New Year

Happy 2012!!! 


When I woke up this morning, I grabbed my Jesus Calling devotional and turned to the first page. January 1. What a crisp, fresh feeling that brings. I read the passage with excitement, and was offered this encouragement:


"Do not cling to old ways as you step into a new year."


I am extremely motivated by this because there are plenty of old ways I'd love to leave in 2011. Control is a constant struggle for me. Every time I try to demonstrate my knowledge of what is best, I get knocked down. I end up fighting an even bigger battle than I started with, and uncover the common theme of control issues. 


When I was on my mission trip I experienced 8 WHOLE DAYS of letting go. God was in control. I have never felt so peaceful and protected in my life. Humbled, I came home longing for that again. But with the hustle and bustle of life, that peace slowly dissipated. 
Recently, I have been craving that peace and protection. 
I have never wanted anything more.


So, for 2012, I am letting go. 
I am trusting God.
And I am going to live happier.

For I know the plans I have for you, 

declares the LORD, 

plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

SwitchUp

Yes, I changed the name of my blog. Back to what it originally was when created it. The only thing that comes to mind as I am writing this is the Black Eyed Peas song, 
when they say "switchup" really fast. 

Switchup.

Back to running on grace. Allow me to explain. 

When I decided to start a blog, I had a hard time deciding on a title. I wanted it to wrap up my faith and something that I loved into a sweet, little, "tied-with-a-bow" blog title. 
I wanted it to represent me. So, I decided on running on grace. I wanted it to represent my love for running but also illustrate the fact that my life is, in fact, "running" or being fueled by the grace of the God (need I mention the fact that I am able to run by the 
grace of God? No? I figured y'all caught that one). 


About a month into blogging, I began struggling with old behaviors and listening to lies I knew weren't true. I was spending more time worrying about what a looked like from the outside than focusing on the inside--my heart and spending time with the Lord.


The truth is, I was enjoying running more than I was anything else. I spent more time thinking about it and would get frustrated with myself when I didn't try my hardest or do my best. So, what should one do with they find themselves in a spiritual warfare, you ask? 
Change the name of their blog.

Right? Wrong.


Why is it so easy to be proactive about changing the way I workout when I feel like I am slacking, but so easily brush off the fact that I haven't cracked my Bible in a good 2 weeks? 
Because I am a sinner. I became tired of hating myself and I began relying 
on the Lord for direction, patience, and provision. 


Then, last night, it hit me. I want to be running on grace again. I want to do exactly what my original blog title represented -- my faith, something that I love, and ME! 
Isn't that what living is about?

Thanksgiving

With my family celebrating Thanksgiving in Ohio, Frank and I spent the entire day with his family.

I started my day by running the Gobble Jog 10K, then met up with Frank and his parents to walk the 5K.  (I obviously didn't take any pictures because I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want anything else to slow me down. Because it was cold and I wanted to run as fast as I could. Because I had turkey to eat later.)


After rehydrating and getting ready, we went to Frank's parent's house for an afternoon of hanging out and preparing dinner. Some of the guys hung out in the back, by the fire, while the rest of us were in the front. We had to be outside--it was such a gorgeous day!

family friends: Ann, Max, and Lee

my sister-in-law, Jessie

Not much happened after this picture, just the usually Thanksgiving day decline -- change to PJs, turn on the TV, and slowly fall into a coma. No big deal that it was 6:30...

On Friday, Frank and I decided to take advantage of some of our best friends being in town, so we hosted a small house-warming/get-together. We watched football, snacked on non-Thanksgiving food, and had great conversation. We never seem to have a problem picking up right where we left off, even if we haven't seen each other in months. 
That's a sign of real friendships.

bestfriend.

husband.

Even though this weekend was packed and we felt like we were going non-stop, we got to catch up with some of our best friends, spend time with family, and watch the Dawgs stomp Georgia Tech! 


Today will consist of church and....nothing. Ahhhh.....

Mr. Fitz

Meet Fitz.

He is another CCI dog-in-training that lives nearby.

And starting tomorrow, he is staying with us for 5 whole days!!

Dressers

Remember the furniture in the junk room I told you about? 

Well, look who made it out to the garage!

(Please excuse my trash cans. They didn't get a makeover.)

I was inspired to paint these a "Pottery Barn" black after seeing a DIY tutorial on Pinterest. 

I followed the pin to the blog and got moving.

Since the lady in the blog used Benjamin Moore products, I made a stop to 

my local Benjamin Moore store to grab my supplies.

Foam roller, brush, primer, paint tray, gloves and the paint.

             

This isn't the exact paint the blog used but after talking to the guy at the Benjamin Moore store, he recommended I go with a satin, oil based paint (make sure you wear gloves and have plenty of mineral spirits on hand or this paint will NOT come off of you!)

The furniture didn't have a strong finish on it, so just some light sanding did the trick. Then I added one coat of primer so the paint would really have something to grab on to.

I allowed these to dry overnight, and started painting the next day. With the help of my mom (this wasn't her first rodeo), we cranked these babies out in a few days.

We applied 2 coats of the black paint, allowing 24 hours for each coat to dry. 

As the last coat was drying, I made my way to Hobby Lobby to pick out some knobs. Are you ready for the best part? I got 16 knobs (10 for the dresser, 6 for the desk) for $24!! 

Thank you for your generous bargains, Hobby Lobby. 

I chose small, clear, glass knobs for the desk.

And broze colored ones for the dresser. 

I used 2 fancier ones on the top drawer,

and on the bottom 4 drawers, I used simpler detailed ones.

The final product? 

This is in our sitting room, which is an area on the other side of the kitchen from the living room. I have the intent of it being a cozy, reading nook.

The dresser is in our upstairs guest bedroom.

While shop was set up, I decided to do our dresser in the master bedroom. 

I followed the same process. It looks really good...in our garage. 

It seems to be taking longer than expected to get that one finished, for whatever reason. 

But I don't mind. 

Laundry is so much easier to put away when you don't actually. put. it. away.

the GRACE project

Please visit my friend, Laura's blog

twirl [lbr]

She is one of my dearest, sweetest friends.

She has such a pure heart.

(And an amazing blog!)

Scroll down

See that cool icon labeled

The Grace Project?

Click on it.

It's pretty cool.

Burlap Wreath

I've been on a DIY kick lately and I'm LOVING it! I would like to thank (or blame) Pinterest. I found a burlap wreath tutorial from this blog and decided to give it a shot. I wanted a cute wreath for my front door but wasn't willing to break the bank. This wreath seemed to be just perfect!

I went to JoAnn's fabric store and picked up a big ol' pile of burlap. It was about $2 a yard. So I got 10 yards. You can always find a use for burlap, right Lindsay?

I grabbed a hanger from my closet and formed it into a circle. Easier said than done.

I rolled out the burlap and practiced my catwalk got to cutting my strips.

In order for my strips to be straight, I needed some guidance. I grabbed one strand of the burlap and pulled. This provided me an open space for my scissors to follow.

I cut away, cutting strips about 4 inches wide.

Now it was time to get scrunching and poking. The blog suggested poking the hanger through the burlap in 3 inch folds, but I found this technique to be easier:

Fold the burlap like an accordion,

Squeeze it together like an accordion-burlap sandwich (yummy),

Poke the hanger through the entire bunch, 

And feed it down the hanger.

I continued this until the hanger was full, probably about 5 yards of burlap. As far as connecting the ends of the hanger goes...I pretty much man-handled it with a pair of pliers and called it a day. 

I wanted to spruce up my wreath a little, so I bought some brown ribbon, and a wooden "E" from Hobby Lobby. Since I have a paint shop set up in my garage and plenty of black paint (are you feeling the suspense? Stay tuned for the post this week!), I painted my "E" black and wired it onto the wreath.

The finished product...

I like how the burlap is stringy and messy. I also like that my front door is decorated :)