2012 in Review Printable

I love the idea of reflecting on the ending year as much 

as I do thinking and planning for the new year ahead.  

Here's a fun little printable to help you do just that!

Print it out for each member of your family,

fill it out, and then fold it up, and store it for next New Year's Eve!

Wouldn't it be super fun to start a tradition of doing

 one of these each year and storing them in a scrapbook?

Print out your own HERE! 

2013- Love Big & Pray Big

I so love the beginning of the new year! 

Each year in preparation I create something that lists my 

goals & hopes for the following year. 

These aren't really resolutions, just things I want to remind myself 

as I approach the following year.

 I pray about the things God has in store for me in the coming year

 and ask him to lay those things on my heart.  

Here are my hopes for 2013:

My favorites are 

Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His

Stop the glorification of the busy

Be a Jesus girl who rises up & unexpectedly gives graces

Be a go giver

and Pray BIG!

Click HERE to print your own PDF copy

or just right click on the image to save it as a JPG.

Last year a sweet friend took my 2012 page and had it made into a magnet- 

which I loved and kept on my refrigerator as a reminder. 

This year I decided to turn mine into a poster and hang it in my office. 

 I so love the way it turned out! 

I had this super cute frame that I bought several years ago at an antique store

and it was perfect for it!

Want your own customized copy? 

Several friends wanted their very own customized poster

 (most with their family name instead of bless)

 so if you'd like to purchase your own,

email me (see link in top right corner) and

 I'll tell you the details!

Clear the Stage

My daughter and her dance company danced to this song last night at a dance convention.

I absolutely LOVE the dance- it is absolutely beautiful.  

So beautiful that although I've seen them do the dance before, 

I cry every single time. 

The song is Clear the Stage by Jimmy Needham 

and it's a truly amazing song with such a powerful message. 

My favorite lyrics are: 

Take a break from all the plans that you have made, and 

sit home alone and wait for God to whisper

Beg him please to open his mouth and speak and pray for 

real upon your knees until they blister

Shine the light on every corner of your life until the 

pride, and lust, and lies are in the open

Then read the word and put to test the things you’ve 

heard until your heart and soul are stirred and rocked and broken

Cause you can sing all you want to

Oh you can sing all you want to

You can sing all you want to, and still get it wrong

Oh worship is more than a song

We must not worship something that’s not even worth it

Clear the stage, make some space, for the one who deserves it

Don't Make........

Read this quote this weekend and loved it so!
It's so easy sometimes to focus on our prayers instead
 of on our Lord who loves us so!

don't make

A Reminder for YOU {and ME}

This last week before schools starts is CRAZY!

Everyone is tired,

everyone is overwhelmed,

everyone is exhausted.

Lists are long

and patience is short.

So here's a reminder for you

{and for me}:

You Can Do Anything

I'd Rather Have Jesus

A super sweet reader named Rebecca wrote to me earlier
 this summer asking for me to make one of her favorite quotes
 from the fabulous Laura Story into a poster. 

Although I haven't read Laura Story's book yet {I plan to soon!}
{What If Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops}
I love her song "Blessings".

Sadly my list of posters to make has been so long
that it wasn't until this morning that I got to it.

I love this quote and reading it makes me even more anxious to read her book!
{Click on the image below or on the little arrow in the top right corner
of the big document to print your own copy!}

{You may notice I've put this poster in Google Docs instead of Scribd.
It seems lots of people are having issues downloading from Scribd and I'm spending LOTS of time emailing copies to Mac users so I thought I'd try an alternative to see if it works any better! }

What's Up Buttercup?

Here's what I've been up to lately:

Working~

Lots of working.
This is me wishing I could get this caffeine from my
 Sonic Diet Coke into my system faster! 

This time of year is CRAZY for those of us in education! 

Not enough hours in the day for all that we want and hope
 to accomplish before school starts!

I've been swamped at work- feeling like I'm treading water at all times.
I so love my new job- seriously LOVE it-
but my learning curve is pretty much vertical right now.
So thankful for a job I love to do!

Reading~

I did stop working long enough to read our book club book this month
and it was so very interesting.

One of the things I love most about book club is that we
read books that I wouldn't normally pick up. 

This month's book was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and was fascinating.

Here's what Amazon says about the book:

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. 

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

If you are looking for an interesting read- check this book out! 

Watching~

We've also been watching the Olympics each night. 

Never before have I been so into watching them. 

It has just been so fascinating and inspiring to watch these 

amazing and dedicated young athletes. 

I watch their parents and think how proud they must be 

and how terrified they must be watching their kids. 

I am a nervous wreck watching Madison perform- 

because I know how much it means to her. 

Can you imagine how those Olympic athlete parents must feel?

To know how much they have given up,

how hard and how long they have trained,

and how much they want it? 

I'd have to be highly medicated I think. 

Seriously. 

Some of the parents are so fun to watch while their children perform. 

This one absolutely cracked us up! 

All You Need is........

Anyone that has been around me for any length of time 

{even a very short period of time}

knows that I LOVE Sonic Diet Coke! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Diet Coke is truly the fuel that keeps me running!

This time of year is so busy- especially with my new job-

 that I've been drinking ridiculous amounts of it. 

You know you have a problem with an addiction to Sonic Diet Coke 

when three separate friends bring you a Sonic drink over two days time! 

{plus you know you have super sweet friends!}

I made this fun new sign to put up in my office and thought I'd share it. 

All You Need is Diet Coke

My BFF  Dory loves coffee as much as I love Diet Coke so I made one for her too! 

All You Need is Coffee

So.....what's your MUST have addiction? 

Randomness in Pictures

Howdy y'all! 

I know it's been a sweet forever since I posted. 

Between helping with the retreat for moms who lost a child

 {one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced

and something I've been trying to write about},

 starting my new job {which I LOVE but is BUSY},

 helping Madison get ready to leave on a mission trip {she left yesterday},

 and all the normal life stuff I've just been pooped at the end of each day!

 I think I'm finally settling in to a routine so 

I should get back to posting normally soon! 

But in the meantime here's a recap of some things that have been going on......

We had our house painted and I had the front door painted turquoise! 

How fun is that? 

I love driving up each night and seeing it- it just makes me smile!

Found this note in our pantry after Madison left to go spend the night with a friend. 

That girl is SERIOUS about her candy corn! 

Took this picture from a book I was reading with Madison in preparation for her mission trip. 

Such wise words!!!

While Tony is recovering from his knee replacement surgery 

our dog Belle has become even more spoiled which I didn't think was even possible. 

She is a MESS!

I am blessed with many sweet and loving friends. 

These flowers were delivered on my first day of my new job 

by one such friend- who happens to be my former boss- 

{who was very unhappy I was leaving}

which made them even more special! 

Having Madison leave for her mission trip shortly after going on a retreat for the ladies who suffered the death of a child proved to be a bit harder than I anticipated. I have been ridiculously nervous about the trip 

{especially the 24 hour bus ride there and back}

 and so my sweet girl has been texting me every few hours.  

Just to tell me she's still alive.

Oh how I love that girl! 

Happy weekend y'all!

Did you know? He loves you so!

Another little treat I added to the gift baskets for the retreat this weekend 

were these super cute little frames. 

Our Michael's always has little frames like this in a
 variety of colors in their $1 bin.

I always have some on hand and have spray painted a ton of them

{after popping off the backs} in a variety of colors

for a variety of different uses. 

{little chalkboards, little pin cushions, little memo boards}

I was lucky enough to find these at Michael's the other day in black and white

 so I didn't even have to paint them- woo hoo!

I just created this little poster, printed it out wallet size at Walgreens, 

trimmed it to fit these super cute frames and they were ready to go! 

There's just something cute about something in a tiny frame- so cute!

Jesus Loves You

Scripture Cards

I've been working on some projects for a retreat this weekend 

for mothers who have lost a child. 

I'm in charge of the gift baskets that will be in the ladies room 

when they arrive on Friday night

 and I've enjoyed working on things for these sweet, grieving ladies.

Last year I made these scripture rings for the ladies.  

This year I wanted to do something with scripture again, 

but wanted it to be different.

So I created these 13 scripture cards, printed them out on cardstock, 

and placed them in these fabulous $0.99 IKEA frames. 

{I love these frames- they are so cute and double sided!}

I put two of the verses in the frame and then packaged the other 11 cards.

I thought the ladies could put them on their bathroom counter, their desk,

 their kitchen counter, their computer- 

anywhere they need a reminder of God's promises.

If you'd like to make your own set you can find the JPG's HERE

{these you can download and print in any size}

and the  81/2 x 11 PDF's HERE or HERE. 

{You'll notice the JPG's have more white space around them than the 

PDF copies so that they would work in the IKEA frame}

Scripture Cards

SB Special Requests

I  LOVE getting emails and comments from readers asking me to make 

special posters or and signs for them. 

I've been working on several special requests lately and 

although I emailed them to these sweet friends personally, 

I thought I'd post them here in case any of you would like them too! 

God Changes

The Lord Will Fight for You

Proverbs 31 25

Sweet Southern Sayings

I've always lived in Texas so to me hearing things like...

howdy y'all

bless your heart

gimme some sugar
good night nurse

seems totally normal but I realize that it's not the norm for many people. 

I love our silly southern sayings and decided to make
some fun little posters with some of my favorites! 

If you are my friend on Facebook, thanks for helping me come up with ideas!
{If there's one you wish were here that isn't,
just leave me a comment and I'll make one for you!}

Here they are in three groups:

Southern Sayings Part 1

Southern Sayings Part 2

Southern Sayings Part 3


Here they are individually:

hold your horses
come hug my neck
don't count your chickens before they hatch
gimme some sugar
good night nurse
hey y'all
lord, have mercy
howdy y'all
i'm fixin' to
it's over yonder
put your big girl panties on
oh bless your heart
oh my goodness gracious
well butter my biscuit
that dog don't hunt

Bible Blessings

My precious friend Betty is one of the most amazing ladies I've ever known- 

she is godly, so wise, and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. 

She is an incredible teacher, friend, mother {and Gigi}and

 is such a fabulous example and role model to everyone in her life.

She is truly beautiful- inside and out! 

We became friends shortly after my mother died and

 although she's a little young to be my mother she definitely has helped

 to fill that mama role for me and I thank God daily for her. 

Betty recently retired from teaching and moved several hours away 

to her new lake house {I see lots of lake trips in my future!}. 

I'm so happy for her but will miss her SO!

As we prepared for her retirement party 

I began trying to think of a gift idea for her. 

What do you give someone who has made a huge difference

 in your life and in the lives of so many others? 

As I sat down at church one Sunday morning and 

opened my Bible, I had an idea. 

Here's a picture of a page in my Bible.

As you can see I write the date of a verse when I read it. 

I've been doing this for years and absolutely love looking back 

and seeing when I read a verse- 

and thinking about what was going on in my life during that time. 

It's like a history of my scripture reading and I love that! 

As I looked at my Bible I thought of how neat it would be to give

sweet Betty a new Bible to take with her- 

full of all of her friends favorite Bible verses. 

So I purchased a new Bible for her along with some pens and highlighters. 

At her retirement party I set out the Bible with a sign for everyone to find

and highlight their favorite verses and then write their name next to it. 

It was so neat to see what verses people highlighted as their favorites! 

I plan to do this at Madison's graduation party {just 2 years away- eek}

and let all those people who have impacted her life highlight 

their favorite verses and then send it to college with her. 

How great will it be to have godly wisdom and advice from those she loves? 

You are MORE

You Are More

This is a line from one of my favorite songs

You are More by Tenth Avenue North.

Such a great reminder that we all need sometimes!

Parties and Surprises & Surgeries, OH MY!

This past week and a half have been so stinkin' busy! 

Here's a peek into just part of what's been going on through 

some Instagram photos from my phone! 

We held a retirement reception for my sweet friend Betty!

She's one of the most amazing, loving, wise women I've ever known 

and although I will miss her, I am so excited for her to

 begin this new stage of her life. 

I love her so!

Packed up my classroom and moved things to my new office.

Starting my new job the beginning of July and I'm super excited but 

it's always sad to leave a classroom. 

Mad and her sweet friend Meagan both turn 16 this week and they 

had a swim birthday party on the last day of school. 

Instead of presents they asked for donations of diapers

 for the Hope Pregnancy Center. 

Love these sweet girls and their hearts! 

Mad has the very BEST grandparents EVER 

who bought her a new car last Friday. 

She hasn't been super excited about driving but this snazzy new car

 sure did seem to motivate her! 

{Her mama likes driving it too!}

Saturday we had a small surprise party for my sweet girl. 

It was so great to be able to get her whole family 

{me, Tony, her dad, her brothers, all three sets of grandparents} 

plus some close friends together. 

She had no idea and it was super fun to surprise her! 

At 5:45am Monday we were at the hospital for my 

husband's knee replacement surgery. 

This was him before getting his nerve block- feeling good and ready to go! 

He is one tough cookie!

I wish I had been able to snap a pic of Tony AFTER his nerve block but 

before he went into surgery because that was FUNNY! 

As he was being wheeled away to surgery- he threw his hands up and yelled

"Let's PAARRTTAAY!"

We all died laughing and of course he can't remember it. 

Madison drew a pic to hang in his hospital room that shows him

 in his snazzy purple gown and socks. 

My friends sure do know and understand my Sonic addiction. 

All four days that we were in the hospital I had Sonic delivery! 

I am blessed!

I spent lots of time in the hospital FREEZING 

and not sleeping as you can see by this pic.

I often entertained myself by sending pics of myself to my BFF Dory. 

Lovely pic huh?

My sweet friend Jamee's sister makes the cutest cookies so

 I had her make some with the logo for the Joint University that

 Tony was in for his knee replacement.  

The staff was amazing and it was fun to give them a little thank you treat! 

We are home now and although he has a long 

road of recovery ahead he's doing great!

And I am so ready for life to slow down a bit! 

Sweetest Proposal EVER!

Seriously? 

How cute is this?

A Super List of Randomness

1. There are only 7 more days of school. 
SEVEN!

2. Just downloaded this cool new app- FaceDialer! 
It allows you to make picture icons for those people you text or call often! 
It's so stinkin' cool! I now have a page full of my super cute family and friends! 

3. LOVE this video!

4. Just finished reading this book for my book club

and it was super interesting! Love that it is a true story!

Now we are reading this book

and it's also fabulous! I can't wait to finish it and watch the movie! 

5.  I am in charge of providing gift baskets for some ladies 

that will be attending a retreat this summer.  

This is a special retreat for ladies who suffered a horrible tragedy- 

each has lost a child. 

(You can find information on the retreat here:http://www.haven-of-hope.com/category/retreat/)   

The ministry, Haven of Hope, was started by a dear friend of mine, Susan, 

whose  two children and her father died in a horrible accident back in 2002.  

She has turned her tragedy into helping others who have lost children and 

this retreat is an amazing way that she ministers to them.  

I am in charge of creating gift baskets for each of the sweet ladies who attend 

and I have had so much fun coming up with ideas for them! 

I've asked for and received some amazing donations 

{which I'll share as the date gets closer}! People are so kind!

{And if you have an idea of a business or person who might like to 

donate for the baskets, please let me know!}

6. I had heard people talk about Downton Abbey and never really thought much of it because I didn't think I'd like it.  Well a few weeks ago I decided to watch an episode on Netflix and I was immediately hooked! It is fabulous- such great characters, witty dialogue, fabulous story lines, and beautiful scenery and clothing.

 If you've never seen it- you must check it out- it is fabulous!!

         

7. Have I mentioned that there are only SEVEN days of school left?

Yep...SEVEN!

8. I've got a new job for next year and am SO excited about it!

I've been interviewing teachers for the past few weeks for a technology facilitator position on each campus in our district and today I had to tell those who didn't get the position at their campus. 

And y'all it was hard. Hard hard. 

Because I know these people wanted the position and many are my friends. 

:(

9. I heard this song at Madison's dance recital on Sunday 

and I just love love love it! 

I'm not a big hip hop music fan but I love the chorus of this song! 

10. Got this fortune the other day at lunch and it cracked me up!

Agree or disagree?

In Case of a Diet Coke Emergency

Need a fun way to give a gift card to a fellow Sonic drinker? 

Well here you go! 

Just print out this little sign, tape on a gift card 

and pop it in a cheap frame 

(I got this one for $1 at Ikea)

and it's a ready made fun gift! 

{And as always if you'd like it in a different color or with a different drink name,
 just let me know and I'll make it for you!}

Check out the comments below to links to other versions!

In Case of Emergency

Why I Hate Mother's Day

Anyone that knows me knows I am a holiday girl. 

I LOVE all holidays!

All except one......Mother's Day.

To be honest, I hate Mother's Day.

Yes...I truly HATE it. 

Every year I dread May and all the sweet commercials about mothers. 

Every year I say something about hating Mother's Day and my sweet friends immediately start saying things about how I should love it 

because I am a mother and it's a day to honor me. 

And to some extent they are right- 

I am a mother and absolutely LOVE being Madison's mom. 

I spent many years and lots of money and countless nights on my knees 

praying to become a mother and I love being Madison's mom. 

But here's the thing........

Mother's Day is a day to honor your mother. 

And my mother isn't here. 

The void left by that amazing woman-

the strongest, kindest, most loving woman I have ever known is huge.

I miss her every single solitary day with every single fiber of my being. 

Sometimes I feel the pain of her absence so strongly, 
so deeply that I feel that it will overtake me. 

I so often think of all the stories I never got to hear her tell, the trips we never got to take, the conversations we never got to have, the memories we never got to make, the projects we never got to do, the meals we never got to make, the holidays we never got to share, all the lessons she never got to teach me, the laughs and tears we never got to share and I feel so cheated. 

I so often think of all the amazing things about her and 

all that was lost when she died. 

The world was truly a better place with her in it. 

My world was a better place with her in it. 

And it sucks that the world no longer has her. 

That I no longer have my biggest cheerleader and most amazing 

role model, comforter, and protector. 

And to be honest sometimes it makes me angry. 

I so often think that I was robbed of such an amazing mother. 
I was not prepared or ready at the age of 32 to lose my mother- 

not that you ever are.

I wasn't done growing up, I wasn't done needing her, 

I wasn't done being taught by her, 

I wasn't done loving her and being loved by her.

Every single time I watch Maddie dance I cry because my mom never got to see her dance and I know how much she would have absolutely loved it. 

She never got to truly know the girl that is 

my beautiful, amazing, precious, funny daughter.

Although she has memories of my mother and pictures of her and 

we try hard to tell her stories and all the wonderful things about my mother, 

she does not truly know the wonderful woman that was her Nana. 

And I hate, hate, hate that. 

So please forgive me if hate this holiday. 

I'm sorry but being reminded of the huge void left by amazing mother

 is not something I can celebrate. 

I'll spend much of the day in tears wishing I had

 just another minute with my sweet mama. 

Just one more hug. 

One more time to hold her hand. 

One more time to hear her voice. 

Please forgive me for that and please understand 

and not try to convince me to feel otherwise. 

And if you are still lucky enough to have your sweet mama, 

please please please treasure every moment you are blessed to have her. 

Because sadly one day, you too will hate Mother's Day.