fourteen days of love. day 02.

02. blogging
okay. okay. so my first post for fourteen days of love was posted earlier today ... but i'm a day late, so i'm catching up.


you may find my next item funny ... because i have tended to neglect ours lately, but my number 02 favorite thing right now is the blog world. i have a couple of people that i stalk oh, a million times a day, at least.




thecollierfam: a private blog that tells the story of my sweet friend jen and her growing family. jen is the one who really introduced me and got me involved in the blogging community about a year and eight months ago.


talesofthetrees: i've decided that megan {the blog's author} needs to quit her job and do nothing but write new blogs. all. day. long. i'm not sure how i became so obsessed with her blog, but she always has the funniest stories and the greatest followers and blogs that she follows.


prlindsay: another private blog, my "twin" andy's website ... though like me she has begun to neglect her blog a bit, so i have to wait ages to read anything new.


justjennyproffitt: another one of the few friends from high school that i keep in touch with. i never get to see jenny. this way i still feel involved in her life and in the know.


hostess with the mostess: this site never gets old. i can sit and look at it for hours, though i never get to.


100 layer cake: oh. my. gosh. gorgeous. everyday. i am never disappointed by this site.


and last but not least ...


notablynoted: i finally got the notably noted blog up and running and while it still has a long way to go, i have big plans for this puppy! i hope that people start following and enjoy the posts that i publish.

fourteen days of love. day 01.

each year my dear, dear friend jen does "fourteen days of love" in february. i've decided to take a page out of her book {a screen out of her blog??} and do the same. i'm supposed to do one post each day for fourteen of my favorite things that i'm just loving right now. i think it will be a lot of fun and i encourage you to do the same.

01. iPhone
to start 2010, travis and i both got iPhones. i am surprised how much i really do love mine. i was never part of the iPhone craze, but when christopher {our boss at sixbyte} offered to buy them for us and do away with additional work cell phones, we said yes, please!



these are a few of the features i love the most:

email on my phone again. surfing the internet as if i were on a laptopdesktop. a phone camera that actually takes decent pictures. the loseit app that tracks my caloric intake and exercise. downloading books like pride & prejudice and sense & sensibility. (i had never read either). checking out the upcoming weather with the push of a button.

jude. chapter jude.

Tonight I was reminded how much I like the book of Jude. I've not ever
been one to struggle much with my faith but if I am truthful that has not
been the case lately.  I found myself unable to sleep tonight so I
turned on my lamp. Staring me in the face was The Total Money Makeover
and underneath it my Bible. Have you ever had one of this tines when
you didn't know what you were going to read so you flipped the pages
and let them fall where they may?  That's what you're supposed to
read, right?  I'll admit I may have doe that before ... And not really
read anything that spoke into my life at that time (not that it's
always like that). Tonight I felt lame doing that and I instead began
to read some of the verses I had written in the inside cover and
different pages of my Bible. I was encouraged and even found myself
with tears in my eyes (for about the fifth time tonight). I decided to
dig in. I started to open and the book fell open to Jude. There was a
bookmark there with a note from an old friend I had spent moat of the
evening thinking about. And there above the title page I had written
the theme of the book: he is the foundation of your faith. It was
exactly what I needed and I began to read.  It talks of men who have
slipped in among us and are godless, using the grace of God as a
license for immorality and I prayed I  was not one of those.  These
people are grumblers and faultfinders ... Things I have lately seen in
myself and not liked. Then came the absolutely wonderful part(s). I
was reminded that I should be building myself up in my faith and
praying. That I need to keep myself in Gods love as I wait for the
mercy of Christ. And then the best part: to him who is ABLE TO KEEP
YOU FROM FALLING and to present you before his glorious presence
WITHOUT FAULT and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be
glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord
before all ages now and forever. i AM his child and he is able to keep
me from falling AND present me without fault.  This was a great truth
to be reminded of and great verses to initiate a conversation tonight.
I pray that I would not follow my own ungodly ways or speak abusively
about things which I do not understand and also that I will not
grumble or find fault, especially with others. Help me also to be
merciful to others.

I hope you are as encouraged as I was.

Sweet dreams

notably noted blog.

goodness! i've neglected our personal blog, haven't i? i will have to post a better update soon ... but not today. i wanted to note, though, that the notably noted blog has gone live. technically it's been "live" for a while, but i've been trying to work out some kinks with formatting, etc. a few of the kinks are still there, but nothing so major as to interfere with the general use of the site. i hope to have a custom background designed in the future, but for now will stick with the fun girls from the cutest blog on the block.

when i return, i promise an update on:
new year's eve 2009
kicking off the new year in the caribbean
and the latest and greatest happenings with these two american kids.

dashing through the snow

leggings? check. skinny jeans to fit inside my boots? check. sweat pants over my jeans? check. snap-leg wind pants over my sweats? check. a pair of ankle socks? check. a pair of knee high socks? check. a pair of regular socks? check. yoga tank? check. cami? check. long-sleeve shirt? check. long-sleeve t-shirt? check. thick hoodie? check. wool coat? check. scarf? check. hat? check. snow boots? check. sleds? check!

it may seem a bit extreme, but this is what i found myself wearing to civitan park a few days ago. maybe i should start from the beginning ...

first of all, happy christmas! i am so sad that the holiday season will be over after tomorrow. i love! this time of year. i really don't think i would mind at all if it lasted all year. i've been so sad to see the trees and garland come down.

this christmas was a lot of fun. on christmas eve we got a big snow storm! it was wonderful! i felt bad because a lot of people's travel plans had to change ... but at the same time i was thrilled to see the snow. it even had a magical effect on travis. he loved having a white christmas.

i must get better about taking pictures again. i used to have a camera permanently attached to me ... and now i can't remember the last time i took pictures with my camera.

we spent time at my family's and travis's family. we went for an evening sled with my family on christmas night. we all bundled up {all of us being my mom, dad, sierra, travis, justin, lindsay and me} and headed out to civitan. there were a few other people out there, but we were able to scope out the steepest spot and sled to our little hearts' content. lindsay had never been sledding before! i couldn't believe it. it was so much fun. we were all frozen by the end, but it was definitely worth it. we headed to travis's parents' after that where we thawed by the fire and watched a christmas story.

the next day we went sledding again. this time is was justin, travis, sierra, teddy (lindsay's brother), and me. we didn't stay as long this time, but we still had a fabulous time. like lindsay, teddy had never been sledding. it was so funny to watch his reaction each time he went down the hill.

i hope that you all had a wonderful, safe christmas!

"and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. and lo, the angel of the lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them: and they were afraid. and the angel said unto them, fear not: for, behold, i bring you good tidings of greay joy, which shall be to all people. for unto you is born this day in the city of david a saviour, which is christ the lord. and this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manager. and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising god and saying, glory to god in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." luke 2:8-14

Random Catch-Up

I'm "taking a page" out of Megan's, from Tales of the Trees, blog.

01. I LOVE Christmas time.
02. I have been listening to Christmas music since October.
03. I have no idea where November went nor what happened to the first half of December.
04. Christmas is next week and I do not have one single gift for anyone.
05. Travis's uncle, Jim, made it home from the hospital last night after having been there for weeks!
06. I'm attending my first ever Ugly Christmas Sweater Party tomorrow and I can't wait ... but I don't have a sweater yet!!
07. Connor is almost fully crate trained!
08. I need a new website for notablynoted.com. The one I have is beautiful, but buggy ... and let's face it, no one likes bugs.
09. It's official! I get to go to Hawaii this summer!
10. I wish I had my own home to decorate for the Christmas season.
11. We still don't have a tree at my parents' house, but are supposed to get one this weekend.
12. Travis's sister will turn 21 in 18 days!!
13. We leave for our cruise in 16 days!!!!!!!!
14. All Travis and I can seem to think about lately is our cruise. We all need a vacation!
15. I'm excited for the cruise, but sad to count down to it because that means Christmas will be over.
16. I'm having a lot of issues with the notablynoted blog on blogger and am getting quite frustrated with it.
17. I have lots of work to do and need to get back to it.

Happy Christmas!

oh my goodness!

what a horribly depressing post my last post was! and to think that's what you have had to look at each time you visit our blog. i'm so sorry!

life is still hard ... but i'm not saying that it's "bad." it's just incredibly hard.

this is my favorite time of year and i feel like it is passing so quickly. i can hardly believe that it's the ninth of december. i know we should keep christmas in our hearts all year 'round, but i really do wish that the holiday season lasted longer, with all of the wonderful decorations, the delicious smells, and the fun parties and get-togethers. of course, i suppose if it lasted all year i wouldn't really appreciate all that this time of year brings ... though i find that hard to believe. i don't think i could ever get tired of christmas. i should have been an elf ...

tonight i am feeling much better after several days {weeks} on the verge of a nervous break-down. i want to make sure that i am enjoying life, however, and am remembering to count my many blessings each day. that i make the most of what i have.

how are things in your world? be on the lookout for a fun giveaway for notably noted on a favorite blog of mine. if you are interested in hosting your own fun giveaway, let me know!

why. is. this. happening???

i am posting a blog at 12:30 am when i have millions of other things to do because, well, because i have millions of other things to do so naturally my computer would crash. again. i have several other stories to post, and have the drafts for those posts ... but tonight {this morning} this post wins. earlier in the week my laptop crashed. travis set me up on a old desktop and transferred all of my files for me. tonight, the desktop crashed. i have so many orders to fill for notably noted {yay!} ... and now no way to fill them {aggghhh!!!} i can't remember the last time my laptop crashed. or any computer for that matter. actually, my laptop has never crashed until now. and i don't think i've had any serious desktop issues since college. why. is. this. happening? i am trying to remain calm. no tears have been shed. but this is getting ridiculous. i mean it. never have computer trouble and now, in a time when i desperately need them, they are all shutting down??? what kind of horrible things have i done to reap this kind of karma? i'm sorry for all the negativity, i just really don't know what to do. i have orders that are supposed to be delivered tomorrow. no way that's going to happen now. seriously? seriously?? i am starting a new business. i want to put my best foot forward. not my late, rushed, not all pulled together foot! please pray for me. i may lose it.

no time to say hello. goodbye!

in case you missed it, i published a post below about our friends tom & lina getting married.

so, i really should not be sitting here writing this post at 1:19 a.m. ... yet here i am. i needed a quick little break from all of the work i'm doing to remind myself just how busy i am! haha!

i hope that i will look back on this week in a couple of years and think "whew, i'm glad that part of it is over," while looking out the picture glass windows of my quaint little shop in a fabulous shopping center ...

don't get me wrong. i am having a fantastic time. despite the hustle and bustle and never feeling like i will have enough completed by the time my first trunk shows roll around this week, i am having so much fun. i can work into the wee hours of the night as i've mentioned before, but for the most part i don't mind.

yesterday i had a hard time concentrating. i had not gotten out of the house the previous two days and i think i was getting a little bit of cabin fever. even though i had a list as tall as i am to complete, i couldn't focus the way i needed to. i got out yesterday evening and headed to the pool hall with my sister. her godmother was in town, and they were swinging by the pool hall to say hello to our family. we weren't there long, but i appreciated the change of scenery.

sierra, lindsay, and i left the pool hall and headed to sonic while the guys stayed to play for a few more hours. we got the house and i attempted to work, while lindsay attempted to study. i showed off my latest designs and samples that i'm pulling together for the trunk shows and it was reassuring to hear lindsay's feedback. i love what i'm doing, but i get nervous that other people won't think the same.

tonight, tomorrow, and part of the day tuesday will be spent finishing up my list that i just finished writing out {with 30 items on it} + 15 products i have to photograph for the website and the catalog {i wish i had the incredible talent of jennycollierphotography.com!} + finalize and have the catalogs printed. i also have a shipment of packaging ordered, and i'm so nervous that it won't arrive in time. i have a backup plan in the case that it doesn't get here ... but that will create a whole lot more work. cross your fingers that it arrives on monday!!

if it sounds like i'm complaining i'm not. really this blog is for me to look back on. to remember the mountain of tasks that i had and also the fun that i'm having ... despite getting only 3-5 hours of sleep. i can only imagine what tomorrow night will be like as it will be my last night before the show.

i also got some unfortunate news today. edmond, the town in which i've been pining to open a shop, got a speciality stationery store. boo! they've not had one up to this point. i think the town is so quaint. it's a place i can see travis and me living. and i even have the shopping center picked out. i just have to have the backing to move forward with a store front. i'm so sad that someone beat me to the punch. i've been hoping and planning to have a shop there for several years now. this of course doesn't mean that i can't still open a shop in edmond ... but it would have been nice to do so without any competition.

okay lovies. i must bid you adieu for now. have a terrific week!

i found another moment.

okay, so maybe i am procrastinating. i've been going non-stop, as i mentioned in my last post, and this morning, i am feeling a little sluggish. not a good thing since i have to work in tulsa for sixbyte tomorrow and friday. i figured a short break for a blog post wouldn't be the end of the world, however. so here i am. writing to the blogging world.

i'm super excited because megan at tales of the trees posted my logo her blog yesterday. there is supposed to be a post about notably noted in the future, too. i'll keep you updated. i'll be doing their christmas cards, and i think they'll be a lot of fun to work with.

anyway, there is work to be done and my fiance is calling me, so i'll say goodbye for now.