Reflection on 2012

I did a post like this at the beginning of last year and it was fun to look back on, so I decided I was going to do another! :) Here is a little recap of something that happened each month in 2012:

January- Blake finished up Practice Court 3 of law school and made an A! :)

February- Katie went on the first annual Girls Weekend with her mom, sister, grandma and aunt and first heard about the job opening at Gateway Church.

March- Katie found out she got the job at Gateway Church and we began the great search of a new apartment in DFW.

April- Katie wrapped up her job at GM Wholesale and Blake graduated from law school!!

May- We moved to North Richland Hills, TX and Katie began her new job.

June- We celebrated our 3rd anniversary and Blake began the great job of studying for the bar.

July- Blake finished the bar after several months of studying and 3 days of hard test taking.

August- Blake spent the entire month recovering from the bar. Enough said.

September- Blake and Katie drove with Travis and Jackie all the way to Destin, FL to vacation with the Penfield family on the beach!

October- Katie experienced her first big conference at Gateway, where her and her boss, Walker, pulled off an awesome worship booth for musicians and launched their new website and worship app.

November- Blake found out he passed the bar!

December- Spent Christmas morning at the Gager's and Christmas evening with the Penfield's. Had a wonderful full week relaxing and celebrating at home!

Quilt Block Fundraiser for Ellie

Purchase a quilt block by going to the DONATE button below!

Boxes, boxes, boxes...

Well we're in the middle of packing. In about a week and two days we will be moving away from our first apartment as a married couple into our new apartment in a different city to begin the second phase of our lives. Let me just say.... I cannot wait! :)

With each new item added to a cardboard box, I grow more and more excited. I traveled up to DFW last week to start my first official week of work. It was a bit of a hectic one because the team was gearing up for a live recording that was held on Friday night. I heard one girl describe the live recording as their "Super Bowl". It's their one big event that they have every 1 to 2 years and takes months and months of planning. I, fortunately, got to be there for the madness. :) I do have to say though, despite all of the madness, I couldn't be more happy than where God has placed me for the foreseeable future.

I think I said this before, but my new job is in many ways my "dream job". While many of you know, I am a photographer. And while being a photographer is one of my favorite things in the world to do, it just isn't consistent enough to provide for us financially right now, or keep my constant need for action fulfilled. :) Because of these two things, I found that I had to figure out what else it was that I loved doing and what else the Lord has given me a heart for doing. And this job is it. While I won't go into detail right now about that, just know it involves a lot of planning, organization, creativity and busyness. And if you know me, you know I adore all of those things! :)

But the packing continues. Blake and I have been so blessed that we've had this entire week free for just that very thing...packing. Because of this we've been taking it slow and steady. I am finding that because of this, I have more of an opportunity to be an organized and rational packer. This makes my heart happy! It's not....oh my gosh we have to hurry just throw those shoes in there with that pan!! It's more like ok, I have this size box and this many items, let's slowly put them in the box to create a perfect puzzle where everything fits nicely. I'm sure this time next week I'll be a little more like the first example with the last few things. But for now, I love it. :)

I think the cats are beginning to understand that something is up. They LOVE empty boxes and have made sure to jump in every. single. one. They also like empty shelves and spaces, which we have a lot of at the moment.

Anyways....that's all for now. I'll try to keep updating through the move! :)

For the month of May, A Beau Ideal (my headband business) will be giving 10% of it's profits to The Sparrow Fund. An organization that provides financial support for orphans around the world as well as the families adopting them. Check it out!

Moving to DFW

So you know that post that I posted almost a month ago now, about feeling like we were in limbo? Well the limbo continued for another week or so and then the fog began to clear! We just found out last week that we will be moving to the DFW area! I got a job with Gateway Church and couldn't be more excited! All I can say is that the Lord is so very good. Time and time again he blows my mind with how much he is in control of every little situation.

I mentioned in that post about how it was only 3 years ago, around this time, that I was anxiously waiting to get married and move to Waco. I knew at that time that we'd be moving here, but I did not have a job. I was very anxious because I was going to be the sole bread winner with Blake in school. As the moving day got closer and closer, I begin wondering how we'd even be able to pay our deposit. A week before our wedding I got a call about an interview. I drove to Waco a few days later and before I knew it, I had a job! Again....the Lord was in complete control.

This time around I kept in mind the sovereignty of the Lord the last time (and every time for that matter) and attempted to be less anxious and worried. Overall, I have to say, I did a pretty good job. I didn't think about it often and just trusted that the Lord would provide. But I have to admit as the month of May was getting closer, I was starting to get a little nervous. I felt like a little tiny person waving her arms at the sky saying, "God, remember me? Remember how I need to know what your plan for us is so we can move where ever that is??"

The last weekend of February I went to Abilene to have a "girls weekend" with my mom, aunt, sister and grandma. We had so much fun! On the last day before we all parted ways my aunt just happened to mention that my uncle had a position open at the church he worked at. I worked for this church back in 2008 and have always wanted to go back. I remember thinking, "gosh I wish I could apply for that position." I called Blake to see how he was doing and casually mentioned the position. He shocked me by saying, "why can't you apply for it?" I sat there dumbstruck wondering why I couldn't.

For so long, I had viewed our future as being dependent on where ever Blake got a job. I never once thought that I could be looking for a job in the area he was interested in that could support us till he found one. So I talked to my aunt, who then talked to my uncle. He was actually on sabbatical at the time and couldn't talk to anyone at the church until his sabbatical was over. Long story short and many complicated details later, I had to wait about a month and a half before I got any word on whether I got the job.

Blake and I traveled up to the area two weekends ago and were so blessed to find an apartment that we both loved and could afford. The Lord had his hand in it again. We'll be moving up there May 19 and I couldn't be any more excited. It's amazing the way the Lord works. I know there are still many details to be worked out, but I'm just in awe of his gracious kindness and the way he provides time and time again.

Embroidery and Sewing

I've done a few craft/sewing projects lately that I wanted to share! First of all I tried my hand at attempting a Dresden block. I got the pattern from here. It was soooo easy! I enjoyed doing it so much! I think I just might have to do a few more of these. Maybe even a full quilt of these!

There is a new fabric line out by Art Gallery Fabrics called Summerlove that I think would be beautiful in this pattern. The fabric line by Denyse Schmidt called Flea Market Fancy was just recently reprinted. I think I'd like to see that in this pattern too! Ha! Oh the possibilities!

Next I've been seeing all these super cute embroidery hoops on Pinterest, some with embroidery and some with just cute fabric. Believe it or not my little sister decided to try her hand at one of the ones with embroidery. If you know anything about her, you know she does not like doing craft projects of any kind. She did a great job though and I think she really enjoyed herself! Here are a few of mine:

I will be doing a craft fair the day before Easter and I'm kind of thinking of putting some of these guys in my booth to see if they sell. We'll see if I get the motivation to finish off a few more! :)

No Crease Hair Ties

I had to do a little promo today on the blog about the new No Crease Hair Ties that I carry in my online shop A Beau Ideal. They work great for both thick and thin hair! They also look super cute on your wrist when you don't want to wear them, but have a hair tie with you.

Come check them out by visiting my website or etsy page!