bitter vs. sweet

Sometimes the greatest joys in life can be paired with some great sorrow.

This weekend... something like that happened.

It reminded me that whether we are on the sweet or the bitter side that we have a choice in how we want to react. And, trust me, I'm not saying this because I am always the best at reacting well on either side of the spectrum. This is as much a reminder to me as it may be for someone else. 

I believe the most important thing to remember when on the sweet side of a bittersweet scenario is to stop and thank God. 

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our blessings that we forget to thank the one that orchestrated them all.  

Secondly, I've learned that the best way to handle the sweet scenarios is with humility. I think humility is one of the greatest qualities a person can have. Being sensitive to those around you sometimes doesn't come easy to all of us, but humility is truly the act of thinking more about others and less about ourselves.

As for the bitter side of bittersweet... 

These of course are easier said than done. Easier told than remembered. But I think they are incredibly important and truly will help us in times we find ourselves on the bitter side...

Sometimes it feels like God doesn't answer our prayers, but we see him answering prayers for those around us. It doesn't make sense. But we have to stay strong and know that He will not forsake us.

Some of us are the biggest planners. We make lists for everything. Me included. This is sometimes when the biggest discouragements come. When we want something to happen on our time and forget that we are on God's time. We truly have to learn to let go... put it in God's hands. This is tough. I know. But God constantly reminds me that this is the only way.

I've had many situations that I desperately was trying to have full control of and guess what, slowly but surely all of my control was taken away from me. I was left with no choice, but to give it to God...  

Some of them I have seen God work through and some are still in the process.

It makes sense though... when we are taken out of the equation, out of control of a situation... then when God moves it brings more glory to Him.. and less glory to us.

At the end of the day, even in our most bitter of the bittersweet moments we have to remember this... 

I can't tell you how many times when I've been at some of my lowest points in life and I have read a story on the news or in blog or spoken to someone and hear about someone that is struggling far greater than I am.

It doesn't take away our pain completely, but it puts things into perspective at times.

And in the meantime... a diet coke can go a long way. I enjoyed one today. ♥

{ Linking up here,  here, here, here, here }

WIW {to church}

 The church I go to is one that I like to call "come as you are."

Honestly, you will see every walk of life, every age of person there, and I absolutely love it. One of the pastors has full sleeves of tattoos. Another pastor used to rock the most awesome dreadlocks I had ever seen! A few years later, he cut them, but I will never forget it. 

The diversity of this church, that I now call my home, is one of the things that initially drew me in. I don't think it's wrong by any means to dress up a bit more when going to church. I love dressing up a bit sometimes, but I don't feel like it's something necessary to worship God. He meets us where we are at.

Full suit and tie, jeans, flip flops, Hawaiian shirt, tattoos and ear plugs, you name it, you'll see it at my church.

Last week I woke up in one of those, there is no way I'm going to be able to wash my hair and fully get ready days. So, I threw on a hat, some Target essentials, and a pair of earring with a little turquoise flare and viola! 

My kids wanted to jump in on the pics this week. I love it!

Wow, I'm realizing I really need a tan. It's bad when the spray tan tech is sporting a new shade of white...lol!

Hat: Marshalls

Sweater: Target

Striped Tank: Target

Jeans: Nordstrom Rack - Jolt

Boots: Reference {I have been living in them!!!}

Watch: Michael Kors

Earrings: Kaemaloche Jewelry

flashback. married in 3 months.

John and I had a 3 1/2 month engagement. 

Most of my friends, and initially my family, thought I was completely insane. Whether they actually spoke those words to me or not, I know they were thinking it. I'm pretty sure when I announced our wedding date the thought that I was probably pregnant went through more than a few people's minds.  

Who gets married in 3 1/2 months?!

Well, we did. We got engaged October 30th, 2006. One of John's very good friends was heading out to Iraq in March and we knew we could either get married while he was gone, when he got back, or what the heck, plan this thing and do it before he goes so that he could be there to witness this special occasion. 

We got married February 17, 2007.

Looking back, of course there are lots of things that I would change about my wedding in little ways... like table decor, a more professional wedding photographer, among other little things, but overall I love our story because it's ours.

The little Hollister obsessed girl fell in love with the boy she met, the first time, at Abercrombie & Fitch.

{I'll share how we met two different times in another post} 

 

We were two kids absolutely head-over-heels in love and we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We had already been through a lot in the short amount of time that we had known each other and knew that God placed us in each other's lives for a reason. 

The crazy thing is that although I was totally in love with my boyfriend then, the love I have for my husband today, almost 5 years later, is completely different.  

I love him with a much deeper respect and cherish him for so many more reasons.  

We may not always be the same kids frolicking on the beach like we were in our engagement photos, but that doesn't mean we love each other any less. 

I can honestly say that I love him more today than I knew was possible on that beautiful day in February almost 5 years ago.

I love looking back at these photos and seeing how our love has grown...

I thank the Lord for bringing me the man he did for me. 

I can't imagine my life any other way. 

 

Refreshing. {Why I Blog}

Wow, I never knew how much simpler things become when you are unable to use a computer for 6 days. My computer got a virus last week and it went into a crazy mode I had never seen. Thankfully, my uncle owns his own computer repair shop. Phew. But when your computer goes down and you know you can't even get it to them for a day and then the weekend comes, well I knew I had it coming.

At first I felt anxious.

It made everything more difficult from work, to my calendar, to responding to emails, to checking my bank account! I can do some of these things from my phone, but some things just weren't going to happen. And blogging was one of them.

But after the first day, I felt total peace. My life got very simple. I spent a lot of time working around my house, taking more photos on Instagram {@hmhawthorne if you have the app!}and spending quality time with my family.

The time where I'm solely listening to them, singing with them, playing with them, and not halfway thinking about something I "need" to be doing on my laptop.

It was refreshing.

But...I'm glad to be back. I had a friend text me tonight saying that she caught up on my blog and how much it touched her during such a tough week and day in particular. She found comfort in a few of my posts and as I read her text I thanked God. I still am thanking Him. She was prompted to in return post about it. Wow. I was once again honored and humbled.

That is truly why I am doing this. 

If something on my heart can reach your little heart where ever you are and the Lord can use my words as His to touch you who is reading this, then my job is done. That is why I am blogging. It may have started as me getting off Facebook and sharing what the Lord was doing within me, and this is now where my path has lead. Getting texts like this in return I feel is God's way of sustaining me and giving me a desire to keep sharing what's on my heart... my story... day after day.

There has been something that has been on my heart lately and I was eager to share it with you.

I want to tell you that no matter if you are writing a blog constantly sharing your faith...writing a blog where you hardly mention your faith at all, or maybe you are writing a blog for a completely different purpose and have no idea what you think about God, or have a lot of questions about what you believe... well... here goes. I want you to know that...

God will never love you any more or love you any less than He does RIGHT NOW. 

God's love for all of us is unchanging. 

In a nut shell, I'm not getting brownie points for blogging and sharing my faith. If that makes sense... I'm not taken off Santa's "naughty list" because I may be a little more bold on this subject. I could very well be getting a few lumps of coal for many reasons. lol. My beliefs are that works are completely unrelated to my faith in God and how God feels about and loves me.

You may be blogging about some incredible God-given talent, like all you crafty people and artists out there, or maybe you are just blogging to share some of your own thoughts and keep a journal of your life as it happens. It doesn't make your blog any less important to God and you are by no means any less loved by God.  

We may feel closer to God when we blog or speak out about our faith, but that is our own heart changing. It is not God's love for us that is changing.

I feel called to share my faith in many of my posts, but that is not everyone's calling. I think sharing your faith can sometimes be fruit of a changed person, but it's not always the case. I truly hope this is making sense. Sometimes these things sound so much better in my head. lol. I just would never want someone to read my blog and assume that I believe I am better than them because I speak out about my faith. No way. That is not who I am or at all what I believe. 

I think remembering that God's love for us all is completely unchanging regardless of the circumstances and how many "good works" we do or how many times we share what we believe is really encouraging. It takes the pressure off of me and you to try to obtain a life or a lifestyle that as imperfect people we will never obtain. Yes, we will always be striving to bring glory to God in all that we do, but we have the Lord to lean on.. His grace is a gift, not something we have to earn. I encourage you to take a minute and think about that. ☺

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:14

Anyways, that is all for tonight. The Benedryl is kicking in from another one of my strange allergic reactions. I'm getting a blood test done to see if it's a food related allergy. Fun stuff. ;)

Love you all... feels good to be back. Here are some photos from my week without my laptop. ♥

I ♥ rainy days.

I also ♥ carpet lines!!

I ♥ sipping on hot chocolate and getting into the Christmas spirit way too early.

I ♥ mommy and Addy trips to the mall!

I ♥ In-N-Out.

I ♥ watching my babies sleep.

I ♥ watching hubby put together a fun toy for the kids.

I ♥ the little choo choo noises Sawyer makes.

I ♥ this little man that stole my heart.

I ♥ Addyson and how much she loves her friends and going to church.

I ♥ my future track star in training! lol.

I ♥ watching them play in leaves..

I ♥ fall outfits on little kids.

I don't ♥ this. I hope this makes me go shopping because it's so embarrassing. lol!

I ♥ cupcake decorating classes!! Even ones that look like real food!

{Linking up here}

9 minutes worth watching.

I'm honored to be guest posting for the lovely Marissa today of Momma Rake!

Marissa and I actually went to high school together and I have her to thank for inspiring me to look into this little blogging world a bit more. Let me explain...

A few months ago she came to me to get a tan, yes, I'm a certified spray tan technician. The next day she emailed me asking me if she could do a review on my little tanning business on her blog.

You can read it here.

I was actually kind of confused. I told her of course! And at the same time I thought, I wonder how many people would actually read that? She told me her blog was getting more traffic and that the post actually got a lot of hits. I still was completely confused by this.

Well, that was when I visited her blog, and saw that she actually had people commenting. Wow! That was new to me. I had been writing my blog since January and had no clue if people were reading it. It was just my way of documenting my journey. I had never read another blog.

I then started clicking around on her page, clicking on some other "followers" and was absolutely blown away by this little blogging community that I never knew existed. These people were inspiring!!

I think it was about a month later that I found out what a "linky" party was, the idea of a button, and the concept of doing guest posts. I was such a rookie and still am. That was only about 8 weeks ago, no joke.

I want to thank Marissa for further introducing me to this lovely little corner of the world.

I truly believe the Lord can use our stories to inspire, encourage, and even convict each other in a good way from time to time. 

I've already experienced this in the short amount of time that I have dug a little deeper into the blogging world.  

And like Marissa mentioned on our blog, we are working together on a little something that has been on our hearts... so stay tuned for that! 

♥     ♥     ♥
 Today I just wanted to share a 9 minute video that I got to watch last night at the high school church group that I volunteer with.

I thought it was a pretty amazing story and instantly felt called to share it on my blog. 

Snow White and a little scarecrow.

This Halloween was the first time we have taken the kids 

trick-or-treating. 

Addyson didn't quite understand why at every house they were calling her Snow White. She knew she was wearing a Snow White dress, {she knows every princess and fairy by heart} but at each house she nicely corrected the person handing her the candy that she was in fact Addyson Hawthorne, not Snow White. It was too cute.

Sawyer was more interested in sprinting from house to house and pointing out every car and adding his most common reaction: "Oh, wow!" Oh and he picked a few dandelions along the way too.

 Every house in the neighborhood had the Charger game playing in the background. It was awesome. Well, kind of. The Chargers were not exactly having a game to remember...especially the loss in OT.

Oh well. At least the evening ended with happy kids, family together, amazing chili and darn cute photos. 

Good enough for me. ♥

 I don't know what it is, but seeing the back of all these little costumes just melts me. So precious.

And when it's too much for the tired little legs, the Bumbleride sure comes in handy!

Nothing better than drawing pumpkins with Grandpa at the end of a fun day.

All I can say is bring on Christmas!!! 

I just love starting new traditions with the kids... teaching them new things...seeing their genuine joy out of the little things in life... 

These are some precious years that I am going to cherish more and more as time goes by. ♥

Guest Post: Stacey on being {Facebookless}

Today I'd like to introduce you to a lovely lady that I have met in this little blogging community that I adore. She caught my eye when I saw a post about recently jumping ship when it came to Facebook. Of course since I've been on this journey, I've been very interested in hearing why others have chosen to become Facebookless.

Today Stacey is going to share her reasons. 


I have a feeling many of you will be able to relate.

♥     ♥     ♥

Hello! My name is Stacey, and I blog over at Whatever is Lovely about life, faith, and a little crafting in between. 

Heather asked me to write a guest post about why I too made the decision to go Facebook-less. It's been two weeks now since I deactivated my Facebook account, and it's been... well, sort of refreshing! Let me try to explain.

First I've got to say, it feels a little ridiculous that quitting Facebook is such a big deal at all. But in a world where even my 80 year old grandma would be on Facebook if she only had a computer, the fact is, it IS a big deal. If you don't believe me, go here. There are more than 800 million people actively using Facebook right now! I think it's safe to say that not being on Facebook makes you the vast minority, and frankly, pretty weird.

My reasons for quitting Facebook are pretty personal and not because I think there's something inherently wrong with Facebook. However, I thought I would share some of my thoughts in case there's maybe someone else out there who can relate. Is God maybe prompting you to cut some of the noise out of your life so you can hear Him more clearly? I pray that if He is, you'll listen! 

Here are a couple reasons why I jumped ship:

1. Time. Facebook is only "the biggest time waster known to man" if you let it be. And, at times, I was letting it be. When I make a conscious effort to spend my time on the things that are truly important instead of Facebook stalking my best friend's cousin's brother's cousin, I'm happier. I'm better for it.

How could I possibly rationalize spending my spare time on Facebook while my Bible sits on my nightstand, unopened? How I spend my time makes a statement about what is important to me. 

2. Contentment. This is a biggie for me, but it might not be that big of a deal to the next person. Here's the thing: I'm in a season of life right now where contentment is difficult. Like, really really have to work hard on it difficult. I got to the point where often times when I was on Facebook, I would catch myself falling into feelings of jealousy, of discontentment, and eventually of anger or disappointment. What an ugly place to be! Blogging and Facebook and Pinterest are great things and a great way to share beauty and inspiration, but there came a point where the noise just became too much.

Our lives are noisy. My life is noisy. Just today, I caught myself juggling my cell phone, iPod, and laptop, all at the same time. I was checking email, texting, and on Instagram all at once. Seriously?! When I'm in the midst of a season of life where I desperately need to hear and rest in the voice and presence of God, is it wise for me to be spending my time listening to all those other influences? No!

You guys, I just want to encourage anyone who might also be overwhelmed with all the noise in their lives - stop. Unplug. Listen to what your heart is telling you! Also, don't think I'm saying that I think Facebook is the devil, because it's not. This is a heart issue for me - Facebook isn't the problem, I'm the problem. Heather got it so right the other day when she posted about her "Aha! Moment"! Even in these past two weeks, I've had to check my motives and make sure I wasn't just replacing one time waster with another, you know?

Will I go back to Facebook some day? Sure, probably. But for now, I'm sort of enjoying being unplugged. 

 lovely words via aurajoon

-- stacey Whatever is Lovely

{Linking up here}