sun up//sun down

Aren't the seasons of our life a bit like the lingering days of a week?

The sun sets on a remembrance and we begin to breath faster at the thought of a finished moment. It hurts somewhat to accept the idea that something is coming to a close. Saying goodbye hurts much more than letting go of the moment itself.

And then it's dark.

And then it's quiet.

But day breaks and it's so very beautiful that you can hardly say the words to suit the colorful burst of possibility.

The streaks of love and the color of new.

And you are standing in a day of expiring moments.

Moments that are precious and full and many, before the sun sets again.

New is so good.

It's so very good.

It may be daily, but goodbye is the most beautiful preface to a welcome, new day.

story-telling gold.

I wish you a wonderful weekend, filled with obscurity (in the best possible way).

If you have a spare moment (or two), I've collected four short stories, from our resident story-teller, Kensington.

Special appearances by Anastasia and Drizella, a woman named California and a very naughty little girl that is squished by oncoming traffic.

The best part of watching these is realizing that instead of taking care of my daughter forever, she will beat me to the punch and end up housing her father and I in the outdoor quarters of her 10,000 square foot mansion.

All because of her wildly successful, paranormal youth novel.

Happy Weekending and enjoy.

WoodSnap

I like telling you about meaningful things that will make your life, living space and heart, happy.

It makes me happy to share.

Simple, wonderful things.

Let me tell you about WoodSnap.

When Mike (a friend from High School) contacted me about his company (he owns it with his friend, Ricky), I loved the concept. Beautiful images printed directly on wood canvas'. Something totally different.

WoodSnap creates beautifully printed pictures and art, on wood. In house. Simple. Sustainable. Eco-Friendly.

WoodSnap cares most about customer service (heck, I had my pictures delivered straight to my door) and I'm so excited to show you what they make.

Let's take a peek at what Mike and Ricky created, shall we?

This beautiful image was taken when we were in the hospital with Frankie. I'm sure it would be one of the last pictures that most people would choose, but I love it. I love that you can see Sean staring at Kensington. I love that my hair is in a headband after no sleep (or shower) for the past two days. I love that Francine has her little IV cast on.

I don't want to forget those days we were in the hospital. I learned quite a bit.

This print hangs in our master bedroom and it's the first things I see, when I walk through the door.

(please note how the print "floats" off the wall. AND (the feature I love the most about these prints) there are pre-cut lines on the back of each print for easy hanging. Score!

Isn't it perfect? I love it.

Walking down the hallway.....

This is my new office space. We recently moved the girls into one room and it left us with a room, upstairs, for the taking. I asked Sean if he wouldn't mind me splitting the office/homeschool room into two separate rooms and he loved the idea. He encouraged me to have one space where I write/sell vintage/blog and another to focus on teaching the kids in (I love him).

This was Kensington's old room and it's a great size.

For right now, there isn't much furniture and the walls are bare (and will stay that way, for the most part, until we save to buy paint) but I needed something to make it more like home.

Look at this print.

Again, it's the first thing I see when I walk through the doors and a constant reminder of why I do, what I do. I live, breath, blog, write, dream....with these other people in mind. They are my everything.

How appropriate to have them hanging, right above, where I get my work "on".

This particular print (and the other) are both 20 by 24 and I love the size. It takes up just enough property on the wall and the sepia color tone is my kind of thang. Very vintage-esque.

Truly, I'm so excited to have these pieces and know that you would love them too (well, I'm assuming you would print ones with your family on them, but hey...if you want one of the four of us, it can be arranged).

Because Mike and Ricky are so generous, they are offering 20% off to No.17 readers, on all of their products.

You won't be disappointed and their customer service, start to finish, is top-notch.

Go read about the company and grab a print.

Visit HERE to shop with WoodSnap and use the code 20off.

Simple.

Perfect.

Memories.

Love.

faded.

Faded into lost, little pieces. Blurred to colorless.

Beige.

Where did you go, friend? Where did I lose you?

Exhausted, torn and slowly melting into unseens and unknowns.

Standing and watching the ripping and tearing with no fight but only silence.

Come back.

Don't lose to time and it's unrelenting hands but grasp.

Grasp out and hold tight and come back.

Where did I lose you?

For you are still you, no matter what you may have become.

Light and youth are still there and a heart beating.

Pick up the shards and piece them together and come back, come back.

You are still there.

teeth-torn grapes

I'm sure she's never seen me tear grapes in two, with my teeth, but that's just what I do.

Why dirty a knife when teeth are just as sharp and the product is almost instantaneous?

But she is always busy and day dreaming and speaking of far-off lands and castles made from Oreos and sand.

She's never so much as given a sideways glance when I'm setting a handful of torn fruit on her sisters tray. She's tossing her head to and fro and singing a fairy-tale song that I'm sure was created just two minutes earlier. She never notices. She doesn't see it and never thinks twice about the grapes that I squish between my teeth. The fruit I give to her closest playmate. Which is probably good assuming she (and others?) would be squeamish at the thought. But she is making a tee-pee from a napkin and using a fork as a mythical flying horse and is too occupied to notice.

With little conversation, on the most gloomy of Sunday afternoons, we sit for a snack. Quietly she eats her plate of assorted fruit, staring into the street and watches car after car pass us by. Without looking away from the window she asks, "where do cars come from, mommy?". I too stared out the window and began my explanation. Just as I came to the conclusion of my explanation of the Industrial Revolution and the assembly line concept, I looked down.

Seven small, torn grapes sit in front of me. A small offering.

She is still staring out the window.

Turns out she has been watching all the while.

spared.

I was already irritated and didn't have a good reason to be.

You see, I wanted to go out to lunch with someone but had to decline because my checkbook was thin. Slim from buying groceries and necessities and a present or two. Clearly I should be happy I can purchase these things at all, but I chose an attitude of resentment. How sad.

But, that isn't the reason I'm telling a story.

No, It just fits perfectly that I would be irritated and annoyed when my daughter spilled her macaroni and cheese all over the floor, knocking over her milk, as well. This was after I had told her two times not to play with the towel it was sitting under. I told her that if she played with it again and the food fell, there would be a consequence and she knew what that meant. Very cut and dry. Not really much wiggle room (which usually works for me but occasionally sends me spiraling into regret).

She played with her towel again, the macaroni went splat all over the floor and she looked at me, terrified (another reason to be filled with regret, but that's for another day).

I calmly told her,

"Kensington, go to your room now. I'll be there in a minute."

She ran up the stairs crying and not the type of crying where you know they are just sad that they screwed up but the type that echos true feelings of sadness. The cry that moms simultaneously want to hear and don't want to hear. Because you know your child just understood and it breaks your heart, slightly.

The minute my foot hit the wood floor and Kensington heard me walking towards her, her cry turned a bit desperate and she started crying,

"No! No! PLEASE DON'T SPANK ME MOMMY. Please don't do this! I don't want you to do this mommy. I'M SO SORRY!"

I looked at her and in a moment of (what some would say) weakness, I sat down on her bed and picked her up.

She thought she knew what was coming and she pleaded one more time,

"No, pleasepleaseplease mommy. I'm sorry mommy, I love you!"

Instead of spanking her, (which I have always struggled with as an appropriate consequence for children) I held her.

I drew her in so tightly and she just cried. And so did I.

In that moment I saw the Lord, holding me on his lap. How I need Him to hold me so close, sometimes.

Do you know how many times I plead with the Lord to spare me from consequence?

Do you know how many times A DAY I screw up and deserve so many things that are ugly and dark and regretful?

And yet, the Lord took my shame on Him and showed me grace. He shows me grace all the time. In the most beautiful moment of mercy, He died on the cross, holding all of my sin and let His perfect blood drip down. It flowed and was laced with the words

"Rachel. I died for Rachel, so she would always live."

Kensington should have had a consequence.

But I should also have a consequence and yet I am continually met with mercy. Beautiful, pure mercy that covers all of the anger, hatred, jealously, lust and foolishness.

We all should get what we deserve. But that's the beauty of Christ.

Today, I saw (and felt) that grace and mercy are much more powerful than punishment.

The No-Brainer Wardrobe (Hayley from The Tiny Twig).

Have you met her? Hayley from The Tiny Twig? No?

What a shame.

Because you would really like her. I know I do.

You know what else you'll like?

You'll really like her new e-book, The No-Brainer Wardrobe and let me tell you why.

Hayley's ebook is all about simplicty. Initially when her and I were talking, she mentioned that she thought that her book and my blog would be a perfect match because of the new direction I'm really moving in. I'm trying, in all areas of my life, to be more simple. Think simple. Do simple and not get bogged down with a million different choices. Within the pages of her book, she helps YOU identify your personal style, what you like and what you are drawn to. She outlines tips for how you can spend less and still feel your best doing it.

Have you noticed that everyone is always talking about clothes and yet people don't seem happy with the way they look and what they are wearing? It seems that these days people focus too much on what they are putting on and less about how they feel about themselves and who God has made them.

Hayley guides you a bit to learn about your body and being confident in who YOU are and not who everyone else is. She gives excellent ideas to streamline and simplify the items in your closet to create fun and comfortable combinations that will keep you feeling like you, but also snazzy, without all the fuss (and without spending tons of dollars which it seems like all the fashion bloggers are doing, these days).

What a great lesson to learn, right?

Take a moment and learn about Hayley on her blog. She's simply delightful and I'm sure you'll like her as much as I do.

AND.

Just because she is great, she is offering 50% off of her e-book, The No-Brainer Wardrobe, for the first five people to purchase it! It's normally $7.99 (Already a great deal) and five of you will get it for $4.00.

That's pretty fantastic, if you ask me.

GO HERE to buy the book!

Use code "NO17" to see if you are one of the first 5!

And enjoy!

Untitled from hayley morgan on Vimeo.