under construction

After nine years (with a couple breaks here and there in the midst of childbearing/raising) of this beautiful blog being my home I've decided to move to a new location... I hope you'll stay with me as I dig in deeper to all the wonderful things I am passionate about.  Connecting with people, creating beauty in this world (through diys, cooking, and learning new things) and yes, even coffee! What can I say? I'm passionate about coffee!

I'll be debuting on my nine year anniversary!

chalkboards make me happy

I am horribly obsessed with chalkboard paint.  I would like to paint everything in my home with chalkboard and then write myself funny little sayings, inspirational quotes, to-do lists, recipes, so on and so forth.

So it's not crazy that I would show you a simple way that I am incorporating different types of chalkboards into my life. :)

I took a frame (complete with backing and glass not shown here) from a thrift store. I believe it was $5 or so.  I took off the backing and took out the glass.  The glass I tossed in the trash but you could save it for other DIY projects.

I did not.

I have a problem with saving DIY projects for rainy days that never get finished during rainy days.  So bye bye glass! I need to focus on one task at a time (even though I have about forty projects half finished in the garage... gulp!).

Anyway, I painted the backing with chalkboard paint.  It was super easy and quick.  Took me about an hour to do and that's only cause I followed the directions to wait between coats. 

 Another thing I love as much as chalkboards is yarn.  Yarn makes my little diy world go round. Yay for yarns endless possibilities.

 Using my yarn and a glue gun I started to wrap the crap out of my frame.  I like my yarn sporadically wrapped and bunched in certain places... so this is not a perfectionists wrap job.

I also, just glued in areas where I felt needed glueing.  There was no rhyme or reason to my wrapping and glueing.

After it was wrapped the background/cardboard-turned-chalkboard wouldn't fit in the frame because of the yarn.  So I hot glued the backing onto the frame/yarn.  It was perfect.

 What do you think?

Pretty cute huh?

I might add flowers or different colored pieces during the different seasons.  Plus, at some point when I am inspired I will change my generic greeting... I figured "don't even think of ringing my doorbell and waking my baby or I will murder you" wouldn't be as welcoming as "welcome friends".  And since I'm exhausted generic will have to do for now.

ha!

What about you? Are you jumping on the chalkboard craze train? What have you created today?

eating with spoons

Right now we're learning to eat with spoons...

Mommy said it would be hard but it wasn't that hard to do...

See? Not hard at all! I told my Mommy that we would do our very best and not spill anywhere.  I said, "Look, Mommy! This may be our first time but we're not going to resort to caveman like tactics.  We'll starve before we mess up our beautiful little bodies!"

Right Belle?

Belle?

Belle? What are you doing?

Hmmm... that kind of looks like fun! 

Well, like I said, we are just learning...

Look Li Li, I'm using my spoon too!

the 4th (from a Love Bugs perspective)

We had a wonderful 4th of July. Despite the weather being yucky, we managed to have a full day of fun!

Our 4th of July "sparklers"

Even my baby carrier matched my red, white and blue outfit!

I think babies make the best accessories, don't you?!

Mommy's fun new dip. Thank you pinterest for leading her to this dip found here.

Even though she said we were too young this year to try some.

Playing

With Daddy

Enjoying the sunshine with Mommy

All in all, our first 4th was a huge hit! 

...and we even got to go to bed a little late. Woo hoo for breaking the bedtime routine!

a tour...

Hello everyone!

I wanted to write and give a little tour of my blog so that if you are here and confused, you won't feel so unsure of navigating the pages, links, etc.

First off, is the "pages area"... If you click on any of the pages you will be redirected to those posts which can tell you a bit more about me and the series of Moms in Ministry.  I wanted to add the M.I.M. links in case someone was trying to find them all in one location. Voila! The pages section!

Next, we have the categories or "tags" from my post.  Hubs has told me in recent feedback that he thinks these are confusing.  For now, I'll just let you know what each tag means and hope that might clear up some confusion.


Inklings
This is where I share my deep thoughts and meanderings through life.  It's lovingly stolen from the literary group with the same name that met in pubs to discuss their own writings.  Members included my hero C.S. Lewis, fictional genius J.R.R. Tolkien and mystery phenomenon Dorothy Sayers.  Click here for more.

Home & Heart
I tag this when I write about things dear to my heart pertaining to the home.


Upward & Onward
Another Lewis reference.  In the book, "The Last Battle" those who have ventured into Aslan's Country to "move higher up and further in" or as I have taken the meaning to be "deeper into Aslan"... it's kind of my "battle cry" for God's spirit working in me and revealing things to me.


My Colorful World
Any post I consider colorful. Mostly pictures!


Over & About
My posts regarding Japan; either while in Japan or upon returning home and reflecting on my time spent there.


Life's Little Moments
Sometimes I write about the littlest things... laundry, baby moments, etc.  The little moments that if I weren't looking out for, might slip by and go unnoticed (and often do).


twenty.eight
When I was 28, I attempted to do 28 things.  And then I got pregnant (which was one of them) and did about 5. ha ha ha!! It's a list of things I gathered from myself, Hubs and family members encouraging me to do more.  I love the things I learned from the stuff I did do and let it serve as a reminder to continue trying new things.

If you look below that you'll find, Looking For Something... perhaps something you read on my blog? Enter a couple keywords here and hit search!

Then there are the blogs I love to read and people I Am Blessed to know.  If you like things you read here on Cultivating, you will love some of these.  They update and change order as the author updates their posts!

Finally, Subscribe so you can get updated when I update the blog. Since I've readily confused to being a sporadic blogger (oops, sorry!) I think this would be the easiest way to stay tuned in to read Cultivating.

Grab My Button! If you have a blog, go ahead and grab my button so you can let others know where to find me.  It's convenient, practical and just so darn cute!


Well, hope that helps you find what you might be looking for here at Cultivating and if not, don't hesitate to leave a comment below and let me know.
With love!

sporadic

Sooo... I have been MIA for awhile.  I'm sorry to not be very consistent on this blog.  Is there anyone still out there?  I sure hope so.  I read a blog about writing blogs (ha!) and it said that one of the keys to having a successful blog is consistency.  So I'm sorry if my sporadic posting is annoying you or keeping you from wanting to read my blog.

I happen to love this little blog and although I think of it often, I can only find time to give it loving attention in sporadic moments.  Sorry little blog.  Don't be offended. I still love you.

Now that we have that out of the way I wanted to show you why I wasn't able to able to write very often.  Hubs and I had an extended stay with family.... and now, let the photo bombing begin. Enjoy!

We enjoyed snacks with our cousins! 

Swing rides with family!! 

Both Love Bugs learned to climb the stairs! 

We went swimming in a fun river! 

Although some of us enjoyed it more than others!

 We battled an ear infection by snuggling!

We worked on our table manners!

We got ready for mountain climbing... this trip diaper boxes! Next trip, 14ers with Grampa!! 

 We were invited to lots of parties!

But although we had a lot of fun, there was a lot of work to do, too! 

Whenever we got an owie, we had our cousin to help us. She is really good at getting splinters out! No joke! 

We had some piano lessons!

We love Colorado! 

"Goodbye! So long! See you again soon!"

So you see? We were super busy enjoying a wonderful stay with family.  Too many pictures to post now but maybe over time I can share more!  What a blessing it is to have family so close.  Only a two hour plane ride.  After living overseas I will never complain about domestic flights again.  Thank you Lord for allowing us this trip!

Thanks to our family for letting us stay in their homes!!

And I promise to post here more often, if even sporadically!

Spring Break 2012

My sister in law called me Friday wondering what I was up to the following week and before I knew it, we had plans to meet in Vegas for a little getaway.

It was so much fun and an adventure for me since I had never cared for the girls by myself.  I LOVED seeing my family and was so excited to get away for a little while.

Enjoy pictures from our Spring Break 2012. 

Checking out the trucks at our lunch stop...

At a gas stop

Playing with the cousins

MB learned to sit up on her own

lots of hugging and kissing...

spending some quality time with my nieces at DQ...

souvenir shopping...

playing at the park

Lenora Daye

hanging out in our sweet condo... on the balcony

the balcony where a couple of Rapunzels ate multiple meals...

couple of cousins playing together...

fun family time!!

I completely felt like I was "cheating" on the Cars characters as I drove to Vegas and back.  Sorry guys but the interstate is faster!