sewing up a storm

Not only have I been sewing like mad to supply my first etsy shop, but I have also been caught up in a whirlwind of various other projects. This time has been amazing to just do what I love! Even though I have pretty much endless amounts of time to sew to my hearts content, I still have a laundry list of projects and inspirational pictures tucked away that I have yet to get to. Here are some that I have conquered so far...

a nursing cover for my sister in law
some little bunnies for my nieces and nephews for Easter
a bib w/plastic overlay & a pocket at the bottom for easy clean up
two pillow covers: one ruffled, one printed with our initialsome binky clips for my niece & nephew

3 in 1

In the 3 weeks we've been back from Asia, a lot has happened. My parents, sister, nephew, & niece came to visit for a weekend, Jake got a great job (praise the Lord!), and some dear friends from college came to visit as well! All that along with the day to day happenings of settling into a new town (figuring out where to grocery shop, how to get around, setting up health insurance for a new state, finding a church, getting to know people in the community...).

I have been trying to figure out what my days should look like. I haven't found a job and don't think I will. It just doesn't make sense to drive the trooper (talk about a gas hog) a half hour into town for a job that probably wouldn't even cover the gas to get in to it. So I have began to settle into my role during this temporary time in life. I've been learning to enjoy this restful, no commitment season rather than let the expectations of what the world says is a productive day make me feel guilty. My days have been floating by just being able to do what I love - cooking, crafting, sewing, spending time with the Lord & friends. I even decided to open an etsy shop to try to sell some of the items I've been creating. Check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/practicalperspective. Maybe doing what I love can bring in a little side cash!

Anyways, to get to the title of this post... Yesterday I spent the majority of the day cooking. Do you ever buy too many groceries for a week thinking you'll make more meals than you actually do only to have produce and meat products start to go bad before you can use them? I had done this once again, so I decided to make three different meals in one day planning to eat one for dinner that night and freeze the other two. BONUS: this consolidated the prep time (by being able to chop up multiple ingredients just one time during the week), and I dirtied the kitchen in one fell swoop rather than 3 different nights!

Here's what I made: beer cheese soup, ham potato soup, & a cheesy beef & potato pot pie

I froze the two different soups in mason jars (I got two full ones out of each pot) to use at a later date, and shared the pot pie with friends for dinner. How exciting to have homemade meals already prepared for a later use - soup is a great meal to take to new parents, people who are sick, or anyone you just want to bless with a night off from cooking.

talk about spontaneity

Sometimes I feel like I've lost the willingness to be spontaneous. In college I was the one trying to get everyone else to drop current responsibilities for the excitement of a spur of the moment adventure. These days I feel like I'm getting old, slowly sinking into the commitments and rules of adulthood. I began to take more calculated feats that made sense and fit into a logical time frame. That was until about two months ago. I snapped out of the funk! In the past two months Jake and I have had a friend live with us, sold our home by owner, moved to a new state, and taken a month long trip to SE Asia. We had only been living in Tieton for two days when we decided that we wanted to get out and see the world.

After debating whether or not to take the trip at all, we concluded that now was the time if ever to do it- no kids, no jobs, no commitments, & a little money in our savings account. When in the near future would we have this opportunity again? The other option we considered was Europe, but after researching to find that the weather was poor and the expense was great we set our hearts on SE Asia. Very surprising considering that I had never had any interest in going there ever. Jake had studied abroad in Bangkok for 6 months and had places that he wanted to show me as well as places that he wished he would have seen. We booked our tickets on a Tuesday and left the following Monday. Talk about quick planning! We found a local bookstore and spent hours on end researching the cities we wanted to visit. Too cheap to buy the books, we just took notes then compiled them together. We packed one large backpack, and one carry on backpack for the two of us. My birthday was on the Sunday before we left so my parents came up to visit for the weekend. After a last minute Typhoid vaccine (thanks to a friend of my sister who happens to be a doctor), and last minute scrambling to figure out where to park our car in Seattle for a month, we were on our way...

First stop: BANGKOK

During two days in Bangkok we: saw where Jake lived for 6 months, toured the market, ate at "the place", walked around the gigantic shopping malls, walked to the top of a temple, rode a tuk-tuk, toured Ko Sahn Road, got thai massages, rode the water taxi & public bus #48, and ate pineapple fried rice, pork fried omlette, garlic chicken, chicken katsu, mango with sticky rice, birdy coffee, thai iced coffee, & dragonfruit.

Second stop: AO NANG (Krabi, Thailand)

During the 6 days in Ao Nang we: layed on the beautiful beach, went island hopping to five islands, got 3 massages in huts on the beach, went rock climbing, snorkeling and sea kayaking, shopped the markets, rode a moped around the peninsula, ate roti every morning for breakfast, ate pad thai, green curry, massaman curry, cornettos, pineapple, doughnuts, noodle bowl, & cashew chicken.

We bussed to Phuket for one night, flew to Chiang Mai, then bussed directly to Chiang Rai.

Third stop: CHIANG RAI

During the 4 days in Chiang Rai we: met up with our friend Bik, went to a Thai/English church, went to see the white temple, went to the market, cooked an authentic Thai dinner, rented a moped and rode to the Burmese border, went wine tasting, & ate tom yum soup, yellow curry, mangoes, coconut ice cream, fried bananas, & garlic pork.

In one day we rode a moped with three people and all our stuff, hopped a plane to Bangkok, bussed to the border of Cambodia, & rode a taxi to Siem Reap.

Fourth stop: SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

During four days in Cambodia we: met some lifelong German friends, walked around the town, rode a tuk tuk to a lake, hung in hammocks by the lake, shopped the market, ate cambodian bbq (including frogs), saw corrupt poverty, toured Angkor Wat, ate mangoes, cambodian noodles, chocolate croissants, pastries, & baguettes.

We taxied back to the border, rode a bus to Bangkok, spent the night in the airport, then flew to Bali, Indonesia.

Fifth stop: BALI INDONESIA

During our 13 days in Bali we: rode mopeds around the island (& got a ticket), went to a water park, went surfing, went boogy boarding, stayed in the mountains for a couple days, saw an authentic Indonesian dance, hiked in rice fields, got very annoyed with the people, layed on the beach, hung by pools at various resorts, watched lightening on the beach every night, & ate roast suckling pig, nasty Indonesian food, pizza, snapper, tuna fillet, fish & chips, french fries, tons of popsicles, & Indonesian banana honey pancakes.

We flew from Bali to Bangkok.

Sixth stop: BANGKOK

We had two days in Bangkok before we left for home: we went and ate our favorite food for one last time (pineapple fried rice, thai coffee...), miraculously found Jake's favorite food cart-crepes with oreos, gelatto, chocolate sauce, & whip cream, had a wonderful homemade Thai meal with friends, played nertz, did some last minute shopping, got bumped (including $600, 5 star hotel, incredible buffets for breakfast, lunch & dinner).

Then sadly it was over. We flew home with a three hour layover in Tokyo. Our good friend Joey let us stay the night in Seattle with him, then we drove back to Tieton, WA. What an INCREDIBLE month adventure with my BEST friend!!! Sorry for the length of this post. I tried to keep it short, but really it is only touching the tip of the iceberg.

few and far between

I have come to realize that I am a horrible example of consistent blogging. However, at this brief moment in life I feel like I am justified. For the past month and a half we have been in the process of selling our home by owner! It has been ALL the Lord to bring a buyer and hold our hands through the whole process (considering we know absolutely nothing!). Needless to say it has been a huge learning experience wherein TONS of growth both in our relationship with the Lord and with each other has taken place. Day by day has been a struggle for me to push on in the whirlwind of loose ends there has been to wrap up. I am very much a plan ahead type of person, so figuring out a happy balance between letting things fall into place that are out of my grasp and being fully prepared has stretched me. There have been multiple rather large life decisions made in the past few weeks and the only thing getting me through the stress is keeping my eyes on the Lord, and through that being able to submit to and respect my husband. It has been a beautiful process, but I am ready for the somewhat organized chaos and endless list of decisions piling up to be over.

We are completely changing our pace of life by moving from Sherwoood, Oregon to the quaint little town of Tieton, Washington. This decision has been in the works for over two years now as well as the struggle between following the world's goals (getting a career, a house, etc...), and giving the goals that we believe the Lord has set before us a shot (trying out full time ministry, valuing simplicity, family, community before money). Not to say that you can't do the latter while doing the former, but we've found that for us the world's goals have been distracting and wearing on the life we feel we should be living.

That being said, we are excited to embark on this new chapter of life and marriage as we seek the Lord first and continue to develop our vision for our family. Changing pace and lifestyle should also give me, and hopefully Jake too, more time to enjoy the simple things in life- like blogging more often! Thanks for your patience and support in the process.

Christmas time delights

I LOVE decorating for Christmas! Although I'm fairly newly married and don't have too many decorations yet, I absolutely adore the ones I've collected thus far. Luckily for me we've lived in a home that allows us to have a ginormous tree (we're talking 16+ feet, the kind where youneed a ladder to decorate it)! Here is a sampling of the holiday cheer we have going on at our place...

getting back to it

Last time I blogged I felt like I was finally getting into it with two posts in one day and all... Then I followed up with no posts for almost two months. This blogging thing is hard. We are however in the midst of selling our home, and figuring out where to go and what to do (can I use that as an excuse?). I have been busy crafting a lot lately. Thanks to my wonderful in-laws, I am the owner of a new brother sewing machine. She saw the sorry excuse for one that I was attempting to learn to sew on and went and bought me a legitimate machine. I have been pumping out projects ever since. Many are gifts, so I will have to post them after Christmas. However, I can show you my proudest accomplishment so far...

a newsie hat...



I also wanted to share a neat little idea that I made for Thanksgiving (I got the idea from my friend Lauren's blog). They are individual blackberry and apple pies baked in mason jars to boot! So delicious, and so cute.

two posts in one day

Today is a good day for blogging. Some may say I'm going overboard by posting twice in one day. However, there is much I've been wanting to share with little results. Refurbishing, refinishing, and reinventing are what I love. My heart leaps when finding things for sale well below their actual value, or better yet, for free. It makes me feel like I've discovered treasure, or outwitted greedy business giants. I find value in cherishing simplicity and figuring out how to create common experiences in a cheaper way. Today, Jake and I picked flowers in the country. It was so fun to create our own bouquets, then come home and arrange them. And best of all, I didn't have to pay $20 for them at the store.

practical projects

During the last couple weeks, Jake and I have been working on building a couple projects. This has not always been Jake's favorite thing to do in the past. He has been so kind to humor me this time around, and since we got rolling I think DIYing has grown on him. We finally finished two of our endeavors recently, and I LOVE the way they turned out!

a mason jar shelf: We made two and haven't decided where to hang them yet. They would be great in so many places- the entry way to collect keys, coins, pens, notes..., the garage to hold nails, screws, hammers, screwdrivers..., the kitchen to store teas, coffee, utensils, flowers..., the office to organize crafting supplies, paint brushes, ribbon, buttons... the possibilities are endless here. They are so neat though!

AND an over-the-door drying rack (as our "laundry room" is a closet and up to this point drying clothes has happened in our hallway). It has a wainscoting background made from scraps that were left from putting it up in our living room, and the rungs were salvaged from our old broken drying rack. We also screwed in little knobs on the bottom to hang clothes on hangers from. So chic and relatively simple to make!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, a simple refinishing of a headboard. I had been looking for one to fit our queen sized bed for awhile. Then I stumbled upon this beauty at a garage sale. I'd say $2 was more than a fair price. It was a funky pale green color and I simply spray painted it a crisp white to update it. Here's before with no headboard:

and after: I am still yet to figure out what to hang above the headboard, and I would also like to trade out or redo the side tables. At least for now I have a lovely new headboard.