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!

Happy Birthday Brock!

Today is one of "my kiddos" birthdays and I'm sad I wasn't there to celebrate with him! BUT...let me tell you even though I wasn't there did NOT mean that I did not SPOIL him! A Birthday Box complete with a birthday sign, balloons popping out, noise makers, birthday confetti, and LOTS of prizes were mailed to Stone Mountain, Georgia this past week and on Friday my precious Brockie was able to ENJOY his birthday box!

This sweet boy just simply makes me SMILE. His little personality is about the sweetest thing EVER! He still cuddles and loves with you (which I've told him he CANNOT outgrow). He is the GREATEST little helper. His sweet spirit is CONTAGIOUS. He loves to PLAY with his brother. He says the sweetest prayers at night when he goes to bed. LOVES friends and gets along with EVERYONE! His little voice when he talks gets me EVERY time. And my PROUDEST achievement is the fact that Aunt Holly got the Hook 'Em in his blood BEFORE his parents moved him away from the greatest state EVER! He absolutely LOVES those horns and even yesterday, Mara told me he was helping cheer them to victory over OU! I cannot believe he is 4 years old now and much less believe that I've been blessed with watching him GROW into what he's becoming. I'm confident even now at 4 years old he will make some girl an AMAZING husband one day!

God's got GREAT plans for this little man!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BROCKIE!

Aunt Holly sure does LOVE YOU!

Crafting and a GREAT Movie!

Natalie and I ENJOYED being creative together!

She was working on a CUTE Modge Podge clipboard while I made some more Fabric Flowers (a.k.a. Posie Pins). The GREATEST part was the movie...The Proposal! We had fun crafting, eating homemade peach ice cream and LAUGHING at one of the BEST movies EVER!

LOVE me some Sandra Bullock AND Ryan Reynolds!

ORANGE is in honor of the Horns victory today over OU! HOOK 'EM!

LATE...sleepless night!

I've been having A LOT of LATE, sleepless nights lately. One thing my Mom always taught me was to NEVER "lay around." Whether it's during commercials or in bed at night...because "there's ALWAYS something you can do." Her words ring true and tonight I've been productive in my scrap/craft room. I've been re-organizing some things and I'm nearly done.

One of my dearest friends, Johnna, keeps wearing this cutesy little flower brooch. EVERY time I see her with it on I have this urge to make one! The other day I found several blogs that had tutorials and so I watched several. I also am working on a Swag for my house and so last weekend I went shopping for fabric. I absolutely LOVE looking and shopping for fabric. One of my MOST favorite things to do when I'm with my other dear friend, Brooke, is to fabric shop! The colors, the schemes, the patterns...it makes me want to learn to sew but NOT really! Ha!

There are so many no-sew things out there now and that's what I'm all about! However, I can sew a mean button on to ANYTHING you need me to! ANYWAY...here's my first attempt on a flower brooch. I learned quite a bit and am anxious to make my second...third...fourth! I've seen them put on headbands for little girls, hats, bags, and dresses/jackets.

What a NEAT accessory!

My Anna Banana....

there are only a FEW things in this world that you would find me absolutely head over heels in LOVE with and one of them are the little GIRLS in my life! don't get me wrong, i absolutely ADORE my boys, too, but I LIKE...

no...i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the "girly, girl" stuff! the bows, the clothes, the ponytails, the shoes, the bling, the pink, the chic, and simply just the FUN!

this precious little girl stole my heart from day one of holding her in the hospital when she was born! her little brother (and dad) were smitten and i thought she was just simply gorgeous! as she's grown and come into her own little personality it's been so much fun watching her! last week johnna and i were talking after school one day and as you can see she was thoroughly enjoying her "Hollypop." one of the greatest rewards of having ALL "my kids" in life is being able to watch them grow up to ALL God wants them to be!

MORE than a blessing...God's true gift to my heart!

Shopping fun with Mom...

Last Friday Mom and I enjoyed our day at Round Top/Warrenton. We absolutely LOVE going shopping there when the Market Days are happening in the Spring and the Fall. As I'm walking around my brain is constantly working on the next "project" that I want to accomplish and sometimes my brain goes into overload because there's SO stinkin' much I want to do! This trip I had my mind set on something to add to my scrap room but NOT for scrapping. I wanted a shelf for all my paints, brushes, canvases, and everything else that goes with that. It was near the end of the day and I hadn't really found anything that caught my eye. Of course, I'm all about making a deal when I'm there but hesitant about asking for people to go "cheaper" if something seems priced right. My mom kept saying "what are you looking for" and I really couldn't explain it. On the other shopping front I was successful once again finding some new "flashy and trashy" necklaces that I'm famous for....I absolutely LOVE the ones I got this time.

They are BIG, BEDAZZLED, and UNIQUE!

As we were making the trek back to the lot where we parked we turned the corner down one isle...I looked up and there it was! I went straight to it and didn't even hesitate that THIS WAS IT! Even more than I had hoped for. It had a couple of extras on it that I hadn't even thought of (hooks on the sides). I got brave and asked the lady if she would go any cheaper and she knocked $10.00 off! IT WAS SOLD! She was all proud of her paint job and while I like the red it's a little too "fire engine" red for me. I'm planning on distressing it a little more to tone it down. As we were driving out of Warrenton, Mom and I drove through some of the side tents and there's this one that I absolutely LOVE their stuff! It's cheap and I always find something. The buckets were perfect for the shelves to organize my brushes and other things. I can't wait to get it in my room and get it all organized. I'll post pictures once I'm done!

While it may seem weird that a simple "shelf" excites me just keep in mind that it doesn't take much to get me excited over scrapping and crafting! Sometimes I'm so giddy over things that it's like a little girl on Christmas morning...it's just part of the obsession.