things i love thursday

i could totally cheat right now and just say:  go look at my pintrest boards!  lol.  those are mostly images i love right now.  but i also have found some great posts recently that i want to share too!

this is an interesting left brain vs. right brain post.  apparently im very right brain!

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

• uses feeling
• “big picture” oriented
• imagination rules
• symbols and images
• present and future
• philosophy & religion
• can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
• believes
• appreciates
• spatial perception
• knows object function
• fantasy based
• presents possibilities
• impetuous
• risk taking

"How to steal like an Artist (and 9 other things nobody told me)
this entire blog post made me think this morning.  so much of it spoke to me.  including this:

some new fonts i am just IN LOVE WITH!!  (i am a bit of a font hoarder.  do you love fonts too? share some of your favorites in the comments.)

HT Motel

Candy, Inc

Verner

i have a thing for cursive connecting fonts right now.  must be all the invitation work im doing. makes me smile!

i just loved this recent post by Ali Edwards all about decorating with pictures.  and that reminded me of my favorite post about this from Tara Whitney.   i hope to do a ton of this once we move into our house.  first things first of course:  we must put up window coverings!  one downside to buying a brand new house!  lol. 

so, what are you {loving} today??  share what makes you happy!  or i could just follow you on pintrest!  ;)

accepted

our offer was ACCEPTED!!!
we did our earnest money deposit.  the mortgage company is verifying our employment.  the title has been ordered and we have signed SO MANY PAPERS!  lol.

and then we got to pick the paint color for the outside of the house.   we knew we wanted something in the green family.  and something dark with white trim. 

and this is the color we picked after literally 4 minutes of discussion.  our real estate lady was shocked and how little time it took us.  we were like:  "this one or this one?"  "i think this one"  "that's my favorite too"  "okay, perfect."  "this is the color we want!"

its called "grime"  which cracks us up...but i think its going to look so great with white trim and will really stand out in our new neighborhood.

we are sooooo excited!!  its finally happening!!  we're going to be homeowners. :) 

staying in

today is my first day "off" all month and im doing my best to enjoy it.
i have spent the month pioneering and it had brought me so much joy  (that means that this month i volunteered 50 hours of my time teaching people about the bible).  but i got sick last sunday and i just feel worn out!  so this morning im staying home.

and spending my time sourcing photo inspiration for my dear friend katie's wedding in august.  so i thought i'd share some of the beauty i've found.  i cannot wait to be behind the camera on her special day.

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 for more that i just love check out my "tie the knot" pinboard over at pintrest.  man, that place is helpful!!  (okay, and addictive!)

i am so honored and excited to be creating the invitations for her wedding and doing the photography on the day of.  she's also planning to have special pictures taken of herself, kelly and me with our husbands.  i am so looking forward to this trip. 

we made an offer

im sooo excited to share this update of our "in search of a home" journey!!

the last time i shared we had gone to a few open houses and were having chris' parents come take a look at all the options we had going to give us their wise and experienced opinion.  so after that visit, and after a few nights in bed talking things through chris and i have decided to move forward. 

last night we made an offer on a house!  its one of the brand new homes built in the development.  its got 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a 2 car garage and has a stove/range and dishwasher.  its a floorplan i can learn to love (yes, there is a hallway!  lol) but the master bedroom can fit our bedroom set and has a huge closet. 

we signed the papers last night and sent our offer in to the builder.  we should hear back monday or tuesday!

so, if everything goes as planned this will be OUR HOUSE!!  they just laid the sod and finished the front drive, so its totally move-in ready.  if our offer is accepted and things with the loan underwriter goes as scheduled we should be able to move in early may!! 

i'll keep you posted!!

inspired

lately i have found myself completely inspired by videos.  videos of all shapes and colors.  some visually inspiring, some with inspiring words, others with perfect music.

the ever talented jasmine*


the making of the threadsence lookbook. swoon!


so cute and so very true!


this 3 1/2 year old boy doing the bible reading from the book of Esther. this made me tear up. reminded me of my younger brother micah.


ok, so apparently you have to be a friend of mine on facebook so see this, but its too cute to remove. add me to take a peek!! :)

what's inspiring you lately??

the book

it is with great excitement (and a little bit of nervousness) that i announce my 52weeks book is finished and AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE*!!

for those of you new to the blog, let me explain a little about this.  for all of the year 2010 i took a self-portrait and wrote a poem each week.  along the way i shared each picture and poem on my 52weeks blog.  my goal was to eventually turn it into a book to share with everyone, and i have accomplished my goal!!

would you like to see a sneak peek??

52weeks by Shaina Longstreet | Make Your Own Book

"We must create what we most need to find."  -sabrina ward harrison

What I most needed to find this year was me.  And that is what prompted this journey of self-discovery through poetry and portraiture.  I turned the camera on myself in hopes of discovering my true nature, the things that made my heart sing and how I coped with what life threw my way.  In between all those things I found beauty, honesty, and truth.  I found my voice.

In the end, looking back, this is the greatest gift I could ever give.  And not just to myself, but to all who take a moment to read and look and peer into this book.  It is a gift to my husband.  A gift to my mother.  A gift to my friends; the ones who really know me and the ones I've just made.  A gift to those I've formed a bond with in the wonderful online creative world.  A gift to those who love poetry.  A gift to those who enjoy portraits.  A gift to those who need some inspiration, or just the knowledge that someone out there feels the same way they do.  A gift to those starting out on their own.

My book is now available for purchase.  This is my heart on paper.  I hope you find a little  of yourself among the pages.  May it be a little part of your own journey.

*sorry, i didn't mean to yell at you (caps lock).  im just so darn excited!!

oh friday

today "oh friday" is brought to you by the color yellow!
oh yes...spring has arrived!!

1. fresh daffodils my friend channa bought me while she was here this week. its a lovely way to brighten up my desk at work.

2. seeing the 2 seagulls on top of the McDonald's M.  i've noticed them every spring, and finally stopped to take a picture.  they make me smile.

3. my new dry shampoo.  its pretty much a life saver.  and even though its from suave and only cost me $3 it works so great.  smells amazing and really does what it says.  i can go 3 days without washing my hair and don't look like a grease monkey!  lol.  and this makes trying new hair styles so much easier cuz most of them work best on at least day-old hair.

yellow is making me happy today.
what is true and beautiful about your life right now?? 

words

there have been some great words and inspiring quotes floating around pintrest lately.  i just wanted to share a few of my favorites.  see all of the ones i've collected on my "words" board HERE. 

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what are some of your favorite quotes?? 

open house day

yesterday was open house day.  chris and i went and looked at three houses.  2 in ephrata and 1 in soap lake.  it was an interesting afternoon.  we haven't really looked at homes that were currently occupied, so it was different being inside a place where people were still living.  here are the houses we saw:

HOUSE #1:  this is a 4 bedroom 2 bath house with tons of square footage.  its got a large living room and an even bigger family room in the addition on the back.  the master bedroom and bath are huge.  that was my favorite part.  there is also a fenced back yard and shop. 

HOUSE #2:  this is a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house and after seeing the first place, this house is tiny!  i don't think our bed could even fit in one of the rooms, to be honest.  it had wood panneling in the dining room and the washer and dryer were in the kitchen.  it had a partially fenced back yard and the sellers were putting a new roof on before purchase.

HOUSE #3:  this place did not have anyone in it currently, so i felt a bit more comfortable looking around.  this house does not have any legal bedrooms (which we found while looking at it). this house is a three level dwelling with 2 bathrooms and the most unique attic space i've seen personally.  it has tons of potential.  a large fenced back yard with a huge shop.  an enclosed sun room, and all new electrical.  it will need a second means of egress created in the basement before it could be livable. 

so that was our afternoon.  house #2 is already out.  was pretty much out from the moment we stepped in the front door!  but we think #1 and #3 might have some possibilites.  chris' parents are going to come up from wenatchee tomorrow afternoon and take a look at them with us, along with seeing the new build homes first hand.  hopefully they're experience and expertise will help us make a decision.  we value their opinion so much.

onward and upward!!  thanks for coming along with us on this journey!!

15 questions

while on vacation the lovely marta of martawrites.com is having a bunch of different quest bloggers all answer the same 15 questions.  though im not one of her guests, i thought i'd answer them on my blog just for fun. 

:: no matter what mood i'm in, i can always go for a: phone call from a friend.

:: my favorite go-to outfit would have to be: jeans, my favorite Old Navy tee and a scarf

:: a good source of inspiration is:  my old notebooks.  it does my soul good to look back and see what excited me before and try to find that same feeling again in my life now.

:: am so glad my parents taught me: that i don't have to be the best, i just have to do my best.

:: a song i like to dance to is:  the only one i dance to at del-red: "honky tonk badonkadonk" by trace adkins.  crazy, i know!  but our friend john always sings it during karaoke just for me and my friend nani.  once it starts we can't help but dance! we call it the donky kong song.  its our favorite line. 

:: i wish everyone knew about:  dearblankpleaseblank.com  it made me smile and want to make up my own.

:: the best thing in my makeup bag is: makeup from avon.Mark.  i love everything in their line. 

:: my dream spring break vacation spot is: road trip to california.  i want to see the redwoods.

:: this may be a surprise, but i am passionate about:  design. 

:: a favorite book that changed me for the better:  "girl of the limberlost" by gene stratton porter.  my absolute favorite book ever.  its worth checking out of the library. 

:: one of my pet peeves is:  indecisiveness.  just make a decision already!! 

:: my favorite daily ritual would have to be: calling chris right after i wake up. 

:: i am trying to be better at:  not saying negative things about myself.

:: the most recent rad thing i found online was:  hair blogs and tutorials.  im having fun trying new things with my hair.

:: i can't live without: talking to my mum every day (or as often as possible)

did you learn something new about me??  do you want to add this to your blog too??  link me up!!  i'd love to hear from you. 

moving forward

as of my last update on the house front, we found a place that we like.  really like!  and then we saw the breakdown from the mortgage company.  its a little out of our price-range.  we could do it, but then we wouldn't have a life.  and we like having a life! :P  so we're moving forward and onward.

the great thing about the house we looked at, is that it is part of a development in our area with local builders.  so we talked to our real estate agent again and i had an idea:  maybe they have a different floor plan that is open like we love, but a bit more within our price range.  so this afternoon she came by with some print-outs for us to look at. 

we narrowed it down to a couple options.  she's checking with the developer to see if its possible to build the house we really like without the den, to cut down on square footage and maybe bring the price within our range.  the other floorplan is open with minimal "hallways" and is totally a great option.  we're hoping to be able to get inside one that is already built to get a feel for it and see if we like it. 

so that's what we're waiting on...news from the developer.  in the meantime, we're going to a couple open houses in town on saturday to keep our options open.  who knows?  maybe we'll find the perfect place for us.  all i know is that im so anxious to get out of the place we're in now.  ready to move on with our life. 

i'll probably share an update from the open houses on saturday.  we'll see how it goes.

designing again

i am so excited to share my most recent blog makeover.  my scrappy online friend Patty did a twitter shout-out saying she was looking to redo her blog.  and after a couple years hiatus on the blog design front, i decided it was time to dip my toes back in and offered to work with her. 

and we had a blast!!  we sourced inspiration for the feel she was going for, the colors she was drawn to and the fonts she just loved.  in her words she was looking for "something out of an art journal with a twist of vintage and a pinch of scrapbook" and i ran with it... this is the final design:

i am so loving how it all came together.  yellow and grey with a touch of aqua.  i think its just so "patty" and she's loving it so far too. 

i want to take this chance to thank patty for trusting me with her blog and for giving me the chance to get back into blog designs.  im now so excited to move forward.  are you looking for a new look for your online home??  perhaps im in your price range!  :)  for more information see my sHe*deSigNs tab at the top of my blog.  i'd love to work with you too!