What's inspiring me :)

  Being pregnant and having an 11 month old can be quite inspiring.  It's what's driving me right now to want to continue my business on etsy, even though I haven't had a sale in more than a month, and only 4 since my shop started.  However discouraging that might be, my dream is to be bale to provide for my babies while still being a stay at home mommy, and I also want to show them that just because something doesn't take off right away doesn't mean that it can't be a success.  I don't want my babies to think I'm a quitter.  I also don't want them to think that things come so easy in life that they will always immediately be successful at everything, or that if they aren't then it's not worth it.


  It would be so worth it to me to be able to run my own business from the privacy of my home, maybe in our office/ craft room of the beautiful two story house that my husband and I purchase.  I grew up in a very poor family.  I was the sixth child on my moms side, only child on my dads, but my parents split up when I was 5 or 6.  So, I lived off of hand-me-downs and remember for quite a while that I didn't even have a bed, but slept on the floor of our two bedroom single wide trailer that housed my mom and stepdad, her 3 kids that weren't out of the house and his three as well.  That was 4 girls and 2 boys and 2 parents, and I was the youngest and therefor felt the least seen or taken care of.  I never want that for my children.  I guess that's why when I found out that I was having a baby girl, I immediately went out and spent far too much money on anything and everything that read the word "princess".  I could just as easily spend hundreds of dollars on "prince" outfits for Milo, my son if I could find them in the stores and convince my husband to let him wear them.


  My inspiration is my babies, and everything in life that I want for my babies that I didn't have and everything that every little prince and princess deserves.  They are the most special to me, two of the biggest blessings God has given me in my life.  I am so proud of how my husband manages to provide for the four of us while going to school.  He provides a beautiful apartment for us, food in our cupboards, our clothes and all of his time.  But, I want to be part of that provision as well.  Every time I hold my son or feel my little girl kick, it inspires me to be a better mommy.  

Milo, my inspiration

A schedule

I have decided to create a schedule for my blog, that way I have a specific topic on a specific day to talk about and I know what to write about.  I started this blog thinking I would blog daily as sort of a thing to end my day, or to motivate me to crochet, but I have failed horribly.  Enough of the huge gaps between my writing! I gotta get down to business.

Monday:   Crochet Monday:  Newest projects that I have started, stitches I am learning, maybe a pattern or two, WHO KNOWS?! Tune in :)

Tuesday:  Cruising around Etsy: New shops I found, my new favorite items, etc.

Wednesday: Open

Thursday:  Knitting Thursday:  I will spend my whole day thursday dedicated to knitting, and share my progress on projects, especially my sons baby blanket which I still haven't finished and he will be turning 1 in a month!

Friday: Open

Saturday:  What inspires you?  Talk about what's inspiring me creatively and in life in general.

Sunday:  What's new in my JT (Jesus time)

It's a girl!

Found out I will be the mommy to a beautiful baby girl, Brooklynne Annabelle Grace Hollis.  She's due September 11.  I was so excited the day that I found out that I went out and pretty much clothed her for her first several months.  Now all I want to do with my day is sit and stare at her tutus and little baby mittens.  MUST GET MOTIVATED :)  Didn't I just blog about that the other day.. oh yeah.

How do parents, especially expectant parents ever get anything done?

Encouragement

I am in need of some serious encouragement.  I have pretty much stopped creatively.  I am no longer updating my shop, rarely renewing items and never adding new ones.  And yet, my husband and I were looking at houses the other day and it got me thinking, how awesome would it be if I were able to contribute to the down payment on our first house?  So, I need encouragement and inspiration to get out of this funk that I am in.  I mean, four sales in my shop and then nothing?  Something has gotta be wrong here.

So,
Lord help me to want to create, to want to update my shop, and to be able to sell items so that I can help to buy my little family of four a beautiful home.

AMEN!

God takes care of us

So, we got our tax return today.  Just checkin in on the bank account a second ago and saw that it had finally arrived.  AND it was such a great reminder of all the ways that God takes care of us.

This summer my husband is taking on an internship and taking summer classes.  Well, the internship being what it is pretty much pays almost nothing, not quite but almost.  It's a great  opportunity for him and I know that, but thinking about all the time he would be spending on that and the hours he would have to give up at his normal job made me super nervous.  But, I laid it on God.  Even in the beginning of this school year, when we realized that he would have to take on an internship, though I was worried, I knew God would take care of it, and that's what I told my husband.  And, like always he came through.

In other news, had my first prenatal appointment on thursday, and though it was a few months over due, it went great! Baby has a good strong heart beat and the doctors think I'm about in my 16th week, but will know more after the ultrasound on TUESDAY! Fill ya in later.

P.S. Though I know having two munchkins under two will be challenging, God will take care of that too :)

Jesus Talk

I just love talking about Jesus.  For the first time in a long time I had a really good Jesus talk with someone, and even better it was with my husband.

Going to church with a 10 month old is rather challenging since most of the time I feel like I'm just trying to control him, and not actually listening to the message.  So, tonight while playing monopoly my husband and I listened to the podcast from the church that we used to attend on a regular basis.  The sermon was all about challenges that christians face, like persecution, and challenges that we face with our faith like being fake with God or being a spiritual thermometer (accepting the atmosphere when you walk into a room) versus being a spiritual thermostat (setting the attitude or improving the atmosphere when you walk into a room).  Talking about this sermon afterwards really helped to solidify the things that I recognized in myself from the sermon that I need to change: the things that the pastor called me out on I guess.

Something that I realized about myself are that I have become a thermometer in my relationship with my husband.  Instead of pushing him to be better or practice good habits, I accept where he is at and even if I feel like I am doing "better" I put myself where he is at.  I set my spiritual temperature to his and end up feeling horrible that I'm not growing, and being mad at him because I feel like he isn't pushing me to.  I think this is a challenge that every wife runs into.  The men in our lives are supposed to lead, but what does one do when the person who is supposed to be leading you refuses to grow or is digressing in faith?  I am reminded that ultimately, my bond with God is stronger than my bond with my husband ( a super hard lesson) and that I need to put God and my relationship above all.  So, when my husband isn't growing, I need to keep growing and not wait for him to catch up to me.  Spiritual stagnation can only lead to digression, and I am so tired of being stagnant in my spiritual life.

What I'm good at

The latest blog on etsy: Etsy Success Challenge: What's Your Biggest Strength?


This got me thinking a lot.  Having a person growing in side of you, and growing yourself  as that person grows can make you criticize yourself quite often.  In fact my latest summary of my self image was this:  My hair is horrible, my shape is horrible, my complexion is horrible, I am HORRIBLE.  The end. 


There's a song that plays on my favorite christian radio station.  The lyrics read, "(God) You make everything glorious, what does that make me?"  I listen to this song almost on a daily basis, yet I rarely let its message really enter my brain, and even more rarely do I let it be in my heart. So, after reading etsy's success challenge and being reminded of this song, I had some things to put into perspective.  The article asks what parts of my etsy business am I good at?  Instead of dwelling on the fact that I haven't made very many sales, or that I'm not always 100% clear on taxes, I need to start focusing on what I'm good at, and also apply this to the rest of my life.  So, here's to new thinking!


What I'm good at in my business:


I am a talented crocheter
I take wonderful pictures when I put in the time
I balance my life with my son, always putting him first and then work on my extras


What I'm good at as a wife and mother:


I make my husband dinner every night
I can always support Lincoln when times get tough
I love Milo with all my heart, and wouldn't give him up for anything
I think about the little one inside my body before I make decisions on what to eat and drink, and how much to exercise


What I'm good at as a woman of God:


I love the Lord with all my heart
I want my experience with God to be REAL
I have the desire to be closer and closer to God everyday


What are the things that you overlook that you're good at?  How does God make you Glorious?