busy hands...

Earlier this week I finally hit capacity on my Iphone’s storage limit; so I set out on the adventure of going through 3 years worth of app downloads, pictures, videos, text messages, and music to try to sort out what should stay and what should go. And as I scrolled through an incredibly insane amount of pointless apps (almost 75 apps! What? Why?), I started to ask myself whether or not I needed each app. I mean, seriously, why do I have an app that lets me play skeeball  on my phone? I don’t even love skeeball in real life…so what purpose is it serving on my phone? The truth is that I don't need the ability to play skeeball at any given moment, but rather I need the ability to distract myself at any given moment.

I started analyzing the way I use my phone, my kindle, my computer, etc. And what I realized was I probably spend about 25% of my time on any of these devices doing something useful and productive (i.e. actually having a conversation with someone, reading, looking up information, getting directions…). The rest of the time I am using these devices as a distraction. My hands are always busy. I am always scrolling through pictures, liking statuses, pinning craft projects that I will never actually do because I can’t seem to put my phone down for more than 20 seconds at a time! My hands are always busy, but they are hardly ever doing anything.

This revelation caused me to ask myself two important questions:

1.       What am I trying to distract myself from?

The answer to this question could be different on a daily basis. Maybe it’s the stressful day I had at work, or the disagreement I had with my husband. Maybe I am trying to ignore a conviction that God has placed on my heart, or maybe I am just bored at a red light. Regardless of the reason, it is clear that playing skeeball on my phone will do nothing for me or anyone around me.

And that brought me to my second question:

2.       What should I be doing with my hands?

        “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts 

         and hands to God in heaven.” – Lamentations 3:40-41

The bottom line is playing skeeball is easier than following Jesus… Test and examine my ways? That sounds hard. It sounds like I might actually have to face all the stuff I’ve been trying to distract myself from. Putting down my phone at a red light means I might have to make eye contact with the homeless man on the sidewalk. Using my hands to glorify God is going to require a lot more from me than my Iphone ever would. But I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 9:6 “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” What do I want to reap from this life? If the answer is a highscore in skeeball then I am on the right track! If not, then maybe it’s time to put down my phone and lift my hands to God.

inspired design...alice in wonderland

I am just a kid in a grown up's body. That is why I love the premise of this inspired design. It takes an old childhood favorite and gives it a classy, grown up spin. It's the best of both worlds! I always loved the whimsical story of Alice in Wonderland, and since I believe that everyone's bedroom should be a magical wonderland (though hopefully less creepy than Alice's wonderland), I decided to make the classic fairy tale the inspiration for this month's inspired design!

The color palette for this design is inspired by the queen of hearts and uses mainly gold, black and red. 

Alice in Wonderland Silhouette Art Set... $80.00

Red velvet curtains... $39.99

Black Paris side table... $280.00

Black and white striped comforter set...$79.00

Red heart pillow... DIY tutorial!

Gold dot pillow...$70.00

Red high back chair...$571.99

Gold tufted headboard... price not shown

Black and gold lamp...  currently sold out (bummer! hope they bring it back!)

For this design I chose classic pieces, like the black side table and the tufted head board, and paired them with bold, funky pieces, like the red high back chair, and the black and gold striped lamp. I am in love with the Alice in Wonderland silhouette set; it is a great way to add fun and charm to the room with out overplaying the theme. And if you are feeling adventurous try doing it yourself! Google images to trace onto black paper. Cut out the silhouette and paste them onto white paper and frame! Easy as that!

I hope you have enjoyed this inspired design and it helps you create your own wonderland!

- holly

2014 Calendar Printables!!!

It's 2014!!! I cannot believe how quickly 2013 flew by! It was a big year for me, but I can't wait to see what this new year holds. One of my resolutions this year is to finally get organized. (Confession: that is one of my resolutions every year and I usually give up about a month in  - oops. But not this year!) To help get organized I made these funky calendars where I can map out my month. They were just too fun not to share! Click the link at the bottom of this post to download the free printables so you can start planning an exciting 2014.

~All printables and artwork are copyright. Artwork in the downloadable PDF is free strictly for personal use, not for commercial use. Sharing this post on Pinterest is welcome as long as you link back to dream-design-dine.blogspot.com. If you'd like to blog about this post, feel free as long as you credit and link back to this post. As a courtesy, please do not distribute my downloadable PDF from your site nor link directly to the PDF on my site. Instead, please link back to this page. Thanks for your cooperation and I hope everyone has a happy and blessed 2014!~

2014 CALENDARS - FREE DOWNLOAD!

-holly

exciting news!...

I am so excited to announce that my wedding was chosen to be featured on fab you bliss! I am so honored that Stephanie thought my wedding was worth sharing. I hope that it can help inspire other soon to be brides! Go check out the article here. And thank you to my fabulous wedding photographer, Marcie Meredith Photography who took the time to submit her pictures! 

I had so much fun planning my wedding! I loved being able to match it to my personality! Pinterest  was such a helpful tool. I was able to look at all kinds of weddings and color palettes and it helped me figure out exactly what I liked and how I wanted my wedding to be. You can view my wedding pin board here to see what all inspired me! I love the idea that other girls might be able to use my wedding to help plan theirs now!

Photos by Jordan Washer Photography and Marcie Meredith Photography

because everyone is talking about marriage...

The last couple of weeks I have seen several different articles on the topic of marriage circulating the internet. They were sweet and idealistic views on how marriage should look. And though I am sure these articles were well intended, there was something that didn't sit right with me. I've been trying to hold my tongue (a trait that has never been one of my strong suits). I really didn't want to sit down and write a post about marriage. After all, having only been married for four months I don’t really have the credentials to tell others what marriage should look like. But after seeing these articles over and over I finally decided to say something. I want you to know that I write this with caution, knowing full well that I am no expert on marriage. My husband and I are exploring new territory every day. There is so much we don’t know; so much to figure out. And at the end of our lifetime I am sure we will have not perfected it. However, if we are wanting to know what marriage should look like, shouldn't we be turning to the one who created it for the answers? God has given us so much imagery on what it looks like to be good husbands and wives. He has already told us what marriage should look like, so why are we still searching? Why are we looking for a new formula to produce a happy and fulfilled marriage? I think the problem stems from the fact that we are asking too much from our spouses and ourselves, and too little from God.

ASKING TOO MUCH

The article that I have seen floating around the most is titled: “Marriage isn’t for You”. It is a super sweet post. And in a perfect world we would all love perfectly. Unfortunately this is not a perfect world. If it is MY job to make my husband happy, to make him feel fully loved and cared for, then Jon has a long road of disappointment ahead of him. I am a broken person who loves brokenly. I was not designed to play those roles in Jon’s life. We need to stop asking husbands and wives to be god to their spouses. I was not made to be Jon’s joy; I cannot satisfy his need for love; I do not have the authority to give Jon his identity or self worth. And to ask all of this out of marriage is setting it up for failure. I cannot meet all of my husband’s needs, but I can point him to the one who can.

I want to love my husband well. I want to make him laugh and calm his nerves. I want to be selfless; I want to be patient; I want to be compassionate and gracious. But I do not want to be Jon’s ultimate source for any of these things, because I will undoubtedly fail. And I cannot expect Jon to be all of these things to me. God is the only one who can love us fully, who can give us unending joy and peace. By asking someone else to do this we are assuring ourselves hurt and disappointment.

ASKING TOO LITTLE

Instead of turning to each other to meet these needs I want me and Jon to continually point each other to God. If we are going to God together with our needs then we will be free to turn around and pour out the blessings we have received from Him on each other. When I am being filled with God’s love then I will have love to give. When I receive God’s joy I will have joy to share. But to think that I have any of this to give on my own, apart from God, is false. I have to go to the ultimate source to fill me so that I have something to pour out. If we are finding our fulfillment, our identity, our worth, in Christ then we will not be left disappointed. It is important to understand that our role in this life is to glorify God. Period. Our role is not to make our spouse happy. If we are truly seeking to glorify God then we will love better. We will be more compassionate. We will bring joy to others. We will be gracious. We will put others before ourselves. But we must remember that none of these alone are our ultimate goal or purpose, it is simply what happens when we love and glorify God. When we understand our role versus God’s role then we will be able to look at our marriages with the correct perspective. I am not the source I am the tool.

While Jon and I were engaged we went through a book of questions you should ask before getting married. One of the questions that was asked was, “how can I know that you will make me happy for the rest of my life?” Jon and I talked about how conditional happiness is, and how there will undoubtedly be seasons of unhappiness in our lives. We talked about how we couldn't expect each other to be the source of our joy. I told Jon that I love him, and because of that I deeply desire to make him happy, and hopefully most of the time I will. However, I will never be the source of his joy, his joy comes completely from God. I am just a tool that God chooses to use to help provide that for Jon. I hope to never miss an opportunity to be a tool that God uses to bless my husband. I hope I am keenly aware of the areas in which I can serve and care for Jon. But Jon has to know that I am not the source. I have to know that God does not need me to be able to meet my husband’s needs, but he does allow me to be used by Him.

 When we are asking great things of God we do not have to ask our spouse to fill roles they cannot, and yet we will be able to love, give, and serve at a much greater capacity than we could have expected from ourselves. If you want to know what marriage should look like, look to the cross.

-holly

Photos courtesy of Marcie Meredith Photography and Jordan Washer Photography