Oh the fun of fashion! Every season I look forward to seeing what the new "must have" fashions are. Although it can sometimes be a difficult time (because I cannot afford everything I want) it usually is exciting! I know not everyone gets into it like I do but I love it, always have, probably always will. So, I decided to dedicate this entry to my passion for fashion....ha, I like that. I must state that I am not a fashionista, I love clothing and I try my darndest to put things together nicely but I am pretty thrifty which doesn't always get me the exact look I want. Which brings me to my point. This season I found there are a few "must have's" that are not expensive. I found that without spending a lot I got a lot of what is "in". So I decided to pass on my finds to you, my beloved readers. The 3 items I think are needed are as follows....flats, some bold jewelry, and belts.
Let's start with the flats. I purchased both a black patten leather pair (a couple years ago!) and a brown pair (this year). Flats really will go with anything from a pair of jeans, to khaki's to skirts. I found a great pair at JCPenny, of all places, and they are both casual and dressy at the same time. And if you don't already have some shorter pants I suggest going to a tailor, paying the $10 it costs to get a pair of your black pants and jeans hemmed.
Next, let's talk belts. Of course, the practical me chose both black and brown. I have however, seen some great animal print one's that would jazz up any outfit. The reason I think belt's are a must is because again they don't cost much and they are being worn over everything from blouses to sweaters. I like them right at my waist however, my friend said that she does not like that because they make her look short waisted. So for her a looser belt worn at the hips works best. Last week for church I paired a black pair of wide legged trousers (already had them) with my black flats, a red short sleeve sweater (had it) and a black belt with a gold buckle (JCPenny $12) over top. I also threw on a gold circle, larger type necklace, with matching earrings (Target for $10). My new friend Diana said "love the jewelry, is it from Loft". Tip: If you really want to save some money I found that they now have these reversible belts. Black on one side and brown on the other. These are great especially if you want a gold buckle and a silver...you only need to purchase two belts vs. four!
Onto jewelry...I have always struggled with picking out the right jewelry. My friends Megan and Bri are awesome at getting the right jewelry look and so is my sister-in-law Janelle. They all seem to have a knack for picking out "statement" pieces. I always thought "statement" pieces cost a lot, until recently. What you need to do is don't be too practical, be a little adventurous and risky and look for SALES. Great places for jewelry, often on sale are Parisan, Coldwater Creek (not a big fan of the clothes but awesome jewelry), Target and JCPenny. I happen to stumble upon a great sale at Parisan the other day. And I did it! I took the plunge and got a couple necklaces and matching earrings that I probably would not have picked out prior seasons. Total came to $42! No, these pieces will not go with everything I have. Who cares though? How often do you actually wear things that would require adventuresome jewelry...not often. And for that matter how often do you see the same people when you do?! So, I say go for it! I picked a colorful stone necklace that I plan to pair with a white button up shirt and a pair of jeans (both of which we probably all already have).
Make fashion fun this season. Pull out those short pant from seasons past. Put a belt over that cardigan. And take a risk with a cool necklace.
This was fun...I would love to hear from you. You can leave suggestions under the area of the blog that you write a comment. I am always looking for great deals or idea's, so please fill me in on some of your great finds! And I believe that everyone can see what you write so anyone who reads this can use your advice. I am thinking of making my "State Farm" corner into a "Best Buys" corner for adult and children's clothes, home decor, etc.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
New Beginnings
Seeing as I have not blogged in a REALLY long time there is a lot to say and not a lot of time to write. The boys need me now more then ever. Didn't realize how much of a help Kennedy was! We are doing well adjusting to our new life though. Here's a quick run down....
Luke has already made a friend across the street who by the way, has a 14 year old sister who loves to babysit! He seems to enjoy our new church as well. He walks right into his classroom without hardly saying goodbye. He has already memorized a verse...I could not be more proud! Seeing as he is not doing preschool this year I have been working with him. He is so good about sitting down to work and he seems to pick things up pretty easy. Which is great for me seeing as I am new to this "teacher" role.
Jack is our little chatter box. He goes on and on, sounds like he is even asking us questions but we have no idea what he is saying. He is at that stage though where he understands what we are saying to him. I love this age. He is such a little lover and yet so playful. I will cherish this time with my boys and I am thankful for it. We have no distractions, just each other during the day. I know that will change as we meet people and our activities start up soon. I just don't want to take it for granted.
We start MOPS at Ada Bible church (our church) next week and I am going to a couple functions for the Ada MOMS Club to see if it is a good fit for us. These things will help get the boys the socialization they really need now AND it will be fun for me to finally join a MOMS Club. My friend Jamie Lynch has been very active in hers for years and I have always wanted to find a good one!
Neil and I are loving being here. I am not just saying that...contrary to how most people would feel leaving great neighbors, family and a treasure of a city, we are actually very happy. We love the laid back feel of this area, the beautiful "up north" setting, and the friendly people. But, the main reason we are so happy is because God made it SO clear this was HIS plan for us. I am going to go into detail..... as I reflect on all he has done for us I am simply in AWE. Some may chalk these things up to coincidence or luck....I however, do not.
Actually some things are a little personal so I will leave those pieces out although they played a key part in us knowing it was time to move. As most of you know we had planned to sell the house. Neil left for Ionia in March and we knew we needed to have it sold by the end of Aug. because that was when Kennedy started school and there was not any other reason for me to stay beyond that point. My plan was that I would live with my parents if the house sold early so that Kennedy could remain with me. God sure knew what he was doing...in the end the house did sell a month before Kennedy started school, I ended up having go stay with my parents for a couple weeks. That was enough time! It is not easy to bring two households together under the same roof and any longer then two weeks would not have worked. So as disappointed as I was at the time that the house hadn't sold earlier, it was God's provision that it sold when it did.
Next, we had posted the house on Craigs List hoping for a renter seeing as it was not selling, we were running out of time. The renter that we wanted turned us down...the second one wanted the house all we had to do was send the paper work over that morning. That same day the couple that ended up buying the house wanted to see it. I was hesitant but something told me to let them see it anyway. It was always such a burden to get it ready to show especially with two kids! God sent Kristin and Adam at EXACTLY the right time. The women who was supposed to rent the house took the news very well and actually found another place in Plymouth to rent. Kristin and Adam wanted to be in the house by Sept. 1st and that was when we wanted to be out. The next issue though was could we get to the bank on time. Usually it takes a while to close however, God provided the last possible date of the month for us to close on! In regard to our place here....well Neil had told a guy from his Rotary Club that we would rent his house...without even seeing it. I'm sure he thought it would be just fine...it wasn't. I came up for Gary's Retirement party (agent Neil took over for) one weekend and we went to take a look...not good. So off to the retirement party we went. Keep in mind Neil was living with Gary at this time (another awesome blessing) but it was time for him to go seeing as Gary was no longer running the office. It was now Sat. evening and we had no place for Neil to live. At the party we ran into one of Gary's kids who happened to mention that his buddy had a condo that he needed to rent soon. Scott called Andy (landlord) and asked if we could see it right then. Guess what?? Went to see it and it was perfect for us. Even down to the colors it was painted...who says God doesn't care about the littlest of details in our lives! He sure does and he delights is blessing us as the Bible says.
As I am looking at how long this post is getting I feel that I should stop. There really is SO much more. I write this because I want you to be encouraged and know that God care's about every detail of our lives. He just wants us to put things in his hands. I really tried to do that through this entire process from the time Neil said he was interested in the Ionia office. I wanted so badly to see God work...it can be so easy to miss. But, he answered prayer after prayer. No not always in the way I wanted them answered but he showed me that even his "no" was the right answer, I just couldn't see it at the time. One last thing.....the amount of money that we had to bring to the bank when we sold our house was the exact amount that State Farm gave us to move. I will end with an AMEN!
Luke has already made a friend across the street who by the way, has a 14 year old sister who loves to babysit! He seems to enjoy our new church as well. He walks right into his classroom without hardly saying goodbye. He has already memorized a verse...I could not be more proud! Seeing as he is not doing preschool this year I have been working with him. He is so good about sitting down to work and he seems to pick things up pretty easy. Which is great for me seeing as I am new to this "teacher" role.
Jack is our little chatter box. He goes on and on, sounds like he is even asking us questions but we have no idea what he is saying. He is at that stage though where he understands what we are saying to him. I love this age. He is such a little lover and yet so playful. I will cherish this time with my boys and I am thankful for it. We have no distractions, just each other during the day. I know that will change as we meet people and our activities start up soon. I just don't want to take it for granted.
We start MOPS at Ada Bible church (our church) next week and I am going to a couple functions for the Ada MOMS Club to see if it is a good fit for us. These things will help get the boys the socialization they really need now AND it will be fun for me to finally join a MOMS Club. My friend Jamie Lynch has been very active in hers for years and I have always wanted to find a good one!
Neil and I are loving being here. I am not just saying that...contrary to how most people would feel leaving great neighbors, family and a treasure of a city, we are actually very happy. We love the laid back feel of this area, the beautiful "up north" setting, and the friendly people. But, the main reason we are so happy is because God made it SO clear this was HIS plan for us. I am going to go into detail..... as I reflect on all he has done for us I am simply in AWE. Some may chalk these things up to coincidence or luck....I however, do not.
Actually some things are a little personal so I will leave those pieces out although they played a key part in us knowing it was time to move. As most of you know we had planned to sell the house. Neil left for Ionia in March and we knew we needed to have it sold by the end of Aug. because that was when Kennedy started school and there was not any other reason for me to stay beyond that point. My plan was that I would live with my parents if the house sold early so that Kennedy could remain with me. God sure knew what he was doing...in the end the house did sell a month before Kennedy started school, I ended up having go stay with my parents for a couple weeks. That was enough time! It is not easy to bring two households together under the same roof and any longer then two weeks would not have worked. So as disappointed as I was at the time that the house hadn't sold earlier, it was God's provision that it sold when it did.
Next, we had posted the house on Craigs List hoping for a renter seeing as it was not selling, we were running out of time. The renter that we wanted turned us down...the second one wanted the house all we had to do was send the paper work over that morning. That same day the couple that ended up buying the house wanted to see it. I was hesitant but something told me to let them see it anyway. It was always such a burden to get it ready to show especially with two kids! God sent Kristin and Adam at EXACTLY the right time. The women who was supposed to rent the house took the news very well and actually found another place in Plymouth to rent. Kristin and Adam wanted to be in the house by Sept. 1st and that was when we wanted to be out. The next issue though was could we get to the bank on time. Usually it takes a while to close however, God provided the last possible date of the month for us to close on! In regard to our place here....well Neil had told a guy from his Rotary Club that we would rent his house...without even seeing it. I'm sure he thought it would be just fine...it wasn't. I came up for Gary's Retirement party (agent Neil took over for) one weekend and we went to take a look...not good. So off to the retirement party we went. Keep in mind Neil was living with Gary at this time (another awesome blessing) but it was time for him to go seeing as Gary was no longer running the office. It was now Sat. evening and we had no place for Neil to live. At the party we ran into one of Gary's kids who happened to mention that his buddy had a condo that he needed to rent soon. Scott called Andy (landlord) and asked if we could see it right then. Guess what?? Went to see it and it was perfect for us. Even down to the colors it was painted...who says God doesn't care about the littlest of details in our lives! He sure does and he delights is blessing us as the Bible says.
As I am looking at how long this post is getting I feel that I should stop. There really is SO much more. I write this because I want you to be encouraged and know that God care's about every detail of our lives. He just wants us to put things in his hands. I really tried to do that through this entire process from the time Neil said he was interested in the Ionia office. I wanted so badly to see God work...it can be so easy to miss. But, he answered prayer after prayer. No not always in the way I wanted them answered but he showed me that even his "no" was the right answer, I just couldn't see it at the time. One last thing.....the amount of money that we had to bring to the bank when we sold our house was the exact amount that State Farm gave us to move. I will end with an AMEN!
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