goodbye march, hello april!

march...you were pretty good to me, i mean you've brought me greener grass, budding trees, flowers pokin' their little heads out here & there, and a little more sunshine on my skin too! let's not forget that you took me to austin, charlotte and few trips to asheville too. i mean, i get along with you, march. but its time to part our ways. im glad some things are behind me (spanish presentations, bleh! and just schoolwork all around).

but before you go, i want to thank you for a couple things...

jesus has visited me in huge ways while you were here. im so grateful for new friends, new insights, and new habits (good ones too!).

goodbye march, i'm excited to see what will be happening when drop in again.

so that brings me to you, april.  i have no idea whats going to happen while you're here! i do know you are my last month of college! wahooohaha! i cant believe you're here! but if i must be honest, im a little scared of when you leave. i really have noooo idea whats in store when its time for you to go. april, you're about the last thing im certain of. i know, mostly, what you'll look like. probably not too many surprises.

but while im anxious for you to be over with, i want to drink you in too.  i want to understand new things with you, i want you to be life-changing for me, april! i hope you've seen what me & march did and decide to pick up just where we're leaving off!

im ready for ya, april! and not too many fools tomorrow!!

feeling a little bloggy

yep. i am today. maybe its the dose of artsy i just received and the fact that its cold outside today all combines to bring me to my little blog...twice in one day no less.

i was reading in psalms...my journey i started last summer almost complete now, and in chapter 134 it says

come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!

thats it. thats the whole chapter. a little short i thought. so i started to put it down and then it hit me, bless the Lord! yeah, do it. praise him for all he's done and for who he is! so i started saying things out loud {matthews not here :)}.

i started saying all these things that i know him to be...faithful, loving, mighty, merciful, kind, compassionate, jealous, sovereign, all-knowing...and i could go on and on!

so i started feeling comforted. i've been stressing out about graduating and about a job and just who i am. and reminding myself of just who my God is gave me so much hope.

but then i realized something...

sure...i know these things, i know them to be true and i believe them...

but im just not sure if i believe that God wants to be those things to me right now in my life. im not sure that he wants to show himself mighty in my situation with getting a job.

i have to come back, though. i have to come back to all those things i know to be true of my God, and in the same way that they give me hope and comfort, they must also move me to trust in him with all that i am

...even my job{lessness}.

{mustard seed}.

sxsw 2011

our recent trip to sxsw in austin was so much fun - jam packed with incredible shows, venues, new sounds, lots of walking and as always interesting people. we arrived earlier than we had last year so we were lucky to see a lot more too!  matthew got to meet up with some people, so all in all it was a great trip...

some of my favorite performances were by the lonely forest, kopecky family band, the head and the heart (which we only saw like 2 songs of but they were great!), yellow ostrich, the submarines, and bear hands.  we desperately wanted to see grouplove and the naked and famous, but the lines were a little crazy this year and we didn't make it in.

all that said, if you haven't heard any of the above, do yourself a favor - get a hold of their music and have a great rest of the day. :)

there was this place we saw a couple shows at called swan dive... it was beautiful. all white and vintage inspired...makes me wanna open up a little venue place here

so now that its been a week since south by, i find myself feeling overly creative. last year i was incredibly inspired as well to dig a little deeper into that side of my brain that rarely sees much action between august and may.  so far, i've painted our patio set a bright blue and am working on a couple mixed art pieces too. ill let ya know how that turns out...maybe. :)

i also now have a stronger yearning to broaden the skies a little beyond johnson city in the years ahead. who knows...we'll see i guess!

surprising new sounds

Things have been pretty interesting recently.

My husband has been working on the release of a monthly compilation of the best up and coming indie bands {littlestsounds} and so in the process he's (we've) been listening to a ton of new music everyday.  In this process he received a suggestion from a friend, William Haun, about the group Valley Maker.

I usually adore most of the new music that's been coming in, but this one was different.  For once, I not only felt a rejuvenated by their sound, but also by the purpose behind their self titled project.  They based the entire thing off of the book of Genesis, which I've gotten to study a good bit lately with a group of friends.

So anyways, I'm thrilled to have heard them and even more so to share them with you.

But don't just take my word, check them out for yourself here and here