Monday, August 29, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Dating, Ugh!
If you're like me, as you drift into sleep your thoughts run wild. Anywhere from recapping the days events to a memory of making play dough sculptures when you were five. So what was I thinking about tonight.... Honestly I was trying to count how many guys I have been on a date with. And truth is, I couldn't even come close to figuring it out. Every time I thought I'd have a good number nailed down another couple random dates would pop into my head and the list would continue. I wasn't tallying how many individual dates I have gone on, more of a count of each man (or some cases boy) I have been out with. Anywhere from years of dating to a one-and-only date. For some reason I have quite a lengthy list. I'm going to try and save myself in this explanation before I give the guys I work with anymore grounds for making fun of me. I don't like it. I don't like that I have a list of dates. I wish I didn't. And I don't want to keep adding.
Let's break it down a little. I've been through several phases in my 10 years of young adult dating. I've been on 'people pleaser' dates because I felt horrible saying "actually, I'm not interested.... at all!" I've been on 'I'm lonely as Hell' dates accepting an invitation because it beat sitting at home watching netflix and eating one too many scoops of peanut butter. I've been on 'pathetic dates' where I'm the pathetic one, knowing his interest was as small as a pea, yet some how I finagled a date out of him. I spent the entire date feeling as insecure as one can possibly feel! I've been on 'long distance dates', dating a guy that there was no hope in any sort of a realistic future because states separated us. I've been on 'why the hell are we still dating after 2 years of misery' dates, needless to say those lasted way too long. I've been on 'we have mutual friends on facebook' dates, I think that one's self explanitory. And who hasn't been on a 'there's no attraction here whatsoever so why am I going on a date' date.
If I break down my dating pattern I'd say most of it boils down to loneliness and selfishness. If I had gone on dates soley based on compatibility than I'd have been able to lay in my bed and count to 4 or 5 quite easily.
Dating had become confusing to me. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, and I wasn't sure what was supposed to be different when I found it. It was almost as if every date bled together, and became one massive ocean. Nothing felt special. And it wasn't even that I wasted physicality with guys, although that is a portion. It's more that I wasted conversation. I wasted time chasing after some interaction to fill a void inside of me. I wasted time trying to be something I'm not to someone I wanted approval from, or.... being something I was to someone I shouldn't.
These days I find myself in a place I haven't been in quite a while, if ever. Contentment with taking life intentionally slow in this department. Not that the door is shut on dating, quite the contrary, but in the past several months it's looked different to me. I've found value in friendship, I've seen the result of spending time in getting to know someone before allowing myself to emotionally jump headfirst. It's amazing how easily you can see red flags when you allow yourself time to watch for them. And it's amazing how you can see green flags and build trust when you allow yourself time to see them. It's been a beautiful thing to build solid friendships and allow them to evolve naturally into whatever category they should fit in. Here's a metaphoric example. My friend Joy is one of my best friends. The first time I met Joy I liked her. We probably went to coffee or something to hang out and get to know each other. But I doubt I drove home from that hangout deciding whether or not she would be my best friend, and I doubt we felt the pressure to make plans within the next 3 days to meet up again. No, Joy and I just naturally evolved into best friends. It started slow at first, hanging out every couple weeks, sharing more information with each other each time, picking up on each others humor a little more, until 4 months in I could successfully say, you know what I think you're one of my best friends. Why can't we look at dating the same way? Is that possible? I'm asking, so please feel free to comment if I haven't bored you to tears yet.
Ok that's all I got. Late night ramblings with yours truly.
If you read this, and you have thoughts other than 'she's weird', then comment :)
Rach
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The Theme of the Week
I have no doubt that God is weaving a theme into this week of camp for myself and for my fellow teammates. Maybe it's the long drive, maybe it's being stuck in a car for a while and your brain starts to go crazy, whatever it is, roadtrips have a way of offering gold nuggets of conversation. We are still in the beginning of our week at camp here in Tennessee but already several of these nuggets have appeared.
The first was on our way through Alabama. In Birmingham we stopped for lunch with a friend who is (very obviously) engaged to be married to the wrong person. It was painful to watch her skirt around deep conversation and sweep up her fiance's statements that left her embarrassed. As we left that lunch the 4 of us talked about the beauty of living in God's plan and the heartbreak of conviction you feel when you know you are living against it. We began to discuss how living against Gods plan usually ushers you into a fight against being the person you were created to be.
Later that night as we entered Georgia we thought it would be fun to conference call our dear friend Jordan who wont be with us at camp this summer. We were elated when we found out that Jordan was actually only 20 minutes away from us and would be an easy pitstop to make on our way. It had been a year since we saw him last! Jordan is one of THE most unique individuals I have ever met. Unique because he unashamedly lives out exactly how he was created, offers no apology for the God he loves and serves, and because of these two things offers a ray of light to who ever passes in front of him. Oh yea, he's also one of the funniest people on the planet! Needless to say we were all bursting with excitement as we approached exit 12 to meet him at Starbucks! Just down the street from him I received this text "i legit wrote ya'll a song in 10 minutes to the tune of Katy Perry's "fireworks'' get ready. No physical touch until the song is thru..I'm waiting here for you... Presentation Style." As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, there he was with one of his buddies, guitar in hand ready to put on a show for us. Here's the link to the song he greeted us with....
In that quick 20 minute stop Jordan loved on us, encouraged us, made us laugh, and spoke truth into us. How anyone can do all that in such a short amount of time still baffles me! So there you have it, a boy who lives completely out of the box. Unashamed to sing in a starbucks parking lot at the top of his lung (i mean it does help when you sing like an angel.. but anyways..). It was a quick hug session and whirlwind of a catch up before we had to jump in the car again so we could hit our destination by midnight. As we pulled the car out of the parking lot Jordan ran to the window and asked if he could pray for our journey before we left. He's one of those people that have you dying laughing one second and then can't stop spitting off words of truth about God the next. There is usually no downtime and it's always 150 miles full speed ahead.
As we drove away from our hangout the 4 of us again struck up a conversation. We couldn't stop beaming about how Jordan made each one of us feel... treasured, valued, loved and he made us laugh while doing it. When our team first met Jordan last summer I must say that we were offended. We approached him with a "who do you think you are" attitude. He talked about God non-stop and it was hard for us to not judge what we thought was a shallow faith. Quickly God grabbed our hearts and whispered to each of us individually "nope, this is how I created Jordan, this is how I made him and he is freely living in it, your agenda for him is not good enough." We reflected on the idea of 'maybe this is how we would feel if we were standing next to Jesus.' Its crazy how someone like Jordan can be so magnetic yet you don't find yourself starring at them thinking "i wish I was him", you find yourself saying, "I want the freedom you have, I want to know the Jesus that you live in and that lives in you."
Along this journey so far we have encountered many people living out their life very differently. Sadly many of them appear to have hidden in the shadows and turned their back on the journey God was/is beckoning them to. I do believe that we were created to worship and connect with our creator so I guess the question is more how were you created to do that? For myself, it's helped affirm that I am headed on this trail of life as a creator, artist, and dreamer. The moments I find myself en-lined with that heartbeat is the moments I feel like my heart is beating in rhythm with the one who made me. The only times where time slips away. I want to remember to often ask God to keep me connected to the way he's designed me, to feel my heartbeat so I can feel his, and to help others find their heartbeat in the process.
It was good to be reminded of that this week. I pray that your life is one that ushers you and others closer to the heart of it all.
To the adventure,
Rachael
The first was on our way through Alabama. In Birmingham we stopped for lunch with a friend who is (very obviously) engaged to be married to the wrong person. It was painful to watch her skirt around deep conversation and sweep up her fiance's statements that left her embarrassed. As we left that lunch the 4 of us talked about the beauty of living in God's plan and the heartbreak of conviction you feel when you know you are living against it. We began to discuss how living against Gods plan usually ushers you into a fight against being the person you were created to be.
Later that night as we entered Georgia we thought it would be fun to conference call our dear friend Jordan who wont be with us at camp this summer. We were elated when we found out that Jordan was actually only 20 minutes away from us and would be an easy pitstop to make on our way. It had been a year since we saw him last! Jordan is one of THE most unique individuals I have ever met. Unique because he unashamedly lives out exactly how he was created, offers no apology for the God he loves and serves, and because of these two things offers a ray of light to who ever passes in front of him. Oh yea, he's also one of the funniest people on the planet! Needless to say we were all bursting with excitement as we approached exit 12 to meet him at Starbucks! Just down the street from him I received this text "i legit wrote ya'll a song in 10 minutes to the tune of Katy Perry's "fireworks'' get ready. No physical touch until the song is thru..I'm waiting here for you... Presentation Style." As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, there he was with one of his buddies, guitar in hand ready to put on a show for us. Here's the link to the song he greeted us with....
In that quick 20 minute stop Jordan loved on us, encouraged us, made us laugh, and spoke truth into us. How anyone can do all that in such a short amount of time still baffles me! So there you have it, a boy who lives completely out of the box. Unashamed to sing in a starbucks parking lot at the top of his lung (i mean it does help when you sing like an angel.. but anyways..). It was a quick hug session and whirlwind of a catch up before we had to jump in the car again so we could hit our destination by midnight. As we pulled the car out of the parking lot Jordan ran to the window and asked if he could pray for our journey before we left. He's one of those people that have you dying laughing one second and then can't stop spitting off words of truth about God the next. There is usually no downtime and it's always 150 miles full speed ahead.
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| Guess who Jordan is :) |
As we drove away from our hangout the 4 of us again struck up a conversation. We couldn't stop beaming about how Jordan made each one of us feel... treasured, valued, loved and he made us laugh while doing it. When our team first met Jordan last summer I must say that we were offended. We approached him with a "who do you think you are" attitude. He talked about God non-stop and it was hard for us to not judge what we thought was a shallow faith. Quickly God grabbed our hearts and whispered to each of us individually "nope, this is how I created Jordan, this is how I made him and he is freely living in it, your agenda for him is not good enough." We reflected on the idea of 'maybe this is how we would feel if we were standing next to Jesus.' Its crazy how someone like Jordan can be so magnetic yet you don't find yourself starring at them thinking "i wish I was him", you find yourself saying, "I want the freedom you have, I want to know the Jesus that you live in and that lives in you."
Along this journey so far we have encountered many people living out their life very differently. Sadly many of them appear to have hidden in the shadows and turned their back on the journey God was/is beckoning them to. I do believe that we were created to worship and connect with our creator so I guess the question is more how were you created to do that? For myself, it's helped affirm that I am headed on this trail of life as a creator, artist, and dreamer. The moments I find myself en-lined with that heartbeat is the moments I feel like my heart is beating in rhythm with the one who made me. The only times where time slips away. I want to remember to often ask God to keep me connected to the way he's designed me, to feel my heartbeat so I can feel his, and to help others find their heartbeat in the process.
It was good to be reminded of that this week. I pray that your life is one that ushers you and others closer to the heart of it all.
To the adventure,
Rachael
Friday, March 18, 2011
DIY Necktie Necklace
I'm assuming that the pic of what looks like a woman's bare chest is what spiked most of your interest to click on this blog link. Sorry to disappoint, it's an armless mannequin....
These funky tie creations are something I can't take credit for, all is due to my creative momma! My mom is known to take random objects and reinvent them, so these cute necklaces were of no surprise to us.
My mom has a tendency to come up with some pretty um... "unique" ideas.... that I have to "embrace". However, ever so often she hits a home run, and I think this is one of those. Each time she's taken these ties to craft shows and festivals they are a hit. A great example of working with out of the box materials, she is a right brained one!
Love you mom!
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| "Tie-One-On" Neckties by Marty Currie |
These funky tie creations are something I can't take credit for, all is due to my creative momma! My mom is known to take random objects and reinvent them, so these cute necklaces were of no surprise to us.
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| Mom take's a men's tie, cut's it in half and uses the skinny end |
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| She then doubles over one end and sews it to create a loop for the opposite end to feed through |
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| A fun vintage brooch is added to each tie for sparkle and personality |
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My mom has a tendency to come up with some pretty um... "unique" ideas.... that I have to "embrace". However, ever so often she hits a home run, and I think this is one of those. Each time she's taken these ties to craft shows and festivals they are a hit. A great example of working with out of the box materials, she is a right brained one!
Love you mom!
DIY Lighting
I love DIY designs, probably because I love to make things. I also just love things! I mean, why have a boring standard lamp in your room when you can have a cool art piece that gives light?! Here's a collection of unique DIY lighting I've stumbled across. Some are in my back pocket waiting for the right living space to be born in! Actually, I did attempt the last one you'll see ... the plastic cup pendant. It's actually a lot easier to build than you'd think.
Ok well check them out, be inspired, go create!
If you're looking to create the "plastic cup pendant" just make sure you do Plastic, and no hot glue gun :) I actually did mine in styrofoam but when it comes time to bending the cups into shape the styrofoam breaks and if it doesn't it's hanging on for dear life.
Hope you find yourself inspired to have better lighting!
Ok well check them out, be inspired, go create!
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| Silverware Chandelier |
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| Colorful Food Crates |
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| Not DIY, just cool Design by Rafael Morgan-Unique Design |
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| Coffee Tin's Pendant |
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| Vintage Coffee Tin Lamp |
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| Tea Cup Lamp and Chandelier |
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| Plastic Cup Pendant |
If you're looking to create the "plastic cup pendant" just make sure you do Plastic, and no hot glue gun :) I actually did mine in styrofoam but when it comes time to bending the cups into shape the styrofoam breaks and if it doesn't it's hanging on for dear life.
Hope you find yourself inspired to have better lighting!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Steel Pipe Design
Tonight I found myself flipping back through my "design" pictures. This folder on my laptop is reserved for all types of designs I come across online that I want to flag for inspiration. A collection of industrial, vintage, modern, and many other styles under the rainbow, I always find myself saying "I forgot about that, I want to do that!" Well tonight I share with you one of my "want-to-do's".
I have an addiction to hardware and the beauty of industrial design. So of course several months ago when I came across this Steel Pipe Bed design I naturally flipped!
Well, there you go. Just promise me not to steal any of these ideas until I get a chance to build some myself! I hope to at least have this bike rack in my next place!
I have an addiction to hardware and the beauty of industrial design. So of course several months ago when I came across this Steel Pipe Bed design I naturally flipped!
The style of my bedroom currently doesn't lend itself to building one of these, YET, but I have a great plan for this one day! I did price out the materials for doing this set-up, surprisingly it's not as cheap as I thought. The elbow pipes are what get you, but I do believe I priced this bed out at around $300. Now that is considerably more affordable than your Ashley's furniture bed frame.... btw, I'm still not convinced "ashley's furniture" isn't a curse word.
Ok so for now I continue collecting pictures of all the fantastic things you can do with pipe! Check out some ideas and maybe you'll too grow your own addiction!
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| Curtain/ Shower Curtain Rod |
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| Side Table, Dining Table, Coffee Table |
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| Desk lamp |
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| Coolest Menorah on the block |
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| Kick A Bike Rack! |
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