Archives for 2013

A New Thing

March 21, 2013 by Amy 12 Comments

Yesterday was the first day of Spring and I, for one, am ecstatic. I was definitely not made for winter. I survive winter and thrive in summer.

I can’t wait to plant my garden next month and peel back the cover on the pool—even if it is only halfway full because of an apparent hole in the liner. I can’t wait until the grass looks like something other than hay. I want to sweat in the car and complain 32 times a day to someone, “It is SO HOT. I can’t even breathe outside.” Seriously. Can’t wait.

I don’t know if you’ve felt it where you live but I can feel summer coming on. We’ve had some warm days over 70 and plants are starting to bloom. It’s coming.

This morning I was reading in my Valley of Vision book. Please don’t take me for more spiritually disciplined than I am. I’ve only been consistent for two days now. But I’m trying, as part of a new growth plan thing I want to tell you about soon, to read it every morning.

Today’s prayer was about the goodness of God and it struck me so hard that I stopped reading and did one of those Selah things from Psalms. You know where “Selah” is written out to the side and you’re supposed to stop and meditate on what you just read? Yeah, it was one of those moments.

It is an amazing thing to see Deity in a creature, speaking, acting, filling, shining through it;

That nothing is good but thee,

That I am near good when I am near thee,

That to be like thee is a glorious thing:

This is my magnet, my attraction.

I don’t often assign the word “Deity” to God. When I think of deities I think of the Roman and Greek gods we studied in school.

I started thinking about how our true God really did come in a creature, speaking and acting. And isn’t it amazing what kind of God he is? Some gods were too full of themselves to look away from their reflection, some were consumed with war and others, art. I’m not suggesting they were real. In fact, these are the very gods that those in the New Testament were trying to say were not real.

I just imagined if we had studied about Jesus in the same way and what we’d say about our God. He’s so loving and cares about the least of these and patient and slow to anger and just so darn good.

As I’ve been praying that God shows me how much he loves me, one day he just whispered to me, “I died for you, Amy, how else can I show you?”

Selah.

Isn’t that overwhelming? That our God, the one true God, when he came in a creature he loved us so much he died for us. Who, especially a deity, does that?

And so, that last line, “This is my magnet, my attraction,” communicates so much about how I’ve been feeling lately.

Just as spring is coming on, I feel like God is doing something new in me. I have this renewed sense of urgency to know him better. It’s just as it says, like a magnet. I’m drawn to him. It’s unexplainable and without logic but I am. I want to be so engulfed in him that it’s like summer and I say I can’t breathe! I want to be fully in his presence and overwhelmed with his love.

So I probably sound like that Jesus Freak T-shirt I wear and that’s ok with me. I think I’m done trying to pretend I’m not.

This is my magnet, my attraction.

What I Wore Wednesday – 3.20.2013

March 20, 2013 by Amy 4 Comments

It’s Wednesday! I share my outfits from the week with The Pleated Poppy’s What I Wore Wednesday.

I pair my outfits with inspirational photos. Read more about that here.

Source: fineartamerica.com viaAmy on Pinterest

Source: benignobjects.blogspot.com viaAmy on Pinterest

Source: photography.nationalgeographic.com viaAmy on Pinterest

Source: sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net viaAmy on Pinterest

I had a little epiphany about how I dressed after Allume last year when I started posting all these outfit and inspirational pictures.

I work from home most days and before then, it didn’t seem worth it to dress up on days I’d be home alone. In fact, for all of these outfits except one you see here, only a handful of people actually saw me. More people will see these outfits online than they will in person.

Even though I’m no fashionista, I love putting outfits together and I always have. I’ll never forget trying to find the EXACT purple slouch socks to wear in middle school. It matters to me. But somewhere along the line I convinced myself I was dressing just for others and I wasn’t worth putting in the effort.

I wish I could remember who said and in what context but they said dressing up even when you’re home alone is worth it because YOU are worth it.

Let me say it out loud I’M worth it. YOU are worth it. If you like clothes and dressing yourself up then by golly, do it and do it for YOU. God made all these beautiful colors and patterns for us to enjoy so let’s do it and without any guilt! When you understand WHY you’re enjoying it and it’s pointing us back to the Creator, it makes all the difference!

Let’s connect! Like Permission to Peruse on Facebook (where you can see some outtakes from my pictures). Follow me on Pinterest (where I post these inspirational pictures), Instagram (where you might see me in an outfit) or Twitter.

Make Gmail Work For You: Using Filters to Manage Your Inbox

March 18, 2013 by Amy 17 Comments

As a programmer, it’s my job to help develop systems that make people more efficient. However, I realize that technology sometimes makes us work harder. Let’s be clear: your technology should be working for you, not the other way around.

I’ve been doing some e-coaching with Holley Gerth over the past few weeks and in one of the assessments I realized that as much as I LOVE getting emails, managing my email account can be a huge drain. Lately, I’ve tired of waking up to an email account full of emails of ads from companies. Blech.

I’d subscribe here to get a coupon and then subscribe there to get a newsletter and over yonder to enter a contest and before long my inbox was a pain and a half to manage.

A few years ago {wow, it’s been 4!} I started using Quick Links and Tasks in Gmail to organize my inbox a little better. However, while Quick Links and Tasks are great for managing email you already have and want to keep, I still needed to manage the email as it was coming in.

This was a two-part solution for me. Stick with me because the post is long but it’s not hard.

Step One: Unsubscribe

This has nothing to do with Gmail but it must be said. We all need to step back every once in a while and spend the time to click “Unsubscribe here” at the bottom of those emails.

I seriously had an automated email from the Precious Moments web site. How? Why? I haven’t bought a Precious Moments figurine in about 15 years. I finally unsubscribed today after deleting the daily email for who knows how many days in a row.

However, there are some company ads that I’d like to receive for the sale alerts (Hello, Loft and Bath & Body Works), but I don’t feel like wading through them every morning. If I need something, I’d like to have it available, but not in my face. I’d rather have the emails from Sarah, Becky and Dani greeting me front and center.

Here’s where we get to step 2.

Step Two: Apply a Filter

This is where it gets fun. Gmail lets you apply filters to your email as it comes in.

So, let’s say there are emails from some person that you want to completely ignore but for whatever reason you can’t ask them to stop (or hate confrontation and don’t want to *cough*)…you can tell Gmail to skip your Inbox for those and send it right to the trash. Squee!

Or, let’s say you get emails from 3 or 4 different blogs and you want to organize them into one folder so you can check in at one time later. Just tell Gmail to skip the Inbox and archive it under a Label titled “Blogs”.

Let me show you step by step how to do this with those company ads I want to have handy, but not in my face.

First, click on the Gear icon in the top-right and then click Settings

In Settings, you’ll find a Filters tab

filtershome

I don’t know why they make it hard to find, but at the bottom of the Filters tab, look for “Create New Filter”

createnew

Click there and you’ll get a pop-up.

newfilter

*rubbing my hands together*

Here’s where the magic begins.

The first step here tells Gmail what to search for when an email comes in. I’ve found the very easiest thing to use is the email address where the emails are coming from. For example, Bath & Body Works uses “bathandbodyworks@e.bathandbodyworks.com” to send their emails. Likely you won’t know it off-hand so just find an email in your inbox from them and copy the from email address and paste it into the “From” box above.

Additionally, you can even include the Subject or even any words that might be in the email but I didn’t find that necessary.

You might want Bath & Body Works “3-wick candle” emails but not their “lotion” emails.

Once you tell Gmail how to find the email, click the “Create filter with this search” on the bottom right. It’s hard to miss in light gray.

OK, THIS is the magic. Tell Gmail what to do with the email. Do you want it to Archive it? Delete it? Forward it?

filteroptions

What I did for my company ads is checked the “Skip the Inbox (Archive it)” and “Apply the label” and selected a new label I created called “Ads”.

So, the next time I get an email from Bath & Body Works, I don’t see it in my inbox, it shows up under the label “Ads” (accessible in the left sidebar) as an unread email. If I wanted to, I could also “Mark as read” and it wouldn’t even flag it as a new email.

After a few days of emails, it turned out there were about 25 emails I wanted to continue receiving but didn’t need to manage on a daily basis. That’s at least 25 clicks I’m saving every single morning not counting the many I unsubscribed from.

Now, once a day, or even every few days I can quickly scan my Ads folder and easily tick my Select All check box and Delete. Way easier than wading through my main inbox!

Listen, I know filters on email accounts aren’t a new thing but I think the point is a lot of us don’t take the time to actually make them work for us.

Hope that helps and let me know how you have filters working for you!

Forward this post to your fellow Gmailers–I’m sure they won’t want to filter you out. {Heh. Sorry, it was too easy.}

This post is linked to ProBlogger’s Group Writing Project

Great Wolf Lodge

March 18, 2013 by Amy 2 Comments

In a perfect storm of a teacher workday at school, Scott’s day off and a day off from work for me, we were able to spend Thursday night at Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC.

We had a fantastic time when we went for the girls’ birthday back in October and we couldn’t wait to get in another visit as soon as we left last time.

A few things shifted this time though.

First off, we invited Emma’s best friend from school. I still remember fondly the days of vacations with friends and it was so fun to provide that for another generation.

This little friend is quickly becoming a part of the family. I think the girls have spent the night with each other 3 weekends in a row now. She loves being with us and we love being with her.

Also this time, we skipped on the big passes on every activity (bowling, Magiquest, salon, Cub Club. creation station) and let the water park be the star of the show.

The girls spent time splashing around in the pool,

rode the waves in the wave pool,

got dumped on by the infamous water bucket,

mastered the lily pads,

and rode the water slides.

And in between, I was catching up on reading {this is my favorite part of vacations!}. But that’s what I love…I feel safe enough at Great Wolf Lodge to let the kids have a little freedom.

It’s a contained area with a ton of lifeguards that are really serious about their jobs. I didn’t feel like I had to watch them like hawks because I knew there were 3 or 4 other people being paid to do just that.

Thursday night we let them hit the arcade.

where Emma won big at one of the games.

By the time we left Friday afternoon, we were already wondering when we were going back.

I’d say if you have the chance, try to experience Great Wolf Lodge at least once. They have a great area just for little ones and we saw many teenagers having a great time as well. There are 11 Great Wolf Lodge destinations around the country and I can’t imagine it’d be anything less than a terrific time.

Disclosure: Great Wolf Lodge provided a special media rate for our stay

Twitterature – March 2013

March 15, 2013 by Amy 8 Comments

My blog-friend Anne, aka Modern Mrs. Darcy, has started a monthly link-up for books called Twitterature. The premise of this link-up is to share short, casual reviews of books we’ve been reading.

Sometimes I write full-on book reviews but other times I read and move on. Not because they’re not good, often times because they’re so special I don’t have the proper words. This link-up will give me a chance to share ALL the books I’m reading without having so many book reviews through the month.

The New Testament – Acts – Revelation

Finished up the Bible again and I just can’t recommend it enough. I will say, though, that I enjoyed the chronological read less and won’t be doing that plan again.

Let. It. Go. – Karen Ehman

Trying to track down my “control” word, I read this book. After reading it, I’m not sure I struggle with control in ways others do but definitely found some wisdom in this book, especially surrounding parenting and marriage. If you want an inside look into this book, Melissa Taylor has been hosting an online bible study including videos for the past several weeks.

The Circle Maker Mark Batterson

Looking back on this book, I’m not sure it really taught me anything new about prayer but it sure did encourage me in my prayer life and was a joy to read. Mark’s stories and enthusiasm are hard not to get swept away by. And that’s a good thing.

After these, I started tackling 3 books at once: Pursued by Jud Wilhite, A Confident Heart by Renee Swope and To Walk or Stay by Lara Williams. I usually try to stick to one non-fiction at a time but couldn’t help myself. Hopefully, all three will be knocked off next month as well as some fiction which I’ve sorely missed.

I have SO many books I want to read. I think my Wish List grows by a few books every day. I wish I could read like it was my job or just, you know, read by osmosis or something.

When do you find the time to read?

Laundry Reveal and a Barring

March 14, 2013 by Amy 8 Comments

Yay! Today I get to show you the reveal of the laundry room.

Last Friday I posted a last-minute post about how we should paint the laundry room. We decided to go for the bar in the kitchen and move the cabinets to the laundry room.

Well, after all that, I didn’t really go with any options from the post.

After seeing the pictures, several people suggested tying in colors from the picture on the kitchen wall.

I was trying to step away from the gold/green/red combo but the truth is I live well with those colors. I’m sorry I can’t have a white and blue cottage house, Internet designers!

Alright, here are the befores again:

Please forgive all the weird angles. It’s a REALLY hard spot to photograph well.

Here are the afters!

I’m really, really happy with it. The past few days I’ve been trying to find things to wash just to have the doors open and enjoy the new view.

Just in case you love green and red too, the cabinet and shelf colors are Crushed Cumin and Fireside by Valspar from Lowe’s. The Fireside comes in one of those ready-made samples for just $3. I’d love to give you the wall paint but it’s the same as our kitchen and was a color match from when we painted years ago.

I’m still thinking about putting some vinyl lettering on each of the doors like “wash”, “dry”, “fold”, “iron” but I haven’t found the right red yet. Maybe more to come on that.

So we finished that on Saturday and then I went to the office this week and the wall disappeared for the bar….

We are still deciding on how much more to take out from that side wall and we have to carefully remove where the backsplash is.

Emma is excited to eat at the bar and Lexi has literally started hoarding food in her room because she won’t forgive us and is planning to live in her room the rest of her life. Ah, can we say dramatic?

In any case, IT’S HAPPENING and I for one am loving all the changes!

What I Wore Wednesday – 03.13.2013

March 13, 2013 by Amy 5 Comments

It’s Wednesday! I share my outfits from the week with The Pleated Poppy’s What I Wore Wednesday.

I pair my outfits with inspirational photos. Read more about that here.

I was headed off to work in this dress.

Source: redbubble.com via Amy on Pinterest

My scarf looks wonky but the wind was SO bad that day.

Source: highwallpapers.com via Amy on Pinterest

This scarf is the one I bought instead of keeping the one from Stitch Fix. It was only $4.97. Winning. This outfit would have been cute with some colored jeans. *sigh* I just need to break down and get some.

Source: etsy.com via Amy on Pinterest

Here’s how I wore my Stitch Fix sweater. As much as I love the sweater, I’m not in love with the outfit. The blue is a very purpley navy blue so it’s hard to make it work with jeans. What pants/shoes would you wear with it? I think maybe some orange or yellow flats would be cute.

Source: fortheloveofmegan.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

I dipped my toes into the mint color of the season. Besides the fact I felt like I could walk on to the set of Golden Girls and not seem out of place, I really liked wearing these colors. No really, look at this picture. I think I’ll enjoy wearing these with white capris/shorts this summer.

Source: tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

Perfect Love

March 12, 2013 by Amy Leave a Comment

Last week I wrote the post On Love, Fear, Trust and Control. It struck a chord with me and with many of you. The interesting thing to me is that it struck different chords for different people. Some drew out the concept of fear while others drew out the issue of control. God works like that, shining the light on just what you need.

It’s so strange when I write sometimes because I really do feel like the Holy Spirit gives me words I wouldn’t otherwise write. Oftentimes, you hear preachers say I’m preaching to myself now too. And I feel like that when I write—that somehow I’m writing the words but it’s not really me saying them and He’s speaking to me as much as you. I don’t mean I go in a coma and write some of these posts. I just mean sometimes God takes my mind in places as I write that I wasn’t thinking about before.

Even today I desperately wanted to show you pictures of our new laundry room that we redid over the weekend and yet, I feel so drawn to write this follow-up from that post. I’ll stop rambling now so we can get to it.

My mind and thought-process has totally changed since writing that post and there’s a few things that made the difference. I thought if I shared my struggles, I certainly should share where I think I’ve found some victory. Here are a few things that have made the difference:

He Loves Me

I asked God to show me how he loves me. Love leads to trust and trust leads to a release of control because there is no fear.

So of course, He has. Just as I started noticing “control” everywhere, God started whispering the ways he loves me everywhere.

The interesting thing is many, many times he was loving me through people. Whether it was my friend I sat down with for coffee or my kids, I knew it was God’s grace at work. I started seeing possessions as gifts and became more thankful.

I found his love in my thanksgiving.

Fear Hides

My post came up in our small group at our house on Wednesday and I shared my struggle for those that hadn’t read it, Scott included.

I started naming some things I feared—things I hadn’t named in my post.

Being sent as a missionary overseas {I don’t know why this scares me so but I imagine all sorts of awful things happening}

Kids getting hurt or sick.

Something happening to me.

And can I say, just saying them out loud released some of the fear? It was like they were holding me hostage but once I let them out, their strength diminished.

In the light, fear hides.

Not Alone

As I shared in our group, one thing was said which has totally revolutionized my thinking. One of the men grabbed his wife’s hand and said, whatever we face, we can do it together. Well, technically it was more like whatevah we face, we can do it togethah because he’s from Jersey.

At the moment, I took that at just face value but as I mulled it over, I started thinking about all those things I was scared of and I realized that as long as I have Scott, I can do it.

I texted him the next day and said, “I can face whatever as long as you’re with me.” He sent back the same. And I can’t explain it, but something turned in my heart. It was as if a shield surrounded us and I just knew that we could face it together.

The one thing I didn’t fear, and I even said it in group, is Scott dying. Perhaps because of his job and it’s something I’ve had to take a very hard look at, but it honestly is not something I fear. Do I want it? NO. But I do not fear it.

So then, whatever I am afraid of, I know I can face with my partner.

I’m not alone.

God Leads

On Sunday, our pastor spoke about Jesus being our shepherd and us being the sheep. I can’t summarize it all but I’ll share the part God uncovered for me.

Jesus is our shepherd and we can trust and follow him because he’s been there. He’s been through every temptation, he knows where we’re going and He’ll be with us no matter what we face.

He shared Psalm 23…yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of darkness, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL.

Jesus is our Good Shepherd.

After all this, I realized that I could start praying those scary prayers. Bring the Rain came on the radio last week and instead of silently telling God no, thanks, I turned it up on full blast and sang it.

He brought a verse to my mind just yesterday and I think it demonstrates what I have seen.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

I asked God to show me how He loves me. He did in so many ways and it certainly cast out my fears. It’s just amazing to me to see God do something and then find a verse like that after the fact that demonstrates it. Of course, I knew that verse but I’m seeing it new again and I love that.

I don’t know what you’re struggling with, but don’t wait until you have it figured out to go to God. Go to him with your doubts, your fears and questions. He is our GOOD Shepherd and will lead us to the answers.