Canton Find...What is it???

SOOOOO....can you guess what this is???? It's unique....It's different but when I get to places like Canton, Round Top, and Wimberly my creative juices start flowing and sometimes I see something and say "WOW, I can do this...I can do that...what about this...what about that?"

This was that to me! Of course, after I "thought" up my idea I then "see" it a few booths down and think, "Oh, okay....well, I wasn't the first with that idea!" My plan is to let everyone hang for a few days on what this is and then I'll post the picture of what it becomes!

Birthday Blessings

Obviously, I'm playing some catch up from the past month of my life but I've learned something that will SO save my Blog life from being sucked dry! My friend, Marcus, shared his sweet wife's trick on blogging everyday! SHHHHH!!! don't tell! I had always admired the fact that Anna even had an extra 15 minutes in her day EVERY day to blog about their precious Abby Lu! But, I have now learned the secret...there is AMAZING post option of choosing what day and time you want your post to actually publish! WOW! My life has been forever changed! Of course, now I've probably put more pressure on myself to not have a month go by without posting because simply stated~ I HAVE NO EXCUSE!

A few weeks ago I celebrated my 32nd Birthday..

.and was EXTREMELY blessed to be able to share it with some of the MOST special people in my life. Kent, Brooke, and the girls happened to be in Austin and was able to come celebrate with us at Z-Tejas. My sister was also already in town for Thanksgiving break so she was able to be with us as well as my precious parents!

Having "family" to celebrate with makes it so much more special!

Creative Juices

Okay, so I was wasting time as part of my 'therapy' looking at the blogs that I absolutely LOVE to spend time stalking and came across such a neat idea...Modge Podge Shoes!

I was sharing the idea with Johnna and Amy one day at work and Amy says if I bring you a pair of Avenly's shoes will you experiment with them? Of course, I said SURE!

SO....here goes it...the before and the after...

I learned A LOT after doing the first shoe so the second one went SO much easier. A few weeks back I learned how to make the posies off of someone's blog and decided to add them to the front of the shoe. I bought myself a pair to try next!

Michalik's = Zimbabwe

I have been blessed by having MANY precious, precious people in my life that I'm beyond BLESSED to call "friends" but the Michalik's are more than that! Charlie is one of my greatest heroes and Jennifer is one of my greatest prayer warriors in life. To have sat back and watched our Sweet Jesus work in their lives has been a true JOY in the JOURNEY to say the least!

I left my heart in Africa nearly 8 years ago and when God laid it on the Michalik's heart to give up every modern day convenience they had, pack up their children, and move to Africa to provide clean water through wells for the people of Africa my heart was definitely part of this with them! It has been the neatest (and sometimes scary) journey to watch and see God at work. He did some AMAZING things using them to further HIS Kingdom in Sudan. AND He still has some AWESOME things planned despite them having to leave that country. SO blessed they have been to come "home" and be refreshed and renewed to head out on a new part of their journey....BACK to Africa!

It has been a sweet Jesus journey to pray alongside them and "see" where God is sending them and what He is doing through them. I'm SO excited to sit back and watch what HIS plan is for them. As they board that plane on December 10th I pray for safety and for God to go AHEAD of them to lay out ALL their provisions. God knows what's BEST and NEEDED and HE is their ultimate "Father." My biggest prayer is that RIGHT at this very moment God has just the right friends for Abbu and Hunter. I'm MORE than confident God is going to bless ALL their socks off in just the RIGHT way!

I love the ENTIRE family and was even able to spend some quality time with

Abbu this past weekend.

We created frames for her closest friends as prayer reminders for her to be able to give them. Such a great way to begin teaching the youngest about how BIG God's world is and that they can be a part of this journey! Thank GOD for Facebook and Skype...it makes HIS world seem small even in the HUGE realm of them being across an ocean in another Continent!

Missing My Boys...

Barrett and Brock...

These boy simply just make me smile.

When I think of them a smile resonates on my face.

When I look at a picture it reminds me of a memory, I smile.

When I step on a Lego that has "mysteriously" showed up after all these months, I smile.

When I'm in a store and I see something they would like and can't pass it up, I smile.

When I hear their voice on my phone, I smile.

When I "see" their faces on the computer when we iChat, I smile.

When I get off a plane and see them running to me, I smile.

When I hear them call me "Aunt Holly," I smile

I absolutely LOVE that these boys have ALL these ways (and MANY more) of making me smile!