beautiful things...

Today I have been talking with my good friend, Holly about life, parenting and simplicity... celebrating and honoring the gift that you are as an individual... doing this for others as well.  Playing to your strengths... One of Holly's many strengths is party planning.  (Click here and here to see proof!) While I like me a good party, planning one all by my lonesome is not so much my thing.  It is A-OK that Holly is PartyPlannerCentral and I'm not.  I don't have to pretend to be PartyPlannerCentral either... yet I can honor and celebrate the awesome giftedness of my PartyPlannerCentral friend... and hire her to plan my events lol!  If I had to plan an entire event all by myself, everyone would be dead and there would be no party.  *Insert howls of laughter from me and Holly here*

It is a beautiful thing to honor and celebrate who we are.

It is a beautiful thing to keep everyday life simple.  Remembering that life is not about the clothes you wear, the car you drive or the company you keep.  No, who we are is all about what we do--not so much job-wise, but our actions, reactions and interactions with others in the passage of everyday life.  Showing Love, Extending Grace, Navigating Relationships, The Words We Speak, Parenting and just Living Day to Day Life is supposed to be a beautifully simple extension of who we are.  It is the grateful acceptance of this fact: there is more than enough room for You to be You and Me to be Me.  Both valued, cherished and respected as a work of art from our Creator.  

So whether you are thoughtful, creative, rational and observant like Holly or a silly, creative, and bossy daydreamer like me, know that God is making a beautiful masterpiece of your life.  "A colorful mosaic" is how my pastor described it on Easter Sunday and the absolute coolest thing of all is that our Creator's work is highly specialized.  He ONLY makes Beautiful Things...

"You make beautiful things...

You make beautiful things out of dust.

You make beautiful things... 

You make beautiful things out of us."

 -Gungor, Beautiful Things

Today let's stop pretending like life is so complicated.  For me today is all about laundry, homeschool, this blog post, a little bit of planning for an event this weekend, jammies, Lego blocks and My Heart On Legs singing, "You make beautiful things out of us and dust." 

Today can you trust that God is making a beautiful thing out of us?  

Because He is... 

For real.  

Even when it don't look like it.  

What if we just do the thing that is directly in front of us... and then keep doing whatever is in front of us over and over again?  I am convinced that each little action we take is part of this giant mosaic of Life.  

Open your heart, your mind and your eyes to recognize and embrace simplicity, which really means to see the beauty of any given thing.  

jennifer is a party pooper

Yesterday I ran into a friend (Michelle!) and her darling kiddos at the mall.  I was on a mission to buy lemon scented hand soap and grab Chickfila for Wee Daddy (kiddo of the hubster and me).  Seeing Michelle and her fam = bonus.  Well, it turned out to be a triple bonus day because in addition to seeing Michelle, she hipped me to an AMAZING deal (WOOP WOOP!) ...and I saw another friend (Kristin!) with two of her adorable cutie pies.  


Last night when I went on Kristin's Facebook page to say so glad I saw yall, I saw the most hilarious video.  It made me laugh laugh laugh because I so appreciate languages, idioms, cliches, and all that gets lost in translation when it comes to national culture.  I watched the video and laughed until my side was (painfully) CRAMPING due to laughter.    Then I watched it some more.  

I hope it made you laugh too!

Click here for more laughs!!!

Laughter makes the heart merry!

25 ways to wear a scarf

A few winters ago, my good friend Jai introduced me to the fun-joy-love of wearing a scarf.  At the time, we were both focused on blasting our debt, so we had a tight bugdets that we were following.  Jai happened to come upon the cutest, softest scarves in a variety of designs and colors for the lovely price of five bucks!  At the time, that type of splurge was in the budget so I became her apprentice and she taught me everything she knew about rocking a scarf.  I soaked up her lessons and reveled in scarfdom.  


Just the other day, my friend, Kaysie posted a scarf tutorial on Facebook.  I watched it no less than three times and I was practically drooling the entire time.  Pretty much I was (and still am!) loving this tutorial.  I decided to research the chica in the video giving the lesson.  I found out her name is Wendy (how cute is that?!?!).  Homegirl is a fierce fashionista!  For reals.  Click here to visit her blog: Wendy's Lookbook.  She is a stunna! And when I read her about page, I realized that she is a true beauty (inside and out) with deep deep strength and resilience.  She seems to live her life above the fray, which means she's our sister!  ;)  


Wendy is doing her fashion thang and doin' it well!  She has a YouTube channel and she is also on Twitta! (Twitter) :)  Check her out!  You will love her sweet spirit as well as the material she shares.  Her tutorial below is visually appealing and it inspires me to break out of my conservative scarf-wearing box.  I always always always wear what Wendy calls "the European loop." I will continue to wear the European loop; however, I plan to incorporate these looks in the near future: the decoration, the braid, the hidden knot, the magic trick and the basic loop (I can't resist a sweet loop hahal!)  Check out the video and let me know which looks are your fav!

Be inspired!

Be sweet!

best day ever

Jadyn Noelle Photography

Funny how the best days are usually the simplest days.  Yesterday was one of those days.  Beautiful weather. The only item on the agenda: fun times frolicking with friends.  I may have told you this before, but I believe I have the greatest friends on Earth.  Truly.  My friends = fabulosity personified. We ate here and it was DELISH! For reals. I wanted to lick my bowl and I actually thought about licking it more than once.  I refrained ONLY because the bowl was lined with paper and I knew I couldn't lick the juices without eating paper.  If I figure this dilemma out before my next visit, it is on like Donkey Kong.  We talked, laughed, enjoyed the silence, ran light errands together and then meandered about.  


Love.
Peace. 
Serendipity.
Togetherness.


And it didn't end there.
I finished the evening by "geeking out on my own terms" in a "judgement free zone" with another pal.  It was heavenly hash, downright divine and totally kosher.  The perfect finale to an utterly fabulous day.  


Giggles
PBJ
Navigating blog platforms
Swooning over this jewelry 
Togetherness


Friends = Brains, Lives and Hearts that are divinely connected.  


Show and tell your friends how much you love em.   
Enjoy each other's company as often as you can...  




"God made friends so we'll carry a part of His perfect love in all our hearts."  -Jill Wolf 
  




Hugs and Love!!! :)















  

How to Be a Fab Friend

photog courtesy of Jadyn Noelle Photography

Today I am thankful for my fab friends.  My BFFs, my road dogs, my homies for life.  I have awesome friends who encourage, support and inspire me.  Even as I am writing this post, an amazing email/Facebook message pops into my inbox.  My friends are the best.  I am so glad that I get to do life with magnificent people.  They make me better and I hope I do the same for them.  As I think about the dynamics of my friendships, here are a few important tidbits (that I learn from my friends) on how to be a fab friend:

1. Listen.  Really.

2. Love unconditionally

3. Show compassion & understanding

4. Be honest 

5. Encourage Encourage Encourage

6. Laugh

7. Forgive

8. Don't take yourself too seriously

9. Offer support 

10. Respect boundaries

To my dear friends, I love ya more than words can say.  You're the sugar in my sweet tea.   The frosting on my cupcake.  The ribbon in my sky.  


Thank you for making life sweet.