Beauty Divine

Happy Valentines Day!! I hope you are feeling very loved today! Even if you don't get into the whole chocolate and romance stuff, you should at least find someone you adore and give them a big bear hug:) Have a great day and enjoy these five things that totally ROCK.

1.Love Birds Cards I had to pick at least one thing valentines day related. And I absolutely LOVE these cute handmade Bird in Love Cards. Especially because I'm a little over the whole pink and red hearts. It's a cute and a creative way to say I love you. And it's something you could use any time of year. Check them out here on etsy.



2. Meteor Shower by Owl City This band is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I love music that just leaves you feeling happy and Owl City really does that with their creative lyrics and electronic sound. I'm not sure if they are technically a Christian band but this song is a great reminder that we belong to a great God and he has made us new. Here are the lyrics:
I can finally see that you're right there beside me / I am not my own, for I have been made new / Please don't let me go, I desperately need you / I am not my own, for I have been made new / Please don't let me go, I desperately need you.




3. The Hunter Games books Someone at borders referred these books to me and at first glance I didn't think they were might type. But I really loved them. I like stories that put you inside a whole other world and these books do that. The two main characters Katniss & Peeta live in a futuristic "America" where the government has gone a little control crazy. What really made me love it is the way that Peeta adores Katniss. He would just do anything for her. These books rocked. I can't wait for the third one to come out.



4. Fashion Week Makeup I couldn't help checking out all the new trends at Fashion Week. The one thing I really loved was the makeup on models for Michael Kors. The artist used Shiseido's Spring 2010 line to make these shimmery gem-toned eyes. I love how he blends lots of colors together to get this reflective jewel look. It's bright and fun for spring. See more of fashion week here at Instyle.com.



5. Haiti Love T-shirts Another thing I spotted at fashion week was Victoria Beckham's T-shirt supporting Haiti. These are $25 each and the net proceeds go to benefit the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. It's a small way to help and you get a cute reminder for others to help too. Buy one here.


Don't these things rock? I love finding little things that inspire me...and sharing them of course! Do you have anything you've found lately that really rocks? Share it below!

One of the best purchases I've made this year was my Chi flat iron. I am not by any means a hairstylist and to be honest most days my hair gets thrown into a messy bun:) But on the days when I do actually put some effort into my hair, I have really appreciated my flat iron. The main thing I love about it is that it gets hot enough that I only have to go over a piece of hair once. It doesn't strip the moisture out of my hair and actually leaves it feeling silky. Flat irons I've used in the past literally burned my hair and made it frizzy -and my hair gets frizzy enough on its own!

I ran into the video below and became inspired to write this post. The website pursebuzz.com where I found it has awesome tutorials for hair and makeup. She shows you in the video below how to get many different looks with one tool: a flat iron. Hope you like it as much as I did!




Oh and if you're inspired to buy one, this website has some amazing deals:
Chi Products

What a crazy week of adapting! We've officially spent a whole week in our new city and Stephen and I are still trying to get used to all of the changes. Especially after never living anywhere other than Omaha. We got through quite a bit of highs and low already though...

Our lowest points were seeing family on Skype and knowing we can't just drive over and hang out with them. For me it was knowing I won't be able to see the little nieces and nephews for awhile (i actually cried lol I'm such a classic emotional pregnant lady). Stephen's biggest struggle has been coming home very overwhelmed each day with so much work to do because we are literally building our ministry up from ground zero.

I honestly feel like the hardest part is over (besides missing family and friends because I'm sure that will always be hard). And our blessings just keep adding up! Here are a few...

*Amazing new house! It's so nice and easy to keep clean and organized with all the space. We are excited to now have room to invite people over for gamenights, superbowl parties, bible studies, etc. The best part is we have a DISHWASHER!! I'm in heaven.

*Body of Christ! It's funny how we are experiencing the love of Christ through His people. It's almost like He is wrapping his arms around us by the actions of others. Everyone has been so welcoming and giving. We keep getting little surprises like a shoveled driveway, meals delivered (we're talking breakfasts, lunches, and dinners), and money gifts. We were feeling pretty lonely one night and the family who was supposed to bring us dinner instead invited us over to their house. It was so nice to hang out in a warm environment with great people and really get to know a few of the youth group kids. We loved it!

*Nice weather! Okay we may have gotten a little snow, but this weather is nothing like Omaha's bitterly cold temperatures. The sun has been out almost all week and there were two days where I didn't even need a coat. And even on the day that it snowed, we were surprised to find it was still easy to get around because there are no hills here:)

*Our house sold! This just makes me laugh because it was only on the market for two weeks in this economy, we didn't even have pictures up, and it was at our asking price. How awesome is our God who listens to all our prayers:)

*Internet! Even though we are so far away I love that I can actually see how everyone is doing. And Skype is pretty awesome even though it makes me cry hehe. Plus I can finally blog again;)

Tonight's our first night of youth group so I'm sure that will really get us excited for living here and getting to know the students. Keep us in your prayers!
Laurie

Stephen and I signed away our house in Omaha today! It is both a sad and happy day since we are leaving behind lots of hard work and so many memories. On the other hand, we are so excited to follow God and see the big plans he has for us here in Great Bend! We have only been here a week, but we have seen God's hand all over the place. (More pictures and details to come about that!) Our last week in the house, Jenny my amazingly talented photographer sister-in-law grabbed a couple pics of us saying goodbye to the bathroom remodel Stephen did. It was pretty amazing to see him transform it from that old spidery fruit cellar.
Before:



After:

On Tuesdays I'm usually involved in a women's bible study on the Attributes of God. This is usually where the older ones share their wisdom and I just sit there and wish I was as smart as them!

Today though, I chose to stay home because of one very sick doggy. I've been dogsitting this week for Molly and she is not doing so good. After a very traumatic experience at the vet yesterday and a surgery on her foot, Molly is now wearing one of those cones around her neck so she can't rip open her stitches. This leaves her constantly bumping into things and getting stuck because she is unable to see and hear all around her. This morning she was very depressed and defeated. So I opted to stay home with her and make sure she gets adjusted to the cone.

But as I've been sitting with Molly I started to see a few things clearly from my Bible Study. This week we are studying God's goodness. I was tempted to do the usual quick study: "God is good, okay I'm done!" But I knew that deep inside I question His goodness. There is so much hardship in this world that it's sometimes hard to accept that He is good even though he doesn't always intervene. As I was reading through it, I kept hearing poor Molly crash into things and thought "Life just isn't fair. Why does she have to go through this? Why do we have to go through tough times?"

I always have this nagging fear that God is waiting until everything is good in my life so He can take it all away and teach me something. Or it's hard for me to say, "You are all I need, Lord" because I'm scared He'll test me in it and take things away. I question God's goodness. Does He really have my best interests in mind?

But today in our study, I read Psalm 84:11: "For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." I started to think about that verse and look at Molly's situation with a bigger perspective. The cone may make her miserable right now. It's uncomfortable and isolating. But it's for her good. She can't tear at her stitches. She won't get an infection. She will get to keep her foot if it stays clean. Right now there is no better way for Molly's wound to be kept safe.

It works the same way with us. God is good. We can know that He wants what is best for us because He didn't even hold back from giving us His most valuable gift: His Son. We may hurt and not understand why we have to go through things, but it is not because God wants to punish us or test how much we can take. He gives us grace when the hardship is a consequence from what we've done, and makes all things work for His glory. He is a sun - a resource, strength, power - and a protective shield around us. God is good.

Okay don’t laugh at how much time I have on my hands but last week I did something really fun! I had been watching TV (being a slacker) and kept coveting all the super cute outfits I was seeing. And obviously working part time, I don’t have the funds to be buying a new fall wardrobe so here’s what I did: I took inventory.

I went through my closet and attempted to put together outfits. To my surprise after pulling everything out and layering a bunch of things I was able to come up with almost 40 outfits!

When I worked at a department store we had to put together outfits for the mannequins (forms) and had certain rule to make them look “fashion worthy.” At times it was really difficult to take boring and sometimes ugly clothes and try to make them into a cute outfit, but anyway this is what I did with my closet. My theory is that we have a lot more than we think but get bored after wearing a shirt the same way every time. I tested the theory on my sister’s closet and she was freaking out. Now before you give up and decide there’s no way you’ll find much in your closet, you have to try it!

Here’s the rules…
1. Get out a piece of paper and write as you go. Trust me, you’ll forget what goes with what after going through twenty things. Then you can write down when you notice something missing from what otherwise could be a really cute outfit. You’ll quickly find out what you need to pick up when you go shopping.

2. Start with laying out all of your pants on bed or floor side by side. It’s easy to put on whichever jeans that are clean with the shirt you want to wear, but don’t do it! You have to pair the shirts with the best pair of jeans for that shirt. As you put shirts together, hold them up to all of your jeans and see which looks best. Write it down and whenever that pair of jeans is clean, you can look at all the shirts that go well with them and choose from those. (By the way, ‘mom jeans’ don’t go with anything. Neither do pants that are too short. This is a perfect time to throw them away!)

3. Next make a goal to never wear any one shirt by itself. At the mall, we had to layer at least three tops on a form. Usually I just grab a couple longer tank tops that complement the top/main shirt and let them peek out the bottom of my shirt. For fall especially you can make your wardrobe stretch by pulling out jackets, cardigans, or any other cover ups for your arms. Then you can keep wearing the majority of your summer clothes.

4. Add accessories. Sometimes a long necklace really helps a flowy shirt from looking like a balloon. Add some fun tights under a dress to keep warm. For shoes, look at the style of your pants. Jeans with more of a leg opening/flare are better for flat shoes. Bootcut jeans are best with heels. (Skinny jeans are the exception)

5. Now that you have an idea of the great outfits in your closet, but hopefully along the way you’ve been writing down what is missing. For example: “This outfit would be great with a silver ballet flats or a black cardigan.” Now tally up how many times you needed that item for your outfits. The item you needed most will be at the front of your mind the next time you go shopping and you won’t waste money on another thing you won’t wear.

Time consuming - but so worth it!