: Friday Favorites! :

 WOW I can't believe how fast this past week went and now we're onto another fun filled weekend! We've got dinner plans, supper club, birthday parties & church to look forward to...So much for January being a "catch up month" :: It's great, I'm not complaining, we love being busy with life! 

I wanted to share a few of my "fave's" this week with you :: Click on photo for the link to find some for yourself! 

"Olive Authentique" products 

{specifically show is the essential oil//I use it before going to bed on my neck}

 My collection of white jugs, this has been vastly improved due to inheriting a portion of a collection. I'm so grateful for them!  Love the simplicity of them.  

{they are currently featured on my white shelves in our kitchen}

 "The Message" this is my go to book when I want to get into the word :: The Mr. got this as a gift from his church when he graduated and it has been in our coffee table ever since we married, I would say it gets opened almost daily.  I love being able to dig into the word with the simplicity of our English.

 Vase of fresh grocery store tulips.  Sometimes we all deserve a little pick me up and this one is my go-to product!  $4 later for a sweet little arrangement of tulips does the heart good!

 Ahhhhh "VOLUSPA" I got two of these candles for Christmas from my boys and I'm in LOVE!  I would never buy one for myself but as a gift they are just amazing!  This one literally smells like Hawaii!

 Well that's it for today Lovelies!  I'm off to pick up my little luvs from school :: Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday! Muahhhahaha! 

{XoXO}

: Word of the Year | 2013 :

 The past 24 hours has been quite aggravating, I attended a women's event at church and walked away not feeling welcomed and loved instead just criticized & belittled and left feeling like less of who I know myself to be.

At any rate, I was planning on writing about my "word of the year" here today but last night with the way I was feeling deflated & disheartened I had thought I wouldn't blog at all today. 

But as I was scanning through Facebook this morning I came across this verse that my friend had posted 

{this is directly from her post}

Romans 12:17-21 (NLT)
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”[a]
says the Lord.
Instead,
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.”
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Now, I know with the above situation I have chosen to do good, to not harbor anger and animosity but to be level about it ~ I know God will make good on the situation and I'm trusting Him for it.  This verse was just God using a friend to remind me of HIS plan, not mine.  And friends, I want to be in the backseat as Jesus drives...He really is the best chauffeur! 

Anyway, back to my word of the year...it's actually two words..

 Glory&Honor

from the passage in Psalms 8 :: Over the holidays I was reading my devotional and this Psalm was in it. It speaks of all the works that God did, all that He created and all the care that He took in his creation.  We are to crown him with Glory&Honor.   

That particular part stood out to me and as I searched my heart and talked to God about my word of the year, this kept on resounding to me that I am to give in all that I do/say/accomplish Him the Glory&Honor

    Do I know what this means or looks like; not nessisarily.  But I will trust in Him, in His timing and in His plan, for His plan is better & bigger than I can even imagine! 

 Last years word was "FLOURISH" :: I don't know if I flourished per say, I know I grew in great ways and learned more of what God wants me to be.  I know that you can't flourish without planting seeds and I KNOW that God planted seeds so I just need to carry on and keep watering those seeds to see them come to full fruition and flourish! 

Here's to another year! 

Love & blessings on this beautiful {at least in Vancouver} 

sunshiny day! 

{ XoXo }

: Project Organization | Home office :

 

So the office, its a funny little space.   It's actually not that little {aprox. 10x10} but it's right off the entrance when you walk into our home.  So when you walk into our home, you either notice it or walk right by it.  If you walk right by it; great!  If you stop an notice it I cringe a little. 

It's always been an odd space to fill. With almost floor to ceiling windows, a set of mirrored closet doors and some horrible cream carpet that I try to hide by having an area rug on it cause until it's removed it will never be clean!  Everything in this office we have inherited, the book shelf {the Mr.'s Grandparents} the desk {The Mr.'s Parents} the desk chair {my Grandfathers} the wicker chairs {My Parents} the little book shelf {my Parents} the rug {also my Parents} :: I like me some hand-me-downs so I do ;-) the only item I owned in this little office is the drapes and decor items! 

I don't have any money to spend on re:doing the office, not any that I want to put into it as we are are saving for our built-in that will be going into the family room. 

So with no budget and a crazy paper filled mess from months of neglect over November & December on Sunday I tackled this mess...

  

To be honest the space just wasn't working for me.  

1. I want to not cringe when friends walk in and see the office

2. I want it to 'work' for me {not just looks wise but as a functioning office}

3. Paperwork drives me mad so there has to be a better way!

Here is the office once I moved the desk and the book shelves {if you follow me on Instagram {shawnalad} you know that I started this on Sunday afternoon while the Mr. was out as he hates it when I tackle jobs that seem endless}

 

: This is now what you see when you enter the office :: Much better, no? :

: and from the window to the closet :

 : I keep magazines I really love so the office is the perfect spot to keep issues that I just can't part with :

: to add some different perspective, this is from the closet out the window :

 : I love my little desk & chairs, I would LOVE to have an all white dreamy airy office but I'm not willing to dump money into something that really doesn't matter, so for now, we have hand-me-downs and I'm quite pleased with them! :

 : So there we go; one more project completed and ready to tackle the next one {not sure what that is yet, but I'm sure there is something!} : 

: I hope you had a great day, mine was a little rough for a few different reasons, but praying that tomorrow looks better and the sun comes back out to shine on me! : 

Happy Wednesday Lovelies! 

{ XoXo }

: Project Organization | Kitchen Sink :

I wouldn't say that I'm a clean freak.  Like anyone else I like my home to be neat + tidy. 

I love it when our beds are made {which as of yet they are not} and when the laundry is all caught up. In a perfect world when I'm not out cuddling new babies and spending time playing micro machines on the floor with my little men or at the table doing homework all these things get done in a timely manner. 

However, truth be told holding new "freshies" and spending time with my kids trumps living in a perfect home where everything is uncluttered, finished and put away.  This is just not reality! 

Mixed with all that comes with being a mama {who also works a little & volunteers a little} comes with a challenge to find a way to make the normal feel cleaner, neater and more organized. 

So today I tackled under the kitchen sink.  Pet peeves with this area is, it's always changing, I can't have coordinating labeled things {I'm not that ocd} but I can take things and re:organize them.  

: This is the mess I started out with :

 : Got a few supplies from my local dollar store :: $8 later I was in business :

 

: Since we didn't buy this house new the wood under the sink was quite beat up, nothing could clean it and I wasn't about to paint it just so more water and junk could make it look bad again.  I had seen someone put these sticky tiles down under their sink and thought that was the perfect fix!  

Then when I was at the dollar store getting my baskets I saw boxes of the sticky tiles for 3/$1.25 :: they may not be the exact look that I was going for but hey for $3 I can't beat that! Especially since they will be inside a cupboard not seen for half the time! :

 : The finished tiled cupboard :: took me about 20 minutes to do this :

 

  : Voila! The finished product!  I don't like packaging, boxes etc. so using the re:usable bins for my dishwasher pucks and little odds and sods makes it much more appealing to the eye and makes it so that I {+the mr.} can see where everything is! It's a good thing and I love it! :

: Well I'm off to go finish making the beds and fold thus said laundry before I go get the boys, I'll be back tomorrow with my completed office overhaul :: Feels so good to cross things off the list! :

Praying you enjoy the day : Happy Tuesday Lovelies! 

{ XoXo }