Friday, February 9, 2018

Not a Monthly Wrap-Up Post

That wasn't sarcastic or satirical. It's actually not.

Last year I tried my hand out on something I had always wanted to do and on something that I loved reading on other people's blogs and something that I found I really loved putting together, too; monthly wrap-up posts.

But despite it being SO MUCH FUN when I was actually doing it, it took five or more hours out of each month just to write those posts, so I could never get to it "on time". And so it would nag at my mind for usually eight to twelve days out of thirty each month. And I would feel like I couldn't do a DIFFERENT post until that post was out. And then once it WAS posted, I either felt like I'd just posted and y'all wouldn't want to see anything already or, more usually, that I DIDN'T want to spend another hour and half on the blog so soon. About November, I decided I wanted to finish the year out, but I could do three blog posts in the same amount of time if I spread it out over the month, with a whole lot less feelings of failure. It was one of those "practical" decisions of my goal for Rest (which I'll talk about more sometime), and I'm not regretting that decision.

But, regardless of that; I did still have some weird little moments saved in draft form. And I did have some pictures on my phone, which, though blurry, are 3 times easier to upload to blogger than from the camera. So, it's not as long as formerly. And I'm not organizing it like I used to. But here's a few small things to look back on :)!

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My brain: "I need to go..."
My words: "I need to glow."
Thank you very much, self, I prefer the term sparkle.

Tori: "Show me your muscles!"
Peter: *flexes his hand right into his head* "...Ow."

Abbi and Emmi playing "Life", while keeping a running conversation between the peg characters as they move along:
Abbi: loses all of her money
Emmi: "Hey Mom, can we get lunch?!"
Abbi: "No!"
Emmi: "Awwwww, why not?"
Abbi: "BECAUSE. We're not getting lunch; we're *getting* poor!"

Random idle thought: why do people command others to eat cake on their birthday? I mean, it makes us non-cake-lovers feel like a disappointment to you when you give such a sincere and animated command to EAT  SOME CAKE!, and we have to tell you that we can't see wasting our birthday on cake. We don't tell you to eat brownies on YOUR birthday... even though you should. Haha!

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I made donuts while I listened to a sermon one Monday morning. Donuts are so much fun to make... and take so long thanks to needing like 3 1/2 dozen mini donuts, haha! Listening to sermons has been another of those little decisions of Resting :)...


I love to hang up quotes and bible verses all over my room. The goal is to change them every few weeks, but I didn't change the Christmas ones until I undecorated, haha. And Emmi just reminded me last night that I forgot the scripture references, oops. Do you see how Rest slipped into these, too?


Two things I enjoyed last month: marking things off to-do lists, and attending our Church's first conference since we moved into the new sanctuary. It took some effort and some planning and some late nights, but it was worth it. It was refreshing, it provided food for thought, and gave me a chance to connect with our church a little more :). The theme was Biblical Responses to the Gospel, and there was beautiful singing at the beginning of the sessions, and it was a wonderful week :).


He's still one of the cutest. That grin. The way he loves to read. His hair that is getting curlier in the front, but still doesn't curl as much in the front as in the back, haha! He has started pretending he is a puppy... he crawls around and "woof!"s and pants (and, if we aren't careful, licks, yuck), and I have been trying to get a picture, but every time I stop petting his head to get out my phone, he leaves...


Gramma got me this book, called "Should I Share My Ice Cream". I saved it to read with the little ones, so it took a few weeks to get alllll of them together at the same time. But when I did... if you want a biography of me... well, here it is. Indecisive, ice cream loving, glasses wearing, sentimental, easy to touch, plans always going askew or backwards and yet life being full of the little moments that make happy endings, me. It was short, but it was spot on! I told my gramma, and she said she wished she'd read it... she just saw glasses and ice cream. Haha!


We were given a bag of knit items by a kind lady at church,and Noah was positively dashing in his church sweater and this hat, even if it still had the tag on!


Lots of games with my little sibs made my early January extra fun! Peter was so studious over this Othello game!


This six page, double sided letter took me a whole afternoon to write. But it was so. much. fun. I love when conversation, even on the page, is not forced!

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And I have a little shop announcement! Here's what I shared on shop's social media this afternoon...

"So, I am doing things just a little bit different this weekend! Are you ready for a sale and a chance to win a giveaway?!

If I get $25 worth of sales in my shop this week, one of YOU gets a free item of your choice ($26 or less in value) for helping me reach that!

You don't have to make a big purchase, though! My lace bookmarks are 50% this weekend, and then smallest of them is only $2.25 right now. For less than three dollars, you get a chance at a free $26 item!

Or, you could just spend $25 yourself and automatically win it... it's totally fair per the rules ;). Just make your purchases by Sunday night!" And I would very much appreciate if you would share this "event" as well :)! Comment and let me know if you do, so  I can thank those who deserve it <3.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/UnderTheTapestry

Love in Christ to each of you,
Bri <3

14 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about how much effort wrap-up posts take! I did them every quarter for a while. The doughnuts look so good! And yes, listening to sermons makes a lot of things more meaningful. :) I'm trying to get into the habit of putting verses and quotes around my room, or in places where I'll see them often too.

    Anyway, I also wanted to say I really appreciated your previous post, although I didn't get to comment. It's really relevant to my life right now. xx

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    1. It was fun to try, and I'm still not positive I wouldn't do it again, but it IS work, and I just needed to make some changes :). Glad you understand!

      They were! It's my aunt's recipe, and they are maple glazed... mmm! And I agree <3!

      It's a wonderful habit! Even just sitting down to pick them out/write them down encourages me, even if they were out for us all to see the rest of the time :)...

      Jessica <3!!! Thank you, girl! I wrote that post from my heart -really, for me, if I am honest- and so it is such a joy to me to know that the Lord has used it in the lives of those who visit my little domain. May the Lord receive the praise as we Rest and Trust and Worship Him through His grace <3!

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  2. Hello friend!

    I know just what you mean about posting. I have blogged in almost 3 weeks, and I feel horrible about it. Some posts just take me so long to write, and other things come up and distract me, so then it gets put off till another day.

    I don't know why people expect you to eat cake cake on your birthday....good question. Ooooh, I love brownies. Have you ever had brownie alamoe which is brownies with ice cream on top? That's delicious. Every time my Grandma or someone else has a birthday (except for us grandchildren and our parents), she has vanilla cake with strawberries in it from this grocery store. Every.single.time. But every time one of us grandchildren has a birthday or my dad or mom, we have a variety. :) My dad has a favorite dessert, and it's chrry cream cheesecake. It's kinda funny how she expects everyone to have that since it's her favorite cake.

    Wow. Six page letters are my kind of letters. Hehehe. Once I had this pen pal who only wrote less than a half page letter. 😶

    What a sweet giveaway. I do hope you'll get $25 in sales this week. I'll spread the word about it for you.

    Well I better go now. Have a spectaluar, good and godly day!

    Thinking of and praying for you,
    Ashley
    Ps. I am so excited to hear about what you thought about the subscription. :)

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    1. Hello there, also-my-friend ;)!

      Aw, Ashley! Don't feel horrible about it! That's okay for me, but not for you... hahaha! Your blog isn't to impress others, but just to share what the Lord lays on your heart when He gives you the time!!! But I know the feeling. I'm sorry!

      It's odd, isn't it ;)? Be separate from this world (in our house, "Be The Llama!")... don't eat cake... hahahaha! I'm just being silly. I like cake. Just not to eat of my birthday ;). Cherry cream cheesecake sounds delicious right now, even though I don't like canned cherries. And that's kind of cute about your grandma, actually, haha!
      Yesssss, it's my favorite way to eat brownies! Though I'll always take just a day old brownie with caramel drizzled over. Or a plain brownie. BROWNIES! ;)

      Is that really? Nice to know ;). Oh dear, that's not enough time to say hello and goodbye properly... haha! I would be very sad...

      Thank you, Ashley! It means a lot to me!

      Also -yep! I got my subscription today, and the next thing on my to-do list today is to go leave a review <3!!!

      I hope you have a wonderful, joyful, and godly day as well!
      Love,
      Bri :)

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    2. Oh, I forgot to also say, thank you for making me smile. (Today has been kinda stormy.)

      I know! That's what I thought. And no matter how long a letter I wrote her, hers were always super short.

      Oh yay! I look forward to reading your thoughts. :) And if you want to share about it and pictures on your blog, I don't mind,

      Lovingly,
      Ashley

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    3. Thank you?! Why, what have I done, girl?! I'm glad the Lord could bring a smile your way when you needed it, though <3!

      That's sad! I've had pen pals like that... not quite that short, but still, just very bare bones replies no matter WHAT I sent them, haha :).

      I don't know if you saw my message on Etsy... I won't be able to leave an Etsy review until the purchase closes on Etsy. But I'll come back! I have it typed up to post then! And I'll send you that review for your blog :)!

      Love,
      Bri

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    4. You haven't done anything. :)

      Okay. Tht sounds good. I haven't ever posted about that on my blog, so this will be the perfect introduction post. 🙃

      Love,
      Ashley

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    5. Hey Ashley!

      I went ahead and posted my subscription review on my blog :). You can share it on your etsy blog; if you would like me to email you the pictures I included, let me know :)!

      Love,
      Bri

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  3. Enjoyed your introduction :) And I was about to correct you when I noticed you had fixed it. I SHOULD HAVE COMMENTED EARLIER. Lol!!!!!
    go...glow..."Thank you very much, self, I prefer to sparkle." Bahahaha!!
    Your random idle thought about cake and birthdays. Lol! But I haven't really experienced that, because in our house, the birthday person is encouraged to choose their dessert with little to no outside pressure to make it cake. Haha!
    Those donuts look beautiful! ...most of them.
    I might as well be like you and let you know that I'd already seen several of the pictures in this post, and that's wonderful, because it means I'm part of your life. ;P <3
    LOVE Noah's? Jo's? smile <3 <3 (in the pic of him reading)
    I remember that letter! Haha! I don't know how you girls do it. And your jokes and sarcasm about letters to each other above are *hilarious*.

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    1. Thank you :). And -bwahahaha! The Bri wins this round! Lol! I'm not sure why I have done that one mistake so often lately!
      Well, it's true. *laughing face*
      Oh, we do that as well. Andrew likes pumpkin pie. I like brownies. Bethi chooses a skillet cookie pie. Etc. But we still get told in cards and social media comments to "enjoy some cake". Haha! I always feel so guilty when I don't, hahaha! I saw someone say it to another friend, and I wondered if she would feel the same way, and I wondered how it became a thing, haha!
      Don't pick on my first little batch that had to suffer the imperfect actions of their fallible creator. Haha! I wrote down alllllll the notes I could on the recipe so that next time, there doesn't have to be a test batch! They will all be beautiful. And eaten, so it really doesn't matter... but I'd like them to be beautiful anyway ;).
      Hahaha! Yes, yes dear, you are <3.
      Noah <3. I love him so much. He's so cheesy, haha!
      Do you? Haha! Good for you ;). It's so normal though, I don't know how we'd not, hahaha! Thank you?... hahaha!

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    2. What I'm wondering is how we both know what the other is referring too? Haha! I was so confused...uploading from the phone was easier than uploading from the phone? Hahaha!
      Haha :) I've never heard of a skillet cookie pie!
      Sorry! Lol! I couldn't help it ;) I know what you mean :)
      <3
      Wha? Lol ;) Whatever, haha! Um, you're welcome?...hahaha!

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    3. I admit... I had to read it quite closely before I remembered what I changed, haha!
      It's just a chocolate cookie baked all in one skillet so it's shaped like a pie... it's almost like a chocolate chip blondie, but not exactly :).
      I know ;). You are too much a part of my life... hahaha! <3
      Lol! We're a mess. Or at least I am and it confuses people ;).

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    4. Lol!
      Sounds really yummy!! Don't know what a chocolate chip blondie is though, so...haha!

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    5. Well, that wasn't very helpful, then, was it? Hahaha!

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"May the Lord, the God of your fathers... bless you!" Deuteronomy 1:11