Things to know at age 25(ish)

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Read the entire article here

Photo: My trip to Port Aransas last year

Favorite Bloggers Part 2

Time for another set of bloggers I adore.  These are 4 home decor and home renovation ladies.

Website

Holly reblogs from fellow bloggers.  I love that because it helps me find new blogs and new inspiration!

Holly does do alot of crafts on her own as well.  Like turning pallet boards into ART! 




Another blogger:

Click image to visit website

This chick is intense.  She has TONS of posts, tons of sponsors and she shares other bloggers through 'link parties'.  

From this

To this!!

Seriously, check out her blog you'll be inspired for your home and your blog!




One more with alot of sponsors:

 I found Anna through Pinterest.  She posts about house cleaning with simple and natural products.  She also has great organizing ideas.  

  

 I look forward to trying out her ideas when I have a house of my own!  But first - the Move!!


Last blogger for today, 

Another chick with alot of sponsors and great ideas.  Sarah is pretty funny because she'll take pictures of herself completing a project and she'll be so embarrassed because she has no make up on.  But really - who would wear make up when sanding and painting?!  However, I can totally relate so I like her.  

From this

To this

Of course, I hope you continue reading my blog but I do hope you visit the blogs of these fabulous women!  Enjoy!!




Next time I'll share with you my favorite style blogs!

Living Life to the fullest, one inspiring blog at a time!

The Red Roof House

Since I posted about my Blue Roof House yesterday, I wanted to share with you another piece of real estate in the West Texas area I'm in love with.  This is my Red Roof House.  Technically it's not MINE, but it's my dream home.  It's been for sale for quite a while and I've been praying for a miracle, but God has other plans! 

I just saw online that it's *contract pending* and The Man has assured me he's not the one in contract.  So sad... 

All the information below is from the realtor's website: http://www.scottlandcompany.com/properties/rwdhideaway/index.shtml All Rights Reserved, etc.
So if you want to be a really great friend, feel free to put in a bid on it!  I'll let you stay in the master bedroom every time you visit!!

Stats:

316 acres more or less
House Built in 2006 (most homes in this area are MUCH older than this)

3,346 sq.ft. main area -  400 sq.ft. basement - 926 sq.ft. garage
Brick/Austin Stone exterior

I do wish it had SOME landscaping

The great room has a vaulted ceiling with cedar beams/panels and a double-sided fireplace which also opens to the study/formal living room.

The great room is also open to the kitchen which has granite counter-tops, natural wood cabinets with rustic appeal hardware and lighting, the island/bar with a granite top and a great pantry.

The high-end, stainless, appliances include a double oven, modern gas cook-top, dishwasher and built-in refrigerator.

There is also a formal dining room as well as a breakfast nook.

 The master suite has large windows with a great view.

The master bath has a separate shower and tub, granite counter-tops and a large walk-in closet.

The additional two bedrooms are also suites with great closet space.

There is a finished basement, separate utility room with a sink, lots of storage and an attached three car garage.

Basements are SUPER cool to this city girl!

Doors from the master suite and great room lead to the back patio which also includes an outdoor fireplace.

The home features gorgeous wood, brick tiled and carpet flooring, modern light fixtures, ceiling fans in most rooms, two geo-thermal heating/cooling systems, a new domestic well and septic system.

Utility/Laundry Room, so many Pinteresting ideas in my head for this space!

GREAT Foyer...Love love love!

Realtor says "It is very hard to find a property that has the aesthetic appeal of this one west of I-27."

SO true!

The home is situated so that most of the year there is no direct sun coming into the windows. Every room with a view of the striking landscape. The remainder of the property is expired CRP and native grass along the draw.

a Quonset barn with lean-to, cattle working pens and hydraulic chute.

I would totally turn this into a party barn

This property is surrounded by sprinkler irrigated farmland and has Base acres in Corn, Cotton and Wheat.

That's West Texas for ya

I would consider this a 'hill' in West Texas

The home with 21 acres may be purchased apart from the remainder of the property or the property may be purchased in whole.  $500,000 for 21 acres or $750,000 for all 316 acres.

I am in LOVE with this house....I hope I meet the new residents and become their best friends.  This is easily one of the best properties in this part of the state.

http://www.scottlandcompany.com/properties/rwdhideaway/index.shtml

<>This house is not mine to make memories in, YET.  But I'll keep praying!<>

source

Living Life to the fullest, with faith in God's timing.

Smitten by Spanx

PLEASE tell you you've read Forbes magazine before.  And you were totally bored with most of the articles unless they mentioned the mansions or the luxury vacations right?  No?  Just me?

If it's not the fancy things that catch your eye, maybe it's the social responsibility articles you like.  Millionaires make money by not screwing up environment or employees lifestyles and actually pay fair wages! (it's like finding a needle in a haystack but good guys do exist) I like those articles but everything else is SO boring.  Wow, a rich white guy gets richer?  Wow an old white guy gives his company to his son, who would have thought....I'd rather learn about the underdog.  Because, let's face it, I'm the underdog. 

So as I'm sitting at the doctor last Thursday I began to read the World's Billionaires of 2012 issue.  I officially have my first girl crush.  Sara Blakey created my FAVORITE accessory.  Not shoes, not a new purse, it doesn't even have anything to do with diamonds.  She created SPANX and became a billionaire in the process.

If you are a woman and you enjoy working and making money.  Or if you are at a point in your life and you are thinking there is SO much more you can do and you just don't know what it is.....read this article! 

Sara was doing fine.  She had a great sales job and excelled at her job!  But wearing panty hose in the Florida heat did not cut it for her.  She loved the control top, but not the sweaty legs.  She needed a product that nobody was making.  Her confidence from her sales job and her business background propelled her into the youngest woman self-made billionaire in this issue.  Please please please read this.  Go to the doctor and read it there!  Or buy a freakin' issue.  I hope she inspires you.  Like I said, I'm in love with her confidence and her drive to excellence!



Another thing I learned from this issue: Walmart execs are so freaking rich they make up something like 5 out of the top 10 USA billionaires.  Boycotting Walmart will not save the starving children.  They are 'Too Big to Fail'. 
     Warren Buffet, Christy Walton, Jim Walton, Alice Walton, S. Robson Walton


Living Life to the fullest finding inspiration in underwear!

Sharing is Caring

Have you heard about Kony 2012? 

My 15 year old sister sent me a Facebook request about Kony today.  And then my friends at Dateless Until I Do wrote a blog post about it as well.  They included a 29 minute video that I started to watch, but the tears were flowing so be warned!

The author of this video begins by pointing out that due to the internet, social media and facebook we can share everything today.  And when you look at Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ you realize people are very willing to share.  It's almost addicting.  But then, when it comes to war, murder, injustice and the loss of human rights - who is willing to share their view on that?  Especially when it isn't our war and our personal human rights....

I've realized if I want my blog to be a platform of my life and what I find important than I must be true to myself and share this with you.   I'd share it with my family, the Man and my friends so I'm sharing it with you.  Watch this video

I also want to share with you an amazing book I recently read. 

It was given to me by the Man's sister.  His sister is an incredibly loving stay at home mom who volunteers her time with the Church.  I was shocked this small town mom would find a book about a person and event halfway around the world!  This book ,"Left to Tell", is about the 1994 Rwanda genocide.  Not exactly the bedtime reading that I am familiar with.  But don't worry this book will not give you nightmares.  Instead the author, Immaculee, passes along her courage, faith and passion for Living Life to the Fullest!  If you need a copy of this book feel free to borrow mine!  But purchasing this book online ensures the funds go towards the recovery of the people of Rwanda. 

In the mean time, learn about Kony 2012!  Hopefully someone has already shared this with you and you can share it with someone!

My Favorite Bloggers

Time to share with you a few of my favorite blogs!!

Melissa from 320 Sycamore shares her AMAZING home renovations
Seriously, check out her Kitchen redo! 

Michelle at The Vintage Apple is a elementary school teacher
in a low income school district and while her day is worse
than I could ever imagine (think of re-living those years in elementary school where everyone hates you) she seems to find the silver lining in her day!
She also just got married and has an amazing husband and a doggy!
My kind of lady!

I love Jamie's blog title because I'm pretty sure it has to do with a beautiful song I hear at tons of weddings.  Jamie puts tons of Pinteresting images up every Wednesday. I love the dresses she shares!  Also, because I love her blog design I revised my blog (once again) thanks to her designer!  It's really simple!

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Another blogger named Michelle...Has a beautiful family, a loving husband and is having some issues fitting in with her neighborhood stay at home mothers. 
She does alot of pinning also!

I might need to make this into a page on my blog....I have a TON of other favorites including some personal friends of mine!  Stay tuned!

Live Life to the Fullest....one inspiring blog at a time!

-Rachel

40 Days of Rest

I ran across this great blog I'd love to share.  If you find yourself with little "me" time.  Or if you're running out of time at the end of the day trying to "squeeze it all in"  read this blog post and consider Turning Off the Lights for 40 days

Jennifer Fulwiler shares...

I had three children under age three, a seemingly endless to-do list, and regularly felt like I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown. I’d begun to deal with my stress by spending too much time on the internet, and my prayer life had become almost nonexistent. As Lent approached that year, I spent a lot of time searching for how I could make it a time of reprioritization and renewal. I wanted to undertake a spiritual practice that would be drastic enough to break me out of my rut, but would also be reasonable for someone with my crazy lifestyle to undertake. And then, during one of my (all-too-rare) prayer times, I got an odd inspiration:
Turn out the lights.

source

I felt drawn to do occasional fasts from artificial light during Lent. After talking to my husband about it, we committed to foregoing all electric sources of light after sundown approximately once a week—and this included not only overhead lights, but glowing screens like computers or televisions as well. For safety’s sake we did leave nightlights on in the hallways while we slept, but in terms of illuminating our evening activities, it was all candlelight. The impact it had on our lives was more powerful than I could have imagined. To list just a few of the profound changes this simple once-a-week fast brought to our lives:

1. It forced us to limit our to-do lists. My 98-year-old grandfather often comments that life is much more hectic now than it was when he was growing up on a remote farm in the 1920s, and I think that electric light has a lot to do with that. The first thing I noticed during our artificial light fast was what a large amount of work I typically tried to accomplish after sundown. I found it impossible to tackle laundry by candlelight, and obviously any work on the computer was out. At first it was exasperating, but then I realized that I had been using artificial light to push myself way beyond reasonable human limits in terms of how much I tried to do in a day. On the days that I was forced to do only as much work as I could do during daylight hours, my life became naturally balanced, with times of rest complementing times of work.

2. It taught us humility. The first night I found myself facing an entire evening with no light, I was just about twitching with anxiety. But what about all that laundry? What about those dishes I didn’t get to? What about email?!?! I hadn’t realized how much I relied on myself and how little I relied on God until I was forced to give up control of my schedule. It was humbling to see that the universe actually did not fall apart at the seams without me working 16 hours a day, even when I didn’t get to those items on my to-do list that were “so important.”

3. It inspired us to live intentionally. On the days when I’d have artificial light to extend my work time as late as I wanted to, I tended to shuffle around the house aimlessly, getting to things when I got to them. But when I knew that my work would have to cease at sundown, with whatever didn’t get done being set aside until the next day, I approached my days much more purposefully.

4. It reduced our stress levels. At the time I was burdened by a lot of worries about everything from money to how I would get through the next day without collapsing from exhaustion. Yet every time we switched off the lights and lit the candles, an amazing thing would happen: My stress would be instantly cut in half. Something about the dim, natural glow and the movement of the flames made me feel deeply relaxed, even when I had been full of tension just moments earlier.

5. It carved out time for the things that matter. The two areas of life that were always threatened by our frantic schedules were prayer time and family time. Without being able to do much work or become distracted by glowing screens, we found that our candle-lit evenings left us plenty of time for our real priorities.   Read more:

While we all give up tangible things this Lent, let's not forget to work on our relationship with our own body, mind and soul.  What's the point of giving up TV if you spend that extra time on the computer?  Why give up alcohol if you don't use that clarity of mind to do something GREAT?  Best of Luck my friends!  You can do it!

Living Life to the Fullest...with my body, mind and soul for 40 days!