a month in review // april.

popular posts: | tulips & prayers // postal pix feature // in every detail |

lessons learned:
- God cares about the little things that concern us, like parking.
- midol on an empty stomach = NO. just... no.
- be careful with blog advertising. some bloggers don't believe in fairness.
- "as water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart." proverbs 27:19.


happenings:
- i was dreaming of back-to-back earthquakes. turns out they were real earthquakes.
- tax season ended and i survived rejoiced.
- mama and i took our annual okc shopping trip.
- one of my sunday school boys accepted Jesus as his Savior on the last day of revival!
- i started making prints.


favorite finds:

- the first issue of quite magazine.

- jumbo eye pencils. ($1 at the dollar store!)

- elf liquid eye liner in copper.

- baby lips in melon mania.

- "let's talk" by sinful colors.

- cross necklace from dustee's (okc).

- "sometimes God" by giel. (on repeat since saturday)

ps: i'm thinking of giving away one of my prints. if you'd like to host a giveaway, email me! 

life, currently.

end of tax season + four days off work + revival at church = a little blogging break. but i'm back now!
the past week has been full of activities, none of which involve taxes or payroll sheets or bookkeeping. hallelujah!

here is a little summary of my life, currently:

>>WATCHING
- i finally finished the last season of friends! when rachel was standing at the door saying, "i got off the plane", cue the waterworks.
- netflix is sending me the office, season one. i'm a huge steve carell fan in large part to one of my favorite movies, evan almighty.
- castle. this has turned into a mild obsession. i heart rick castle.

>>LISTENING
- achy breaky heart. in my defense, while eating at pizza hut the other day, i had a bit of nostalgia as i sat near the jukebox that i used to feed quarters to when that song was highly popular. i was reliving my adolescence. that's my excuse.
- highway don't care. ohhhh, this song. it makes me want to roll down the windows, open the sunroof, and drive for hours on an open road with the wind in my hair.
- ride by kayla conn. this will be my twenty-thirteen summer anthem. rollin' to the soundtrack of our lives.
- this is what you do by bethel live. 

>>THINKING ABOUT
lots of things. how thankful i am for the sunday school class i get to teach. this is not where i expected this opportunity to go, but God has turned it into a huge blessing. / and i'm thinking about how old people say whatever they want and sometimes it's funny, but when you're on the receiving end of hateful comments, one right after the other, it's not so funny anymore. / and i'm thinking about opening an etsy shop for my design prints. / also on my mind is the influence network. have any of you joined? i'd love feedback.   

>>LOOKING FORWARD TO
- the weekend. (that's a given though)
- girl time with alisia.
- VBS! i realize this is over two months away, but it's my favorite.

>>READING
- love does // bob goff.
- is everyone hanging out without me? // mindy kaling.
- 99 thoughts about junior high ministry.

>>MAKING ME HAPPY
- i have 100 followers on GFC!
- making lists. dorky, but so fun.
- this awesome, oh-so-comfy jean jacket.
- starting my mornings with prayer and a little Jesus time.
- our pond is full! praise the Lord for the rain!
- this elf liquid eyeliner in copper. it's a gold glitter and i really like it.
- and, as always, coffee.

they call her love.

as i type this, i'm sitting at my desk in my room with big tears that are threatening to ruin my mascara.
i just watched the "dove real beauty sketches" video that has been circulating around the web. tears. chills. wonder. conviction.

if they drew a sketch of me, i'd be sure to pick out the flaws. that pessimism has been my constant friend since high school, always pointing out the bad before people have the chance to say it. in reality, it's not my face that is flawed, it's my self-perception. throughout the years, i have been so harsh and over-analytical of every inch of my face and body. more this, less that, darker, lighter, thinner, smoother. i have convinced myself that the first thing people see are my flaws. what a revelation to watch the descriptions of what other people saw. 

just like those ladies said, i have some work to do. i've let those critical words seep down into my heart and rob me of the joy of just being me. my Heavenly Father - in all His glory and greatness - made me. He knit me together in the womb. with careful precision, He created me: amber. whatever flaws i think i have are not a reflection of who i am. i am wonderfully made! oh, to think of how those hurtful words i've told myself have affected my Creator.

i am more beautiful than i think. 

you know what's really ironic, but actually just God's divine fingerprints gracefully placed in a way that is all His own? i was messing around with photoshop last weekend, and one of my favorite songs, "she is love" by parachute, popped into my head. i was inspired by a line in the song and made this iphone lockscreen wallpaper for my phone. in light of the dove video, i want to share this with all you lovely readers so that you can be reminded that you are beautiful and loved and precious in His sight.

download HERE.

download, e-mail it to yourself, and save to your phone. you'll have to adjust it slightly once you set it as your lockscreen.

 

in every detail.

i love the last line in that scripture. "He delights in every detail of their life." God isn't some deity that sits up in heaven, half-listening to my prayers. He doesn't look at His watch to signal He has somewhere to be or some other prayers to answer. He delights in the details of my life. in my cares, hurts, fears, joys, troubles, and happiness. He delights in me.

i made this little iphone wallpaper to remind me that God is in control of my life. the path He has me on is the one that is most glorifying to His name. though it might not be what i had pictured in my mind, His plan is far better than anything i could imagine. He delights in every detail. every  detail. i can't even begin to wrap my human mind around that.

if you'd like to have this wallpaper on your iphone, you can download it HERE. e-mail it to yourself and set as your lockscreen.

i started blogging HERE now! make sure to follow along!

postalpix & DIY tutorial.

hello, lovely readers!

i am being featured on the postalpix blog today! 

click on over HERE to read about my DIY pine cone & instagram display. 

i started blogging HERE now! make sure to follow along!

society6.

i now have a society6 account! 

i posted one print to my page, but will add more as soon as i get home. check it out!

if you click THIS LINK, you get free shipping until april 14th! 

tulips & prayers.

back in november, i planted tulips. i'll be honest: i only planted them because i knew they would be gorgeous to photograph,
but i didn't have high hopes that they would actually bloom because i've never planted flowers before.

i rounded the corner yesterday, and there before me was a sight that made me squeal with delight and run to the house shouting,
"they're blooming! they actually bloomed! mama, come loooooooook!" as i edited these pictures last night, a thought struck me:

planting those tulips is kinda like prayer.
i read the directions // i read the Word.
i plant the bulbs // i present my prayers of petition to God.
i water and cover them // i soak in what God's Word says.
i wait until springtime for the blooms // i put my trust in a faithful God who will answer in His time.

so why didn't i think the tulips would bloom? i hoped they would bloom, but i had no trust or confidence that they would be seen the following spring. i used to have the same approach to my prayer life. i would present my requests to the Lord, but for the longest time, i just hoped He would answer them. my faith was lacking because i didn't have full confidence and trust that He would answer my prayers. i was just going through the motions of what i thought prayer should be.

our God is a faithful God. His character has proven itself time and time again. i can confidently trust that when i approach His throne, He hears my prayers, pleas, and cries. i will patiently wait for His answer because, like jeremiah 29:11 says, He knows what He's doing. He has it all planned out—plans to take care of me, not abandon me, plans to give me the future i hope for. 

i started blogging HERE now! make sure to follow along!

over the weekend.

this picture pretty much sums up my weekend. mama and i had a girls' weekend, complete with yummy mexican food, uncontrollable fits of laughter, and a little dollar store shopping. i scored big time in there, you guys. jumbo eye pencils and nail polishes for $1 make me happy, happy, happy! i'm rockin' that polish right now and it's my new favorite. mostly because the name, saved by the blue, reflects one of my favorite tv shows/decades.

would you believe that this is the first magazine i've read in years? during my early twenties, i had subscriptions to every trashy tabloid magazine known to man. there came a moment when i realized that i was essentially paying money to read gossip. well, standing in line at walmart the other day, i saw this mag. no gossip, no "how to keep your lover" crap; just fashion. i flipped through a few pages and decided to give it a try. i am so glad i did! i have pages bookmarked, clipped out, and saved. i am inspired to take risks and find my own style. in fact, i was so inspired that i had a moment this weekend where i decided to start a fashion blog. i am still considering it. 

i'm not afraid to admit when i'm wrong, so i need to confess something. i kinda got a little too big for my britches and realized that my ad sponsorship fees were too high. it was bugging me all weekend and after reading this post by oh, sweet joy, i knew that i had to lower the prices. i don't do social media shoutouts or sponsor features on the blog, so i dropped the prices to a more sensible amount. you can check out the new rates here. i also added an ad swap option for the next couple months. for those interested, enter code: bihpswap.

tidbits of life.

>> a design print i made last night. so excited and thankful for this new inspiration.

>> spring trees + a polaroid + jewel nails.

>> i planted tulips last fall in not very high hopes that they would bloom. turns out i have a green thumb after all!

>> i bought my first transformers comic book recently. 

>> the pear tree is starting to bloom, and i can't help but think of my grandma gracie. she planted that years ago and i am so thankful for this sweet reminder of her.

>> my mama bought me this beautiful ring for easter, and i love it so much.


ps: yesterday i noticed that i've had the wrong blog lovin' account linked up. when i changed the web address, it made a new blog lovin' page, so here is the right blog lovin' page to follow. i also have a facebook page, and of course, GFC on the sidebar. (2 away from 100!)

photography + typography.

after my first attempt at print design, i decided to combine my love of photography + my newfound interest in typography to make prints. i have learned a few new things about photoshop, and it has been so wonderful to expand my knowledge of the software that once scared me. this process reminds me of when i first started my photography journey. i spent countless hours on the computer researching, googling, and soaking in as much information as i could about about poses, lighting, editing, & my camera. i love learning.

as i continue this learning process, there is one step i will not take that plagued every ounce of me during those beginning months of my photography journey: comparison. it's the worst thing a photographer can do when starting out. i compared my work to that of veteran photogs who had been in the business for years, which left me feeling down and wondering why my pictures didn't look like theirs. "comparison is the thief of joy" is the perfect quote for anyone starting a new venture in life. i made this print to remind me of the hard work and time and prayer it took to get me to this place in my craft:

if you are interested in purchasing these prints, shoot me an e-mail.