tomorrow is the day.

millions will wake at an insane hour to watch will and kate marry. will you be one of them? i will!!

ok, let's be honest, MOST of us just want to see what kate is wearing. and to watch the making of a princess.... to watch history unfold!

and it got me thinking-- how is this any different from my three year old daughter who LOVES princesses?

Jordan at six months in front of Cinderella's castle

From Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Rapunzel... to Diana and Kate. the fairy tale story captivates the hearts of to girls young and old.

But why?

maybe it's the glamor, the attention, the authority, the castle, the prince, the clothes, or even her people who love her. whatever it is, i believe it's every girls hearts' desire to be cherished like a princess.

to really understand what it is to be deeply loved.

to possess grace, compassion, forgiveness, and kindness.

to know that she is one of a kind, she is special, she is beautiful.

to be taught that she has a Heavenly Father that came to earth to rescue and save HER, His princess.

Yes, that's the story every little girl wants to hear and believe is true. It's the hope of every girls heart.

That is what I was taught by my parents as a little girl, and that is what we are teaching our daughter today.

So are we raising a princess? You bet we are.

We are raising a little girl to have a heart of compassion and love. a girl to look at what's on the inside, and focus on the heart. A girl to fall in love with the Lord, and truly embrace the fact that she is a daughter of the King.

That's a true princess.

So tomorrow as I watch the Royal Wedding, and my daughter watches Rapunzel for the millionth time, I will say a prayer of thanks for my parents who raised me as their princess.

and for my husband who treats me like one each and every day.

Guesting at Making Memories

I am super thrilled and honored to be guesting over at the Making Memories Blog today!! Making Memories is an incredible company-- one of the very first companies I used when I began scrapbooking. The lines they design continue to inspire me each and every year.

I used three separate collections when creating this line: Vintage Findings (oh how i love the vintage feel of these kits, LOVE them), Paper Reverie (so classic), and Dilly Dally alphas. I am always a fan of companys that produce collections that can mix and match.

I have been wanting to create a layout for a long time about how Jonah and Jordan are little carbon copies of Todd and I. Looks, personality, everything.... we get comments ALL the time (especially Todd and Jonah) about the looks. These photos taken by my dear friend Mel just stood out to me and went perfectly with the color scheme.

Make sure to swing by the Making Memories blog to read a little more about the design and layering concepts behind this layout.

Thanks again, Making Memories for this wonderful opportunity!

PS thank you again everyone for your wonderful comments/tweets/emails about yesterdays post. you all are the best. xo

being vulnerable is a blessing.

Decisions, Decisions.

It's just part of life; but sometimes adult-sized decisions seem to come at you from all directions, all at once.

For instance, yesterday.

Yesterday we made several family decisions, ironically all unrelated to one another.

Yesterday we made a final decision to "hold Jonah back" a year, and enrolled him in a Prep-K program at the Christian school where he will eventually attend Kindergarten (in a year).

I have to say it was hard, yet relieving, all at the same time.

We had previously wondered if this would be the best option for our sweet boy. He is a smart, energetic, creative little boy who could use an extra year to prepare for Kindergarten.

And I am more than okay with that. Because I know it's what is best for Jonah.

We want him to start off strong, rather than start off with struggle. And now I have an extra year with my boy. :)

Secondly, yesterday was a big day for me personally.

I have mentioned a few times on my blog, that I struggled with post-partum depression/anxiety in 2008 after giving birth to Jordan.

My struggled with anxiety and fear seems to come in waves and seasons. I was at my lowest point in 2008 and have taken a slow climb up since then.

Right now, I am doing well.

And yesterday, we (my husband and i) came to a decision along side my doctor, that now is the time to remove my three year old "crutch" (which comes in the form of a 10mg a day anti-depressant ... a blessing that was much needed at my lowest point) and "test the waters", so to speak.

I agree, it's time. Time to say no to drugs, at least for a little bit.

However I am a little nervous. Is it normal to have anxiety about the possibility of having anxiety? Maybe.

But i TRUST and KNOW God is in control. I am taking everything I have learned these past three years, and i am going to give it a shot.

I am going to give myself another chance to be me. And i won't let fear take that chance and opportunity away.

so why do i bring this up? i am sharing these two things on my blog simply because i firmly believe that being vulnerable is a blessing.

when i was deeply struggling with PPD and anxiety, i had a friend pull me aside and tell me she struggled with this too-- she had been there and survived. her vulnerability blessed me, encouraged me, and gave me hope.

my hope today is that someone might read this and simply be encouraged.

the blog world can tend to look picture perfect... but this much i know, no one's life is perfect. we all have struggle, frustrations, unexpected circumstances, and pain. we've all got stuff. and chances are, being vulnerable enough to share yesterday's heartbreaks may be someone else's glimmer of hope today.

know that you do not walk this road alone.

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3

Good Friday Currents

pondering: this photo my sister in law took at a small local cemetery. so many analogies to life

drinking: a latte from starbucks
wearing: my uggs and i'm not happy about it
feeling: excited about new opportunities ;)
weather: thunderstorming
needing: more time with friends
thinking: about the cross. about the cost of sin. my sin in particular. about the depth of what took place on that Good Friday, and the simplicity of my response. thinking a lot about my relationship with Jesus today.

source: pinterest

enjoying: the change of season. flowers in bloom. i think nature is one of the many ways God shows us His love

missing: dear friends that stayed with us this week.

wondering: how these weeks go by so fast.

An Interview with Jonah.

How old are you: Five.

Favorite color: Blue

Favorite toy: Buzz, Woody, Piggy Bank, and Dino Rex

I like to sleep with: Tiggy, Puppy, Camera, and Balloon.

Best Friend: Abigail and Jarrett

Favorite Food: Chicken "Hot" Pie

Favorite Snack: Crackers and Goldfish

Favorite Movie: Mary Poppins and Michael Jordan Space Jam

Favorite Drink: Chocolate Milk, Orange Juice, Water, and Plum Juice

Favorite TV Show: Between the Lions

Favorite Game: Zingo and Hungry Hippos

Favorite Book: All of them (and Monster's Need Haircuts Too)

Favorite thing to do Outside: Blow Bubbles

Favorite thing on the Playground: Slides and Swings

What do you want to be when you grow up?: A daddy. And go to Bear Lake.


I love you so much Buddy.

Few Words Wednesday

image via pinterest

Something to think about.

dress ups.

Happy Tuesday Friends!

It's raining here in Indy-- my idea of perfect scrapping weather :) I have a new Lily Bee layout to share today!

Jordan is REALLY into "dress ups" lately! REALLY into it. She is always changing her outfit and asking for help to put it on. I grabbed my instax the other day and caught her outside in her favorite two costumes- Snow White and Sleeping "Booty". (haaaa!!!!)

Every Monday on the Lily Bee blog there are three projects/layouts that "Focuses on" a certain Lily Bee product. This week our challenge was to create a page focusing on the Lily Bee stickers. This is the layout I created.

As you can see, I used the Lily Bee banner stickers on the dress-form chipboard. I layered stickers from many different collections and then trimmed the excess around the edge.

Additionally, I used Lily Bee's White tulle flower for the skirt of the dress-form. I simply unwound the flower and used a portion of the tulle for the skirt. Simple!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Once Upon a Time.

Once upon a time there was a little girl who wanted nothing more than an ice cream cone of her very own. After years and years (three to be exact) of eating ice cream from a boring cup, her wish came true.

The shock and excitement of her first ice cream cone was almost too much for her little heart to handle.

All she could do for the first few minutes was stare into her ice cream cone, in utter shock and joy. A cone of my very own!!!

Until that first lick. Which was pure bliss.

Suddenly, something strange began to happen to the little girl. Little drops of ice cream began to drip onto her hands.

What in the world!?

"My cone is broken!!" she cried to her mommy.

But amazingly, mommy fixed the whole ordeal with a quick swipe of the napkin. And all was well again.

See, all she wanted was to eat with the same skill and swiftness as her big brother. Who's THE expert of ice cream cones.

And so she ate. and ate and ate and ate.

That is, until a table of "big kids" sat right behind her. And she couldn't help but watch how they ate their ice cream cones. And, hey, wait!!! One of the big girls has a cup, not a cone!!!!

And that's when it happened. The cone fell out of her little fingers and was gone forever.

The little girl was SO sad. MAD to be exact. She stood in the corner and pouted.

And flashed dirty looks at those big kids who "made her drop her cone".

So sorry baby girl. Let mama wipe your tears.

And next time? Let's do a cup.

Lucky in Love... with Twirly Twine?

Happy Wednesday Friends!!! Today I have a new Lily Bee layout to share with you...

For this layout, I used the new Picket Fence line by Lily Bee to create a layout with a few photos of Todd and I in New Zealand.

I used "Lucky" lyrics by Jason Mraz for my journaling. i love that song. An added bonus: i was watching that episode of Glee on the plane as we were landing in Auckland, NZ. so it totally makes me giddy and reminds me of our time in kiwi land :) .

Yet another added bonus (for you!) is that I have a tutorial over at Lily Bee today!!

Twirling Twine is one of my favorite new "techniques", and today over at Lily Bee I am sharing how to achieve this look! I believe I am becoming a bit predictable -- this twine look is appearing in all my layouts, but i seriously LOVE it (and it's sooo easy). I have made layouts 6+ months ago with this twirly twine on it, and it hasn't budged. It's a great alternative to stitching if you are looking to add a quick extra layer of texture.

Here are few other past examples of my twirly twine obsession:

See!! (a little obsessed much?? ha!) But it's fun!

Now head over to Lily Bee and find out how you can add this to your layouts :)

Thanks for stopping by today!!!

Spring Training.

It seems like Spring is popping up everywhere!!!

And this past weekend it was all about Prepping for Spring at the Hufford House.
Todd spent hours outside with this little helper.

They spent hours spreading mulch and moving rocks into the creek-- stuff that NEEDED to get done. Todd was so impressed at what a great helper Jonah was this weekend!! he never complained and was out there for the long haul. And he talked Todd's ears off the whole time. haaaaaa.

He took one little snack break and i was able to sneak a few pics of my sweet boy :)

This past weekend it was WARM and SUNNY and we used the grill for the first time of the season!! YAY i love spring and warm weather!!!!

In related news, Ella Publishing is also getting ready for spring with this fun event-- Spring Training!!

Ella's super duper Spring Training extravaganza is coming to a computer near you very soon! Stay tuned for details and your chance to sign up and get inspired.

• Four expert coaches (Angie Lucas on journaling, Wendy Smedley on inspiration, Tammy Tutterow on techniques, and Kelly Willette on photography)
• 12 exclusive videos (one per day) featuring coached training exercises (watch for 10 minutes, "exercise" for 10 minutes)
• A daily layout challenge based on the daily exercise
• Daily giveaways from our event sponsors (including Big Picture Classes, Jenni Bowlin, Little Yellow Bicycle, and more)
• Exclusive downloads and offers
• Access to the videos for a full 60 days after the event ends

Sign up this Week (April 11-15) to enjoy all of the above for 20% off the list price!

Register here (and see a fun video from Angie and Wendy:)!!!!

Note: Participation is FREE in the daily layout challenge and giveaway (without access to the videos, hands-on exercises, and exclusive downloads)

Hooray for Spring!!!! Have a great day!!!