thank you to all who are continuing to stick with me through the process of selling our house.  i know posts have been really sporadic.  i've had the best of intentions, but just haven't had the time to dedicate to blogging.  we are in the process of packing everything up right now, as we are moving all of our things to a storage unit on Saturday.  that's right...we are currently homeless.  kind of.  not really.  we would be without the generosity of my in-laws.

we currently have two houses that we're still trying to decide between agonizing over.  each is equally amazing for completely different reasons.  one has more rooms and is a bit more secluded with a natural pond on three acres, but there is no master bath.  that's really its only downfall - well, that and the fact that it's about 15 minutes from work versus 5 minutes from the other house.  the other has an amazing master suite, four wooded acres with four-wheeling tracks and a one-acre pond with a little island, but it only has two bedrooms and the neighbors don't keep up their property.  if we eventually turned the den into a third bedroom, we would only have one living area and no office/crafting space.

i guess i will have another week-and-a-half to agonize over it, as i am leaving for Young Life camp on Saturday (so pumped by the way).  please continue to show me grace for not posting.  with all of the packing and moving, leaving for a week for camp, coming back for four days and then leaving for another week for a Young Life RMR Backcountry trip, then living in a house with dial-up internet until we find a house, posts may be even more sporadic than they have been.

in the meantime, here are some lost outfit pictures that just show my good intentions but my failed follow-through.  i've been thinking of all of my blog friends as i've been out of touch since about march, but i will return as soon as possible and we can catch up.

chambray shirt: JC Penney cardigan: LOFT pants: LOFT shoes: Macy's - Bandolino belt: thrifted hair accessory: me

shirt: LOFT, thrifted jeans: LOFT, thrifted shoes: Aldo necklace: F21 belt: thrifted sunglasses: ? goofy dog: pound

beaded tank: F21 cardigan: Banana Republic, thrifted pants: Limited, thrifted shoes: thrifted necklace: Apricot Lane, local boutique

shirt: New York & Company                             skirt: F21                           shoes: Target                             necklace: Kohl's

tunic: Fashion Bug, thrifted pants: LOFT shoes: thrifted scarf: Target

tank: Target shirt: thrifted shorts: H&M shoes: Target necklace: Apricot Lane, local boutique

p.s. my husband says the small town we work in and are moving to is starting to rub off on me, as apparently i've taken on the Apostolic bun.  my thoughts on this: apparently they've had the right idea all along - it's quick, easy, looks cute and is awesome for second-day hair. i will continue to rock this bun every day every other day of the week.
p.p.s. i'm going to miss this little house of ours.

i know, i know...i've been a bit MIA lately.  as a result, i don't think i need to point out that i did not complete the 30 for 30 challenge.  between transitioning jobs and getting ready to list our house, i may have gotten more than a bit sidetracked.

allow me to show you a glimpse at what i've been up to the past two weeks, between cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning of our house.

warning:  you are about to experience a slight picture dump.  i promise if you stick around, you will be rewarded at the end.


i made, and enjoyed, some good food.

i went home to see my family and helped them pick out a sweet little puppy named Riley.


i spent time with my own sweet, beautiful, snuggly pup.

i celebrated the love of my life's officially-closer-to-thirty-than-twenty birthday.



and today, i finally got to start my new job.  i held babies, i met great people that are part of an organization that encourages them to talk about their faith; oh, and my boss?  is the kind of person that leaves this for me on my desk as a welcome:

and finally, i made a scarf especially for EBEW.  turns out i don't really own anything with polka dots.


unfortunately, as it turns out, the pattern is so subtle and soft, it doesn't really read in a picture.


and now, as i promised, if you made it through my last two weeks in pictures, a reward:  I will be replicating this two-sided circle scarf for one of my readers.  this is my first official giveaway to make up for being gone for two weeks.  so do you forgive me?

here's how it will work.  sometime between now and 11:59 on Friday, March 11, leave a comment on this blog telling me how you would style this scarf.  the winner will be chosen by random.org on Saturday, March 12.  this giveaway will be open to those located in the continental US.  sorry, but give a girl between paychecks a break.



oh haiiii Titan.  wow, i'm really glad he wasn't pooping or anything embarrassing back there. hat: Loehmann's; belt: thrifted




check out that action shot.  hubs is becoming a professional at this.



today is the debut for 4/5 of this outfit (minus the shoes), and what a BIG debut it is.  five pieces in one outfit.  holy remixing, Batman!  this is where i have to say i love 30 for 30.  this is an outfit i would never think to put together, but at the end of the day, i'm pretty happy with it.

...minus the wrinkles.  i need a little portable steamer for this shirt, and unless i aged 60 years overnight, i don't think i'm supposed to have bunchy knees.  how do you all keep your skinnies from bunching up so much?  if someone could throw some magical remedy at me, that would be great, thanks. 

a couple nights ago, i had my first blog-related dream.  and it involved the lovely Linley.  i saw her out-and-about in Fort Wayne, and i got uber excited.  i approached her to say hello, although by the time i reached her, somehow we were magically in Florida instead.  as you can imagine, i was somewhat hurt when she didn't recognize me (although this could have something to do with the fact that i had short hair and was about 60 pounds heavier in my dream, which is more like a nightmare.  i've been about 25 pounds heavier than i am now, and even those extra pounds made me feel like crap, so 60?? I can't imagine.  but i digress...).  so i proceeded to introduce myself:  "hi, i'm Lauren (Lo) from Lo & Behold."  she looked at me like i had a huge piece of broccoli in my teeth, which, seeing how this dream went, i probably did. 

and that was it.  the dream ended there.  aren't your dreams supposed to be the place where you can be skinny with legs about six inches longer, have long, perfect wavy hair, and Linley is your best friend?  i'd like to order up that dream instead, please.

ah well, at least we were in florida...

scarf: target; belt: thrifted

hello wrinkles.  i should really start taking pictures in the morning.

i don't really have anything for you today.  it's been a long day.  hopefully i'll have some big news to share next week as a result of today.  for now, all i can do is tease you a bit and make you wonder.  try not to lose any sleep at night over it, but feel free to speculate.  maybe we can turn this into a fun round of hot and cold.  ready?  go!

i forgot about EBEW today, but guess what?  i wore a blazer to work anyway.  my subconscious remembers these things for me.  thanks, pal!