valentine's day gift exchange with the Most Awesome Lady Ever: Sarah of Ringo's Girl

First, of all, let me just say... I believe in divine "appointments" of all kinds... even the random pairing up with a blogger friend for a Valentine's Day gift exchange! I just realized this morning that we totally missed the date for the link up part, but I wouldn't change anything because I've just met one of the neatest ladies ever and made a friend, oh so randomly... yet we are so alike in so many ways. When things are just too weird... too many similarities, too many things that you can relate on, so many things you admire in one another, then you know, it's more than just a random pairing. This was "meant to be"... and I hope we can keep in touch and get to know each other even more!!

So, meet this lovely, beautiful, lady: 

When I saw Sarah's first email in my inbox, I thought I was going to be reading an obligatory, punctuation mark filled, smiley face heart icon laced greeting message that was not really heartfelt or real. For me it is very hard to connect with people as I have a hard time with small talk. I have few close friends, but the ones that are close are very close, and even then I don't talk to them very much. But when I do, it's a LOT of talking, a LOT of vulnerability, honesty and "real"ness. Imagine my delight to see someone not just saying hi and introducing themselves but - well, taking the time to really write and share something meaningful and real... that's when I knew. This girl was worth taking time for, taking time to learn about and give my attention to. She had actually looked at my blog, tried to find some way to connect. I appreciated that. I wanted to reciprocate that.

Sarah and I have connected in a meaningful way. In a way I was not expecting through something like this, but in a way that feels like it can last... something sustainable and real, because we CAN have real friends through the internet, I know!! She has shared her heart about the things that she has been going through personally that I am going through as well! Our trials are different but the lessons are the same. 

A couple of my favorite posts Sarah has written... I can relate so much to what she is saying and I love her heart and her willingness to be real and vulnerable... it brings me comfort to know that I am not alone and that I have a sister I can walk through life with!

Refinement... Ouch!

Jumbled Thoughts

Other things I LOVE about Sarah:

She's endlessly creative, crafty and a collage artist... something I admire and respect!!

She loves vintage! I love a girl who loves vintage.

She talks a lot and is very wordy (mee too!!! I am not alone) and is the most profuse user of LOL which I adore

She is willing to be vulnerable and real with me

I love her passion for her family and her marriage

I love her perseverance in spite of her illness

I love that she loves Jesus

I am jealous of her geographical location :)

To get to know Sarah more I sent her a little survey. What is so crazy about this is that I felt like I was reading my own answers. She said the same thing about me... but let's not be too redundant here. Here's the survey and her answers. 

1: your name/age/location 

I am Sarah Alexander, I am 32, and currently residing in my 14th home (since marriage) way out west 

2: favorite time of day and why

I like night time, at home with the mr. After every single activity that we have dashed about to is finally over...and while I am typically exhausted, I still like that time of night when I can just sit and enjoy the three peeps in my life.

3: you're kid and husband free for four hours - what do you do?

Oooh oooh...probably an ideal day would be perusing anthro or thrifting, target by myself is always nice too. Sadly I never take the opportunity to do these things anymore...lol lately I throw laundry in and quickly tidy up...do you do that?! 

4: favorite season

Summer, hands down.  I love how long the days are, the smells, the colors, and just the relaxed feel.  I am a warm weather girl...living in such a cold place is killing me.  I'm not going to lie, I even liked summers in Dallas.

5: chore that you hate

Can I answer all? Lol I think it's probably laundry...probably bc it's never ending.

6: favorite outdoor activity

This is a hard one for me to answer bc it is SO cold here! When we lived in warmer climates I loved taking leisurely walks, and I grew up taking long walks at a family cabin.  How about you?

7: you win $1M - what do you do?

Lol pay off my debt...every single bill, including my mortgage.  probably, I would want to go back to SCAD, put money in savings for the littles to go to college, and support some amazing groups like water is basic, ALARM, fashionABLE, or possibly a facility for former child soldiers in Sierra Leone...

8: you have $150 to go shopping with - what do you buy?

Lol, that answer is typically groceries or whathaveyous...but I'm going to pretend this $150 is allllll mine...I would probably buy some vintage costume jewelry at this fun little boutique, a cute pair of shoes, and jeans, a hot pink cuckoo clock I've had my eye on...lol...that's always the plan...then I walk into anthro and find some random awesomeness like a zebra head and buy that instead...or a thrift store and spend every last penny on my sixteenth sofa or another piece of furniture lol.

9: title of your autobiography:

Sarah plain and tall.  Oh wait, that's been taken.  I've been sitting here pondering this question for a week now...it's a tough one...you don't want it too sound too conceited, or too cheesy hmm...I'm going To go with Sarah plain and tall...Dangit! The mr. Says I should call it "Sarah, vampire diaries" bc I have porphyria, which is apparently the vampire disease...ugh.

10: something you learned this week:

I feel like I've really been feeling Gods hand in every little detail lately, and I feel like I'm learning again, that God cares about the tiniest details, even though I often act as if I shouldn't bother him with them. This week has been an emotional one, I don't know if I can place words to what I've been realizing/feeling...I'm still struggling with the whys of so many things...and not wanting just manna from heaven ;0) lol...but I feel like I'm needing to be reminded that God knows the number of hairs on my head and stars in the sky...lol and the number of pennies in our bank account! I have a much deer answer for you on this question...I've just been struggling to put it into words for my own blog this week...it's been a very deep week...

11: your favorite meal is: 

I wish I could answer this question, lol...but, since I live with this crazy crazy disease my liver hates food...there is little that I can eat!! But pre-porphyria days I loved a homemade Greek salad (my absolute fave recipe), a yummy pasta like homemade Mac & cheese (I can still eat this!) or pastitio, some sundried tomato pesto stuffed mushrooms, and oooh what I'd give to have a yummy glass of wine again or a beer...a fabulous Colorado IPA or wheat...ahhh yum. 

Dang..that answer sounds depressing...let me change it: fave current meal is our traditional Saturday breakfast of donut muffins and ringo's coffee! Sorry I am so wordy,  aren't I? 

12: if you could live anywhere else in the US, where would it be and why?

I'm still trying to figure this one out...fourteen houses later ;0) I think I'd still like to try out Austin, southern CA, and possibly Seattle...maybe even Providence or Lake Michigan somewhere...but, really, I'd love to live in a farmhouse by the beach... A place where its affordable to live, schools are good, and i can create...haha, if you know where that is let me know! Love the water, love warm weather.

13: if you could do just one thing to help grow your business, what would it be and why?

Right now, one small thing that I would really like to do to help my business is purchase a shirt press.  My current iron is burning bacon...it's ruining everything and slowing the process...it's one of many things I need to do to move forward...but I feel like it's the next thing i need to do to actually have more time to create.  I would love to someday just hire is part out...but, I feel like a speedy press would make more time for me to create more of my mixed media and such. 

AND THEN THERE WAS THE GIFT SHE GAVE ME....

....creative. thoughtful. full of precious details... she took the time to make it beautiful, meaningful and fun... this spoke to me so much. It wasn't a haphazardly thrown together little gift. It was full of her time and energy, a treasure that I could enjoy and remember her thoughtfulness and kindness towards me in days to come. THANK YOU, sweet Sarah!

I am so thankful to have met you, Sarah!

Everyone, please check out Sarah's blog, Ringo's Girl!! Meet a very special lady and friend!

rocky top, you'll always be...

Last weekend, my little family joined all my aunts, their husbands, and my cousin and Grandmama for what is becoming our annual post-Christmas Christmas gathering. We went to this same cabin last year - The Old Mill at Dry Creek - near Smithville, Tennessee. You can read more about our travels to this wonderful place last January 2012 trip here and our Memorial Day trip here and here. 

After our trip, we swung through Camp Bethel in Waynesville, which is about 30-40 minutes West of Asheville, to spend the night with our friends The Stiggins and spend a little time with Richard. His lovely wife Karen was in an unfortunate accident riding the previous Thursday when their Polaris slid down the mountainside with Karen in it. It eventually rolled over Karen and she sustained some pretty significant injuries. Thankfully she was able to come home after a few days and we were able to see her before we left. We are praying for her quick recovery.  You can read more about Camp Bethel and previous trips here and here. We absolutely adore these people, their hearts, their true joy, life, and freedom they demonstrate can be had through living as Jesus asked us to live - sacrifically and for the well being of others. We love them and cannot wait to return. Of course, we were too busy visiting for me to get any photos this time.

As usual the Stiggins sent us home with something harvested from their land. This time it was about ten pounds of ground beef from the cows they raised last year. 

Here are photos from our trip. 

merry christmas (and a little update)

Hello there, friends. 

It's Christmas Eve. And so it is.

It's been a good two weeks since my last blog post, and I cannot even begin to condense into this post all that has been taking place in my personal life/family life as well as my work life. My time in front of this computer has been limited to posting new items in my Etsy shop, trying to once again readjust from taking everything from being exclusively online to being exclusively in a brick and mortar shop, and then back again. It was an incredibly frustrating experience with a lot of wasted labor and money, but I am glad I saw the writing on the wall and got out when I did. Now I am trying to take all the inventory that I hadn't been able to post and get it listed... I am not even close to finished but I feel like I have been busting my butt for a couple weeks now... I have posted about twenty five new dresses, jeans, and several vintage coats. And there is so much more... Here's to goal setting and marathon photography session and listing sprees. And if you want to take a look, I won't mind!

Jason and I have been struggling through some stuff. It's not been an easy few months in our relationship. I think the persistent financial stress has eroded some aspects of our relationship. We had a few lump sums come in over the last few months that sort of insulated our problems... the thing is, money is not the answer... having money insulates you from the real issues sometimes and that has been true for us. I think we have to work through some issues that have been present in our marriage that are being exacerbated by the inconsistency in our income. So, we move forward and are learning about choosing to love and live and behave lovingly towards one another. And we really do truly love and adore one another. It is literally a one-day-at-a-time thing. Right now Jason is cleaning gutters, but has had another interview for a job that would be great for us. I really hope he gets it but we have to wait until after the holidays to find out.

There have been a lot of fun things going on too - Shiloh had her sweet little preschool Christmas performance on the 8th. Dakota had his band concert on the 11th. I planned my work Christmas party which took place on the 17th. That was lots of fun! I really love my job and the people that I work with and for. They are an extraordinary group of people and I have developed a true affection for each one of them. I consider it an honor to work for a restaurant like Table & Main. If you live in the Atlanta area and you haven't tried us yet... what are you waiting for? 

Shiloh is the 2nd from the right on the front row. :)

The restaurant is so pretty!

Ryan giving everyone some "love" and appreciation. 

Our plans today include a trip to the grocery store to get fixin's for Christmas morning brunch, a dessert for Christmas day dinner and brunch for the morning after Christmas where we'll spend Christmas with my Mom. We are going over to my mother-in-law's place in a little bit. Jason's family traditionally does presents and Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, so we usually spend Christmas Eve with his mom, and then Christmas Day we are going over to my Dad's. My brother and his wife and my sister are in town so it's been back to the crazy that it usually is with my Dad's family. There are six of us siblings all together! On Boxing Day we are headed to my Mom's to do our Christmas with her. It'll be a lot of fun for sure. What are your plans?

This concludes my little update... hope you all are doing well and enjoying the holidays. This year has been busy but satisfying and relatively stress and anxiety free. I wish you all a wonderful and truly Merry Christmas for those of you celebrating... and hope that the next year brings you all a tangible measure of peace. Thanks to those of you who read my blog. You give me a place to write and process and share all that I otherwise do not share with anyone. And that's the truth. I am thankful for you all. 

Love, Brooke