changing things up...

I have struggled through the summer to figure out what my blog is. It is a place where I share what? Does it matter? Do I enjoy blogging?
Well, for the record, I do enjoy blogging. It is fun to write and document the lovely and not so lovely parts of life. But my very ordered brain really hates the chaotic posts and disorganized nature of what my blog is currently.

If my blog was a picture--it would look like this... 

when I really want it to look like this...

All that being said, this blog is my space. (thus the title-A Space of My Own) I share my life with a great man and two beautiful kids, not to mention friends and extended family and church and school. So this blog is where I get to process it all--where I get to share what works and what doesn't--where I get to talk about the things that I really love!
So I am introducing some specific posts that highlight the areas that I care most about or are just a big part of who I am right now. So here are a few new pieces to my Space...

• Book Nook: I am revamping Book Worm series. This is where I share about books that I love or am reading or that I hate (hated books are a very short list, really I can only categorize ONE book as hated "The House of Mirth." - ugh, terrible).
• Kitchen Adventures: FOOD. I love food and cooking and baking. (oh and the eating part isn't too bad either). The hubs and I have become much more adventurous in our kitchen-with ingredients, with recipes-and I love to share what works, other foodie blogs, and tricks and tips I pick up along the way.
• The Office: I work. It is part of my life. I am a wanna-be property attorney, and I don't want to forget to talk about this piece of who I am right now. I love my job-it can certainly be draining, but law school was one of the best decisions I ever made (right after marrying Corey and popping out our kiddos). 
• Walk-In Closet: I am a fashion infant--I make other people (cough-Danielle and Lauren and Britt) dress me. But when I create an outfit or buy some fun pieces, I like to share my successes with the blogging world.
• Law Library (aka Lawbrary-at least to @LDCMcIntosh): Again. I go to school. It is a BIG part of my life right now. It is not always fun. But the friendships that have been forged and the opportunities I have been given here are really extraordinary and should be documented.
• cityChurch: I have a really great church. I love sharing about what Jesus has done in my life through these incredible people. 
• Living Spaces: Everything else. I can talk about places we go and the people we see. Probably a lot of coffee mentioned... cause you know-I love it. My life is full of interesting happenings--even though I sometimes think it is all very boring! 

I think it is reasonable to think that I will post more about some than others. But I hope to get one of each at least MONTHLY. Am I missing anything? I love feedback, so don't be shy :)

images via pinterest

Even now...

"Even now," declares the Lord,

"return to me with all your heart,

with fasting and weeping and mourning."

Rend your hearts and not your garments.

Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate

slow to anger and abounding in love and he relents from sending calamity.

Joel 2:12-13

Even now... when I am stressed out. Even now... when I am tired and feeling less than patient. Even now...when circumstances seem overwhelming. Even now.

The Israelites were getting bombarded with an army of locusts, and God was asking them to return to him-even now. Why? because he is gracious and compassionate. Because he is slow to anger and abounding in love. And he is that for me too. No matter what is on my plate it is not too much for him.

Social media...

The other day I tweeted about Lisa Loeb's song "Stay." A little while later, my friend Ambria replied that she too was a Loeb-lover. And today she introduced me to the line of glasses that Lisa Loeb has created. I LOVE this pair!!

Social media is a funny thing. We are more connected and in a way more disconnected because of it. I absolutely LOVE that I can communicate with my far away friends easily. I LOVE that I can be a part of even the little parts of people's lives. I love when my friends post funny videos that make me laugh (hysterically)--like this one...

But I don't like that it replaces actual contact with people. I love face-to-face interaction!! I don't like that people are mean...that feelings get hurt...that I waste a ridiculous amount of time on it. It's a tough line to walk on between connected and disconnected. But alas...social media is here and I like it more than I don't like it (most of the time).

New (School) Year's Resolutions...

Check out my post on the law ladies blog here. One last year to have a new school year to make new school year resolutions.

the season I love the most...

I am in love with Autumn. It is my favorite season. Today I went to lunch with my friend Anna and we had a very autumnal meal--butternut squash and apple bisque with a Cinnamon-y snickerdoodle for desert (that I am currently enjoying with a pumpkin spice coffee). It made me want to tell everyone all the reasons that I love this time of year...

Fall is the season that I drink yummy hot drinks like pumpkin spice coffee and mulled apple cider. It is when I get to don my very favorite types of clothes-(jeans and cardigans and comfy scarves).





The air seems to smell of Cinnamon.


Every weekend is spent cheering on the Mountaineers with family and friends.





The Appalachian mountains turn fiery shades of red and gold and orange.


It is the season where all I want to do is curl up under a blanket with a good book.





Hearty soups and chilli's are staples on the dinner table, and potlock dinners feature casseroles with squash and potatoes. I love that there is chill in the air but sunshine on your face.






Fall just feels like home-comfortable and cozy. Full of warmth. It is my favorite season, but always ends too quickly. I am hoping to hang onto it a bit longer this year.

images from my pinterest. Follow me here.

sweet words

"Give me to believe

that thou canst do for me more than I ask or think,

and that, though I backslide, thy love will never let me go,

but will draw me back to thee with everlasting cords..."

Valley of Vision "Backsliding"

Read it this morning and just thought I would share. It's nice to have a God that never lets us go...no matter what. And that I can't even begin to comprehend all that He can do. Sweet words for a lovely day (thank goodness the rain took a break!)

A peek at my day "off" and a discussion of food...

Wednesdays are going to be my day "off." I will not be working and I don't have class (until 5:30). So yesterday was my first day off. And I baked. I baked chocolate chip zucchini bread and banana muffins and then some oh so delicious granola. I love baking. I have a love/hate relationship with eating what I make (as discussed below), but the process of baking is one of my favorite past-times. My mom is a wonderful baker. To me baking is far superior to cooking because it almost always involves chocolate and sugar. And how bad can it be if those things are in the mix?

I have recently also been doing things on Pinterest--if you don't have this, go sign up and watch your time fly out the window. It is a site of pictures and ideas and word art (YAY!)--PS thank you Danielle for introducing me to this wonderful website. I am not an artsy person, and I still love this! ANYWAYS, I was on the site and I found two pieces of word art that amused me-mainly because of their contrary messages. The first is this...

UGH! This is the message that so many people listen to. I listen to it too. Don't eat that... don't eat this... cut out carbs, lower calories, go vegetarian, only eat fruits and vegetables...I feel like I have been on a diet of one form or another for 10 years. Maybe not all of you know that this is a struggle for me, but it is. And while I think everyone was outraged when Ms. Moss said these words, so many of us believe it deep down. Women in general (at least the ones that I know) have this love/hate relationship with food. BOO. I say. So I was super excited to find this pic on pinterest.

YES. I want to embrace this philosophy this year. I love food. I love feeding people. I love baking and trying new foods. Corey and I have been experimenting the last few years with creating new dishes and incorporating new ingredients. And I don't want to feel bad later when I think about the calorie count or the fat content. It's a new season of life for me and food-God created too many wonderful tasting foods to worry so much about what the scale says. I wish that the "weight" mentality could be easily overcome, but the world has pretty well ingrained it in our heads. So how does this look in real life? I don't know. I'm certainly open to all the ideas out there too! I think the first step is to start looking at myself the way God sees me--in Song of Solomon He says, "You are altogether beautiful, my love. There is no flaw in you." (4:7 ESV). So I'm ditching the celery sticks (unless they are filled with peanut butter) and taking steps to enjoying all that God has given me here.