favorites: phone photos and life!

Morning! I emptied my phone of my favorite photos lately and thought it would be fun to share! If you're wondering if I really take this many photos, the answer is yes!  Phones are on everyone's naughty list I feel like because too much of a good thing is simply too much! I get that.  But it is so nice to tuck my phone in my back pocket and be able to snap a photo real quick, when my hands simply wouldn't have had the time or strength to lug my DSLR around. 

Let's look at some favorites!  Favorite memories, lip colors, moments, and art supplies. 

If you know me in real life...like REAL, real life, you know that some days I go in jeans and a t-shirt, completely bare-faced.  I am perfectly comfortable in my own skin like that!  But other days I go the complete opposite and I totally like having my hair and makeup done, with a cute outfit on.  So recently I was wanting a red lipstick and found this Covergirl Outlast lip color that I really loved!  It's around $8 at Wal-Mart. 
The girls got to wear my old clothes as paint shirts one day. It was like looking at mini me's! 
We are back at pre-school a couple days a week and are loving it! Next year Anna Ruth will start kindergarten. 
This book from the library felt like a giant salute to all of us creatives out there, showing our colors on a daily basis for the pure fun of it.  I adored this book so much.  The art, the words, the idea.  Everything. 
The girls are SO into babies and all things baby right now!  I keep praying their patience will hold on during this adoption process! This was their baby carrier, that even had to travel with us in the car. 
I'm in a pretty good groove, painting on a daily basis.  For pure fun!  
This is my new planner.  I saw it at Barnes and Noble a few months back and after reading the cover, tears filled my eyes.  I went back last week and bought it, after searching through the entire planner aisle.  Because apparently I'm a planner gal now?  I do keep a consistent list (weekly and daily) and a calendar and always prefer it on paper.  Nothing on the phone for me.  I'm excited to see what the next year will hold! 
One morning recently Betsy Grace and I got some time together while Anna Ruth was at the fabric shop with her Nana.  Betsy and I discovered this neat caterpillar while on a walk around the yard!
My farm girls, checking the cows and watching Daddy bale hay. 

Betsy is hilarious! She has SUCH a silly side, almost all the time. This was her shop! 

We have cleaned up the playhouse a bit for fall and have plans to maybe camp out here one night! 
Anyone know what this is?! Another strange caterpillar found in the yard! 

This is a favorite meal lately.  Greek yogurt topped with frozen fruit, a bit of honey, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds. 
I got this adorable door-hanger at Aldi for $5.96. I had plans to make one...but you know how that goes! We can't do it all so thanks to Aldi for this! 
More yogurt.  A favorite skirt. 
 Trying out some new paints.....see below for brand name!
My bff and neighbor had her new baby so we picked up her dog to stay the night at our house.  He kept me company in the living room and I loved it! 

Our favorite library ever, ever has a park next to it.  They are doing major construction on the park and have been for way too long.  These ducks look like they want their home back! 

Anna Ruth read her first word, "off", at the library!!!!
Date night ready!

You guys, this is about 10 minutes from my house and it is pure magic.  So every year these hundreds (maybe thousands?!) of birds fly in, just swarming the sky.  They fill up the telephone wires and swirl in the sky and I adore it.  They've been doing a ton of construction in this area and I just knew the birds wouldn't be back.  But we were driving down the road on date night and they were there! I seriously started squealing and taking pictures.  It is just something to see.  
Sitting by the campfire at night, doing "nothing", is wonderful. 
Camping! And I got to wear layers!!

Photography is my story-telling.
 More painting fun. Let's be honest-some of these I adore and some I don't! But I show up and try anyway.  You should too. :) 
 Gorgeous sunrise!


See that "Simple Gifts" hand-lettered poster? Isn't it gorgeous? I plan to have Brett make a frame for it.  I ordered it from a fellow Arkansas gal who is also both a photographer and artist! You can check her blog out here: http://www.ruthannephoto.com

I know 98% of the world has moved on to Pinterest or finds magazines to be "clutter", but not me! I adore them.  There is nothing better (almost) than a big stack of magazines waiting to be read.  I tear out my favorite pages and have the cutest basket filled to the brim with ideas I've torn out.  It's like a mini mental vacation to look through all of them! 

 My girls and I really like walking through Hobby Lobby for fun.  We could spend hours there! This display caught my eye this week.  So many breakable things but so pretty! 
 Made up chicken coconut curry and a new read.  This is lunch perfection.  
I've started exercising daily again! Treadmill, lunges, jumping jacks, and burpees.  Or at least an attempt at burpees.  I'm proud of myself for trying at least!

You guys this is my real-life studio scene.  And no, I don't clean it weekly.  It usually goes in this rhythm-clean it up, wait until it is driving me absolutely crazy again, and clean it one more time.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  If I waited for things to be perfect and the house to be in order and the laundry to be done to paint, I'd never paint.  Instead I just jump into the mess and paint.  It does my soul wonders.  I can literally feel my body exhale as I create. 
Now let's talk paint brands! I am not trained in watercolors or any kind of painting.  But for some reason I am so drawn to watercolors.  I ordered these with birthday money and really like them! 
I'm also still really partial to these craft paints found at any craft store.  I bought mine at Hobby Lobby. After experimenting with just the expensive watercolors and then just with the cheap craft paints I must say my favorite combination is using both on the same page.  
I had such a hard time deciding on what type of art journal to buy.  I was in need of one because this summer I'd made it a goal to use up all the random pages left in journals here and there.  While that's good for frugal reasons it felt disorganized.  I really adore having certain journals from certain stages of life.  I browsed the journals at Hobby Lobby but didn't really love any of them.  I bought this mini journal based off the size and description of the paper weight. I wanted it to be thick enough to hold all the water I pile onto the page, without crumpling afterwards.  My BIGGEST pet-peeve, when I go back to a painting and the paper is all wrinkly. 

I'm happy to report I've done two paintings in this mini journal, with tons of water and the paper is still laying flat! Woohoooooo! This feels like a huge success to me because it can be so tricky to find a journal you like! This little journal was $10.99 at Hobby Lobby and they had some other sizes as well. You can also order any of these things (both paints and journals) from Blick Art Supplies!

Tell me, what are your favorites in life lately? 
Any questions for me? 

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