Good Week!

I am doing a HAPPY dance right now.  (That reminds me of my sister-in-law, Rachel, - she literally does a happy dance for a full minute HILARIOUS!!!!) This is for many reasons....

See that little number, its says 330...earlier it said something like 280. (Update its now like 345ish!)

1. I have had like 60 views on my blog TODAY.  You should read my post about Racism. I challenge you!

2. I HAVE JUST ABOUT FINISHED MY CRAFT ROOM! We have lived in this house for 9 months and I have always dreamed about this room! Well this summer I knew it was going to become a reality.
It started as a storage room so I cleaned and threw away and organized and moved stuff to other rooms. 

I then just simply put my desk and a cot in here without painting the walls.
Then last week I was hit with inspiration from pinterest and just went for it!!! I sanded and painted the walls this color: Halcyon Green

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6213-halcyon-green/

And then I set to decorating.  I decided that one side of my office would be for crafts and the other side office.  I am still in school so I needed a space to really study and focus without being surrounded by crafts.  And this is what I came up with:

This is the craft side.

This is the office side.  I still have to finish the desk, but I am getting there!

 Now for the individual pieces: (I am typing in the dark right now, that is difficult even with backlit keys! Just a little side note for you!)
This is the little dresser that I revamped.  It was a dirty old thing that I got for free at a yard sale. I used the pinterest Modge Podge recipe (Equal parts elmer's glue and water) and some cloth and scrap book paper I had and VOILA!

This is a old desk drawer that my MIL was throwing away so I modge podged it too!!

Love it!

 This is a loom that Yisrael got for me the same Christmas he proposed.  I have actually never used it, but I love it! I wanted to at least put it on display, so I hung some clothes pins to it for notes and then it can also function as a keepsake hanger.

my current project drawer!

My craft desk space - notice the Pinterest :)

My silhouette and yarn station! Notice my labeled drawers!

My extra ribbon wreath, thread (in this spice rack I found), and a cool canvas print

my relax place and storage boxes (LABELED AND EVERYTHING!!!)

My dad made this hook for me with his awesome black smithing skills and I am very fond of it!

Dish rack file organizer - Pinterest idea from my MIL!

Stuff to put on my bookshelf that is currently sitting at my mama's house!

My awesome door we found on the side of the road! 

Over all, I love my office so far!!

3. I found some awesome thrift store finds!

Bread machine - $3
Cool Bowl to Silhouettetify (new word, although my spell check doesn't change it!) - $2
4 glass plates to Silhouettetify (and again) - $2
French Press (WOOT!!) - $2
File Box - $1
Cute baby shirt - $1
Polka Dot 50s skirt - $4
YAY FOR THRIFT STORES!







4. I found some awesome stuff at my FAVORITE store ever - Dollar Tree!

















5. I made a pretty good recipe! Pinterest idea of course! and home made bread with my new bread maker! 
http://theshadyporch.blogspot.com/2011/11/chicken-dumpling-casserole.html
This is the recipe, I added broccoli and used pancake mix because we didn't have any Bisquick!

"I'm not being racist, but..."

Lately, the issue of racism has come up several times around me. From doctors and family members, to random people, I have heard so many conversations about people acting the way they do because of their color or thinking that all people of a color act that way.

People! Are we not past this?

Are there lazy people? Yes.  Are there people who abuse our government and tax money? Yes.  Are there people who don't work when they could? Yes. Are there people that take what they get for granted? Yes.  Are there people that judge others because of their financial status? Yes.  Are there people that judge people because of their color? Yes.

Jesus calls us to love.  LOVE! No matter what.

- The homeless man on the street who looks physically fit to work to my eyes - I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE IS GOING THROUGH!

- The person who uses food stamps - I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH.

I will not be scared of someone because of their color.  You might laugh at me saying this, but so many people I know won't go to that African American or Mexican neighborhood because of the color of people living there.  I am not saying that we need to throw caution to the wind and go into dangerous situations, but white people can rape, white people can kill, white people can sell you drugs.

Sorry guys, I am on a rant, but this is so frustrating to me.  I am a Caucasian raised in the south and therefore, I was raised in this racist atmosphere.  I struggle with it almost on a daily basis.  I CHOOSE not to be racist.  Not to think differently about someone because of their color, monetary status, chosen profession or lack thereof.

Guys, people do wrong.   I do wrong.  I am not saying that "living off the system" is right.  I am just saying, let's leave judging and being racist out of the equation.

So many people have fought for our freedom in this country.  The freedom from other countries, the freedom from oppressive religion, the freedom from OWNING OTHER PEOPLE, and the freedom of being able to live without being stereotyped.

Let's live a life of peace, a life of non-judgement, a life of happiness with ourselves and others.  Jesus does not only call us to love the people who are easy to get along with, the righteous, the rich, the ones that are the right color, the ones with the right job.  NO, JESUS CALLS US TO LOVE THOSE THAT ARE DIFFERENT.  TO EMBRACE THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW BETTER.  TO ENCOURAGE THOSE THAT DON'T SEE ANOTHER WAY.  JESUS WANTS US TO LOVE.

This week I am going to work on loving more and judging less, will you join me? Please leave your comments and I will try to explain better if something I said was unclear.

Until then, Love until it hurts AND THEN LOVE MORE!

Porn for women - post by Melissajenna.com attached

So I have thinking about doing a post about magic mike and fifty shades of grey for a while now. I found this post today which embodied exactly what I was thinking and wanted to write, so I decided there was no use recreating the wheel! As a culture we need to stop being afraid to talk about important issues like PORN. I hope you will read it and take it to heart! I most assuredly have and will!
Disclaimer: I had said that I wanted to read 50 shades of grey when I first started hearing about it. I did not realize at that time what it was all about. Please do not think I am hypocritical with this post about this issue.

http://melissajenna.com/2012/06/30/50-shades-of-magic-mike-in-which-i-am-very-uncool/