grace eventually.

My friend, Rob has started a Flickr album called 365: a year's worth of self-portraits... I decided everyone should follow it. If you love creative, fun photography, it will not disappoint. Not to mention that he's not bad to look at:) I met Rob back in seminary and we became fast friends. I think it was our love of G-Love and Vanilla Ice that bonded us together. Since seminary he's traveled all over the world...he's a bit of a nomad and quite adventurous. He's by far one of my most favorite people in this world.

Check out his photos here.

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of Matt Chandler or his recent news. He's the lead teaching pastor at the Village Church in Dallas, TX...a phenomal one at that. I got the priviledge of hearing him speak at 2 conferences this fall. He's bold, he's honest, he's funny, but most importantly he stands on the truth and faith that comes from his relationship with Christ. He found out on Thanksgiving Day that he had a brain tumor that needed to be removed immediately. This is the video he made for his church pre-surgery. I'm happy to say that the surgery went well. Although he's still recovering and they're still waiting on the pathology report, he's doing exceptionally well. I hope this video blesses and convicts you as it did me.

Video from Matt

In the past few weeks I've been a little more conscious of the types of things I purchase. Although I'm certainly not boycotting corporations (I work at Starbucks for goodness sake), I have been trying to look outside the box a bit. I decided I would share with you some of my recent purchases. First, my 2010 dayplanner courtesy of Etsy. If you've never shopped Etsy, I encourage you to take a look. For the most part it's reasonably priced and the things you find there are one-of-a-kind. My friend, Corrie, is the one that introduced me. She sells amazing jewelry among other things, all made from things she just finds or picks up along the way. I decided I would check Etsy to see if anyone made planners and this is what I got! This came from Kari. I don't know her personally but I would definitely recommend her for journals, planners, or address books!

My second purchase came from here. They are nylon bags shaped just like the plastic bags you would find at your local supermarket, only they're a little bigger and stronger! Mine don't look exactly like these. I actually caught some on sale that have retro food and recipe designs on them. I love them! They came in the little pouch you see on the right so you can just roll them up and throw them in your purse or car PLUS they're environmentally friendly!

Lastly, I decided this year I would do something a little different for my Godsons this Christmas. I decided to buy them a pair of these. I've actually been wearing Toms for a couple of years now. I have 2 pairs and 9 times out of 10, that's what you'll see on my feet. If you don't know the story behind Toms, for every pair you purchase, they donate a pair to a child in need. This year we are taking part in Advent Conspiracy at Trinity. We are challenging everyone to spend 1/3 to 1/2 less this Christmas and donate the rest to one of the many ministries we support as a church. When I started thinking about this, I wanted to come up with a way to participate but also to educate my Godchildren in particular on why this is important. I have no clue how they'll respond but my hope is that they will be excited to know that not only did Cece buy them a pair of shoes, but that 2 needy children are also receiving shoes this Christmas.