Remember me? No? Me either.

It's been awhile.  Hello again!

We're digging in our heels at our new home/vocation/ministry and are fully in the grip of it now.  If any of y'all need a refresher, our family moved across country several months ago to come work at a children's home, and we really hit the ground running when we got here.  I haven't had one minute to even *think* about blogging, but I've missed all those I used to follow, so after a particularly insane week, I've managed to steal a few hours of peace to catch up a bit.  Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and kicking -- I'm just doing it with 10 kids now instead of 3.  :)

Yes, I said 10 kids.

Whew. 

Really?  It's been awesome.  And horrible.  And every single day I think I'm going to throw in the towel.  And every single day I think I could do this for the rest of my life.  So... it's been a whirlwind, exhausting journey thus far.  And we've only just begun... (cue the music).  It's an absolutely incredible place to be with maybe the best group of people I've ever had or will have the pleasure of working with in my life, which is really the only way I get through the days.  The support here is incredible, and the kids are.... ah, I can't think of a single word to say it all.  Incredible.  Exhausting.  Troubled.  Lovely.  Kind.  Beautiful.  Broken.  Perfect.

The holidays are, of course, upon us, which means bad things in a place like this.  Emotional upheaval, acting out, ups and downs, and all that.  I'm bracing myself, but secretly still looking forward to the approaching season, 85 degree weather not withstanding.

Anyway, glad to see my little slice of the Internet is still here.  Thanks for visiting!

Red light, green light

Remember that old game from childhood?  Your foot balanced precariously to a pause, holding the energy of your weight as it prepared to spring forth into frantic galloping toward the goal, as soon as the call came... "green light!"?

We got the green light.  And our little legs are sprinting us forward on an exciting new path, full of adventure. 

Friends, I don't aim to make this blog a preachy sort of place, but I can't stop myself from telling everyone who will listen... Our God is an AWESOME God.

There are ways we've had to lean back and expect many miracles in the last few days -- trust that what He requires, He provides for, and ohhhh, we have not been disappointed but rather overwhelmed with an absolute overflowing of blessings and small miracles and real-life supernatural wonders.  It is good.

I'm happy and very grateful to be done with the waiting game, but now comes the craziness of packing and moving and saying goodbyes to family (a particularly difficult part of all this -- especially since some of them are not so pleased with our choice).  We're moving across the country -- to TEXAS! -- and entering into a kind of ministry that will allow us to work closely with kids who need lots of love, working in a children's home.  This is sorta scary... something I don't feel entirely equipped for... but I'm trusting that the old notion is true:  He does not call the equipped but equips those He calls.  He has already moved heaven and Earth to help us prepare in more practical ways for this, and I have no doubt that much growth and learning is upon us. 

We've got about two weeks before we head out, and our days right now are spent paring down to only the bare essentials -- selling furniture and excess, since we're moving into a furnished "cottage".  In the middle of that two weeks is a 4-day trip out of town for a wedding, my son's 11th birthday, and the start of the school year (which will mean temporary homeschool for us until we get to where we're going.  I didn't see the sense in starting them in school for a week, plus we'll be on the road for a week, so we're aiming to make it an memorable and educational experience for the little ones).

Anyhow, I'd better run.  We've got a grip of furniture (well, okay, a horse trailer full of furniture) going out to various Craigslist buyers today, and I've got to flex a muscle or two and help Mr. Smitten get it all loaded up. 

Thanks for reading.  Have fun and Get Smitten!

Bad Blogger! Bad!

Alright, so I'm pretty sure no one has noticed my absence (wow, that sounded very Eeyore-esque, didn't it?), but I thought I'd pop in here and wax and wane a bit about life and how its still wonky and uncertain and I have nothing creative to share.  Something about the up-in-the-airness of our life at the moment makes my creative brain sort of paralyzed while massive amounts of fatigue set in.  We are getting closer to having a direction -- I think.  We traveled across the country for a bit of what-iffing, which was helpful, and now, we keep waiting for the green light, or a red one, for that matter, to get us up and at 'em for whatever lies ahead.

I haven't been doing much creating lately.  I'm working on an old dining set I picked up for pennies -- you know the standard country set with the spindle-back chairs and such?  Anyway, I started to apply a distressed ivory finish to it, but the brush-paint is looking dull and chalky and I'm really wishing that I'd have opted for spray paint instead.  I'm only two chairs into it, so I may re-route the whole thing and try spraying it.  We'll see.  I'm so tired lately that I can't manage to scrape up the gumption to play with paint and sandpaper -- a sign, perhaps, that something is terribly wrong for me, haha.

No, not really.  I think I'm just sort of unconsciously sopping up the last bit of laziness that I can eek out of this season of life.  I don't do lazy, but that's precisely what I've been lately.  I know it won't last and that soon enough, I'll have to return to schedules and alarm clocks and exhausted evenings, but for now, I'm taking the hours as they come and trying to learn something in the silence.  I'm taking naps (gasp!) and sleeping in and watching TV and doing all those things my life has been substantively void of and will be again soon, but it's worth it to take a pause, even if the magnification of the intensity of waiting is so difficult when one slows down to watch the clock.

Yawn...

Ok, folks.  This girl is gonna take her lazy-bones self off to bed now, and hope that next time, I'll be armed with something beautiful and inspiring for your viewing pleasure.  Thanks for sticking with me!

In the Meantime

Life is still wonky while we wait. wait. wait.

I'm beginning to believe there's a purpose to the waiting that goes beyond merely driving me out of my ever-lovin' and oh-so-impatient mind.  The purpose is as yet unclear, though... so I wait to figure out the purpose of the waiting waiting waiting.  Can you tell I'm not doin' so hot at this waiting business?  Mhm.

Last week, in the middle of my pouting, I made myself get creative for a few hours.  Here are the fruits of those labors:

Before:

After:

(It's painted red).  Here's a close-up of the paint effect:

This one was lots of fun, because I chose a technique I've never used before.  I read about using candle wax to easily make a peeled paint/distressed-look finish, so I thought I'd give it a try on this baby.  I rubbed it well with a taper candle, especially heavily on the corners and "worn" areas, and ran a piece of sandpaper over it when it dried... voila.  Super easy.  Since I was hoping for a worn-out painted barn wood look here, I think the effect was great.  Kinda fun and rustic, and I do love me some red to brighten up a room.  :)

Whadya think?

I also made a delicious lemon scrub, that I found over at Under the Table and Dreaming.

... and a little banner thing, out of wide ribbon, coffee filters, cupcake wrappers, paper circles, and chipboard letters.  These are bad cell-phone pictures, but it says "imagine".

Alright, that's all I got.  One day of crafty, and several more sitting around staring at the clock.  Terrible, I know.  Whatchu got?

Alex Trebec is the Emcee of My Life

Here's the deal, folks.  We're in a waiting game.  A really, really long waiting game... or so it seems.

The stress of the big-decision-making dissolved when Husband and I looked at each other and realized, simultaneously, it seems, that we could really alleviate the weight of the world we had been so bravely complaining endlessly about, by giving it up completely and stepping foot into where we ought to be anyway -- NOT in the driver's seat.  We prayed for clarity and for guidance, passed around some angsty worry, and then, simply turned it over to the One who is in control... He who is so much more equipped for that sort of thing. 

The decision was made, and we did not have to choose.  That was a good feeling.  The kind of feeling that reminds me, though I ought not to be surprised, that I really don't have the tools to be in charge of my own life.  Sorry, but thats just a fact, folks.  And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but neither do you.  : /  It's true.

Anyway, the stress is gone and the peace has arrived.  The trouble, now, is with patience.  Being willingly out of control means that I do what I can do and then stand back and let the rest unfold.  Standing around... being quiet... waiting... all that is pretty hard for this go-go-go girl.  On a good day, I can't even watch a movie without simultaneously doing something else.  And the Jeopardy theme song that seems to be incessantly playing in the background of my head can really make a girl crazy while the time passes... tick, tick, tick, tick, and the unknown is still out there making neener-neener faces at me. 

Rude!

Did I say the peace has arrived?  Well, it would, if I would let it.  Stubborn, stubborn girl I am.  Stubborn, and impatient.  Bad combo. 

All this nervous waiting has really stifled my creativity.  Self-obsession can do that.  Take my word for it, wontcha?  I'd like to have been using all this free time on my plate to really soar with all the creative projects I could be doing right now, and maybe this post is a kick in my own butt to do just that.  What's the point of waiting around for life to happen to me when I've got a million smile-worthy things I could be doing? 

Stop yer whinin', Whimsy.  Get to it. 

Books!

I was just talking to one of my very creative and talented friends, who I'm so excited for.  She's starting the exciting journey of turning her hobby into a business, and I just know she'll be a huge success.  Can't wait to link y'all up to her when she gets started.

Anyway, we were talking about the various books and resources out there that I found so very helpful, and it got me wondering -- what were/are the most valuable resources for any of you readers, for getting started on Etsy, opening a business, figuring out the business of handmade goods, etc.?  I'm linking up my favorites with my Amazon Associates account, below.


The Craft, Inc. books are my very faves, and if I could only pick two, these would be it -- they go hand-in-hand.  I think they are appropriately geared to help us think outside of the every day, and look at how our products can fit into the marketplace.  The authors don't assume you're an idiot, but they don't assume that you have a degree in business and marketing either -- just straight-to-the-point advice for those of us standing at the bottom of the handmade business mountain, looking up.

This would be my top pick, if you could only buy two books, to get your feet wet in the handmade goods industry.


Another one I picked up a few years ago was:  The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money with Your Hobby.  This one may very well be outdated by now (no pic on Amazon), but it does have a lot of valuable information if you can get a copy.  The downside?  The book frequently references the 'National Craft Association' and relays resources from them, but the NCA, as far as I can tell, hasn't existed for several years now.  So, take that for what its worth.

Country Living's Crafting a Business:  Make Money Doing What You Love falls under the "if they can do it, so can I" category.  It's more inspirational than instructional, but there is a section at the end called "Business Crafting Workshop" that gives some helpful tips on getting started. 

The rest of the book features profiles of 31 crafty business owners (all women, I think) that have seen great success, interviewing them for advice and tips.

I can't say that this book has given me any information I can't live without, but it is a good thing to pick up on those discouraging days -- a glimpse into what *could* be, with enough skill and persistence.


Perhaps the most helpful information yet are all the business tools that Etsy gives on their website, for free!  I highly recommend signing up for their business newsletter and reading through their "quit your day job" series of vendor profiles.  I say all this without having done any business on Etsy yet, but that's only because I haven't had the time to branch out into the online world.  I know that when I do, the resources Etsy has provided will make it so easy (and getting my store set up was a *breeze*, thanks to their very easy-to-follow tutorials and helps).

Here are a few more random ones that I own/have read/have seen that stand out:

What about you?  What resources do you recommend?

Prayer and Red Paint

Hi bloggy friends.  I haven't been around much lately -- lots going on for the Smitten Family, resulting in little time to play.  Bummer.

Big things on the horizon.  We're moving.  Somewhere.  The stress comes in distinguishing where that somewhere will end up being, as there are several opportunities/options in the mix right now.  We may be moving thousands of miles from "home", or maybe more like 50, to an arctic climate or a tropical one, and there is little else I can focus on but the giant, anvil-like question mark lingering over our heads right now.

We'll know more in the week ahead, but friends... can I be honest here?  I'm terrified.  So much to consider, so many unknowns, regardless of which direction we go.  The stress and worry is exhausting, the fear and anxiety somewhat paralyzing.

I'm an adventure-lover, a nomad, and a pretty flexible kinda chick.  I can bloom where I'm planted better than anyone I know, and yet, this particular crossroads has me so off-kilter I can hardly set my mind on anything else.

I'll find my footing, I know I will.  And in the grand scheme of life happenings, this one, I know, is minor and not at all tragic, and I should shut my mouth and be grateful that we have things like job interviews and opportunities and options on the horizon.  Still, though, if you're the praying sort, and you've got the time, would you utter one for me?  I need some serious wisdom and guidance and a little Divine Intervention wouldn't hurt at all.  Wouldn't life be easier if God just lit up a giant neon arrow over the right choice... if He gave us a road map of obedience and good choices?  You know... turn here, move there, take this job, stay far away from this church, get to know this person, leave this door closed... and so on?

I know... easier yes, but less fulfilling.  We're blessed that He knows what we don't... that we are given the chance to exercise faith.  And now, my faith-legs are just peddling as hard as they can.  Still, I'm lost in a cloudy sort of haze of choices... pushing and pulling against my own human understanding, and I'm tired, and scared, and impatient.

And the only solution I can think of is prayer and a can of red paint, so here I go to indulge in a little of both.

Thanks for listening.  <3