My War on Stuff

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. 

I've been busy giving all my stuff away and it feels. so. good. 

My days have looked a lot like this:

Purge.

Organize.

Donate.

Repeat. 

I just can't seem to stop myself. I want my home and my heart to reflect the wise words of William Morris:

"Have nothing in your house 

that you don't know to be useful, 

or believe to be beautiful." 

The bible says this,

"for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content."

-1 Timothy 6:7-8

I am learning to find beauty in simplicity. In decorating, in my wardrobe, in my food choices. I'm learning that the less you have the more you appreciate it. I'm really challenging myself and trying to get rid of everything that I don't love or need. I'm also learning that it will probably be a life long process. 

It's crazy how much stuff accumulates in my house. (I blame my thrifting and crafting tendencies for this.) Since the beginning of the year we've had three garage sales and donated three carloads full of stuff. CrAzY!! I am finally in a place where I can breathe and be at peace in my home. Before, it was clean, but full of extra clutter and stuff that stressed me out. I felt like I was never really done cleaning because of all the extra stuff lying around. 

Anyway, I'm eager to show my progress and share more about my journey with you. I'll be posting before and after photos soon!

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Yarn Along

Hi all! I haven't been doing any crocheting this week (I've been de-cluttering and organizing like a crazy person instead), but I do have some photos to share. 

Mike's birthday was last week and I made him this beard hat. :)

I'm still working on my sweater, but I started a new book call The Invested Life about discipling and it's really good. I hope to have a review up when I finish reading it. (Sorry this picture is pretty bad quality.)

Anyway, that's it for now. Short and sweet. 

Now back to organizing. 

Women Living Well Wednesdays

Tuesdays @ Shwin&Shwin

Guest Post: Arise by Danise Jurado

  

The beautiful flower was once a tiny seed.  It can only reach its full potential with the nourishment of soil, refreshing water and the warmth of sunshine. 

So it is with us.  

Inside of everyone’s heart is an undeveloped seed filled with potential.  

Sometimes it’s hidden deep within, so that human eyes cannot see.  God sees.  It has been designed perfectly by Him to come to full fruition.  

The seedling knows that it has a purpose but it needs encouragement to grow.  

Safely hidden under the soil; it is tempting to stay there.  It always requires courage to become what the maker has called us to be.  

God showers the soil, washing it with His Word filled with nourishment.  The light of His Son brings warmth and comfort.  

Life springs up.  

The seed that was once filled with a dream of purpose now begins to grow.  Slowly at first, until the right time has come to break forth and arise. 

In this new season, the seed is no longer hidden.  Undiscovered potential has become reality.  It is a vulnerable and fragile time and yet there is boldness and confidence found in the unfailing love of God.  

All around us, everyday, there are seeds of potential trying to burst forth into life.  Let’s partner with God to encourage them to arise. 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 

“So encourage each other and build each other up”

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Hi! I’m Danise.  

The heart behind my blog is encouragement.  We can never have enough of that! God’s promises are precious gifts that inspire me every day!  It’s a joy to share His encouragement with others!  

I would love to have you visit my blog.  If you would like to know little more about me, you can find out here

twitter and facebook.  

Linked with:

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To Heaven and Back: A Review

I just finished reading To Heaven and Back: A Doctor's Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again By Mary C. Neal, MD. If you didn't pick it up from the title, this book is about a woman's story of drowning, going to heaven, coming back, talking with angels and figuring out God's will for the rest of her life. She has definitely lived an extraordinary life and in this books she tells us of all the significant "coincidences" that she believes are really God revealing himself to her. 

This woman has an amazing story and testimony of God's will, power, and sovereignty in her life. If you want your faith to be challenged and to see God in a new way working in your life then I would recommend this book. It is a pretty easy read with short chapters, but they get right to the point and I promise you they will make you look at your own life and God's hand in it in a new light. 

To learn more about Dr. Neal's story you can go here:

Dr. Mary Neal on Fox News

Dr. Mary Neal's Website

Read Chapter One

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Yarn Along

I'm participating in the Yarn Along again this week. I don't know if you've noticed, but since it's getting cooler and things in the garden are slowing down I've been crocheting a lot lately. Something about this time of year makes me want to crochet!

I started this sweater on Sunday and it's going pretty quickly. The pattern is here if you want to check it out. It's an easy pattern since it's only worked in two pieces. I'm really liking the yarn I'm using. It's Caron Simply Soft in Sticks and Stones. I think I'm going to have to get another ball before it's all said and done though. 

I've had to lengthen it in almost every direction and I'm still a little worried that it will end up too short (I like my shirts long and I'm pretty tall). So I've decided if it's too short I'll have to add an edging around the bottom. 

I'm still reading To Heaven and Back. I really need to finish this and get a review up on the blog! Also, I bought a new crochet baby book that I love! Can't wait to make a few projects for Walker this winter! :)

How to Make the Baby Bear Hat

I've had a lot of people ask me how I made Walker's bear hat so I thought I'd share the videos I used. Here is the finished hat made with one strand of brown and one strand of creme yarn:

This video shows you how to make the ear flap hat 

and it has a link to a video on how to make the tails.

This video shows you how to make the ears. I used a larger hook and did one less row than her. My ears kinda stood up on their own so I sewed them on that way, she makes the ears a little different than mine.
Hopefully this helps those of you wanting to make the hat.  Let me know if you have any questions! :)
Tuesdays @ Shwin&Shwin

Walker is SIX MONTHS OLD!!

HoLy CoW! How is my baby half a year old already?!? I can't believe it. The weeks are going by too fast!! It was a little bit harder to get photos this month because he was really interested in the dinosaur this time. I'm sure it will only get harder. :) 

 I can't believe how big he's getting! He wears 9 month clothes and some 12 month. We'll be moving up to all 12 months once it gets cooler. He's still wearing size 3 diapers and I think he weighs around 18+ pounds. He sleeps almost 12 hours a night which makes mamma sooo happy! He normally takes 2 naps that are 1-2 hours long. 

He nurses four times per day and started solids today! I gave him rice cereal and he ate about 1 tbsp or so. It's exciting, but a little sad since it's another step towards growing up. Also, he has two teeth!! Crazy. He isn't sitting up yet, but I don't think it will be too long before he does. 

This year is going by way too fast! I can't believe it!! I have a suspicion that the second half of the year is gonna go by even faster than the first. I'm trying my best to soak up each moment. I love my baby so much and I know he won't be a baby for long!

Crochet Dog Sweater

Can you tell that I really like to crochet? I have trouble focusing my creative energy bouncing from one medium and project to the next, but I find crocheting a little bit easier to do on a consistent basis. Anyway, I made Daisy a sweater yesterday and it turned out pretty good:

It was kinda hard to get a good picture of her because she acts like her legs are broke every time I put it on her. Anyway, I think she's glad that it's not cold enough to wear it yet. 

Crochet Baby Bear Hat (and Vest FAIL!!)

 I've been working on a couple of crochet projects this week including this bear hat for Walker:

I love LOVE how it turned out! :) I think he likes it too:

Anyway, I made the hat basically to redeem myself because the pink vest I showed last week turned out to be a horrid mess. Here's the pattern in case your wondering what it's suppose to look like. Anyway, it turned out way too large around the bottom so I added a border and decreased my stitches to make it smaller, but then it just looked like a giant pink bubble on me. Not the look I was going for:

I decided that it just couldn't be saved so I took it apart and now I have two pink rectangles of single crochet. Any ideas as too what I should do with these?? I've thought about folding them in half to make tote bags or adding cream and making a baby girl blanket or adding a fabric lining and making a crochet hook holder. Any thoughts?!

Just goes to show you that not every project is a success. Oh well. Hopefully I'll do better next time!

Click here for how to make the bear hat.

What have you been working on lately?

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New Painted Signs in the Shop!!

I just listed these painted signs in my etsy shop! 

Check them out and let me know what you think! :)

Yarn Along Wednesday

Today I'm linking to the Yarn Along over at Small Things. 

I'm suppose to share what I'm reading and what I'm working on. 

I'm working on this vest from Red Heart. It's a beginner pattern and pretty quick. I'm about half way done. I didn't have enough of the medium weight yarn so I'm using two balls of a light weight that I got on clearance for $2 per ball. 

I'm reading a book called To Heaven and Back about a Dr. who drowns in Chile, goes to heaven and comes back to life. I'm going to be doing a review on it once I'm finished so look for that in the next couple weeks!

What are you reading/crafting lately?