Sobremesa Stories

Letting stories unfold around the table

What I’m Scared To Ask God For

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I have always been a journaler, and pouring out my heart to God on the pages of a journal feels as natural as talking to a best friend.  I love that God cares enough about my heart to listen to me ramble about all of those crazy emotions swirling around inside of me. I have stacks and stacks of journals with pages filled with everything from the ramblings of a new-to-faith teenager to the confessions, desires, and prayers for my marriage and my still-new adult life.

But when it comes to actually asking for specific, tangible things? I’m not so sure.

If you've ever been scared to ask God for something, you have got to check out this post!

My Hesitations with prayer

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Five On Friday: Summer Celebrations and Car Troubles

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Happy Friday, friends! I am officially done with week 3 of summer school, which means I am just ONE week away from actual summer.  The teacher life is a good life, y’all!  This week has felt a little crazy since we got back from our Boulder trip on Sunday night and jumped back into work Monday morning.  Here are a few highlights of things I’ve been thinking, reading, dealing with, and eating this week!

The beautiful lake house, even on a cloudy day!

The beautiful lake house, even on a cloudy day!

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Womanly Wednesday: A Guest Post on Motherhood And Answered Prayers

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When I moved to Kansas City three years ago, Jessica was one of the first women I met.  Whether she’s working, leading and pouring into Young Life girls and women like me, or loving on her two sweet girls, her joy, laughter, and passion are contagious.  Jessica is one of those people who makes you feel like you are the most interesting, funny, and wonderful person in the room (and who doesn’t love that?).  It’s been a joy to know her these last few years, and I’m excited to share her Womanly Wednesday post with you today!  

First off, let me tell you guys that writing this post almost tore me up from the inside out. I knew what I wanted to say, but I had an absolutely terrible time trying to say it. You see, I didn’t want to sound ungrateful.

Womanly Wednesday

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Berry Almond Tart – A Fourth of July Favorite

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If I had to choose one recipe that reminds me of my childhood summers, it’s this one.  My neighborhood threw EPIC 4th of July parties complete with a full-out bike parade through the neighborhood, hours of pool time, delicious cookout food of all types, and an hour of (probably) illegal fireworks while all of us sunburned kids ooh-ed and aah-ed in the cul-de-sac.

Berry Almond Tart

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Boulder Bound: My First Colorado Trip

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Like I described in my post on learning to love my husband’s hobbies last week, my hubby is quite the athlete.  He loves anything that takes him outside! The main race he was training for  this season was a Half-Ironman triathlon in Boulder, CO this last weekend.  In case you aren’t familiar with the Ironman races, a Half-Ironman is a race where a bunch of crazy people swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and then run 13 miles.  On the same day.  Without dying. (Remember when I said they were crazy?)   We left Thursday morning to start the nine-hour drive from KC to Boulder.  Although I WISH we could have taken this cutie with us,  we had two wonderful ladies to stay with her and snuggle her while we were gone.  Thanks, Aunt Jessie and Aunt Liz!

Boulder Family Pic

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Five On Friday

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Happy Friday, friends! I am halfway through summer school and SO excited to be done with summer school and jump into full on SUMMER in July.  It can’t come soon enough!  Today, I’m linking up with A. Liz Adventures, Fitting It All In, Life in Leggings, and Running 4 Cupcakes to share some random Friday thoughts! Enjoy, and feel free to head over there and link up as well!

1.  My first summer DIY project is this hutch.  It’s a beautiful piece we inherited from family and I’ve been hesitant to paint it and “ruin” it somehow.  But I’m feeling pretty confident after my Ikea Rast Hack Nightstands and am taking the plunge! I started prepping and priming it last weekend and was still finding paint in my hair three days later.  So…there’s that.

 

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Decorating in Seasons

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When Jordan and I bought our house this past January, we jumped full force into decorating.  We spent an entire week painting for hours every night after work, so eager and excited to make this space feel like home.  Once we moved in, we spent more hours arranging furniture, hanging things on the walls, and dreaming of what we wanted our space to look like and be for people.

Some spaces came together quickly.   I had dreamed of a gray dining room for a while, so my vision for this room was already pretty set.  We had bought the dining room table and chairs on clearance at World Market because they had a scratch, the world map was my Christmas present from Jordan that year, and the chandelier was a spontaneous purchase when World Market had a flash sale on lighting.  It all came together so quickly, and this room is maybe my favorite in the house!

Sobremesa Stories Blog - Behr Anonymous Gray Dining Room with rustic wood table, world map, metal orb chandelier

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Womanly Wednesday: A Guest Post On Being Torn

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Today’s Womanly Wednesday post is by a woman whose friendship has impacted me deeply.  Taylor Thomas is not only an amazing artist (check out her website here), but also a compassionate friend whose joy and authentic desire to know and love people show me Jesus on a daily basis.  She asks the best questions, has the most ridiculous sense of humor (and the highest pitched squeals of joy), and expresses the deepest, most broken parts of her heart more poetically and honestly than anyone I know.  She was the co-maid of honor at my wedding with Haley George, and is closer to my heart than just about anyone.  It  is an honor to have her share in this space today.  

Womanly Wednesday Taylor Main pic

Being torn is being okay.

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Learning To Love My Husband’s Hobbies

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If you know my husband at all, you know Jordan is a man who loves to be outside.

Jordan has always been athletic, and in the last three years he started cycling and running pretty consistently.  He loves being outside and loves how races are an outlet for his competitive spirit.  He did his first marathon on two days notice when a friend dropped out, and even with the disgusting blisters and super-sore muscles, he was hooked.  Since then, he’s competed in a variety of half-marathons, marathons, and now is starting to do triathlons as well.  He did his first Half Ironman last September and is training for another one in Boulder in a few weeks.  And if you follow him or me on Instagram at all….you’ve probably seen that our weekends have been pretty full of races these last few months.

Great tips about how to embrace and love your husband's hobbies instead of just tolerating them!

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How to Use Airbnb to Plan An Amazing, Affordable, and Safe Trip

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When Jordan and I were planning our Europe trip last summer, we knew we wanted to spend as little as possible on our lodgings (and instead spend lots on delicious German beer and Parisian chocolate croissants).  I stumbled across Airbnb through some travel websites, researched how to use Airbnb as safely as possible, and made some bookings in various cities throughout our route.  We hopped on a plane, praying with all our might that this Airbnb thing we’d signed up for wasn’t about to get us killed.

And y’all…our Airbnb experiences were AWESOME!

How to Use Airbnb to Plan an Amazing, Affordable, and Safe Trip

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