Dress to Skirt

Got this fabulous dress when I went to visit my best friend in Mississippi. She has a salon/boutique, Studio B, and they had lots of retailers out selling on the steet for the annual Railroad Festival! Great event if you're ever in Amory, MS in the spring.

 

I think I've worn this dress twice and I've had it for nearly 3 years. I love the pattern but after I wore it to dinner with one of my best friends from high school, I realized the material is extremely smothering... just felt super hot in it. If you know how Tennessee weather is then you know the humidity plus this material was a bad combo.



Taken at Cru Bistro for a wine tasting dinner! This is Kristen, one of my best friends from high school!

After I decided this was a little too short to wear around the workplace, I decided to give my beginner sewing skills some brushing up on with a simple little alteration.

 

It's not perfect by any means, but it works for me. I chopped off the top of the dress and folded the top where I had cut and sewed it back into the fabric waist band. Here is what I came up with:

 

  The top of the waist band kind of puckered up as you can see in the pic on the left so in the right pic, I folded the waist band under so it looks flat. I'm not sure, I might have needed to use elastic thread for that to lay correct but whatever the case, I dig it. I wore it to work this week with a pink t-shirt tucked in and pink sandles to match - got several compliments, so I am proud of my work!

 

Now to think of what I will do with the left over fabric... makeup case? Who knows!

 

Happy sewing, friends!

Cling to what is Good

In a world where things aren't always for sure, we must cling to the things that are good, dwelling on them daily and praising God for the good and trying times. 

God says in Phillipians 4:8 that we are to cling to and think about such things that are true, right, noble, pure, and things that are praiseworthy.

^"8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

Over this past week I have done several devotions that have called me back to the same reoccuring theme, our thoughts. Our human instinct is to focus on the bad, what's going wrong, the poor-pitiful situations we find ourselves in that we can't seem to get anyone to understand. By God's amazing grace, though, He calls us to focus on something completely different, something higher, something worth focusing on.

In a July 2 read from Jesus Calling, one of my most favorite and treasured devotions, Sarah Young states these words as Jesus laid them on her heart as a missionary:

"...Concentrate on staying close to Me, the divine Artist. Discipline your thoughts to trust Me as I work my ways in your life. Pray about everything, then leave the outcomes up to Me. Do not fear My will, for through it I accomplish what is best for you..."

 

 Two things stick out to me here:
One -  the divine Artist. Have you ever imagined Jesus as an Artist, your personal Artist? The one who hand-crafted your inner-most being, your thought processes, your ideals, your brain, your eye color, the number of freckles on your cheeks, the number of hairs on your head, the way you write, the way you walk... I could go on. God orchestrated you in the way He meant to. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us ,

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the

 Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

 

And the second - He asks us to not worry. Simple as that. Have you ever had a friend or family member go through something that you know will turn out better but you know they can't quite see it yet? And you ask them, please don't worry about it. Jesus is asking us to TRUST Him with everything in our being, remember the one that He designed? Only with Jesus is it possible for us as humans to begin the change in focus and point our eyes and hearts to what our amazing God is offering to us... His peace in taking the worry for us.

 

As I am growing and learning about the man Jesus is and how great His love is for us, this is something I need to remember daily. Give my cares and thoughts to Him and let Him deliver the outcomes, not me.

Have a great week!!

 

I am sending some love to Mrs. Megan Fuller for inspiring me...my cousin by marriage and writer of Living Life a Little Fuller. Her humbleness and openness in her posts are so meaningful and inspiring. She is a devoted woman and has great faith in the one true King. I am so encouraged by her courage to write about what is on her mind and how Jesus' words in the Bible help us to overcome any and everything we will endure as Christians.

Celebrating One Year!

In celebration of our 1 Year Anniversary last week I wanted to highlight some of my favorite moments of our first year of wedded bliss! My husband is such a God-sent blessing - his patience, humor, kindness and love only make my confidence in my God's wonderous plan so great. The God I serve knows me so well, he had this planned from the get-go and I had no idea. He worked up the most perfect man for me and I am forever grateful! Here's to growing old with you, Jake!

Ready to walk down the beach to get married!!! Never been more excited in my entire life!

Honeymoon Dinner!!

Adopting sweet Lucie Bell! This is the day we brought her home!
 

Loving on our little, wild and sweet fur-babies!
 

Boat ride and dinner at Willy's with Mom and Don!

Our annual date at the Knoxville Zoo!
 

Our first married Christmas...taken at my Mom's!

A weekend in Nashville with our best friends!!



Me, Tessa and Owen at the Smokies game!
 

Smokies game with best friends and baby Owen!

The day baby Owen was born, my little nephew, one of the happiest days ever! Love you so much!



Dinner on our 1 year anniversary at Flemmings! I thought I would wear the same dress that I wore on our honeymoon just for fun!

 

A New Hobby

I decided to take up sewing sometime before Christmas in 2012. Wishing I had been able to learn from my Granny I guess somewhat inspired the new found hobby. I asked for a sewing machine for that Christmas and Mom came through with a brand new sewing machine! It came complete with all the works - needles, embroidery, hundreds of stitches and more!

Much to my surprise after Christmas came and went, I headed to Mom's for a regular evening where she cooks me dinner sometimes when Jake's working :) She had me open up this fine piece of history, that was all for me! My great-grandpa Laurence's old Singer! 

The Singer posing with the coasters I made for my great-grandma. 

He still had all the needles tucked away in some old metal tins, lots of thread that looked like it hadn't been touched and the manual still in its bag. He was a pack-rat but I'm sure glad he kept all of these things. It certainly isn't as precise as my new one but I am honored and thrilled to have it. 

He still had material in the machine and it was still threaded to a T. I cleaned it up and made those coasters shown above for my great-grandmother, using the machine and the thread that was still in tact. She called with the sweetest things to say after I mailed them to her. She didn't know I even wanted to sew. See, Laurence, did all the sewing back then like his State Trooper uniforms, pants that needed hemming and everything else. 

Love having this piece of history in our home!

Soil is Good for the Soul

Well, what started as a great idea almost ended in a typical Paige-kind-of-melt-down at Home Depot. After Mom helped me pick out some good stuff on Saturday night, I had to return to the dreaded Home Depot on Sunday with Jake. Why, on earth, we went to Home Depot I will never understand, nor will I return. My promise from here on out is to Lowe's, Knox Seed or Plants and More!

After the break down at Home Depot because they were out of the flower to the left, I ended up with two of the flower to the right. (Pictured below) As I begin this gardening adventure I promise I will eventually learn names of all these beautiful plants!  So having two different plants, thank the Lord, worked in our favor!

And now I officially feel like my mother as I talk to my plants daily now, "Grow little baby plants, grow! You look so pretty! Grow big and strong!"

So since my camera phone doesn't have the panoramic option... here are pictures of the front flower bed! It looks a little brown, hopefully in future pictures you will be able to see my little white Begonias, bloomed Day Lillies and whatever those red things are :)

More later on the new garden in the back yard!

"Where you have a plot of land, however small, plant a garden.

Staying close to the soil is good for the soul."
- Spencer W. Kimball

The Beginning of a New Chapter

December 14 started out just like any other day...got up, went to work, went to Jake's to get ready for his work dinner! I wore my sexy, red dress and curled my hair! Breaking out the 3" heels for this occasion was a big deal, we know I'm all about comfort!

As we were just a couple weeks 'til Christmas I was trying to be patient and wait until Christmas Day to open presents with Jake! He mentioned before we left that we should open a present when we got back from dinner...of course my reaction, "YES! Yippee! Hmm which one am I going to give you?" Immediately going through the presents I had for him under the tree.

Dinner was great! Met his work friends, so now I can put names with faces, and heard his supervisors say great things about their dedication and bravery.

Heading back to Jake's, feeling like a million bucks in my dinner party attire... now really contemplating which present I would give him. I huddled around the tree for a few minutes and I noticed he wasn't really reaching for one, didn't really think anything of it. So I picked out this great, soft, green Lands End pull over sweatshirt to give him, and I handed him the box. He had a big smile and put that box on the table... Im thinking.. what are you doing? open you're present, please! He drops to one knee with an open box with the most beautiful diamond ring I'd ever laid my eyes on.

I SAID YES!

Calling our parents and best friends that night and the next day was the happiest I'd ever been in my entire life. Spending the rest of my life with Mr. Jake McDaniel will be living out my dream!

We're still planning a few details but June can't come soon enough! We are beyond excited to start this chapter of our life, together!

Paige and Jake Fun Day

At the close of the 2011 Fair I decided I would really like to take a day off with Jake in October or November to go enjoy this beauiful town! We started out the morning at the Knoxville Zoo! I love the Zoo!! Since Fall is my favorite time of year, it was quite the perfect day! The Zoo was full of moms pushing strollers and lots of school aged children running wild!



First things first...the bears were not active! They were sleeping soundly, basking in the morning sun! However, our next stop was the birds exhibit which was hopping! Ducks and cute birds were playing in the water- morning must be there favorite time of the day!

We stopped for a picture in the Birds Exhibit! It was really neat, you had to walk through an old wooden doorway into this open air natural habitat! It made me happy to see that these guys were in one of the most natural exhibits I'd seen.

I also noticed several animals were getting or had already been moved to their new homes! There is a new Lion exhibit being constructed, which I am super excited about and the Red Panda's got a new home. It is very natural surroundings and looks so neat! The Knoxville Zoo really cares about their animals and their habitats.

I will have to admit I was so sad that the big turtles were away because of the colder weather! They are gone from October-April, so that just means I'll have to return in May to see my favorite reptile! So, instead I had to get a picture with this guy.

After spending a couple hours walking through the Zoo seeing all we could see, we headed up to Cades Cove! Living in East Tennessee and seeing the sights of house-less fields and mountains lingering behind, you begin to take such sights for granted very easily! Taking a long, peaceful drive through Cades Cove was beautiful!

The weather was perfect and it was a great day!

The earth is filled with the Lord's glory. Habakkuk 2:14