girl!

Just a quick note to say--

we're having another little girl!

I couldn't be happier!

so excited!

I am so excited to share my new logo, blog header, and etsy banner, all created by Juliet Jones! She is super talented and easy to work with, and gave me exactly what I had in mind. I love it. Stop by her blog and give her some love! This is just in time to have new business cards made for Indie Craft Parade. I have been making bags and sewing like crazy.

I have some ideas for a couple of new bag styles as well. I'll be accepting credit cards, thanks to Square. I am really excited. 


We have an ultrasound tomorrow at 18 weeks :) I have started bonding so much more with this baby. The first part was hard, honestly, and now that I feel a little better, I can enjoy the journey I guess. This second pregnancy has been really different than my first, and my life is so different than it was when I was pregnant with Piper. I love feeling kicks and movements, and have been daydreaming about this little one and who they will be. I hope we can see their little face. Piper would never be still long enough to let us see her face. I am so eager to meet this little life.


And this part I am so happy about... We are traveling to Colorado at the end of September to attend a week-long theology school with our friend John MacMurray (see also here), William Paul Young, Baxter Kruger, and some others. Being able to study the Bible with my husband again, away from work and law school, just being together and learning about God, is a huge gift. We were able to go on a dime, too, and I see God's care in my life by giving us this time together. I am still amazed that it all came together. This is a special gift. It means so much to me.


School started for Trevor last week, and the craziness of it all has begun. This is why I have been absent from my little blog. I have been getting a couple wholesale orders finished, and things will be a little hectic over the next few weeks with two weddings to shoot and ICP. But I love it, honestly. With the good and the bad. I am learning to be thankful during the hard times. As unconventional (sort of) and sometimes difficult our life is, I love this little family and all of our adventures. I love being able to work alongside my little girl. I love the environment of our home; it is so conducive to creativity. I love my husband and his heart. Piper just totally lights up when he comes home in the evenings. I am thankful.


And something totally random... my friend Rachel sewed through her finger. See pictures here. See her amazing work here. I had to share that. 


Okay so maybe the vlog will be a little while? Trevor is a little caught up right now. You understand of course :)


xoxo

a little about my story

So lately, there has been alot sewing and making things for my own house, some extra rest, some much needed time spent thinking and praying about Love. I made some pillows for my sofas, and I made a shirt pattern for myself (I am in the weird phase where things are beginning to not fit. This means lots of leggings and long shirts for me). I have been spending time in Romans again. It is so beautiful; the gospel is so beautiful. I painted my toenails a really nice sable color. I have been spending the mornings working on numbers and letters with Piper, I have been trying to take naps while Piper naps. All of this has been an intentional effort to live life, to rest. 


Also, I added a third column to my blog, and redesigned it. You can still find all the links on the right; pinterest, facebook, Lightnest Collective and all that fun stuff is still underneath the pages on the side (they are the ones that are illustrated with the dashed font). Oh, and kind of a fun thing-- go to luckymag.com/kids, scroll down until you see the add on the right for Stride Rite (I think it says 'Enter to win shoes for the year'), click on the add, and then click the tab that says 'Mommy and Me gallery'. Piper and I are the first box! Yay. Things like this also are kid of surreal. It is strange to see us on a major website like that. Anyway. I am super thankful for the opportunity (thank you Lucky and Stride Rite!).


That brings me to my point... I received an email yesterday from a sweet reader who found my blog through a comment I left on Martha Stewart's website. I wrote a comment about making tissue puffs for Piper's first birthday, and I included a picture. Anyway. She wrote about how she was initially struck by how I (and another blog she found) seemed like one of those women who has it all together. You know the ones. Super mom, perfect house, prefect hair/teeth/nails, the whole thing (my description, not hers). She then said that after reading a little, she changed her mind about that (in a good way!). You can read her post here. It got me thinking about how difficult it is to represent my life accurately here. It may look like I have it together because the pictures and blog design are nice (but really they don't mean that at all. They are just here because I like to make things look pretty). I love Lightnest and my sewing and photography, but it is also a job (read: we need the money). That means that I have to kind of self-promote a little. If you read the 'meet me' section of my blog, you'll see a blurb that is meant to convince prospective clients that I am competent. I don't have it together, guys. That may even be among the more notable things about me. I don't vacuum my floors frequently enough and manage money poorly. I mostly shop at thrift stores for our family (not just because I like to), and except for the things that were gifts from parents, nearly everything we own has been thrifted (aside from our white Ikea sofa. It was a splurge). I let Piper go out without shoes on and she is often running around at home without clothes on (hoping it's a phase?). Lightnest is one of the first things I have ever been remotely successful at, and it is a gift from God. I made alot of bad decisions growing up, and God rescued me from a life of addiction that nearly destroyed me. I haven't written much about this in the past, but this is who I am. Shortly after God broke into my life, Trevor and I were engaged, and we married in June 2006. We moved to Portland two months later to study the Bible at Multnomah, and graduated three years later at the age of 26. I was pregnant with Piper my whole last year, and she was born two weeks to the day after I graduated. It is a tremendous story of the gospel and grace, and I write this now to say that I have nothing to boast in other than the love of God that redeemed me and made me who I am today. All these things that I am doing now, I learned to do after Piper was born. They are evidence of God's love. He gave me this life, these tools and my identity. Reading in Romans (so amazing), this is one of Paul's main points. He had nothing to boast in but the Son of God who loved him, and the same thing is true for me. My friend Allie has a similar story, and she is going to be blogging about her life and struggles with addiction. You can read her blog here. She just started blogging, and has been having some technical issues, but keep checking back. I promise it will be worth the read.


I realized that many of you who read my blog may not be Christians. But this is my life, and I long for honesty and being known in my relationships, no matter how surface level they are. What is the point of blogging-- to make me look good? No, it is to write about and share life. So thank you for reading, even if you don't agree. I hope to write more openly about this in the future. Talking back and forth with Alli, I was telling her how i felt like I didn't have a voice in my blog anymore. I went through some really hard things-- a difficult season in my marriage, a miscarriage, my mom's illness, loneliness, stress, feeling distant from God, depression-- and I didn't feel like I was able to, or even wanted to, share honestly. So I wrote about more surface-level things, which are part of life too and can be nice. But I didn't really want to blog beyond sharing pictures and links here and there. Anyway. I love blogging, it enriches my life, and I want to tell my story. There you go.


I know the vlog keeps getting delayed, but it is coming!! Trevor is so good, he has so many good things to say, and I really want you guys to hear his passions for people who have no voice. Coming soon.


xoxo

one dress, 100 days, for orphans

My friend Eliani wore 1 dress for 100 days to raise money for children in India. Take a minute to go over to her website-- this is day 100!-- and consider making a donation. If 1,000 people gave $25 dollars, she could reach her goal.


Just a couple of quick other things (the vlog is still coming!). We have a LOT of this suzani upholstery fabric available for bags. Please email me if you want in on the action! Leather handles and jute handles are both options.


I loved this post by Lesley. She is the type of person that I could be friends with in real life... she doesn't pretend to have it all together (particularly when it comes to kids). She admits her need for grace and, thank God, doesn't even come close to acting like a good spankin' can cure everything. She just loves her little girl and isn't trying to hide that it is hard, and sometimes she doesn't know what to do. If you are a Christian parent and want to read (what I think are) great posts on raising children (written by someone more experienced and mature than me), check out here, here, here, and here. I love this woman's writing. She came out of fundamentalism and loves Jesus with all her might. 


I also just want to say that I am going to throw a huge party for my husband when he finishes school. That's all I have today. xo

holy cow, I am overwhelmed

So the overwhelming response about the vlog idea was yes. The vlog is a go. (I got the idea from my friend Emily. I know alot of people do the whole video thing on a regular basis, but she is someone I know and had not seen in a really long time because she lives on the opposite side of the country. Plus it was cool to see her laughing with her friend Jamie, who I have never met.) Trevor is excited to talk to you all.


Piper is up to her usual tricks :)  She is the most amazing little person, and I love her sense of humor. From the minute she gets up in the morning, up until the time she goes to bed, she makes me smile and laugh. She brings so much joy into our life. I can't believe how grown up she is. Even when she is being a whirlwind of mess making and doing things like coloring on our furniture with crayons (they were washable, thank God), she's darling, and I love her. She's still sleeping on an air mattress because of a mix up with the parts of her bed, and her dresser is still in process, and the whole house really is in a state of productive chaos. It is making my OCD senses tingle. You can see some of her art wall in the pictures. The whole room will take some time to come together, and I am comfortable with that. I would rather let a space evolve over time then try to get it all together at once. I realize that would drive some people crazy.


As far as work goes, I am totally overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done, but totally thankful to have the opportunities that I have right now. Tyler secured two large wholesale orders for Lightnest bags that will go to brick-and-mortar shops in the Atlanta area. I am very excited about this and really, really proud of both owners' enthusiastic responses to the bags. Very cool. Indie Craft Parade is in five weeks. I can't wait! I love this market. It was an awesome experience last year, extremely well planned, and had  a HUGE audience.  I am really looking forward to being part of it again this year. And... I am photographing two more weddings soon! Shane and Kristin are marrying on August 27th, and Austin and Amanda Kay are marrying on September 4th. Both will be beautiful. Etsy has picked up a little, but is still not where I want it to be long term. But that's really okay; I have all that I can handle right now. I am 15 weeks pregnant tomorrow!! Almost halfway! Well, sort of. I am really exhausted. But thankful.


And my husband... he is getting ready to being his final year of law school. Law school has been hard. But I am so proud of what he has accomplished.  God has been so kind, so generous, so faithful to give us these gifts. He can argue motions and do some other things this coming year under the third year practice act. But he can explain all that to you on his vlog. I am so hopeful for our future. I have no idea where we'll end up, but I am eager to see where God takes us. 


Get ready to meet Trevor! Be back soon.
xo