giving up on blogging

I'm linking up with Jessi today for the "Giving up on Good series", and you should too.

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Blogging.
for something that I started out as a hobby,
a way to keep up with friends.
it can sure turn into stress.

posting 5 times a week.
pretty pictures.
recipes, DIYs, and outfit posts
it can all get a little much.

and then there's the countless hours spent reading other blogs
their million followers,
perfect pictures,
and daily posts.

and instead of leaving "blog land"
refreshed and renewed,
I can leave feeling depressed and not quite measuring up.

because really,
I don't make homemade dish soap and laundry detergent
my meals aren't all organic and vegan
and most of the time, I don't look picture-worthy

So, blogging for me is changing. it's getting back to the reason it started.

no more worry and stress when I'm not posting every day. no more guilt.
no more counting followers. hoping and praying this little place will grow. and no more feeling less capable when it doesn't.

and YES to:
telling our families story.
making big of who HE is, not who I am.

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and, also: GRACE to you wonderful daily bloggers with the best pictures. if it's your thing, go for it.

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and, B:  school starts for me again on Monday. wah wah wah, summer's almost over.
BUT, to celebrate, I'm having massive sale until Monday. black friday massive. in may. and june.

SO, because summer's almost over

because I love you

and because I just want to

USE CODE: SCHOOLSOUT for a whopping 40% from now until Monday, June 4th.

Memorial Day and peeling skin

Our three day weekend was wonderful.
Filled with friends, food, and lots of relaxing.
Just the way it should be.
it was good to just be home.
with no appointments, and nothing on the calendar.

Monday we took a little day trip down to Galveston and spent the day reading and sleeping on the beach.

my view all Monday

soul detox on the beach

calm waters.

fresh shrimp for dinner.

the best dinner $20 can buy you.

and then, once we got home, I figured out I had turned as red as a lobster.

and the aloe vera and crying began.

 so Tuesday came, and after a half day at work I called it quits and came home to soak my tired legs.

and arms.

and stomach.

heal, skin, heal.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day, friends!

We're headed down to Galveston beach to spend the day reading and relaxing in the sun.

I hope you have a wonderful day of relaxation.

Don't forget to use the code MEMORIALDAY through tonight to get 20% off your whole order! 

UPDATE: May food challenge

we're now on the last home stretch of this month.

if you remember, for this month Sam and I decided to change a few things about our diet:

 

and it's been great.

honestly, I haven't missed cookies and ice cream like I thought I would.

and most of our dinners are now coming from SkinnyTaste,

which has tons of yummy stuff.

and I started finding that a lot of my pinterest food was pinned from there anyways.

so, we eat 90% of our dinners from there now.

and we're using MyFitnessPal to count calories.

that part's not as fun, but we're learned a lot about how much certain things are.

like cheese.

if you're on there, leave your username at the bottom and I'll friend you.

because I could use a couple more friends on there to keep me accountable. 

Sam's lost a few pounds, but for me, I'm at the same place weight wise.

but I do notice a change in how I feel.

so, for now, I think we'll keep some of the changes long term.

less ice cream in the fridge for sure.

and with that, we're having a friend in town for Memorial Day weekend

and off for mexican food tonight.

Now through Monday night (5/28) at midnight, use the coupon code
MEMORIALDAY
for 20% off!

two things

I'm sorry for the unannounced blogging break.
last week, I kept trying to get to the computer.
and it never happened. so by Thursday, I just went with it.
it was needed, it was good.

but I miss the community here.
the sweet women who share lives and hearts.
1. She Reads Truth
and speaking of sweet women on the internet.
if you've been on twitter or facebook, or reading blogs you may have noticed a hashtag
#shereadstruth
going around and lots of commotion.

WELL, it's a bunch of women connecting and reading the Word together.
it was an idea formed by Gussy and Kacia, but dozens of women have joined in and you should too.
We're using the YouVersion bible app (for iphone, ipod and just online!) and reading through the Soul Detox plan.
today's officially day 6, but join! you'll be enouraged and refreshed.

this is what social media was really made for.

2. No School
I'm still officially on school break until summer school starts on June 4th. I'm soaking it up.
Lots of shop work, lots of running, and lots of enenings with the husband instead of studying.
it's looked wonderfully like this:

so that's it.
i'm back. i miss community.
#shereadstruth is real online community.
and i'm soaking up the days until June 4.

giving up on good

there are a lot of good things you can do it in life
bible studies, volunteering, and extracurriculars top the list.
and those are just the "good" that others see.
then there's the good inside your own house.
laundry, cleaning, the day to day upkeep. it's good.
but there are things that are better.

and recently I've learned that I have to give up a lot of good
for things that are better.
because I don't do it all.
and there's no substitute for getting around margin in life.

real life not done laundry.

I'm a wife to a husband
I work a 40 hour job
I (most of the time) have classes on the side
I run a small business
I enjoy spending time with Jesus
I like to run
I hope to be a good friend
I want to serve in my church and community

SO today, I'm just going to open right up and tell you about what I don't do.
because those things up there are better. they just are. those are the things I want to get done.
all else falls by the wayside.

Now, in a perfect world, I'd get all these other things done too.
It all sounds great and perfect. and that's just what it is. perfect.
it doesn't happen in my life and I'm not sure if it's happening in yours. 

my house has piles of sheets.

I don't do laundry or cleaning.
I don't buy organic food
I don't cook every night. Or even really half the nights.
I don't have a pinterest worthy outfit or hairstyle every day.
My house is not spotless
We don't wear all brand name clothes

somehow I managed to kill a succulent. I thought these were the plants for people that kill plants?

there are times these things get done. but when they don't, I've learned to not stress.
because I've learned to ask myself.
If I succeed at one thing this week, what do I want it to be?

oh sorry, I thought I deserved that

there's a time for everything.
a time for me to show you weekend pictures,
and diets and goals.

and because this blog is the story of our life and the God who pours His grace over it.
there's a time to show you just how ugly my heart can be.

I had two classes this semester. and my job working at the lab.
and a little bit of that etsy stuff in between.
and in the midst of all of it, things got busy.

it got stressful to cook dinner.
laundry was a thing of the past
showers--every other day is plenty.

source

this became normal.
 except my greedy heart wanted time to do nothing
time to sit in front of the TV and watch the whole series of Lost.
and my selfish heart decided that since I worked so hard all week,
Saturdays should just be for fun.
no studying, no working, just fun.

and it worked pretty well, for most of the semester.
I had created a system for myself where I deserved rewards for working.

and it worked well,  until finals week came. and I still wanted that Saturday to do nothing.
so, I decided to schedule all my schoolwork for Sunday.
I'll just skip church and do all the work then.

source

and at this point, the Lord decided to use my husband for some nitty-gritty heart change.
amongst the fighting, tears, and heated statements, we got to a place where I said
"I value school over church."
NOT- school over my relationship with Jesus, but school over going to the building weekly church.
"I deserve time to rest and relax on Saturdays"

source

and what Sam said next is nothing short of the Lord speaking to me, using a person to do it.
in quiet and calm he said
"Sometimes we don't get what we deserve"

and I knew. what I deserve is Hell.
and what I've created here is a system where I'm God and I decide when I get rewarded. 
and all I really deserve is Hell.
but that's not what I get. and I'm not getting what I deserve.

so maybe I should get rest time.
and there will be seasons of rest, and seasons of working to the bone.
and it's all fine. I don't deserve full Saturdays of rest. 

because what I really hope to show is that I don't own my life.
it's owned by a God who is not giving me what I deserve.

snapshots

Hello Monday!  The weather is getting warmer here and we're approaching summer full speed ahead.

We had a great, fun filled weekend celebrating being done with finals!  It was full of relaxation, time in the sun, and just being together!

saturday night we went to an astros game.

and I ate my once-a-year hot dog.

a bang "trim" saturday turned into just going for the full on heavy bang look.

they're all nasty and sweaty here, don't judge.

and a lot of time curled up with this book made for a great weekend.

what about you? what were you up to this weekend?



target: cheap and lovely

Target. a wonderful and dangerous place.
it's a go-to store for me for just about everything
trendy items that don't need to least 5+ years?
target's got it at a great price.

I picked up those lepoard flats and skinny jeans yesterday.
my very first pair of skinny jeans.
and my second pair of jeans. 

speaking of a good deal,
did you know you can print online coupons for target from their website?
and they frequently have clothing coupons.
$3 off a top. i'm all over that.

and you can sign up for a DEBIT card from target that gives you 5% off
everytime, on anything.
just take a blank check with you next time you go.
 
what's your favorite thing to shop for at target?
do you have any money saving tips from target?
 

throwing money away

textbooks.

each semester of my undergrad, I was lucky to get out spending under $500 on textbooks.

just books!

and going to sell them back--I could barely buy a single dinner with the cash you get back.
and the new versions. don't get me started. 

a new version a year so that the version of the book you have becomes instantly worthless.

it gives me hives.

This time around--taking my prerequisites and nursing school classes, I'm doing textbooks a bit differently.

Did you know you can rent your textbooks from CampusTextbookRentals

for a fraction of the cost?

and shipping is free?

I've already looked up the books I need for my summer classes, and to rent them is only $56!

for three books!

purchasing them from the bookstore would cost me $322

Um. that's a ton of cash.
Here's my nutrition book for only $13. that's the price of lunch! 

so instead of throwing that money away, I'm a renter for life. 

not to mention how much better it is for the environment.

and my wallet. 

and stacks of old textbooks don't make the best decor.

trust me, we have some of those stacks.

*This post was sponsored by Campus Textbook Rentals, but all opinions are 100% my own!

(Really, we all want to save some cash money!)