Loving the imperfections

My mom always says perfection is sin. I still ponder often exactly what that means but it sounds nice. I remember in college spending hours editing pictures until they were clear of every blemish and my eyes were sparkling blue. Well now with the hit of a button you can do that. I think it is rare anyone, myself included, posts a normal unedited version of anything. Well in honor of Easter and all my imperfections here's a real glimpse of the fam unedited. Eyes closed and all it is still pretty wonderful to me.

Thank you Jesus that we need not be perfect!

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus"

Romans 8:28

I won, I won!

I am so honored to win a "Versatile Blogger Award" from my sweet bloggy friend Elizabeth! She is always inspiring me with her kind words, encouraging stories and fantastic recipes. Check out her beautiful words here:

Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box

When receiving this award the rules are:

1. Thank and link to the person who awarded you

2. Share 7 facts about yourself

3. Pass on the award to 7 new-found blog friends

4. Let your friends know they were awarded!

S.E.V.E.N. things you should know about me.

O.N.E.

I am the oldest of F.I.V.E.

We all have F.O.U.R. names.

Taylor Allison Olivia (Weitzel) Arrington (26)

John Mason Christian Weitzel (24)

Larsen Aubree Meriweather Weitzel (21)

Chappel 'Chaps' Spencer Nelson Weitzel (16)

Courtlandt 'Court' Hamilton Sharpe Weitzel (14)

T.W.O.

I love old garden-esque cemeteries. Not in a morbid way! I love admiring the old stones and reading epitaphs. They are also a peaceful place to remind us what we look forward to as Christians (nobody is really there). 

Revelation 21:4 (King James Version)

 ⁴And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

T.H.R.E.E.

I am a card carrying member of the Teamsters Union.

In a lapse of judgement, I decided I was not going back to college one summer. My dad was happy to help me find a job with some of his clients loading trucks at UPS. Two weeks later I was happily exstatically enrolled and driving to Baylor University.

F.O.U.R.

I debuted into the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League in 2005...

and the National Debutante Cotillion in 2006.

F.I.V.E.

I attended half the schools in the Big 12 South:

University of Oklahoma- tennis team

Baylor University- for a change

Texas Tech University- Nursing School

I hated OU, liked Baylor and LOVED TECH!

In Lubbock I found myself, my best friends, my husband and my God.

S.I.X.

I told my best friend I would marry my husband before we actually met.

We made it official in San Antonio, Texas June 13, 2008.

Our guests threw tortillas instead of rice- an old Texas Tech alumni tradition.

He completed my heart.

S.E.V.E.N.

Valentines Day is my favorite holiday.

I have made handmade valentines for friends and family as long as I can remember.

I already know what my valentine will be in 2012!

S.E.V.E.N. people you cannot miss.

O.N.E.

Lori Weitzel: Orlando Illustrator

365 days of custom inspiration boards on pop culture, faith and family.

T.W.O.

The Wiegand's

An artist's perspective on faith, family and juggling it all.

T.H.R.E.E.

REAL FAT

An inspiring journey of weight loss from a christian perspective.

F.O.U.R.

P is for Party

A former party planner and mommy catalogues latest party trends and tips.

F.I.V.E.

Take Heart

A blog filled with encouragement, humor and DIY crafts.

S.I.X.

Texas Style and Substance

Cataloguing everything in vogue around the state of Texas.

S.E.V.E.N.

Letters from Coco

I am always inspired by her words on faith, family and everything else.

Easter Eggs and Good Friday

The Incredible Edible Easter Egg

I originally started out on a quest to figure out why we eat hot crossed buns on Good Friday (or for Easter)... I am sure there is a very important and interesting reason we do but the search could not keep my attention. However, I ended up finding out why we have Easter eggs instead of say Easter oranges...



Click here for some adorable egg decorating ideas!



My very condensed version is that the Catholic Church used to ban eating eggs during Lent. Therefore, eggs were often served on Easter, decorated and colored, as a celebration of Christ's Resurrection and the end of Lent. They were frequently decorated red, so the breaking of the shell was symbolic of the shedding of Christ's blood on the cross to give us new life. Also, eggs were boiled to preserve them during the Lenten season- do boiled eggs stay good a long time? I didn't know that! There is a lot more detailed info including stuff on Easter bunny, hunting eggs, etc. here and here if you are interested.

Good Friday

I absolutely love the Message translation of the bible! Even though some feel it controversial, it always makes things so much more clear to me. Just in case you are like me and wanted to read how the Message translates the original Good Friday in Mark 15, go here. And for more on Good Friday go here.

I love everything that is Easter- the candy, the clothes, the music, the colors.... But, today I am feeling sad and somber that I has taken me until Friday of Holy Week to remember what Easter is really about. How close did I come to not getting it at all?

I am reminded of one of my favorite hymns:

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,

and did my Sovereign die!

Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I? 

Chorus:

 But drops of tears can ne'er repay

the debt of love I owe.

Here, Lord, I give myself away;

'tis all that I can do.

 Was it for crimes that I have done,

he groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! Grace unknown!

And love beyond degree! Chorus

Well might the sun in darkness hide,

and shut its glories in,

when God, the mighty maker, died

for his own creature's sin. Chorus

Thus might I hide my blushing face
while his dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
and melt mine eyes to tears. Chorus

Have a blessed Friday and wonderful Easter weekend friends!

Identity and cathedrals

• I am kinda a closet book nerd. Last year one of the books I read was Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I love loved it! If you are a book worm you MUST add this this to your to-do list, simply put- amazing but very long. It is not a christian book by any stretch but it is a detailed story all about the building of cathedrals over the 13-15th centuries in Europe.
• Another thing about me- I am kinda a ditz (maybe not class A, definitely class B). Sad but true, IQ just fine, common sense- a little behind. I am not complaining, keeps life funny and interesting, I have learned to embrace it. The only reason I bring this up is God is so good to often reveal things to me slowly, just the way I will catch on. Jer. 1:5 Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you...

Last night was a light bulb moment a long time in the making. I spent a lot of time reading the 'Pillars'; then, recently I visited the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. and got to see the real life craftsmanship and detail is put into one.

Sadly the significance was totally lost on me.

It was brought up yesterday in a message that cathedral workers would spend their entire life working on these churches only to die before they would ever see the finished product and then never received credit for their individual work (like in 40, 50, 60 years of dedication to one goal).

I remember in the book, Master Builder Tom, never saw the finished cathedral, not even close. When it was done it was named "Kingsbridge Cathedral", no dedications, no plaques. All the glory was to God for providing the hands and resources to build such a wonder (even in this secular book).

The speaker compared that same passion of the unmentioned, dedicated cathedral workers to the everyday things we do that are invisible/ go un-noticed, that are sometimes hard to keep doing. She said they are part of God's plan, that they may never be recognized, that our recognition is not the point. What is your motivation?

CONVICTION- red blinking light...

I am soooo guilty of being a people pleaser, of wanting people to notice how good I am for the little things. Of getting my feelings hurt because of thinking... if they only knew... in fact if I were honest, a large part of my identity is in being a good and nice person, not in serving the Lord. OUCH

Psalm 51:9-10

⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.
      Remove the stain of my guilt.
 ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.
      Renew a loyal spirit within me.

 Have you ever heard the story about the carver... he was carving a bird on a pillar that would soon be covered by the roof, someone asked him if he knew that. He said he did. They asked why he would do some of his best work in a hidden place and he replied "because God sees".

Adventure a Car Ride Away

A city girl at heart there are a few things I just won't do: wear camo (there's nothing wrong with solid green and khaki), watch Nascar, ride a motorcycle, use Crisco, wear a bedazzled belt... I could go on, the point is a girl has to draw the line somewhere. Notice I didn't say never, I have done a lot of things I never thought I would do: camping, shoot a shotgun, ride a four wheeler, swim in a creek... and had a really great time! Camping I could've lived without, I mean it was OK for the 6 or so hours we did it, just not my thing.

But as my Grandma Val puts so well, you have to try a "no thank you portion" in food... and in life.

This weekend I tried my "no thank you portion", so to speak, of hiking! Every once in a while I will surprise myself and try something I madly fall in love with, like sushi or asics sneakers. But hiking is a whole new category of love, like totally enamored!

Living on the college budget, our travel category has changed from 'where does Southwest Airlines fly?' to... 'where can we drive?' and I am always surprised about how much our sweet state has to offer. Most recently we went to Caprock Canyons State Park. We were able to get there in under two hours and have five BEAUTIFUL hiking trails to choose from (of different difficulty). We did a middle level one (Lower Canyon Trail- over river beds and through the lower canyons), hopefully we can work up to the higher trails next time. The beauty was daunting and a perfect workout- right at two hours of hiking or 6.5 miles. Also, at this particular park there was a buffalo reserve where you could go spy on them in their natural habitat, super cool! There is just something I loved about traveling somewhere beautiful AND feeling like when you left you did something really productive. And drum roll... only cost $3, beat that! I am already planning our next hiking adventure! Here's a link to find your local Texas state parks... Texas Parks and Wildlife Enjoy!

^{Psalms 8:3-9}

^3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
   Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?

 ^5-8 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden's dawn light.
   You put us in charge of your handcrafted world, repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
   Made us lords of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild,
   Birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps.

 ⁹ God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the world.

How did I get here?

'For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' Jeremiah 29:11

Me, Mason, Larsen, Chaps, Court

If you know me, you know how excited I am about some of my friends starting to have kids! All the baby "stuff" is adorable, but really it is just so fun being around little 'people'. Takes me back to my own childhood, how goofy me and my siblings were, makes me think about what our own kids will be like. But the thing that I could've NEVER expected is it has made me have massive anxiety about starting our own family, like paralyzing, opposite-of baby fever, life-analyzing fear. Not really meaning to, I kind of asked an old friend yesterday if I was nuts and this is what she wrote:

'You and Clay will know when the time is right and even after that, you'll have those "oh crap what the heck was I thinking" moments ...God is amazing and you have to trust...'

Not that I ran home and changed my mind but this gave me some much needed peace. I can relate- this is very similar to the way I feel about being a wife and my new country-ish life. Not that I had some better, different life planned for myself... I really don't plan two feet in front of me most of the time (unless we are talking about party planning). But I frequently wonder how the selfish, spoiled, immature wife I was three years ago found myself so happy doing things like cooking, taking my dogs to the park, chasing a deer on a 4-wheeler, keeping the house clean for more than two days... a far cry from my old life of tennis lessons, Nordstroms shopping and take-out. God is so good, my path was not really straight to find my dreamy cowboy and new simpler life. But she is so right, while I have had my fair share of "what was I thinking" moments, I'm really happy and have faith that God is directing our path and molding my heart. I still can't wrap my head around us having all that responsibilty but I guess it makes sense to think God is bigger than parenting... and cooking...just saying.