why i thrift.

So. I get pretty passionate about a few things, and one of them is personal style. I'm a big believer in putting time, effort and thought into how you look everyday because I believe that how you choose to present yourself to the world speaks VOLUMES about who you are as a person.

Because my personal style is so important to me, I have developed quite an, um, fondness for shopping. I love clothing, accessories, shoes, make-up and all you can do with them! I'm a pretty artistic person and because don't always have time to sit down with a paintbrush and canvas as my creative outlet, I have found that I can funnel some of that creative energy through the way I dress.

In order to keep my individuality and to be able to constantly satisfy that part of me that wants to be creative with my personal style and use it as a way to express myself, I have had to really stop and look at how I shop, and had to be very intentional about the way I do so. One of the biggest intentional choices I have made in the past year is to start doing as much shopping as possible at thrift stores. And as I have become a more avid thrift store shopper, it has become something in which I very strongly believe. I no longer do it just because I can find some good deals, or because there are really great unique pieces in thrift stores. There are SO many more reasons why it's important to me. And this post is going to be the first of many where I hope to start sharing this important part of my life with y'all.

But for today, I just wanted to show you why it TOTALLY pays to thrift. I don't know how many of you go to your local thrift stores or buy clothes from them. But I do know that I personally know a lot of people who have attached quite a stigma to shopping at a Goodwill or something similar. And I used to be the same way. Promise! There was a time when I only shopped at the mall and you would have had to have paid me money to get me to go in a thrift store. But after some time and after a good bit of heart change, I realized I was TOTALLY not above wearing someone else's clothes. And that I am no better than the people to whom I'm donating clothes. And I'm doing a lot of good for society and the environment by helping produce less waste when I buy re-used clothing. And I'm doing a lot of good for my family when I'm saving money on clothing. And when I spend less on clothes, I have that much more to put toward things that are more important.

But anway. Enough preaching. Here are some pictures of some stuff I wear that's either vintage or thrifted. Please excuse the quality - I took them with my iPod!

So here's an outfit I wear pretty regularly. This is a vintage 80's shirt from Goodwill for $3. And I've had at least three people ask me where I got it.

Can you guess what was thrifted here? If you guessed the dress, shoes and purse then you're right. I got them all from Goodwill together for $10 total. The dress is a Target brand, which I normally don't buy at thrift stores, but it was in perfect condition. This goes to show, though, that you can find a wide range of items.

Here is a vintage 80's sweater I got at Goodwill for $3.79. It's still in excellent condition and it is totally my style. Finds like these are why I thrift. Because I know I'm not going to find them anywhere else.

So if you've read this far, I am not at all trying to sound all braggy-braggy. I'm not trying to be, like, "Look at me! I buy used clothes and that makes me better than all y'all who don't!" I'm really just trying to share something with you guys that's important to me and help y'all understand WHY it's so important. And maybe, just maybe, if you've never tried it...you might get the guts to do it. Because, if nothing else, I think it's a ton of fun just to go try on some of the crazy clothes you might find and get some good pictures! And Nate and I like to go on the weekends together and see what kind of random things we can get into. Because you really never know what you'll see or find at a thrift store.

And if you're interested in more information, here some links you can check out:

The Tyranny of Trends (a great article on fashion, trends, and the impact on society)

Adored Austin (one of my favorite bloggers who is a serious thrifter)

my edit. (another of my favorite bloggers who is thrifting inspiration)

Thank y'all for reading! And please leave comments! I would love to hear what you have to say on the subject. And any questions you might have. I want to keep this topic going, maybe even start a "Thrifting Thursday" or something. Who knows? But only if I feel like it'll go somewhere! It's kind of a leap from the personal blogging that I've been doing, but it's something that's been on my mind for awhile now. So FEEDBACK PLEASE AND THANK YOU! :)

fill in the blank friday - EIGHT!

1.   The best thing I did all week was    find out that I have the chance to help a child whose family is in desperate need possibly get some clothes and food.

2.   Sour gummy worms     make me super happy.

3.  Pets are   one of the greatest joys in life.

4.    The love of God and the chance to share that love with others   is the best thing about my life.

5.  With the cooler weather I am looking forward to   wearing scarves and boots, curling up with a blanket and a good book, hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows, crisp leaves, football and fall traditions in the cool autumn air, and CHRISTMAS!

6.  Something that's on my "wish list" right now is    a white oxford shirt, some great brown loafers, and a cool knit hat.

7.  This weekend I am going to    be working on getting more stuff for our giving project, be working on stuff for school, possibly going to some yard sales, going to church, and who knows what else yet...  All with my wonderful husband! :)

Coming up!
I'm pretty excited about the latest Goodwill haul I made, so once I finish washing all the stuff I got I'm going to be sharing. I'm getting more passionate about thrifting, so I want to try and share more of that with y'all.

blog on fire.

Alright. Now I usually don't participate in the whole blog award thing (no offense to people who do!) because I personally feel like I'm putting people on the spot when I give them this award and then tell them they have to follow all these rules and then spread it on. It reminds me too much of the chain letters my friends and I used to do back when we were in middle school. Which, I have to admit, were kind of fun but they got old after one or two times. Same goes for this award. It is kind of fun for the first time, so I'm taking part. :)

Here is my list of lucky award recipients. I have to be honest - it's completely random because I hate hurting feelings and all of y'all out there are awesome. :) I also only picked five people because I only really have a few readers right now. I guess from this point on you should tell seven things about yourself and then pass the award on to ten more lucky people. But if you don't want to do that I will NOT be offended and I will TOTALLY understand. I don't expect any sort of participation from any of you. It's just fun if you want to take part! :)

1. Laura @ unpunctuated life
2. Kate @ Kate as of Late
3. Hannah @ Hannah J. Holmes
4. Jamie @ The CP

5. Kathy @ Life as I Know It

So yep. That's all. A real post will be coming soon, promise!

all about me.

So, I won an award from the lovely Taylor over at Duely Noted which requires me to tell seven things about myself. This post has been in draft form for quite awhile now because I've been a little busy with other things and because, well, it's been really hard to come up with seven things that I don't think are going to bore y'all to tears! I haven't decided who to pass the award on to yet, so for now here are the facts about me.

1. I absolutely HATE veins. They gross me out to no end. Which probably has something to do with the fact that I don't handle blood well. I know it's our lifesource. And I know they pump that lifesource through our bodies. But I really just don't care. I hate that I can see mine straight through my skin. And I do not enjoy when they stick out and you can feel them poking through. Ew ew ew ew. EW.

2. I watched the Kay Jewelers commercials until I was 21 years old without realizing the connection between kisses coming from their jewelry and the word 'kiss' starting with the letter 'k.' (Yes. I do teach your children.)

3. My all-time favorite movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's. I have watched it so many times I've lost count. I've never read the book, but it's on my list. And I've heard it's quite different from the movie, so it should be interesting!

4. I have always been a really picky eater. I've slowly started to branch out, but it's taken a lot of time. It's like I get scared when I go to try new foods and start to have panic attacks. Really weird. Anyway. Until I was 19 years old, the only kind of sandwich that had touched my mouth was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Which, might I add, was the ONLY thing I ate for lunch all the way from kindergarten to middle school except for the days we had pepperoni pizza.

5. I was adopted. When I was an itty-bitty little baby. Which I think is pretty cool. And makes me special. And makes my family special. And makes Nate and me want to adopt just that much more. I think adoption is a pretty wonderful thing. :)

6. I am NOT a morning person. I try and try and try and try and try to be. But I'm not. I will get up early when I have to but it is entirely out of duty and not at all out of joy. Don't get me wrong, I wake up and know that each day is a blessing and approach it that way, but I just need some time to get going because I also understand that sleep is a blessing too. This is something I really want to change about myself.

7. I'm addicted to lists. To-do lists. Grocery lists. Christmas lists. Wish lists. My Barnes and Noble wish list for my Nook has over 100 books on it. And our Netflix DVD queue? 224 movies. And how many of those is Nate responsible for? Probably about three. I understand that there is no possible way for us to watch all of those movies any time in the next, like, ten years. And I understand that I have a problem. But my lists calm me. And they make me happy. So I will probably keep making them.

Okay. That is all. The next post is going to be one from the trust30 challenge because I need to get back on track with that.

And so I don't feel like I just rambled incessantly about myself, why don't you leave me some random entertaining tid-bit about yourself? It'll be fun! And it'll be nice for us to get to know our readers a little better! :)

one thing.

Here's day fifteen of the trust30 challenge.

Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take a moment, step back from your concerns, and focus on one thing: You have one life to achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. Sounds simple, but when you really focus on it, let it seep into your consciousness, you realize you only have about 100 years to get every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do. No second chances. This is your only shot. Suddenly, this means you should have started yesterday. No more waiting for permission or resources to start. Today is the day you make the rest of your life happen. Write down one thing you’ve always wanted to do and how you will achieve that goal. Don’t be afraid to be very specific in how you’ll achieve it: once you start achieving, your goals will get bigger and your capability to meet them will grow.

(Author: Colin Wright)

I don't have a lot of goals in life, just a few specific ones. I've achieved quite a few, and I'm well on my way to accomplishing one or two more right now. But there's one in particular that I've put on the backburner for awhile now because I have been so focused on other things.

I want to be an artist. Not in the sense that I'm famous or that I have my work in galleries. I just want to consistently put time and effort into my work. I want to experience growth.

I want to create.

Over the next week, I'm going to take some time to figure out what I can do to accomplish this. And then I'll get back to you with my list.

And now I ask you...what is the one thing you want to do in your life?

divine idea.

officially on day eleven of the challenge.

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?

(Author: Fabian Kruse)

I don't know that I necessarily have the tendency to imitate others. I think my tendency is more to blend in. If I see that I am different than whoever I am around in some way, I start to automatically tone down that part of my personality. I don't like to stand out and be different. It scares the living daylights out of me. So instead of letting things about myself that people might actually like shine through, I dim the lights until I'm at a brightness where I just fit in with everyone else. 

I think this tends to stifle my growth and my potential as an individual. Actually, let me take that back. I KNOW it does. It's something I'm working extremely hard on. I have a quote on my Facebook that I have to read daily, sometimes more than once a day, that I'd like to share with y'all because it helps serve as a reminder that I should never be ashamed of who I am or try to hide who I am.

“Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘who am I to be so brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God: Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marianne Williamson

I don't know that there is one specific area of my life in which I tend to hide my unique self. I think I pretty much do this across the board.

I would say that my goal is to continue to step out of my comfort zone professionally, spiritually and artistically. And now that I have addressed this prompt I'm definitely going to look at how I can do that more specifically.

Gah. These prompts aren't easy. It's more difficult than I thought it would be to think through these topics and then put my thoughts out there.

Thoughts?

your personal message.

trust30.

To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say?

I think my message would be pretty simple. It would be that God loves you. No matter what. No matter who you are. No matter what you've done. No matter what issues you have or what your situation is.

HE. LOVES. YOU.

Enough to sacrifice His son for you. Enough to taken on all your sin and the punishment for all of that sin for you. And enough to forgive you for every single bit of that sin. Every little thing you have done in the past. And every little thing you will do in the future. Gone. Washed away. So far away. Down to the ocean floor. If only you're willing to recognize that you are a sinner and accept Him and all that He has done for you into your life.

There's more to the story, but that's really the important part.

I know it's a pretty controversial message. I know not everyone agrees with it. But it's my message. And it's my truth. And it's what I live my life for. And it has changed my life. So I really can't keep it to myself, can I?

As for my 'post-it' challenge, I figured out a couple small steps I can take to put myself on the right path:

• I have started waking up at 6:30 every morning NO MATTER WHAT.
• I have started every morning with a quick devotion. Since I tend to need motivation from somewhere else, a quick Bible verse and inspirational read will give me that drive I need to start the day off right.
• I have started carrying around a small notebook that I can use specifically for ideas I have or for things I think of throughout the day that I want or need to do. I so often forget about these things because I tell myself I'll write them down later or do them later and then never do.

So, there are my first three small things. Not much, but it's a start.

So, do you have a personal message you would like to share with the world? Or at least with the few people who read our blog? ;)

post-it.

Somehow I missed this prompt awhile back, so I'm going back to do it now. If you haven't figured out what I'm doing yet, go to the trust30 site to check it out.

That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? . . . Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Identify one of your biggest challenges at the moment (ie I don’t feel passionate about my work) and turn it into a question (ie How can I do work I’m passionate about?) Write it on a post-it and put it up on your bathroom mirror or the back of your front door. After 48-hours, journal what answers came up for you and be sure to evaluate them.

Bonus: tweet or blog a photo of your post-it.

I think my biggest challenge right now is that I'm not enough of a self-starter. I tend to need someone or something else to get me motivated. Once that happens I'm good to go, but it's that initial push that's difficult for me. I have trouble getting up and getting started in the mornings. I have trouble beginning projects. But after I've made it over that hump (which for me, can sometimes be more like a mountain) I'm good to go.

So, I guess my question is, "What can I do to be come more of a self-starter?"

I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Any help would be very much appreciated! And, as always, I would also love to hear what your post-it question would be. :)

And I will get back to you in 48 hours.

dare to be bold.

and here's the next trust30 prompt.

Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” - Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

(Author: Matt Cheuvront)

This one is hard. Really, really hard. I think I'm doing all the things I want to do right now. But I know I need to be constantly pushing myself.

I've been thinking for two days but I need to think some more. I'm going to have to get back to you on this one.