FULL

Devotions:
I finally got back into doing my daily devotions at a regular time (mornings on the patio). I am trying to be intentional about my devotions and I notice it makes a big difference. When I don't start my day reading my daily devotional book + a chapter from a book of the bible, I am more irritable. I forget to be thankful. I don't like being whiny or mopey because there's so much to be thankful for.

However, I am reminded as well that there is a time for everything--a time to weep and a time to laugh. And today in my morning devotions, I was reminded that Christ comforts and restores us. And that my friends, made the whole difference in my day. I can be sad for a time and even then Christ is there to bring me back up.

Marriage:
I am so loved. I have the best husband ever. I know, I sound like every other happily married person but a happy, healthy marriage is a good marriage. A husband who fights for you, protects you, honors you, loves you...it's the best feeling in the world. Again, it reminds me of how Jesus fights for our souls. Being married is my little glimpse into heaven. I am astounded that if Russell can love me this much, how much so our Father in heaven loves us.

Friends:
Because I work from home now, I try to also be more intentional about meeting up with friends. [Sidenote: Sorry for bugging you all but quality time is like #1 in my love language and I cannot get enough of you guys] You ladies are the best. Seriously. You may not know it, but every time I hang out with one of you, it brightens my day. I am reminded by how beautiful (inside and out) all my friends are. I purposely keep friends close who I know challenge me and help me into a better person. I am continuously encouraged. So whether it's on a hike, in a cafe, during dinner, or in a picnic, thank you.

Planters and Painting

Here's the planter Russell made with the plant we purchased:

Looks simple and elegant enough. We also like it with the other plant we bought. I have better pictures/angles loaded onto the Etsy shop: Wall Planter w/ Mirror

We had fun thinking up this idea and putting it together. Also, Russell has been obsessed with making planters lately...

Anyways, we're all set with sending that off as a birthday present. I painted the card (the green stripy one next to the plant). I'm telling you, watercolors is fun but the most I can do are the most basic design.

Painting is messy but the end result is pretty. Of course, it made me think that painting is like life. We're all messy and all over the place, but in the end, everything is made beautiful in its time.

Plants and Things

We bought some plants this weekend. This one in particular is for a birthday/house warming present. We had an idea for a cool planter and this little guy looked perfect for it. Russell is building the planter and I'll share pictures once that's done.

Rich green color

I decided to dry out my Valentine's day flowers because I hate watching flowers die. Also, we usually place dried plants around the house in case we don't have any fresh ones. They're pretty for decorations :)

Just some upside-down flowers chilling in the living room

I painted a little bit this weekend because I got a new set of watercolors. Russell had given me some of his watercolors to use but he has nice brands and I don't like wasting nice things if I don't know what I'm doing. Hence, a mediocre brand from an art store. While I work in the living room "art space", I get to look out our living room window and spot Russell doing wood work.

Not a bad view

I've dubbed our patio his woodworking shop. Not gonna lie, we're pretty excited to move and find a bigger space to live.

The apartment we have is tiny but we're making the most of it. Nothing a few plants and flowers can't liven up.

What's Cooking?

Russ let the cat out of the bag and posted about our Etsy store on his social media this weekend. I feel bad for not sharing it on here right away. So even though we don't have many products on there yet, here it is: www.etsy.com/shop/BuddingGoods

Also, we got our first Etsy order last week! Someone wanted a ring and Russell and I spent the whole day thrilled. We couldn't stop talking about the order. It's one thing setting up the store and another thing to actually get an order. We still feel like amateurs but we're getting the hang of it. I think I read up on anything that has to do with USPS priority mail. I just hope the product reaches the customer.

That's not all we have cooking up. While I'm at it, let me share another link: Livingmoonstudios.com

Russell has been working on the site since last year, and I wrote the web copy. Our ultimate goal is to be able to work together on various projects. Now we have Etsy where we can creatively make things together and Living Moon Studios is our portfolio site where we can market together business-wise for other companies. There's still a ton we have to do on Living Moon Studios. For example, register the name. Yup, still have to do that. We decided not to worry about that until we move in the spring.

For now, we will keep making things, taking pictures of them, giving them away to friends and family, then excitedly screaming and dancing when someone (whom we don't know) orders them from Etsy while we scramble around getting new materials to remake the products again. Being married to Russell is a swirl of creativity, adventure, and excitement.

But the Greatest of These is Love

I'll spare you any cheesy Valentine's Day updates. But but but...I wanted to show you how pretty I wrapped Russell's present. I am more proud of my wrapping and how I decorated it than I am of its actual contents:

That is real brown bag wrapping. Like, it's a Sprout's brown grocery bag and I ripped off the handles then used the bag as wrapping. Then I stamped it all pretty with pink paint. It made me sad to see Russell excitedly tear through the wrapping because it was so pretty.

Russell has had a work project causing him to work a lot this past week--while he was sick, booo. So it was a treat that this weekend, Russell had planned a little getaway weekend for us in Pasadena. I got to see the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens finally! I've been wanting to go since my Chaucer professor in college told us about the original Canterbury Tales resting in the Huntington Library on display. That was a treat to see.

Lots of food was eaten, googly eyes were given, presents exchanged, etc. etc.

I believe in holidays and anniversaries. I believe in celebrating the little things in life, and especially the little things in marriage. Valentine's Day is wonderful in ways that allow us to celebrate love and to shower that love on our friends and family. While I enjoyed the presents and the trip, I need to end this blog post stating that the greatest thing throughout this weekend was love. And without God, we wouldn't have this kind of love.

Agape

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.   

1 Corinthians 13:4-13

Homemade Cards

This past weekend, we crafted quite a bit. Russ made another cool planter (will post pics once it is finished) and I tried to learn how to paint. My painting skills are on the same level as a Kindergartener's but it doesn't mean that I don't find it fun. Although, I don't think I'll be able to paint anything more than circles, lines, and the occasional hearts.

Since I spend a lot of time home now and because crafting keeps me sane, I made Valentine's Day cards this weekend!

Friends, expect yours in the mail soon!

Simplicity

Since getting back from Philippines, Russ and I finally collected all our plants from my parent's house and placed them back on our patio. A lot have died because of the weird Southern California freeze that happened while we were gone, but some are still alive. I've been working/writing in our patio every morning where it's peaceful and nice to be surrounded by plants while I type.

Not a bad home office:

Sun!

Lewis loves the sun as much as I do so he hangs out with me until noon which is when the sun leaves our patio :(

This next month or so, Russ and I decided we won't spend money buying art stuff or home goods. I was inspired by a blog post by Thrifty Decor Chick and decided to give it a try. We have lots of leftover wood and art supplies--it'll be interesting to see what we can make with the things we already have.

The Great Outdoors

Thursday morning I dusted off my picnic basket, made a quick salad, got the goat cheese out of the fridge, grabbed a bottle of wine and headed for my friend's apartment. There, we packed more goodies in the basket--gourmet cheese, salami, olives, figs, dates candies, fruit, chocolate, sardines, spiced nuts--put the basket and blanket into the back of my car and headed to LA.

We ended up at the Old LA Zoo which my friend knew about and which we wanted to explore. We hiked a tiny bit of the area and looked through some of the old animal cages. Pretty neat and I guess something not many people know about.

What's great about the Old LA Zoo is that it has a picnic area. This is where we set up our lunch.

All organized.

Great selection of goodies

The food...oh the food was lovely. I think this is how all picnics should be like from here on out. We sat on the grass for hours while the shade from the trees came and went. We chatted, we ate, we sipped, we laughed. These kinds of moments make me thankful for good friends and the kind of friendships that help us grow.

After lots of eating, there was a moment where we laid back down on the grass and blasted some Taylor Swift music. There was dancing, singing, and lots of fun-having.

Looking up

Things are looking up. Sometimes I need to remember to lay down for a little bit and be content. There are so many beautiful things to explore and find outside. As I'm writing this on my apartment patio, the tiny birds in the trees are chirping. Lewis is sleeping in the sunshine. And I'm...writing. All is well.

Creative Outlet

Hey guys,

I'm in a need of a creative outlet so I will make more of an effort to use this blog. I have my fingers crossed in hoping that I will actually stick to this goal.

A little update: 
I'm working part time from home now. This means that I spend a lot of the time going crazy from the lack of human contact. It also means that I talk to my dog, Lewis, a lot of the time. But having more time at home has been a welcomed game-changer because it means I get to nourish our little apartment with love, I get to go on lots of tiny adventures with friends, I get to hike and exercise more, and Russell gets more home cooked meals. Honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to switch back to a full time office job. I'm pretty spoiled right now.

Another change that's taking place this year is that Russell and I might be looking for a new home. Shhh, don't want to jinx anything by writing too much. I'll update on that as more of our plans solidify.

Since I am on a verbal binge, Russell and I have started an Etsy shop! Once we get more items on there, I'll share the link. It's a pretty small, dinky online store at the moment but I hope it grows over time. One of the things I wanted to do this year is to have more creative time with Russell. He's great at woodworking and I'm good at small randoms, so we're trying to piece that together. Our weekends consist of creating and crafting...things. More on that too as time passes.

2015 began with lots of changes and more are on the way. I'm excited to see where 2015 takes us.

'Till next time (and there will be a next time),
Katrina Henry