Welcome back to round two of Behind the Blogger.  Today we're getting to know Carrie from alovelylittlewardrobe, Deena from shoestoshiraz and Sarah from foxysdomesticside.


1. Are you athletic? What kinds of sports did you play?


I am now but growing up I played zero sports. I was a cheerleader...surprise!








I started with figure skating and switched to ringette, I tried soccer and basketball but didn't like them.  I played competitive fastball for 30 years.  I also played volleyball.  I love sports, I may or may not be a little bit competitive.



















2. Favourite chore? Least favourite chore?












Is organizing a chore?  I love sitting down with my agenda on Sundays and planning out our meals and everything that needs to be done.  Least favourite is emptying the garbages, I throw up in my mouth a little everytime.




















3. What was your first job?










I would say babysitting too, but my first real job was at a Honda dealership where my Dad worked- I was the customer courtesy driver, the car washer and the inventory counter.


















4. If you could only see one concert, who would you see?

Hey friends! Glad you’re here for Week 11 of Style Perspectives. This is fast becoming a favorite of my weekly posts. It’s so fabulous to see everyone’s take on the prompt. I can’t wait to see what everyone has cooked up for this week.



But first, let's recap the highest clicks from last week. The most clicks were for Nicole from Nick & Nicole +4. She rocked the mint tunic and scarf with her leggings.

The second top look that was clicked goes to Whitney at Whitney a' la Mode. The little cutie in her leggings looks with a fun sweater and scarf.
 

Well, here’s what I have put together with this prompt. I recently found the chambray blazer I have been looking to purchase for quite awhile. I decided a graphic tee would be perfect under the blazer. It might be because Deena always rocks the graphics and I kinda want her collection.




So that's what I have for you today and that's what we did last week! Please add your look below!


<!-- end InLinkz script --

Did you ever dream of getting married and living happily ever after? Well, we all grow up with fairy tales and whether we realize it or not they have an influence on us. So I find it hard to believe that any of us think our marriage will end in divorce  when we say yes and walk down the aisle to be united with our beloved. Unfortunately, the truth is a huge percentage of marriages fail every year. Divorce happens for so many reasons and some are understandable and others really boil down to a laundry list of sad excuses. I have to be honest and admit that immaturity and selfishness were probably at the heart of the dissolution of my first marriage. Who was immature and selfish? Honestly, it was both of us but how it fleshed out was different for each of us.

So getting married again must have changed those flaws because my hubby and I are on year twenty-two. Right? If you believe that, then I have some Ocean Front Property in Arizona for you {good song King George Strait}. No, I didn’t magically become mature and selfless. No, my Mr. DC didn’t either. But over time we did grow up. We have learned much over the last twenty-two years and I could write on and on about how our marriage reflects the look of love but some of the ways may not be the mainstream idea of fairy tale and happily ever after love.

Love is a word that just encompasses so much. It can be a feeling and a verb at the same time. It is active rather than passive. It can move mountains (figuratively) and be the driving force to change people and practices. It’s just big and strong and yet small and gentle. It is something we desire to possess and yet it isn’t something we can necessarily touch. We know when we see it, read about it or feel it. It touches all of our lives and brings life. We are better for having loved and for being loved.

But, there are parts of love that are difficult. Love isn’t always happy faces and rainbows. No, real love endures lots of obstacles. It endures being wronged. It endures hardship. It forgives. It seeks to be reconciled with those who caused pain. It seeks restoration from brokenness. Yes, these are some of the parts of love that make it really beautiful.

But, when I was younger I didn’t realize that love and marriage would a place where people hurt each other. I didn’t realize that marriage wasn’t all about that other person existing to make me happy. My self-centered ideas coupled with an unwillingness to adult caused a divorce. Not a very good look of love for sure but one that many have faced or will face. But I did learn from that tragedy. I became an adult and learned to navigate in adulthood.

Marriage with Mr. DC hasn’t always been easy. Adulting with him has been an adventure though and one I cherish very highly. We have had the opportunity to experience many aspects of love. We have grown the most through learning to forgive. Being reconciled to one another through accepting our own responsibility for hurting the other has led to restoration through our different problems over the years. Love has shown itself ever so faithful especially when we learned to embrace love that is much deeper and better than the kind that is based purely on happiness. My love for that man is deep and it is solid and unwavering, as is his for me. I know we can weather the storms in the future because of the dark storms we have gone through in the past. Love has served us well. But if I’ve being completely honest, it’s the love shown to us in Christ that is the example. When we seek to love through being sacrificial instead of selfish something really special develops. Our loves grows deeper as we seek to serve the other rather than look at marriage as an opportunity for self. In the end, the love of sacrifice wins. Really it’s a win-win for both of us.

Actually, today is Mr. DC’s birthday. Happy Birthday to you, my beloved! I’m sharing this post to honor him. I thought I would share a couple of photos too. We renewed our vows at 15 years when he returned safely from a deployed overseas. It was a special day…

 I have found the one that my heart loves…Song of Songs 3:4


Carrie is a regular contributor for The Blended Blog and also maintains her own blog over at A Lovely Little Wardrobe.  In her spare time Carrie can be found finding the beauty in the everyday through scripture or in her relationships.  She is a soft spoken Texas with a big heart and an even bigger desire to find the good in the world.

It's Christmas week already, which is hard to believe! Yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year isn't it? Typically, it's busy with parties, programs and pageants as well as shopping, wrapping and traveling. What a whirlwind it can be! Yet, amongst all the busyness I am usually reminded of the sweet childhood memories with my family while I was growing up in Iowa.

At Christmas time there was usually a blanket of snow on the ground and the air was crisp. Our family {my mom's side} would gather on Christmas Eve and attend church together. From there we all piled into Grandma and Grandpa's house for the best homemade delights to fill our tummies. Being from Norwegian descent we had some traditional food and usually sang I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve in the native tongue {Norwegian that is}. Here's what that sounded like.



Okay, they are probably better than we were but it was a sweet time! There was always some favorite foods too, which were Norwegian, of course. For me, I always loved my Grandma's lefse and my aunt's kringla. I made a Pinterest board in case you're interested in seeing what those are. The one food that I refused to eat was called lutefisk. It's cod-fish dried {in lye}. It's cooked in boiling water and served with hot butter. Trust me...the hot butter is the best part.

Hello Lovelies!
I'm giddy today because there are lots of things going on in this post. I have been so excited while I planned and wrote this post. This post is also going live on The Blended Blog and I am finding it so fun to collaborate with the ladies that I met over a year ago through a Style Challenge at Get Your Pretty On.
I'm also collaborating with a new blogger friend, Emily who blogs at Darling Dearest. New friends just get me pumped! Collaborating also gets me pumped! Style and gratitude with the added bonus of a link-up has me over the top enthused today.
Glad you're along for the ride, so put on your happy face and let's get to it.

Recently, I participated in the Fall Style Challenge with Get Your Pretty On during the first part of October. Our Texas weather did not really cooperate but regardless I did wear a some of the looks and definitely want to share a couple of favorites.
The tone on tone was quite popular with the participants. What makes it such a popular look is the ability to change-up the color for tone on tone. The recommended look encompassed these shades of wine/pink but in the past I have worn a similar look in the grey tone family.



Present look.

Past look.

Another favorite look of mine was olive and orange. I decided to pull from my closet and here's what I came up with on that day.
 

Another look swapped the olive pants for boyfriend jeans. Super comfy! This day was just a work bathroom selfie kind of day. It happens!
 

These are all looks that I would wear to a family Thanksgiving dinner extravaganza. I would probably opt for the boyfriend jeans look because you know they allow for a little extra room for eating more than normal.
Who can relate to that truth?

Well right there smack dab in the middle of fall comes Thanksgiving.  In that vein, I become acutely aware of my need to be grateful. When I venture down that road I am immediately stopped by all I have in the realm of material wealth. Yes, I am wealthy, maybe not by some standards but I realize I have plenty to eat and wear. I also have a solid roof over my head when I lie down at night. There are so many who do not know that luxury.
Beyond those basic needs I can add more and more to the list of comforts I enjoy daily. I image you are most likely in that boat with me, friends. Although I am grateful for all I have I am even more grateful for "things" that cannot be purchased. For example, love.  From love flows the ability to forgive, to offer grace, to be reconciled, to grant mercy, to sacrifice, to care, and the list goes on. Love casts our fear {a big struggle for me}, it trusts, it hopes, it doesn't envy, it is patient and kind...I'm quoting a little bit of 1 Corinthians 13 here. But my point is without those "things" that money cannot buy I would be undone.   I would be lost and a person searching for a purpose through material wealth, which by the way is just fleeting.  Ultimately, I find all of the "things" that are most important to me through my faith.
My faith in Christ is what changes my perspective and allows me to really capture what is most important in life.   Honestly, it's what I'm most grateful for while I journey through this life.

What are you grateful for especially during this season?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments, lovelies.

Lest I be an ogre, please let me not forget how thankful I am for people. My people...like my hubster, daughter, parents, brother and his family and a multitude of friends (online and IRL) as well as brothers and sisters in Christ. My goodness, I am relationship blessed beyond my imagination. Thankful, thankful and thankful!
Remember I said there was lots going on in this post?

Here's a little more. Our weekly link up and a giveaway. I hope you'll take the time to enter. I wanted to participate in a giveaway and give you the opportunity to enter as a little thank you for following along and reading my blog.
I am truly thankful for you!
I appreciate you reading and commenting each week. It really does bless me. Thank you, lovelies! I've added the giveaway at the bottom of the post. And since it's Monday, it's time for our link-up. Thanks to everyone who joined in last week. Whitney, Casey and I enjoyed reading your posts and searching for our favorite looks. Can't wait to see what you lovely ladies link up this week.

 

---

Happy Monday! A few of my blogger friends and I wanted to kick start your week by joining together to bring you a giveaway - a $150 Nordstrom gift card! Are you the one lucky reader? Simply enter via the widget below! Prize: $150 Nordstrom gift card Hosts:Sequins & Denim • Fashionably Employed • Shopping My Closet Co-hosts:The Red Closet Diary Peaches In A Pod • The Kissing Booth Blog • A Lovely Little Wardrobe • heid'nspeak • Style-Blueprint Giveaway open: Monday, November 16 at 12AM PST through Monday, November 23 at 11:59PM PST Are you a fellow blogger who'd be interested in hosting similar giveaways to help grow your blog? Then, click here to find out how you can join!

---

a Rafflecopter giveaway Where you'll find me linking up. [inlinkz_linkup id=576394 mode=1]  


Carrie is a regular contributor for The Blended Blog and also maintains her own blog over at A Lovely Little Wardrobe.  In her spare time Carrie can be found finding the beauty in the everyday through scripture or in her relationships.  She is a soft spoken Texas with a big heart and an even bigger desire to find the good in the world.

Well, friends I have to say that I am super excited to be submitting my first post to the collective blog {The Blended Blog}. I’m also pumped because I have the privilege to share with you about an area of my life that is undergoing an overhaul. Here’s how it all started:

In August I turned 52, which isn’t the milestone of 40 or 50 or another round decade but that day lit a little fire beneath me was ignited. A few things came into perspective for me and I knew I wanted to take action and really begin to develop a plan to Make It Happen. {more on that in a bit}

On that particular day my husband asked me what I would like to do to celebrate my birthday. I responded, “I want to go to the gym after work and have an intense full body workout. When we get home I want to run to our local Square and have breakfast for dinner and talk as we walk back home.” That little run did lots to reignite my motivation. Not just motivation to exercise but motivation to pursue things I love and dreams that I haven’t had the courage to pursue.

That August birthday was almost like a reset for me.  A start over if you will.  I realized the “perfect” me would want to wait until January because that’s when people set goals but I knew NOW was the time. A restart doesn’t have be January 1st. A restart can happen when it appears it’s the right timing for you and your circumstances.

Enter Lara Casey’s book Make It Happen.
It’s been on my Kindle for a while so I began to dig into it. I also perused her website and re-investigated Power Sheets. I ordered a six month pack and began working on them. They are intense and really drive you to set goals and pursue dreams, goals and plans.



You see, my problem is not that I don’t have ideas and dreams but rather I lack the follow through. Much of the time I get stopped in my tracks by perfectionism and fear...just like Lara. Her book is her story and I as a relational person {all of us are relational} learn through stories {we all learn through stories}.  Again, yes, I have goals but they are not typically specific with a set action plan.  I get caught up and fearful of failure because I have struggled with perfectionism much of my life.  But hey, guess what I’m not perfect and those failures should spur me on but historically they have not they stopped me in my tracks.
But something changed in me on that day this August.
It's not that I don't have fears or insecurities anymore but I'm beginning to approach them differently and I'm beginning to develop an action plan to accomplish some goals. What am I doing? Well, I’m working through Power Sheets {slowly}. Yes, I should be finished by now but I’m also involved in a really intensive and introspective study {STEPS} through my church {The Village} and it has taken more time than I ever imagined. My goal in this study is to do it well and complete it. So I’m juggling lots of things but I am going to fulfill the goal to work through Power Sheets.

   
Here's where I can be found some evenings with my binder, coffee and computer.  Thinking, dreaming, writing and planning for the future.  Trying to set in motion an action plan for some dreams that have been brewing for quite some time.  Dreams that I was afraid to pursue before I decided to work through fear and start living on purpose.  Something I picked up from Lara in her book was the idea to make a Pinterest board of your dreams or vision.  So I did it!  I made a board which includes some of the things that I am passionate about in this world.  Here it is.  Can you guess what I'm passionate about or what I dream about doing in this world?

Go dream, friends! Make a board and make a plan... Be encouraged: "Living on purpose is worth stepping into all the hard stuff."~Lara Casey "I was created for a purpose, and it's time to Make It Happen!"~Lara Casey The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.~Psalm 34:18

 Do you struggle with fear?
Do you ever feel confused and sense you're not living on purpose or for a purpose?
Well, we were all created for a purpose and fear can crush a heart, a spirit and a dream.  For me, I'm leaning into the truth of the Lord that He is near while I dream about making it happen with Lara as my guide.