7 by Jen Hatmaker

This will be a quick post with more to follow, but I must share this.

I read this book over the weekend and it messed me up in all kinds of ways. I'm planning to do a post about a topic per week here since a good bit of it has to do with the general day-to-day of running a household- what we consume, what we waste, what we eat, what we hold on to, when we rest. Ahem.

I'm bursting at the seams to discuss this book with someone, so please let me know if you've read it. And if you planted a garden. Or started making bread. Or went through your closets. Or unplugged for a day. Or week.

I'd love to know your thoughts. And if you haven't read it, I simply can't give it a high enough recommendation. As it says on the cover, "An experimental mutiny against excess", pretty much sums it up. The author identified 7 areas of excess in her life and spent 4 weeks on each, pairing it down to 7 things. She ate 7 foods, wore 7 pieces of clothing (I know), found 7 ways to be 'green', and so on. I devoured.this.book. Seriously, I couldn't read it fast enough because everything about it intrigued me to no end. So often, I've found myself thinking, "I can do better", and this was the kick in the tail I needed to jumpstart actually doing something about it.

I found myself actually laughing out loud on more than one occasion while reading this, and the next moment I'd be crying. The author's account of this experiment is not only hilarious, but also deep and raw. This wasn't a 'just because' kind of project for her (nor should it be). God actually has things to say about how we live our life in this book called the Bible. Did you know that? Craziness.

More to come on this, and in the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!

p.s. we totally have a cat. He's outside, sort of. More to come on that as well.

Recent reads

Happy Tuesday friends! I wanted to share with you a couple of books I recently read, both of which actually came about because the authors began the stories on their blogs. Chances are, you've probably heard of both of these books and perhaps even read them, but I wanted to give you my honest review of each. So here goes.



The first is Bloom, by Kelle Hampton. I've been a blog reader of hers for a little over a year now, and I'll admit that it's one of my faves. She is so incredibly open and honest about her 'everyday' life and happenings and her beautiful writing paired with her awesome photog skills is simply captivating. I want more each time, and so I go back again and again. Pure lovliness.

The book is about her journey of (unexpectedly) having a child with Down syndrome and the highs and lows she experienced as a result of it in the first year of her daughter's life. I was moved to tears, several times actually, in the first chapter of the book where she recounts Nella's birth story. Her honesty is what I found to be so refreshing. In a blogosphere where many only paint the 'pretty' pictures + stories of their life, she openly says that she was heartbroken and felt that, in a way, the world had come crashing down. The chapters that follow tell of her growth and acceptance and eventual celebration of her sweet Nella and while I do not have a child with special needs, this book truly speaks to any mother who has brought a child into the world in circumstances that were not expected and perhaps, not ideal.

There are pictures sprinkled throughout the book so that it reads just like a series of blog entries. Pics of her family and friends and precious snapshots of her children are included to complement and give visuals to her beautiful words. Perhaps one of the things that stuck with me the most was her core group of friends she calls the 'Net'. These ladies were there for her in the hospital and along every step of the journey, just as if a trumpet had been sounded to rally them to duty. It caused me to think about my own friends- yes we have moments too where we come together to support and encourage one another, but are we truly being a Net? Are we holding each other up and even carrying each other if one of us can't stand? Yes, we pray for each other, but seeing the way her friends were truly there for her made me want to step it up and be that kind of friend. Know what I mean? A Net is always a good thing to have close at hand, not just in case it's needed, but because it will be needed.

Sorry-didn't really mean for that to take a deep turn, so let's now move from deep thoughts to horse troughs.

Do horses use troughs?

I don't know.



The second book is all about passionate love and out-of-control flop sweat and squirty manure and if you guessed already just from that list of adjectives that I'm describing From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, well then you must read The Pioneer Woman. The book tells the story of how Ree met and fell in love with her cowboy husband and also recounts their first year of marriage together. She began telling her love story in installments on her blog, and over the course of 18 months, her readers were treated to chapter after chapter of her courtship, engagement, and marriage. For the book, she went beyond the wedding and finishes just after they celebrate their first year as husband and wife. If you know Ree's writing, then you know what a fun, quick read this was. I wasn't a blog reader yet when she began telling the stories online, so most of it was new to me and I ate it up. Not only did I find her true tales of courtship incredibly entertaining, but I was also immediately inspired to begin recording my own tale of love + marriage, including the first time I laid eyes on the hubs. I remember it well- I was at church, headed to the choir room for elementary choir when I saw him with the preschool class. His blue striped tank, blue shorts, and white knee socks with the velcro tennis caught my eye. He was four and I was....not.

Anyway, if you're on the lookout for a good read or two, I highly recommend these two books. I don't even have time for pleasure reading, but I wanted to read these so badly that I gave up some of my precious sleep and at one point, read on my stomach on the floor while my 2 yr-old sat on my back singing, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

I hope you have a mahvelous morning/afternoon/evening, friends. Toodles!

Those lazy crazy hazy days of summer

The heat has totally gotten to me.

It's Alabama.

And hot.

At 8:00 am.

no kidding-

by 8:00 am, it was already close to 80*.

Before the day is out, the heat index will be well over 100*.

It's making me lose my mojo.

My *crafting* mojo, that is.

All other mojos are completely in tact.

There are 5 projects currently underway at my hizzy,

 not to mention the mother-of-all-renovations going on in the kitchen,

and I can't muster the energy/motivation to finish any of them right at this moment. Instead, I'll just share a little of what we've been up to for the past few days.

***

The hubs and I had a nice little getaway on Sunday afternoon and went to see Red Mountain Theatre Company's production of Hairspray. A few of our good friends were in it, so it was nice to see all of their hardwork come to fruition. The show plays for the next 3 weeks, so if you're in or around Birmingham, don't miss it. Ticket info can be found HERE.

***

A little 2-year old that lives with me had her first pedicure yesterday.

Is it just me, or does nail polish automatically make one seem older.

My heart sank a lil',

not gonna lie.

***

Finished reading this yesterday and immediately went to our local theatre's website to see if it was still playing-

It's not.

It's also NOT currently on dvd, so-

it's in movie limbo.

Out there in space somewhere.

Boo.

I want to see it now.

***

These are next on my list:

scored ALL of those books for a buck or less at the thrift store, btw.

***

The kids made some pretty rockin' potato heads yesterday while I was reading. There's just something so nostalgic and awesome about Mr. Potato Head.

***

Found this pic online yesterday and while I'd love to give credit to this beautiful foot/photograph, I have no clue where I found it.

What a cool place for a tat though, am I right?

The hubs said it would be a particularly painful spot to get one though,

and he would know. I just haven't ever seen one I truly considered for myself before this.

(Not that I'm getting one, you understand, but it IS an item on my list, so I at least have to think on it)

***

In kitchen news:

we have a wall...

sort of.

It's actually a source of centention between the hubs and I at the moment because I think it sticks out too far. As in, I'm afraid I'll bump my booty on it when I bend down to retrieve something from the fridge. And my booty isn't exactly of Kim or Beyonce or J-Lo proportions. We'll see what happens this week-

either the front section comes off, or it stays.

I'll post more pics on my kitchen update post this week so that YOU can make an informed decision as well.
(along with ME)

Also in kitchen news,

we bought a pendant light to go above the sink-

whatcha think?

It's made by allen + roth and we picked it up at Lowe's.

I'm loving the industrial look of it.

Also loving that the price didn't break the bank ($49.97)

***

I'd like to give a

HUGE

 shout-out to Jennifer for featuring E's Barbie party on her blog today-

Hop on over and say 'hi', and tell her I sent ya!

***

I've also added a 'Parties' page under the header of my blog so that you can find all of the Mathews parties a lil' easier. Planning to add to it as I write about past + future parties.

***

 Who saw Design Star last night??

What were your thoughts?

(I totally thought Meg should have been packin' up.

That table was a total hot m-e-s-s.

I guess J's room wasn't all THAT either though...)

Favorite picks?

I LOVED Mark's Air Force tribute.

Totally rocked it.)

***

So...

that's what I've been up to in a nuteshell-

saw a musical,

read a book,

found a cool tat,

lost my crafting mojo,

watched Design Star,

and bought a light.

Also going out with the girls tonight and

I. Can't. Wait.

Hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday!

and if any of you have any tips on how to get my crafting mojo back,

I'm all ears...

weekend recap

hello all!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

I actually took very few pictures, which is probably a good thing since the girls both had snot dripping down their faces and O woke up at 7 Sunday morning vomiting in bed. Was that too graphic?

sorry

I was covered in pretty much every bodily fluid yesterday with the puking, and the snot, and oh yeah-

did I mention the babe had a touch of diarrhea?

because she did.

and she'd peed through her diaper during the night so when I picked her up yesterday morning to love on her...

bam.

pee on my pj's.

But hey,

it happens.

moving on to some happier times from the weekend-

My parents took us out Friday night for my birthday.

We ate at Iguana Grill which is one of my faves and YUM-O, it was good.

MM really dug the decor too-

lots and lots of lanterns hanging all over the ceiling-

Saturday morning was the pancake breakfast for Cinderella. As some of you know, I'm currently directing the show for a children's theatre company in my town and before each show opens, we usually have a breakfast- it's a great way to raise some money that goes towards the show's budget,

AND

 who wouldn't want to eat pancakes with Cinderella and her entourage? I loved seeing the little girls coming to eat in their Cinderella dresses! So precious!

aren't those costumes fab?

by the way-

if you're local, the show opens Friday night for the public and will run through Sunday. Show times are 7:00 pm Friday and Saturday night, and 2:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday. If you have young children, or older children, or if your children have children, or if you KNOW any children- you won't want to miss it! You can purchase tickets online HERE.

I needed to get out of the vomit house last night so MM and I took a little trip to Wal-mart. I'm not usually a Wal-mart gal and to be quite honest I felt like I was straight up cheating on Target, but I'd heard good things about their Better Homes and Garden line of home decor items, so we went.

Just look at the lovely sunset we saw on the way-

There was also some sort of carnival set up in the parking lot of what used to be a Dillard's department store. I'm sure those rides that are packed up and moved around a lot are 100% safe.

Well-

BHG did not disappoint. Just look at these lovelies...

Barbie totally had this one in cardboard in her very first dream house. Anyone else remember that? Circa 1961?

Since I'm still working on our Master Bedroom re-do, I needed some pillows in my accent color to go with the new bed linens. Wal-mart sells 1 and 2 yard packs of fabric in several differnt patterns/colors. I totally did not know this.

Now I do.

Two yards of pumpkin orange came home with us.

MM was doing a few ankle exercises while we looked at fabric.

And...

while it's not an actual craft project,

I did work on something this weekend-

whatcha think?

Are they blingy enough?

And last, but certainly not least,

I picked this up to read because you can bet your sweet bippy I'll be going to see the movie.



10 points to the person who can tell me what show "bet your sweet bippy" comes from.

And was it 'bippy'?

I guess I'd better be quoting it right if 10 points is up for grabs.

Anywho...

have any of you read this? If so,

what did you think?

I'd love to hear...

What I'm reading...

This book is amazing. If you've never read it, I strongly urge you to pick up a copy. It's been out a few years now, so you could find one pretty cheaply on ebay, or if you live near me you can borrow my copy. Seriously. Even though we, as Christians, know that Jesus died for us on the cross, this book goes so much deeper into the reasons and meaning for every single detail of Jesus' crucifixion. Such a powerful read. Max Lucado is truly a gifted writer. I have a feeling this will be a book I read over and over and over....

Are YOU reading any good books/magazines at the moment?