Gardening

Currently: June 2017

Current obsession Filming vlogs! It’s just so much fun to have video footage of special memories and daily life. I have another one up from yesterday. I visited the hospital and showed our garden.

Current book Women of the Bible by Ann Spangler and Jean E. Syswerda. I just finished up learning about Gomer, Hosea’s wife, and now I’m onto Elizabeth!

Current beauty product Coppertone SPF 50 Clearly Sheer Whipped Sunscreen. This stuff is amazing. I love the way it feels, and it goes on great. Sorry, I’m a tad bit obsessed with sunscreen. I used Sun Bum on our honeymoon, and was loving Supergoop last month. I think my favorite sunscreen is a tie between Sun Bum and Coppertone Whipped. Okay, I’ll stop going on. Maybe I’ll discuss sunscreen in depth in another post, if anyone is interested 😉

Coppertone Clearly Sheer Whipped Sunscreen SPF 50

Current craving Spending time with my friend, Kim. We are hanging out soon, and I’m so pumped!

Current drink Coffee from Cafe du Monde! My mother-in-law went to New Orleans and brought me back some since she knows NOLA is one of my dream travel destinations. I’m super tempted to buy beignet mix off of Amazon to have the complete Cafe du Monde experience.

Current indulgence Bringing Malcolm outside while Jimmy and I eat dinner on our back porch!

Current food Sushi! I had been craving it for a few weeks, but hadn’t had a chance to get some. I was at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh yesterday, and grabbed lunch in the cafe. I found some sushi and it hit. the. spot.

Brown rice sushi with avocado and tuna

Current need A haircut. It has been a few months since I last had it trimmed, and my hair is starting to feel downright straggly. I’m hoping to have it trimmed before my sister’s wedding on the 10th. I better get on that, now that I think about it!

Current blessing Memorial Day weekend. We had such a nice time celebrating Jimmy’s birthday, planting our garden, and spending time with family.

Current confession I fell asleep while working at my desk last week, and I slept so hard that my ear imprinted on my arm, LOL.

Ear imprint on arm

Current excitement We planted our garden! More on this in another post.

Current procrastination Mopping our floors. I just don’t feel like doing it, but totally need to since we’ve been out in the garden and then track dirt, grass, and mud into the house!

Current mood Content. God is good 🙂

2017 Inspiration in Pictures

I don’t have any specific goals for this year. It just feels like too much pressure. Rather, I have some inspiration. There are things I want to do, see, accomplish, and experience. Ultimately, I’m leaving what happens in 2017 up to God. He’s way better at planning than I am. I’m just going to follow His lead. Love God and love people. That’s what I want to do every single day.

I hopped on Pinterest and started an inspiration board for the upcoming year. Actually, I named it my 2017 Happy Board. I browsed around and wanted to see what would catch my attention. Some things surprised me (I didn’t pin as many travel pictures as I thought I would), and some things definitely didn’t (I pinned all kinds of dogs).

So, here’s a breakdown of my inspiration for 2017!

2017-inspiration-collage-1

It appears that I want 2017 to include copious amounts of coffee, studying my Bible, and writing.

Really, though, I am determined to get on some sort of a writing schedule for my book. I’m thinking I may lock myself in our office for a few hours on my days off of work or head to a coffeeshop so I’m not tempted to do household chores. Either way, I don’t want to stress about it too much. I love the quote I pinned, too. I need to believe I can finish my book!

As for the Bible studying, I’m going to study the women of the Bible this year and seeing what God has to show me in their stories. I’m currently reading Ruth and really enjoying it. She was such an upstanding woman.

2017-inspiration-collage-2

Ah, creativity. This didn’t surprise me one bit. Anything that involves a paint brush, camera, or any type of crafting makes me happy.

I’m inspired to use my camera and capture memories big and small. I’m also hoping to frame some of my watercoloring if I deem it acceptable, haha.

2017-inspiration-collage-3

Gardening, yoga, campfires, and house projects. A random conglomeration, yes, but I’d like to make each of these things happen.

I’m already wistfully counting down the days until Jimmy and I can start our garden again. I’m hoping to paint a coral accent wall in our office, refinish a bookshelf in our living room, have campfires with Jimmy, and continue to practice yoga. Bonus points if Malcolm joins me 😉

2017-inspiration-collage-4

Dogs. Always dogs. I don’t know if this means I’d like to have another (eek!), or if I just want to keep pet sitting as much as possible. Either way, I hope 2017 involves lots of dogs. The volunteer quote is so true. I’ve been in contact with an organization I applied to volunteer with in the upcoming year. Hopefully I’ll be able to share more details soon!

Oh, and how pretty is that bedroom? Jimmy and I might do a bedroom overhaul this year. We’re thinking of getting a headboard, maybe painting a peacock blue accent wall, and just updating our sparsely decorated bedroom. The top right picture reminds me that I want to have as many dates with my sweet husband as possible.

2017-inspiration-collage-5

This last collage is totally random, haha. The cake is inspiration for Hannah’s bridal shower. Yes, I am making her bridal shower cake and I am so pumped! The kitchen is another renovation I’d like to work on this year. Mostly, I just want to repaint our cabinets and walls.

Hot cocoa reminds me of coziness, and I I’ll take as much of that as I can get this winter. The bottom right picture is from Washington DC. It has been a few years since I’ve visited and I’d love to go again. The top right picture is always what I hope to be. It reminds me to love others as much as possible.


While it may sound kind of silly, writing this post helped me have more of a focus for what I’d like this year to look like. I’m praying I will follow God’s lead for my life and do my best every day.

Happy New Year!