A Reminder for YOU {and ME}

This last week before schools starts is CRAZY!

Everyone is tired,

everyone is overwhelmed,

everyone is exhausted.

Lists are long

and patience is short.

So here's a reminder for you

{and for me}:

You Can Do Anything

I'd Rather Have Jesus

A super sweet reader named Rebecca wrote to me earlier
 this summer asking for me to make one of her favorite quotes
 from the fabulous Laura Story into a poster. 

Although I haven't read Laura Story's book yet {I plan to soon!}
{What If Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops}
I love her song "Blessings".

Sadly my list of posters to make has been so long
that it wasn't until this morning that I got to it.

I love this quote and reading it makes me even more anxious to read her book!
{Click on the image below or on the little arrow in the top right corner
of the big document to print your own copy!}

{You may notice I've put this poster in Google Docs instead of Scribd.
It seems lots of people are having issues downloading from Scribd and I'm spending LOTS of time emailing copies to Mac users so I thought I'd try an alternative to see if it works any better! }

What's Up Buttercup?

Here's what I've been up to lately:

Working~

Lots of working.
This is me wishing I could get this caffeine from my
 Sonic Diet Coke into my system faster! 

This time of year is CRAZY for those of us in education! 

Not enough hours in the day for all that we want and hope
 to accomplish before school starts!

I've been swamped at work- feeling like I'm treading water at all times.
I so love my new job- seriously LOVE it-
but my learning curve is pretty much vertical right now.
So thankful for a job I love to do!

Reading~

I did stop working long enough to read our book club book this month
and it was so very interesting.

One of the things I love most about book club is that we
read books that I wouldn't normally pick up. 

This month's book was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and was fascinating.

Here's what Amazon says about the book:

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. 

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

If you are looking for an interesting read- check this book out! 

Watching~

We've also been watching the Olympics each night. 

Never before have I been so into watching them. 

It has just been so fascinating and inspiring to watch these 

amazing and dedicated young athletes. 

I watch their parents and think how proud they must be 

and how terrified they must be watching their kids. 

I am a nervous wreck watching Madison perform- 

because I know how much it means to her. 

Can you imagine how those Olympic athlete parents must feel?

To know how much they have given up,

how hard and how long they have trained,

and how much they want it? 

I'd have to be highly medicated I think. 

Seriously. 

Some of the parents are so fun to watch while their children perform. 

This one absolutely cracked us up! 

All You Need is........

Anyone that has been around me for any length of time 

{even a very short period of time}

knows that I LOVE Sonic Diet Coke! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Diet Coke is truly the fuel that keeps me running!

This time of year is so busy- especially with my new job-

 that I've been drinking ridiculous amounts of it. 

You know you have a problem with an addiction to Sonic Diet Coke 

when three separate friends bring you a Sonic drink over two days time! 

{plus you know you have super sweet friends!}

I made this fun new sign to put up in my office and thought I'd share it. 

All You Need is Diet Coke

My BFF  Dory loves coffee as much as I love Diet Coke so I made one for her too! 

All You Need is Coffee

So.....what's your MUST have addiction? 

Randomness in Pictures

Howdy y'all! 

I know it's been a sweet forever since I posted. 

Between helping with the retreat for moms who lost a child

 {one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced

and something I've been trying to write about},

 starting my new job {which I LOVE but is BUSY},

 helping Madison get ready to leave on a mission trip {she left yesterday},

 and all the normal life stuff I've just been pooped at the end of each day!

 I think I'm finally settling in to a routine so 

I should get back to posting normally soon! 

But in the meantime here's a recap of some things that have been going on......

We had our house painted and I had the front door painted turquoise! 

How fun is that? 

I love driving up each night and seeing it- it just makes me smile!

Found this note in our pantry after Madison left to go spend the night with a friend. 

That girl is SERIOUS about her candy corn! 

Took this picture from a book I was reading with Madison in preparation for her mission trip. 

Such wise words!!!

While Tony is recovering from his knee replacement surgery 

our dog Belle has become even more spoiled which I didn't think was even possible. 

She is a MESS!

I am blessed with many sweet and loving friends. 

These flowers were delivered on my first day of my new job 

by one such friend- who happens to be my former boss- 

{who was very unhappy I was leaving}

which made them even more special! 

Having Madison leave for her mission trip shortly after going on a retreat for the ladies who suffered the death of a child proved to be a bit harder than I anticipated. I have been ridiculously nervous about the trip 

{especially the 24 hour bus ride there and back}

 and so my sweet girl has been texting me every few hours.  

Just to tell me she's still alive.

Oh how I love that girl! 

Happy weekend y'all!

Did you know? He loves you so!

Another little treat I added to the gift baskets for the retreat this weekend 

were these super cute little frames. 

Our Michael's always has little frames like this in a
 variety of colors in their $1 bin.

I always have some on hand and have spray painted a ton of them

{after popping off the backs} in a variety of colors

for a variety of different uses. 

{little chalkboards, little pin cushions, little memo boards}

I was lucky enough to find these at Michael's the other day in black and white

 so I didn't even have to paint them- woo hoo!

I just created this little poster, printed it out wallet size at Walgreens, 

trimmed it to fit these super cute frames and they were ready to go! 

There's just something cute about something in a tiny frame- so cute!

Jesus Loves You

Scripture Cards

I've been working on some projects for a retreat this weekend 

for mothers who have lost a child. 

I'm in charge of the gift baskets that will be in the ladies room 

when they arrive on Friday night

 and I've enjoyed working on things for these sweet, grieving ladies.

Last year I made these scripture rings for the ladies.  

This year I wanted to do something with scripture again, 

but wanted it to be different.

So I created these 13 scripture cards, printed them out on cardstock, 

and placed them in these fabulous $0.99 IKEA frames. 

{I love these frames- they are so cute and double sided!}

I put two of the verses in the frame and then packaged the other 11 cards.

I thought the ladies could put them on their bathroom counter, their desk,

 their kitchen counter, their computer- 

anywhere they need a reminder of God's promises.

If you'd like to make your own set you can find the JPG's HERE

{these you can download and print in any size}

and the  81/2 x 11 PDF's HERE or HERE. 

{You'll notice the JPG's have more white space around them than the 

PDF copies so that they would work in the IKEA frame}

Scripture Cards

SB Special Requests

I  LOVE getting emails and comments from readers asking me to make 

special posters or and signs for them. 

I've been working on several special requests lately and 

although I emailed them to these sweet friends personally, 

I thought I'd post them here in case any of you would like them too! 

God Changes

The Lord Will Fight for You

Proverbs 31 25

Sweet Southern Sayings

I've always lived in Texas so to me hearing things like...

howdy y'all

bless your heart

gimme some sugar
good night nurse

seems totally normal but I realize that it's not the norm for many people. 

I love our silly southern sayings and decided to make
some fun little posters with some of my favorites! 

If you are my friend on Facebook, thanks for helping me come up with ideas!
{If there's one you wish were here that isn't,
just leave me a comment and I'll make one for you!}

Here they are in three groups:

Southern Sayings Part 1

Southern Sayings Part 2

Southern Sayings Part 3


Here they are individually:

hold your horses
come hug my neck
don't count your chickens before they hatch
gimme some sugar
good night nurse
hey y'all
lord, have mercy
howdy y'all
i'm fixin' to
it's over yonder
put your big girl panties on
oh bless your heart
oh my goodness gracious
well butter my biscuit
that dog don't hunt

Bible Blessings

My precious friend Betty is one of the most amazing ladies I've ever known- 

she is godly, so wise, and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. 

She is an incredible teacher, friend, mother {and Gigi}and

 is such a fabulous example and role model to everyone in her life.

She is truly beautiful- inside and out! 

We became friends shortly after my mother died and

 although she's a little young to be my mother she definitely has helped

 to fill that mama role for me and I thank God daily for her. 

Betty recently retired from teaching and moved several hours away 

to her new lake house {I see lots of lake trips in my future!}. 

I'm so happy for her but will miss her SO!

As we prepared for her retirement party 

I began trying to think of a gift idea for her. 

What do you give someone who has made a huge difference

 in your life and in the lives of so many others? 

As I sat down at church one Sunday morning and 

opened my Bible, I had an idea. 

Here's a picture of a page in my Bible.

As you can see I write the date of a verse when I read it. 

I've been doing this for years and absolutely love looking back 

and seeing when I read a verse- 

and thinking about what was going on in my life during that time. 

It's like a history of my scripture reading and I love that! 

As I looked at my Bible I thought of how neat it would be to give

sweet Betty a new Bible to take with her- 

full of all of her friends favorite Bible verses. 

So I purchased a new Bible for her along with some pens and highlighters. 

At her retirement party I set out the Bible with a sign for everyone to find

and highlight their favorite verses and then write their name next to it. 

It was so neat to see what verses people highlighted as their favorites! 

I plan to do this at Madison's graduation party {just 2 years away- eek}

and let all those people who have impacted her life highlight 

their favorite verses and then send it to college with her. 

How great will it be to have godly wisdom and advice from those she loves? 

You are MORE

You Are More

This is a line from one of my favorite songs

You are More by Tenth Avenue North.

Such a great reminder that we all need sometimes!

Parties and Surprises & Surgeries, OH MY!

This past week and a half have been so stinkin' busy! 

Here's a peek into just part of what's been going on through 

some Instagram photos from my phone! 

We held a retirement reception for my sweet friend Betty!

She's one of the most amazing, loving, wise women I've ever known 

and although I will miss her, I am so excited for her to

 begin this new stage of her life. 

I love her so!

Packed up my classroom and moved things to my new office.

Starting my new job the beginning of July and I'm super excited but 

it's always sad to leave a classroom. 

Mad and her sweet friend Meagan both turn 16 this week and they 

had a swim birthday party on the last day of school. 

Instead of presents they asked for donations of diapers

 for the Hope Pregnancy Center. 

Love these sweet girls and their hearts! 

Mad has the very BEST grandparents EVER 

who bought her a new car last Friday. 

She hasn't been super excited about driving but this snazzy new car

 sure did seem to motivate her! 

{Her mama likes driving it too!}

Saturday we had a small surprise party for my sweet girl. 

It was so great to be able to get her whole family 

{me, Tony, her dad, her brothers, all three sets of grandparents} 

plus some close friends together. 

She had no idea and it was super fun to surprise her! 

At 5:45am Monday we were at the hospital for my 

husband's knee replacement surgery. 

This was him before getting his nerve block- feeling good and ready to go! 

He is one tough cookie!

I wish I had been able to snap a pic of Tony AFTER his nerve block but 

before he went into surgery because that was FUNNY! 

As he was being wheeled away to surgery- he threw his hands up and yelled

"Let's PAARRTTAAY!"

We all died laughing and of course he can't remember it. 

Madison drew a pic to hang in his hospital room that shows him

 in his snazzy purple gown and socks. 

My friends sure do know and understand my Sonic addiction. 

All four days that we were in the hospital I had Sonic delivery! 

I am blessed!

I spent lots of time in the hospital FREEZING 

and not sleeping as you can see by this pic.

I often entertained myself by sending pics of myself to my BFF Dory. 

Lovely pic huh?

My sweet friend Jamee's sister makes the cutest cookies so

 I had her make some with the logo for the Joint University that

 Tony was in for his knee replacement.  

The staff was amazing and it was fun to give them a little thank you treat! 

We are home now and although he has a long 

road of recovery ahead he's doing great!

And I am so ready for life to slow down a bit!