a letter

To my very intelligent and faithful husband,

Friday, in the early a.m., you will get to put all of the knowledge you've acquired over the past two years to test. I hear it's a long one. I hope you know I've been praying for you and your brain for quite a while now.

Just in case you maybe have forgotten, God has really equipped you well for this path. I mean, I say it all the time, but you're the smartest person I know. You have a faithful and responsible attitude towards getting things done that need to get done. You are cute and sweet and approachable. Even though you don't always answer my slightly hypocondriatic (spell check is telling me that I made that word up) concerns, I know one day you will be ever so patient and helpful with your future patients.

I've seen all of the hard work you've put towards this celebration of knowledge. I know I don't understand it as fully as I should, but to me, it still looks like a LOT of hard work. School all day, studying and preparing for the next lecture all night, Saturday things (I don't even know where you go or what you do) and the list could go on and on. But, you do it! You're such a wonderful man.

I'm so proud of all of your practice scores. You're going to be such an ethical physician. When people yell on a plane, "is there a doctor here?" I am going to be beaming with admiration when you will get to stand up and respond, "yes! I'm one!" That will be a fun day.

I will forever be your test dummy when you get a new otoscope, stethoscope, or ophthalmoscope. I will try and always be supportive (by pretending to learn 400 drug cards, or answering your practice questions as we try and fall asleep), and when I get complain-y or selfish, I'M SORRY! Please pay me no attention. You are doing an incredible job. So, good luck on Friday and I hope you get the score you want!!

I love you a whole lot,
your wife.

a closet re-born.

My mother may be a hoarder. Not TV show nomination worthy, but given a few years, eh, she could be there. Just kidding, mom. kinda :)

So, what better to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Houston than organize their under-the-stairwell closet? Let me tell you, not much. Post one terrifying cock roach experience, a trip to Ikea, and a few margaritas with family, we got started with project closet clean-out. 

I forgot to take a "before" picture, but let me tell you... literally, you would open the door and you couldn't see past the opening. We took everything out in loads and made piles. Piles of seasonal decor, gift wrapping accessories, and Spode (it had it's own pile there is so dang much of it).

Then loaded it back in, and here's what we got.

 2 tensions rods (walmart) for the ribbon hung above the shelf. Helpful hint - tape the edges of each loose end or else you'll have rolls upon rolls of unraveling ribbon - straight chaos. We hung the iron on the wall with an iron board holder (walmart) to the right. 

Here we have 3 hanging baskets (ikea) that just slip right onto the built in shelf, how convenient. Inside, there are boxes (ikea) full of bows, yep, just bows. On the left side of the closet wall we screwed in a magazine rack (ikea) that seems like it was made to hold my mom's collection of gift bags.  

 Ikea sponsored this whole bottom section. And, by sponsored I mean we bought it all. You can barely see it, but in the background are two white baskets. They are perfect for holding wrapping paper! thank. you. ikea. 

That long bar holds scissors, tape, more ribbon, balloons, banners, and table clothes. You know, the usual.

So, there it is. Coat closet makeover. Gee, I wish I had an entire closet that could be dedicated to crafts. A girl can dream. 

episode 3

They designed the Kardashian's new office in pairs. So glam. Sparkles everywhere.

Not the best, but still a fav - Hilari, and Danielle. But, mostly Hilari. I think really I just want her to have her own reality show. I want to watch her at home, in Dallas, with her kids, designing around town.

Bottom of my top 3 rooms. The kitchen.

Their light fixture was amazing. I loved the cabinetry, and the horizontal stripe wall, and ya can't go wrong with grays right now.

 Next, number 2 of the my top 3. The office. The most inspiring part of the room was probably the desk placement and the arched windows.

for some reason the judges loved the "tennis bracelet" on the wall. yuk. never.

and thennn myyy favoriteeeee! (with a little vibrato)

these folks. dream team.

 mmm.. wallpaper. Also, I'm dying over the white vases, and the flowers they chose. THE BIG WHITE DESK!!

 

I love this show.

Living by the Spirit. Living by the Flesh.

I've always had some understanding of what the Bible says when it explains living by the Spirit versus living by the flesh. Spirit, good. Flesh, bad. The flesh leads us to self-idolatry, leads us to selfishness, leads us to glorifying anything but God. Everyone is born into the flesh. Born sinners. Kinda scary, huh?

When Christ came and God called me to himself, he saved me from my flesh. He saved me to a life of living by the Spirit. But, then I always kind of thought this is where the flesh dies completely, when truly our flesh isn't dead and conquered until we come to glory in Heaven. Post salvation we are in a constant battle between our Spirit and our flesh. As sanctification (becoming more and more like Christ) progresses our flesh begins to wane, and the Spirit grows larger and larger within us. That's probably the coolest part to me. For some reason (I always say this, but for clarification - the reason is God, revealing himself and his truth to me), this idea just clicked to me in the last couple of weeks.

Paul confirms in Galatians 5 the reality of the battle between Spirit and the flesh.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8)

I can absolutely tell when my flesh takes over. I am hostile. I think the world, or the people in my life owe me something. I have little patience, and I think I'm better, more intelligent, than others. I hope now that I can recognize this, and that it will be easier for me to ask God to, in that moment, set my mind on what the Spirit desires.

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 .
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8)

I am very thankful for sanctification, and for the Spirit that lives in me, sometimes it brings me to tears. Tears of joy, because God chose me. Tears of sadness, because I know he doesn't call everyone. Thank you God for continuing to form me into likeness. Thank you for grace during the process. You are better than life.

wish list.

I'm not really your subtle hint dropper, and since I know sometimes Blake stumbles over here while procrastinating the study time, I'll just go ahead with this...



Kendra Scott Sommy Necklace

 

Voluspa candle



Brunch at Hattie's



From this Etsy seller



And lastly, one of these. Red Velvet of course.



episode two.

The White Room challenge.

For the most part, minus 2 or 3 rooms, I thought this episode was genius. Sure, some execution details didn't live up to what one would expect from professional designers, but it was still so inspiring to see the creativity!

My Favorite. I'm such a sucker for navy, and I'm dying to (in our next home) use more red in decorating. Love the "molding" and that wood art piece. You can't really see in this photo, but that gold chain chandelier is actually kind of beautiful.

And then, my friend, Hilari. I really like her and her ideas, but the judges weren't diggin' the room.

 It's only episode 2 - so she has some time, but, I'm totally rooting for her.

Her room turned out to be fabulousness meets Tiffanys, but I don't hate it.

Very unlike the following:

YIKES. The judges kinda loved it. I'm obviously missing something.

And then, this room....

stayed in the competition over this one....

Definitly the bottom 2 rooms, but the top room and designer should have gotten the boot, in my opinion. But, I'm sure Vern and Genevieve know what they're doing.

Can't wait for episode 3 - looks like some drama!

welcome home.

I figured since we've been at the house for almost a year now, it was time to do a little tour. I love this house so much. Well. For what it is... a rental, that we can't update or paint, or change light fixtures. Other than those minor things, the move to N. Oak Cliff has been a dream. 

So, welcome home. This is literally what you see when you open the front door. Hello couch. The living room is kind of a strange layout. It's really long with tons of windows and doors. 

I've had an epic battle with the pillow situation in our living room, they are constantly changing. On my latest wish list would be these covers... ah, the Greek key pattern. Now, I just need to get Blake on board. 

From Etsy

 Then, we turn right. There you will find the fire place. No, I did not place that dog there, what a camera hog. Don't you just love all of the windows here? Yea, me too. 

I tried to tie this side of the room together best I could, with the navy strip lumbar pillows. Let's just say I'm going with the "gathered" look. Oh hand-me-downs. Maybe we could say eclectic?

 Now if you go left from here, you're in our dining room, but that's for another post. Let's head over to what's above the couch. 

 I made a Dakota silhouette. You know, kind of like parents do for their children. I'm totally that dog owner. 

 I found this on Pinterest and did a little LJ version. 

 A neutral paint and wax drip creation. 

Let's take it back to the front door now. Remember, right = fire place. If you take a slight turn to the left, you'll see our shrine to the television. We have an obnoxiously huge television courtesy of my husband. Maybe it's not as bad as I make it sound, but it takes up the whole wall in my mind. 

 BAM! tv.

The front door rounds out this little living room tour.

Close up shot of 2 framed post cards. Little Dallas reminders: Parkland Hospital (where Blake will be spending a lot of time in the future) and White Rock (one of my favorite places in the city).  

next up... DINING ROOOOM!!