Restless

I am restless. Both in body & in spirit. I think my legs are signaling me to get up and run. But Lord only knows where to. They've been stuck in a holding period for so long they are out of shape, they are out of tune. Loss of memory is more like it. I've been stuck in a holding period for so long that I've forgotten how to really move... maybe I never really knew . But I am so ready to. So ready to go.... let's go.

Let's figure out what these legs are for.

They simply can't take this stillness anymore. They have more important things to do. Beautiful places to take me to. Lovely faces to meet and move in step with. A life, my dear, a life so full and passionate that it makes your restless legs dance. Dance in time to a melody they've known all along. For that's what life lived out in its truest form is, a dance. You were made for this romance. You already know all the steps....

So now that you know, put one foot in front of the other... and go.

(Photo source)

Smash Booking!

I have talked about my mad love for art journaling quite a bit on this blog and now I think it's time for me to talk about my new obsession: Smash Booking.

It's official, I have fallen in love with Smash Booking! I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened. I have been drooling over these lovely books full of their pretty paper (I'm a total sucker for pretty paper) in the Wal-Mart craft section for months now. So finally I caved... I bought one for me and one for my sister, (who I just turned on to the craze, she has now been bitten by the Smash Book bug too).

Smash Books are a lot like art journals except the backgrounds are already done for you and you can just freely "smash" in whatever you like. Pictures (I have been using it as a scrapbook of sorts), ticket stubs, notes, quotes, anything at all really. It's basically art journaling's little sister, in my opinion. And it's so much fun, I'm seriously addicted!

They have different color Smash Books you can choose from and each have different paper that coordinates with the theme, such as: Pretty Pink (which is the one my sister & I have), Retro Blue, Doodle Red, Mod Black, Eco Green, Simple Orange, etc.

They also come with a really convenient pen that has a glue stick on the other side, it's pretty awesome, I love it! The Smash Book company (K&Company) also have tons of products and embellishments that make the experience even more fun, so definitely check those out as well. I love collecting them!

Below is a little flip through my Smash Book. Hope you enjoy taking a peak at the pages I’ve done so far! They were so fun to make! :)

My “Pretty Pink” Smash Book. I have yet to decorate the cover but definitely plan on doing so soon!

The inside of the front cover and first page of my Smash Book. My introduction pages, if you will. I used a picture of a dream catcher I recently made for my room and a quote that I love from Madeleine L'Engle.

A summer themed page. I added a list of summer goals, an old post card with a picture of the bay in my town, and a picture of the sun that my cousin drew a few years ago.

Pictures of my visit to Walton's Fancy & Staple in Austin!

A totally random, fun page! Some things I used were a magazine clipping, paint sample, Starbucks Via package lol, an envelope, an old ticket to an Imax movie, and another drawing by my cousin that I had lying around (Yes, I’m that girl, I keep everything…but I refuse to be called a pack rat! lol).

A page dedicated to my visit to Le Cordon Bleu in Austin last month!

A 4th of July themed page I made using a picture of the fireworks my sister (who came to visit from GA that week)  took at the bay in our town. As well as a picture of the Key Lime Pie we made for dessert!

This is another random page, I used an old birthday card (loved the bird embroidered on it), a page from an old book, stamps, washi tape, as well as other embellishments. This page turned out to be one of my favorites!

So that's my Smash Book so far! I hope you guys are now inspired to pick one up and start smashing for yourself! It really is a fun creative outlet! :)

The Whole Point – Thoughts on blogging

I was recently in a very nostalgic music mood and started looking up old songs from my childhood on YouTube. Well of course for a Christian kid who grew up immersed in the world of "CCM" that meant lots old Amy Grant songs lol. Her music was my childhood in a nut shell. While I was searching, I came across an interview she did while recording her 1994 album, "House of Love"... an album of which my best friend at the time & I totally wore out! Singing & dancing to every song. Anyway, I love listening to Amy speak, she never fails to inspire me in some way. These words about what compels her do music just stuck with me:

"I guess really what compels me to do music in such a public way is that I do think life is short and if you don't really share yourself, share who you really are with other people well, you've really missed the whole point. When that's really all we can do at the end of the day."

This quote is so timely for me as I have lately been thinking a lot about why I blog... why I've done it for as long as have and why I continue to come back to this place. Because honestly, sometimes I'm not quite sure why.

I've never had a lot of readers or comments... though to be sure, I am very grateful for who ever would take the time out of their day to read anything I write. But this little blog of mine is just that, little. And I'm never sure if anyone is really following along. And then I have so many frustrations with how blogging has changed over the years. It's changed drastically since I first started back in 2009. In some ways good but in a lot of ways not so good, in my opinion.

Yet for all my frustrations I, for some reason, keep coming back... and maybe the reason is that something inside of me is simply compelled to share my heart and life with other people. Even if it's just a small group of people… and even if it is sporadically, as my blogging tends to be lol. It means something to me. It means something to me to have a place for self expression, sharing myself with others… and maybe somehow finding community in the midst of it all. Isn’t that what we all started blogging for in the first place? You know, before number of followers, comments, sponsorships, and “building our brand” got in the way?

Maybe I'll never have hundreds of followers and comments... maybe I'll never do any sponsorships or giveaways, but if  I can just share my heart and life with you, the person reading right now, then maybe it's worth it to keep coming back. To share recipes, music, crafts, and my words with you is to share pieces of who I am. And if I can give you just a small glimpse into who I am and what I'm about then maybe this whole blogging thing will be worth something at the end of the day.

Which I will be the very first to admit that I'm not so good at doing this. I think I tend to be pretty private and in turn pretty hard to get to know. But blogging can give you the odd sort of courage to break down some of your walls in order to share and let yourself be known. And I really want to try and have the courage to blog from this place and in this perspective from now on.

I mean, because to not share myself with other people, not only on this blog but in my everyday face to face relationships, would really be missing the whole point, don't you think?

And just for the heck of it, here are a couple of my favorite Amy Grant songs from the House of Love album. Not ashamed to say that I still know all the words lol. : “Lucky One”, “House of Love”.