Interior Inspiration: 5 Swoon-worthy Spaces

Happy Friday, ya'll! (Apparently I'm channeling my inner southern gal today.) Seeing as we're moving soon (if you didn't see the announcement on instagram, check it out, and follow me... shameless plug!), all things home decor have been on my mind lately. The thought of having more space and a new layout is so appealing and I can't wait to get in there and have some fun. So I thought I would share some of the spaces that have been inspiring me lately as I've been dreaming about our new place. 

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The light fixture, the basket, the rug, the lucite table that you can hardly tell is there... I love it all! Bring on a beautiful entryway! But this entryway isn't just beautiful... it's also functional! A place to sit, somewhere to corral your keys, and some extra storage. What's not to love?

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I adore the bright and airy simplicity of this living room. The use of color and texture is awesome and definitely inspires me to get a little bit bolder in my choice of both. I'm also a major fan of the bamboo roman shades and definitely need to look into that for window coverings in our new place.

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This bright living and dining space has a couple crucial pieces that I love—plants, beautiful moulding, and fun seating. Plus those floor-to-ceiling windows are to die for!

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I cannot sing the praises of this kitchen enough! It's the perfect blend of bright color and white, with a bit of natural thrown in. I think I would love doing dishes at that huge sink looking out that stunning blue-framed window. Although open shelving in the kitchen is a bit controversial for practical reasons, I think everybody can agree that it looks beautiful... and this kitchen is no exception!

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I love the black and white going on with the bed, and the warm tones in the rug and tables just makes this bedroom look so cozy. The simplicity is great... and I definitely want to try and incorporate 'simple' more into our new home.

So there you have it! Five spaces that I've totally been drooling over. Obviously, a lot of these spaces are the actual home themselves, but the general feeling and decor can be brought into any space... and I hope to bring them into ours! Do you have any spaces that you've been adoring lately?

Have a great weekend, friends!

When Anxiety Gets the Best of You

I'm not normally one who is burdened with excessive amounts of anxiety. I'm usually a pretty happy-go-lucky, we'll-cross-that-bridge-when-we-get-there kinda gal. But there are times—hours, days, weeks, seasons—that I find myself overcome with anxiety. And this past week just so happened to be one of them.

You see, these past few months have felt a bit like limbo. Nothing too extreme was happening in our lives, there wasn't much change, and we were waiting on what felt like a hundred things that just needed time. 

And then this week happened. Let's just say that each day has brought about some big change, decision, or stressor—from overseas trips, to housing situations, to future career goals, to phone calls with pharmacists and doctors—it's been one crazy week.

But it's also been one wonderful week. I have seen God answer our repeated prayers from the last months. I have seen Him provide. I have felt His comfort and peace as I have cried out to Him for guidance and strength.

I was again reminded that God is the only one who can give complete peace amidst anxiety-inducing circumstances. I was ushered into His presence where I experienced His grace. He did not leave me alone. He was right there, guiding, comforting, speaking words of truth and wisdom. All I had to do was ask.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

—Philippians 4:6–7

God can guard our hearts and our minds against anxiety, if only we ask Him, if only we lay before Him our desires, fears, anxieties, requests, longings. When we give it all to Him, He gives to us, in return, His peace, which surpasses all understanding. That's a pretty good trade, if you ask me.

So if you're starting to feel that anxiety creep in—that feeling of tightness in your chest, or shortness of breath, or being on the verge of tears—turn to Him! Turn to the only one who can fully remove that anxiety and replace it with unspeakable peace.

Changing our Habits: 30 Days of Eating Healthy

This past week Loverboy and I decided to start a very loose interpretation of Whole30... and when I say very loose, I mean ver-er-errrryyyy loose. Like, we're still eating dairy (gasp!). And salad dressing (say it ain't so!). And peanut butter (noooooo!). Ok, I probably shouldn't even call it a loose interpretation of Whole30. Whoever started Whole30 is probably rolling over in their grave. Except I'm sure they're still alive because they eat so dang healthy. Anywho...

We ARE staying away from mass quantities of sugar (read: any sweets, dessert, chocolate, candy, or anything with abhorrent amounts of added sugar) and carbs/grain stuffs (I'm not a nutritionist so I don't know the real way to say that, but basically no bread, pasta, couscous, aforementioned yummies like cake and cookies, cereal, pizza, breaded anything, and other things that make the sun shine and the butterflies dance). We're doing this because we (especially me) really love our sugars and carbs just a little too much. And by a little, I mean a lottle. 

We do however, have the right to decide we are going to cheat a little, but only for special occasions or when other people are feeding us. Not when we are sitting on the couch at home after work.

So, we're 5 days in to this 30 day thing... 1/6 of the way there! And it's been pretty decent overall. I've been enjoying eggs and cheese with fruit for breakfast, and we've learned that potatoes are actually a pretty good substitution for pasta. ("But HOW do we have shrimp and asparagus without PASTA?!" We figured it out... drama averted.)

I'm excited to see how the month goes, how we're feeling, if we decide to stick with some of our new habits and integrate them into our normal, everyday diet. So far I haven't felt too tempted (and in fact have even felt relief that I have an excuse to not grab that piece of cake at work). I feel like the past year or so I have filled my body with so much junk, so it feels good to have a little self-control (I might be singing a different tune in a couple weeks!).So if you have any good recipes for me, please pass them my way. And let me know if you've ever tried going sugar/grain free, and if so, how it went. Or if you were REALLY brave and actually did the Whole30. :)

10 Organizations Fighting for Justice to Follow on Facebook

There's always so much talk about how Facebook can be detrimental... causing us to judge, compare, throw pity-parties, or find reason to complain. But what if we started to use Facebook as a means to learn more about a specific topic? As a way to educate ourselves and get connected to meaningful work around the globe? I've been trying it out the last couple months and it's been BOMB.



I decided to "like" a bunch of pages on Facebook of organizations that are fighting human trafficking. I figured it could be cool to stay up to date on what's happening in the anti-trafficking world, and since I'm on Facebook a decent amount of time, why not throw some good stuff in there?

So if you like seeing inspirational/motivational/convicting/informational/educational little photos, along with articles, news stories, blog posts and more that all have to do with anti-trafficking and justice, then I've got some sweet Facebook pages for you to "like." 

1. Exodus Cry
2. International Justice Mission
3. Tiny Hands International
4. The CNN Freedom Project
5. Truckers Against Trafficking
6. Stop the Traffik
7. A21
8. Not For Sale
9. Love 146
10. The Justice Conference

And a little bonus for you... we're just getting started, but check out the new ministry that Loverboy and I are helping lead at our church: Bethlehem Against Sexual Exploitation

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Friday, folks! Stopping by to say hello and give you some fun things to look at/read/think about/try. You know the drill.

FIRSTLY,
One of my favorite-ist blogs, A Beautiful Mess, bought, flipped (like hardcore), and donated a house to Habitat for Humanity. And let me tell you, it is a thing of beauty. They're sharing all their stunning before and afters, room-by-room, on their blog. Here's where you can find all of them. (Just to give you an idea of how much I love this blog, last night I had a dream about meeting Elsie (one of the sister bloggers) and I was super nervous and awkward. You guys, I am strange. Dreaming about meeting bloggers?! Seriously. I need to get out more.)

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SECONDLY,

This book, Girls Like Us, is super duper good. Like doubly super duper. If you are interested at all in learning about human trafficking and sexual exploitation, start here! I will probably write more about it later, but just know this... you will not want to put this book down, as you read of true stories of girls and get a major education along the way. Get it here, or borrow it from your library, like I did (however, I will be purchasing it to reference, highlight, and share. It was just that good.) Also, check out my church's new anti-trafficking ministry, BASE.

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THIRDLY,
This. Stuff. Yes, it looks like digested grass, but holy smokes is it delicious! You can get it at Trader Joe's for something like a couple bucks and it is like Indian heaven. Put it with some rice (or even pasta! I like Orzo) and some fish or chicken, and add spice as necessary. Easiest tastiest meal ever.

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Welp, that's all I've got for you today. Go out there and enjoy the sunshine this weekend!

Two Years Ago Today [On Taking Risks]

Two years ago today, a very nervous, very sweaty Loverboy asked me to go steady with him (well, those might not have been his exact words, but I'm allowed a bit of creative license, right?).

I remember feeling nervous, and a little sweaty myself (it WAS in the middle of July), and very unsure about this whole getting serious thing. But I also remember that I had just recently had a talk with a friend that if Brian would want to make our friendship more of a "relationship," that even if I wasn't sure, I would still say yes, just to give it a chance. I would say yes to see where it went, because I sure didn't want to regret saying no later and never knowing what could have been.

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And I can say that 8 1/2 months of dating, 5 1/2 months of engagement, and 10 months of marriage later, I am SO glad that I said yes! I am so glad that I went out on a ledge and jumped, even when I wasn't 100% sure. I'm so glad that I tried something that was scary and unknown. I'm so glad that I took a risk.

Because yes, we could have totally not worked out, and that could have been heartbreaking. We could have awkwardly broken up two weeks later and had to go through the whole tell your friends and answer uncomfortable questions phase. We could have, but we didn't. And we would have never known if Loverboy hadn't taken the risk to ask, and if I hadn't taken the risk to say yes.

Now you may get the idea that this post is all about how you should go ask that girl out, or always say yes to some relationship proposal. But that is NOT the point of this post. (Phew!) The point is this—risks are so worth it. Because in the end, whether things end up like you hoped they would or not, you have learned something. You have relied on God as the only one who knows how this whole thing was going to end up, and your faith will be strengthened because of it.

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So what risk can you take today? This week? This year? What is something that is a little outside of your comfort zone, that you aren't 100% sure about, that could end up awfully—but could also end of wonderfully—that you could do?

"To risk is to willingly place your life in the hand of an unseen God and an unknown future, then to watch him come through. He starts to get real when you live like that." —Jennie Allen's professor, from her book Anything.

So go out there and take a risk today. Who knows, it may lead you to a spouse who is altogether more than you dreamed of. ;)

Truth Before Me [With a Free Phone Background]

I forget very easily. I need reminders. Whether it be some profound truth I've learned, or an appointment I've made, I just don't remember on my own. So you better believe that my google calendar is stuffed to the gills and that my reminders app is constantly being updated. But what about those things that are deeper, that need to take root? How can I be reminding myself about those?

One way that I've found helpful is through visual reminders throughout my house—whether it be through sticky notes or index cards or pretty prints. I have a sticky note on my mirror that simply says "us>me" to remind me every morning that my marriage and the unity and team-ness of it is more important than my desires or opinions. I have a framed print in the sunroom that reads "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" (from The Nesting Place) to remind me that our home is a place of imperfection and grace, but can still hold beauty and meaning. 

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These reminders of truth, they help me. They keep me centered on what is important and give me a framework for how I can be living my life. And while sticky notes and pretty prints are wonderful, one of the strongest visual reminders that I can give myself is my phone lock screen. I might see the sticky note 2 or 3 times in a day, whereas I'm looking at my phone all throughout the day. So I decided to make a little something pretty to remind myself of one of the most important truths in my life. One that I want to go deeper than anything else. 

Jesus loves me, this I know. In my heart, my bones, my soul.

I want this truth, that Jesus loves me, to truly be something that I know... deep down in my heart, my bones, my soul. I want it to inform everything that I do, say, think. I want it to drive my prayers, my decisions, my life. I want it to be what people know about me—that I know that I am deeply loved by my savior, my love, Jesus. 

And this truth before me, it will help sink that Jesus loves me just a little bit deeper. It will give me little reminders throughout the day that what I want, what I long for, is to know this truth deeper than I know or depend on anything else. So if you want to join me in this... this truth set constantly before me, download the background here.