back from obscurity

Good morning!

So a year of silence. Unintended but necessary. Turns out that I found out I was pregnant the day of my last post - August 28, 2013. I was initially planning to keep blogging, but much sooner than I like to admit all my clothes stopped fitting, the holidays ramped up at work, and I just fell out of the habit.

My life got complicated, and it is only more so now that I have a 4 month old munchkin in tow. This 4 month old munchkin to be exact:

And though he is crazy adorable and such a good natured kid, life is still a little, well, complicated. In a fit of what some would consider insanity I also opened a second shop this summer so that baby boy and I could have space to go to work together, which is what we do now five days a week. So when I am not trying to fix his currently horrible sleep schedule or entertaining during tummy time, I am managing a growing company, making two stores worth of handmade product, and trying to save a remnant of sanity.

And that is part of the reason I am coming back to blogging, but the focus of my blog is going to change. I don't really intend to become a "mommy blog," but I am a mom now, so some of that is bound to get in here somehow. I find myself wanting to share my experiences as a working mom, small business owner, artist, and crafty person on a budget trying to lose some baby weight and help my family eat healthy. But most of all, I want to starting writing again because all the people I love have been telling me that I should.

I find myself constantly faced with questions about what I should do in the hard situations I find myself in as a business owner, wife, and parent and the answer always comes back: you need to favor the brave. Do the hard and right thing.

So I am going to try this again. I am going to once again favor the brave.

welcome to the bookerie!

So as I let you in on a few weeks ago, I opened a shop on Saturday. A real live shop, like with people who shop there and everything. I know there are a lot of shops in the world, but somehow I feel like this is revolutionary. My shop feels like something that's been inside of me for a long time. I've never lived anywhere I could paint the walls or the furniture as an adult and this little room is the one place where everything is exactly where I want it to be.

This is my shop.

i've been mia...

Like really super MIA - but I promise I have a good reason! As you may or may not have followed along and learned, I got a job that I had to leave almost immediately for personal reasons. In the wake of that, I have recommitted myself to my business with new fervor and I am hoping to expand in new ways while continuing to teach next year. In the past two weeks I have doubled the number of recycled book products that I offer and I still have more on the drawing board! Check out my updated shop here!

I am preparing so much so quickly because I am also getting ready to take two separate weeks of vacation - next week with family in Iowa, and the next week at a cabin with the hubby in the Ozarks! So basically, I'm trying to do three weeks of work in one, and the blog is getting "back burner-ed" for the time being. Stay tuned for more stuff when I actually start having some kind of schedule again later in June.

stop yelling

Do you ever feel like the internet makes you feel like you're yelling over everyone else?

Look at me! Buy my thing! Pin my tutorial! Tell me I'm adorable! LOVE ME!

There's thirty thousand million of us trying to carve out our own little corner, our own little blog, our own little business - whatever. And not only that, but there is always someone doing better, getting more, being heard over top of us. It gets overwhelming, doesn't it? 

It does for me. I do what makes me happy, but I also have to see growth to feel like what I'm pursuing is worthwhile. So you know what I think the key is? Measuring growth in millimeters instead of in yards. Letting every victory, no matter how small, be it's own beautiful thing. 

And stop yelling, and start giving. Then let's see what happens.

i'm back, but different

All my favorite blogs have been humming lately with everyone's new years resolutions and plans for a brand new 2013, and that has been awesome. I've loved reading what everyone is excited about - the changes they will be making and their commitments to be more authentic, happy, and whole this year.

And I suppose it's time for me to do the same. I haven't felt much like myself on the blog lately because I feel like I've been hiding something  - how I feel about my body. I was tiny in high school, and at 5' 2" that felt about right. I gained a little in college, but nothing crazy, and now I am quite a bit above where I want to be. It has made me not want to get dressed lately - and that's how I knew something was really wrong!

So, although it's not a "resolution" per se, I'm making some life changes. I'm eating healthier. I'm Zumba-ing (so fun)! And I'm trying to remember that this push to feel more comfortable in my own skin is ultimately a quest to be a better steward of the body and the life God has given me.

Here's to a wonderful 2013. Many blessings to you and yours.

blank CDs

My conversation with the salesman at Office Depot:

Him: Welcome to Office Depot! Can I help you find something?
Me: Yes, I need blank CDs.
Him: Oh cool! What for?
Me: My students.
Him: Oh, what do you teach?
Me: Musical theater.
Him: Like Glee? You're like the teacher from Glee?! YOU'RE LIKE THAT ONE TEACHER GUY FROM GLEE!
Me: Ummm... sure.
Him: You should be on that show too.
Me: Thanks, now, uhh, the CDs?
Him: Oh right! Over here...

He was way too excited. Just saying.

But I guess I understand - I was way too excited to wear this blue velvet skate skirt from, guess where?

The AMERICAN GIRL STORE.

It has just been a day of inexplicable excitement.

It even made me want to curtsey.

peace&love,
Jill

give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving, from my family to yours.

peace&love,

Jill

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P.S. Have you heard about the 50 States of Brave Blogger Search? If you're a blogger in the US, you might want to get involved! Go here to find out what it is and what you need to do! 

i'll always chose you

One of the things that makes me most sad about the world today is the prevailingly negative attitude towards marriage, especially the idea that marriage doesn't "work." As a newlywed of only four months I know that I don't have much credence with the general public regarding marriage, but I think I do understand what marriage really is, and I can say with a good amount of certainty that whether or not marriage works isn't really up to marriage, bless her little abused heart. It's up to the people who are married.

 Marriage is a commitment. It's saying, this is the person I want to do the dishes with, the person I want to come home to, the person I want to encourage and dream with, the person I will sacrifice for, but most of all, the person I will commit to, come what may. 

Everyone has heard that love is a feeling, but marriage is a choice. And when you get married you're saying I'll always chose you. 

So, John, my dear, I love you, but more importantly, I'll always chose you. 

And that's how I can know that we'll be just fine.

peace&love,

Jill

two roads

Sometimes all it takes to galvanize us into action is the realization that we have so much living in us that is unexplored. Potential is perpetually untapped. There is always a way to better ourselves, and sometimes all that we must do is seize the opportunity. This weekend I was given an offer to take my life in a whole new direction, and take a path that I had considered but had not seriously pursued. It was my choice a la Robert Frost: my "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," in the truest sense. 

It has always been a pet peeve of mine when "The Road Not Taken" is quoted as if it were an ode to doing the right thing, when it is actually about those choices we make are truly defining moments. It can be between right and wrong, but more often than not it is about those times when we see two futures laid out before us with the power to chose either - to marry this person or not, to go to this college or that, to start one career path or the other. It is an ode to those times that we quietly shut the door on one future and embrace a choice. It is the choice that makes the difference. 

But after much consideration and prayer I decided that this new offer wasn't for me. I closed the door. But in closing one door I realized what I had already in me to take as I walked through the other. The decision forced me to consider what I was willing to sacrifice and what I would put myself through to reach a goal. And now that my goal is clear in my mind, I am ready to begin with new perseverance, new vision, and new ambition. 

The things we don't do are as formative as the things we do. And I know when I think back on this decision, I will know it made all the difference.

peace&love,

Jill

Linking up with:

#YOLO Mondays

Weekend Update Blog Hop

Monday Mingle

Monday Meet Up

Miscellany Monday

busy lately...

I'm sorry that I haven't been too up on my blogging lately. I have a string of craft fairs coming up that are really kind of sucking up all my time. My inventory is steadily growing and these are some of my billie ball flowers all ready to get made into some great bouquets. Hang in there and I'll be back to more frequent posting soon.

peace&love,
Jill

how I feel about things

Things are going well. 

I am learning to take the small victories and enjoy the process more. I'm learning to let my love dictate how I spend my time. I have rediscovered my passion for handmade, for crafting each individual piece with care and attention. I'm learning to solve math problems again to prepare for that pesky GRE next weekend. 

Things are good. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

peace&love,

Jill

our very good friend clark

This is our very good friend Clark. Clark is a corn snake, and he keeps me company while I write. My husband got him for his 21st birthday, and so his 4 yr anniversary is coming up. 

For now, he is our baby.

 You can see how long he is!

And how pretty!

He's saying, "No more photos, please. I'm too cool for this."

peace&love,

Jill

the plan

Today is a new day, part of a new beginning. Friday was my last day at my job and though I will miss the people I worked with, I am very excited and nervous about what is to come, mostly because it involves a lot more writing, making, and wearing clothes I like than the last few months have.

But change is scary. I am artistic but practical, and part of me is terrified that I will not grab this chance my the horns and wrestle every last drop of potential out of it. I'm afraid of fear taking over. Pretty ironic, isn't it?

The night before I spoke to my boss about my plans to leave I couldn't sleep, so I got up and made myself a schedule for my days without office hours to plan around. Then after the schedule I wrote myself something else, a mental plan, if you will. Here it is, for your enjoyment, edification, and reflection. I know that every stage of my life could use an extra dose of this kind of outlook.

" Cultivate silence, trust, prayer, and peace. Humble yourself before the Lord’s plans and be realistic and fair with yourself. In all moments of disquiet, bring yourself back to center with God. Lay your moments as well as your hours before him in reverence and in humility and trust His Voice, wherever it reaches you. Bless the Lord with your actions, your art, and your attempts. Strive only to serve Him, and live in accord with your vocation.

 And when the bad days happen, as they surely will, have the grace to cry deeply and freely, offer it up, and move on. Our trials water the gardens of our souls in such a way that gives them flavor unmatched by easier times.

Focus on embracing your gifts, flexing your abilities, sacrificing your security for the sake of growth, and judging yourself more gently. Begin to trust others to do the same. Look for the lovable in all things. Become the lantern all artists are called to be, even when the divine spark is so close to consuming itself. Will and pray for the light to radiate, for we are often darkest to ourselves when our light touches others most deeply. Seek the approval only of God and listen also to your husband, whom God has given to you to help sanctify and in turn helps to sanctify and lead you. Allow yourself to see your soul though their eyes.

Respect your limitations as well as your strengths. Push yourself, but remember that life is given just as much to be enjoyed as it is to be struggled through. Give yourself permission to stop working and be. Focus. Learn to be where you are and nowhere else. Love."

That's the plan.

peace&love,

Jill

the pretty bits

I firmly believe in surrounding yourself with beautiful things that capture what you love about life. The things themselves aren't what matter, or how much they cost or where you got them, but what they represent. Here are some of the pretty things in my life.

Photos from my travels abroad. 

{Mom bought me the album and kindly encouraged me to get the photos printed, 

and I'm so glad I did!}

Earrings from my personal collection. 

A necklace I made using turquoise beads I bought in Italy and a vintage earring from the thrift store.

Print of one of my collages 

{More coming soon to Favoring Brave on Etsy! Consider this a preview of my new collection.}

More earrings from my collection. {I like my jewelry!}

Detail from our print of The School of Athens, a fresco by Raphael that John and I saw in Rome.

What beautiful things do you have in your life?

peace&love,

Jill

start today

What are you planning to do? And why are you waiting?

It's is the time for action, because the moment is now.

peace&love,

Jill

married.

Well, we did it.

And now my project is this blog. 

This blog, and finding what I want to do with my life, since I know who I want to do it with.

So here's to new beginnings, trusting God, and favoring the brave.

peace&love,

Jill

have courage

 

This is my Angel of Courage. It was a gift from my 7th grade math teacher when I was preparing to move midway through the year to a new school. I've always kept it with me, ever since. It is one of the only purely decorative items that keeps making the cut to come to college each year, and it always sits right on my desk where I can see it, even now.

Moving at 12 is hard for a kid, but it made me stronger. Courage is really about doing what your afraid to do because you know you need to. It has nothing to do with the fear you feel, only the way you act. 

Moving at 21 is plenty scary, and I still need to have courage. I need to walk into all these job interviews (two today!), learn to drive in crazy traffic, and try to follow God's will for my life with courage, even when I don't know what is going to happen. I have felt the fear, but I have not been mastered by it. 

So once again, here is my re-commitment to being courageous--in the big, and in the small.

Favor the brave. Do what makes you stronger, and don't give up.

peace&love,

Jill

Holding the Light

This photo is a few years old, but I love it. Fiance and I took it on the last day we spent together before I left for Ireland and he left to work in New England. We were at a wonderful green house in Tulsa that just happened to have a mirror on the ceiling, which we took full advantage of. 

Four months and counting. 

peace&love,

Jill