stories about life's minute beauty, maintaining mental wellness, and cultivating a positive mindset--so we can all experience more peace, joy, and contentment.
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When Bad Things Happen
I teach the high school Sunday school class at my church. For the past few months we've been going through the book of Revelation. A task that was pretty intimidating for me as a leader...since the book itself isn't exactly a summer beach read. My co-leader, Ben,...
Invitation Inspiration {Recent Designs}
You know I love a good party. I love going to them. I love throwing them. I love helping others throw them, plan them, decorate them. Parties are the best. And a good party starts with a good invitation. Soon I'll be adding a design section to amyallender.com. ...
Do You Gliffy?
Have you heard of Gliffy? I hadn't until just about a year ago. And, let me tell you...it changed the way I rearrange my furniture. It changed the way we moved in to our house. Intrigued? Gliffy is a free program online. It's basically draft paper that you can...
My Project Puppies
My parents like to have a dog in the house. I never remember a time when we didn't have a dog. In fact, usually they chose to overlap our dogs. As one was on its way out we bought a puppy. It eased the transition and kept our home at ease. Projects are like...
Retail Therapy
As you may remember, the drive to Minneapolis to visit the Mall of America {from here on out it will be referred to as the MOA} was pretty treacherous. Scratch that. It was some of the most terrifying driving I've ever done. Ever. But we made it. And, yes...it...
Mall Madness {90’s style}
Have you ever time traveled? Get ready because we are going back to the 90's. When I was a kid my parents bought my sister and me a game called Mall Madness. I've talked about it to friends since then, but no one seemed to remember it. I almost thought I made it...
I Hope It’s Worth It {a treacherous drive to the MoA}
Well, we made it Minneapolis. Barely. Let me tell you...if warm weather late into fall is called an Indian Summer, I don't even know what to call the weather we are having right now. Well, I know what to call it, but those words are not appropriate for my younger...
Purging
Okay guys. I did it. I've officially parted with my T-shirt collection. Which is a pretty big deal. Why do T-shirts hold such power over us? Like that 5K we walked in won't exist if we don't keep the T-shirt. Or we won't remember anything about high school if we...
Stripping & Repadding
I've had lots of people inquiring about how my chair is coming. Honestly? Really good. It's been stripped down and restuffed. Now I'll show you how to do it. This part is easy...as long as you are patient and take good notes. Today we'll look at the five easy...
Snow and Stuffing
Today's adventure? Snow removal and stuffing replacement. When I came home last night {about 9:30 pm} the snow was falling hard as ever. And it kept falling all night. And all morning. When it had finally let up I made a move to go out and shovel...only to find...
So this is April 14th
I don't think I need to say much. There were rumors {at least I had hoped they were rumors} about snow coming our way...but this is ridiculous. In case you didn't know the date, it is April 14th. Today I went to the Minot High School spring play. The key word is...
My Next Victim
You know how sometimes I decide to start something on a whim? Well, today I dove into a project that's been on my mind for a long time. Years even. I've been ready, but always put it off because it wasn't a top priority. I had other more pressing issues...like...
Enough Hours in the Day
I often have wondered what life would be like if my schedule allowed me to pursue the use of all my God-given gifts. While I can be decisive when it comes to picking a restaurant, travel plans, or say...a new cake stand, my life's work is up in the air. Maybe that's...
The Great Stationary Giveaway
This is going to be a summer of letter writing. Writing more letters was on my list of to-do's for 2013...I just wasn't expecting this kind of push to get me to act on it. But alas...here we are. Yes, we do live in a world of Skype, Face Time, email, and Facebook. ...
DIY Nautical Lamp Make Over
It occurred to me yesterday that Derek has been gone a whole week and I hadn't done a single project. I know, me--alone--unsupervised. That's a combination that has project written all over it. But alas, I didn't get into a single bit of trouble last week. So I...
