Saturday with Twigs and Barn Wood

I have a pet peeve with not finishing things, it's one of my biggest strengths and one of my biggest weaknesses. We had this old piece of barn wood above our mantel for 3 years now. I bought it at an antique store and have enjoyed it character in our home.  We know we will not have a mantel in our next home because you don't need a fireplace in Hawaii though some nights it would be nice it's very unlikely.

 We decided to make it into a coat rack. With Richards willingness to help and my idea we made a beautiful piece for our future entryway. I want so badly to hang it but with only 29 days left in our house Richard begged me to put nail holes in another wall in a few months. I complied with his demands. : )

My mother in law gave us an abundant amount of Easter "crafting" as you have it so I let the kids keep their favorites and returned the rest. We got a store credit and this chick went shopping! I love to shop but I love shopping more with store credit. I feel like I'm cheating the system a bit but when I don't have to use my debit card we are all happy shoppers. People you might find this surprising but Hobby Lobby has come out with new hardware, and to my surprise they are ADORABLE! I'm talking http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/category.jsp?popId=HOME&navAction=top&navCount=6&isSortBy=true&pushId=HOME-HARDWARE&id=HOME-HARDWARE adorable. Their selection is small but so great!

I've also had my twig wreathe for many years and really wanted to use it year round. I saw this in Pottery Barn over the Holidays for over $75.

You can buy my same wreathe and the straight twigs all at Michael's for less than $25. I plan to add lights at Christmas on mine too. I also found this one which has a less polished look, which I like, it's made of twigs for goodness sakes, let it be nature looking. Hope you enjoy!

Baby Love

I got a text message from my cousin Sydney letting me know her sister Myranda was headed into labor and delivery. She has had a hard pregnancy mainly due to preeclampsia and being on bed rest since 32 weeks. I took a shower and Alyssa and Mom picked me up at around 10pm. Even with the weather we drove down to Columbus, Ga. We were driving along side of 4 tornadoes (wish I was kidding) but we made it just after midnight.


When we arrived they had already broke her water and gave her an epidural, she was 3 to 4 cm dilated and was " Not feeling a thing!" Her exact words, an hour or so went by when Myranda started to feel back labor, the epidural was not touching it. So she got another epidural, didn't work. Then got a pain reducer in her iv... nothing. Then they gave her a stronger level of pain medication, still nothing!

Thankfully we got some pictures to capture her labor experience. I love taking pictures so it was fun for me to do it. This whole time for all of about 5 hours I was able to help Myranda get comfortable, talk with her, hold her hand through each contraction and it was an awesome experience. It was crazy for me to see my little cousin having her own daughter but she was doing it and doing it well! She wasn't expecting the epidural not to work, she didn't plan to " feel the pain."

But ironically it seems like we have times repeating in life where to receive a beautiful gift from our Father we must endure some temporary pain. It is always worth it so even when I'm watching this sweet woman go through this pyhsical pain I am reminded of how this is just a reflection of the labors of life and the pains that comes with that.

 Rylee Ann cam on April 28 an is a healthy beautiful little girl. My grandfathers memorial service is this saturday and I have to think what divinely planned timing of things. We get to celebrate this new life of Rylee while remembering a life of Robert within just a few short days.

            " They say that new life makes losing life easier to understand. "

Feeling the pressure

Easter 2011= AMAZING!

A fun song that I can relate to on a day like this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUW_8cWG7YA

Anytime God is moving in my life and I come to a shift there is always pressure. Always, even when it's subtle. I am truly feeling this pressure lately. Being the person I am and appreciative of how God made me I still find ways to deflect the pressure I know to be headed my way. I say "It's just a bump in the road."Why do I do this for almost 25 years now? Because of  my nature, a way of protecting myself, I still have yet to figure out my reasons for handling my consistent patterns the way I do but I am at peace God is showing me in time. 

We are currently 2 months and counting from getting on a plane and leaving the only life in the only city I've ever known. I said I was ready for this??? When and why? In all truth it can be a very unsettling feeling knowing Richard and I are taking a leap of faith in this move. Not entirely being the wife I want to be before such a paradime shift in our family, not being entirely financially stable the way we wanted to be, not knowing what is to come for our lives in Oahu. 

BUT, and this but is a big one.... BUT, we are at peace that we will never be " ready" for life the way the world tells us to be. We will never be at complete peace with our home before the baby comes, we will never be at complete peace with the way we look before our wedding, we will never be at complete peace with moving to the unknown. And I am okay with that because my Savor has taken the burden of my fear and asked me to leave it there. Not to pick up that load I could never carry on my own again. 

Yet I will surely pick it up, knowing how I am wired and knowing my struggles I am bound to think I can handle it again only to be greeted with open arms that He is still waiting for me to just let Him pick it up for me again when I get tired. We can try and be prepared for life, and should be responsible with our decisions but knowing God is in control even when I am feeling the pressure stack against me gives me peace.

3 words

Three words can mean a lot. It can change a lot. Most people think of the three words being " I love you".

But for my family there is another that comes to mind. I was reading about the Marathon Man this morning and in his inspiring books he talks about life and death in this statement. " It goes on. "


I wanted to share about my grandfather Robert Edmund Leigh. He's always had great health,  been regular to moderate weight as well as stayed fairly active. Very intelligent and a cute sense of humor. We recently saw him on Thanksgiving where he showed off his new smaller waist size. He had lost about 25 pounds, on his own. It was wonderful to see him proudly twirl around and show us. Then learning at end of February that he had stage 3 liver cancer due to life long alcohol intake.

 He turned 78 on March 12th and had to celebrate his birthday feeling sick from the chemotherapy. When I talked to him that day he was very optimistic but a little confused. None of us thought his passing would happen less than a month from that day. The cancer grew rapidly over the course of the past month.  Even though he regularly exercised, dieted, enjoyed life his life was still out of balance in some places. I have a new perspective on my life by his memory and who he was to me and our family. My new goal, to live a life of balance.

God has continuously been using two words in my life over the past year. Perspective and balance, these words are so significant to me and my personal walk in life. I believe words, art, music, people, nature can all inspire a person to reevaluate where they are in life and who they are in life. And with some people you need to be reminded of this more than once every season. For me these words bring me a sense of peace and comfort knowing that with perspective I can see life through someone's view and with balance I can have peace and serenity each day.

                                                   Balance & Perspective... It goes on.