Here it is!

Okay, so if you haven't noticed yet, my blog is completely  "undone", header stretched and skewed, background doesn't match anymore - it looks nothing like the blog it used to look like.  Sad.  But, as stated in a previous post, I accidentally deleted my html for this blog when creating my other blog - and I haven't found the energy or time to fix this one, considering I am now on to my new one!  Forgive me.  :o)  So, don't stick around here - please come on over and check out my new blog!  I hope you like it!
~~~> http://pocketfullofpink.blogspot.com/

GET READY!

Here it comes!! I am on the last bit of decision making to get this thing going (my new adventure, my new blog). I'm excited! I found myself way too obsessive and realized I need to just chill out and get it going. I changed my blog design seven times! AH! Sweet Ashley from According to Ash (www.drewashleyporter.blogspot.com) tagged me in the Honest Scrap, and I'm excited to be a part of it! I thought it would be fun to do it on the new one and help start it to get going. So, my sweet friends, tonight and tomorrow it will be FINISHED! I hope you're excited because I definitely am. :o) See you soon in my little "pocket"! ;o)

soooo.

I am working on my new blog, as stated in my previous post, and while doing so accidentally deleted EVERYTHING for this blog!  AH!  I know my header up above is a bit skewed and stretched, and the yellow on the sides doesn't really go, but this all just to hold me over until I finish the new blog.  I had to think of something fast!  I didn't write down the coding for my last layout (lesson I learned, ALWAYS keep a copy of your codes!) and don't want to take the time to figure it out again, when I am more interested in the new blog!  SO, there you have it.  I hope to have the new blog finished SOON.  I am working on it in all of my spare time, but still have some work left to do.  I love designing and creating, but it's hard because when it is for myself I tend to be a perfectionist and take WAY too much time.  I can't wait to be done!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll let you know as soon as the new one is ready!  xoxo

change of plans.

So I have been doing some thinking.

I want to make my "creative world" a priority. I love the idea of having this creative outlet that can be shared. I haven't been good at keeping up with my blog in the past, mostly because of time, but I also find it sometimes scary to convey personal opinions in fear that they will be shut down. On a different but related note, I feel like I have lived a lot of my life in a hurry with tons of energy being expelled from my soul daily. I told my husband that this year I am going to focus on being HEALTHY. I don't just mean exercising and eating right, although that is a huge part, but also mentally striving to be healthy. If you could look into my thought processes at any given minute, you would see a bazillion streams of conversation going ninety miles a minute. My brain moves faster than anything in my life. My imagination is wild, and with that comes a whole boat load of busy planning and eager desires waiting to be fulfilled. What a shame that I think I am too busy to write. If I enjoy this, I need to make time. But what I have decided is to start a brand new blogging journey. And on this new journey, I won't feel compelled to need to talk about anything in particular. My greatest love in my life is my husband, so obviously he is something I will talk about a LOT. And I know that's okay - even if no one wants to read about it! But, there are so many things I am passionate about and enjoy, and even if I can only touch on a few of them, that's still better than nothing. I love, love LOVE to cook. I am always trying to find new recipes and plan our next dinner party. I love entertaining and the creativity that comes into planning a special and unique dinner party. I think I have some really great ideas to share! I love decorating. My challenge right now in our new house is to find those rare finds that are PERFECT for the look and feel I am going for, but are also AFFORDABLE. I am constantly on the look-out for sophisticated and stylish little knickknacks I can incorporate into the themes I am going for. I love traveling. Although I don't do as much now as I have before, we still have some amazing trips planned for the future. In fact, we're going to Italy in May for 10 days! I am ECSTATIC. I love books. But I am PICKY. I have to be caught up in the book enough to not want to put it down, or I probably won't finish it. I have found a few MUST READ books in my lifetime that NEED to be shared and read by everyone (in my opinion). I love designing! Everything I know I have taught myself, so I am by no means a professional, but I love getting on my macbook and letting the creative juices flow and do their thing. The list goes on. So, I will be starting a new blog that I am EXCITED to pour into. I love this blog. I love that it was my first. And really there is no need to start a new blog, except that I find it an exciting and intriguing desire to accompany my fresh start to a new and creative world for ideas, thoughts and writings.

It is in the works! So, stay tuned. :o)

lame. lame. lame.

I know, I am lame. Lame for never posting anything these days and even more lame for never putting up any pictures when I do post. I thought about making it a New Year's resolution, but then that would actually require me to expense the time and energy for this blog, when, honestly - I just don't have the time and energy. Things right now are so fun and so wonderful, but so BUSY. I thought it would get a lot calmer once January came around, but I was oh so wrong. So, therefore, I'm not making any promises right now to post more. And I'm not promising to post pictures with every post. In fact, I think for now it is wise for me to go on another little posting hiatus. But this I do promise - when I return, you better be ready for the outpour of posts, stories and PICTURES. This blog will quite simply KICK BLOG BUTT! But not yet. :o)

We love you all and wish you an outpour of blessings as we start of this new year!! God Bless!

AH!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted! Where did the time go?! Thanksgiving has already passed! I have so many cute pictures from Thanksgiving, but I am at work right now and don't have them on this computer. OH - there's some news! I HAVE A NEW JOB! I started on Monday and it is FABULOUS. I am so important here! Haha. I am the US marketing manager for a European company that sells journals, handbags and a plethora of sassy and fun accessories. Check out the website! Once you get to the english page, click on the boxes and you will get a description of our designers and such. http://www.miquelrius.com/

I am so busy here, but everything I do involves such interesting stuff. I just sent out a whole box of samples and a presentation to Oprah's magazine! I contacted their Publicity manager and we're in the running for 2009's O List. How cool is that?! The stuff here is so cute and fun. And it's so neat because I if I need anything, a new notebook, etc., I can just run into the warehouse in the back and grab something. And the super-duper plus side to my new job, is my new boss. He is SO nice and has really taken the time to make me feel welcomed and at ease. Such a change from my first week at my last job! I was practically thrown to the wolves there in my first week! God has really blessed me. One of my favorite parts of my last job was traveling to so many amazing places. Well my new company's headquarters are in Barcelona! How's that for an amazing place to travel?? I can't wait! And we have a tradeshow in California in March. It has been a whirlwind getting back into the working routine, but it has definitely been worth it.

I know there are so many other things to catch you up on, but I just don't have the time right now to type it all out! I hope you and yours are enjoying this holiday season to the fullest. Christmas is right around the corner! Ohhh I can't wait. Hopefully I will get up some pictures soon. Love and blessings to all of you!!!

"Why do bad things happen to good people?"

I know, heavy topic. A few years ago when I was a junior in college, a friend and I were having a discussion about my "faith". She didn't understand what I meant when I said I was a "Christian" and that to me being a Christian meant nothing about religion but about the relationship I have. We then proceeded into a pretty deep conversation about God, Jesus and the world we live in. I have often replayed in my head the question she asked me that day. She said, "If the God you believe in is so good, then why did He let the Tsunami (of 2005) happen and as a result kill 1,000's of innocent people?" All I simply said at the time was that we have to remember that with the good in the world comes the bad. I wondered why so many people automatically blame God. I figured if someone believes in a God to blame then they must also believe in the opposite, which is evil, or Satan. I thought, doesn't it then make perfect sense that the evil in the world is capable of killing 1,000's of people? I know that's a lot harder to understand when we are talking about nature. Which I suppose is why most people blame God. But even a death to someone you love, or a heart wrenching experience that you feel you can't overcome, God still gets a lot of that blame too. I told my friend that what I was sharing with her was merely based on what I felt in my heart, but that, who was I to try and prove this belief of mine? And honestly, I didn't know where on earth to go from there.

I'm reading The Shack right now by William P. Young. It's a fictional book that is nothing short of amazing. It touches on the question my friend asked me. As it says on the back of the book, "In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, 'Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?'" It has become my new bathtub and bedtime read. There are so many quotable chapters in the book, but the one I read this morning really stuck with me. I want to share it - and I'll try and shorten it and take out the narration parts. It's important to note that the book is a fictional piece. It is about a man's personal experience with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit after experiencing one of the most tragic events one could go through. I won't go into further details in case you want to read it. And I do hope you get a chance to read it.

Mack, the main character, ask's God a series of questions about evil in our world and if God uses pain to try and force people back to Him or as punishment. God tells Mack how sad He is people even comprehend He could be that way. He says, "I understand how difficult it is for you, so lost in your perceptions of reality and yet so sure of your own judgments, to even begin to perceive, let alone imagine, who real love and goodness are. True love never forces." Mack then proceeds to say, "But, if I understand what you're saying, the consequences of our selfishness are part of the process that brings us to the end of our delusions, and helps us find you. Is that why you don't stop every evil?"

God responds...

"Nobody knows the horrors I have saved from the world because people can't see what never happened. All evil flows from independence, and independence is your choice. If I were to simply revoke all the choices of independence, the world as you know it would cease to exist and love would have no meaning. This world is not a playground where I keep all my children free from evil. Evil is the chaos of this age that you brought to me, but it will not have the final say. Now it touches everyone that I love, those who follow me and those who don't. If I take away the consequences of people's choices, I destroy the possibility of love. Love that is forced is no love at all. - Let me tell you one of the reasons that this makes no sense to you. You and this Creation are incredible, whether you understand that or not. You are wonderful beyond imagination. Just because you make horrendous and destructive choices does not mean you deserve less respect for what you inherently are; the pinnacle of my Creation and the center of my affection. Also, don't forget that in the middle of all your pain and heartache, you are surrounded by beauty, the wonder of Creation, art, your music and culture, the sounds of laughter and love, of whispered hopes and celebrations, of new life and transformation, of reconciliation and forgiveness. These also are the results of your choices and every choice matters, even the hidden ones. So whose choices should we countermand? Perhaps I should never have created? Perhaps Adam should have been stopped before he chose independence? What about your choice to have another daughter, or your father's choice to beat his son? You demand your independence, but then complain that I actually love you enough to give it to you. My purposes are always and only an expression of love. I purpose to work life out of death, to bring freedom out of brokenness and turn darkness into light. What you see is chaos, I see as a fractal. All things must unfold, even thought it puts all those I love in the midst of a world of horrible tragedies, even the one closest to Me." He means Jesus. :o)

This was on my heart and I wanted to share it with whoever (whomever?...hmm. no, I think it's whoever) is interested. I hope everyone has an amazing weekend. God Bless!!