The Simple Life

No, I am not talking about the show with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.  I am talking about times when it seemed that life was more simple.

Today I went to Colonial Day at Katie's school.  It's a day for all the 4th grade students to dress up as a profession from the colonial days and share with visitors.

As I walked around the room I was reminded of simpler times.  Not to say that life was easy back then (those folks worked hard) but there was such a simplicity that is so intriguing to me.

Whenever I watch a movie like Jane Austen flicks, I find myself desiring to live many years ago - and not just because I want to marry Mr. Darcy :-)

I want to spend my days cooking in a wood burning stove, practicing music, doing embroidery, and reading.  Oh, and writing letters.  I wish that I wrote more handwritten letters.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to spend time in some pretty primitive living conditions.  I really must say that some of my favorite times have been in villages.

Some of the best fish that I have ever eaten was in a Philippine fishing village.  Fish that was cooked by simply placing it on the roof and letting the sun bake it.

Some of the best bread that I have ever eaten was made in a Moroccan village.  It was cooked by being stuck to the inside of a clay oven.

Oh, and that one time that I ate the bread with butter that was made with milk that came straight from the cow.  I got to help churn that butter...bliss.

Now things just seem to be so complicated.  Microwaves, email, fast food, TV...the list goes on and on and on.  I am grateful for our advancements, but sometimes I just long for simplicity.

Some of my favorite "simple life" moments:

Drawing water from a well

Plucking a chicken

Spending some time living in a hut in a Sudanese refugee camp

The bathroom at the refugee camp (ok, so maybe not a "favorite" moment, but still pretty cool)

Yes, He is that into me.

I was thinking earlier (dangerous, I know).  My thoughts were spurred by this picture that I saw on this blog.

It's from that movie "He's Just Not That Into You", based on the book of the same title.  I will have to admit that I did see the movie and yes, I also read the book.  I hated the movie (don't waste your time watching it), but did kinda enjoy the book (though I can't comfortably recommend it because of the language).  

So, I saw this picture with the little movie quote and I was just thinking about all those guys through the years who were not that into me.  What's wrong with them anyway.  I'm totally an awesome catch :-)  Ok, prideful moment aside, sometimes it's hard being a girl.  

What's a girl to do when a guy catches her eye?  She may flirt a little.  Or, like me, she may freeze up and crawl into a shell every time she is around him because he is so dreamy it makes her nervous :-)  But in the end she is left hoping and wishing someone will show some interest and when they don't she is left thinking "I guess he's just not that into me."

So tonight I was thinking through those oh so many "he's just not that into me" moments I have had through the years when I felt Jesus speak to my spirit.  While I was thinking, "He's just not that into me," Jesus said, "but I am."  It even brings tears to my eyes thinking about it right now.  

My Jesus is so "into me" it's incomprehensible.  He loves me with an everlasting love that will never fade or expect me to look like a super model.  

The quote in the picture says, "If a guy wants to be with a girl, he will make it happen, no matter what."  Taking that into the context of what Jesus did on the cross to have a relationship with me, I am just blown away.  God wanted to be with me.  He wanted a daily relationship with me and Jesus paid the price to make it happen "no matter what."

I love that Jesus tells me that He is into me.  It makes me see through to my worth.  He really is all that really matters.  He is the only lasting perfect love.  In all honesty, I would not mind someone else coming along and sweeping me off my feet, but really and truly my Jesus is enough for me.

So there you have it.  There is a little glimpse into my thoughts.  

My Jesus is into me.  

He's see what a wonderful catch I am.  

I love Him.  

He's pretty much the best ever :-)

As seen on Etsy

Etsy is one of my favorite sites to look at on the internet.  I love seeing what people out there are making.  If you don't already know much about Etsy, get to know it.  It's awesome...and I hope to have a store soon.  And then you will really need to be visiting Etsy often :-)

Here are some of my favorite things that I have found while browsing around Etsy.

I have had my eye on this necklace and matching ring for awhile.  So cute and simple.  I love it oh so very much.

I really like this hat.  But I have been thinking that I need to yarn up one myself :-)

You have got to be kidding me!  This sweet baby and cute hate are to die for!

Esty thought that I might like this.  They were right.

I love these.  If I had a home I would probably buy them.

I don't think that a day goes by that I don't find something on Etsy that I absolutely love.  I keep a good track of things on my Tumblr.  So you can always check here for more.

Freedom Friday - what I think about when there is no sleep

Awhile back I started what was going to be a regular Friday post called Fair Trade Friday.  But I found that the title just limits me too much, so I have decided to rename my Friday posts "Freedom Friday".  This came to me at about 3:00 am.  Which really leads to what I want to share today.

I couldn't sleep last night.  From about 12:00 to 4:00 my eyes were wide awake.  Granted I did get a few hours of sleep before my bladder did the midnight wake up call.  So, don't feel too sorry for me.  I got a good 5 hours of sleep and I am good to go for today :-)

I opened my window shade to see if the snow forecasted was actually happening (it wasn't) and then I just laid in my bed listening to music, thinking, and looking into the sky outside.  Here is the music I was listening to:

It is currently my favorite CD.  You can buy your own here or on iTunes using the giftcard you got for Christmas like I did :-)  

A lot of times when I listen to music I tend to dance around in my head - imaginary dancing Melany has awesome moves :-)  It's one of the ways I tend to connect deeper with Jesus.  

As I was listening...and dancing...in my head, one line really penetrated my heart.  "There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain."  

You know, it's really so very true and gives such great hope.  There is not anything that I can do in my human strength.  But through the power Jesus left in His Spirit, I can break chains.  The name of Jesus is powerful and makes darkness flee.  

I love the name of Jesus.  I love the man of Jesus (He is my favorite).  I love His love for us and His sacrifice defeating all evil and replacing it with great power and hope.  He truly is the hope of the world.

The issue of modern day slavery moves me.  It really does break my heart and one thing that I have come to know is that I am oh so grateful for the compassion of God.  I literally can't handle this feeling on my own.  When I lay in the quiet of my room and can see faces of children in my head, the brokenness is something that I can't bear on my own.  But I know that the anger and hurt that I feel over the issue does not even begin to compare to how God feels about it.  He just gives me the very little piece that I can handle.  Any more and I would literally explode.

I believe God to be moving in the area of modern day slavery and I enlisted into the army years ago.  I look forward to more opportunities to get involved.  I cling to hope, which means that I cling to Jesus.  I stand grateful for the one who gives all power.

By the way, if you want to know some more about the power I write about and praying with that power, check out the message from my church this past Sunday:

Expecting HIS Power from DC Metro Church on Vimeo.

Thanks for sharing in my thoughts.  Have a wonderful weekend.  Over the weekend I plan to do some lighter posts like some of my favorite things on Etsy and my first time making homemade bread over Christmas.  Be back soon.

Wrap it up

I have wanted to start posting some DIYs onto my blog and what better way to start than with wrapping presents :-)  It's something that I am know for in my family and I just want to share my crazy love of wrapped presents with the world.

Let me preface this blogpost by stating that: yes, I do know that I am a dork.  (I am, after all,  about to write a tutorial on wrapping presents)

I am fully aware of the fact that I have a tendency to go a little overboard in this area.

 I don't think it is at all strange that one of my dream jobs is to work in the gift wrap department of Macys.

What can I say? I just like wrapping presents.

I also know that it is strange for me to be offering this tutorial AFTER the holidays, but just posting as I promised here :-)

So with that said, after all the comments over the years on my wrapped presents, I have decided to launch this tutorial.  I will be using pics that my sis took while I was wrapping Christmas presents. 

I always start with a very plain wrapping paper.  This year for Christmas, I chose a plain brown kraft paper:

First I cut the width of paper that I need.  I am weird and always have to have a straight cut on my wrapping paper rolls, so sometimes I wind up wrapping the paper around the present a few times.  Yes, I know...wasteful (shame on me).
After paper is cut, tape one end onto back of package to keep it from shifting.  Then wrap the paper around the package, going over the tapped portion and fold on the creased edge.  Here is where another of my funny little quirks comes in.  I can't have any tapped paper in the middle of a package.  It always has to be on a edge, so I crease along the edge and fold under the leftover paper.  Like this:



Yeah, pretty edges :-)  Tape it down and flip the box to wrap up the sides.  For the sides, I always fold the paper in on the sides and secure them first (don't have a picture, but you get the idea right).  I usually have a long piece left on the top and bottom, so what I do is crease the top portion like so:

Cut off the extra paper like this and then tape it down:

Now that the top edge is taped down flip the package over to do the bottom.  Crease like before.  Cut off the access, but this time leave enough paper to fold under.



Look at the pretty clean edge being made.  I tape along the edge and at each corner:


Do the same on the other side of the package.  I usually wind up with quite a lot of scraps.  The picture below is my Christmas presents leftovers:



But there were lots of presents :-)

Don't judge me please.

I love our planet too :-)

Now the pretty part - sprucing things up.  This year I have been kinda obsessed with sewing onto paper so I made my Christmas tags out of two pieces of paper sewed together and then I sewed buttons on.  Cute, yes?


I decided to overlay one type of ribbon over the other and wanted a few different options, resulting in the purchasing of the following ribbons:

First I put the wider ribbon on the package securing both ends of the ribbon on the back of the box - the only place where it is ok for tape to actually show :-)

I then put the more narrow ribbon around the box and tied a simple knot on the front:


Then I attached the tag.  This one was for Mama Doris and Papa:

And voila!

I was all about some simplicity this past Christmas.  I have also done things like:
- using small mirrors and writing names on them for gift tags
- painting names onto small Christmas ornaments for name tags
- used newspaper instead of wrapping paper

Happy wrapping!!!

Where to shop

Here is a list of websites that offer stores and resources to help you live a fair trade life.  

Need to buy a gift?  Have a home to decorate?  Looking for some cool accessories?  Ten Thousand Villages is a great website to look at.  They have products from all over the world (literally).  Shopping at this store does not only mean that you score some really cool cultural items, but you also get to help provide for the artisans making such wonderful things.  They have a website here, as well as stores located throughout the US.  I am lucky enough to have a store in my area.  Guess where I did some of my Christmas shopping? :-)

If you have followed by blog for awhile, you have already read about Not For Sale at this blogpost.  This organization is a movement with the desire to abolish slavery.  A few days I mentioned the book in my blogpost here (reading the book today).  They have a store on their website that contains resources, apparel, accessories, coffee, art, and more (just check it out).  You can reach their store by clicking on this link.

I just learned about this extension of the Not For Sale campaign at my friend Karisse's site.  See what she had to say here.  I will let Free2Word explain themselves.  In their "About" section they state, 

"Free2work.org is a singular location that streamlines and simplifies the process for consumers on the topic of most concern to its audience, modern-day slavery. On Free2work.org, consumers can easily search specific products, learn more about various labor standards and corporate practices, and further their engagement through their consumption decisions."

Basically they are monitoring companies and sending that information to us (the consumer).  They even have an Iphone app.  Now I want an Iphone :-)  Start exploring their website here.  

The Good Guide is a website similar to the Free2Work website.  It gives ratings on products in the areas of health, environment, and society.  Beware checking the products that you use (some of them are actually really yucky).    They also have an Iphone app.  Gosh, I really need an Iphone don't I?  Visit the GoodGuide website here.

Night Light is a jewelry ministry based out of one my favorite countries, Thailand.  This ministry gives women working in the Bangkok bar district an opportunity to leave the sex industry and make money by making jewelry (you can read more about it here).  This is another ministry that you have already heard about if you have followed my blog for awhile.  See this blogpost to see some of my favorite Night Light pretty things.  If you (or someone you know) is in need of some new jewelry, check out the Night Light store here.

Yet another ministry that you have already heard about if you are a follower of my blog.  You can read my original Thai Song post here.  This ministry is also ministering to women in Thailand (in case you could not tell by the title).  Their bags are so so so cool.  They use plastic bags and crochet them into beauty.  I love them and hope to have one of my own someday.  Seriously, they are so cool.  Check them out here (in grabbing this link, I discovered that they have new products.  Ahhh...I love it!)

I am sure that we have probably all heard of The Body Shop, but do you realize what they stand for.  Check out their "Values and Campaigns" link here.  And while you are at it get some "Soft Hands Kind Heart" hand lotion.  All proceeds go towards combating and raising awareness of the sex trafficking of children and young people.  Hand lotion is definitely a necessity this time of year.  Dry dry dry winter months :-(

So there you have it.  My little list of places to begin a life of fair trade shopping.  I know that there is probably so much more out there, so if you know of another site that needs to make it on the list, leave a comment below.  Have a wonderful week all :-)

I'm a winner!!

I just found out that I won a giveaway over at Julia's Poppies Design.  I am beyond thrilled.  I never win anything.  Check out these goodies coming my way:

Source

Go check out Jamie's blog here.  She is super cool :-)