Oh Happy Day.

 Giddy. 

Excited. 

 Running Late. 

I was all those things on Monday morning when Chris' ship pulled in. Yeah, my friend, Krynn and I were just parking when we heard the cacophony of horns announcing the arrival of his ship into the pier.

 Whoops. 

So I slipped off my purple heels and we booked it. And boy, my heart leapt when I saw the bow of his ship slipping into place and I found my love on the deck, searching for me in the crowd. 

We've perfected silent conversations when he has to stand up in his uniform. He was cracking me up. 

Chris in all his bingo winning prowess, won First Kiss, so after the captain and the new dads came off, he got to come out before everyone else. And what a blessing that was, because man, it is so hard to wait for them to get off that stinkin' ship. 

My very favorite. I'm going to frame this one. It just makes my heart flutter.

Yes, I bought him a lei to coordinate with my outfit. Um, duh. 

I love having him home. 

Yep, that's the same post title I used for our homecoming pics post last year-- it's just so appropriate. If you haven't had enough gushy homecoming pictures-- check out last year's here. 

lindsay

It's Here!

Oh yes, it's here. Home coming day! 

Yup, that's the font from my blog. Nope, I didn't trace it, I freehanded it. ;) It makes me smile. Maybe I'll just leave it up indefinitely and every time Chris comes home from work, I'll run out and make a big deal out of it...

I'm awake at 4:45am because I just can't sleep a minute longer. In a few hours, I'm gonna slip on my awesome coral dress (with pockets!), curl my hair, hop into my purple heels and head over to the base.

 I can't wait to have my sweet hubby home again. 

Oh, and the cherry on top-- Chris won a bingo game on the ship and the prize-- First Kiss!! So he gets to come off the ship first ( after the new dads!). That's a pretty big deal because it takes them a loong time to get off the ship sometimes.

 So.freaking.excited, you guys. 

lindsay

It's the Little Things: Beach Days & Homecoming Prep (And a Vlog!)

So many good "little" things this week. But really, they are big things.

The week started off pretty awesome with a day at the beach with my girl friends and their baby girls. Sunshine, good conversation and sandy baby toes -- um, pretty awesome.

I've been working on Chris' homecoming banner ( and other fun homecoming projects) all week. Not only am I high on the sharpie fumes, but I'm a little high on the "Chris is coming home, woot-woot!" fumes. Er, vibes, er whatever. 

I made homemade fries the other day. So freakin' good. And homemade dipping sauce too ( or as I accidently tweeted the other day "funny dipping sauce... not sure what that is.) 

I think I've been coerced by my twitter buddies to share the recipe-- so do you want it? I'll post it soon if you're interested, but I'll warn you, it's anything but healthy. 

There's nothing like writing a grocery list for TWO after months of shopping for one. I can't even explain how excited I am to start cooking fun recipes with Chris again. He's so fun to cook with and I sure have missed eating "real" meals! 

I just wanted to say thank you for all of the prayers, support and encouragement over the past few months. So I recorded a little vlog. 

Do I sound like you thought I would? I kind of love seeing videos of my favorite bloggers-- it's funny to see if they sound the way they sound in my head. 

Anyway, if you can't watch the video, it's just me saying..... you guys rock. I'm so thankful for this blogging community and the great support you've been to me while Chris has been gone. I really have felt so loved and supported by you-- so thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, tweeting me, emailing, etcetera. 

Hope you have an awesome weekend! I'll be busy smooching my husband the next few weeks, but never fear, I have some really fun posts lined up. ;)

lindsay

And the Countdown Continues...

I have 4,592 things on my to-do list before Chris comes home. But I'd really like to chuck that list and just have him home. I'm getting pretty tired of all the emotions of the week and the hype I'm working myself into over all the projects I want to get done.

 I'd really be perfectly content if he just walked in the door right now (I almost just wrote "into the door".... that would be funny too.). Our bedroom looks like my closet threw up, there's a half empty pizza box on the kitchen counter, the yard is a jungle and our living room is half-rearranged.

Yeah about that. I worked hard all yesterday afternoon to finish up the new painting for our living room. And then I got it up above the couch and started snapping pictures for the blog and... "ugh". I was just tired of the same thing. So at 7:30 last night I started rearranging our living room for the first time in two years.

And halfway through realized that the only arrangement that really works is the one we had going for two years. Soo, now our living room is half arranged and you know what? It might just stay that way until Chris gets home and can actually help me make move stuff around-- in person!


So I don't have a painting reveal for you today. But here's a little sneak peek.

If you're in the mood for some mushy-gushy romance, head over to Cole's blog today. We are featured as today's couple for her Real People in Love series! Lots of sweet details about our love story! ;)

I'm headed to the kitchen to mark another day off the countdown... and maybe throw away that pizza box. 

lindsay

Weary & Burdened

Hi friends! How was your Monday? Mine was eh, let's say, less than stellar. I'm becoming more and more aware that my focus is not well, focused where it needs to be. Or rather, on Who it needs to be focused on.

It's so easy for me to get sucked into focusing in on how many blog comments I'm getting on my posts, the feedback I get on twitter on my new listings , or how many sales I've had this week.

 I get bogged down thinking about the unanswered emails sitting in my inbox, the items yet to be crossed off my to-do list and the ideas rolling around in my head that have yet to be realized. 

For some reason, I used to think that once I hit X number of followers on my blog or sales in my shop, that I'd be a pro. A pro at balancing life and blogging. A pro at not being afraid of failing. A pro at uh, organization. Yeaaaah, right. 


Thankfully, even though I try all too often, I don't have to shoulder it alone. My friend sent me an encouraging text yesterday that included this verse: 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 

I think with Chris deployed, I have the tendency to think I can just power through and deal with the stress, the to-do lists. As a military wife, I'm told over and over again "Be strong.""You're so strong to do this all by yourself. "

But I'm realizing more that I can't. And I don't have to try. So this week, I'm going to make a greater effort to lay my burdens at His feet and turn to my Bible before I open my inbox, and focus on what my Jesus has to say about me, His child, rather than what the number of my sales or comments says about me. We'll see how that goes.

{Oh, I bought tickets to go visit Chris last night!! I leave two weeks from today for an exotic (secret, for now) location! Let's just say I am not looking forward to 20 hours of travel, but oh-so excited to smooch my sweet husband! Please pray that the ship's schedule stays the same, because it could change at any time, leaving me stranded. If you'd like to help support my trip, go purchase a painting [or two] from my shop!)

It's the Little Things: Doodling, Calls from Chris & Ocean Views

I kind of love writing my "Little Things" posts. It's pretty amazing to look back over the week and see how God has carried me through by providing small things that have made me smile or brought me joy. 

And this week, despite feeling swamped by emails and having lots to tackle on my to-do lists, I had a hard time narrowing down my "little things" for the week. 

Last week, I got to relax on the beach with my girl friend, Krynn and her sweet baby, Audrey. I'm not sure how you can not feel content with this view. 

I got to hear Chris' voice for the first time in about 3 weeks! When I say that I melted when I picked up that phone ringing with a strange international number, I'm not really exaggerating. I'm so in love with that man and I miss him so much. 

 Doodling on the colorful paint covered drop cloth draped over my studio sawhorse table makes me smile. 

Painting. I still love it. After being close to burning out on it a few weeks ago, I forced myself to start sticking to a schedule and take more down time. With Chris being gone, I was finding myself working far too much and not taking any time just for myself. But once I started sticking to a schedule, I began coming up with new ideas and found a renewed love and passion for painting. Good for me, good for you. 

If you are very observant, you may have noticed that I changed the signature on the side of my painting a few weeks ago. I used to sign with capital "LW" but was feeling like that wasn't quite "me".

So I played around with a few different options and ended up switching to a simple lowercase version. LOVE it. What do you think?

I'm looking forward to celebrating Easter with my Hawaii ohana this weekend. Worship, brunch and beach-- sounds pretty sweet to me! 

What's made you smile this week? 

Plumeria, Ghost Ships and Gratitude.

 The evening I bought my new camera last week, I went out for a walk around the neighborhood near sunset. The light was beautiful and it was so peaceful to just meander with my thoughts and my camera.

I love the many different varieties of plumeria within 1/4 mile of each other. Each so beautiful, they look like God took a paintbrush to each petal. And boy, I wish I had a smell-omatic app on my blog because the scent of these beautiful blossoms is heavenly.

Love this shot of my neighbor's old Chevy truck. Linking up to Sweet Shot Tuesday! 

We live across the street from one of the fingers of Pearl Harbor. The ship graveyard is home to decommissioned ships and the shape of their silhouettes are eerily peaceful against the mountains. 

I love taking pictures. Mmhmm.

Sooo...I hit 100 sales yesterday! (And 101 sales!) I'm still in disbelief. It was only a few months ago that I made the goal to have 50 sales before June. Um, wow. Was not expecting to hit 100 sales in such a short time.

  

When I opened shop in September, I had no idea what to expect. I certainly didn't expect for my shop to become a full time job. I didn't expect to find true, real life friends in this community of bloggers and shop owners. I didn't expect that this job would keep me insanely busy while my husband was deployed. I didn't expect to fly to Arizona for a blogger and creative business conference and to play footsie with some of my blogger/real life friends... er, what?? 

Anyways, I'm grateful. Ephesians 3:20 speaks about our God who "... is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine..." I know that God. He works in big ways. And He works in small ways. And 100 sales may seem like nothing compared to the shops that have thousands under their belt. But it's big to me and I've gotta say that He deserves all the credit.   

And I'm grateful for you guys too! Thanks to your awesome shopping habits, I was able to pay my way to Creative Estates AND buy my dream camera. Awesome, huh? THANK YOU. And now, I've got another goal. You ready to help me with this one too?? 

I am praying. and hoping. and mostly praying. for the chance to go see Chris next month. I can't say where just yet but I will tell you that it's a beautiful, exotic country with lots of yummy food and it's on my list of places I want to visit. Plus, Chris will be there. Hopefully. Military schedules can change at the drop of a hat, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up. 

But I'd love to be able to pay for at least some of my trip. So, feel free to buy up lots of paintings for your home, your friend's homes, your boss' home... whatever. And know that you're helping this girl go visit the love of her life. In a really cool place that I really want to tell you but I can't because the military says so. 

Whew. That's alot of words. Thanks for reading. Or just for looking at the pretty pictures if that's all you did. ;) 

It's the Little Things: Birthday Mail, Sparkles & Peanut Sauce

It's time for another edition of It's the Little Things! Things that have made me smile this week, all documented from my phone pictures.

A mailbox full of goodies just for meee! :) I've gotten some adorable packages and cards this week for my birthday (which is on Saturday, did I tell you that already??). Feeling extra loved and all the fun mail makes being away from Chris a liiittle easier.

 The shams I ordered from UO also came in the mail and they look amazing on our crisp white duvet. Can't wait to show you how the room is coming together!

Sending out lots of Etsy orders made me super happy. I love sending bright sunshiny happiness out in the mail!

I had lunch with a girl friend at California Pizza Kitchen yesterday. I get the same thing every.time. The Thai Spring rolls with their heavenly peanut sauce. So many beautiful flavors in one bite. 

Yay for birthday outfits!! After our CPK lunch, we did a little birthday shopping and I got a super cute outfit. My girl friends are taking me out on the town on Saturday and I can't wait to rock this coral and purple duo! 

Nothing can make me a whole lot happier than a fresh, full tube of paint. Oh the possibilities.

What's making you smile this week?? 

PS. I know this post is 12 hours later than normal and I promised a Fresh Paint post. Hoping to get that post to you tomorrow! Thanks for bearing with me!

It's the Little Things: A Good Book, A Blank Canvas, A Silly Straw

Deployments are hard. 

Like yesterday when I had big plans to get orders out to the post office and fill my kitchen with food, and I went out to my car to find the battery dead. And then after jump starting it with my neighbor, (picture two girls reading the instruction manuals on the jumper cable box and cringing when we attached the cables to the batteries!), I walked out to the car an hour later with a huge pile of boxes (picture Gus-Gus the mouse from the movie Cinderella) and it wouldn't start. 

So it was a fun afternoon trying to get new battery and asking a friend from church to come over and install it for me. Days like that make me miss Chris even more and are just another reminder that he's no here. 

 It's the little things that get me through the week with a smile. Here are some phone photos of some of those little things this week.

Reading a good book on the beach makes me happy. This day was cloudy and chilly so I was bundled up in a sweatshirt with my toes in the sand and it felt sooo good. I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's pretty good though I'm not sure it really lives up to the hype it's received. 

A roomful of blank canvases is one of the cheeriest sights I could see. My notebooks and my mind are overflowing with ideas for new paintings and I am itching to fill those canvases with happy colors. 

Sometimes, ya just gotta drink your water with a crazy straw.

This is slightly embarrassing. A little before and after for you. It's nice to be able to walk around in my own bedroom without tripping all over the place. 

Are you reading any good books right now? Can you commiserate with me about that awfully messy bedroom? What are some little things getting you through the week?