a glimpse into family time

When my sister Kirsten had her daughter this past fall, my other siblings Lynette and Greg came out for a visit. Lynette brought along her youngest son and Greg brought his wife Danielle and son. I wasn't able to be there the entire time (everybody was hanging out at my parent's place) but I drove out whenever I could.

Lots of tickles.
Lots of giggles.
Lots of good times.
Here's a quick glimpse.

I'm linking up with Andie of Hollie Rogue for her weekly Tell Your Story link-up because each of these pictures tell stories. Stories of holding one another close, laughing more than necessary, funny shirts, silly tutu's, making time to pose as a family, and just generally - they all demonstrate love.

walking in nature

My friend April and I went for a walk through the trails by my parent's house. My parents live in a great townhouse that happens to sit right on a pond (click here for the link to those photos - pretty pretty?) that also connects to a bunch of trails. It was a fairly muddy day so a lot of my pictures didn't turn out because mud actually isn't very pretty..

We talked through our joys, our struggles, and then laid everything down before our God.
It was good.

Also, speaking of good hair (what), do you see how gross my hair looks in that photo? That is called my washed it, then used product to make it wavy/curly, it looked good for two days, and this is day three, and a shower SHOULD have happened before the walk. I promise I washed it soon after getting home - either that or I put a tuque on.

AND speaking of good friends, April fits in that category. She constantly inspires me to choose joy before any other emotion. She encourages me to give everything to Jesus because He is in control. She reminds me of truth because she lives it out each day. She's a keeper. And you should pray for her Mom okay --> Meet Virginia

Summer Friday

As always, Kacia hosts the Friday photo link-up. Well, in fact I wrote this in hopes that she'll host it! I'll have to check back later to link up.

It'd been a couple weeks since I posted a Friday photo feature so I thought I'd join back in. Outside of work, I've made much time for tasty breakfasts, campfires, beach days, conversations, coffee, dance parties, laughter with more laughter, thrift-store adventures, bridal showers, weddings, and just silliness in general. Summer is a great time to get refreshed because the sunshine makes it so easy to be in a good mood! Come take a look at life lately!

I met a friend over at Nice Cafe to chat about a wedding I was MC'ing the next day. She offered lots of fun tips!

My roommate and I may or may not have been having a bit of a "words-off" on our roommate-love-note-pad. It was a fun fight to be in to see who could be kinder. I called her "great". She countered with "beautiful". I kind of think she won.

I was reading a blog today about struggling with beauty and just realized yet again that it seems like every female so struggles with beauty. Maybe one of these days I'll feel full peace about myself but until then, I'll rest in the peace that I don't understand that still consistently comes.

A couple of weeks ago I was (loosely) a part of a day camp occurring at a local church. On the last day, another volunteer handed me a book filled with the verses the kids had been learning about that week. This one struck a chord in my heart. God is so good.

Sweet Bethany from my work and I had a little post-work date the other day. We checked out a fun vintage/thrift-store and then had sushi! Fun and yum! Bethany has a bit of a love-affair with fanny packs which makes for some funny conversation. She managed to not buy one though - (is it bad that I almost just typed "praise the Lord" after that. Wow).

 

Kelsey (on the left) hosted a fun night with a bunch of friends that celebrated her birthday, Raurie's (on the right) and several other friends. It was fun to laugh much with sweet friends!

I was excited when Michelle (left) texted me a while ago asking me to host a bridal shower for a friend of ours! The friend is actually an incredible hair stylist - check out her page!

It was so fun to fill my home with friends, good food, and fun times!

There was a nice little spread which satisfied our female souls - chocolate, cupcakes, cheese, and wine! Yay!

The bride-to-be got her own special seat surrounded by rose petals.

Sometimes I get goofy. I love being silly. I love laughing, dancing like a goof and just being a silly little soul. One of my favourite aspects of my current summer job is the fact that the teenagers I work with appreciate me at my most silliest. There have been many dance parties in the kitchen at work!

I am beyond blessed to live with this beauty. She is seriously like the sweetest girl around. We've learnt that I'm a verbal processor and she's an internal processor.

A few minutes before we took these pictures the other day, we were sitting side by side at the table working on our computers. I had just finished, minutes before, talking about what was going on with me. We were typing to ourselves and I think I burst out "HOW DO YOU LIVE WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT EVERYTHING"?!?! I can't even imagine doing that. I certainly process much with God and don't talk about everything, but I also most certainly talk of much! And even as I process with God, it's largely through verbal conversations.

Before Christie moved in, an old roommate Megs had bought me an "n" mug and herself an "m" mug. Once Christie moved in, I knew she needed a matching one. Though the photo is backwards and poorly lit, I think our mugs are super cute.

I bought a new Bible recently! I sort of feel as though I'm in a competition (with myself) to fill in all the white space as quickly as possible.

 The day after I bought it, I went through and just found all my favourite places (or at least some of them). I made stops in Proverbs 3, Psalm 25, 34, 139, Matthew 14, Romans 5, 6, 8 and more. It's fun to get to underline and read the words that rule over my life.

We went on a hike with work last week to Lynn Canyon. It's a fairly easy stroll and was a lot of fun.

God continually amazes me by the beauty of His creation.

I tend to gravitate towards the beach but it was fun to be more into nature. 

One night two weeks ago allowed for pants. I'm loving this summer heat. My youth I work with mocked me for my granny shoes but I didn't mind. I like 'em.

7/11 celebrated a birthday so I happily celebrated alongside with a free Slurpee.

I spent an afternoon with a friend over at Ambleside walking that part of the seawall. Again, God's glory in His creation consistently blows me away.

After our long walk, we finished up with nachos. YUM!

This photo actually is from the week before but also at Ambleside. That beach is a nice one to enjoy. I met up with a friend and conversed as her sons plays. I love getting to join families in normal life.

I probably used too many words and not enough pictures, but that's a quick glimpse into my life these days.

Snapshot of a life

Here's what's been happening around life lately!

Please take one little second to appreciate that I'm not a photographer nor do I have an excellent camera. Okay, breathe, and go!

I went shopping to Ikea with my lovely sister. You can't tell from this picture but she is pregnant! She's also beautiful - which you can tell from this picture.

We had our latest be.loved meeting! It's always fun to chat with these ladies, pray about our lives, pray for the blog ministry, and spend a bit of time laughing as well! I love these girls.

My roommate and I redecorated our apartment this afternoon! We still have more ideas and things that we plan on doing, but we got lots done.

I ordered this little bunny via modcloth a while ago. He's meant to be a ring holder but size wise he just looks much cuter on our kitchen table. I now have two different modcloth jewelry holders that I use as decorations rather than for jewelry. Meh - they're so cute!

  

I found this chalkboard at Ikea months ago! Once Christie moved in, we realized that she had one as well. Mine finally made it up into our front entry way today! Stocked with chalk, love notes, and paper for quick notes to each other - we're good to go!

  

All of these prints are made by the lovely Jessi of Naptime Diaries. If you ever need a good read, check out her blog, and if you'd like some sweet scriptures for your wall, check out her store! 

This first one from Philippians 4:8 is my favourite.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

I love love love that our home is now filled with scripture.We've got scripture and/or worshipful lyrics in our entry way, hallway, dining room, and bedrooms. Surrounding our home with truth seems like an excellent use of decorating!

It was really important to me to order this print below. I saw the same scripture at a friends place on their wall in the kitchen and fell in love with it. When I saw this print in Jessi's store I knew I wanted it for my home. 

I know my picture quality isn't incredible, but just know - the first thing you see when you walk into our home is this verse:

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 

(Joshua 24:15b)

It took me a while to decide on framing these different prints. I ended up putting all the ones that were scriptures in the black frames and these two song lyrics in the white. I love how they look. I couldn't figure out a way to take a good picture with my phone but we placed these two beside a yellow clock and fun pink frame and the four look fantastic together! Come over, I'll show you.

I LOVE my nail polish colour. I cashed in a coupon last week and had a spa day! It was so fun to spend a few hours not at work, online, or with people I knew! I just got to sit and rest.My nails are solidly chipped now but I still love looking at my fingers and seeing red! It's like a fun moment each time I notice them.

Some days are two coffee cup days! Yesterday morning was one of them.

My church had a ministry appreciation night. We got to watch baseball and eat food. Fun and yum. A friend of mine made this beautiful little sign! Yay sports!

Some guy friends hosted a big party at their place because they're moving to a new home. It was so fun to laugh and dance with friends. It truly was the last luau. Well, until next time.

AND THEN . . . just this morning - I dyed my hair blonde! EEK! I lightened in a few months ago in preparation for this day.

Hello there.

 

Getting my hair done is always an adventure because I have to take my glasses off for some of it. Every time, my stylist Eliza makes a comment right around when a normal seeing person would be making faces (happy ones of course) at their new hair "oh yeah, you can't see". I like to wait until it's almost done before I look so it's always a fun surprise! BLONDE!

I'm linking up with Kacia + Robot for Summer Friday - on Saturday - for this photo spectacular.

That was a quick snapshot into life lately.