Summertime Arm Party

Two of my favorite girls, Leonora of Yellow Heart Art and Ilene of Much Love, Illy, got together to host a Summertime Arm Party. I was super excited to be part of the exchange, especially because I got to meet both the host in person a few months ago! If you think their blogs are amazing, you should meet them in person! They are so funny and sweet!

Wanna know who else is sweet? My arm party partner Regina of Acute Designs.

She sent me this cute little package

With these fun bracelets

Aren't they cute?

If you get the opportunity to be part of an exchange I highly suggest joining! It was so much fun getting to create bracelets to send to a new friend and receiving a package back. As I told Regina, it reminded me of when I was a little girl and I would make bracelets all the time. Fun memories to relive :)

Wanna see the bracelets I created? Check out Regina's blog post here! 

And to see the rest of the arm party exchanges click below:

Halfway to 50!

You've spent many of your childhood birthdays camping, one birthday in boot camp, one birthday in Iraq, one birthday you may never remember yep, that 21st, two birthdays in Colorado, and this year we are happy to spend your birthday with you!

Happy Birthday to the most hardworking, dedicated, humble, handsome, caring man I know!
May your next 25 years be just as wonderful.

Love you hunny!

 

Saturday Feature: Simply Here

I hope everyone is kicking off their weekend right!

My husband has 5, count them 5, days off! This is amazing since he only gets one weekend off a month, and it is also a special weekend because it's his birthday! So while we are doing lots of celebrating, you should check out one of my newest sponsors, sweet Gina, of Simply Here.

 *****

Hi MMT followers! I’m Gina from Simply Here. My blog is a hodge podge of life! I share projects, recipes, and most of all my family.

What is your 'me time' and how do you find time in your day to get it?
I feel like I should start by telling you a little bit about my life before answering this question… I have a wonderful boyfriend (Wes) and together we have a beautiful daughter (Olivia.)

Wes and I both work full time and he also goes to school. So our weeks are pretty busy! Usually during the week I don’t get any time to myself at all. It’s difficult for me to find ‘me time’ not because there isn’t any time but because usually I’d rather spend it with my family or doing things for my sweet baby girl.

So even if it’s as simple as reading a book or painting my toe nails. I try to find at least an hour a week to do things I love, on my own. Another thing that I love love love doing is making our new house into a home and DIYing everything I have time to! Since we just moved in 4 months ago we haven’t done too much to our house but as we do I will post the progress on my blog and you can find all of that plus more on my “projects” tab. Including our deck transformation & this high chair makeover (I promise it’s 100% times better finished)

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon over on my blog! 

You can e-mail me at simplyyhere@gmail.com too! 

*****

I Hope That...

E, I hope that...

singing "You Are My Sunshine" will always bring a smile to your face
you will always tell me "I love you to the moon and back" and wait for me to say it back
daddy is always your hero
mommy's kisses will always make your boo-boos better
your pure love for people will never go away
you will always be excited to help out with the chores ;)
you're never afraid to speak your mind
mommy and daddy's bed will always be your safe zone
you will always love eating your fruits and veges as much as you do now

Most of all, I hope that no matter what happens in life, you will always know how much we love you!

 

What I Wore: Gingham

 Button-up: Old Navy. Skirt: Target. Belt: Charlotte Russe. Flats: Kohl's.

It's been a couple weeks sine I've posted a WIW post and I actually kinda missed them! Remember when I told you my wardrobe must-haves are button-ups? Well I wasn't kidding, right? I love 'em!

I've wanted this gingham button-up forever! Imagine my excitement when they had one left, in my exact size on the back wall of Old Navy. Oh, the outfits I've been thinking up ever since...

Happy hump day!

Linking up here & here

County Fair

A few weeks ago we had our county 4-H fair.  It was a lot of fun, but can I just say that I am happy the fair is only once a year. We spent two days there, over four hours each day! To say the least, it was exhausting, not to mention expensive! It was well worth it though! Nothing says summer more than spending time riding rides, eating fair cheese curds, drinking fresh squeezed lemonade and winning game prizes.

When E grows up, I hope that he will always remember the time he spent at the fair each summer. Such fun childhood memories!

Weekly Snippets

1. Making bracelets for the arm party. I was excited to be able to use some of my vintage buttons 2. Vintage button stash. 3. Picked these up from Target and it totally made me think of Stephanie 4. Teal, Polka dots, and rain drops on our lunch date to my favorite restaurant

1. #WIDN which was getting ready for the day... at 1 pm 2. I just love that boy so much! 3. What it looks like when you have an upstairs and downstairs. Alyson suggested we get a stairs basket, isn't that a great idea? I'm on the look out for a cute one 4. Bloggy friend date with Chelsea and Alyson

1. Perfect temperature for a run. The rain even held out until we were done. 2. Snuggling with the boys during the loud thunderstorm 3. Can't believe he is old enough for this. Backpack shopping before school starts in just a few weeks 4. So ready for fall now that I purchased these cute boots :)

How was your week?

Linking up here & here

Feature Post: The Williams Post

We have Kerrie, of The Williams Post, on the blog today! I am really excited because Kerrie is going to be one of my roomies at the Influence Conference this October. I don't think I've announced it on the blog that I'm going to the conference (must have slipped my mind), but I am really looking forward to it! Along with getting to know this lady better :)

*****

Hey Momma's Me Time readers! I'm Kerrie and I blog at The Williams' Post where I focus on living life on a Mission to serve others and share the love of Christ! On my blog, you'll find bits and pieces of our journey, focusing on God, married life, and missions -- with a few hobbies mixed in for good measure.

My "Me" time, I would imagine, doesn't look like "me time" at all. In fact, my me time is when I'm surrounded by others. I find my me time when I'm in Mexico. We travel there several times a year, to the same colonia, to do mission work. And it is there where I find rest. Especially when my husband and I are able to go on our own, just to visit with our friends and family there.

For more posts on our favorite place in the world, the place where we first met, and the place to where we will be moving next summer to live as full-time missionaries, check out my Mexico page.

 *****
 She is really doing amazing things and helping out so many people on these missions! Kerrie, you are an inspiration to me!

Be sure to check out Kerrie's Blog. Shop. Twitter.

DIY Map Dresser

I'm really excited to share this furniture Re-do with your today! We bought this dresser off of Craigslist, for $20, while we were still living in Colorado. I had big plans for it, but our tiny apartment didn't provide the space I would need to repaint such a big piece. When we moved back to Wisconsin, we took the dresser with us. So it has traveled the country! I've been working on it for so long! It's almost embarrassing how many layers of paint this dresser went through, but at last, it is exactly how I imagined it.

    Before   &   After

The fun part of this dresser is that I took maps of the states and cities that were most meaningful to us. That way I can show E each place he has traveled to and share the adventures we had in each city.

We chose a few different knobs for the dresser, since it will be used in E's room, we thought the mix- matched look would be fun. The maps and the knobs go perfect with his transportation themed room. Later on (when he grows up) I might switch the knobs to all be the same.

This is the biggest piece of furniture I've ever attempted to re-do, so it was a real challenge, but I've learned so much along the way. I love the meaning behind the piece and the memories it reminds me of :)

What do you think about this map dresser?

Linking up here and here

Proof of Your Love

Honestly, today I didn't have a post to publish. It's Wednesday which usually means I have a What I Wore post, but this week I didn't take any outfit pictures. So this morning I came up with plan B; I will post a project I completed. I spent all morning trying to edit existing photos and retaking bad photos of E's completed dresser, in hope to get a post together. As I waited for the new photos to upload I received a reminder on my phone to read my prayer plan. Multitasking at it's finest, I decided to read my prayer for the day hoping it would make me feel like I actually accomplished something today. After reading, I felt like I have been feeling a lot lately, lost.

I don't understand.

Does that ever happen to you? You read a scripture to only feel like you don't get it.

In efforts to gain some understanding I went to She Reads Truth and read some of the responses from that days prayer reading. Usually this is so helpful and inspiring to read. But today it left me feeling more like a failure.

What is wrong with me?

These women get it. They understand the scripture. These words speak to them.

Why aren't they speaking to me?

Feeling depressed and upset with myself, I continued to edit photos. It didn't feel right though. All I was doing was trying to avoid the feelings and the hurt.


Maybe I'm not good enough to be loved..

Then something told to to turn on my music. Just turn it on and listen. So I did. What I heard spoke straight to my heart. The Proof of Your Love by for King & Country was the first song I heard. That song and every single song that followed had lyrics that lifted all those feelings away. They spoke to me in a way that I can't even describe. Leaving tears to my eyes and relief in my heart. Suddenly, I wasn't lost. I was exactly where He wanted me to be.

The Lord speaks to us all in different ways, at different times. He always knows. Knows exactly what we need at exactly the right moment.

 

Weekly Snippets

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Here's a look at our week as seen through instagram @lisa_mommasmetime

1. State Capitol 2. Lake Monona is so beautiful 

1. Panera broccoli and cheese soup is the best thing ever! 2. This little guy turned 3.5 and was exhausted from our busy day

1. Love summer grilling 2. You wish you could be this cool ;)

1. Dreaming of fall! 2. Mini golfing date

Linking up here & here

Saturday Feature: Eisley Rae

Today on MMT, I have one of my favorite bloggy friends, Alyson of Eisley Rae here to tell us a little more about herself. Aside from blogging, Alyson is quite crafty and owns her own amazing shop! If you haven't already, you should definitely check it out here! My favorite is this sewing machine hoop art. Isn't her shop adorable? Well read below to learn more about her and where she will be moving to in just a few months! I will give you a hint, she is gonna have to start collecting some green and gold attire ;)

*****

What is your favorite and least favorite part about blogging? 
Without a doubt, the awesome ladies that I've been able to meet and become friends with! People like you, Lisa.. friendships started from blog comments & tweets and then turned into long phone messages through voxer and big plans to meet up in real life. Some of my closest friends now are women whom I've met through this great community. Those are my favorite parts. My least favorite would have to be that there are so many cliques, just like in high school. Can't we all just be nice & get along? ;) 

What's your favorite craft project?
Do you really expect me to pick just one? haha. That's so hard. I love sewing & painting, but lately I've been stitching up a storm and am really enjoying it.

What is your 'me' time and when do you get time in your day to find it?
Typically my 'me' time has been Wednesdays when both kids are in school. I lost my me time due to summer vacation, which is ok because I'm sharing that time (and every other day-haha) with my kids for these months. But, my 'me' time is about to change because I'm planning to start waking up way too early and go walking/running. I'm anxious and even bought me some pretty new Nikes. Not so sure I'll be that anxious when my alarm sounds at 5:30am.

'Me' time is SO important for me though and should be for all moms. It's so easy to loose yourself in your kids and yet so important for us as women to keep a hold on who WE are as a woman, not just a mom or a wife. Luckily, my husband is crazy supportive of me having time to myself (and vice versa). He's always willing to take the kids out to the park or something to give me some time to myself or to send me away for a while & him stay home with the kids.

What do you look forward to most about moving to WI?
You mean, besides meeting you, Karri, Allie and Jacqui? ;) There are so many things. I'm really excited for the seasons! Winter, spring, summer and fall. All of them. Here in the California desert we pretty much have HOT summer and kinda-cold winter. There's not a whole lot of the inbetween. I'm looking forward to the community, the beautiful neighborhood, living so close to an amazing city yet very near to the gorgeous country as well. Is it February yet?

*****

Not yet, Alyson! But before you know it we will be practically neighbors...well neighbors that live 1.5 hours away, but who's counting! ;)

Check out Alyson's blog. shop. facebook. twitter.

Have a great weekend!!