by Amy | Apr 12, 2013 | Blog, Devotional, The Art of Faith
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 not the best way to phrase that. What I mean is, I wasn’t very good at choosing a career. I thought I would be, but there are just so many, many interesting things in the world…how is a girl supposed to choose a favorite?
My days are filled with adventure. Some things stay the same…a few things are stable {I do like stability} but my lifestyle allows for lots of flexibility. I like that.
I work as a fitness instructor at a local gym. It’s perfect work for me because I never have to do the same thing twice. I also work as a photographer. Which is also perfect because no two images are alike, no two sessions are the same. Outside of those two things I really let my mind and heart roam free. I wonder a lot, which is odd, since Google kind of took away the need for wonder. I wonder about random things, people things, adventurous things, future things, past things. Wondering is fun.
Anyway, back to my original wonder. What would life be like if I could pursue the use of all my God-given gifts?
I’m finding out.
This month I have “yessed” my way along. When I’ve heard someone mention the need for help with something that I can do I’ve said “yes.” These weeks have been busy…but the promise of an adventure filled season is on the horizon. And the craziest part is that somehow as I offer up my skills in service to others it’s all fit in. I am feeling a little tinsy bit stressed, but it’s good. I wanted to fill up my lonely evenings and boy have I.
This is a season of pursuit. A season of adventure. I can feel it.
So my question to you is this: How can you use your gifts? What are you wondering? Sometimes we think…”There aren’t enough hours in the day.” I think there are just enough. Twenty-four seems to be just the right amount, any more and we’d all be more burnt out than we already are. Any less and our schedules would feel even tighter. I think Goldie Locks said it best when she tried out momma bear’s bed, “It’s juuusst right.”
There isn’t a doubt in my mind that you are insanely talented and gifted beyond measure. Ask God to open your eyes to opportunities to share your awesome. He will. It won’t cost you anything…except maybe an episode or two of your favorite prime time shows.
Think about the wonderful things He has caused you to wonder about…put feelers out and find out something new. Over the past few years I’ve learned that the thing that holds us back strongest is usually ourselves. Take yourself off the leash and be amazed at just how much you can experience/accomplish/do. As I tell my fitness classes…”Try it. If you hate it, you can always stop and modify.”
Amy
by Amy | Apr 10, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Design
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. Yet, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t get giddy when a real life letter shows up in the mail box. Am I right?
There is something so special about a letter. It’s a piece of the person who sent it. Their handwriting. Their pen. It’s a piece of someone you love that shows up in a tiny box outside your house. For the low, low cost of $0.46. It’s really so very special.
And writing only becomes more fun when you have fun stationary to write on. So…without further ado…I give you
The Great Stationary Giveaway of 2013!
What does that mean? Well, put simply, I’m encouraging all of us to write more letters this summer by giving away custom stationary to all of you lovelies!
The top two examples are obviously fit for anyone. The bottom examples are specially crafted for my Minot spouses also flying solo for a while. {The icons in the lower left corners are Minot area landmarks…}
So what do you need to do to snag some swag? Easy peasy. The Minot Special is free to download. You can get the file here…Minot Stationary and Minot Stationary Horse. These measure 8.5×11 inches. Once you have the file saved insert it as a “picture from file” to a Word document. Resize it to fit and print it out.
The initial stationary is a little trickier since not all of us have names that start with “A.” To get your hands on some custom stationary you must do the following. I promise it’s easy.
1. Give the “Amy Allender” page a like on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment on the wall or drop me a private message with your what initial you’d like and an email where I can send it. Also let me know which design you choose. {Arrows or confetti}
If you are already a follower just write a comment on the wall or a message. I’ll give you the hook up.
Just an FYI…the initial stationary is sized 5.5×8.5″…so you can fit two on a page. Enjoy! Start liking! But act quick, the Great Stationary Giveaway ends on April 24th, 2013.
Amy
This post is linked up at Home Stories and these great parties.
by Amy | Apr 8, 2013 | Blog, Crafts, The Art of Projects
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 decided to change all that. I sat down last night and did a quick makeover I’ve had on my mind for months now. It took about 10 minutes to complete and I love the way it looks. And if I ever decide I don’t like it…I can always revert to the original. Check it out.
Right before Derek and I got married we had each lost grandparents. This sad event turned into a blessing for us young newlyweds. We had two estates to look through and “shop” for things for our home together. The greatest part is that now our home is filled with things that constantly remind us of our grandparents.
One of the things lifted from Derek’s grandmother’s home was a pair of floral lamps. In our current house we don’t have room to have both lamps out at once. So the one lamp has lived lonely on a side table at the foot of our stairs since last July. For a few months now the lamp has been staring at me, just asking for an update.
It took a bit to come up with a way to modify it without permanently changing it. Finally I decided on summering it up a little with a rope-wrap and a new shade.
I bought a package of Manila rope from Menard’s and simply wrapped it around the lamp. I used hot glue to secure it to the lamp. If we want to revert back I’ll just remove the rope and peel off the glue.
What can you wrap in rope? My answer…anything. Anything solid or with a glossy finish can be wrapped and removed. Just put a little hot glue on it and see if it peels up clean. Rope says nautical. Nautical says summer!
Amy
PS…see you tomorrow for another adventure.
This post is linked up at Home Stories and these great parties.
by Amy | Apr 3, 2013 | Blog
I think it’s happening. Finally…
The snow is melting! Before Derek left we spent our last weekend completing a task that we’d set before us at the start of winder {back in October.} We wanted to build a giant snow man. The problem was that after the snow falls here it just stays so very cold that it never is melty enough to make snowballs or snowmen.
A few weeks back it was deep and icy enough that we cut a tunnel through a big drift in the yard.
But just a few days ago, one day before Easter to be exact, temps had been above freezing {about 35} so the snow was prime for building. So we suited up and got started.
Now, when I say we wanted to build a big snowman I wasn’t kidding. Not big like large. I mean big, like…feat of strength big.
You may be thinking, “Isn’t that snow heavy?” Yes, very. Each piece was very, very big and very heavy. We tried team lifting. Grabbing each others hands to make a cradle then lifting from a super deep squat. Yeah, that one didn’t work too well. {Guess who the weak link was there…}
So we supplemented our brute strength with science. We got our bags board out of the garage and made a ramp. It took a lot of pushing and put a lot of snow down the front of my jacket and into my sweatshirt {yikes}…but we got it up there.
The head was a little easier. It’s a bit smaller, even though it doesn’t look like it in the photo. Once it was up the ramp we could lift it up.
After that it was a simple task of shaving the surface smooth and sculpting it’s features. I’ll admit, this snowman is a masterpiece.
But if you think that’s impressive…check out this regal Easter bunny we also made. It’s totally okay and understandable if you are jealous.
Amy
by Amy | Mar 21, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
You guys know Zoe, right? She’s one of my favorite subjects to shoot. You can see one of her sessions here. I first photographed her the day after she was born, when she was still in the hospital. So it only seems appropriate that I had the great privilege to capture her first birthday with a sweet-as-pink-icing cake smash.
When she was done smashing and nibbling on her first taste of birthday cake we called in the clean up crew.
Hop on over to the Facebook page to see more from this session. Interested in your own session? Drop me a line! Your session comes with a custom cake for your little one.
And…if you are more of a DIY-er here is the set up we used. I took equipment and shot this session at Zoe’s house. {We set up while she was taking her morning nap.} These are crepe paper streamers hung from the kitchen bar. It was nice to have this mess on the kitchen floor so it could easily be wiped up. Happy shooting!
by Amy | Mar 20, 2013 | Blog, Devotional, The Art of Faith
I’ve been feeling on the weak side lately. Not physically, but emotionally. I look to the future and see a string of hard times on the horizon and it really makes me nervous. I have this ability to look ahead and anticipate. Which is good when I’m packing, or going camping, or creating a schedule. It’s not such a good ability when I anticipate anxiety…because you know what happens? It makes me more anxious.
And, if you know me…you probably know I’m a bit of a nervous bird as is.
Derek, on the other hand does not have this certain charm about him. Which, on the downside, is annoying when he packs for the camping trip…but on the upside keeps him very calm and level. I guess that’s one of the reasons we work so well together.
In the midst of my anxious flare-ups I was doing some cleaning a few days ago. Under a stack of magazines I stumbled across a note that I had made at church a few months ago. I remember writing it. The Holy Spirit had spoken to my heart and I wanted to remember what He’d said, so I reached for the only paper I could find: a tithe envelope. The note was simple, but enough to jog my memory. It read:
God will give strength to us like Manna.
Here’s what I meant.
Are you familiar with the Biblical tale of Moses, the Israelites and the Manna? If not, you can read the full version here. Otherwise, I’ll just do a quick paraphrase to get us all on the same page.
After the plagues had come and gone and Moses led his people across the Red Sea the Israelite people found themselves in the desert, losing the adrenaline rush of saying “Adios” to Pharaoh. They were hungry and thirsty, so they began complaining. Moses appealed to God, who told them that He would solve the problem.
Every morning God would provide “manna” {which literally translates to mean “bread from heaven”} to the camp. It would appear with the dew and each family was to collect only what they would consume that day. No more. To make this deal even sweeter, God provided quail for them in the evening. Same deal: gather only what you’ll eat. Keep none of it until morning.
Well, what the Holy Spirit impressed upon me is that God doles out strength like manna. Why? Doesn’t that seem a bit cruel? Why not just give us all the strength we need for the rest of our lives today? I can’t answer all of these questions as well as I’d like, but what I can assure you is that God wants us to trust Him and to love Him. He wanted to test the Israelites to see if they would follow His instructions and depend on Him. The same is true in our lives. God does not need our money or our good works. One of the greatest way we can show our love and devotion to Him is to take Him at His Word; to lean on Him…not our own understanding.
The Bible tells us in Isaiah 40:29 that, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” This is a promise. When we grow weary He will give strength to those who love His ways and wait upon Him.
I have a hard time with that.
I’m pretty sure my attitude and insistence on being anxious about things that are still to come would have gotten me kicked out of the Israelite camp. I probably would have been one of those obnoxious people who collected more manna and quail than I needed for that day {looking to the future…to that big dry spot ahead}. But, as the Bible tells us…that didn’t work out so well. Those who tried to keep food for the next day woke up to a rotting mess of maggots. Woof.
I’m so happy God has reminded me of this. I really want to wake up to confidence and hope…instead of a lump of buggy bread. I’m human, so I know I’m inclined to get nervous and anxious. In those moments I’ll remind myself too look at the worries of today {only today} and know that God will give me enough manna for today.
And he’ll give you enough manna too.
by Amy | Mar 19, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Projects, the house
Last week I showed you a little tease of a project I’d been working on. Below you can see the problem. In our bathroom we have some really convenient storage…but it’s open and an eye sore. So Derek and I came up with an idea of how to maintain our space without showcasing our clutter.
Here is the after! I’m so pleased. It was really a pretty easy project.
First we built a drawer for the bottom shelf. It’s retro-fitted with drawer sliders. Really, not that hard at all. Just build a box, then add the sliders. This was a big help because now we can take advantage of the deep storage available without having to dig around in the closet to look for a specific item.
While Derek was working on the drawer I worked on the doors. I bought six fence posts from Menard’s to use as the door. After getting them primed and painted I cut them to the right length and braced them together with a few 2×2 scraps. Once everything was put together we hung the doors and added a hook and eye to keep it stylishly closed.
Once everything was in place it was time to declutter. We have not purchased a towel since getting married nearly four years ago. We have towels that we never use and others that are mascara stained and overall very dingy. So I weeded them out, refolded the good ones and stocked the cupboard. Much better.
I love a project that makes my storage more efficient and my house prettier. Oh, and I should add that this gem cost us less than $30! Even better.
I’m calling it done for now…but I’m not sure this one is “finished.” I think maybe it’s missing something. Maybe I’ll do some sign lettering on the shutters. What are your thoughts? Add something, or leave it be?
Amy
by Amy | Mar 19, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
Sometimes I call my Panda Cat a “baby princess.” I do it, well, obviously…because she is a baby and I treat her like a princess.
But my session with sweet Miss Annabelle took the term Baby-Princess to a whole new level. I was so excited to crown her with one of my most darling props! I know you’ll love Annabelle…and her Princess & the Pea inspired photos.
Isn’t she just a doll? I know, I can hardly stand it.
The only thing cuter than more precious than a sweet photo is a sweet photo with a story. This final portrait has an amazing back story. The dress Annabelle is wearing belonged to her mother Tiffany as a baby. {You might remember her from her fun maternity session.} The blanket little Belle is laying on was her father’s baby blanket, stitched with love by his grandmother. The love for this child is generations deep!
Don’t forget to stop by the Facebook page tomorrow to see more images from this session. While you’re there…go ahead and LIKE it. We should seriously be friends.
Amy
