life lately: a photo dump

I just synced my photos from my phone to my computer for the first time since um, well, September. Dang. I synced it right after Influence but haven't since. whoops??

Lots of these photos are from instagram. Do we follow each other? I'm @nadinewouldsay

Anyway. Here are some glimpses into the past few months.

Time with family.

Making this collage showed me that I need to hang out with my Dad more (or at least take pictures when I'm with him).

 
Time with friends.

Making this collage PROVED how excellent I am at taking pictures on my own phone.

Time with coffee and mugs and journals and Bibles and one little selfie in there for fun.

Making this one was just for fun. I had someone suggest recently that I should print off all my mug instagrams. After seeing how many I have (these aren't all of them - eek), I might do that.

Time spent outside.

The cold weather of December has slowed down walks a little bit but I have truly enjoyed this season filled with being outside. No matter the day I fit in at least a ten minute walk, and if it's a good day, it's at least an hour. I love it.



That's life these days.

Lots of family, friends, coffee, walks, reading, writing, laughing.

Whatcha up to?? Tell me about it.

Sometimes you need to turn off the computer and live.

This quote from the refresh book makes perfect sense to me, and I've been making some big attempts to live it out more. I found myself sitting at home more than I should, typing more than I should, and not spending nearly enough time loving the people in my life.

Here's a glimpse into how I've been living life a bit more intentionally:

Armed with my niece, my sister and I hit up America for a day. It was fun to just have fun, have little agenda, and just laugh a lot.

Lately I am turning into a crafty kinda girl. I've never been this girl before, so it's a fun shift in myself. My walls are covered in things I've thought up myself, and I'm being intentional to hand make cards instead of buying them. 

Next up, a new hair cut! One week into the new do, I still kinda freak out whenever I look in the mirror. THIS IS SO BLONDE!

I drove from my haircut to meet up with my friend Emily. Em and I grew up together, from early elementary, all through high school, and we've remained close friends even until now. It was a good day.

July was filled with weddings! My friend Megs, who I lived with for a year got married to James, and my friend Rena got married to Lucas. Sweet sweet days.

Other than that, I've spent time eating ice cream (multiple times I should add), going for walks, writing, laughing, making memories, and having good and sweet conversations. I'm grateful for this summer. It's a beautiful one.

P.S. See that beautiful necklace. My sweet friend Amber made it for me. It's got my blog logo on it! Isn't that amazing?!?

Finally, a verse I am currently chewing on, resting in, and just repeating to myself over and over.

Thanks for being a part of my life sweet friends. I'm truly thankful for this space, for the friends that show up each day, and for the memories I'm building here.

monday past

Today let's pretend that we're back one week and let me take you through my day. There are probably too many words, so if you're looking for the best part, skip to the bottom!

I started my morning off by taking two of my most favourite kiddies out for the morning. Their Mom, who is a dear friend and mentor, needed the morning to get some stuff done, so I popped them into their van and we went on a little adventure.

We put letters in the mail box. pretty fun deal since that meant taking an elevator.
We had hot chocolate. well, I had a COFFEE.
We went to the lego store and were treated super great. Seriously, the lego store here hires the best people!
We bought tea for mommy. their mommy, not mine.
We got jelly beans and a gumdrop.

It was a good morning.

I dropped them off, picked up my friend Sam, and went to meet Brett for lunch. It was the three of us (plus another guy who couldn't make it) who planned the fundraiser for Christ City Church, so we celebrated the work we'd done and enjoyed a really good conversation.

I needed to stop by Anthropologie to pick up a mug for my new roommate. She just moved in, and my roommate tradition is to buy a lettered mug. It's just the right thing to do.

source

I spent the next hour or so meandering in and through the stores near there. I love afternoons where I just look at pretty things. I perused a fun pop-up shop, West Elm, West Elm Market, and Anthropologie (two times. it's that fun to walk through).

Oh, and somewhere in there I grabbed an americano misto. The barista and I discussed how some places don't let you order half-caf drinks, and how those people are silly. Conversations with strangers are one of my most favourite things.

I drove across town to pick up some paint swatches. To paint you ask? Nope, to get a move on this DIY. It looks amazing. Though, just walking into a paint store, randomly choosing 7 strips of different colours, and then walking out was . . . awkward.

I popped into one coffee shop to get beans for a friend and they didn't have what I wanted, so I went to a different place and found success.

After that I popped over to a local fashion stop to try to find a gift for a friend.

See, midday, I texted a friend that I've been meaning to send a gift, and asked her this:

Okay. Quickly needed answer. What's your favourite colour? And fave pattern? And just something that comes to mind when you think of joy?

 It made for a fun afternoon, to be browsing each store with her in mind.

AND then I found a beautiful hat that I'm excited to wear, but first I have to get brave, so it might sit on my wall for a while. Akin to makeup posts, fashion is also a jump of bravery for me. Maybe soon, but not quite yet.

I headed home, heated up my lunch leftovers, ate some dinner, and just perused the internet. Other than a few random pop-ins, I'd avoided the internet for the day, which was a nice treat. It's nice to just live life sometimes.

Amber messaged me and we had a nice chat. Have you checked out her shop? It's fantastic. Her shop is helping to pay for people who were formerly enslaved. That's incredible. It's sweet to hear her heart about it, because she has a big heart for it. Be sure to check it out and buy some stuff.

After that, I putzed around for a few minutes until I received a text from my bestie Christy asking if she was home. See, she just bought a scooter on Sunday, so she wanted to show me!

Sorry for the grainy photos. They're from my blackberry. 

She drove over, I popped outside, and then oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got brave and sat on it! 

If you knew me, you'd be shocked and proud. Christy was proud when I simply sat on it, and was extra proud when I decided to give it a spin.

I don't ride a bicycle because I'm so scared of falling off and dying (because that's where my brain goes), so it took me a lot of trips down the street before I felt comfortable, and even after those many trips, I was still just barely moving at all. But I did it! It was so fun.

I'm linking up with Blair today. I love having a fun link up to join!

A couple quick things:

1. Apparently Google Reader is officially leaving today. Utilize blog lovin' if you'd like to follow me that way!
2. I got an iPhone! Woot Woot! Which means no more grainy blackberry photos, AND I'm now on instagram. Follow me @nadinewouldsay if you'd like to do that.
    

That was my Monday. How was yours? How about today? You surviving or thriving?

life lately

I'm linking up with Blair again this week to share a glimpse into life lately!

First up occured a few weeks ago. I was prepping for worship team at my sister's place and she pulled my niece right on up to the piano to distract her while she did dishes. And then, instead of doing dishes, she took pictures and videos of us having fun! It was a really precious time for me.

The internet remains a sweet place for me. I've been having a lot of fun writing, both for here, for naptime diaries, and for some stuff coming up! I'm excited about the opportunities coming my way! I got to do a vlog interview with Moriah recently which was really fun! Did you check it out?

 I'm continuing to love the Influence Network. I love that once I've taken a class, I can take it again and again and again to gleam more wisdom. You can also listen to a lot of the talks from the Influence Conference last year. I've listened to a few and have been super blessed!

And then of course, video chats! Where would I be without those? I feel that once I've chatted with somebody in that face-to-face form, all of a sudden they get a new space in my heart. Don't get me wrong, I love all my twitter friends and blog friends, but I've got extra love once I've heard somebody talk to me.

The one pictured is with my sweet friend Virginia! She cooked dinner, ran after her kids, changed them out of their suddenly soaking clothes thank you automatic sprinklers, and we chatted life. I love that online friendships ARE real life.

On June 14th, I had the opportunity to play a role in a fundraiser for friends who are planting a church. The night was a great success and it was extra special to have my Mom and sister there to cheer my work on and support my friends!

On Saturday night, after work, I went to my sister's and hung out with this little princess. Oh man, I love this princess. She makes me wish that my other siblings lived closer so that I could go on walks with all of my nieces and nephews. For now, skype will do.

We went for a walk and just chatted. I mean, I chatted.

life lately

I'm taking this day to take a look back at the past few weeks and share a whole bunch of pictures and I'm linking up with Blair to do it.

Another wedding! Photos were done by my VERY talented friend Danaea of Danaea Li Photography!

What's happening in your life??! I'd love to hear.

Easter (it really happened)

So, Easter was a while ago, but I'm sharing some photos from our family day together. As the local part of our family, we enjoyed some sweet times. In adequately random order, here are some parts of our day.

Porch Photo Shoot!

POND WALK with photos taken on the dock
 

REALLY SWEET CUDDLES!
 

PASKA! if you don't know what paska is, I promise you that you are missing out. I strongly, I mean strongly, suggest that you come over to my house next Easter. You'll be in for a treat. I've tasted a lot of paska in my life (hello Mennonite heritage, thank you for being wonderful)  and there is nobody as good at cooking Paska as my Mom. So take this as your official invitation. Easter comes but once a year, so paska is a treat!

 EASTER EGG (read chocolate) HUNT! We may not be kids anymore, but we do like chocolate! AND my Dad really loves hiding our stuff.

YET ANOTHER PHOTO SHOOT! Can you tell who the star is of ALL the photos?

Obviously, Easter is all about Jesus. This kinda stuff is peripheral, and fun.

A quick glimpse into life

We interrupt nothing to share some photos.

So maybe just maybe just maybe (totally completely) I love that blogging has given me so many new friends! All these photos were taken on SUNDAY! It was a video filled day and I loved it!

And oh you know, some more cuddles with the princess.

Oh you know, just making decaf lattes at night. No big deal.

AND THE WINNER OF putting three images that don't go together and don't have nice matching colour schemes and such GOES TO me.

What's life look like for you? I wanna know!