Let's come together for Galentines day!! An opportunity to love our sisters!

 

Have you ever heard the term "Period Poverty"? I hadn't, until last week when a friend posted a few statistics in her stories on IG. It really struck a nerve. 

Essentially, "Period poverty refers to the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools.... In the United States women struggle to achieve adequate menstrual hygiene due to lack of access and lack of income." 

First of all, being on your period is BAD ENOUGH (amiright??!!??), but imagine not being able to afford sanitary products while on your period. 

Imagine having to choose between buying tampons or buying food. 

Imagine not having any sanitary products and being forced to skip school for a few days while on your period. 

Imagine making your own tampons out of toilet paper and hoping for the best. 

This is the stark reality for many beautiful women in our own country, and certainly a huge issue affecting women across the world. 

My friend mentioned someone she knew doing a sanitary product drive for her city, and I was so inspired I thought it would be great to do one here in Northern California where I live. I have contacted both the local homeless shelter as well as a few after school programs in our city, and both wrote back that this is a HUGE issue and they would LOVE the extra support. 

So...this Valentines day, I'd love to band together as women and gracefully overwhelm these awesome non-profits with a gift of sanitary products for their girls and women to use!!  

Here's what i'm thinking...

- If you are local, you are more than welcome to drop any pads or tampons at my house OR I would be more than happy to come pick them up from you! Please DM me for details. (You can give of what you already have, or purchase a new box. You can also send cash as well if you can't get out!) 

- For those who aren't local but want to give, please email me (hopeengaged@gmail.com) and I will give you my Venmo. I plan to go to the store and purchase a bunch of both pads and tampons! 

For reference, a box of tampons is around $10 and a box of pads is around $7!! 

Thank you so much for being willing to give! I can't wait to bless these amazing organizations that support those in need. Valentines day, a day of love, is about so much more than just romantic love. It is acts of service and kindness that can demonstrate our love for our neighbor as well. Let's do it together!! 

Happy Valentines week friends!! 

You will not be "stuck" forever, God is still at work

Exactly 2 years ago, at one of my darkest moments in life, I wish somebody would have told me,

"YOU WILL NOT BE STUCK HERE FOREVER"

It truly was the perfect storm, the winds of anxiety and sleeplessness and pain (both emotional and physical) so strong I thought I'd never breech the torrent coming at me. Doomed to live in the eye of the whirling winds forever.

I was 30 weeks pregnant and a whole slew of issues, anxieties and commitments were weighing so heavily on me that it led to 3 full weeks of insomnia, where I could not sleep. 

You guys, it terrified me. 

I felt so out of touch with my body. The acute stress I felt was beyond my control. 

And I remember thinking, 

"will I be here forever?"

"Will I ever break free?"

"Will I always suffer silently and put on a happy face the rest of my days?" 

And the scary part was that I almost believed I was destined to live in that type of anxiety because I could not humanly conceive how to make it all better. 

Two years later, my situation runs a TOTAL 180. 

I am also 30 weeks pregnant, BUT

I feel a total peace

I have no pain

I feel light and free and full of possibilities. 

Isn't it crazy how in the midst of suffering, it feels like life will NEVER come around?

 Like we are drowning and we will never come up for air? 

Friends, THAT IS A LIE! 

God will not leave us where we are.

He says in his word in Phillippians 1:6 "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

He has good work for us to do, and He will not quit working on us. That means He will take us through seasons, some hard, some good, but all in keeping with HIS purpose of making us more like Christ. 

I don't even pretend to know the depth of how that experience sanctified me, but what I can tell you is that it taught me to trust that HE IS FAITHFUL, HE NEVER LEAVES ME, and...

I AM NEVER STUCK FOREVER

If you are waiting to get to the other side, HOLD ON FRIEND! 

You are never stuck when He, and HE ALONE, holds you in the palm of His hands! 

Praying for you today:) 

"Before & After" in Avonlea's new room- repurposed furniture!

My friends and I joke that finding good deals on FB marketplace is one of my spiritual gifts, haha! I often will get insanely inspired by an image on Pinterest, and then go in search of the perfect cheaper alternative to get the same look! Case in point...Avonlea's new bedroom. 

My vision for Avonlea's bedroom has been a light and airy whimsical space. I want it to be simple, but have elements of a dreamy little cottage fairytale. I found two images recently that captured the look I was going for....

Here is the first image I found on Pinterest that I loved. It is a simple little chair that adds a lot of character to the space. {image source here} 

Not wanting to pay a ton of money for a chair, I found this one below on FB marketplace for a good deal. It was a little rough around the edges (ie: the cushion situation) but  I could see it had good bones, with character detail on the bottom wood section of the chair. 

It definitely needed to be recovered, but fortunately for me my mom is an amazing seamstress and could make it happen! I lugged it home, used Rustoleum chalk paint in White Linen to cover the wood, and then headed to Hobby Lobby to pick out fabric! I was absolutely shocked when I found they had a role of decorators fabric (the heavy duty stuff on the rolls) that matched Avonlea's bedspread almost exactly! I found her Anthropologie bedspread on Poshmark (did you know they sold home goods?) for a steal, and was so pumped to find a matching fabric for her chair! Woo hoo! 

I handed the fabric to my mom and she worked her magic! Here is the end result...isn't it amazing? She added some new cushion to it, recovered the fabric and my dad put in a few screws to make it a bit more sturdy! Viola...what do you think? 

I love how it looks in her room! 

The second inspiration picture I found for Avonlea's room was a bit of painted furniture. We are a total book family, and have SO many books. The problem is that they often get throw on the bookshelf and look a bit of a mess all stacked haphazardly. I wanted to find a bookshelf with doors so even if the inside looked wild, we could close the doors and give the impression of organization haha! 

Here is the inspiration pic I had found with a painted cabinet. {source of image here}. 

Here is the before picture of the bookshelf cabinet I found on FB marketplace. It was a very strange tangerine color that had a bit of shabby chic distressing to it. 

I wanted it to be a dusty blush color...so....First, I painted it in a white chalk paint to prime it, and then I used a color from Home Depot called Cheerful Heart, which I LOVE!! It came out exactly as I was envisioning!! Here it is below...

So, there you have it! Two very easy (and economical) projects to add to the whimsy of my sweet girl's room! Do you buy much on FB marketplace? What's been your favorite DIY you've done with a piece of thrifted furniture?? xoxo