i'm not a big city kind of girl

i have returned from a wonderful trip to washington d.c.

it's a great relief to be back.

yes, i thorougly enjoyed my vacation.

yes, i thorougly enjoyed being a tourist.

yes, i thoroughly enjoy spending time with tina.

but i belong in a small town and it feels so good to be home.

and it especially feels wonderful to be back at work.

i know i'll be asked what my favorite part of the trip was,

and i'm sure i will have different answers.

but there's one thing that i will remember most:

the fact that friendships can pick up where they left off.

it doesn't matter how often you talk or don't talk to each other,

or how often you see or don't see each other,

you still pick up where you left off from the last time you were together.

i'm thankful for friendships like this.

and i anticipate many more vacations and get-togethers will friends

when we'll be able to pick up where we left off,

as if time were non-existant.

Leaving for DC...

i will be leaving for washington dc in less than 36 hours!

i am so excited about this trip for many reasons:

1. i get to spend some quality time with tina!

2. i get to ride a train to union station!

3. i get to visit the international spy museum!

4. i get to visit all the national monuments!

5. i get to use a groupon for a harbor cruise around the city!

6. i get to visit an aquarium! this hasn't happened since i was a kid.

7. i get to visit georgetown cupcakes from the tlc show "dc cupcakes."

i'm also excited to navigate my way through the city and metro system.

i absolutely love using maps and figuring out how to get from a to b.

i will definitely be memorizing this on the train ride up.

everything is laid out in the spare bedroom and just needs to be packed.

and i will definitely not leave with my neck pillow.

i think it may be one of the best travel inventions ever.

at least it will prevent what i call "floppy head syndrome."

can't wait to post some pictures when i get back!

Sunday Matinee Room

one of the rooms that we use for sunday school is the Sunday Matinee room.

this is our gathering room for the kids and where we watch movies. 

i added the final touches to this retro room just this past week.

here's a look!

mmm...i can smell the popcorn :)

my skirt looks like a confused zebra...

my skirt looks like a confused zebra.

or maybe what a zebra would look like if you looked through a kaleidoscope. 

but that's what my life feels like.

a kaleidoscope.

i'll let you think about that for a while.

because I had to.

my summer is turning out to be just as busy

as the other nine months of the year.

summertime is a time for me to get a good jumpstart on

writing curriculumfor next year's children's ministries.

and boy is it going to be exciting!

it will be full of mystery, suspense and intrigue :)

it's a long process, but i wouldn't have it any other way. 

at least i will be in washington d.c. in two weeks to see tina!

i have most of my visitors' guide highlighted and most of the city

map has been filed into my long-term memory. 

i can't wait to visit such a vibrant city.

until next time...keep twisting that kaleidoscope!

More Preschool Room Decorating

I have definitely had the decorating bug these last couple of days. 

Sunday afternoon and evening I painted the preschool room a lovely yellow.

Then I added these fun animals stickers to the wall

which made the room even more adorable.

I can't wait to see the kiddos faces when they walk into their room!

I really love the alphabet stickers!

And the coat hooks!

And the little bench!

After all this decorating,

I've discovered that my favorite animal is a giraffe.

The quality of the pictures makes the yellow look mustardy,

but the color is much lighter than that. 

I guess you'll just have to come to church and take a look for yourself.

Next project: The Sunday Matinee room.

This room is where all the kiddos meet on Sunday mornings.

And it's our movie theatre room, too. 

So, I wanted to give it that feel. 

I painted this room on Monday and I have most of the decorations,

but I just need to figure out the placement of them on the walls.

Pictures will come!

Preschool Room Decorating

Ever since last Saturday, when we were able to raise over $1500 

from the garage sale at church, I have been able to purchase

 furniture and storage units for the kiddos classrooms. 

This past week I focused on refreshing the preschool room. 

My main plan is to paint the walls a creamy yellow and then use

white furniture to accent the walls and add some kid-friendly animal

decorations.  So far, I'm loving the room and I still have a ways to go.

Here's some pictures of what I've done so far:

Yesterday, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought different sized

canvases as well as these cute little animals.

I matched the animals with a canvase and then chose a

complimentary color for the canvase to go with the animal.

Here's other storage that I've purchased that will add to the overall

"refreshing" process for this preschool room. 

Ahh...I love storage!

And it's so easy to put together!

Tutorial: Ruffled Scarf

Last night I got out my scissors and decided to make something.

Jennifer had posted this link on my facebook and I knew that

I had to try it out for myself. 

The tutorial that TidyMom provides is very easy,

so there's really no need for me to provide steps on how to do it

when you can just click on this link:

http://tidymom.net/2011/how-to-make-a-scarf/

And here's what I started off with:

A shirt with a gorgeous print.

Then I cut out several 10 inch circles from the shirt

and proceeded to cut the circle in a spiral. 

And then this is the final product:

I basically just let is hang from my shoulders but I have

tried to tie it in front like a scarf.  It works, but I like the

way it is in these pictures. 

Thanks Jennifer for the idea!

I can't wait to make more!