THANK FULL

What a season of Gratitude this has been!

I've been reading the book "One Thousand Gifts" and it's been so wonderful to be reminded that being grateful right where I'm at can make a big difference. To just see the beauty he has put all around and it's not just a life of "someday when..." or "when I have time to...". It's freeing!

Today I am thankful for:

YOU!!!
For Honesty
For a Love that meets you in the mess
To be married to the most wonderful man!
For the sunshine (in Kansas!)
That someday we will have this feast together :)
And for being known truly!

Hope your day is is full of Thanks!

Love, Amanda

November = MORE Autumn!

Have I said how much I love Autumn??? Well...I DO!

November is such a great month because it includes things like: Samantha Ann's Birthday, Thanksgiving, my Sweet Lemon's Birthday (aka Elizabeth Joy/Queenie Green Beanie/Flower/Liz/MY SISTER), and other cool stuff!














I've been getting crafty (speaking of crafty have you seen Get Crafty with Cleetus??? It gets me every time! SO funny!) These below were for our Navigators Women's Retreat. There hair doodads...in the shape of leaves (just in case you were wonderin').

But nothing competes with the real thing!

How do celebrate Autumn in your home???

October 2011 Recap - I Blinked and it was Over

I really love this time of year! It's funny that in a lot of ways Autumn feels like a time for new beginnings even though it marks the the season for falling leaves and the ushering in of a cold and windy winter. But for me it just feels like a season with so many possibilities. I love the colors, the pulling out of sweaters and layering up. I love soups and warms beverages and snuggling into someone special. It's fabulous and I will forever love this time of year!

Here is a quick (slash LONG) recap of a wonderful October!

Grandpa turned 80!!!

I really love this guy!

We got to go to a Waterdeep concert! It was soul satisfying for sure!

My first "Mugs and Muffins" with the Kansas State Nav girls!

Wyatt had school pictures (but we took our own).

Before we took that the Olinger lads had a little fun.

Nothing says Autumn like a little baking.

Coloring Pumpkins (it may be our new tradition...because I dislike wilted carved pumpkins)

Nice lines, little Olinger!

My sweet dad took our family pictures. This one was cut because Austin thinks his shirt looks funny, but I still like it enough to share!

"I'm Gonna Put a Brick on Your Head...

so you'll stop growing!" This is a phrase we use in my family to say "stop growing-up so fast". It sounds a little weird now that I think about it but hopefully you have the same kind of silly phrases in your own family history.

I was going threw some old photos and it made me get all teary. I miss holding "little" Wyatt. He is seriously getting big and a bigger part of me really loves that he's growing and developing and changing but there is also the small part of me that's like "Really!? This is happening too fast!".

I say...WE NEED MORE OLINGERS!

We've gone from this:

To my very own ham!

GOSH! Could they be any cuter!

Better to Make then Buy

I have had a hustle and bustle of crafty things happening around my house. I prefer to make rather than buy (although making still involves buying but you get what I'm saying).

With weddings and more weddings, it just feels more meaningful to put the time into making something that, hopefully, will be better then that one small and seemingly forgettable item off of someone registry. Since we have a small budget I can stretch a dollar by creating PLUS I really love to make things. It makes my heart happy and it tends to be therapeutic!

Here are some resent crafty projects:

My sweet Grandma Jarvis had these A-MAZING vintage squares that were my great-grandmother's lying around her house and she gave me a whole box! All I had to do was lay some out the way I liked and after a few hours I had a picnic blanket for my wonderful friends, Luke and Stephanie!

Frame: Secondhand store, spray painted. "B": bought and hand painted black. "Love" paper: bought, it's actually scrapbook paper aka I'm a big cheater. Final Product: A personalized home decor piece for my friends, Lauren and Joey!

And this is a little drawing I did for my friends, Erika and Ben. They want to have a more unique guestbook for their wedding. Thumb prints for leaves and signatures in the grass line! I can't wait to see the final product!

More to share soon! Pinky swear!

Little Bits of Happy

These are a few images of what I like to call "A little bit of happy". In the mist of our move there are these little corners of our home that just make me smile. They are comforting and bright and welcoming to a heart that is sometime wondering what she's doing in this new place.

This one might not look like much but it's my very own ART/CREATIVE closet! Thank you Lord above...the God who put this creative bone in my body! (Fun Fact: the painting on the far back wall is the first oil painting I ever did).

AND we have a silverware drawer (this might not strike you as all that amazing but let me tell you, the don't always come standard in rentals **cough** our last place)!!!

At the End of a Long Road

Four years of working, reading, writing, stretching and when it's all said and done we g0t an ornately adorned two dimensional object commemorating the accomplishment (and it has my awesome husband's name on it). SWEET! But really, the knowledge both of us learned over the past four years is invaluable. What a journey!
It makes me think of Psalm 23 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of DEATH I will fear no evil for you are with me" maybe I'm slightly over exaggerating but it was a ride for sure. There were times where we thought of Peter's response to Jesus when he said "where else would I go?" when limits were tested and we felt so weary. On the other side of the red sea we both feel so amazed by God's beauty and power and mystery. We didn't get crushed by the waves of education but rather, by his grace, were able to put one foot in front of the other and now we can look back and feel gratitude. Now our prayer is that we REMEMBER what he's done for us and trust him in the journey that follows.

Wyatt's Last Day of Preschool/What a Sweetie

Wyatt got to be in 3 year old preschool the last couple months we were in Denver. He had so much fun in his class of all boys and one girl (don't feel too bad for her, she definitely held her own). They went over bugs for two-thirds of the time he was there and the last couple weeks they went over fruits and vegetables. So for his last day we brought a snack that corresponded. Just to give credit where credit is due, I saw this first done by my friend Amanda Donovan. I think she even had clouds at the end made of marshmallows (or maybe I imaged it...sounds like a good idea though). I tried to make half the rainbow fruit and the other half veggies but when I got to the blue strip it just turns to all around fruit (do you know of a blue vegetable???)

Wyatt's teachers really enjoyed the treat (I think the kids did too since I received an empty patter at the end of the day)!!

Wyatt has also been our little helper as we continue to fund raise with the Navigators. I've had the blessing of running out of thank you stationary (too many thank yous is a good problem, right?) and so I've combined Wyatt's love to watercolor paint with my desire to have cool thank you cards. And this is what I got!!!
Now I can send out Wyatt Keith original paintings along with a THANK YOU! Thanks, little love!

Blogging Demerit/My personal retreat

Sooooooooooooo,
I haven't blogged in like, four months. WHOOPS! I could blame it on life or be more honest and say it hasn't been my first priority as of late.

So to make up for this confounded blemish on my blogging record I will try to blog WAY more frequently (do you notice the vague perimeters) at least until things get CRAZY again. (Does that sound better, my little lemon?)

Well. Where shall we start?
"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start."

We'll rewind to May and pick up there.

My last day of work at Solid Grounds, the place I'd held employment since February 2009, was May 8th (also known as Mother's Day). It was a bittersweet day but I think the main feeling I had was gratitude. I was so blessed to have had the job and experiences that it brought. I learned so much about myself, business, leading, following, and ultimately how I have so much more to learn. Austin was very gracious to let me take a personal retreat during the Monday that followed which was also finals week (thanks honey!). It was glorious, to say the least. I went to my favorite restaurant, window shopped ALONE (which means I didn't have to worry about little hands or bored husbands, and I could look as long as I liked). Then I went to my sweet friends house (they were out of town) and laid out in their back yard, painted my nails, ate chocolate, had time to pray, paint and just down right relax. I am so thankful to have such a day after so many months of being pushed to my max both emotionally and physically. Now it's PICTURE TIME!