Monday 30 January 2012

A gift.

A good friend of mine recently gave birth to an exceedingly cute baby girl. This friend and her husband are very talented at making beautiful babies. Their five year old son is already a heart-breaker.

And so, knowing the calibre of their genes, the news that this little bean was a girl was all the more special - because lets be honest, whilst baby boys are amazing and SOO much fun, there is something nice about getting all girly in preparation for another little female to enter the world. Especially if this little girl was going to resemble something of her gentle, godly mother.

So early on in their pregnancy, i decided i wanted to sew Baby Girl a little gift. I quickly decided on a bird mobile, and got to work hand sewing each individual bird from fabric scraps left over from my wedding crafts. This project was honestly so much fun, but unbelievably time consuming..



I started a couple of months before my friend's due date intending for it be be finished in time with the nursery. To my shame, i didn't finish until Baby Girl was two months old (and then it spent an extra month hanging in my hallway waiting to be delivered!). 



Still i'm pretty pleased with it!
There were some teething problems with what to hang the birds from. I began with a cross shaped structure, made from two sticks bound together but the balance was off. In the end i used the wire circle from the large end of a lampshade. It holds up nicely, but next time i think i'll incorporate some colour and neaten things up a bit!!

I hope you like it Baby Girl :)

Yours,



Friday 20 January 2012

a new year.

I am hopeless when it comes to making new years resolutions. So hopeless that today is the 20th January, and i've only just got around to thinking about it.

I think that part of the reason why my lack of will power wins out, is that i have struggled in the past with whether or not i should make resolutions at all. Is it right? Is it biblical? Is it even possible? Am i just setting myself up for failure?
All too often my past resolutions have been shallow. I have vowed to lose weight, to change my appearance or to become more popular. These things are not bad in themselves, but i know that my resolutions have reflected an unhelpful attitude. They have said that i want to be different because i am not good enough as i am, or people will like me more/think i'm prettier if i become a certain way.
These motivations are not helpful, nor do they reflect Jesus.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 
My thoughts about myself and the goals i set should reflect this. 

So with that in mind, this year i want to set myself 7 goals* that i hope will help me to either grow in my relationship with God or to grow into the potential and opportunities that he has planned out for me.

(*note: the change of word - my attempt at fooling myself into carrying these goals through. If they aren't resolutions, they can't be broken right?)

1. Complete a freedom in Christ course. (i confess that i've already been to session one..)
2. Graduate this coming summer... with my sanity still intact.
3. Open my very first folksy shop. (and make time to actually create!)
4. Go on a holiday, just the two of us. Get in some real quality relaxation time, away from real life.
5. Dedicate time to prayer - push it way up the list of my priorities. To be prayerful in my actions.
6. To be more intentional. Whether thats with my work, with Steve, in my friendships or in my walk with God.  Basically to be more intentional with how i spend my time. 
7. Finally clear out the loft and turn it into the study/craft room. I know, i know how does this help me grow? But believe me, that room is the key to joy. Okay a slight exaggeration, but it will help me achieve goals 2&3.. so its valid!

There we have it. Maybe i should start this new-and-improved prayer life by praying i actually go through with it.

Yours,

Tuesday 17 January 2012

An exceptional husband

You see this man?

[[Mr. Bacon super excited about street food in Morocco]]

I love this man.
The kind of head over heels, all-consuming, find it funny when you fart in bed kind of love.

I love him because he visits my Grandad every week, without me asking.
I love his tone of voice when he says 'i love you so much'.
I love this man's loyalty and the integrity he has in his work.
I love his strops when i won't turn off the bedside light.
I love the tuft of hair that sticks out on the back of his head when he's got bed hair.
I love how he handles the responsibility of leading our marriage.
I love that he really knows me. 

I'm pretty convinced this man could do anything he put his mind to.

I am beyond grateful that God gave me you, Steve.
You are the most precious gift, and i intend to treasure you forever.


Yours always,

Our weekend.

I have found myself at a mental block every time i've come to write this second post. I have wanted to document the pretty ordinary things we've done this weekend (you know, because ordinary is sometimes super nice!).. 

 [[A yummy friday night dinner with my mummy]]
 [[Cuddles with Grim]]
 [[taking down the christmas decorations, at last! with much pouting from me]]
[[A saturday morning treat followed by an epic LOTR marathon - yes, awesome wife right here!! ]]

But  this is not all. It has been an utterly lovely and relaxed weekend - snuggled up in a world of our own. But it is also the second weekend this academic year i have had to return to Cambridge, husbandless for the next two months. And the truth is, that really sucks! 
I start to feel a niggle, deep down in my stomach in the days leading up to the beginning of term. I become a little more ratty, and a lot more emotional because i know that time is slipping away. The day i have to pack up the car and leave is coming. Honestly often my attitude stinks on these days,and i am always completely amazed at how graciously my husband handles mean Maddie :) I'm telling you, this man is a hero.

So here i am, back in the land of endless deadlines and constant high stress levels. In a bizarre alternate universe where i actually miss the snoring, the 6am wake up calls and the lack of space that comes with having a husband to snuggle up to at night. 

But hey, its not all bad.. 


[[the BEST game of nerd gun target practice ever to have been played]]



Yours,


Friday 13 January 2012

oh, hello.

So here it is, my first blog.
I have never seen myself as a blogger. I never really got it, putting yourself and your thoughts out there for people to see, for people to judge. The whole idea terrified me, it still does.

Of course i read blogs - avidly! I find myself checking my favourite blogs several times a day. I follow female bloggers mostly - crafters and mothers. Women who inspire me, the kind of women i want to be more like. I love the insight into their, often crazy, lives. The blogs i follow are honest and real, and so this too is the aim for this blog.

This is not a 'public' blog (i realise the irony of this statement ha!). If you find yourself here, enjoy and make yourself comfortable. Feel free to take a little look into my life and my thoughts, but please be clear that you are not the aim of it. This blog is for me, for my husband and, eventually, for our family. Its a way of documenting our lives, of treasuring and keeping our memories and of remembering all the ways in which we have been blessed.

Yours.