An Owl Nursery Surprise and Fun Features!

Happy Wednesday all!  I have thankfully had a bit of sleep and am starting to feel like I can function again.  I've wanted to share a sweet surprise we had last week when my friend Natasha and her little girl Lera came over to celebrate Isla's first birthday with us.  With Brian's work schedule we've had to postpone any official festivities for late May or June but these girls wanted to make sure Isla's day was special. And did they ever! 

I've been talking about decorating Isla's nursery with an owl theme for a year now. But the days are flying and I don't sew...poor girl has a comfy sort of room but it's just bare bones. At least it was! Natasha to the rescue! I am just floored by this amazing decor she designed and sewed from scratch! And the awesome wooden frames were made by her sweet husband, Scott. I ask you, could there BE anything cuter?? 

There is also a changing pad cover that goes with this set! I love the pink and peacock colors with line green, don't you?

I am so floored by this generosity and can't imagine how to thank them!  Every time I go by Isla's room this bright, beautiful decor makes me squeal!  I'll have a room reveal very soon when we get the bedding and curtains completed!  I love this picture of Natasha and Lera holding baby Isla who clearly loves her new room! 

If you are interested in contacting Natasha for pricing on her custom nursery decor shoot me an email at teaganstravels@yahoo.com. 

And now for some wonderful features from last week's linky party!

My friends know I am an absolutely sucker for Sinamay! Also known as decorator's mesh this stuff has changed my world since I discovered it last fall! Sew & Dipity is releasing several tutorials on how to decorate with Sinamay throughout the year and for weddings! You must check it out!

How cute is this little guy? My five year old nephew LOVED this submission from last week's party and excitedly told me I can make this for him too, no problem! He walked me through each of the pictures from the awesome Batman Dress-Up Set tutorial submitted by Sew Can Do. But at one point he stopped short, looked confused and said, "Do you even know how to sew???" Ahem. Working on it little man, working on it! This was definitely a favorite in our house this week!

These Chicken and Veggie pockets from Simply Sweet 'n Savory look delish and kid-friendly! Any time I can get my munchkins to eat healthier amounts to good times! This site has a ton of great recipes posted so be sure to check them out!

Thanks again for the awesome submissions, everyone! I can't wait to see what else you are working on this first week of May 2012!

Girl Talk!

Happy weekend everyone! I've been a bit under the weather this week and trying to fall into bed earlier at night so I didn't blog much. But happily the weekend is here, Brian's mom is visiting from Ireland and the weather has turned positively cold - all good things!

It's 4:40 am here and sleep just won't come so I thought I'd make a quick post to link up with Kelly's Korner's Show Us Your Life series. Today's topic is to show our favourite bible study or devotional book. That's an easy pick for me as I have a book I return to often. I can always glean a bit of new enjoyment and knowledge from it in the process. I've even purchased extra copies of this for girlfriends because in my opinion it is just.that.good.


If you've read my blog you know I love me some Lysa Terkeurst! She is funnnnnnnny! Oh! But that woman can make me laugh. She is so open and honest about life and I gotta say that I see so much of myself in her comedy of errors. Do read about the floating mattress incident or the not-so-perfect mommy moment where 100 wonderfully displayed brownies never made it to their intended recipients. I have never laughed so much while reading a non-fiction book. I've said it before that her writing feels like a good, therapeutic visit with a great girlfriend.

But she is also wise and powerful with her words. This book covers how to get beyond a routine bible study or Sunday-morning-church-service-life filled with checklists of what we think we ought to say and do. Lysa replaces that with the goal of getting us to all the joy and reward that comes from an authentic and dedicated life as a Christian.

One of the best things I learned here is how to set up my quiet time and personal devotionals with God. I mean, I suppose by my age I should know how to crack the Bible and just "get" what I need from it, right? But I've never felt really comfortable with that and instead rely heavily on someone else to guide me to a verse, give me an anecdote and then tell me what it is I need to know when I walk away from the study. This book teaches you how to analyze, dissect and digest what God is trying to say through those precious words. As a busy mom I want to make the most of these minutes of my day while gaining an in depth knowledge and relationship with Christ. It's something I am admittedly still working on but I am so thankful that I now have the know how through Lysa's book.

Check out some of these awesome chapter titles:
1. Trying to Be Good Enough
3. When I Feel Like I Don't Measure Up
4. Beyond Sunday Morning
5. Devotion Time Blues
10. When My Ugly Comes Out
11. How Jesus Helps Me Get My Groove Back
15. A Glorious Sense of Possibility

Oh man! Don't those titles just get you excited? I wanna read the book all over again! And do get the study guide and DVD that go with the book HERE! I studied this series with a mom's group where about 15 of us met at a friend's house. We paid someone a few dollars each to watch the kids upstairs. That let us have precious time to ourselves and the kids had a blast! We'd read a chapter or two in advance, watche the short DVD section and went through the discussion questions. But it is a great study on your own as well! Happy reading and leave me a post if you have a book to recommend as well or if you've read this one!