Inspired by....

I love magazines and have to remind myself to read books from time to time because I can get in a habit of just reading magazines.  I currently subscribe to People and Real Simple but in the past have had subscriptions to InStyle, Glamour, Texas Monthly, Economist (lest you think I just read fashion), Shape, Self, Lucky, Elle and W.  On my list for new subscriptions are Country Living and Do It Yourself magazine. One of my favorite things about magazines is the inspiration they provide for clothes, new products to try, home ideas and fitness tips or workouts.  I regularly tear pages out of a magazine to keep or even take a picture of something I like on my phone to save for later. 

Last winter I saw this picture: 

How cute are SJP and her darling little twins?!  Side note as you're learning more about me ... I have twin nieces and they were about their size when I saw this picture.  They are now 4 and 1/2.  Growing girls! 

Back to the inspiration.  How cute are her jeans rolled up and showing off patterned socks with her booties!?  I loved this look and immediately snapped a pic to save for  reference. 

I happened to be in Fort Worth at the time working and had an evening to myself.  I did some window shopping in a cool area of Fort Worth, University Park Village, which had a new Madewell store.  I had only seen Madewell online so I definitely went in to check it out.  They had a table FULL of the cutest "Happy Socks" that of course brought SJP's inspiration to mind.  However, I'm not shopping on SJP's budget and at $12.50 a pair, they were a little high for me to have a couple of pairs to wear.  BUT, I knew what I was looking for and was now on a mission to find bargain Happy Socks! 

And, bargain I did find!!  I was in a Target shortly after and made a point to check out their sock selection.  What do you know, they had their own version of Happy Socks too!  AND for a bargain of 4 pairs for less than $12.50!  I picked up several pairs and knew just the booties I had to wear with them.  Know what?  Every time I put a pair of patterned socks on and roll up my jeans, they make me happy!  What a fun alternative to boyfriend jeans with flip flops and flats in the summer!  Before you think your happy socks need to match your outfit, think again.  They should coordinate, but toss out the matchy-matchy and embrace your inner childlike fashion - whatever makes you happy, that's what you wear! Here's my version of happy socks!  I have worn these countless times again this fall and winter!
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So, whatever it is you see that you like, use a little creativity and re-create it your own way.  You don't have to have the exact item to re-create a look!    Most importantly put on your happy and attack your day! 

Blessings,

What is a Signature?

When I was in High School I had a schedule that allowed some extra time in the day especially in my Ag class and I had a best friend with the same schedule and Ag teacher.  Oftentimes we found ourselves with the need to leave campus, which for some reason required a signed parent note for my friend, but not me.  Not sure how those rules worked out, she was a grade behind me, but we were also in a relatively small town.  So, the 'signature of record' for her Mom was my best interpretation of her Mom's signature.  Before you think I'm a regular at forging signatures, her Mom knew about it and most days when we left we went to her house because it was close to school and her Mom was home and knew exactly where we were and what we were doing.   I'm sure we thought we were cool when we flashed our get out of parking lot pass to "Hard Hat" in his guard shack. 

The memories we have from those run-away days of High School are still some of our greatest laughs when we see each other.  I'm not sure if the school ever checked the signature her Senior year when I was gone and the real signature might have shown up.  Our days of "forging" a signature were innocent fun.  Someone always knew where we were and what we were up to, so we weren't using the signature for our own gain. 

How many times a day do you sign your name?  Is it always your full first and last name, do you abbreviate or even just initial at times.  Do you remember signing the signature card at the bank the first time you opened an account?  Did you think "every time I sign my name it needs to look like this" when you were still in the figure-out-your-best-handwriting stage?  

Just like your handwritten signature is unique to you, so is the individuality of who you were created to be!  No two of us are alike and we are each created for unique and different purposes.  Some relate more to an extravagant calligraphy while others feel comfortable with a simple print.  Each of us finds our rhythm in varying ways to live this life.

I love fashion, I love organizing, I have a heart for women to live their lives confidently and most importantly I love Jesus.  These things combined make up the signature that is uniquely me.  Some days of my life are written in fine calligraphy and some days in print with a pencil that just came out of the sharpener clearly writing specific words like "wait". This is my place to share and encourage your signature. Who you were created to be and how to live confidently within your self. 

None of us look like the cover of a magazine, or the model on the page of an online store, they have been airbrushed. Though we oftentimes find ourselves aspiring to be "that girl" with her hair, makeup, clothes, frame, shoes, accessories and of course no wrinkles to be had.  We clammer to know "where did you get that" and frantically order up one for ourselves in hopes that we mimic that "perfect" look.  

I have finally learned.  What looks good on them, doesn't always look good on me.  I'm tall - 5'9".  Relatively "thin" though I really hate to put that out there.  I eat reasonably well and try to exercise regularly.  No matter how many pairs I try, skinny jeans don't fit my legs.  4+" platform wedges are not my shoes.  Cat eye is too severe of make-up for me. Blunt cut haircut doesn't work for me.  But, I have figured out what does.  My favorite pair of jeans are most likely not going to be yours.  However, when you find the perfect boyfriend jean to wear with the nude shoe that you love and toss on a scarf that is your favorite color, you re-create a look reflecting your signature.  You're not in clothes (or house, or organized closet, or church, or job, or organization) that are meant to fit someone else. 

Stick around, bookmark this page and come back often.  I'm sharing my life here, what I've learned, how I've created my signature and prayerfully encouragement for you!  I love comments, feedback and your questions too!  I recently found this verse in Proverbs and it speaks truth over us: 

Proverbs 14:30 - A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Let's commit to build each other up and learn to love ourselves for who we were created to be. Let's strive for a signature that starts with a heart of peace and not envy those we live life alongside. Truth be told, everyone is fighting a battle and sometimes we have to dress up, smile and fake it until we make it just to get through the day.  Be real, be honest and be YOU!

Blessings, 

#ComingSoon

Thank you for stopping over!  Especially those of you from the Christmas letter. Please bookmark this page, few tweaks to complete and lots of fun is coming your way!

Merry Christmas!

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Papa ~ A Legacy

My Mom and I sat at the kitchen table Wednesday morning having coffee, talking about the decline of my Papa and his eminent death when my Mom mentioned to me if there was anything I would want to share at his funeral, or write.  It brought a lump to my throat just thinking about it, much less putting pen to paper or voice to words.  Just a couple of hours later, shortly after 11 am my Aunt called with the news that Papa was gone, passing from this life to eternity with Jesus, reuniting with my Grandma just over 5 years since her passing.

I have thought about a couple of the lessons my Papa taught through his life, whether he knew he was teaching them or not ...

1. Life is better when you're laughing
   Papa was onery!  He always had a twinkle in his blue eyes and he loved a good laugh, at your expense or his.  I can remember him telling me stories of friends and the shennanigans they would get into as young boys, young men and grown men, each time recounting the story through fits of laughter. I saw him play jokes on all members of our family, often times "goosing" you or teasing.  I didn't always appreciate his humor as a young girl, but as I grew up, I knew not taking yourself too seriously and being able to laugh was one of life's greatest gifts, even at your own expense!  
2. Family was priority
   Papa was proud of his family.  He was proud of my Grandma.  He was proud of his children.  He was proud of his grandchildren.  He was proud of his great-grandchildren.  He told us that he was.  He cared about the details of our lives.  I never visited or talked to him that he didn't take time to ask me about my job, my house, my friends and my dog.   I have great memories of  time at the lake, summer get-aways at Grandma and Papas, nights in the motorhome, sitting on the porch, visits at the 4G, Grandma and Papa sitting on the sidelines of numerous events and countless meals around the table gathered as a family.  No matter what, you take time for your family and time with them is priceless. 
3. It's never too late to learn something new
   Papa left High School and moved to Houston learning how to be a welder and working in the Ship Channel before joining the Navy and eventually a long career in pipelining.  Having never earned a High School Diploma, he completed his studies by mail and earned his GED at 54 years old.  Papa was never much for the kitchen, but at 81 he conquered the kitchen after my Grandma died, learning how to cook everything from scrambled eggs to steak.  Most recently as I walked alongside Papa in the nursing home, I watched his determination to wheel himself down the hallway.  Still showing me, no matter the task, you can accomplish something new and you should never gave up. 

These are just a few things that immediately come to mind.  One of the most cherished memories I will have of Papa is something he recently told my Mom about me, perhaps one of the greatest compliments that I have ever received.  How he wished for me to find a husband, that he thought I would provide a warm home and be such a great wife and mother.  He'll never know the impact that statement will have on me.  But, I can guarantee he leaves a legacy with big shoes to fill for someone to fit the role of husband to me.

Thankfully Papa was healthy, having lived on his own since the passing of my Grandma and was only ill for a couple of months before his death.  Ultimately, as I think back on his life and as the end of his life approached he was content.  He mentioned on several occasions he had a good life, he had a happy marriage, home and family and ultimately lived a very rich life.  Papa loved well, led well and lived well.  Perhaps that is the greatest lesson, to look back over life and feel content with yourself, your family and your place in the world.  I'm thankful to be a part of his legacy and pray at the end of my days I will find myself at peace and content with the life I have lived.

{originally posted 2012 on The Black and White Truth}

Thankful,

Boxes

With a lock in my hand and one last glimpse inside, I closed the door, turned the key and locked up most everything I own in a 12' x 12' box praying it would all be safe inside until I returned to retrieve it.   The boxes of my life have been in what feels like mass chaos for the month of April, including work, home, family and relationships.

An abrupt end to my work box started the shake up of life in April.  The world we live in is harsh economically and the small business makes decisions that one will never understand.  Despite this, I have updated my resume, started networking and submitting applications all within 24 hours of a lay-off.  This too shall pass, I am healthy, have family who supports me and opportunity to do anything I want ahead of me.  I am blessed.

As I looked around my apartment and took inventory of boxes and crates that I had packed containing virtually all of my possessions, I thought about the books  and studies having taught me and molded me to where I am today.  The dishes I have shared with friends and family over meals and parties.  The frames with smiling faces of my friends and family whom I cherish.  The mementos and gifts around my home each with meaning and significance.  On and on.  The box of home is packed away for now.

While I have been out of work, I have been able to travel with my Mom to see my Papa, who's also recently had his boxes shaken up.  From complete independence at 86 years old to complete dependence in less than a month's time.  Due to health decline, he left his home to the hospital and now lives in a room in a nursing home, dealing with physical, mental and emotional change in life, everything he knew turned upside down.

In January I met a guy, one you instantly start a conversation with that times flies by before you realize how long you've been chatting and wondering how chance could introduce two people.  One who I like, one who had similar values to me, one who was a friend - someone I truly enjoy spending time with, one who I wondered where this would take us.  A box that has also been turned upside down.

This is life, when it seems everything is going along with all boxes in order and feeling content, everything can be ripped out from under you, young or old.  Despite feeling like I'm living out of a box, I know the one box that is most important to me will stand the test of everything else, my faith.  There are times we put things of life in a box, seal them up and stow them away.  More often though, the things of life don't fit in a box, the top won't close neatly and we can't put them away.  Life doesn't fit in a box.  I know despite feeling like my life is in 12' x 12' storage, life is lived outside of the box.  Only when I put my faith in the One who sees April as no surprise can I continue to pursue making sense of my boxes, how and where they will be unpacked and settled next.

Over You

As the calendar turns to March, my heart always feels a little heavier and slightly anxious.  I often think with years passing that feeling would ease up a bit.  Though, year after year, it still comes and goes with the same anxiety.  This year as March 22nd approached, I really questioned within myself why 16 years later, so many emotions still surface as if it was the year it happened.  The year I first faced death and really questioned my faith.  March 22nd, they day my best friend died.

I think I've come to realize a few things about that day ...

• I'll never get over it.  It is part of who makes me who I am today.
• The anniversary takes me back to a time when I really had to choose to believe heaven was real and hope was in fact eternal. 
• Because of losing a best friend, I care deeply for and about my circle of friends and am often disappointed when people don't reciprocate that same level of commitment to friendships.
• I still can't listen to the song "The Dance" by Garth Brooks.  It came on in the car on the way to her house and hearing that song immediately takes me back to sitting in the backseat wondering how this could have happened and how in the world life goes on. 
• I know that time doesn't heal all wounds, time allows you to process and gets you back on your feet, but time doesn't heal. 
• As I sat in a funeral of her cousin a few years later, Isaiah 40:31 really came to life ... "those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint."  I don't know how we made it through those days which turned to weeks, which turned to months and eventually into years.  I know with certainty we were carried until we were able to put one foot in front of the other and walk forward and hope is the only thing that renewed my strength. 
• I am sympathetic and empathetic to how others process, grieve and deal with loss in life - be it death or any type of loss, no one can tell you what is right, how long it takes or how you go forward.  Only faith in Jesus can.
• I know my faith can withstand any trial, painful as it is, I know I can do it.  In fact, 10 years later, I endured the same trial again and am reminded every October 10th of how far I've come.  
• I know when the 17th anniversary comes around March 22, 2013 I will again be reminded who I am and where my strength comes from. 

I guess in reality, I really am glad I'll never get over you.  That day sealed my faith and really taught me who I am.

{Originally Posted here} 

Blessings,

Wait

Know those people in life who everything seems to happen for them as they wish in perfect timing?  Me too.  I'm not one of those people.  It is somewhat of a joke amongst my friends that everything in life  for me includes a "wait".  I don't mean wait in theory, I mean a literal response that includes the word "wait" either spoken or written.

In 2009 while unemployed, I can't count the number of times I heard "wait".  Not only related to a job, but to seemingly every circumstance in my life there is a wait.  So, what is it about waiting that can make me crazy, unsettled, question, lose confidence and believe something will never work out in my favor?

I've recently been reminded about waiting as I have sat hours alongside family in the hospital watching Brian as he laid in critical condition, came out of unconsciousness and began to heal.  Brian is the little brother of my growing up best friend Wendy.   Brian's not so little anymore as he's now 30 and stands over 6' tall.  He was just 15 when Wendy was killed in a car accident and their family is 2nd family to me, still 15 years later.  When I got the call while away on a Birthday-Weekend-Get-Away with my besties, I didn't know what circumstance would await upon my arrival at the hospital.

It seemed every day we were told to wait ... wait for a test, wait for a Dr, wait for a x-ray, wait for results, wait for body to heal ... all while sitting in the waiting room.  Oxymoron!?  When visiting a patient in ICU the visitor has to "scrub in" each visit, washing hands, donning a gown and gloves and "scrub out" upon exit, only to repeat anytime you entered the area.  We sought answers from Doctors and prayed and waited.  Brian was miraculously spared severe injury, despite multiple broken bones, major surgery and unknown recovery time.  While we waited, I prayed that God would heal him, that his spirits would be lifted and that he would know purpose for his life.  I am still praying those things, 6 weeks later tonight that I prayed on that first night.  He still has a long wait to recovery.

One thing we started while in the hospital was to journal the day, what we had been told by Drs, what tests were going on, what questions we had and ultimately finishing each day with "Good News".  It is amazing to take time in the uncertainty to recall the blessings.  Some days the good news was "no fever today"; other days it was "no change today"; for sometimes no progress is progress in itself.  Until you take time to reflect, you might miss status-quo as being good news.

What I have learned and am learning to this day as I am still sitting in the waiting room of a few areas of my life is that it matters most what you do with the right now.  Even while I'm waiting, I have a purpose, I have things to get done and I have more things than I can count to be thankful for.   In effect, I have to get up, scrub in and scrub out each day.  I don't always know how it's going to work out.  Sometimes it will work out better than I could have imagined - it did recently for me.  Sometimes it seems there is no possible way for it to work out, like all the cards are against you - but it still does work out.  Sometimes it doesn't work out and there is lesson to be learned.  Despite the wait, I can't let doubt steal my joy.  When I begin to doubt or lose my confidence to mere circumstance, mostly out of my control I remember:  "The one true God gives me strength; He removes the obstacles in my way." (Psalm 18:32 NET)  Thankfully, I am not in control and the more I submit to ultimate authority of Jesus, the less I worry in the wait.  The obstacles may or may not be removed, and maybe they were there for a purpose, perhaps to redirect or to stall.

I do know that despite the wait, I always have much to be thankful for.  As I sit here tonight, I am thankful in this day alone ...

• for a healthy body that I pushed on a morning jog
• for a church that taught a word that I will soak on this week, and weeks to come
• for Sunday lunch with my besties
• for a Sunday nap
• for a good book to discuss while walking with one of my besties
• for my family and a lengthy phone visit with my Mom
• for a home that I enjoy and kitchen to make supper
• for a job that I don't dread going to in the morning
• for plans this week that I am looking forward to

and the list could go on ...

So, even when it seems nothing is working out, and the wait is eternal, scrub in and focus on the day ahead, close out the day with recognizing the good news, rest and be ready to scrub in again for the next day.  For one day the wait will be over.  Most likely though, there will be something else to wait on, so remember to use time wisely and seek out purpose in the wait.

{originally posted 2011on The Black and White Truth}

Waiting,
Angie