{this race called life. :: #firstfridayfinds}

{post originally written 4.4.14}

last night my sweet friend and fellow blogger, elizabeth maxon over at {words} and ::wonder:: sent me a little nudge on facebook to jump in on her #firstfridayfinds blogging.  what's that you ask?  ... just take a look at her post here

what elizabeth didn't know when she posted her gentle nudge on facebook was that i was sitting at home on my couch having a less than fabulous mental evening on my couch.  those nights come a little too frequently for me being single, living alone, and forcing my schedule to be relaxed for this season… too much silence and my mind starts to reel and go in directions that are just plain false.  instead of choosing to combat with truth where I know true rest and peace lie, most times i unfortunately choose to distract.  i choose a mcdonald's happy meal instead of the fine feast that awaits me with the lover of my soul and i have no doubt that the author of lies loves when i choose that happy meal over the bread of life.

when i read elizabeth's #firstfridayfinds that she posted on my wall, she had posted on the following verse, "I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” {Jesus}

…and elizabeth wrote one thing that grabbed my attention and my heart strings with full force ...

"...give Him an inch...just crack that door...and He enters in...

“what if I just crack the door? … I wonder if He’ll truly show up.”  i knew my soul wanted to let Him in, but oh how my flesh is so weak and how my doubts can be so many.  I opened the bible app on my phone out of sheer laziness, but curiosity too.  I chose to read the full chapter surrounding the verse of the day and after reading it a few times, there it was…

“"may the God of endurance and encouragement  

grant you to live in such harmony with one another, 

in accord with Christ Jesus" {romans 15:5}

I’ve struggled the last few weeks with hard things…  hard obstacles in my fitness journey, hard eating habits yet to be broken, hard feelings of loneliness and dreams yet to be met, hard feelings of unworthiness, hard life choices ahead, and yet this verse reminded me I believe in a God of endurance and encouragement.  The same endurance and encouragement I need when running just seems too hard to keep going.  The same endurance I need to love people well even when I don’t feel like it.  The same encouragement I need that I CAN do hard things and things that I don’t think I’m capable of.

ENDURANCE is the opposite of apathy, incompetence, weakness, indifference, and laziness.

ENCOURAGED is the opposite of weakening, disheartened, hurt, agitated, and confused.

The lies I’ve been hearing that I can’t do x, y, or z are just that… lies.  The author and perfector of my faith is about endurance and encouragement.  This life is a long race my friends.  It can be hard, it can be arduous, and it can be painful, but we are called to endure, to persevere with Jesus by our side, for His glory.  He is steady, He is constant, and He is our encourager.  

…. and that my friend is what makes this race called life so beautiful.

{july photo a day :: instagram challenge}

we've made it half way folks!!

can you believe it?!?  

i don't know about where you are, but it is HOT here in NC.  i think that the weather is trying to welcome in july with a bang!  speaking of welcoming in july... here's july's photo a day challenge!  happy shooting and i know that erin and i have LOVED seeing all of your shots on instagram.  don't forget to tag your photos with #julyphoto366 and make sure you spread the word in social media land.  if you're new here and want to check out our original challenge and why we're doing this, click here.

{happy.shooting}

aw

{may photo a day :: instagram 366 challenge}

i'll have to admit... i've been slack on my photo taking as life's been a crazy whirlwind, in and out of the country this month, but let me tell you that i am PUMPED about may 2012!  i'll be changing up my scenery quite a bit this month and i'm a little bit ecstatic about what may is scheduled to bring... 

first up it's portland, oregon for donald miller's storyline conference with the lovely emily chidester.  watch out west coast.  we're ready to take you by storm!

california to FINALLY visit our beloved bringupburns.  yes that's right, my lovely co-creator of {Photo.366} and i will be joining forces for a few days...  watch out folks.  this means double trouble with my west coast twin is coming to the #mayphoto366 challenge!

finally a little later in may i'm headed to the outer banks of NC for my college roommates week long wedding extravaganza.  who knows what kinda IG insanity that will bring??...but i do know one thing... it's all gonna be a blast!!!

so without further ado... let me introduce you to may!

also... you have NO excuse not to join if you don't have an iphone because i know there's instagram for other phones now.  do it.  go get it... and get inspired by the beauty that surrounds you every. single. day!!

{happy.shooting}

aw

{april photo a day 2012 :: #aprilphoto366}

what the heck?!?  where is the year going?  i honestly can't believe it's almost april, but yet here we are... 2 days away from a new month.  i'm not sure about everyone else, but i have LOVED this early spring we've experienced here in NC.  it's been glorious and i can't wait for april awesomeness!!

this month's graphic is courtesy of the lovely erin burns... aka bringing up burns... aka one hot mama of 3!!  just ask her about her license plate.  it's "knaughty" haha! 

come join us as we embark on month 4 of the Photo 366 project and come like the {Photo 366} FB page and spread the word so your friends can join in on our craziness!

{HOLLA}

aw

{Photo 366 :: A Photo a day challenge}

so remember when i said i was LOVIN' me some instagram & the january photo a day challenge?  well imagine my excitement when my radtastic friend erin over at bringing up burns asked me if i wanted to join forces with her to come up with our own monthly photo challenges.  now erin is one of the sweet bloggers that inspires me daily.  her pizazz for living life to the full, loving her husband passionately, and her kiddos with the utmost attention and fun, i can only hope to one day live out that inspiration in my own life.  don't even know how that girl does it all, but i love it!

we were so inspired by the creator of the january photo-a-day challenge based out of austrailia that we wanted to create our own little US version.  we got to brainstorming and realized this was something so fun that we had to share with the rest of the bloggosphere, twitterworld, instagrammers, and pinaholics (yes.  you know you are) out there.

so here it is!  february is our start and we'll be posting one each month for the rest of this year. so jump on board and challenge your photography skills.  you CAN do this!  even if you don't have an iphone for instagram you can still use your photo apps and hashtag us #febphoto366 on twitter!  just think how awesome you'll feel once you get through the whole year.  i know i'm planning on making a blurb coffee table book at the end of this year to have it all to remember.

you can play along just for the month of February or for the rest of 2012! use our list as inspiration just for yourself, or to post each day on instagram, or blog your shots at the end of each week. whatever you choose, we hope our "prompts" inspire you to get creative with your picture taking. we will post a new list of prompts about a week before the next month begins. you can follow us on instagram or twitter to be sure and get a heads up when the new prompts are posted. (@aprilmwalker and @bringingupburns on both!)

a few things we are excited to include every month, and are eager to see your interpretations of: 
Each month will start with a color. February is RED. could it be your wearing red, seeing red, hearing red, tasting red, being red, reading red, watching red, feeling red? we're excited to see! 

•  if you play along all year, we'll work through the alphabet. february we'll take shots of the Letters A and B. could it be Apple, Author, Anticipate, Appalling? Book, Begonia, Boiled, Between? what will you shoot?

•  on the 15th of every month, the prompt will always be "You on 15." can we each interpret this self portrait 11 different ways this year? i'm gonna try! ... and just remember to all those who are a little nervous about this one.. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!  God made you just the way you are and you're perfect!

• we will try to recognize holidays and events each month with abstract prompts. february we've included ones like "Romance and Makes You Blush" for Valentine's Day, "Favorite Movie" on the day of the Oscars, and "Leap!" on the 29th. so fun, right?!

come find us on facebook too!! 

{photo :: 366}

so...that's Photo366! if you decide to play along in the month of february, we'd love it if you'd blog about the challenge and link up below. that way we can come follow you and be sure to see all the pics you'll be posting.  you'll be able to find others who have committed to the challenge and see their interpretations of the prompts too! we'll post a new linky each month, so by linking up - you're only committing to one month at a time. the linky is open until Feb 29th, so whenever you post, be sure and come back and link up as erin and i are most excited about seeing your pictures. above of all, have fun with it!

February 2012 Photo A Day Challenge

{how.fab.is.that}

thanks to julie at joy's hope for redecorating her coffee nook and sharing her lovely options for her new decor.  i was immeditately in love with this one and am now the proud owner of this lovely "strong coffee" print from how fab .  e is probably wondering how many coffee or blog prints i'm going to hang in our house :)

i just couldn't resist.  it was calling to me :)  now to find a frame to spray paint...

ohh ... & the best part?  my fab print came with this awesomeness

"uses include: unexpected run-ins with the ex, hiding from your boss, dodging paparazzi"

seriously? ... how fab is that!

{happy.friday}