entering the world of unemployment: greetings from Paris

Bonjour Bloggers!

I wasn't sure if I would get internet connection, but it turns out I do!

So ... here I am writing you from France. 

E and I have been adventuring all over France for the past week. 

We've made it to Notre Dame, The Luve, Versailles, the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Arche de Triomphe, Mont St. Michel, and the WW2 D-Day beaches in Normandy.

We've dined on macarones (they sell those in McDonalds here ... heaven), french onion soup, escargot, creme brulee, fondue, fish in a heavy cream sauce, lots of baguettes, lots of cheese, crepes,  chocolate croissants, organina, and beef bourguignon.

I don't want to spend  too much time of here, but I did want to say hello.

Now I need to get to packing ... in the morning we will say au revoir to France, and ciao to Italy. 

If this last picture doesn't convince you to visit France ... then I don't know what will.

entering the world of unemployment: so long ... farewell ...

I'm leaving on a jet plan (around 1:40pm) ...

(yes, tomorrow E and I will be in PARIS ... don't be too jealous)

Don't know when I'll be back again. 

Oh wait, I do.

I'll be back on May 31st. 

Until then, I will miss you blog world. 

However, I promise to take lots of pictures, journal lots of memories, and share them with you!

See you in two weeks!!

toodaloo!

ps. House sitting the boys went amazing. They were really good kids. What a blessing. However, I was a little concerned the first night when one of them said to me ... "I'm not going to bother you or anything, but tomorrow (SATURDAY) I am going to get up at the crack of dawn." 

ps #2. I had a really crazy / scary night last night. I wish I had time to share, but I really need to get to packing. I promise to share when I get back.

she got the ring

I'm not sure if I've already told you guys, but a couple of weeks ago I started leading a bible study with three amazing college age girls. I love it! Each week we eat dinner together (an excuse for me to cook) and study the Word.  Last week, one of the girl's in the study got engaged. So ... for bible study this week we had a little celebration. It was very pink and girly. I can't wait to walk through this phase of life with these girls. 

Congrats Kathryn :)

ps. E and I are leaving Monday for France & Italy! Yes, in less than one week I will be roaming the streets of Paris. Oh my! 

ps #2. I got in touch with my supervisor and met with her this morning! Thanks for your prayers :)

ps #3. E and I have one last mission before we leave on Monday ... and that would be ... babysitting two 5th grade boys for the weekend. This is a big oh my ... what was I thinking???

for your little ones

Yesterday, I dropped off a couple "big girl" pieces at a little boutique known as Peacock-ado. The boutique's primary focus is childrens' clothing and accessories. The owner of the boutique contacted me a couple of weeks ago and I was so excited and honored that she was willing to give my pieces a shot!! This is the first boutique that I am selling in and I am really interested in getting into more :) 

I wanted to find some way to thank the owner. While I was dropping off the pieces, she told me that she has a three year old daughter ... my wheels started spinning. 

Then, I went to work...

and created this adorable little charm bracelet. 

The chain is currently six inches, which after a little bit of research I found out might be too large for a 3 yr old. I may have to shorten it. 

I just love how dainty it is. 

I may have made it for a 3 yr old, but I'm not gonna lie - I would wear it! 

I played around for awhile and came up with a few other charm combos

Take a look ...

what do you think?

entering the world of unemployment: a day in bed

A few flowers from the bounty in our backyard. 

Not all are from the backyard, but most are.

How's your Wednesday going? 

I hope it's better than mine started out.

Today was supposed to be my "spend an entire day in bed" day. 

When I found out that I would have this week at home, I made myself a little list. 

On it were things like ...

1. Spend a whole day in bed

2. Cover wall in bedroom with old book pages (I am going to wait and buy the books in France)

3. Tear down the sick nasty shelves in our back room (E still won't go for this one)

4. Cook an entire meal from scratch (well I'm cooking for friends twice this week, but not totally from scratch - oh well, close enough)

5. Spring clean - especially the baseboards 

6. Sew 

Well, yesterday I got down and dirty and cleaned the baseboards. It took forever ... literally hours. Although I will say that they really needed it, and things look a whole lot better now. 

So, today was going to be my day in bed. I am the type of person that has to schedule time to do nothing. It takes more effort for me to relax than work. Is anyone else like this? I think I get it from my dad. Anyways, my plans got interrupted when I found out that I had to go to Frankfort to meet with HR this morning. Fill out paperwork, pee in a cup, all that good stuff. 

Well, I'll spare you all of the boring and terrible details, but ...

1. They told me that I needed to submit more paperwork for my license and that it could take 2-3 weeks to get processed, and then I could have to wait even longer than that to submit my contract for supervision. The HR people were not happy (like this is my fault or anything that I can control) and said that if I did not get everything in quickly that they would not be able to hire me. This really sucks because everything is out of my hands ... I can't control how long it takes the board. Oh well ... I'm not going to get anxious about it ... I'll just pray & trust that God has perfect control over the situation.

2. Then, I made an unexpected trip to the board in Frankfort to take them the paper work that they needed. 

3. After leaving the board, it started raining like CRAZY. Some of you might not know, but about 2 years ago I was in a really bad bus accident while it was raining. Ever since then, I hate driving in the rain. It makes me really really anxious. 

4. While it was raining I got lost. Very lost. Lost for a long time.

5. Then, I hysterically called E and yelled at him (like it was his fault that I was lost). I was really really mean and cussed. I feel embarrassed. 

Finally I made it home, and I am now writing this from my bed. Where I will be staying for a long time. I am going to spend a lot of time reading scripture and the next book of the Mark of the Lion series. Hopefully this time will redirect my focus for things of this world, onto things that are eternal.

Enjoy your Wednesday.

If you remember, say a little prayer that all of my paperwork and meetings would be tied up before I leave the country on Monday. 

I specifically need prayer that ...

1. My new clinical supervisor would call me back ASAP and say that she can meet with me this week. I REALLY NEED HER TO MEET WITH ME THIS WEEK!!!

2. The board would review and approve my license by Friday

Thanks friends....

{sorry for all the lists}

clowns

a challenging and convicting post ... 

check it out here.

entering the world of unemployment: treasure hunt

Happy Monday bloggers!

Last night I stayed up until 2am reading this book. I just had to stay up and finish it. AMAZING. The plot and character development is fabulous. If you're looking for a good story that will also encourage you in your faith ... then look no further. 

And ... I didn't feel bad about staying up so late. Do you know why? Some of you already do. But, for those of you who don't, I will rub it in a little bit more ... this week started my three weeks of unemployment!!! 

I feel really excited about it because I'm not laid off or anything ... just between jobs. 

I am going to be home for a full week ... and then in Europe for two. Actually, E and I leave one week from today! And, as of last night, all of our b&b's are booked. Europe, here I come!

So today was my first day around the house. It started about amazing. I slept until like 10:00am. Then, I took a shower and used this new solid shampoo from lush. I bought it for our trip, thinking that it would be better to bring this little bar than like three travels bottels of shampoo. The lush lady assured me that with this particular one I wouldn't need to use conditioner. She said that it was a natural detangeler and extra moisturizing. I was super skeptical. I could just see myself getting of own the shower and cussing in my head and I painfully brushed out the knots. But ... she was right! No knots! Not even one. Seriously, you need to get this! Especially for traveling purposes. 

So then, I went and met my amazing friends Jen and Holly for a little lunch. 

After lunch I planned on stopping by the grocery (E and I are having friends over for dinner and grilling salmon ... yummmm), and then heading home to do something productive like clean the baseboards. 

Well ... I got distracted. You see, Lexington has recently opened a peddlers mall. I have been dreaming about going, however,  you never know what you'll get with those places. They can be 1. overpriced ... 2. full of weird crap like dream catchers ... 3. fill of treasures for reasonable prices ... or 4. full of treasures and weird crap. 

Well this one fell into the #4 category. However, the treasures outweighed the weirdness (no offense to those of you who like dream catchers). 

I hit the jackpot ... sorry E! I will refrain myself from going again soon. 

Here are some of the treasures that I found ... 

this lovely little side table

i think it makes the room a little more cozy

I don't really like that lamp, but it's all I have for now. I dressed it up for some clothes pins and pictures from Tahiti ... that made me like it a little but more.

 I also got this little tin. they had a million to choose from. it was so hard to decide. i wanted them all, but I also don't want to be the crazy pat rack.

next I picked up this sweet little stool. For now I will use it in my studio, but eventually I  want to use it as a bar stool when I kitchen is redone ... and has a island that needs a stool.

couldn't pass these up. way to cute. i think i'll put them on our bathroom shelves.

the poison-caution warning on this one reminded me of "It's a Wonderful Life."

the last little treasure I found was this vintage tub. i think I'll use it to hold toilet paper in our upstairs bath.

Although I never got around to cleaning the baseboards ...

I have done a few other productive things.

Like pulling weeds ... lots of them!

And, the lettuce & peas are coming up. 

I can't wait for fresh produce.

the girls have also loved me being home. more time for them to play outside ... and of course ... more time to eat sticks.

All of the bushes and trees are growing in so well. Yay ... no more viewing of the lovely chain linked fence.

Tomorrow I will clean the baseboards...

pencil skirt

My mom had my sister when I was 12 years old.

She has always been a baby to me. 

She still is a baby to me. 

When I started my first year of college, she started kindergarten.

Last week, we were hanging out and she looked at me and said ...

"Is that a pencil skirt?"

I still view her as a baby, so I was shocked that she had even heard of a pencil skirt.

And not to mention, she was right. I was wearing a pencil skirt.

I asked her where she heard that and she said ...

What not to wear. 

Oh she is growing up so fast.

happy mommas day

I hope that each and every mom out there feels extremely blessed and pampered! 

Today is your day!!

a few new things