shirt: LOFT cardigan: Old Navy jacket: H&M jeans: LOFT boots: JC Penney headband: Steve & Barry's (RIP) belt: thrifted

i'm 100% convinced that i have the most handsome husband in the whole world

my mood lately has been northing short of outstanding.  spring is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  come to think of it, it's better than carbs altogether.  and that's really saying something, because carbs are my best friend (or worst enemy, depending on which part of my body you ask).  there's nothing more satisfying than seeing the first signs of new life.  especially when those signs are found at the gorgeous home of my in-laws.  Eric and i got to enjoy some outside time today with the dogs before we went inside to eat dinner, at which point they roamed the property, finding dead things to eat and roll in.  Lily and Titan have asked me to emphasize to all of you that Grandma and Grandpa's house is the best place in the whole wide world.

in completely unrelated news, on Thursday, i met the husband of one of our group exercise instructors, and she introduced me as her boss.  this is still nothing short of bizarre for me.  me...i'm the boss?  obviously these people have never seen me dance around my house.  does this new sense of responsibility mean i have to stop eating Frosted Flakes, playing Lego Harry Potter and watching Teen Mom?

that's right, i've officially committed to Kendi's next 30 for 30 challenge.  for 30 days (starting february 1st), i will only be able to wear a combined total of 30 items from my closet (shoes included, accessories not included).  you guys, i am as nervous about this commitment as i am excited.  my main reason for taking this on is that i want to prove to myself that i don't really need a closet full of clothes.  i've been seeing a lot of focus on materialism in my life when it comes to my wardrobe.  yuck.  part of this challenge is to cut out shopping for the full 30 days, which, to be honest, will be tough for me.  who knows, maybe this will push me to finish some of the projects i've got going on around the house.

i'm also looking forward to this pushing my creativity.  so here's to february being a month of remixing.  please pray for my poor hair, as i'm pretty positive there will be times i want to rip it all out.  my goal is to pick all of my pieces out this week (after some serious consideration and lots of dress-up), and share them with everyone here sometime before i begin.

i promise the picture quality will be better than the following.  if we had gone outside to take a picture, a) eric would have never agreed to take another one of me ever, and b) my face would not have looked this happy.  in fact, you would see me crying...with frozen tears.  it's that cold.

exhibit A for why i shouldn't be a fashion blogger

hi, my name is lauren, and i'm a cheater.

i know that it's supposed to be steppin' out saturday, but let me just tell you that a greasy ponytail and grubby clothes aren't really a good look on me, and tales of cleaning toilets and folding clothes might not make for the most exciting post i've ever written.

so, steppin' out sunday it is, then.

sweater:  banana republic, gift from my ma
dress:  LOFT ($10!)
leggings:  h&m
boots:  jc penney
belt:  thrifted, salvation army
pom/poof:  me

we go to church in eric's hometown, about a half hour drive from our house in fort wayne.  about a mile away from the church, there is an antique mall that i've been dying to go to for as long as i've known it's there, but for some reason, we've just never gone.  well, we finally made a stop there today after church, and let me tell you, it didn't disappoint.


everything was so beautiful and organized.  all of the above pictures are from two booths, which i absolutely fell in love with.  i have a plan to purchase the drawer from the top right corner to hang on our living room wall, and add three old mason jars filled with billy balls.  i also found a small dresser, which is the whole reason we went, for only $20.  it looks pretty worn, but it's solid wood and nothing that a coat of paint can't fix.  i am in desperate need of some craft organization, y'all.

then it was back to eric's parent's house for dinner, which is something we do every week.  we always take the puppies down and drop them off in the "stable" while we go to church.  then, while we eat dinner, they get to run around outside in the woods until their little (or massive, in titan's case) hearts are content.

this is the part of my sunday that truly makes it feel like a day of rest.  the in-laws property is so peaceful.  my wonderful mother-in-law fills our bellies with delicious, warm food, and i find comfort in a mug of freshly-ground coffee and the company of family.



i have been finding more and more value in a Sabbath day lately.  i didn't have an opportunity for any rest last week, and the only word that i can manage to come up with for the way it affected my whole week is that i felt weary.  i understand why we are commanded to rest.  i've also come to understand that rest doesn't equate to laziness.  i find my rest even when we are away from home on these sundays.  i find my rest in family, in some solitude, and most importantly, in Christ.

Exodus 34:21 Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest.


how do you recharge?

to say this weekend was a busy one would be a massive understatement.  friday ran into saturday, saturday ran into today, and now i'm left feeling a bit weary.

i went home for the weekend without the hubs, and for good reason.  friday night was spent with two out of the three of my best friends from high school.  my friend hope was leaving for nicaragua yesterday morning and i desperately needed to see her one more time before she left for four months.  i have to say, this was my absolute favorite part of the weekend.  it's amazing to me that although we don't see each other very often, and we don't really talk much outside of our reunions, we settle into such comfortable conversation.  we painted our nails, reminisced and caught up into the wee hours of the morning, and it was wonderful.

saturday was spent olive-gardening (bet you didn't know that was a verb) with my ma and the older of my two brothers.  we filled up on unlimited soup and salad and carbo-loaded on breadsticks to gear up for some shopping, and some animal-visiting at the humane shelter.  then i made them they happily volunteered to join in on the SOS action.

normally, i'm not all about kitties, but this one looked identical to an awesome cat we used to have.  seriously eerie.

then, in the evening, i met up with two of my college roommates.  it was paige's birthday and we ate mexican and went to see a sketch comedy show at shadowbox cabaret with a couple other friends of hers.  fun was had, but i was starting to feel a little ragged from all of the running around, so i took off halfway through the show to make it home to my pjams.

oh haiiiii birthday girl

getting out of bed this morning was, in one word, rough.  but up it was, to finish up my young life small group lesson and then head to my friend crystal's baby shower.  she is the third of my three high school best friends, the lone soldier that was unable to join us on friday night.  and who can blame her?  girlfriend has had a little bun cooking in the oven for about 8 months now and we didn't hang until 11pm.  she looked beautiful and the party was uber cute.  unfortunately, a) i forgot to take a pic of the gift i made for baby noble (which i was quite proud of, btw), and b) i had to cut out before it really even started to get back to fort wayne to lead small group.

loved it.

whew!  did you catch all of that?  at the end of the weekend, i'm a bit frustrated.  i hate that, although i got to spend a bit of time with everyone, i didn't really get to give all of myself to anyone.  time was given, but when there's so much focus on just surviving the weekend's demands, how much quality can really be expected from that time?  and where was my sabbath day?  bear with me this week, guys.  there's about a 72% chance that posts will be getting shorter and grumpier as the week goes on.

i apologize in advance, you know, just in case.  do you get really grumpy if you don't have a day of rest, or do you thrive on the go, go, go?

friday night was my office's christmas party.  can i just be the first to say...the hubs?  he was smokin' hot.

i truly apologize for the quality of this picture.  it's atrocious.   atrocious.

last night was our sunday school christmas party and, yup, you guessed, it was tacky-christmas-sweater themed.  our sunday school class is filled with an amazing group of people and i love them all.  we always have such a great time when we get together.

this might be one for the christmas cards...

check out the intense blame-game going on here.  this game isn't for the meek.

there was also a white elephant exchange.  wifey managed to be the hero and seal the best prize for her hubs.  was it the functioning bread maker?  nah.  was it that statue of a basketball-playing santa?  nah.  there's only one prize eric had his eye on, and who could blame him?

ohhhh yeahhhhh.

 as expected, neebish island was amazing.  we ate like calories are no object, lounged around the fire, read some books, watched some football and connected with family.  oh, and on saturday, we hunted for our perfect christmas tree to bring home with us.  i dragged eric around for longer than he was hoping to be out, only to end up choosing the one we had found in the first 15 minutes of looking.  but lets face it, you can never be too sure about these things.  i can rest easy knowing that there wasn't a better option out there.

can i bring them all home, please?

yahhhhh buddy.

this morning was a young life type of morning in all of its glory.  i say this morning, but what i really mean is while the rest of you were in your warm, cozy beds dreaming away.  before going any farther, i think it needs to be said that i feel old.  i have not pulled an all-nighter since college, and now i know why.  i am wrecked today.  my body hates me.

another lame self-attempt

today was a much-needed day.  do you ever get so caught up in the things that are going on in your life that you don't even realize how far out of touch you've become with those you're closest with?  i definitely got to that point recently with my best friend, who also happens to be my cousin, falynne.  well, last week she called me out on this fact, and i'm glad she did.  i didn't realize until i was forced to stop and think about it that i hadn't seen her in four months.  and the last two times i've seen her, it's been in a party setting with almost no one-on-one time.  this is a long way from college days when i used to randomly make the 45 minute drive to her old place to hang out and make let her feed and entertain me.

so today i made the now two-hour drive and we got some quality time in.  we went to a craft show (i know, this is becoming a theme in my life), we had lunch, we caught up.  and at the end of the day, i was sad to leave.  although we are such completely different people, there's something about our friendship that just works.

oh, and not to mention her little boy owen is so cute and fun and just at the absolute perfect age.  he is still a little clumsy on his feet, which is precious to watch, but he is also starting to comprehend so much; when falynne asks if she can put his shoes on, he backs up to her and plops on the floor, he knows all of his books that have kitties in them, and at times, you can just see the wheels turning when you look at him.

today i stepped out, sold some of my crafts and ended up spending more money than i made.

for the first time ever (mainly because i'm new to blogging), i'm linking up to mandy's steppin' out saturday.  i've been reading her blog for a while and she is one reason that i have decided to start blogging.  it's so amazing to see other women channeling their creativity and doing such fun, amazing things.  plus, little harper...seriously? i die with every new picture.  she is the most adorable little girl and definitely not helping the state of my baby fever.

yesterday i had the pleasure of heading down to indy with two of the girls that i've gotten to know through young life, but haven't had a chance to spend much one-on-one time with (yah, i'm ending this sentence with a preposition...deal).  in a nutshell, it was awesome.