Friday, November 21, 2014

#SavilleLifeInPictures2014. Week 47

Day 320: Just a tiny peek into Roberts family Photo-palooza from this year. No tears were shed in the making of these photos!

Day 321: just performing a little surgery on a couple of Kindles today! Don't worry. I actually made them work!!

Day 322: it's my favorite season of all....basketball season!

Day 323: I bought this dog house. And I told someone I bought it "just about a week ago"...which is apparently a popular rap song. I had no idea! Didn't know I was that out of touch with my pop culture references. 

Day 324: nothing like bakig a yummy pound cake to make one feel domestic! Mmm. 

Day 325: painted my nails this nice shade of brown in honor of Saville pics the next day. I think I love it. 

Day 326: this picture makes me chuckle so much! Playing jail during a break in Saville family photos, Mrs Cindy creepily watching on, and my sun-given nose ring. 


Keep up with us every day on Instagram by following #Savillelifeinpictures2014 or just me @1988megan






#SavilleLifeInPictures2014. Week 46

Day 313: turkey bowl fun! Watched Moose represent the "grown up" team in our youth ministry's annual turkey bowl. 

Day 314: this DIY is finally done! Had a busy day finishing it up and starting my Christmas decor. 

Day 315: it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! If you missed my blog about why I decorate so early, you can check it out! 

Day 316: We moved one of our TVs into the bedroom. Christmas movies cuddled under the covers = so good

Day 317: a sneak peek at some changes coming to my kitchen. I'm loving my new rug and table. 

Day 318: well, my kitchen is looking awesome, but the extra table in my living room is a bit of a problem! Going to have to get rid of that. 

Day 319: Practicing Chelsea's game for WOW the next morning. Putting that technology training to good use at church as Well as school! 



Keep up with the Savilles every day by following @1988Megan or the hashtag #savillelifeinpictures2014 on Instagram!




Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Why I decorate when I do

You know, Thanksgiving is a time where we come together and express what we are grateful for. It is a special time of year where we can reflect on our blessings and the way God has shown Himself to us over the year. 
Psalm 100:4 instructs us to "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name." While we should do this every day, we have the special time of Thanksgiving set aside to do as the Psalm instructs. Christmas is a beautiful time to celebrate Jesus' birth. We enjoy the spirit of family, the joy of tradition, and the bustle of the holiday seasons. I love these months and these seasons. They embody some of the values I hold most dear and are full of tradition and love. 

I decorate my house for Christmas in mid-November. I assure you it does not make me any less grateful; in fact, I would argue it makes me more so. There are many reasons for my decorating before the Thanksgiving holiday, and I want to share three with you now. 

First, I want to experience the fullness of my holiday season. We decorate big. I mean, I have a minimum of three trees. I begin stressing about the decorating and enjoying the season in late October. (I know I'm OCD. Leave me alone.) if I am certain that my house is fully decorated and the majority of my Christmas shopping is done, then I am in a much better frame of mind as I enter into the season of reflecting on my blessings and giving thanks. It is one way for me to clear my head to focus on what is important--clearing the proverbial clutter, as it were. 

Second, I want to enjoy my decorations for longer than two weeks. It may be silly, but I take pride in my decor. Summer decorations get three months, fall gets 2-3 months, winter goes from January to early March. My spring decor even gets three months. So, the decor that I spend the most money on and love the most should only be up for less than a month?! Blasphemy! It takes me at least a solid week to decorate for Christmas. If I waited until the week after Thanksgiving, then my decorations would be up for two weeks before I took them down. Again-my most expensive and expansive seasonal decor. No way! I want to enjoy it fully (this may or may not be why I've waited until mid-January to take my trees down. I just love them so much.) 

Finally, I worked retail for many years. Thanksgiving day began the most insane time of my year. I worked crazy hours (often midnight until 4 pm on Black Friday). If I did not have my Christmas decor taken care of before that, it would simply not get done. While I don't work those hours anymore, I learned during that time just how precious the hours with loved ones during the holidays are. If I can get decor up, shopping done, and gifts wrapped, then I have more uninterrupted time with the people I love. And that, my friends, is my goal. 

Friends, you may disagree with me and that is totally fine, but this is what works for me. It makes my holiday season full of gratitude and joy rather than stress and anxiety! 

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Christmas crafting

I saw this on pinterest:

And decided I needed some of these for my house! 

I bought three candlesticks from the dollar tree, three packs of glitter from the same, and three comes from Hobby Lobby. With the Mod Podge I already had in my cabinet, I invested a little under $12 for the project.  

I set up on the washing machine and dryer in my laundry room. Why? Because it was a flat surface that 1. Didn't need cleaning off and 2. I didn't care if it got glittery. I rolled out some cheap wrapping paper to cover the surface and got started. 



The steps:
I rubbed Mod Podge on the cones in sections. I realized that I didn't have a paint brush or foam brush handy, so I used my finger. (Really technical I know)

The area I used was about 1/3 of the cone because I had bought three glitter packs and I knew it would help me disperse the glitter properly. 

I then cut the corner from one glitter pack and sprinkled liberally over the section. 

I realized that for some colors, I needed a fourth packet. The dollar store glitter packs came with one navy, three teal, and two green. So, on my navy tree, I used one of the teals as a fill in. The other trees got an abundance of glitter, as I had plenty of those colors. 

Because I had plenty of green and teal, my approach on those trees was "glitter until it is gone". This gave a great coverage and the glitter was nice and thick. On the navy tree, I had to add in a teal pack for coverage sake, so I used my finger to rub the teal amongst the navy. Basically, I mixed the navy, teal, and Mod Podge. It was the clear drying kind, so it was fine. 

My completed trees (and my glitter mess)! Once the glitter dried, I hot glued the candlesticks to the bottom. I then sprayed the whole things with clear acrylic spray so that I don't have glitter throughout my house! 

Later, I'll show them to you in their new home! Such a cheap and easy way to add a pop of color for the holidays. 



Sunday, November 9, 2014

#SavilleLifeInPictures2014. Week 45

Day 306: just a little gender prediction going on! Shannon's having a........ (Note: we were wrong!)

Day 307: sometimes you need to dress cute to give yourself a little happy!

Day 308: Election Day! I voted-did you?

Day 309: clean sheets, a book, and fresh PJs = a great way to end a long day! First grade is exhausting!

Day 310: Chelsea and I celebrated our inner good-student and went to Starbucks to study...or maybe just to enjoy some holiday beverages!

Day 311: reservation for 50! Pre-race meal with Palmetto Cross Country! State!!!!

Day 312: so proud of this team! Exceeded all of our expectations from the beginning of the season! Can't wait to see what next year holds. 

Keep up with #savillelifeinpictures2014 every day on Instagram. Follow 1988megan.  



#SavilleLifeInPictures2014. Weeks 43 & 44

Day 292: love spending time with this best friend of mine!

Day 293: so proud of this team and their region performance. Boys 1st, girls 2nd, 4 all region kids, and Micah won Coach of the year! Wow!

Day 294: Morgan battling Mr. Knight in a game at Apptober fest. He won! 

Day 295: an 8 a.m. cupcake and a homework assignment done 5 days early is a Wednesday win for sure!

 Day 296: getting things ready for Friend Day at Calvary. 

Day 297: so proud of my cute look I pulled off that day! All inspired by my new booties. 

Day 298: cheering on our Tigers!

Day 299: had a blast with these friends at friend day! Missed the Meares, though. 

Day 300: had such a fun (and emotional) time at our Cross County Banquet! Excited to wear my cute jacket!

Day 301: just because I haven't done this picture in awhile and because I'm in love with the new fall color on my toes. I love fall...and baths!

Day 302: Fall Festival at Calvary! Too much crazy!!!

Day 303: I could not contain my laughter as Micah and Mrs. Yates lip-synced "Applause" and raised over $100 for Relay for Life. 

Day 304: so grateful for precious friends who helped us get through an incredibly rough day at the Saville house. Some days are meant to be celebrated, and some days are rough. This day was rough, but I'm so grateful that we have people to lean on. God is so good. 

Day 305: waiting for the official results to be posted! While they ran in über-cold, crazy conditions, our boys and our girls are headed to state! 

Keep up with #SavilleLifeInPictures2014 everyday by following me on Instagram: 
1988Megan. 




Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Finding community in the MOST unexpected places.

I have begun to process what has been happening to my body and my emotions over the past few weeks. I am feeling much better physically and am doing my best to repeat my "God is good and sovereign" mantra every time I start to feel crappy emotionally.

When I shared my story on the blog, I was met with some questions. My husband (who is a way more private person than I) asked why I would put it out there for the cyber world to read about. My answer to him was twofold. One, I blog for me. It is a therapeutic journal from my soul. Most everything I publish is unedited, rough, and straight from the heart. Two, if my story can either encourage or glean encouragement in the community of those who have experienced this loss, it needs to be out there. God allows us to go through experiences so that they can be shared learning and teaching opportunities for His children. I drew major comfort from a friend of mine's blog here and here. Maybe someone else could receive comfort from me.

I received tens of tens of messages, some of which I would like to excerpt here. 

Im so sorry, Megan! Obviously, I can relate all too well. Honestly, after we had our miscarriages, I was kind of relieved to discover that so many women I knew had gone through the same thing. And out of all those women, only one didn't go on to have a baby later (and that friend already had one child). Anyway, just know that you are absolutely not alone in this.

All this said I guess my point is I know we're not close but I have had an experience in my life with a miscarriage. As a human you want to be angry and say why. As a Christian you know all is in God's timing. Megan I am sorry this has happened to you! In time it will get easier to understand what God has planned for you. I had two surgeries along with my miscarriage and after that God gave me 3 of my 4 beautiful kids..God will take care of you!

I know all too well what you have gone through and experienced so I know EXACTLY how you feel. For every perfect and joyous pregnancy I experienced I was faced with sorrow with the ones I lost. What you have gone through, and believe me you will continue to go through with each pregnancy to come in the future, will cause you a rollercoaster of emotions. I remember with each pregnancy and birth of our girls I felt like I could not relax until they were in my arms and I could hear, feel, and see them breathing once they were born. When your next gift is sent your way, and it will, try to embrace the joys of being pregnant and try hard not to worry. I know it is easier said than done, but it is a joy and event hough I worried I enjoyed every minute of it!

It does suck. And we grieve with you. But know God is preparing you for amazing, miraculous things, and we'll be there to celebrate with you!

I experienced the same thing with my first pregnancy, and I was mad, upset, and even worried about getting pregnant again. God has given us two healthy children now, and I am so grateful. I love you sweet friend, and know God is going to bless you both with a precious little Saville.

Megan, I'm praying for both of you! Having gone through 3 miscarriages, I know how much it sucks but I also know how faithful and good God continues to be. You are an amazing woman for the outlook you have on the whole situation and I pray God will continue to carry you both. Our children are in the best place possible, in the arms of their Creator and praise God we will meet them one day!

I share these with you because I was so shocked at how this wonderful community of women circled themselves around me. Even friends who have not been through the pain of losing a child sympathized and rallied around me, whether virtually or in person. I blogged several weeks ago about community. I talked about how grateful I am for mine. Until this week, I would have told you that, yes, we have a wonderful community and church family of people who love us. However, I was shocked and appalled to see people from twenty years ago, college, church, high school, and so many different aspects of my life reach out and love on us. Y'all-that's the exact picture of the church. We are here to love on one another, to support one another, for the edification of one another.

I don't know why Moose and I had to go through losing our first baby this way. I don't know why so many other women have lost children in this or similar ways. What I do know, however, is that when we encourage one another and celebrate God for His goodness and His sovereign nature, the devil cannot win, even in really horrible situations (in our earthly perspective). I am so grateful that I have HOPE in God and know He is faithful. Through all of this, community within my Christian family has grown and God has been glorified. Could I ask for anything else?

Ephesians 4:29 says this Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. I pray that we continue to edify and encourage one another through the good and the bad of life. That is what the church is for--and that is how we find community in the unexpected places. 

Need Something Special for Christmas?

I've been making digital prints for several years now, but only by request for special people. If you are interested in a custom print, card, or design--I can do it for you!
Printables are all less than $5 and actual prints are all less than $20.

Here are some samples: