BEES!

Last Winter when I took a bee keeping class I never thought my dream to actually become a bee keeper would happen so soon.  Last summer when I was attending a Life Group at Pastor Becky's home, it randomly came up that I had taken a bee keeping class.  When Pastor Becky heard this she shared that her husband and she always wanted to have bees in their yard.  Several months later and I am now officially a bee keeper!

Junk Bonanza

Last Saturday Snezhana and I spent the afternoon at the Junk Bonanza.  You can read about it here.  I went to it a for the first time a few years ago.  This is where I found my spoon ring that I still wear everyday.  Once again searching through all the "junk" did not disappoint and I found a couple treasures to take home.  Here are some of the highlights of the day:

 

 

 

I bought this  necklace which paraphrases Hebrews 6:19. 

I am definitely hoping for something at the moment!  I also found this adorable stand where this German lady and her husband were selling these tiny gnomes in a succulent garden.  I just had to get this little guy to add to my collection.

 

A perfect end to the day at Rusty Taco.  Love this place!

 

Walking out of work today I encountered the most beautiful snowfall that I've seen in a long time.  The snow was floating down in big white puffs.  I felt like I was walking in a snow globe.  It's officially spring and I can't wait for warm sunshine and green grass, however, the snow today was welcomed and enchanting.  What was my first thought stepping out into the snow? Perfect weather to sit down with a good book at a coffee shop! I absolutely love spending time in my new place and since I have loads of tea I decided to create a coffee shop atmosphere right at home.  

How do you think I did?

 

I love this little corner of my place.  I felt like I was sitting at some cozy little Parisian coffee house.  In fact, the pictures on the wall are posters I found at a market in Paris.  Europe is definitely calling my name again! The patio table is the same one I bought with Natasha when we were moving her out of her apartment last summer.  I think it fits perfectly in this corner.

 

Almost everything in this picture was a gift.  The beautiful tea pot was made by my dad's uncle Melvin (www.visi.com/~melpots/).  The tea cup and saucer Jessica got for me on my birthday and is from Anthropologie.  The shortbread Scottie dog cookies were given to me by my dad on my birthday from World Market.  The tea, Yogi honey lavender was from Suzi.  The book, You Are a Prize to be Won! written by Wendy Griffith was also a birthday gift, from Kathy.  Yet again, another book at the perfect time!  And finally, the colorful tray was a housewarming gift from my friend Bri.

 

With Dvorak playing in the background, yummy tea and my great book, I have to say this afternoon at my makeshift coffee shop rivaled some of the chic Parisian coffee houses I long to visit again or even one of the local coffee shops I frequent here at home.

January

 

What a month, what a cold month!  Why do people live in MN?  Do you see that? "Feels like -33 degrees F"! Seriously Molly C., let me know when you are packed and ready for Bora Bora.

 

 

My new favorite flower (and phone wallpaper), French Heather.

 



 

 

 One snowy Friday night, Bri and I went to an art studio to paint pottery.  I painted this dish... yeah, note to self, next time plan ahead.

 

 Bri did an awesome job painting this travel mug.

 

 

 This was my rendition for Peter of what my bee hive is going to look like.  Pretty self explanatory I think.

 

 

 Lady has her very own chair in the basement that she loves to sleep in while dad and I watch (cough) The Walking Dead (cough)... don't judge, it is awesome.  Yup zombies.  Anywho... Lady fell asleep like this, half falling off the chair.  I love this animal.

 

The most fun I have had all year so far... Bill's Gun Range!  Holy cow I have got to get myself a gun, so fun!  I have shot guns before but never in a gun range.  So to celebrate Tina's birthday we shot guns for about 3 hours.  Who knew it would be so much fun?!

 

 

 I don't know if you can tell what I was shooting at... ZOMBIES! 

There were four zombies in the picture and as everyone knows, you have to shoot a zombie in the head to take it out.  At 25ft, it only took me 4 shots and I got each zombie in the head, Oh Yeah!  I would definitely survive a zombie apocalypse. Darryl would be proud!

 

I make this look good, right?! I think I found my knew calling, cop or spy for sure.

 

 

 Tina taught me how to reupholster my chairs. 

Before:

During:

After:  I love my refurnished, girly as all get out chairs!  

End of 2013

Looking back on 2013 I can see God's hand in every aspect of my life.  The year started out with some uncertainty but mostly hope for what the Lord was starting.  And I knew He was up to something.  I think the greatest thing when I look back is all of the amazing people He has put along my path in such a short amount of time.  2013 was awesome because I feel like my faith and character has been through the fire and as far as I can tell, I am coming out nice and shiny.  I know I have a ways to go but it is cool to be able to look back and say whoa, that's what that was about, and that's why I went through that.  And I am better for it all.  He really is faithful to afflict me (Psalm 119).  I wouldn't trade any of those hard experiences and trials for anything. 

 

By the time summer came along, I knew I was in a season of rest.  The Lord was telling me to soak it all in, have fun... because it is going to get hard again.  And it did.  It was like, for the first time in my life, I knew I was in a trial for my own good and the Holy Spirit was right there with me the whole time.  In the fall I decided to do a 40 day "spying out the land" prayer and fasting time.  I loved it! I felt so close to the Lord during that time.  I was expecting great things, big answers to prayer at the end of the 40 days.  But I also knew that if day 41 was the same as the day before, it would be okay.  I would keep on.  About two weeks later everything seemed to implode and I was loosing my grasp on His promises.  Why couldn't I get a break through?  Sometimes circumstances seem so overwhelming that I forget that I don't live by the same standards of the world.  The facts: I felt stuck, no idea what was ahead of me, no place to live, frustrated with certain things I won't mention here etc.  BUT! The Truth is: my God has a hope and a future for me!  This isn't the end of my story.  So after about a month of being stubborn and selfish, I decided to take back my land.  It might not be much, but it's mine and I wanted it back. 

 

My word that I prayed for to focus on in 2013 was "seek".  I sought out the Lord, the land, and His will.  I believe I am entering a new season of blessing and favor.  Praise God! He knows I have waited and prayed for direction for a while.  I think he is honoring my time of seeking.  I can not contain how excited I am about all these new things happening in my life.  And they are way better than anything I could have gotten for myself.  I am excited to see what He has in store for 2014.

 

But first here are some pictures from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

 

 

Michael made this awesome turkey from vegetables!

Juice from the turkey overflowed from the pan and started burning on the bottom of the oven and filled the house with smoke.  I couldn't breath there was so much smoke.

Natasha's birthday

Natasha and I made a trip down to Missouri

 

The Christmas Eve service at church was beautiful.  When we left church we walked out into a snow storm; it was very pretty though.

Bailey