Joy Leanne

John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. How interesting that Christ should compare himself to bread. It is such a simple food. So basic. Some grain, some water, some fat. I am no scholar and, I am sure many people, much wiser than I am have, written things far more in depth than this. But these are my thoughts. Of all of the food Christ could have compared Himself to He chose bread. He chose a basic, humble food. A staple. A food so lowly that it is what prisoners are given. When cupboards are bare and piggy banks are empty there is always bread. Like air, like water, bread meets our most basic of needs in a direct and simple manner. Just a day before Christ makes this statement declaring he is the Bread of Life he meets the crowds basic need of food. With bread. And they are back. Wanting that same need met again. And here He offers to meet an deeper need, a need that makes all ...

This post started out as a Facebook status. But it was just too good not to blog about.  I am sitting here at the computer bemoaning the cold weather when my 3 year old looks out the window. Maddie: "The snow melted!!! Now we can have Easter!" She was so excited, so full of hope, so full of life. I wondered if that's how the women felt when they realized Jesus was no longer in the tomb. "The darkness has passed! We still have hope!" I was so ready for spring. For warm weather. For sunshine. For hope. For life. When we walked out of church Palm Sunday and the snow was falling I was crushed. I remember cold Holy Weeks, but never quite THIS cold. Never SNOW! It also seems like there is so much turmoil around us in general right now. Facebook feeds are full of friends on opposite sides of the same issues calling for action, for boycotts, for their right to be heard. And I think back to how confusing, and conflicting, and cold that first "Holy Week" must ha...

We went to get our measuring/gender ultrasound. It was supposed to be in the morning but due to an 6 inch snow fall it got canceled. Thankfully we were able to get it rescheduled for later in the day! I'm not sure why it was so important to me except that things are a little stressful at home. Snow this late in spring is not good for car business. Especially car business that's already slow. I keep thinking about a phrase my dad shared during his Christmas sermon. "It wasn't a good time to bring a baby into the world. It's never a good time to bring a baby into the world." Which is so true. And yet, the worst times to bring baby's in to the world is when we tend to need them the most. Some how seeing that little baby girl on the screen seemed to make everything so much easier. I don't know what the future holds but I know this baby is wanted and loved. Today is my mother's birthday. She shared her birth story on her blog today. Once Upon My Story. ...

I adore this quote. Oh so much. I stumbled across is on pinterest and found it's source. A beautiful little blog Little Reminders of Love . I suggest you look her up. So inspiring. Sorry for the radio silence. My younger brother, his wife, and their four-month old are moving back into town the middle of next month and we have been busy getting our house ready for them to stay with us while they figure out next steps. We are so excited to have them back in town and even be sharing the house with them for a bit. Looking forward to the chance to snuggle with my sweet nephew Ezra. Isn't he precious?! I adore him so much. Can't wait to see him and give him a little baby cousin to play with! Baby sticky is nice and healthy and should be making his/her appearance some times late July. In the mean time we are getting ready for a cruise to Mexico and Belize next week. A perfect babymoon. Lots of pictures to come!

Congrats to Meli K. for winning the 31 Bags Giveaway! Sorry it took so long to post this. I've been pretty sick the past few days.

As I have shared on here before, one of my main goals with this blog, and my life in general, is to record my families memories. I've been attempting to do this more on paper as well so that my kids have hard copies of these memories and not just words on a screen. I have been trying VERY unsuccessfully to do Project life this year. I have pretty much given up on daily or even weekly but I have been capturing certain moments on paper in my own, very messy, way of scrapbooking. (Really I just like an excuse to buy pretty paper and tape!).  My favorite place to work on this is on the sofa, by the fire, so I have come up with my little mobile scrap-book center!     I LOVE 31 products. Though, as you can, see I don't always use them planned. This is the make up bag above and bellow is the note pad keeper that I use to hold my stationary.     Not only are 31 products great for keeping your organized while keeping memories they are great for MAKING memories! And, sinc...

SO! I have been pretty quiet on here since last week and there is a very good, though very long, explication for all of that. I promise to share later. However, some times when things get crazy you just have to step back and focus on some fun simple things. So today I want to share some pretty inspiration with you. I am sure that you all are familiar with Pick Your Plum! (If for some reason you aren't familiar with them they are a "deal" site that offers ONE craft/creative item daily at a really big discount.) My sister-in-law Marge got me hooked on them forever ago and I adore them! I have gotten amazing elastic, bakers twine, stamps, washi tape, hair pins kits, earring kits, and fabric from them. Well last night I got a sneak peak at what today's "Plum" is...... Valentin's Day Washi Tape!!!!!   I am so excited! I was up last night thinking of all the ways I can use this. Doesn't matter that I already have some, I can always use more! It's one ...