that I need an upgrade on machines so I am doing lots of research to see which one will work best :) :)

Here is a Sneak Peek of what I am attempting, hopefully everything will go well and I can share it in full detail tomorrow :)

I am very excited about my new toy and am looking forward to doing all sorts of projects.

Did you get a new toy or creative outlet recently? If so what sort of projects are you planning on working on?

New Directions

No I am not having a Glee moment :) even if that did totally make me LOL to myself!!

With the New Year upon us everyone seems to be either making resolutions or resolving not to make any. However, I have decided to set my sights upon a few New Directions. There are changes that need to be made in my life & our home and 2012 will be the year that they will be accomplished. I know that if I have a specific list out in the www then I will be more apt to look at it often and know that I want to mark items off this To-Do-List.

I know it sounds like a cliche but in 2012 I will get healthy! I have actually got a little jump start back on November 4th when I made some changes in my diet. I now drink only water and surprising like it. I was a SweetTeaAholic and so I was worried about cutting it out cold turkey but I have had no issues at all and can tell a major different from that change alone. I am not dumb though and knew that it wasn't only Sweet Tea that made me fat so I have cut out sweets, I rarely eat anything fried and am eating more fruits each day as well. I am also cooking more dinners at home for our family which is benefiting all of us. I am adding exercise to this as well and since I can already wear jeans that I couldn't even button two months ago it is giving me the boost to know that I can be successful at this!! :)

I want to be more organized in our home. We have a small cabin which we love but it also doesn't have an over-abundance of storage space so I want to go through everything, toss out what we don't need/use and then organize the rest. I know that once things are organized that it will help our everyday lives all the better. Being Organized = LESS STRESS :) Now to get everyone else on board haha.

 I want to get a better handle on our budget. We went through the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University a few years ago and have not been very good graduates. One of the top priorities this year is to start making a serious dent in our debt and to have more of a savings for unexpected things. We know that we can do this as long as we stick to it and that is one thing we intend to do more this year.

Personally I want to explore my creative side more in the upcoming year. I received a sewing machine for Christmas and I am excited about learning to use it. I have all sorts of projects Pinned that I want to make once I can figure out how to use the machine haha. I also want to learn to quilt. I have always had a love for quilts and am looking forward to making one for our bed and for the kids as well.  I am a firm believer in doing things for others but you also have to take time to do something for yourself as well and this year I will make more of an effort to have this ME time :)

 I want to spend more time with The HandyMan and the 2E's. Sure we spend time together almost daily but I want to take more outings and such as a family. There are a few places we have not been in ages and they are on our calendar to go explore. Family is a major part of our lives and as the 2E's get older it is even more important to spend time with them. Yesterday was Emma's 13th Birthday and it still amazes me that she is already a teenager when it seems like only yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital.

These are just a few of the New Directions in which I want to go this year. There are changes in the house I want to do like a shower added in our bathroom and a kitchen cabinet overhaul to name a few. There are also more personal changes I would like to make that I have been praying about. There are some things that need to be changed in order to benefit our family as they are the most important people. Life is not a race and not a competition. You must take time for your family, your friends and for yourself there is no other way to say it -- take the time to LOVE! Your body, mind, and soul will thank you for it <3 <3

I know that 2012 is going to be a very prosperous and blessed year for us and I am looking forward to seeing what all it holds!

What direction are you headed for this year? Or will be you trudging down the same road as always?