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Monday, June 10, 2013

The End Is Just the Beginning

Where to start...

 Let's talk about the beginning. The beginning of this blog that is. I started this blog as an attempt to help get my name out there, so I could possibly start selling my cards on Etsy. It was a business thing I suppose. The funny thing about business things is that they're not always that fun. You don't always want to sit down and spend spare time on them. However, I found myself enjoying blogging. I enjoy sharing my projects. I, surprisingly, enjoy writing. I enjoy every comment on the blog, every comment or like on Facebook, and get ecstatic when I see that something I've created is getting pinned and pinned over and over again on Pinterest. The card making became less and less of a priority, and I wanted to start focusing on the blog more than anything.

 Then I began to feel God impressing on me to start blogging about more than just crafting. I felt I should be sharing more of Him and myself with you all. I wasn't sure how to do it and for months I just let it sit in the back of my head without taking any action.

 Back in February, I finally wrote a more personal post about God's plans and not knowing them. It's somewhat surreal to read that post now after all that has happened in the past couple of months. About two months after I published that post, our little family started to see a little bit more of God's plan for our life.
{That's us on moving day. Saying goodbye to our home of 4 years.}

As we went through the process of packing up, moving, and unpacking, I started to think about this blog and how it would fit into our new life. Then I started to picture something a little different. A blog that isn't about crafting with a little God on the side but is about so much more than that. I envisioned a blog that's a little more about our family, our adventures and misadventures, our walk with God, our creations, and so much more. A blog that's about us taking time from what can be a crazy life to really stop and smell the roses. It would be a blog with personal posts, posts about God and how wonderful he is, and of course creative posts would be there too, because that's so much of who I am.


 I suppose I could accomplish all this with "Taking Time To Create". I could just turn things in a different direction, but with the fresh start I feel like moving has created, something fresh and new is in order here too.
{We took this the weekend after we moved.}

So, I would like to introduce you to "Taking Time In The City". It's a new blog that will be all that I've described and more. We're determined to have lots of adventures now that we've moved to the "big city", and we're going to share them with you. I hope you'll head on over and join us!


"Taking Time To Create" will remain live; I just won't be actively updating it. Please feel free to peruse the archives for lots of great creative posts!
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

We're Moving Along {A Marble Track}

Well, hello there stranger! Do you miss me? 

 I must say that I do miss being able to blog more often, but it's been a whirlwind around here! If you read this post, you know that we're moving. It's quite an undertaking I must say! Having a child to move just adds so much more to it. We're trying to prepare as much as possible without "rocking his world" too much before it's necessary. He does know we're moving to a new place and a new "house", but I'm sure he doesn't quite understand what's really going to happen. 

 With all the changes and craziness of packing, I wanted to take some some time one day to play with him. I wanted to do something special, and when I came across all the cardboard tubes I'd been saving up, I knew the perfect thing: a marble track! If you've been around for a while, you'll know that I'm a big fan of marble tracks (we made one here and here). 
 All we used was duct tape and cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towels. Simple.
I added some shoot off tracks toward the end for a little added fun. It was interesting to see which end the marble would come out of.
He played with it for days and days!

Oh, and just to prove the packing effort is moving along, I'd like to point out that box in the corner there. :-)

I'll be back at some point with more posts (hopefully before the move), and I promise things will be more consistent here in a few weeks when we get settled. We only have about a week and a half to go!



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This is where I party:
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Pinterest Power Party

I'm co-hosting the Pinterest Power Party this week. Check it out and link up below. Be sure to visit all the other co-hosts too and make some new friends! On to the party!

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 Hey friends! It's Wednesday night and you know what that means! It's time for the weekly Pinterest Power Party!! This party is to focus on YOU - the readers! Do you have a DIY project, frugal gift idea, or delicious recipe you want to share? Well, we want to see them and share them on our Pinterest boards too!!
So, you're asking...
How do I participate? Easy!
Be a Pinterest Follower of the three hosts! We don't have any guest co-hosts this week, so we'd love for you to stop by the other hosts' blogs and say hello!
Living on Love and Cents: Pinterest | Blog
The Taylor House: Pinterest | Blog
Sew Much Crafting: Pinterest | Blog

Follow Your Co-Host’s Too!!

Take Time To Create {Follow on Pinterest}
erinc
Managing The Manor {Follow On Pinterest}
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Let's party!!
Help us spread the word by grabbing the above button and putting it on your blog! Then come back and link up your favorite projects, tips, and ideas! Also, please pin the two links before yours {and any others you like too!!}.

But wait, there's more!!
Be sure to stop by next week and see if your link was featured! This week we're featuring some of the projects that grabbed our eye! If you're featured, be sure to grab a button and wear it proudly on your blog!
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Would you like to co-host with us? We have openings in some of our upcoming parties for people who would like to join us! Just send an email to Chrissy (cmaetaylor@yahoo.com) to find out which dates are available!
Are you ready to party and get your pin on?
Here are the features from last week!
{1} Washi Tape Pens & Pencils from Literary Spring Designs
{2} Paint Chip Business Card Holder from Sarah SaturDIY
{3} Chalk Frame from Lemon Tree Dwelling
{4} Baby Carseat Cover from I Dig Pinterest

{5} Homemade Cheez-It Crackers from Feeding Big & More
{6} Lemon Applesauce Muffins from Whistle & Ivy
{7} Easy Painted Vases from Two Yellow Birds Decor
{8} Homemade Decorative Tray from Lilikoi Joy
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Monday, April 8, 2013

Change of Plans, Folks {But God's Plan Is Revealed}

Oh, how our lives have changed in the last week and a half or so! One unexpected phone call was the start of something new that we didn't see coming, but we're so excited about it now. Before I get to that  phone call, though, I need to back up a little...

 Back in January we put our house on the market. It seemed it a good time for us to sell and buy something else with interest rates being so low. We prayed that it would sell if it was God's will. If it didn't sell, we accepted that God must want us to stay in this house. 

Back in February, my husband applied for a new job. It would be great for him with a lot of opportunity for him to advance, AND it was work that he believes he would really enjoy. There's nothing like loving your job, you know? Again, we prayed that he would get the job if it was God's will. 

Fast forward now to about a week and a half ago--the Friday before Easter, Good Friday. We were starting to wonder if our house was going to sell. We had had several showings and some interest but nothing too concrete. Then on that Good Friday, we received a full price offer on our house, and we are closing April 26th! Thank you, Jesus! 

 Now we needed to find a house to buy, but there really wasn't anything the the area we wanted. The day after we received the offer we had thought we found one, but it wouldn't work out after all. Maybe the house God had for us just wasn't on the market yet, so we made plans to stay with my parents after we closed on our house while hoping that something would come on the market. 

Then on Tuesday of last week (April 2nd), my husband received that unexpected call I mentioned earlier. It was the company he applied with back in February. They wanted to interview him the very next day. He interviewed Wednesday and was offered a job right on the spot; it seemed that they had almost decided to hire him before he even interviewed! Since he hadn't heard back for so long, we had thought that maybe God had said "no" to that job, but it turns out it was a "not yet"! 

Here's the part we didn't expect, though: the job they offered was in Denver and we live in Colorado Springs. For those of you not familiar, that's roughly 60-70 miles away. We were suddenly so thankful that we hadn't found a house yet! Thankful that what we thought could be THE house didn't work out after all.
So, instead of moving to a different part of Colorado Springs, we are moving 60ish miles away, but it is all working out perfectly (we even found somewhere to live yesterday). We certainly couldn't have planned it this well ourselves.  Now we can see clearly that God's hand has been in this all along. From the timing with our house going under contract to us not being able to find a house to buy, God has been putting this plan together for us. The little pieces have been coming together, and we didn't even realize where they were pointing. 
Printable Scripture Art
Yes, we are a little nervous to be moving from family and everything we've ever known since we were both born and raised in Colorado Springs, but we are also so excited! Now that we can see this part of God's plan for us and how clearly He has laid it out, we know there's something great in store for us. We can't wait to learn new places, make new friends, spend time with my sister and brother-in-law who already live up there, find a new church home, and learn what else God has planned for us!
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Thursday, April 4, 2013

The #biggestlinkpartyever {Features!}

This week I've been enjoying being a co-host for Ginger Snap Crafts' link party in celebration of her 2 year anniversary. I must say, I've enjoyed it so much that I'm considering starting a link party of my own. It's sooo much fun!

Enough about me, though, let's move on to some features!

 {please be sure to Pin from the original source and not from this post...thanks!}

For The Home:
"How To Cover a Thermostat" from Clean & Scentsible

"Rain Boot Vase" from On Sutton Place


Clean It Up:
"How to Polish Your Stainless Steel Sink" by Somewhere in the Middle

"Naptime Spring Cleaning Checklists" from Reasons to Skip the Housework

For Fun:
robin-magnetic-people-pinte
"How to Make Magnetic People" from The Dating Divas

"Fun April Holidays" from Tales of the Scotts

Something Sweet:
{because I can't resist sugar}
"Cinnamon Chips and Fruit Salsa" from Posed Perfection

Zest Orange Bites from fivelittlechefs.com is a quick and easy dessert or snack if you prefer!Just 20 minutes to make! #recipe #zesty #orange bites #dessert
"Zesty Orange Bites" from Five Little Chefs


I'm so glad you all linked up!
Visit my #biggestlinkpartyever Pinterest board for more features, and be sure to visit Ginger's feature posts here and here.
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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Co-Hosting {Wow Me} Wednesday Link Party!

I'm so excited to be one of many (over 40!) blogs co-hosting "{Wow Me} Wednesday" with Ginger Snap Crafts! It's Ginger's two year blog anniversary, and in celebration she opened up her link party for co-hosts. It can't even tell you how excited I am to be participating! Ginger's party is and has been one of my favorite link parties. 

Here are all the awesome co-hosts:
Vintage Barn, Whole New Leaf, Taking Time to Create, The Best Blog Recipes, The Pin Junkie, Stardust Decor & Style, Kayla LeBaron Interiors, Southpaw Crafts, Wine & Glue, Denise on a Whim, Keeping It Stepford, Jedi Craft Girl, It Bakes Me Happy, InkHappi, The Love Nerds, Titi Crafty, The Domesticated Princess, Mom Home Guide, This Girl’s Life, Two Ten Designs, Robyn’s View, Find it, Make It, Love it!, A Southern Lady’s Ramblings, I Got This Martha!, Cherished Bliss, Lemons for Lulu, In Designer Jeans, Create it. Go!, Sweet Little Gals, Crafty (Mis)Adventures, Rambling Reed, VMG206, Missy Inspired, Life a Little Brighter, Night Owl Corner, My World Made By Hand, Sparkles and a Stove, My Turn (For Us), The Benson Street, My Life as Robin’s Wife, Bits of Everything, Quinton Wench 

I'll be featuring some of the link ups throughout the week on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and will of course be pinning away on my Pinterest page too, so be sure to link up! The fun doesn't end there, though...I'll do a feature post Friday and Ginger will be doing a big feature post too (be sure to check out her blog for that!). It's going to be lots of fun so be sure to link up below!

Thanks to you for linking up and joining us for this awesome celebration, and thanks to Ginger for sharing her party. Happy Anniversary!

Here are the party rules:
The "rules' are simple.
Please consider sharing this party on
facebook, twitter, google+ or pinterest.

Link up to your post, not your main blog.

Must be something made by you!
{No etsy shops, giveaway or business links, please.}
Visit other links, make new friends & most of all have fun!





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Monday, April 1, 2013

Good Monday To You!


I was feeling a bit overwhelmed this morning...

A big mess in the house from the weekend
Laundry that I haven't had time to finish
A budget that should have already been prepared
and then there's the big one...

We're moving out of our house in a little less than four weeks! April was going to be a busy month anyway, so I think I should start with the packing this week. I'm not one to wait until the last minute on things like that. We haven't found another house to buy yet, though, so I'm thinking about what we should pack to put in storage, what we might what to have with us while we're staying at my parents, and what I can go ahead and start packing now that we don't use all that often...my mind is spinning, spinning, spinning!

While I wouldn't call this a storm compared to what some people go through, it does have me a little worked up, but after reading today's devotion at She Reads Truth, I realized that I need to take a deep breath and start my day right with praise to our God. This chorus from "Praise You In This Storm" by Casting Crowns has been going through my head:

"And I'll praise You in this storm and I will lift my hands
For You are who You are no matter where I am
And every tear I've cried You hold in Your hand
You've never left my side and though my heart is torn
I will praise you in this storm"

God is in control and has a plan. 
I'm going to praise Him today and tackle all the projects one by one as I give Him praise!
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Monday, March 25, 2013

Dr. Seuss Activities|Dr. Seuss-A-Thon Continues{Oh, The Thinks You Can Think and Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?}

Oh boy! If there were a character limit for post titles, I certainly would have reached it with that one. These are some long titled books! Oh The Thinks You Can Think! and Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? were last week's Dr. Seuss books for the Dr. Seuss-A-Thon. 

 My copies are what you  might call "well loved" as you can see above. They're actually my mom's and I'm pretty sure she bought them from the library  in one of those sales with the books that are just too worn for them to keep. But, hey, they're still all there and still readable, so I say we keep using them!
Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! Activities
  • Recreate the front cover: scan the people, print them out, and cut them out (maybe even do this on magnetic paper or attach them to magnets. Print or draw different shapes and have the people walk around and/or in them. You can talk about the directions they're going: up, down, left, right.
  • Create a "think story": the book is all about the things you can think up or imagine. Let your kid's draw their own think story or create one by putting together pictures from magazines. You could even scan pictures from books and print them out.

Did I Ever tell You How Lucky You Are? Activities
Color and/or draw some cactus. Discuss how it would feel to really sit on one...probably not the best idea!

Some of the "unlucky" characters on pages 6-7 are trying to build a bridge. 

Try building a bridge of your own with things around your house. Legos are an obvious choice, but try other things too; books might be a fun option.

This poor little guy on pages 20-21 has his tail all in knots!

Practice making your own knots with yarn or rope. If it's something you don't want to stay knotted up, rope might be the better option. If you're using rope, you could also untie the knots (this would be fairly difficult with yard though).

This fellow on pages 24-25 has endless rows of i's to dot and t's to cross.

Try dotting some i's and cross and crossing some t's of your own.

What a job this guy from pages 26-27 has! All he does is watch bees all day!

Do some bee watching of your own. From a safe distance, watch for bees in your yard or in a local park or garden. One of our local parks has a nice flower garden, so we're going to take a picnic there one day when the flowers starting blooming and keep an eye out for bees. You could do the same with birds. Just be sure that your kids understand how to act around bees, so they don't get stung. 

One of these guys from pages 34-35 is missing his shadow!

Check out some shadows of your own. 
  • Go outside and take a look at how different objects make different shadows.
  • See how shadows change with the sun's movement. Mark or outline a shadow in the morning and then go back later in the day to see where the shadow has moved.
There's so much potential for activities with any Dr. Seuss book. The key is to use your imagination!
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This Week's Book

The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories
(we're just going to do the one book since there are several stories in it)


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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Easter Bunny {Free} Printable

Spring is certainly in the air here in Colorado and with only a couple more weeks to go until Easter, I wanted to create a little something for the occasion--this cute Easter Bunny Printable! 
The yellow and blue just call out "Spring!"
You can download a watermark free 5x7 version of this printable here.

Enjoy!

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