OWOH giveaway

Don't forget to scroll down to see more posts, as this one post will stay on top for a while! :)

*click on picture to be taken to OWOH*

I'm excited for this year's OWOH event! My mother introduced this 'blog hopping' experience to me last year, and I had a blast! The only difference was that I was attending OWOH through my husband's blog. This year, I'm here meeting you from my own lil place!

If you're new here, WELCOME! (If you already know me, you can skip this part!) Take a look around, don't be shy! Grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and make yourself at home! It won't take you long to notice that I blog quite a bit about my son, Lincoln! He's a very active 14-almost 15 month old! My little family travels with an Evangelistic team called Bible Revival. We've been on the road full time for almost two years now with our 'little house on wheels!' Right now we are in Wilson, NC. At the end of this spring tour, we are excited to see where God leads us next as we are branching out on our own and won't be traveling with Bible Revival.

That's just a little bit about me...but now on to the good stuff!

Have you noticed that my husband is an artist? :) Here's a drawing of my son when he was just a few months old! (All portraits are done in pencil.)


And here's one of my grandpa! Check out the detail!(Please visit Joe's Studio or his website to see his work and services that he provides!)

For my giveaway, the winner will receive a ONE SUBJECT, 9X12, personal portrait of there choice. (Loved one, pet, hey...why not yourself?!) That's pretty generous!

Giveaway ends February 14th, 12:00am EST. I'll draw the winner from random.org and will announce and contact the winner on February 15th. The winner will need to email me a picture that they would like Joe to draw. Easy right?! But wait...There's more!!! :)


*Remember*

*To enter, must leave a comment (ONE comment per person...or read on for an extra entry!)
*Make sure there's a way for me to contact you. (email, blog, twitter...)
*All my FACEBOOK friends are invited!!!! I'll just add your comments into my blog comments at the end of the contest! (*I'll even let you comment on Facebook AND blogger! That's ONE comment on Facebook, and ONE comment on blogger...That's double entries!!! Get going!)
*The winner has 48 hrs to respond. If I don't hear from them, I will choose a new winner!

Good Luck! and Happy blogging! :) OH! and send some comment love to Joe! He'd like that!

(to my lovely facebook pals...you really need to visit my blog. This facebook thing just doesn't do it justice...)

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Cousins sharing some love!

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Random things on the road today...

A big ah....ahem...butt...
And a church for truckers!
That was my day... :)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

365-19 Few of my favorite things

I've been at a lost on what I should capture today. So I went around the house and picked out some things that I like!

Candles!

My Ghirardelli mix from mom for Christmas!
Lotion
My "B" pearl thing from mom, again! :)
Dream Angels "Heavenly" and chap stick
His "CHEESE" grin :)
And those baby blue eyes!

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I know you all already saw this...but here is Joe's piece that he calls 'Peekaboo'. The original is hanging at Spill The Beans and is for sale! I'm so proud of my hubby and thrilled to see at how God's using his talents to help/encourage others! Way to go hun!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Visit Joe's Studio! His website is finished and looking great!

Yesterday we went to Downtown Greenville and hung this piece in Spill The Beans! If you ever get a chance to visit, check out this sweet coffee shop on Main St. Thanks Abram and Sarah for letting us show off Joe's artwork!

I just love downtown and think that it would be awesome to live in the area! One of Joe's favorite place to visit is Jared Emerson's studio in Artist Row. Joe kind of knew him as they were kids, but within the last year we've gotten to know him better!

Here's Joe and Jared (Joe on the right!) in front of a piece that Jared did live. It's a picture of Christ with thorns on his head. Jared's been a huge inspiration to Joe to get started on his art business!

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Please check out my recent post for a special announcement!


Organizing the pantry!!!! (du du duunnnnn...)

I'm taking a step of faith and letting you all see my messing pantry. But it was about time for me to get in there and reorganize the mess. For the last couple trips we've made, stuff was falling out, cereal everywhere, sugar spilled, and lots of frustration when I had to look for something...

Before:Everything thrown around...Lincoln decided to help and eat some of the left over cereal! Which was a bad idea! I turn around to throw something away, and Lincoln thought it'd be cool to DUMP the entire box of chex onto the floor! (I was seriously not happy when I took this shot!)

After:
I'm kinda disappointed that the before and after pics look the same. I'm telling the truth, I DID organize this closet! It looks MUCH better in person. :) I took everything out and even wiped it down top to bottom!
I didn't go out and buy special containers like I should have. But everything IS more organized and I did get rid of lots of things that were outdated. I even found some extra things to put into the Haitian pantry that the church in Ducan, GA was putting together.
I can find things a lot easier and nothing fell out today when we drove back to Greenville!

New happenings {special announcement!}

No! I'm not pregnant!!!

Joe's Studio is getting a make over, so make sure to stop by to check it out! We are testing out new layouts for his website and would appreciate any ideas or comments as to how it looks! If you don't know my husband yet, please check out his blog here. He is a very (handsome) talented artist who works mostly with pencil. He is capable of using charcoal, colored pencil, and water color. Photography on the side as well! Our dream is to someday own an art studio where he can display and sell his work!
For the last couple months we've been selling prints of his work in the churches we've come in contact as we travel with the Bible Revival Team. Through this, we've seen God open doors and opportunities that we've hadn't had elsewhere! Joe's been so encouraged to see his artwork used as a way of a ministry to people!

~New NEWS~
Within the last week, a possible opportunity(s) has approached us and we are seeking wisdom and advice as to what/where we should go. We are still traveling for Bible Revival until the end of the spring tour, but will need to start looking for another source of income after our last week of meetings, like last summer. The only thing different is that we won't be joining back with the traveling team in the fall. *sniff* The Joe Everson family will no longer be traveling full time with Bible Revival.

It's sad and exciting. Bittersweet. We will miss Ben and Amanda and the kids. But at the same time, we are looking forward to where God is leading both families!

~Back to the opportunities approaching~ Joe's Studio is expanding! Right now we are seeking any leads in the Greenville, SC area. We are open to anything. From teaching in a school, to giving lessons one on one. We are looking into Co-op classes with homeschoolers in Greenville, or Wilson, NC. If you know of any leads, ideas, or even interested in his work, please contact us! We'd also appreciate your prayers as we are looking for work and a potential place to call our permanent home!

I don't like heading into the unknown, and am trying to give it all to the Lord and trust him with our future. Money is tight and work is hard to find. But the Lord knows!

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The many faces of breakfast!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy Blog-versary to...

TO ME!!! I just noticed that my first entry on this blog was 3 years ago today! My has time changed! And things are about to change for us in the next couple of months! We are praying for the Lord's guidance and wisdom in the decisions we need to make. I ask that you pray with us and also that the Lord would just give me peace about everything. As the time gets nearer, I will let you all know what happens!

As for the blog-versary, nothing special going on here! (sorry. 3 years isn't anything to celebrate, really. Maybe 5!) I'm just happy to be blogging and meeting such wonderful people! I'm looking forward to the OWOH next week! And the AWI conference! (*brag* I won a ticket!!!) I'm sure I'll meet even more wonderful people at both of those events! I'm So looking forward to the Conference! (click on the button on the upper left. As for my FB veiwers, you need to go to my Blog to view it.) My mom has attended a few and told me that this month's is a good one! She said that she would pay for mine but first pointed out some blogs that were giving away some tickets! What's really cool is that both of us won so we are attending free ride! How awesome is that?! :)

Tomorrow we head back to Greenville for a week. Its starting to feel more like 'home' some how. But nothing can ever compete with Wisconsin. Well...if there's three feet of snow and sub zero temps for more than 3 months, I guess I'll take Greenville!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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The weather was WONDERFUL on Friday...of course. We had to leave and travel the afternoon while the sun was out! While Joe was getting the trailer hooked up, Lincoln did some exploring! This is his first time out on his own since he started walking!

After his nap, we showed up in Ducan, GA! Lincoln's ready!

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Lincoln playing at McDonalds!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

365-12 Never without his Paci!

I was just looking through baby pictures of Lincoln and found this one! Look how big his paci is(!) was my first thought!!! SOO CUTE! :)

Lincoln still has the same set of paci's from his baby days. I call them his 'baby paci's'. I've gotten him bigger ones, but he still prefers these!

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Catching Sundust!

Lincoln likes to lay on the blankets when I'm trying to make the bed in the morning. I got some neat shots of him looking at the dust floatys in the air! Natural lighting is always so fun!
Here's the originals before editing in Picnik.
He'll be a model some day!

Crock-pot cooking and 365-10

Some days I get the urge to create something scrumptious and I get all excited when all the ingredients come together, the smells make my mouth water, waiting patiently to taste that first bite of my new creation!!! But all too many times it ends in FAILURE!

I can cook somethings. Well...(My hubby can tell you what meals I use and abuse over and over!)
I love to eat...
My favorite appliance is the Crock-pot...

So I SHOULD be able to make new things every now and then, right?!

Looks pretty easy, don't you think?

Here's how mine turned out...I Call it:
SLOPPY CHICKEN MUSH...

I did do some things differently...maybe you can tell me where I went wrong...

1. I used cream of mushroom when it called for cream of chicken (why would that matter? And I couldn't find cream of chick. at Aldi)

2. Aldi didn't have the wild rice instant stuff I was looking for. So I just used chicken flavored instant rice... (I think I'm noticing a pattern here. I'll blame Aldi for my bad cooking!)

3. I used baby carrots instead of 4 regular carrots. :)

4. I cooked it on low for most of the time, and then turned it to high for the last hour...(that seemed to burn the sides a little...)

5. Right before I served it, I tore up the chicken into bite size pieces... It looked a mess anyways...why not give it some more character?!

It came out real sticky and thick. Almost gravy like. Nothing like the picture in the cookbook. No Creamy Chicken here. I think something was messed up with the instant rice packet/seasoning, where I probably should have used more water.
The picture that you see here, is lunch the next day. So it got thicker the older it was! Joe said it was good. (which means...it's ok...) I thought it tasted fine. Lincoln ate his plate...But it just doesn't look the greatest! And that's how most of my first-time-attempt meals turn out.

Today I'll blame Aldi and a crock-pot that cooks a little too hot! :)

I'm NOT gonna tell you about my Indian Fry Bread story...(whaaahahaha) :(

365 - days 8 & 9!

Since I was in the blogging mood, I thought of posting some pics from the last two days. I'll try this everyday this week since I don't know what the weekend's going to look like. We will be heading towards Atlanta, GA for our next performance with the Bible Revival Team.

I've been having lots of fun blog hopping and looking at everyone's pictures! There are so many mommy photographers and I'm a little jealous at how nice there pics turn out! So today I thought to be a little creative and tried some photo editing in Picnik!

Day 8Lincoln wanted to try some of the soda like daddy!

Day 9I LOVE my morning coffee! Gotta have it with my flavored creamer!

365 days 1-7

I know I'm late...I didn't have access to internet over the weekend. Sorry mom! (She was excited about this!) :) So here's my first entry for Project 365 where I will attempt to take a photo/photos everyday this year!

Day 1

Lincoln is no longer my little baby boy anymore... He has turned into a boy. The past few weeks his face has grown and it doesn't look so baby'ish. *sniff* It's kinda sad...

Day 2I was going through our finances and budget and you know that sick feeling in your gut..."how are we going to make it this month?" (Seems to come up everything month at some point, doesn't it?) Then this verse popped into my head. (sorry, bad shot) "
"With man this is IMPOSSIBLE, but with God all things are POSSIBLE!" Matt. 19:36
So I have this sticky note in my day planner to remind me that everything is possible with God!

Day 3I love sneaking in a few shots of Lincoln sleeping. He's always so peaceful and cute looking! During nap time, I like to get some reading done! Right now, I'm on the second book in the Twilight Saga! LOVE IT!!! Thanks mom! :) (She's giving away a book on her blog...you should check it out!)
Day 4My house feels empty now that the Christmas decorations are gone. I love the lights, smells, and tastes of Christmas. Here's what's leftover from Christmas!

Day 5Lincoln's on this new kick of taking stuff from where they belong and finding a new place for them. Here he has canned goods in his Lego box. And you can see the helicopter in the background with a block that doesn't fit!

Day 6*BEFORE*
This year, I've decided to dedicate each week to a different part of the house that needs organizing! This week was Lincoln's toys! His little "toy box" (a diaper box) was over flowing after birthday and Christmas presents! It was time to upgrade!
(Lincoln telling me: "mommy, it's time for a new toy box!")

*AFTER*
We bought a new container and got rid of that ugly diaper box! YEAH for organizing! It looks better! And Lincoln has all his toys and books in the drawers where he still has easy access! (YES...he's playing with a fly swatter...don't worry. IT'S CLEAN!)

Day 7
Sunday was the big game. Even though the Packers didn't win...*sniff* Lincoln still looked pretty cute in his jersey! :)
I asked him to smile and this is the shot I got! HA! What a face!"GO!"

Hope my week was interesting enough for you! It was fun trying to find new things and new ways to take pictures. Now onto a new week!