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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Little Texas Weekend


Glory! While I was in college I read in a magazine about this store in Houston that has this incredible collection of used cowboy boots.  I got my 3rd pair from the Texas Junk Co. this weekend.  This place is a jewel even though I would confer that the majority of stuff in there is total junk...there are piles of used bank records and other weird stuff.  But what this place is constantly written up about are the used cowboy boots. They are perfectly worn in, come in so many sizes and colors and styles.  I brought in my two old pairs and walked out with my new "old" pair for a fair trade. Seriously if you find yourself in Houston, you must check out the Texas Junk Co. The trick there is that it's only open on Friday and Saturday.


This is Quincy. Who is in great need of a haircut, but my sister and I love our poodle when he sports his shag. This dog has been at the brink of death more than once, but was well and alive this weekend when we went on a little Hill Country adventure. I love this dog and as dumb as it sounds, he has been my loyal companion - always eager to see me - and strangely, I know that dog loves me without condition.  Anyways, it brought lots of giggles to see Quincy prance around and sit on picnic tables doing some people watching of his own (and surprisingly in a quiet fashion). My sister and I will do our best to make sure Quincy partakes in some Thanksgiving food of his own this upcoming week.

I love my dog, my boots and my Texas.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Tumbleweeds & Notions on Etsy!!

Wahoo!!! Tumbleweeds & Notions is officially on Etsy and just about ready for business! Family & Friends will get the unveiling email about the blog and the shop on Tuesday. The shop has all sorts of great things in it for holiday gifts, so head on over with your shopping list! 


I have thought about figuring out how to do Etsy for some time as a way to make a little money on the side and now that I've had some time to work it out...it's quite a bit of work. So, be on the lookout as new things get added every day this week! And it sure would mean a lot if you'd pass it along to your friends! 

You can get to the shop through the link at the top of the blog or search for it on Etsy. But you have to search for the shop name like this "TumbleweedsNotions" because spelling out "and" is over the character limit. Or you can just type in this web address:

Seriously, head over there...like something, admire something, make the shop a favorite...do what you need to do people.
Thanks so much!

Oprah & Jesus

I can't sleep. So, my brain started to write and I figured that what it was writing might make a good blog post...


In the last 3 months, it's been sort of funny the different places where truth has shown up or how certain connections in my head get made and what led me to it. Today, I was flipping through TV channels when I landed on Oprah's new network. Apparently, Oprah has a show on there called something like Lifeclass and from what I've gathered, she basically sits in front of a camera and talks about big life learning moments that have come from her million years as a talk show host...I know right, I'm rolling my eyes already too.  But, for five or so minutes, I couldn't change the channel.  Oprah was remembering a show she had like 4 years ago and I don't know the topic of the show, other than she had this woman on who had lost all 4 of her children and I assume it was some tragic accident. The woman was talking about life with her children gone, how she couldn't go anywhere without some reminder of her children and the life she once knew...the cereal aisle at the grocery store killed her. It flashes back to Oprah facing the camera and she tells about how she remembered a conversation she had with Camille Cosby (Bill Cosby's wife) after their son had died. Camille was telling Oprah how her emotions would come in waves - she never knew when or how strong they would come - but she finally settled into knowing they would come and the only thing she could do was forge straight into it. I was drawn into this show this afternoon, because I recognized what they were talking about. No, I haven't lost a child; I can't really even fathom that, but I have lost a lot in the recent months. Oprah said "whatever your ashes are..." there is a way through it. It immediately reminded me of a Shane and Shane song about beauty and ashes
beauty for ashes
a garment of praise for my heaviness
beauty for ashes
take this heart of stone and make it Yours, Yours

i delight myself in the Richest of Fair
trading all that i've had for all that is better
a garment of praise for my heaviness
You are the greatest taste
You're the richest of fair

Which then took me to Isaiah 61, which I feel like needs an exclamation point after it because it is such strong scripture. So, from now on I'll denote it as Isaiah 61! from here on out. Anywho, a part of Isaiah 61:3! says, "...provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Garments of praise and crowns of beauty! What came to mind was that I need to praise the Lord in the heaviness and even then there is so much to praise him for...He has saved me, He loves reconciliation, He hates injustice, He is sovereign and perfect and because He will take ashes. I have a pile of ashes that I have sobbed over and probably haven't finished sobbing over, but there is also a crown of beauty waiting. And that's something. Now, Oprah to Isaiah...that's something else all together.


Just a little nugget. Read Isaiah 61!...it might change the start to your Monday!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Introducing Tumbleweeds & Notions!!

Grief is a crazy thing. In the midst of not feeling like myself and not having much of any energy or focus, I've jumped in with both feet into something I've always thought about.  So maybe I've lost all my sensibilities and am going for broke (literally), but I went to the county tax office and started a business by paying $8.

Help me welcome....
"Tumbleweeds" is homage to a place and a time I love dearly and "Notions" simply covers the gamet....you know, I'm not stuck doing one thing. Do yourself (and me) a favor and click on the Shop link at the top and take a look-see through Tumbleweeds & Notions new Etsy shop. I'm working on getting things photographed and listed and so, new things are popping up in the shop every day!

Tumbleweeds & Notions has a few things up its sleeve and is also working on a few other possibilities, but for my friends in Lubbock, TX, you need to head over to...
The first brick-and-mortar location where you can find Tumbleweeds  & Notions headbands, both for little girls and big girls too! Be sure to run over to 26th & Boston and check them out for yourself! Okay for now, just a little tease...more to come soon!!

 

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Round Top, TX....Yes, Please!!


To all those fellow hearts who jump over glorious junk, behold, Round Top, TX! At the end of September, I got to meet up with a friend about an hour and a half outside of Austin for this event unlike any other. It's on the back roads that are supremely Texas, where folks have thrown up tents and are selling their treasures.  It's the kind of stuff people write about, like over at Country Living.  Some people think highly of their junk, others are willing to sell just about anything. Regardless, there is something for everybody.




I love hunting for junk and finding great unexpected things that I can then find a home for that looks like that thing was always supposed to be there. On this trip I came home with some great tarnished bridal bowls, a perfectly worn suitcase, ziplock bags of lace and a few other things you'll be seeing more of later on!


If my weekends could get spent digging through boxes of jewelry and broken chairs and worn out ladders and china - not to mention the unbelievable people watching that goes on - it would certainly make my heart glad! So, until we meet again in Round Top - Happy Junking friends!  

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Good Grief Charlie Brown

Surely I have known sadness and disappointment and I have brushed up with loss, but grief and I had never met. Until three months ago. Change is a requirement of grief, something or someone must leave to invite it. It's an odd thing, almost as if grief suspends you and the easiest of things are difficult. A friend who knows grief gave me a book about it and in this book, the author describes grief as an amputation - it comes suddenly & severely, there's no going back and yet you can still feel what once was. I recognized immediately that description. 


As days have ticked by, the Lord has brought clarity and truth to places that have long been without it and I will tell you this - without hope, I would not be able to leave my room.  I get it...I get how insurmountable it all feels and if I thought the character of God didn't withstand the test of time, there's no telling where the last three months would have taken me. But His character has remained since the beginning of time. Even when we had chosen to turn our backs on our Creator and we faced deathly consequences, He wasn't willing to compromise His character then. And so He remains in my circumstances with Christ and hope can live.


Well, I imagine this isn't how most blogs kick-off...usually there are probably lots of exclamation points and fun pictures, but for this little blog, this is what it took to get wheels...grief. Now before you quit reading or zone out or figure this is only going to offer depressing, gray views, give me a few posts. There is a space between the initial overwhelming devastation and the hope of what's next, space between the grieving and the longing. And for now, this is the space the Lord has me that I need to honor. It's a painful honoring because I'd much rather be on the other side of longing, knee-deep in whatever is ahead. But today, it is what it is.


This space between has great hope and so I think there is beauty and truth to be found. With the unexpected time on my hands, I figure I might as well wander through a few things---like writing and creating and taking my handcraft notions to the streets (more on this later). So, if you come back here, and I hope you do, you might find posts of simple pictures from my day, thoughts running in my brain, or news about where to find my wares.


In the last three months I've landed in a new church and one Sunday we sang the song "Give Me Christ or Else I Die." It was the first I had heard it and I managed to choke it out because of how deeply my heart clamored to sing the words to the Lord. Thought I'd end with a few of the verses.


Give Me Christ or Else I Die



Gracious Lord, incline thy ear;
My requests vouchsafe to hear;
Hear my never-ceasing cry;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Wealth and honour I disdain,
Earthly comforts, Lord, are vain;
These can never satisfy;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Lord, deny me what thou wilt,
Only ease me of my guilt.
Suppliant at thy feet I lie;
Give me Christ, or else I die.