Week Two

Well the second week of the Spring Style Me Challenge that I have been participating in is over. It was a little harder week for me because Christian Homes & Family Services, where I work, had 3 event fundraisers that I was involved in. Liz Curtis-Higgs was our speaker for all three events. What an amazing woman of God.....I plan to write more about the things I learned from her later.

Okay, here are my outfits for the second week of the style challenge. I had to alter some of the outfits to fit into my busy week. One of the great things about participating in this challenge is that I get digital pictures of the outfits for each day. I will be able to refer back to them and put my own personal style spin on them in the future. LOL

Day 8 - the challenge outfit was a button down shirt, skinny jeans with leopard flats. I subbed a khaki skirt for the skinny jeans.....I don't do skinny jeans!!! LOL I added a scarf to dress the outfit a bit. I also noticed after the picture was taken......the toes on this pair of leopard flats are rubbing off!!

Day 9 - The challenge outfit today was white jeans, bright tank, denim jacket, scarf and neutral wedges. As you can see from the picture, the only thing I wore out of the challenge outfit is the white jeans. I wore a light-weight navy sweater, silver belt, black Born wedges and silver and pearl jewelry. Tuesday afternoon a co-worker and myself had the privilege and blessing to pick up Liz Curtis-Higgs and her husband from the Abilene Airport and take them to where they were staying for the night. I wanted to look a little bit more put together than the tank and jean jacket. I'll save that outfit for another time.

Day 10 - The outfit for today was jeans, button down shirt, scarf and leopard shoes. I completely skipped this outfit. Wednesday was the Abilene Call Her Blessed event with Liz Curtis-Higgs. I wore my green dress and neutral shoes.

Day 11 - skipped the challenge outfit all together again on Thursday. I knew I would be traveling to Fort Worth for our last Call Her Blessed event. I chose a brown toned maxi, an orange top, black belt with black Born sandals. I added my brown denim jacket because it was an evening event and a little more formal. This is one of my favorite outfits.

Day 12 - Well the long week was over and all three events were great. Today's outfit was a stripped maxi skirt, bright tank with a neutral sweater and neutral wedge shoes. Since I wore a maxi skirt yesterday, I went with Thursday's outfit and wore straight legged jeans rolled up, green mini-checked shirt with a scarf and I added a green pair of sandals.

Day 13 - Today's outfit was jeans, stripped top, scarf and neutral flats. I chose a mint and navy stripped top to wear with my rolled up jeans and neutral sandals. It was too hot to wear the scarf. Sorry the picture is so light...not sure what happened. This was a great outfit to wear to Cooper's baseball game!!

Day 14 - Today's outfit was white jeans, bright t-shirt, scarf with metallic sandals. I chose white capris, green tee with brown belt and neutral sandals. The outfit on the right is what I wore to Church that morning....came home and changed into the challenge outfit.

 

Well that was my week two of the style challenge. It was a pretty stressful week but all three Call Her Blessed events were successful and Liz Curtis-Higgs was amazing. Be looking for a post later about the things I learned from Liz.

 

I'm not sure why some of the pictures were a little "hazy"....I may have to talk to my photographer...Ken needs to be a little more professional!!! LOL

 

From my corner of the world....striving for fashion with my passion and thanking God for having this opportunity.

This and That

I am placing myself in a little vulnerable position by posting on here a challenge I am participating in regarding fashion. I know that many of you will be critical of me.....may think that I am being vain or putting too much emphasis on clothes or fashion. I can't do anything about what you may think of me or how I may be judged. All I can do is be myself and that is part of why I wanted to participate in this online fashion challenge.....my passion for fashion.

I follow a blog titled Getting Your Pretty On by Alison Lambatis. She lives in Texas and is a stay at home mom of three perhaps in her mid to early '40's. She woke up one day in 2012 and realized she needed to get out of her "mom rut" of wearing yoga pants and sweats everyday......deciding to "get her pretty on" everyday. Thus began the journey and creation of her blog.

I guess about a month ago she offered what she calls her Spring Style Challenge to her online readers and followers. She charged a very small fee to receive the daily style challenge and fashion tips. When I read this....I was determined to find out more about it. This is how the challenge works. She chooses 18 items of clothing....ranging from jeans to shoes to tops to scarves......she is specific on the type of jeans, the types of tops but is also allowing for every one's own color choices and combinations. We had 10 days to collect the items on the list, and the challenge will last 21 days.

She sent out the shopping list on a Friday and we had 10 days to assemble our pieces. She encouraged everyone to shop in your closet first as many of the items are things we may already have. I had several of the items and used what I had on some to keep from having to buy all new stuff. I did buy a few things to add to what I already had. Here is the shopping list:

1. White pair of jeans (any style)

2. Boyfriend jeans (whatever those are?)

3. Dark wash pair of skinny jeans....No Way!!!!

4. Maxi skirt (stripped or similar)

5. Neutral flat shoes

6. Leopard flats

7. Neutral Wedges

8. Metallic sandals

9. A bright tank top or t-shirt

10 & 11. 2 T-shirts (one white, one stripped....preferably black or navy and white)

12. Button down shirt (1-2 preferred)

13. Denim jacket

14. Denim or Chambray shirt

15 & 16. Two cardigans (1 bright color, 1 neutral color)

17. Neutral statement necklace

18. Floral scarf

Alison gave samples of each item and where to find them. She chose items that could be bought on a budget such as from Target, Old Navy, but also gave suggestions for those willing to spend more. She encouraged everyone to make each item personal and colors that we liked.

After the ten days were up....starting on April 14th we began the challenge. We receive an email the night before with the items to be worn the next day. The day of the challenge everyone posts their full-length photo on a private Facebook page only for participants of the challenge. This was a little out of my comfort area...posting pictures of myself to complete strangers but I was in for the long haul and did it anyway. It turned out that all of the ladies.....I think around 75....all are so encouraging and complimentary. It has been more than I could have imagined and I feel that I have made some great friends this week.

Here is my version of Day 1

This was a lot out of my comfort zone....I have never owned any white pants. I opted for white pants instead of jeans because I can't wear jeans to work and felt I would get more use out of the pants.

Day 2

Day two we were supposed to wear our dark skinny jeans.....that ain't happening....I don't do skinny!!! Because I work, I chose to wear a black pencil shirt and leggings. The rest was all part of the challenge....Cardigan was rust....button down was a light green....and my shoes were neutral.

Day 3

Day three I substituted navy pants for the boyfriend jeans. We were a colorful tank.....neutral cardigan.....statement necklace.....and wedge sandals.

Day 4

I had to change day 4 up a little bit because of working in an office. Instead of skinny jeans again, I chose a chocolate brown skirt that I already had. I did wear some leopard shoes and a scarf with the Chambray shirt.

Day 5

I was able to wear all the challenge pieces today because our office was closed....I worked to prepare for an event next week. I wore straight jeans that hit at the ankle and cuffed them....a suggestion from Alison, leopard flats....black and white stripped shirt and added a pop of color with a coral scarf. Ken has been very supportive of this BUT today he kept telling me that I was "looking good"!!! hahaha! I think he liked this outfit the most!!!

Day 6

Day 6 was harder for me because it was Saturday and the challenge outfit was to wear the maxi skirt with a bright top. Well I had Cooper's baseball game to go to....and shopping to do with Addison my 4 year old granddaughter. So this was my outfit of the day!!

Day 7

Day seven's challenge was jeans with a button down....scarf and neutral cardigan. I wore a dress to Church this morning and changed into the challenge outfit for the rest of the day.

I have really enjoyed this first week. All of the ladies have made each day's challenge their own and have added a lot of fun and encouraging comments to the Facebook page. I hope to post for the next two Sunday's the weeks challenge outfits....just for the fun of it. Perhaps, maybe someone will get some inspiration ideas try on their own.

Okay now just two more pictures.....these are of my precious grand kids on Easter!!!

Addison and Luke....Tara and David's blessings to me!! Aren't they precious??

Kamryn and Cooper....Brad and Whitney's blessings to me!!! Just as precious, don't you think??

Well, sorry this post is so long but I wanted to share about the style challenge I am participating in and I couldn't leave out pictures of my angel babies!!!

From my corner of the world.....counting my blessings and thankful for a risen Savior!!

Living in a High Tech World

I love my gadgets!! I am not a techie person but I do like to have the tech gadgets. I admit that I may have a few too many and at times feel rather spoiled with all that I have.

What do I have you ask? Well, I have an iPod I keep music on to listen to when walking. I have an iPhone 5 that I have had for a year. I have a Nook reader. I have an iPad Mini that I absolutely LOVE, and I have a laptop. Pretty pathetic!!! I have all of these at my fingertips anytime I want or need them. Crazy!!!

I probably use my iPhone and iPad the most....carrying them with me all the time. I first had a regular iPad but didn't like the size of it....so I traded it in for an iPad Mini which fits in my purse. I read a lot and since I got the iPad, I don't use my Nook as much.....I use my Nook App on the iPad.....I know spoiled!!

Why am I telling you all about my techie gadgets? As I have been writing about prayer lately, I began to compare my prayer life with my techie life....sounds strange I know but just hear me out!

I love texting....not obsessed with it....just love the convenience of it. I can be thinking of Ken or one of the kids....send them a text that I love them....and be on with my day. If I need to tell someone something....I can send them a text while I am thinking about it....be done with it....and not take the chance of forgetting later (which happens a lot with me lately). I text with my hairdresser, people I work with, friends, family, and doctor's offices now will text with an appointment reminder....it's everywhere....it's fast and it's easy.

Text's are usually short little sentences and can be sent quickly. I began to realize that I "text" God throughout the day....sending up little prayers randomly as I go about my day. I may ask God to bless the checker at the store, calm the person pulled over by the police, ask God to send us rain, thank God for something as I go through my day....."texting" God all through the day!

There are other times when I stop for a minute or two to pray specifically for someone.....someone having surgery at that moment, someone making an important presentation, someone having tests run.....you get the picture.

These prayers are longer than a text but only a few sentences or so! Prayer that petitions God on someone else's behalf for a specific need! I might "email" God several times a day depending on the prayer requests!

I know that God hears every prayer and petition I bring before Him. He is always there waiting for me to talk to Him and seek Him out throughout my day!! 

But sometimes God just needs to hear my voice.....calling out to Him.....whether in petition on someone's behalf......thanking Him for blessing me so abundantly.....singing Him praises....or.....in anger over a selfish matter.....God wants to hear my voice!

When my oldest son went off to college, it was about 14 years ago.....and yes I am that old! It was right before cell phones began to get cheap enough for families to have more than one phone!! It was also back when there were still land lines in all the dorm rooms......this is really making me sound old!! 

I made a deal with my son, I told him I wouldn't call him at school in the dorm if he promised to call me every Sunday so we could talk.....more for me than for him! LOL He agreed and we stuck to this deal pretty good!! He would send me one or two emails during the week....letting me know he was eating, sleeping, going to class and was doing his laundry!! LOL The important stuff moms worry about!

I remember one time my son went home with a friend for the weekend and didn't call me that Sunday....I didn't panic because I knew the reason for the "no call Sunday". By the second week I really had to restrain myself from calling before the next Sunday afternoon call....I knew he was okay as he had emailed me during the week....but I just needed to hear his voice.....needed to hear him tell me he was doing okay!!

I think this is how God feels when we go long periods of time without speaking aloud to Him.....going without spending one-on-one time with Him. Time in our special place....a closet....early before anyone else is awake......where it is just God and I!! Time when I am totally and completely focusing on God!! 

Sometimes God just needs to hear my voice!!

God hears my "text" prayers, and He hears my "email" prayers, and He loves it when I pray to Him....however my prayers are done....but.....sometimes God really just needs to hear my voice!!!

From my corner of the world.....going to my closet to pray.