Eli and Em take on D.C.!

Newsflash!!

In September our parents moved to Virginia, so tomorrow we head out to our new "home"!

Looking forward to spending Christmas in our nation's capital.

Cheers and good tidings friends xoxoxo

Skirt Week & Link Up Party!

 

Wow! This week has been fun! I joined in with sweet Miss Libby at A Noble Calling and some other blogging friends to do the Week in Skirts challenge.
First, I have to say that it ended up just being me (Libby) doing this challenge. Emmy has been really focusing hard on finishing up school and graduating. So since she was just staying in, her outfits didn't veer far from t-shirts, sweatshirts, and comfy jeans! ;) Second, this challenge was...well...challenging. But only because of the cold weather that unexpectedly arrived! Leggings to the rescue! 

Without further ado, I now share my outfits. Enjoy!

Wednesday

 Shirt: ARC Thrift Store (in Colorado Springs)

Skirt: Goodwill in Edmond

Necklace: Surprise from Mommy! :)

Thursday (cold day!)

 Fleece Pullover: Gift from yeeeaaars ago

Skirt: Goodwill

Snowman socks: gift

Leggings: Target

Friday

 T-shirt: Old Navy

Skirt: Grammy's closet when we "shopped" it after she went to Heaven
Shoes: My trusty Chacos

Saturday (Emily's dance performance!)

 Dress: Ross

Scarf: Emmy's closet

Cardigan: ARC thrift store

Sunday Snowy Mother's Day with delightful company!

 Blue Sweater: Old Navy

Denim Skirt: Thrift store

Leggings: Target

Cowgirl boots: I don't remember!

Monday

 Skirt: Goodwill

Belt: Clothing swap

Shirt: Old Navy

Tuesday (Today!) a.k.a. 19 Kids and Counting Day

 Skirt: Goodwill

Shirt: Old Navy

As you can see, I hit up Old Navy a lot for great deals (ever found their $1.97 clearance rack?). I also am a fan of simplicity. Pair a sold top or bottom with a print. I find that my wardrobe stretches farther with solids that I can mix and match. 

Thanks again to Libby for organizing this! Now go check out the other gals who participated and get some more inspiration for incorporating skirts into our daily wardrobes! 

Elyse at Elyse Lauryn

Caroline at Life as Caroline

Abigail at Jubilant Joys

Rebekah at LivelyLaughter

Katie at His Princess Warrior

Sarah at Sarah Plain and Average

Libby and Emmy at The Dutch Umbrella

Julia at Sweet as JAM Photography

Cameron at Follower of Christ’s Blog

Maiya at Blessings, Bliss, and Bedlam

***BONUS PICTURES***

 

Here's Emmy on the day she joined me. She comfort and movement are key for her! And she's rockin' that groovy Estes Park T-shirt, huh?

Skirt Week!

Hi friends (Libby here)! Has spring made itself at home by now where you live? It's slowly but surely moving in and settling in Colorado. 

Our friend, Libby, over at A Noble Calling is holding a special challenge. Hop over there and check out her challenge to wear skirts for one week. Emmy and I are going to be participating to celebrate the warmer weather and our love for skirts! 

The two of us don't typically wear skirts every single day. We wear them often though! For us, skirts are cute, cool, comfortable, and unmistakeably feminine. 

For me, there are some circumstances when pants are preferred. For instance, sometimes it is not very ladylike or practical to do yard work, painting, or mission trip projects in a skirt. Or work with my horse and ride her. I know it definitely is possible, we just prefer to go ahead and wear our blue jeans. Also in those situations, we feel like wearing skirts draw attention to us, which is not our goal. 

Otherwise we are so excited to participate in this challenge! For day to day wear, skirts are excellent options! It's interesting to think about that there are some areas of the world where women wear wear solely skirts or dresses. In fact, women everywhere did until the past half-century. That being said, I have special outfit idea planned for one of the days, and I cannot wait to share it with you all!


Em and I have a few keys that help us with wearing skirts. 

Keys to Skirts

1. We love thrift stores! That is the best place to find cute skirts for great prices. That's where we find the most modest ones, too. Scour your local thrift stores and see what exciting pieces you can find!

2. We love comfy skirts. We've acquired quite a few soft, stretchy skirts that feel great and look cute at the same time! The soft material allows us to move around and not feel constricted.

3. Our skirts must be practical. That means on a daily basis our skirts usually aren't flouncy delicate material. 

Hope yall have fun seeing what we come up with! I know we will have fun too!

What I'm thinking about this afternoon

photo courtesy of SheReadsTruth.com

There are a lot of things floating around in my mind this afternoon. 

First is what we do in response to huge disappointments in life. How do we respond to tragedies our brothers and sisters in Christ face? I was reminded of a phrase I read a few months ago in a SheReadsTruth devotion: "And if not, He is still good." We've got to cling to that....He is still good. He's always good.

Another thing I've been thinking about is today being Palm Sunday. In church today the lesson was centered on John 12:13. We talked about how quickly things can change in one weeks' time. How true is that? We all experience our "Sundays" when it is so encouraging and easy to follow Jesus. But we also learn that the Christian life also experiences its share of "Fridays" when there's a cross waiting and we feel all alone

Also in remembering Palm Sunday, Bob Goff the author of Love Does, tweeted on the books Twitter page a thought that I really loved. He said, "They laid their offerings before Him palms down, so we live our lives in humility palms up." I just love that. Palms up, open hands, emptying our hands to give back to Him who gave it all. 

Emmy's Healthy Eating (and drinking!) Challenge!

Hey friends! It's Emmy. Can you believe it's already the 2nd week of April? Spring is in the air!!

Who here likes pop/soft drinks/carbonated beverages/soda? I don't drink a lot of pop already, but I enjoy a Dr. Pepper every now & then. :) I think we all do! "Soda" drinks can be enticing with their sweet taste & the bubbly-ness (can that be a word?) of the carbonation. I don't know about y'all, but pop drinks really give me and acidic stomach & esophagus! I guess that can be expected from drinking a lot of carbonation in one sitting, but I don't want to put up with it all the time!

As this month approached, I decided on a challenge for myself: I'm going to go the whole month of April with no soda & I'm going to try to drink more water!

And why stop there?! Why limit it to just drinks?! I added on more fun to the challenge: Eat more fruit & veggies through out the day, to get those suggested servings in! Instead of snacking on something salty or chocolate-y (chocolate granola bars are definitely okay to have for a snack), go for a handful of grapes or a clementine or an apple!!

So, who wants to join me in my No-Soda-In-April Challenge?! I know we can do it!!

I'm expecting great results! How about y'all?

Oh the winter. The cold, the bundling up, the icy roads, the scraping car windows, and the dreary days.

There are two songs that help me through the seemingly endless cold and lifeless season.
1- Even the Winter by Audrey Assad
2- Every Season by Nicole Nordeman

You see, little blessings still come wrapped up with the falling snow and freezing rain.
Even though church services were cancelled I will get to spend personal time in God's Word.
Even though I'll miss being with my brothers and sisters in Christ, church getting cancelled will allow me extra time to work on an assignment that I was really stressing over.

God sends the cold and the warmth. We need this time of frozen quietness as much as we need beautiful sunny days.

Mewege, that bwessed awangement

Are we asking ourselves the right questions when it comes to "the right age" for marriage?

I don't think there is a right age for marriage. I just know that marriage between two stable Christians seeking to serve God together is good. It is good regardless of age.

Within these past 10 minutes I have seen two articles posted on Facebook about the case for marrying young/early. What are the odds! haha.

I actually support both sides of this. I have nothing against getting married young, so long as both parties have had proper counseling and preparation. I support young marriage especially for the fact that it might be our society's one hope of getting us out of this increased-age-of-adolescence trend. Both the blog posts I just read already have mentioned the fact that adolescence has been extended even past college graduation. This is a problem because young people are shirking from the responsibilities of adulthood and avoiding becoming productive members of society.

Marriage in general is being delayed. I believe this is reflective of the value the American culture is placing on marriage in recent years. For that reason, I support early marriage (of well prepared couples) as a countercultural statement, and to hopefully show the rest of society the high value of good marriages. 

On the flip side of this, I would not go around saying that people in general should marry young. Sometimes the timing of marriage is beyond one's control. Instead, I advocate trusting the Lord in this area. Yes, He may bring along someone you meet your freshman year of college. Or, as is my case, you reach your twenty-first year and still have not met anyone to spend your life with.

Reasons other than immaturity can delay marriage, such as commitment to doing missions. Hey! The mission field could be the perfect place to meet a future spouse! A person seeking to spread the Gospel and put the needs of the Kingdom above their own should be highly commended.

Another point I wanted to touch on was someone's claim that early marriage guards against sexual immorality. In a sense, yes, it does. Obviously, a couple can be freely intimate with one another in the context of marriage, therefore eliminating the immorality of having premarital sex. However, that is not the be-all-end-all of sexual immorality. And it certainly should not be a sole reason for a couple to get married young. Getting married does not automatically remove all temptation for sexual immorality. A married couple also must guard against the immorality of adultery and infidelity, just as an unmarried couple must guard against the temptation of physical intimacy prior to marriage.

Perhaps instead of saying I support young or early marriages, I should say I am an advocate for NOT delaying marriage. There is really no reason to date and date and date the same person for years on end unless there are kinks being ironed out (counseling, finding employment, etc.). There is no reason for someone to completely shut out the possibility of marriage while they are in college.

Pretty much, if you are trusting in the Lord, and following His guidance you can't go wrong!

but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.

1 John 2:5

Why do we blog?

It seems like every time I log on to Facebook I see a friend of mine posting a link to some blog post or article. Hey! I even do it, too, sometimes!

These become especially prevalent surround controversies in the media such as the recent Phil Robertson, A&E, Duck Dynasty, homosexual fiasco.

This always amuses me because I get the impression some people think blog posts are credible sources, or reliable professionals that everyone should read and listen to and take their side. Coming from the "blogger" side I can attest that is not true! I am just here posting my thoughts and feelings and hopefully encouragements for you. Many of my blogging friends would probably agree that, no, we are not professionals giving advice.

That being said, the emergence of blog posts on Facebook and Pinterest gets me to thinking, "Why do we blog?"

What compels us to share our thoughts with the Internet world? Why do we promote it on Facebook? I don't have an answer, but this is a good question for me. It helps me to get to the root of my motives for posting. Whether here or on Facebook.

Do I aim to change someone's mind? Am I passive aggressively pointing out a frustration I have with somebody?

I think one HUGE reason is that we simply want to be heard. We desire validation from others who feel the same way. And with every comment and "like" we get that validation. We get a sense of fulfillment that someone is listening to what we have to say.

And nothing is inherently wrong with that at all. But I must make sure that I seek to find my worth in Jesus Christ and talk to Him before voicing my opinions to others.

Unique Mac 'n Cheese Recipe!

Hey everyone! Emmy here.

Do y'all ever make spaghetti for dinner one night and end up with tons of left-over, plain noodles? Do you ever want to eat them but don't know what to eat them with or how to prepare them? Don't want to eat them plain? I've got an idea you might want to try next time!

I recently made spaghetti for dinner, for our family. We ended up with lots of left-over noodles! I found a container of them in our refrigerator. I thought, what could I make out of these, that's a tasty yet filling lunch/meal idea? And then it hit me! I'll just make a quick mac 'n cheese! Want to learn how?

What I used:

• left-over, plain spaghetti noodles from fridge
• Fiesta blend shredded cheese (we use great value, the Wal-Mart brand) 
• 1 slice of provolone cheese
• 2 splashes of half & half cream
• microwave :)

What I did:

1. Microwave cold spaghetti noodles in microwave safe container. (I microwaved them for about 45 seconds-1 minute)
2. Take container of noodles out of microwave and add some shredded cheese, mix/fold in with fork.
3. Reheat warm noodles w/ added cheese, for about 20-25 more seconds.
4. Take out of microwave; tear up provolone slice and mix in. (add more shredded cheese if desired) Throw in a couple splashes of half and half cream. This will help add a creaminess to the noodles, and help the cheese not to stick & thicken up so much.
5. ENJOY!!!
   

We are on Twitter!

Hello everyone! It's Emmy. We are still here!! So sorry about abandoning this blog for a while. We hardly ever get around to posting on here anymore.

Just telling you all we're on Twitter! I made the Twitter for both my sister & me, but I'm usually the only one who checks it/uses it.

Find & follow us! Search the name Em Henderson or the Twitter handle: @Eli_and_Em

See ya!