DIY Blog Button

I have recently become obsessed with blogging.  I love everything about it.  I love making my blog my own and adding special touches to it.  One of my favorite things to make for my blog is a blog button.  They are cute and super easy to make.  So... I am going to show you how to make one.

Step 1: Go to PicMonkey and upload the picture that you want to make into a blog button.

Step 2: Resize the picture to 200 x 200.

(Make sure you uncheck the "Keep Proportions" box)

Now you can edit the picture and add text or whatever else you may want to your button.

When you are done, save your picture somewhere where you can find it easily.

Step 3: Now you want to upload your picture to Photo Bucket.  

This will give you the code that you need.

You need the "Direct Link" code.

Step 4: Next go to "Grab My Button" Code Generator.

Here you input the information it asks for.

First, input your blog's name, then your blog's URL, then the direct link code.

You can customize your button's text box, then click Preview.  

If you are happy with what you see, copy and paste your code into the HTML section on your blog.

A Weekend In The Life...

A summary of my Saturday:

Saturday was my friend Megan's baby shower.  We have been best friends since 7th grade.  We kind of fell apart a little when we went off to college, but we reconnected this year and have become close again.  She is pregnant with little baby Greyson James.  He was not exactly expected, but he is a blessing already.  So Megan's baby shower was Saturday morning and there were SO many people there.  It was great to see people supporting her through this time.  She got a ton of stuff and after everyone left, me and my other bestie, Kayla, helped her organize all of her stuff.  We had a blast.  That kind of stuff is what Kayla and I live for.  We love to organize and sort things.  It was great to have some "girl time".

After we finished up with Megan's stuff, Ricky picked me up and we went to the Wolfchase Mall.  We ate Chinese, sampled Teavana teas, got our free Godiva chocolate for this month, gave each other back massages at Brooks Brothers, and shopped around for some summer clothes.  It was a fun-filled date.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, are pictures of Ricky getting an eye and head massage at Brooks Bros

Once we finally left the mall, with aching feet, we met my dad at the Mid-South Con, a geek-filled weekend where nerds from all around gather to be weird together.  Needless to say, my dad fits right in.  He "trooped" and led games throughout the weekend.  By "trooped", I mean he dressed up in his Storm Trooper costume and walked around and took pictures with people.

Dad in his Storm Trooper suit

Ricky, Darth (dad), and I at the Crystal Ball in 2012

God is Good.

This morning, I was driving to school and praying the whole way.  I prayed for my family, my church, my friends, and I prayed for mine and Ricky's relationship.  I prayed for our relationships with the Lord, first and foremost.  Then I prayed for our relationship with each other.  I want the Lord to be the focus of our lives individually as well as our relationship together.  We used to pray together every night before we went to bed and text each other scripture, but we have gotten out of the habit of doing that by accident.  So I was praying that the Lord would give Ricky and I a passion for Him and a longing to seek after Him in our own lives and in our relationship.

So I never mentioned this to Ricky or anything, but later today I got a text from Ricky while I was in the drive-thru at Burger King.  The text was him explaining how he thinks we need to fix our relationships with the Lord and each other.  I was completely in awe.  I sat in the Burger King drive-thru crying like an idiot, because of how amazed I was that the Lord moved so quickly.

God loves us and He wants to answer our prayers.  If our prayers line up with His will, then He will answer them happily.  It was so amazing and encouraging and exactly what I needed today to see how faithful, loving, merciful, and amazing my God is.

Even in my joy, I was convicted of how small my faith in the Lord really is.  I should have prayed expecting Him to answer my prayers.  I shouldn't have been surprised by how quickly and perfectly God answered my prayers, because I should have trusted Him in the first place and known that He is faithful.

I am so thankful for a God who loves me and wants the best for me.  I am so thankful for a faithful God who knows my heart.  I am also thankful for a wonderful boyfriend who is seeking after the Lord.  I cannot wait to see how the Lord transforms and uses me and Ricky separately and together.

DIY Chicken Wire Wall:

Ricky's sister, Katie, has a small wall in her kitchen that she put chicken wire on and she uses it to display pictures and things.  Well... today, I was sitting around the house trying to find something productive to do.  So, I made my own version of the chicken wire wall in my room.  It isn't the whole wall, but it is a 4 foot section of one of my walls.  This was a super easy, quick, and very inexpensive DIY project.  I wanted something that I could start and finish today, and this was the perfect project for that.  I used chicken wire that my mom already had from one of her projects, a staple gun and staples that I found in our garage, my mom's measuring tape and scissors, and a chair in my room to stand on.

 This is the wall before (nothing special, just a blue wall):

These are the supplies I used (a staple gun, measuring tape, heavy duty scissors, and duh chicken wire):

This was when I laid the chicken wire out to measure and cut it.  For this step, I just measured the wall and did my best to cut the chicken wire about the same height.  I was fully prepared to have to cut some off of the bottom once I hung it, but it fit perfectly.  Yes!

 This is what it looked like when I finished stapling it to the wall:

 This is the finished product after I hung some knick-knacks on it.  I'm in love with this wall, like for real.  I love being able to change it up any time I want.  (I'm a little fickle, so its perfect for me).

 Here is a close-up of the goodies I put on it:

Here's my inspiration, Katie's Version.

I am incredibly pleased with the end result of my chicken wire wall.  Yay for DIY projects that come to completion!

Blogs I'm Obsessed With:

I have been wanting to make a post about the blogs that I follow religiously for a while now.  I'm not entirely sure why I haven't yet, but oh well.  Anyway, here ya go...

KateandKuby

Katie is my boyfriend's sister and I am obsessed with her blog.  (I seriously check it everyday).  For a few reasons.  For starters, she is amazing and I love reading about her day to day life.  I love being able to keep up with what her, Josh, and baby Canaan are up to through her blog.  Secondly, she has awesome style and is a great DIYer.  Seriously, you should see their house.  Amazing.  Go check out her blog.  I promise,  you will not be disappointed.

Bloom

I actually found Bloom through Katie's blog.  This girl, Nicole, is so sweet and she has an amazing heart.  I love reading her encouraging posts about Jesus.  She is a newlywed and I love reading her posts about engagement, wedding, and wife stuff.  Her blog is awesome.  But don't take my word for it.  Go see for yourself.

Little Chief Honeybee

I found this blog a few years ago and I fell in love.  Kaelah is a super cool blogger.  She is tatted up (which I love) and she has two adorable pups.  She is really witty and I love reading her posts.  I now follow her on instagram, which is a treat as well.  Go look at her blog.  But don't say I didn't warn you, you'll fall in love.

I love this verse, because it shows that the Lord knows our desires, and (if they are according to His will) He will give us what we want if we follow Him like we are supposed to.  I love the fact that the Lord knows our hearts' most secret desires.

NYC

My favorite city that I have ever been to is New York City.  I have a love for that city that runs deep.  I got to go visit NYC for a week in the Summer of 2010.  It was the best trip of my life.  It is my dream to live in NYC at some point in my life (whether that be for a month or years).  Here are some pictures from that amazing trip.  The week that we were in NYC was one of the hottest weeks they had had since the 80s.  We were miserably hot the entire time.  I wanted to die at many times on the trip, but it was still the best trip I've ever been on.

This is the group that I went with, Youth Choir.  We were in NY state for two weeks.  The first week was spent in Upper State NY hosting VBS's and Backyard Bible Clubs and handing out flyers and such.  The second week was spent in NYC.

This is the group of girls I hung out with for a little bit of the trip.  This is us at Hard Rock in Times Square.

My mom, aunt, and cousin flew up to NYC to stay with me for the second half of the trip.  This is when we joined up at the Cake Boss bakery in NJ.  This is our "Hey-a, Buddy, make-a me a cake-a" stance.

This is me and Jord on Fashion Ave with Betsy Johnson's mannequin.

Here's me and mom in Central Park.

This is when mom, Aunt Tammy, and I watched the 4th of July fireworks from a dark alley while Aunt Tammy sang the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America.

This is Aunt Tammy, Jordan, and I in the Metro.

Us at MOMA.

On the Metro

When we met up with Kayla, her mom and sister at the World's largest Macy's.

Me and Jordan being disappointed with mom for buying the Empire State Building Skyline Map. Useless.

In line for the Empire State Building

On the Empire State Building.

Modeling with Laney on the Empire State Building.

On the Metro

After we were just asked by a news reporter if we were British.  Dream come true.

Resting our aching feet.

Buying Dr. Scholls gel inserts for our shoes.

Going into Jordan's friend Jessica's dwelling place in Brooklyn.  She was living with this really quirky couple and their place was so cool.

At the Brooklyn Promenade.

Visiting my main squeeze Marc's store.  Absolute dream come true.
Sleeping in the lobby of the hotel waiting for the taxi to take us to the airport.  Worn out.

In a taxi for the first time.

On the Staten Island Ferry.  We were delirious from the heat.

On the ferry again.  (See my huge bruise on my leg?  Yea, I ran into the armrest on the charter bus.  I had a black and blue bruise for weeks.)

Modeling at Century Twenty One in NY.