Near and Dear to Our Hearts

Hey everybody! Today I wanted to share something with you that is very close to our hearts. M has never asked me to share this, but I wanted to show you the work she's been doing. As you may have gathered from snippets here and there, M works at an orphanage in Guadalajara, Mexico. I'm very proud of her & proud to count her as my friend!

As you watch this video, please pray for M and the work there in Mexico.




Awesome, right? So, how can we help?

1. Through prayer
2. Through financial donations (there's a Paypal account set up where you can give)
3. Through other gifts-  for those of you that live near me, I'm planning to send a package to M right around Christmas with clothes and some other little gifts for all the kiddos. Let me know if you'd be interested in sending anything! 

Thanks for taking the time to watch the video & read our post! :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Autumn!

Who: J
When: 10/14/12
Where: Church
What: *Cardigan- Walmart *Blue top- Ross *Skirt- Thrifted, upcycled by me (it used to be a beach cover up type thing) *Shoes- Ralph Lauren, thrifted *Purse- Kathy Van Zeeland, thrifted

I love this time of year! The weather is getting cooler(ish), some of the leaves are changing colors, and it's boots and cardigan season! I know this particular outfit doesn't look very "fall-ish," but I'm wearing a sweater, so that counts for me! 

I don't think I mentioned it on here yet, but a few weeks ago I FINALLY got my hair cut. I love how it turned out! It makes such a difference when I have nice layers that I feel like I can actually do something with. Yay for haircuts!! :)

Repeat & Retreat

Hello!!! I know it's been a while (actually 2 whole weeks!) since we posted anything, and I hope you haven't missed us too much! :) M and I both have a bunch of stuff going on, and once again, the blog kind of got pushed to the back for a while. We really really are trying to do better, though. We promise!

Anyways... for today's thrifted post, I'm doing kind of a repeat. I used this dress in a Thrifted Thursday post a while back, but I wore it to the first night of our church's marriage retreat this last weekend and accessorized it totally different than I did the first time, so I'm counting as something new! ;) 

Our church held a marriage retreat in downtown El Paso on the top floor of the Doubletree Hotel. It was beautiful- you could see El Paso all spread out, and at night, the lights were gorgeous! N and I both learned a lot of really helpful, Biblical principles to apply to our marriage, and we had a great time!

We also got to go out on a dinner date before hand, so I wanted to dress up a little and look pretty for  my man. ;) We went to Crave, which is a American food restaurant with burgers and sandwiches and that type of stuff. The best part of the meal for me was the sweet potato fries- they serve them with cinnamon flavored marshmallow fluff!! Yummo!!

Enough about all of that, though- let me show you my outfit. The dress (Savers, $4) and the Kathy Van Zeeland purse (Goodwill, $2.75) are both thrifted, so they can both count for Thrifted Thursday... yay!! 

Happy thrifting!! 

                                                                                                -J

Thrifted Thursday- My Kind of Town (Chicago)

Note from J: Today's post doesn't really have any thrifting tips, per se, but it does include an outfit from M that has some thrifted items. I especially love her shoes- so cute! :) Happy thrifting!

Who: M

When: 9/13/12

Where: Hanging out with Gram, Martina, and Lukas in Chicago, going to the Field Museum

What: *Maxi skirt- NY & Co thrifted *Striped shirt-Old Navy *Shoes-thrifted *Undershirt-Target *Necklace-China :)

Sorry everyone for not being better at posting, I just get so busy that I forget to take pictures. My goal is to be better at it...but we will see...lol. 

These pics are almost a month old, but such great memories! I got to spend the month of September with my family in Indiana. I was super excited about this, because I got to spend LOTS of time with my adorable nephew!! This was one of those days that I was able to have him all day. We headed up to Chicago for a day at the museum and lunch. So much fun, only set back was that it was the coldest day during my entire trip and we were all in short sleeves...gotta love Chicago's unpredictable weather!!

So, this is the second time I have featured this fabulous maxi skirt, but I seriously think it is one of my all time favorites!! While I was in Indiana I babysat for one of my friends and she gave me an Old Navy gift card so I was able to get this cute shirt along with three others off the discount rack. Score for me! A word about my shoes- I LOVE them!! Got them at Unique (a thrift store by my parent's house in Indiaiana that is closed now...sadness...). At any rate, they are MUDD and were brand new when I purchased them, and they are SUPER comfortable!! How do you like that great run-on sentence...lol

That about sums everything up...oh except to say, everyone thought my nephew was my son and looked at me funny when they asked me how old he was and I had to think for a few minutes before I answered them... Fun times!

It's All About the Sparkle

Who: J

When: 9/26/12

Where: Midweek service at church

What: *Denim jacket- Ross *Green top- Kohl's *Grey skirt- thrifted *Scarf- Claire's *Shoes- Payless *Turtle ring- The Jewelry Box

We're back! :) Sorry for the absence last week- there was all sorts of craziness going on and the blog kind of got shoved out of the way. Buuuut... we're back now! Yay!

One of the crazy things about living in the desert (both AZ and TX) is that during the changing of the seasons, the temps go up and down like crazy! One day it will be chilly enough for a sweatshirt, and the next day, it's steaming hot. So, I never really know what to expect. On the night that I wore this outfit, it was chilly, but today, as I'm typing this, it's a little warm. Maybe that's just because our air conditioning went out.... Anyway.... I love this denim jacket, and I'm always excited when it gets cool enough to wear it. 

I also really like how the sparkly sequins on my scarf showed up on the camera. I kind of forget about this scarf and it gets shoved to the bottom of my scarf bin until I'm feverishly looking for the "right" scarf about two minutes before I have to walk out the door. I should definitely keep this one up near the top for fall!

Thrifted Thursday- A"dress"ing the Issue

Good morning! Time for Thrifted Thursday! Hooray!! :)

Today, I don't have a lot of "tips" really, but I do want to show you a dress that I found while M was here for a visit. I was saving it for cooler weather, and last night ended up being a little cool, so I thought it was perfect! 

When I found this dress at Savers, it was marked $8, BUT it had a 1/2 tag on it!! Woot woot! When I tried it on, M told me I should wear it with turquoise (she's rather bossy... kidding!), so I took her suggestion when I wore it to church. This dress is very comfy, and the kind of material that I won't have to iron. Yay! And I love the ruffle detail on the shoulders. I'm so glad M convinced me to get this dress!

I'm planning on going to some thrift stores on the other side of town soon, so I'll let you know if I find anything! :)

Happy thrifting!

                                                                                                                            -J

Givin You the Boot(s)

I know I've been talking about it a lot lately, but fall really is my favorite season! I'm making myself wait until October 1st (well, that's the plan anyway) to get out all of the fall decorations, but I have been able to sneak in some boots and cardigans... and even my denim jacket! 

For today's post, I thought I'd share some boots that I think are perfect for fall with you. I tried to find affordable ones, so all of these are under $50. Enjoy!

Source: jessicacaudill.polyvore.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Doesn't that make you want to run out and jump in a pile of leaves? I'm not sure that's going to be happening much here in El Paso, but still... ;)

Clockwise from the upper left hand corner- *The red boots are from My Hot Shoes and are $34.99- can you believe it? *The brown cowboy style boot  is the Trisha boot from Delia's and sell for $42.50. *For some reason, I really really love the look of the knitted cover on the next boot- you can find it at J C Penney for $50. *The next boots are from Boohoo and are $40- they actually have a really cute cuff on the top that I now see I cut off when I was arranging this. *The black boots are the Mackenzie boots from Alloy, are on sale for $24.99 right now, and also come in brown and chestnut. *The ruffly lace up boot is from Charlotte Russe and is $38.50- I think this boot has a cool old-fashioned-y vibe. *Last, but not least, the black strappy boot is the Portia boot, also from Delia's, is $42.50, and also comes in taupe and cognac.

Hmmm... I wonder how many pairs of these boots I can get away with buying... ;) 

                                                                                                       -J