*sweet dreams are made of this*

'i lie down and sleep in peace, for you, O Lord, make me dwell in safety'
psalm 4:8


The princess pooch in one of her multiple thrones.

This dresser was actually David's grandparents. When we were in middle school his family sold it and mine just happened to buy it...small world! It was a brown, sort of 70s color, so a while back Ashley and I painted it. I always loved the piece but hated the color of the wood and the funky designs on the doors. Now, I've got the best of both worlds...it's so functional!

I used napkin rings as curtain tie-backs.

(Almost) All of the jewelry frames completed. All I have left is the one on the bottom, it will be for bracelets but I've not quite figured out how to make it yet. The mirror was David's idea! It was black (Amanda, my sister-in-law, gave it to us when we first got married) and I painted it with the same paint used on the dresser two photos up.

Ok. Suggestions on what to hang above the bed? Its a big empty space, and I'd love to have something simple yet super creative. Let me know your ideas!

The bedroom was this crazy dark purple when we moved in...I can't really put into words just how purple this room was! The color we picked to paint is so beautiful, but it comes out much more twangy looking in the pictures (if a color can look twangy...).

So, there's the bedroom. It's mostly done, just a few finishing touches, like getting David a nightstand, getting a quilt and down comforter that actually fit (the only ones we have are only full size!), and one or two minor things. Overall, we love our new bedroom, and it makes for very peaceful sleeping.

baby chicks!!

We finally had baby chicks! I pulled into the driveway tonight and looked down the hill under the swing and saw all these little blurbs hopping around...I got so excited I jumped out of my car and raced to David (who was mowing in the front) that we had babies. I was afraid he wouldn't see them and mow 'em down in the backyard...yikes! So here they are in their big debut:

7 are hatched, 4 more are almost ready, and 6 were duds (they exploded at the lightest touch). I'll post more as the last 4 hatch!

*roots*

*over the weekend mom and i took a short visit up to west jefferson and boone to spend some time at aunt bobbie and uncle steves cabin. it was really great to be able to walk around the towns where all of my family has so much of their history. i love hearing and learning about my ancestors and the childhoods of my parents, so this trip was really special. thanks to aunt bobbie and cousin phil for showing us a great time, opening their homes to us, and scootin us around giving me lots of history lessons! we loved our time there, and came back feeling rested and refreshed*


Do you see what I see?

The house where my Great-Grandparents lived, Poppy and Mommie Caudill. Mom spent several summers here during college, and all the girls were here a lot during their growing up years.

It's official: we're related.

The theatre where Papa worked when Aunt Bobbie and Aunt Vicki were little.

Cousin Phils Homeplace in West Jefferson.

This park is in honor of multiple members of my family, including Papa and Mama Two.

West Jefferson is the town two of my 4 aunts were born in, and where my family has a lot of roots.

Silly Cousins: Aunt Bob, Phil, Mom

Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Steve's cabin is called Jakola, for Jacob and Ola Caudill, my Great-Grandparents.

My beautiful Mama.

At the tree and monument in honor of my Great-Grandfather, Poppy Caudill.

soon to be snoozin...

when we first got married we were very blessed by having lots of furniture given to us from our parents and a few other folks. the bed we were using was davids grandparents and the bed in our guestroom was my dads and his grandfathers before him. when we moved we decided it was time to move on up in the world and get our own bed. after weeks of searching and searching we finally found a website that let us choose every detail of how we wanted our new bed to look. we chose this beautiful iron with a rustic gold finish. since they coustom make the beds to order, we've had to wait several weeks for our new bed to arrive...when it did, it didn't have a frame! what?!? we didn't want a footboard, but we didn't know that that meant no frame either! so now, we'll have to contiune our search and get a frame as well...seems that patience has been a new theme for us since moving! what else does God have to teach us, we wonder...

...for now it's proped up in the guest bedroom until we can get a frame and mattress. we've got the guest bed in our room until our new one is up and ready to go!

a rose by any other name...

david has worked very hard on buiding a lovely little trellis for our climbing roses. my parents bought us these climbing roses when we first got married, and we brought them with us to our new home. there are three of them, and we were afraid the one on the left (in the first pic, on the right in the second pic) wouldn't make it...it has really struggled since we transplanted it. but today there are three tiny little blooms on it, so perhaps it just needed a little more time...with all of this gardening and landscaping we are learning so much, but the #1 thing we're getting from it is patience with a capitol p!

didn't he do an awesome job? i'm so thankful to be married to a man who can build or fix or do just about anything around the house that he sets his mind to! what a catch!

with a cluck cluck here and a cluck cluck there...

A few weeks ago when Caleb and Megs were here, they discovered that one of our neighbors chickens had decided to roost in the dog boxes that the previous owners of our home had built into the tool shed. We've been checking daily and today two of the shells were empty, but no chicks were around...not sure what to think about that! We hope they are ok, but nevertheless, there is the mama chicken still sitting on the other eggs. We skooched her over tonight to check on the eggs, and there are quite a few! One of the eggs has a feather sticking out, so I'll check in the morning to see if any more have hatched! We want to see some babies!!

overlooked.

Recently I took my Confirmand, Madison, and our close friend Jordyn to a Christian Music Festival at Carowinds. After battling hour plus lines for coasters and temps over 100, we finally made it to the afternoon when the good stuff (aka the concerts) began. Between some phenomenal bands (i heart brandon heath...and third day? *sigh) we were meandering around the booths where the bands sell their merchandise.

That's when we stumbled upon a booth that was different. No band name was branded all over it, and we thought, what's with this booth? After talking with the salesman, we discovered that this booth was for an organization called Overlooked. As it turns out, this group sells t-shirts for causes...

When I think of selling t-shirts for causes, I think, 'Really? How does that work? How do I know the money gets to 'the cause'?'

So we asked questions.

We got answers.

Overlooked sells shirts for the following causes:

Food
Clean Water
Human Trafficking
Ugandan Jobs
Mosquito Nets

Each shirt has a specific cause, so there are 5 shirts. At least 5 bucks from each shirt goes directly to a specific organization for that specific cause.

For example? The shirt that goes for clean water pays for a straw that has a filter in it. They had the straw there, and it was amazing. A big tube that you can stick into practically any water, muddy, diseased, tainted, you name it, and by the time the water hits your mouth its clean.

I wrestled with which shirt to buy, of course wanting to buy one of each. But since I had already bought 4 other shirts (what can I say, I have issues...) I could only choose one. In the end, I bought the one that I felt dealt most specifically with my first love: children.

Since I bought my shirt advocating against Human Trafficking, I wear it at least once a week. I'm amazed at how many comments I get on it, which lets me have a conversation about the cause, the Overlooked folks, and just some Jesus in general.

I had kind of put the thoughts of these kids on the back burner, as so often (regrettably) happens when 'life' gets in the way. Then tonight, we watched the movie 'Taken' with Liam Neeson. The movie deals with some pretty intense themes involving Human Trafficking, and David and I were riveted.

A young girl is kidnapped and sold into a complex prostitution ring. Her father tells her 'I'll come after you'. In the end, when they are reunited, she says 'You came after me...you came after me, Daddy!'. He says 'I told you I would'.

This hit me so hard, thinking about my relationship with our Father. He tells me He'll come after me. He chases after me with everything He has. I want to believe. I know in my heart that He is coming. But sometimes, the things that happen to you and the things that you see in the world can make your hope start to fade.

In the end, I wonder...Am I really trusting that He has searched and sacrificed for me? That He loves me more than anything, that I am His beloved? Do I really believe this?

Oh, how He wants me to.

He wants you to believe it too.

I know the Father loves me that much. And you. And these children who are stripped of every human liberty that we take for granted every day.

Please check out the Overlooked website, and check out this video for the organization that my shirt supports: Love146.