.a help meet.

A sweet friend gave me a copy of the book Created To Be His Help Meet: Discover how God can make your marriage glorious by Debi Pearl. It's a copy that she previously read and made notes in and underlined. I've only read the first chapter, and already I'm greatly enjoying reading her notes and finding out what parts spoke to her; but, even more importantly, I'm already motivated, just from the first chapter, to be a better partner for my husband.

One simple question that keeps lingering in my mind is: What can I do to be a better help to my husband? I know what he desires and what aggravates him. Am I doing all I can to avoid aggravating him? For selfish reasons, am I purposely failing to do little things that I know are important to him?

I can honestly say I know there is at least one solid area I need to improve upon. I know with all my heart that my husband worries about our finances. I, being the thrift-addict and decor-enthusiast that I am, know that it stresses him out every time he comes home to find new "items" I picked up while out and about in my day.

I justify all these little purchases to him by saying, "I used cash." Or, "It was only a dollar." Or similar justifications. I always thought he was worrying too much about insignificant things when he'd get upset with me for shopping...again.

Now I understand fully: If it's a significant worry to him, it should be a significant worry to me. I should do everything in my power to bring joy to my husband and not concern or added stress.

That being said, I'm not saying I'm never going to shop for home stuff or go out and spend a few bucks on something fun. However, I have a few days off now and then, and I usually use them to shop. To support my habit. I know I need to be using my days off to be more productive, to get more stuff done around the house or catch up on sewing, to plan better meals instead of throwing a frozed bagged dinner in a skillet 15 minutes before he comes home from work. I've been quietly convicted about how I spend my free time for a while now. Reading the first chapter of this book has opened my eyes to the fact that changing my bad habit of selfishly, needlessly spending will not only benefit our finances, but it will benefit my marriage.

Just some thoughts I'm having tonight. I'm excited to keep reading and grow spiritually and become more of the wife and woman God created me to be!

.snow day.

I am currently enjoying my first snow day of the season and am loving getting to devote the whole day to my creative hobbies! And the best part is, I'm sans make-up and my hair is sticking out in every direction, but I don't have to worry about how I look until this evening when the hubster gets home!

.nye dress and resolutions.

It's New Year's Eve! I'm not sure what all hubs and I are doing to celebrate tonight other than dinner with friends. We tend to keep this holiday pretty low-key, even though every year I like to pretend I have a snazzy party to attend, which allows me to go on the online hunt for the perfect dress.

I'll admit, I'm not one to prance around in a fun mini dress (no matter how much I adore ModCloth's selection). I am just too modest for those little numbers; not to mention, I'm not the biggest fan of my knees.

So, if I had a snazzy party to attend tonight, this would be my dress:

It's from Shabby Apple and can be found here.

I would pair it with champagne-colored heels and a cute clutch.

Ok, enough with the fake NYE plans. :-)

I wasn't planning on making any resolutions this year. (Come the second week of January and I've usually forgotten all about them.)

This year, however, I've come up with two very doable resolutions.

1. Read at least one chapter of the Bible every day. My friend and I have already been doing this, and we keep each other accountable by reading the same book, same chapter at a time, and we text each other our favorite verse from the day's chapter.

2. Every day, I want to intentionally seek out an opportunity to be a blessing to somebody. I'm picturing: complimenting someone when I might normally be too shy to do so; paying for the car's behind me order in the drive-thru; offering to give someone a hand if they appear to be struggling; texting someone to let them know I'm praying for them. I'm really excited about this one!

I'm curious what your resolutions are, if you have any!

.my 2010 in pictures.

I put together some images - one from each month of the past year. It's a great way to reminisce on all the highlights from this past year! My, how things change in a year!

January marked the closing on our first house! We were eager to break open the paint buckets and get started on transforming our new house into a home!

Our moving in was delayed by two weekends of snow and ice. We finally got moved in in February. Simon was a lot nervous in his new cluttered surroundings...and I probably was just a little bit too.

March was the month I tackled the trails of Dogwood Canyon with my friend Loren. We celebrated the end of our fun trip with a huge ice cream cone at a semi local gas station.

April marked my first time to ever go see the Roller Derby! What made this event even more memorable was the fact I was on a Girls' Night with all the ladies I work with!

May was a BIG month for me! I traveled all the way up to New York to see the big city for the first time in my life, flew on an airplane for the first time ever, rode a subway for the first time ever...etc.

June marked the debut of "Shabby Threads" in a local shop called True Treasures! A very exciting month filled with LOTS of sewing!

July held our annual Summer trip to Kansas City to watch the Royals play. It was hot as ever but so much fun!

In August, hubs and I celebrated 4 years of being married!

Hubs and I were super excited for the start of Razorback football season in September. Here we are at our first game of the year!

October is my favorite month of the year! I had an awesome day on my friend's farm, feeding her cows and riding a 4-wheeler. We also went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze that day.

November is always such a great month filled with lots of family time. Thanksgiving was great this year, and I love this picture of the ladies on my side of the family and how we all coincidentally coordinated perfectly that day!

I love December! The Christmas lights in Fayetteville were beautiful this year despite being scaled down from previous years.

Looking back, I am reminded how full of blessings this past year has been. I can only hope and pray that 2011 will be half the year this one was!

Here's what's to come in 2011:

• Hubs and I will celebrate one year of living in our house
• Hubs will turn 29, and I'll hit the big 2-8
• I will get to meet my new niece/nephew!!!
• Hubs and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage

.vacation ramblings.

My two week vaca is almost over, and today was the first day I had absolutely nothing on my agenda! I decided to stay home, wear baggy clothes, cover up on the couch, eat popcorn and catch up on my DVR'd shows. I have to admit, I record the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and 16 and Pregnant. It's mind-numbing tv and I only indulge on lazy days such as today!

I also had some girl time tonight with one of my best friends slash lil sis. We watched Letters to Juliet, ate mexican food, and had some good girl talk. Laughing with girlfriends is the funnest thing ever!

Tomorrow I plan on staying home again because I'm trying to resist the urge to spend all my free time doing what I love best: shopping. It's time to buckle down and save, save, save. I need to spend some quality time with my house, getting it all sparkly and clean. I also need to watch a few more chick flicks. All I need is about two good days to do whatever I please, then I'll be ready to return to the daily grind of that thing called work.

.christmas wishes.

From our home to yours on this very special holiday: Merry Christmas and may the year ahead bring an abundance of blessings!

Love,

Leslie, Martha & Simon

.christmas decor.

I can't begin to express how much I love this time of year! I've already spent so much quality time with my family, and I've been doing my best to soak it all in. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, which is usually spent celebrating with my side of the family, but we got together a couple of days early this year since my brother and his wife are spending Christmas in Kansas. Supposedly, we have some snow in our forecast tomorrow, and that excites me greatly!

I'm on my 2-week vacation right now, and hubs only works until 1 tomorrow. When he gets home, we'll celebrate Christmas Eve by eating with his parents at Arbys. (It's a random tradition they started when hubs was a kid.) We've missed it the past couple of years but will actually get to go this year! Once we get home, we have plans to cuddle up and watch It's a Wonderful Life. The next day (Christmas day!!) we'll spend with hubs' side of the family.

Anyway, so that's what's been going on. I wanted to share a few pictures of some of the decor around my house. I hope to get better and better at decorating for the holidays each year.