Toy Lessons

One of my favorite bloggers is Donald Miller. He has been discussing the different lessons within the new movie Toy Story 3. Our family went to watch it, and if you have the time, read the 3 posts Donald left with his slant of this great movie-

Every now and then I'll leave a reply, and this morning I wanted to share my thoughts about what I saw within the movie:

"I agree with you that there are many stories/lessons within this movie. The character that intrigued me the most while watching with my husband and college age daughters was Buzz. Buzz is the only toy with a demo capacity, and this is not the first of the Toy Story movies we've seen it in.

When everything is said and done, Buzz stays true to who he has become, his real self, not the manufacturer-i'm-like-all-the-other-buzzes mode. Andy and the other toys, the people in his life who love him, have given him a sense of who he is. They have influenced him, challenged, loved even through failure, and they like him! While it's funny to watch him reprogrammed, he doesn't stay that way. His confidence is most evident as he realizes how loved he is by his owner.

I may attempt to redefine who I am for various reasons, but then it seems the people who know and love me the best just want me to be myself. Trying to act like everyone else isn't going to ultimately make anyone happy. I'm glad our Manufacturer didn't program us, but He takes joy in our individuality.

i don't need no stinkin' nfns....

so, i am VERY inspired in this moment just experienced. discovery.

as you know, i love the summer sunday night the next food network star series. so tonight, week 4, i'm investigating who my pull-for person is, and it is most definitely aarti.

checked out her blog, and i thought, this is how to begin...do my own you tube food videos! for christmas this past year i created a handwritten cookbook for katy, filled with family recipes. now i want to do the online demos...especially for when emma needs to cook something.

so aarti paarti is now my inspiration. til i get mine up and going, take a look at her episode 4 on popcorn!

btw - name suggestions would be nice (hint, hint)!!

Creative Outlet

I had a wakeful night thinking...

...family relationships
...wisdom needed
...important testing time for all three girls
...hurdles, not "drama", such as impending childbirth, drug addiction and cancer battles, chronic pain (let's keep our eye on the ball with the really important issues, family!)

I tend to process here with you. But yet it wasn't happening in my brain. I needed a different creative outlet.

Thankfully, God had already given one to The Man About The House and me. He came home Thursday with these two items:


We've been talking about these projects for about 6 weeks, and finally found the right items at the perfectly bartered price from Sarasota Architectural Salvage.

Bookshelf (solid cherry, circa 1910-20) his project.



Window with rotating seasonal pictures for me to sink my teeth into. It will hang as artwork over the buffet in our dining room (thanks to incredible photographers in the Hart Family!).


Just what I need for a better night's sleep!

Update: After a few hours, couple coats of black paint on the already covered pine or cypress surrounding the poured glass....

Sing A Song

Yesterday was a long day.

Some people might say a bad day, but since I tend to be a glass-half-full person, I saw a lot of grace in spite of difficult hurdles. Just really tiring!

So this morning, refreshed after sleep, this put a smile on my face...