hugs and fist pumps

I love a good linkup. Especially the kind where I get to meet everybody who is linking up in two weeks. SAY WHAT?!?!

So, remember when I had a fundraising giveaway? Remember that fun thing last week? Well, let's just say that people are generous. I am going to the influence conference!


Thank you dearly to those of you who gave, and to those of you whose prayers prompted those people to give.

It was incredible to open up my email time after time, click the email, and see an amount given. I was humbled, inspired, and now I'm simply grateful and happy.

The ladies planning said amazing conference are hosting a little linkup for conference attendees.

**side note** Pro Nadine tip: I don't know how to pack light. 

2 things I'll definitely bring with me:

1. A new and ready to be filled journal alongside a few pens. I love note taking, and apparently it really helps me remember. In my last community group at church, the leader would call on me if we needed to know exactly what the pastor said about something because chances were, I'd caught it.

2. A lota lipstick. I don't know if I'll be as brave at the conference as I am on instagram, but I am going to try to wear lipstick at every moment. Just don't take a picture of me mid meal or coffee when 47% of my lipstick has washed off. #awkward.

2 things I'm looking forward to:

1. Hugging Jessi Connolly. I'm not kidding. When I found out a few months ago that influence wasn't going to happen, my sister said "well can't you just go visit Jessi"? I texted Jessi, she said yes well I think her words were more "you don't have to ask me that, just come". Sorry J. Maybe next year I'll come join the Connolly clan.

2. Fist pumping Hayley Morgan. Also not kidding, these are my top two things. I emailed her husband this week about something, and I asked him to fist pump her. When I know Jessi will be with her, I ask her to fist pump her. So. I'm excited to fist pump her all by myself.

Random fact: my biggest fear about the conference is that I won't recognize people in real life and thus offend them. But fears are silly, so if I forget your name, forgive me, and I'll do the same for you. Yay.

I am so excited to learn strategy for my blog that will point me to Christ, which will cause me to write better content, which will cause people to read that content and be pointed to Christ. I just want everybody to know Christ.

Oh friends, I am so excited to learn and pray, laugh, cry, smile, joke, talk long and deep, and just everything with each of you.

 Will I see you at influence? If not, what are you excited about this fall? I'm excited about influence, and the fact that two weeks after, I'm off to Mexico with my family. Yay for that!

the spaces between the walls

So today the members of the Influence Network are hanging out for the day in our hometowns together. We're looking back at where we're from and then we're supposed to share about where we are now.

First up, I should warn ya, I'm from Canada. I know. Exotic! Right?

I was born in a small town called Mission, but we moved to Abbotsford by the time I was about one, so Abby (as most call it) has always been my home town. I lived in the same house until I was 17. A few weeks before I graduated high school, my parents moved to a house not far from where we'd already lived in town. It was fun to move for me. I don't actually think I played much of a role in deciding houses, but my Dad and I would drive around town looking at places for sale, so as a teenager, I'm pretty sure I thought I had made the decision.

The spaces in Abby that really resonate in my mind when I think back to living there (I've now lived in Vancouver for 3 1/4 years) are the movie theatre where my friend Becky and I would go to movie after movie after movie, the school I grew up at, and the restaurant that I worked in.

Yet more so than those spaces is the home that my parents built for us. Not physically the buildings we lived in, but the spaces that filled the building. I have so many fond memories of our house being full of people because that's just something they did. They welcomed people in all the time. Whether it was friends, clients of my Dad who were hard to love but needed extra care, family, or who knows who else, from an early age, I watched them model gracious hospitality.

Now I live in my own apartment. I've been in this space for 2 1/2 years and I love it. It's this big heritage style apartment with hardwood floors, tall ceilings, pretty door handles, large windows, and just a lot of heart. It's a space of my own to show that hospitality. I don't think I've mastered the art of hospitality as well as they modeled it, but I'm working on it. I want to fill the spaces between the walls with joy, peace, and hope. I think that sounds like a good space to me.

P.S. In this bottom collage, I'm the one laughing my face off at my birthday party. For some reason, my friends and I decided to crouch down in front of the guys and photo bomb their conversation. I was the only one who crouched, and it really wasn't that funny. But I laughed, because that's what I do.

refresh: a giveaway

About five seconds after it was released (well, maybe like 2 minutes after - I was very quick!), I bought a copy of an ebook called "The Refresh Book an experimental ebook" by Jessi Connolly and Hayley Morgan.



I waited until Sunday night to read it, figuring I'd give it a quick browse and kinda leave it on my figurative ebook shelf for a day when I felt like reading it.

See I have a habit of buying books because they sounds fantastic and then putting them on my shelf. I fully intend to read them someday, but someday hasn't yet arrived.

I started it and continued on reading.

I took a break to go through all of my clothes because I got inspired to refresh my closet.

But then I came back and finished the book.

And seriously friends, I feel refreshed and am now ready to start seeking refreshment.

Which leads to three things.

The first is that I've decided to put this whole refresh thing into practice. 

The book is called an experiment, so I'm testing its theories on my life. Chapter by chapter, I'm going to make some changes. Some of them I've started (you should see my clothing giveaway pile), and some are yet to happen (especially the marriage chapter. No shower dates for me).

The hardest part about change is every single second of it. Am I right or AM I RIGHT???

So I'm not looking at each chapter as change. I'm finding myself looking at my life with fresh eyes, ready to spot the things that need shifting, sifting, savoring, and saving.

So I'm just going to go second by second. It's okay if things take time because I have a strong feeling that those types of changes tend to lead to long-lasting changes.

The second is that I want you to join me. 

Grab a copy of the book and let's start this! We don't have to talk about if you don't want to, but we can if you do. We can work on different things and come to different conclusions, but seriously, I'm ready for some change and I have a feeling you are too.

So if you're tired, grumpy, excited, transitioning, settled, or whatever, let's do this. Let's hit the refresh button on the areas that need it and let's do it together.


My plan is to talk about my refresh journey each Wednesday. If a few others are interested, I'm happy to host a link-up, but I'm also okay if that isn't the case. It's really not about numbers, links, or anything. It's about me needing something new in a lot of areas and you as well. And not just new as in shiny, new, and fancy. New as in refreshed.

Which leads to the third thing. A GIVEAWAY!!!!! 

I want everybody to read this ebook and find refreshment, not just in the ideas that it shares, but in Jesus it points to, because He is our living water. While I really haven't shared much about the book here, there is such good and beautiful content in it. I've got numerous blog posts started with statements that these sweet friends of mine wrote that have stirred my affections to Jesus. I'm also sharing over on Jessi's blog next week about how I find refreshment in God.

So enter below to snag a copy, and if you don't win, dig in your wallet for the $4.99 the book costs okay? Okay! And share with your friends. I've never hosted a giveaway before and I'd REALLY like everybody to enter. EVERYBODY? Kinda.

a Rafflecopter giveaway