Monthly Archives: November 2014

Advent Day 1

30 Sunday Nov 2014

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“Advent is made of the moments. This slow unfurling of grace…Each day of Advent, we will actively wait.” Ann Voskamp

Advent means coming. Advent means Jesus is coming. And each day of Advent we turn our gaze to Him, and wait for the beautiful day of his birth.

I’ve had Ann Voskamp’s book The Greatest Gift since last Christmas and have been waiting all year to read it! When the reminder on my phone went off yesterday and said “Get ready for Advent, start reading The Greatest Gift” I was so excited! (yes I set a reminder in my phone a year ago so I wouldn’t forget) Her writing is so beautiful and poetic. I am so excited to dive into this book as Christmas draws near. I will try to blog about it every day so you can experience it also! If you go to her website http://www.tyndale.com/web/greatestgift/ and type in the code JESSE, you can get print outs for an advent tree. Each day is a different little ornament you can hang up on a tree or some branches in a vase. Some way to mark the passing of Advent and the coming of Christ. “Anticipate Christ, and celebrate Christmas, His coming.”

Today’s picture is a stump with a branch coming out of it. From Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

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In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff in the air of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you’ve never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart. The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.

~ Frederick Buechner

 

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Jamberry Nails

29 Saturday Nov 2014

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My friend Tara James recently started selling Jamberry Nails. They are basically nail stickers that adhere to your nails. They have great designs and colors and they last longer than regular nail polish with no chips. I left them on for about 8 days and took pictures every few days to document the progress. I think I need to get better at applying them because I did have a few wrinkles at the tips, but other than that, they look great.

Day 1:

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Day 2:

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Day 4:

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Day 5:

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Day 6:

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Day 8:

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As you can see my normal nail polish is quite chipped but the Jamberry nails still look almost brand new. They aren’t hard to get off, but they did leave my nails feeling a bit rough. I don’t know if I would use them on a regular basis, but they are fun and I love all the different options that they have. They have a lot of fun styles for Christmas! Check out their website: http://www.tarajames.jamberrynails.net

I have some samples to giveaway! Just comment below and 5 lucky people will be sent a free sample!

14 pairs of shoes

12 Wednesday Nov 2014

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unnamedThis picture is from a few weeks ago. I know its small. Sorry. I had friends visiting from New York, and I was sitting on the couch one day and happened to glance over at the entryway of my apartment. It was littered with shoes. So I snapped the pic, counted the shoes, made a funny Facebook post about 4 girls and 14 pairs of shoes and forgot all about it.

But that picture came back to me. And I realized something. During that week, I had some of my best friends with me. There were four of us in my apartment, but it never felt cramped or too full. It instead felt warm, homey, cozy, comfortable. There were shoes all over the place, and bags from shopping, and forgotten coats, sweaters, socks, wine glasses. But not once did I think “my house is so messy. I wish they would clean up their stuff, we should probably tidy this place up” I never thought that! Because slowly, VERY slowly, I am realizing that I don’t need my home to be stark and spotless, I need it to be cozy and comfortable. Warm and welcoming. I need my house to be a home. And I need to stop caring so much about whether or not its all clean, if people will judge me because I haven’t vacuumed in two days, or if the dishes aren’t all put away.

I feel like I focus so much of my time and energy on keeping this perfect, when in reality that is not what I need. I need relationships. Friendships. Quality time. I need people to feel comfortable and at home. I need my home to be welcoming. Slowly, I am letting go. I leave the dishes and sit down and listen. I choose comfort over cleanliness. Togetherness over tidiness. Come over to my house. It’s not perfect, but you are welcome anytime. Add your shoes to the pile.