Tolles Take Wyoming Part II

On the trip down, we celebrated both Jimmy's and my birthdays. We specifically had no parties cakes or gifts in an effort to save up for our big trip, specifically tourist traps and miscellaneous roadside fascinations! When we left town, we headed south; through the South Dakota Capital of Pierre. Our "spring break" started out with snow and rain. We made a pit stop at WalMart and were back on the road towards Wall. 

Wall Drug is the tourist trap of tourist traps. Most if it was closed for the season, BUMMER! But we did get to experience the cute little town! 

We saw the "Traveler's Chapel"...

... and Jimmy found this fine lady...

...meanwhile I found the creepiest looking dude I could...

...and James supervised from his new stroller...

... One of the biggest benefits of the pit stop? This family photo that is ACTUALLY decent! yay!

Happy Wednesday!

~paige

Tolles Take Wyoming Part 1

To kick of this mini series of our trip to check out our potential new home, I figured there is no better way to start than with the star of the little town...

...the Jackalope. 

One of the gas stations in town has a huge jackalope in the back corner, just waiting for tourist season.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here we are, in all our glory, riding a jackalope in Dubois, WY!

Teething Bumper Tutorial

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been a little on the quite side lately. Life. Is. Crazy. I feel like this happens regularly; every month and a half or so I go a week or two without a moment to write. Anywho, I am back, just in time for the two busiest months since we got married. That's right, it's going to be a wild ride! As I said we are in the process of interviewing with churches looking for our new home! (Yippie!) Which will take us to Wyoming in the near future. We will be headed to the North Dakota District Council for the Assemblies of God for meetings, a luncheon I am super excited for and for the credentialing ceremony where my man OFFICIALLY becomes a pastor (SO PROUD OF HIM!). Aside from that, I am hoping to enroll James and I in a swimming class for infants at the Y, blog like crazy and enjoy some warm weather (please! please! please!). Toss in packing to move, all three of our birthdays, graduation and lots of family coming to visit and there you have it! Oh, and don't forget work and school and the dishes, too! :)

Needless to say- I should have some fun photo ops and great stories to share, right?

Back to the title of this post.. James decided it would be fun to gnaw on his crib rail. mmmm! I have seen these online before but thought there were one of those "ridiculous, who uses those, why on earth, not wasting my money or time" items.

Wrong was I!

So for all of you wanna-be crafters that can't quite sew in a straight line- this is for you. My corners aren't perfect. My stitches are crooked and what is a seam allowance?

Enjoy! and I hope it makes sense!!

This is what we woke up to:

yea. 'nuff of THAT!

You might remember the crib skirt I made, you can see it here. The pattern I used was supposed to simply be cut off as you lower the crib mattress, I couldn't bring myself to just chop off my hard work and toss it. So it has been sitting int he closet for a few months waiting for a new project.

The front length of fabric from the skirt was nearly the perfect length for the new bumper!

The bumper measures 48" x 7.5" when finished.

The ties are 8 ribbon lengths of 7 inches. 

You will need batting and fabric, measured to fit the front rail of your crib.

straight pins.

sewing machine.

56 inches of a coordinating color ribbon for ties.

I roughly cut the batting to fit the fabric (the initial fabric cut was about 50"x 9", allowing for seams)

I pinned and measured to get the bumper to the right size...

Before pinning on the ribbon ties, I took the bumper into the nursery and made sure the ties were in gaps so they would tie straight!

All pinned!

Please don't copy my corners, I just pin and cut till it lays flat. (thank you inexperience!)

sew sew sew!

**enter James**

I sewed really fast for moment as my "helper" decided to squeeze the pedal!.. Thankfully there were no fingers in the way! haha!

So basically all you gotta do is sew a square, be sure to to back and forth over the ribbons so they are sewn on securely!

 And Viola! you've got yourself a perfectly coordinated teething bumper, just in time for his nap! 

This is my first tutorial, so please comment with any questions or if I have left out any major points! 

My Husband's Hand: To Tweet or not to Tweet?

I have been looking into all the different social media outlets and trying to discover the benefits of each one.

This week I will be looking at Facebook and twitter. A lot of the older people they may be wondering, what is twitter? The truth of the matter is that social media is here to stay, you could hand a three year old a mobile device and they could probably do a better job of navigating and using it than most older people.

The things that can be done on these two social media platforms are huge. As a pastor the simple things that we can do with twitter and Facebook alone are huge! Just say you have half of your congregation on facebook, and a quarter of them on twitter. Realistically you can reach 75% of your church in matter of minutes.

If, for example, you hear of a family who could use some help moving into a new house, bam throw it out there in social media, and see how fast you get some people to come help you.

As a pastor you only get to spend a few hours a week with different individuals. But, thanks to social media, a pastor can know follow, everyone in his church (everyone with social media), and in a way be with them all week knowing what is going on in there lives. You can get reminders from Facebook of when peoples birthdays are and you can see if they are doing something that may need some help with, the list goes on.

I think one thing that is so great about twitter, Facebook and Instagram is the fact that we get to know people better.

A Quick example:

I just this morning saw that one of my Facebook friends loves nascar and that they are having a baby. Just in one morning found out two different things that are pretty big in this individuals life.

That alone is one of the biggest things about social networks like these that I really like from a pastor's position.

Like I said, you can quickly reach everyone in the church, or other people you know. The power of prayer is huge. The good, old prayer chain is great but can take awhile to call everyone up, and to catch everyone by phone. Now being able to send out a message, or tweet about a prayer request can be so fast. In matter of minutes you can have hundreds of people praying for something.

 Social media can be such a huge task in ministry if we allow it to be. Like I have said many times though, it is a tool, and shouldn’t be our main focus when comes to ministry. We need to spend time face to face with people, and not allow social networking to be the only connection we have with people.

So tweet or not to tweet?

I think as people in ministry we need to take advantage of any of these things, and figure out best ways to use them to help expand God’s Kingdom.

Sunday Style

I have found a new love: JCPennys. I have recently purchased 2 skirts (costing over $100 total) for less than $10. Seriously, they had a $1.97 rack yesterday, people! 

Now, go hop in your car and cruise on over to your local JCP and stock up. Then, come back and finish this post! :) 

I have been in search of a cute, modest, professional, stylish, kid friendly outfit to wear to Jimmy's credentialing interview and ceremony. Boy oh boy! Why didn't anyone tell me about the versatility and classic look of the pencil skirt? I am in love! 

I am testing out one of my outfit choices for church today...

breastfeeding friendly? Check!

Pop of color? Check!

Comfortable? Check!

Stylish? Check!

Modest? Check!

I think this is a winner... 

and a blooper for you- it was FREEZING out there!

Skirt-Worthington | JCPennys
Shirt- Mossimo black scoop neck |Target
Scarf- Old Navy
Sweater- WetSeal
Shoes- HotKiss

UPDATE : we're a little fruity...

I spent the afternoon with this little love bug... we didn't do much of anything out of the ordinary. We played with blocks, he nursed and we went for a walk! 

We are beyond ready for spring!

he's quite the explorer these days...

and I just love his handsome smile, decorated with five teethe!

I was so lucky to spend the evening with my true valentine!

We sipped pomegranate  cherry juice from the same glasses we used at our wedding; adorned with strawberry hearts!

I had a DIY fondue set! 

we answered 100 questions and chatted for over an hour.

**You can find the list of questions here!**

I drew this card for Jimmy. hehe!

we did not stray from our diet (aside from the chocolate dip, but the fruit cancels that out, right??)

we finished the night watching The Butler! it was wonderful!

**DIPS**

Chocolate:

8 oz heavy whipping cream brought to a slight boil, 1 bag of chocolate chips, stir continuously.

Strawberry & Raspberry: 

I blended about 1 cup raspberries and one cup strawberries (Both from the freezer section, thawed.) 

After the berries are all pureed. Pour the mixture into a sauce pan and turn on medium heat, stir regularly!

 In a separate bowl mix a few Tbs water with some cornstarch (I honestly don't know how much of either, but just enough so that the cornstarch dissolves) 

Once the berry mixture is hot, slowly add cornstarch mixture, stirring continuously, until it reaches your desired thickness. I also added a tiny bit of sugar because it was REALLY bitter! 

Happy Valentines Day! 

Printables (invitation and place cards) from The Dating Divas.

High Five for Friday!

1. I got a trim and added bangs to my new do! I usually cut bangs in once a year and then let them grow out!

2. James also got two hair cuts. One on sunday morning before church and one sunday night in the tub because he was wiggly and tired the first go around and needed touched up!

3. We are officially looking at a position in Wyoming as senior pastors and we are in the process of planning a trip out that way next month! our first family "vacation".

4. James had his first case of "i'm so tired i'm just going to sleep right here right now!" it was presh.

5. Tonight is valentines day and I have a fondue party planned for the hubs and I! I am VERY excited!! you can find the awesome printables here.

how was your week??
~paige