Newlywed & Business Printables

Have you seen our Etsy shop yet?
 

Normally we have lots of super cute home decor items like this:


...but we're getting ready for an event called Shop with a Purpose supporting For Life Ministries and we're trying to stock up inventory until then.

In the meantime, we still have these lovely printables in our shop for purchase!

We have hourly, daily, weekly and monthly printables like these:








Home and business printables like this:
And our favorite: Newlywed Printables. 

All of our newlywed printables include Mr. & Mrs. as well as "bride" and "groom" highlights.
JD and I found that we have more wants than we have money, so we decided to create a form that prioritizes our wants and needs in long-term and short-term time spans. It really helps to put a lot into perspective. We've bought a lot less too. :)

Print those babies off and place in a family or business binder. 

You can also go by Staples or Office Depot and ask them to bind your printables.

They make awesome wedding gifts! 

Hope you stop by and grab a few here!! 

Germany : Heidelberg Christmas Markets

It's cold in Germany.

Many of you may not think it's cold, but for a couple of newlywed kiddos from the Deep South like us... it was cold. 

But Germany has Christmas Markets.

So the cold was easy to overlook.

Each town hosts at least one Christmas Market in Germany. "Amazing" cannot even describe it. Most people are cheerful, friendly and inviting. "Merry Christmas" banners hang on sides of the buildings, and guess what? People don't protest them or rip them down. In America, people try to protest nativity scenes and anything that says the word Christmas; but not in Germany. They believe in Christmas and they celebrate it like no country we've ever seen.

This particular Christmas Market was in Heidelberg, Germany. Five different markets lined the main street of the town: Kornmarkt, Markplatz, Universitatplatz, Anatomiegarten, and the Bismarckplatz. 

See the line of lights in the photo below? Those are the walkways between the Christmas markets....

Before we shopped, we had to make one crucial stop. 

Food.

Check out the Fuerwurst that I grabbed at the Christmas Market booth above.

Delish.

JD got the steak with onions.

Are you a Nutella fan?

If so, go to Germany. Everything is Nutella there, including the special crepes.

Ok - so we realize that kissing pictures are cheesy and a lot of people don't think they're very cool... but how can you resist when there is a store right in front of you called Coffee & Kiss? 

I mean, you really have no other choice, right?!

Below you will see a gigantic Christmas Pyramid - life size, at that. 

I could've stood and stared at this thing until it got dark. 

And maybe we did...

(Haha - kidding, we walked back to it after we finished touring the markets and it just so happened to be all lit up.)

How beautiful is that!?

When we realized how big of a deal Christmas Pyramids were in Germany, we just had to get one for our own Todd Nest. Each tier displays a piece of the Christmas story - except Baby Jesus isn't on there. We like to think that the candles display who He is - the Light.

Have you ever seen one of these in person? It's super cool. The heat from the candles rise and spin the propellers at the top, which in turn spins each tier. It's one of our favorite Christmas decorations.

What is your favorite Christmas decoration?

DIY : Sugar Suga' Scrub


So you wanna make some sugar scrub? 

Easy breezy, my friends.

This stuff will do wonders for your skin. Better yet, it will make you feel so fresh and so clean.

We made the scrub during the Life Skills class (per recommendation of my assistant for the class, Amy) and the girls LOVED it. In full disclosure, I became a bit obsessed with it. I couldn't stop rubbing my hands together because they felt so soft... And I may have washed my face with it that night. The next morning was the first day I have ever woken up with a glowing complexion. 

Enough enticing already....

Grab a few of your kitchen staples:
*Coconut Oil
*Brown Sugar
*Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
our EVOO is in a Mason Jar because our bottle was leaking all over our cabinet shelves. When all else fails, fill up the Masons...

And your favorite aromatherapy essential oils:
*Lavender (calming) and Eucalyptus (exhilarating) were our choices.



Step 1: Pack 1 cup of brown sugar into a measuring cup and put into a large bowl.


Step 2: Pour in 1/2 cup EVOO.


Step 3: Measure out 3 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil and add to the mixture.


Step 4: Mix the brown sugar, EVOO and coconut oil with your fingers. Add more ingredients as you see fit. I added more brown sugar to make the scrub more coarse rather than oily.

Step 5: Add a few drops of essential oils until it smells pleasantly aromatic. 


I mixed lavender and eucalyptus simply because they smell so good together, but you should definitely try out other ones. Jasmine would be rockin'! In fact, I'm going to get some today to experiment later. :)

Side Note: Keep a bottle of essential oil in your shower and sprinkle a couple of drops at the bottom of a hot shower for a super soothing sauna experience! 


Step 6: Continue grinding up the mixture with your hands until nice and coarse. Grab a few Mason Jars and fill them to the rim. *You may want to whisk the mixture to make it fluffy before putting the mixture into the jars. 

Step 7: Tie a pretty bow around the jar...


Step 8: Exfoliate with a jar for yourself and gift a jar to someone else! 
*These make awesome Mother's Day, birthday, Christmas or hostess gifts!! 

Which essential oil will you experiment with?

Life Skills : The Lovely Ladies Luncheon


Get it?

Like - You can't touch this (oh-oh oh oh oh-oh)
Break it down (more oh's)
STOP - manner time.

Ok. Well, I thought it was witty.

Anyway, most of you know that I taught life skills to a group of twelve amazing young ladies this semester. Since I have been out 7 of the 14 classes because of travel, I wanted to do something super special for them while still teaching them a super crucial life skill. 

So we had a luncheon.

THE Lovely Ladies Luncheon, that is.


This is the formal invite I sent out, with a glimpse of the image on the envelope to the right.


Rhinestones, glitter, textured cardstock - you know, the works. 

The assistant teacher for the class (who is amazingly awesome) hosted the luncheon at her abode.


Each girl brought food (potluck style is probably not the fanciest, but we worked with what we had).


And I pulled out every nice dish JD and I had at our house (not to mention $1 chargers I found at Michael's that morning - oh yeah!!). 


Annnd... I may have pulled most of my Christmas decorations down to create cute centerpieces for each table. 

Did you notice that we put the bread rolls in Santa's sleigh?... That was a collaboration effort between a couple of my students. ;)


The girls learned how to create a centerpiece using vases, old bottles and antiques I've collected over the years for next-to-nothing at antique / thrift stores. 

Side note: One of the girls put up a pic on Instagram the next day of vintage vases they found at an antique store. I was beyond-words proud. :)



We put all of the plates and silverware in the kitchen and left the chargers empty so that the girls could set their own place settings. (Hands-on experience is the best tool, right?)

Each girl set her place place setting:
Dinner plate on bottom, salad plate on top.
Forks on your left.
Remember: F-O-R-K has four letters and L-E-F-T has four letters.
Spoons and knives on your right.
Remember: S-P-O-O-N and K-N-I-F-E have five letters and R-I-G-H-T has five letters.
Size of the silverware goes from smallest on the outside to the largest on the inside. 
Follow the sizes with each course (i.e. furthest fork from you is for your salad, largest fork beside your plate is your dinner fork).
Tea glasses always go to the top right of the plate.
Napkin goes in the lap. 


After we went over a list of table etiquette pointers, we passed a box of cards around the table called Table Topics. My favorite question was, "At what age is someone old and how does a person stay young?"

There were a variety of answers from 17-years-old is "old" to 40-years-old to 80-years-old. My favorite answer is, 
"You're only old when you begin thinking that you're old." 

That's wisdom -- from a teenager. 
I love it.


We finished up the afternoon with a present-wrapping and bow-making lesson where the girls dominated. I'm pretty sure they'll be giving out packages this year with stellar packaging! 


What do you think about being old...
At what age is someone old and how does a person stay young?


**Thanks to Shelby for taking some of these fantastic photos!





Christmas Flash Mob

You may have already seen this video, but we just had to share it. The co-op group watched it yesterday during worship and I admittedly shed a number of tears.


Maybe it was the amazing voices of the carolers...

Maybe it was the onlookers who stopped to take in the essence of the flash mob...

Maybe it was the location of the main carolers - right beside Santa Clause...

Maybe it was because people dressed up as Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus...

Maybe it was the 100 kids sitting in front of me at homeschool co-op closing their eyes and praising Jesus through song...

Maybe it was the ease of spreading the Gospel to hundreds of people just by singing carols only about Christ...

Or maybe it was the visual of onlookers literally falling on their knees during O Holy Night...


Tears were shed and our hearts were rocked. 


Whether one-by-one or in the masses, let's spread the Gospel as we are consistently called to do. Lives will be touched and seeds planted. And may the Lord claim every ounce of glory received by it.



In other news, we're having some issues with blogspot (i.e. we've ran out of storage for our photo sharing via blog). So, we're working on it but it may take a couple of days before we figure out how to get back on track with it all. :) 

Down Syndrome & Long Post Office Lines

This morning I went to the post office bright and early.

Ok - not that early. It was 8:25 a.m. but the post office doesn't open the teller windows until 8:30 on the dot.

So I thought, "I'll be the first in line. No problem."

WRONG.

There were seven people standing in front of me. All of them had been waiting for quite a while. 

You would think everyone would be super perturbed and anxious, but they weren't.

You see, there was a special joy to the room. 

A teenage girl with down syndrome stood in the middle of the line nuzzled up to her mom. 

All of the sudden, she just started giggling. 

Not about anything particular, just giggling.

One of the women in front of her smiled and said, "Looks like somebody has the giggles this morning!"

That girl's laughter caught on like wildfire. 

I can't say that I have ever been in the midst of such a joyful morning surrounded by other people - strangers, at that. All nine of us, standing in line at a dimly-lit post office with Christmas packages in hand, giggling. 

Not about anything particular, just giggling.

And y'all... in that instant, the Lord broke me. It took everything within me to hold in tears. It was the most amazing moment. The Spirit of the Lord reigned in that post office this morning and I was so honored to stand in the presence of an engulfing spirit of joy. 

Strangers. United by laughter at 8:26 in the morning. It's something you see in a movie, but never realize the gravity that is lifted within that moment. 

So my challenge to you on this Friday is to laugh. Allow the Spirit of the Lord to overwhelm your heart to the point of laughter. To the point of sheer joy. To the point where the light of Christ radiates through a dimly-lit room and penetrates those around you. Because God is that good. And because when we know the love of Christ, we can't help but spread the news like wildfire.

Germany : Do You Put Up a Live or Fake Christmas Tree? & Ramstein-Miesenbach

It has been almost one year since we took our first trip to Germany. We have been super anxious in writing all about our ventures. However... since we went during the Christmas season

last

year, we felt it would be best to wait until

this

Christmas season to write about it.

Today, we will take you on a tour through the quaint, but lovely, town of Ramstein-Miesenbach - home to our hotel, the Ramsteiner-Hof.

I fell in love with this flower shop, especially the Christmas decorations.

Even after I greet the Germans with "Good Morning" in Deutchse ("Guten Morgen"), they respond with "Good Morning" in English. Most people can tell I'm an American and only speak English. 

Two older men, one "very" happy (probably had some early morning cheer) said "Good Mooorning" to me while hanging on for dear life around his friend's neck. Then he started speaking German to me and I just stared blankly. He circled his hand downward in a curtsy motion and said, "That means 'Good morning, m' lady!" as he trailed off in a deep, hearty laughter. 

I love this place. 

It reminds me of the first scene from Beauty and the Beast. 

Tents are set up throughout the city centers. I stopped by the one above and bought a tiny Christmas tree covered in white frost, red ribbons and red candles. 

It is officially our first "live" Christmas tree, even if it is only one foot tall. 

God has truly blessed JD and I with so many opportunities to travel together. I love finding ways to make our hotel rooms into a cozy home. This tree sitting in our windowsill was just one of those ways.

I turned the corner and crept upon a beautiful secret garden hidden between two buildings. I wanted so badly to hop that iron gate and just sit in the realm of pure magic it held (with a hot cup of tea, of course). The more I walked around, the more I realized how gardens like this are actually amongst most of the buildings.

I arrived back to the hotel with Christmas tree in hand and Frank, the mysterious-do-everything-around-here-guy, was standing outside smoking. I held up my tree proudly and said, "Look what I got! Our Christmas decoration for the hotel room!" He gave me a thumbs-up, smiled big and said, "That's very nice!" He tossed his cigarette butt and walked inside. 

I ventured out behind the main hotel building to take photos of the cross and the gazebo. Frank came running up behind me with a flashlight. I thought I was in trouble but then he said in a thick German accent, "Look! Look! I'll take you inside!" The flashlight's batteries were dead but fortunately I had my iPhone's flashlight app so we could see inside the "dungeon" - also known as the 50-year-old underground cave where people stored potatoes. We could see the roots in the ceiling from the tree above us. It was truly amazing.

And just like that, Frank let off back to the hotel. 

The colors of everything here baffle me... Even in the winter season. The contrast is powerful but makes so much sense. 

We want to know about your Christmas traditions...

Does you put up a live or fake Christmas tree every year?

Thanksgiving Rummaging and Reminiscing

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone!

Most of you have probably had five blog posts since Thanksgiving Day but we wanted to share our weekend with y'all anyway. :) I cannot wait to spend a couple of hours delving into your blogs, checking out your holiday happenings thus far. 

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday. As much as I love giving gifts (and let's be honest... receiving gifts), Thanksgiving is one of the rare holidays that is all about family and friends. No tangible gifts. Just the gift of community. How awesome is that?

We spent the weekend at JD's parents in West Alabama. As some of you may know, JD's dad celebrated his eightieth birthday in October. Yeah - celebrate good times! C'mon!

He kicks it better than any eighty-year-old man we know. He walks about seven miles every day... after breakfast, after dinner (and probably most days after lunch). 

So we joined in, walking sticks and all.


And it was such a blessed time. 

There is just something so special about Thanksgiving walks with the fam. I'll never forget one Thanksgiving Day I spent walking under the amber trees at Lake Oconee (aka The Bungalow) a few years ago with my sweet Gingin. She shared with me how crucial it is to savor every moment, because you really never know when it will be the last. You think you know that until your grandmother reminds you. Then you realize you really don't know much at all so you better soak in every ounce of wisdom she has. JD and I are both thankful for the wisdom and lessons our precious parents and grandparents have taught us.

Back to the weekend....

JD's childhood room is still decked out in baseball posters. Stacks of baseball cards (with chalky gum still in the plastic wrapping of unopened cards) line the walls. Random Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figurines can be found in drawers and high school and collegiate awards still hang proudly on the walls. Needless to say, I love sleeping in there. It makes me feel like I can share a special part of him that I never had the chance of knowing. 

We spent the weekend trying to clean it out but had trouble since so much held a special place in JD's memory. Obviously, we had to share a few of our favorite finds with you...


The American Gladiator soup thermos. The black slanted writing is none other than the names of each gladiator. What!?


We rummaged through old papers and sermon notes. The ones above and below were favorites of mine. 

Why?

Because it proves that opposites truly do attract. 

JD's occupations of dissimilar interests include all but one of the things I wanted to do in life. When I was young, I spent every day in the basement teaching an imaginary classroom while writing lessons on several chalkboards for my "third grade students". I started college majoring in Radio, Televison and Film to be a News Anchor / Reporter - and switched halfway to finish my studies in Public Relations instead. And now... I would love to teach an art class. 

My only non-interest was a medical illustrator.

At least we agreed on one area of dissimilar interest.


However, my favorite find was this: JD's written testimony from high school (pictured below). Even though our stories of salvation never change, our testimonies of God's goodness and mercy are ever-changing in such a beautiful way. It was so awesome to read about the place God had JD in that season of life. 


And then we found this... a poem JD wrote in college that made goosebumps pop up on my arms. 

My sweet husband is such a humble man. Reading things like this make me fall even deeper in love with him and Christ. I am thankful for him.


Unbeknownst to me, JD set up my new sewing machine and all of my supplies in front of the TV (so he could watch football while I sewed) while I was sorting through his childhood room.


Thus goes the weekend: Walking, Turkey, Walking, Sewing, Football, Eating, Cleaning, Organizing, Sewing, and Walking. :)


What was your favorite Thanksgiving memory from this year??


Linking up with Molly & Carly for #YOLOMondays! Please go check them out and show some love! :)



Germany : Flag Your Cards, Know How to Read a Map and Stay Calm

We have finally made it to our documentation of Germany from December 2011! Here we go...

Before leaving on an international trip,

be sure to notify your credit and debit card providers

. 

Someone... possibly by the name of Whitney {me}...

may have

forgotten this crucial step on our Germany trip. When we approached the Hertz desk, we tried our two cards only for each one to fail. 

I felt sick to my stomach. 

The Hertz employees were awesome and worked with us hand-in-hand. We are incredibly thankful for bank security BUT we couldn't reach the company we banked with

at the time

because they don't have a 24-hr access line. With our time change, we were forced to wait a few hours in the airport. So we walked upstairs with our American dollar bills and chowed down on the always internationally reliable McDonald's.

They only offered McMuffins... no biscuits but that's ok.

We finally settled the issue with the bank and Hertz, packed our bags into the new rental car for the trip, and JD turned the car on... only to find out it's a manual. 

Neither of us can drive a manual.

So we unloaded our bags and trekked back up to the Hertz desk.

No automatic cars are available for another hour.

Walk around airport.

Whew! Automatic car is now available. We add a GPS onto the package and load the new car up.

Set out in our VW Golf from the Frankfurt airport to Ramstein-Meisenbacher. 

GPS doesn't work. Fortunately, there's a map. 

A very hard-to-read map.

Four hours later (should've only taken one hour), we arrive to our destination! 

Even with the absolutely terrible luck throughout our arrival, my jaw dropped as JD drove through the lovely, quaint towns that were more beautiful than even the greatest photographer can capture. 

The Lord is gracious in even our most frustrating moments.

We've been on a number of trips but this was, by far, the most terrible way to start one out. 

And yet, it ended up being a favorite trip of ours overall.

Prepare for our greatest attempt as we send you through a journey of one of the most whimsical countries on the planet.

Have you ever had a time where things were terrible and embarrassing in the beginning but the outcome was better than you could have ever dreamed?