30 for 30

I have a confession to make...
I like clothes.
You can always find people to compare yourself to. There are those who shop way more than I do and have walk in closets full of clothes, and there are those like Charlie Brown. You may wonder if they only have one outfit. Period.
Either way, I need to break the sinful habits of overspending, lack of self control, vanity, the list goes on. Obviously I cannot fight any sin apart from God. Dependence on Him in prayer. He also uses violent language in the Bible...He tells us to cut off our hand or eye if it causes us to sin. I wouldn't say this experiment is going nearly that far. And I have to admit...this is kind of a fun way to work on this, because I can take pictures and blog about it and such. But I digress. Let me explain the 30 for 30 project.

I did not come up with this idea. I saw it on two other blogs. But I thought it would be just the thing for me to try in the month of July! You pick 30 pieces of clothing from your wardrobe and you can only use those pieces to make 30 outfits for a whole month. (And July just happens to have 31 days so...extra challenge! Ha.) It teaches you to "shop your closet" and to see just how much you really don't need that super cute blue sweater from Anthropologie.
So without further ado...my 30 picks:

3 pairs of shorts

2 pairs of work pants

2 white tanks

3 sweaters (for the sometimes chilly office or church basement)

A couple of t-shirts and nice shirt that got left out of the "nice shirt" pic

2 pairs of jeans

4 skirts

2 dresses

4 tops

and 5 tanks

Well! I think those oughta last me just fine! Really I'm kinda embarrassed that I even own this many clothes. I can already tell I don't need anymore! Stay tuned for updates on Project 30 for 30!

Pretty Pretty Princess

Does anyone remember that game? Emily and I used to play it all the time at our friend, Thais' house. A player wins when they collect all the jewelry; necklace, bracelet, ring, clip-on earrings, and best of all, the crown! It would really stink if all you got was earrings each time around.

Well I feel like I experienced the adult version of that game a couple of weeks ago at a Jewelry Party, only we made the jewelry and the winners were the ones who found the best beads first or actually snagged a headband to decorate before they were all gone. (No "crown" for me.)

But I did make a necklace and a couple of bracelets. (One is not shown because I don't like how it turned out.)

I took these pictures at home and I'm so sad that I didn't bring my camera to the party! It was at Melinda Welch's house and I think she is pretty much the best decorator that I've ever met in real life. And she added super cute decorations for the party. Oh well.

She also served the best homemade donuts. They are baked and contain healthy ingredients, but they were so good! And she makes really yummy lattes.

The party was so much fun and the jewelry was surprisingly easy to make. :)

Father's Day

(Watching for the cuckoo to come out of the clock at my Grandma's house in MI.)

This is a day late, but I don't want to miss an opportunity to write about my Dad. Here are some random memories I have of him:

In Kindergarten, my Dad drove me to school on his way to work and if the freeway was packed, we would get off at Paxton and drive through the neighborhood. No matter what season, there were tons of houses that left their Christmas lights on all year. So as we'd drive down the streets we'd take turns saying, "There's one! There's one!"

When I was in High School, Dad drove me to and from church on Wednesday nights. On the way home we would listen to Perry Mason mysteries on the radio and we'd bet each other a penny on the exact time we would make it home. (For some reason we never paid up.)

Also in High School, somehow my friend Kristin convinced me to keep the J.V. football stats with her. (Even though I didn't know anything about football. Which is probably why I had football players yelling at me for not attributing the correct plays to them.) Anyway, Dad drove us to and from the games and explained all the plays on the way home. (He kinda drove me to a lot of different places. Poor guy.)

This one time Em and I were driving with Dad somewhere and this song came on the radio. For some reason, Dad started "rapping". Or trying to. It was sooo funny. Em and I were cracking up and so Dad started cracking up. He was laughing so hard I thought we were going to get in an accident!

This one day Em and I were watching the Disney channel or something and this Donald Duck "music video" came on. It was an old cartoon of Donald working in a wood shop. The tune was really catchy and so Dad, Em and me started whistling it. Ever so often we would remember that video and one of us would try to remember the tune. Someone always wound up getting it and I still remember it to this day.

About a month or so before he entered the hospital, the two of us went on a drive out to Ventura to meet with a graphic designer that does work for Grace to You. I (still am) interested in graphic design and so Dad wanted me to be able to talk with someone who knew the ins and outs of the profession. It was a beautiful day and we got Starbucks afterwords. I asked my Dad to tell me a story about himself that I had never heard. He told me about how when he was younger he and his friends decided to go on a "hike" in Michigan. They were just old enough to go on a long hike by themselves. Nothing really eventful happened to them, but he said it was just to much fun and they went far and were gone most of the day. He just seemed so happy remembering it.

There are so many other sweet memories I have with my Dad. I miss him sooo much! I am so thankful to God for giving me such a great Dad. And I am so thankful that I have a heavenly Father who provides and protects.