Jesus Calling

Over the weekend I finally spent a gift card that I had been holding onto since my wedding (almost 4 years ago).  It was from a Christian bookstore that was not close to home but since Collin, Taran, Jewlz, Zena, and I spent the night at The Gruver’s house Friday night (my in-law’s) it was super close to their house.  

With only spending $1 over my gift card I bought a few books – God made Puppies, Thank You Lord, and Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. The first two were for Taran – she LOVES books and of course with being the dog loving people that we are I had to get “God made Puppies.” 

But most of all I’m excited to dive into Sarah Young’s 365 Day Devotional called Jesus Calling. Its entirety is all about enjoying peace in His presence. She has been given a true gift with the ability to write. If you need a new devotional or just something that is uplifting and reassuring this is a great book! 

“Refresh yourself in My company, breathing deep draughts of My Presence. The highest level of trust is to enjoy Me moment by moment.”  - Jesus Calling, June 27

Curb Appeal

If you don’t know me personally – from these pictures you will see that I love color. I wanted to get rid of the black and spice it up! So one weekend Collin, Taran, and I went to Menards to pick out color for our shutters, trim, garage door, and front door. My gracious husband helped me dig up our dead shrubs so we could plant new ones. He did a lot of digging too, our house is on a concrete slab and the builders were pretty careless so my flower bed that is up close next to the house is concrete covered in dirt. We persevered and got most of the rock and concrete up so our new shrubs wouldn’t die. (Hopefully)

Before

 Before

After- disregard our grass...it is not better!! 

 After  

 After

I planted a boxwood, a holly bush, and a couple of other ones that I don’t know the name, but they were pretty and cheap. (That’s how I make most of my decisions – oh that looks pretty, I’ll take it!) J  I also planted Impatiens because my flower beds don’t get a lot of sun and they do great in  shade.  In the front area by the garage I planted a Weeping Peach tree, some lilies, and one lantana flowering plant. Then to make it all come together Collin and I mulched everything! I went with brown mulch this year instead of black because we painted over the black shutters and black door.

After painting the door and trim – I couldn’t stop there and found a creative and cheap way to make tall planters from East Cost Creative. So, I went back to Menard’s and for $20 bucks I got 4 plastic planters – 2 big and 2  small. Painted them to match, added some flowers and another boxwood in each and voila I had really great looking planters for super cheap. Check out their website for a more detailed process. Love how they turned out!!

Bonus* My husband planted our hostas the year he moved into our house – they are huge and beautiful!!  

Hello Apple!

Holy cow, when I logged in tonight and realized it has been almost 3 months since I have blogged -I thought how are you all living life without my so-insightful posts? So...I must remedy that immediately!


I have moved into the world of Apple products!


It first started when I wanted a kindle because of how much I love to read. After some research, the hubby and I thought it was in our best interest to save up for an iPad. Needless to say - I've not been disappointed. I was able to pay cash for my new iPad 3 the day it came out!


Next was my Mac Mini. My HP laptop that I bought in 2007 began to black screen every time I turned it on and my computer was our home computer and even with my new iPad I still find that working on a computer for different projects is WAY easier. The Mac Mini is half the cost of the cheapest Apple laptop and since I had my iPad I really wanted to stay with Apple. I also didn't mind having something more stationary because my iPad is so portable. Another great feature is that we already had a TV in the office and you can connect your Mac Mini via HDMI so I didn't need to buy a new monitor! So we were able to save money but get what we want!


Lastly, just last week I got my new cell phone. Yes, I got a 4s iPhone! Probably my most favorite thing about my phone is my otter box! Thanks to Amazon - it is orange & camo! Thankfully I haven't lost it yet when it's camo side up! :)


Coolest thing about going Apple - we paid cash for everything! Thanks Dave Ramsey!

Check it all out at www.apple.com

What apple product did I write this post on is the big question??