Design Gal's Holiday Swap

Hello blog world!  I hope that everyone had a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving!  I definitely did, that is until my sister and I braved the treacherous Black Friday.  It's our yearly tradition and I always forget why we torture ourselves, until we are out and about.  We have a great time together, so I will take the day to recover each year to keep this tradition going.

Now that we are officially past Thanksgiving and respecting the turkey, I have my Christmas music blaring and am almost done decking the halls at The Abbey.  I am also participating in Design Gal's Holiday Swap. I'm super pumped about getting more involved in the Land of Blog and getting to spread Christmas cheer around and outside of my usual circle. I'll keep the gift contents under wraps for a bit, just in case my swap partner is stopping by the blog to see who in the world Whassy is :)

Definitely swing over to Design Gal and check out her blog.  Great read!

Until then blog world -

Whassy

Pinterest is the Devil

I'm pretty convinced that Pinterest is the devil.  Don't get me wrong...I could spend HOURS on it, and believe me, I have spent hours at a time on Pinterest.  But why?  All it does is frustrate me because I don't have enough time to do the crafts/recipes/DIY/decorating that I have pinned or worse, I see a MAJOR Doctor Who spoiler because my favorite pin board to frequent is the Geek board.   And yes, I'm quite aware that the hours spent on Pinterest could be used to actually DO the things I have pinned.  Touche, my friend. Touche.

All of this frustration is coming to a head because I can't make the baby shower I'm throwing on Saturday actually Pinterest worthy.  I see all of these great ideas about themes, and party favors, and a great new way to use burlap(will they ever run out?) and I don't see that there is any way that my house will be worthy on Saturday.  I say all of this and hope to report back that it came off without a hitch and that everyone raved about how great everything looks.  But, what it really boils down to is that one of my best friends is having her first child and we are coming together to celebrate Baby B coming into this world.  I could not be happier, regardless of whether or not it inspires a Pinterest/Baby shower revolution.

Forgive my rant...just needed a second to vent and remember to focus on the simpler, yet more important things in life than pinterest.  I'm off to waste some more time :)

until then -
Whassy

I Mustache you a question.

When did mustaches become the "it" thing?  I don't know and don't really care why, as you can see, I might like them a little :)

I'm entirely too bored at work sometimes, especially on Friday afternoons.  It's either feast or famine around here, and today I decided to update my blog layout with my free time.  Please enjoy my love of mustaches on the blog. 

And it's not just the blog where I show my mustache love.  On my Pinterest Dear Santa Board, several mustache items show up on my Christmas list.  Please feel free to send them to me :)  Or the 2 of you that read this, I will gladly accept either for Christmas.

Tervis Tumbler Mustache Water Bottle




Nook Simple Touch Skin via Etsy Shop stickitskins



Have a great weekend, blog world!

Until then -

Whassy

Can you believe it?!

2 Posts in one day!
I know...hard to believe after a long hiatus, I have 2 posts in one day.  But, don't get your hopes up, this is just a small one.

Earlier this week, I won my very first blog giveaway!  What an exciting way to wake up on Tuesday morning, with an email from Sabrina, a FABULOUS photographer that goes to church with me downtown, letting me know that I had won! It's her birthday week and she decided to giveaway something from a company every day this week, and spotlight companies that give back. Monday's company was fashionABLE , an amazing company that I heard about a few weeks ago.  For the 3 of you that read this, go check it out and buy a scarf! If not, definitely read their story...very impressive. 

I cannot wait to receive my scarf!  I chose the ecru charcoal and will have to budget some more of these into my wardrobe.

Happy Friday - enjoy it :)

until -

Whassy

Worship vs Performance

So, confession, I started writing this blog post over a month ago, but got distracted and obviously never did, but it is something that has weighed on my mind a lot lately, so I thought I would blab on about on this blog that no one reads :)


I spent most of my life performing. My mother says that my personality was very apparent at an early age, saying that anytime we were out, even while I was still in a stroller, I wanted my presence to be known, I wanted everyone to know that I was there. That personality lent itself well to the talent of singing that I seemed to be gifted with from a very early age. Not only singing, but performing. My parents purchased a video camera when I was about 6 or 7 years old and every single time the camera was on, I found a way to be directly in front of it. One of the funniest examples of this is when my sister and her friend, Shelly, also a performer, were singing to Janet Jackson’s Escapade. You can see me clearly stick my head out of my bedroom door down the hallway, see the red ‘record’ light lit on the camcorder and race down the hallway, sliding in front of the camera to be the star of the show. That story repeats itself one way or another throughout most of my life. Performing has always been second nature to me, like a 6th sense that I just sank into whenever I needed to, on stage or not.

But over the last 6 years, I have done very little “performing,” in the strictest since. I probably sing now more than I ever did before, but it’s a different use of my gifts. Since joining Grace Church 6 years ago when I moved back to Greenville for a new job, I have been on the worship team. I have been a member of the worship team for 5 years now, but let me tell you, I still am terrified every time I sing.  It's a completely different feeling.  You're standing up there, in front of a microphone, on a stage, in front of hundreds of people, sounds a lot like a performance, right?  Wrong.  When I'm on stage for worship, my job is to help lead the congregation in song and praise.  It's not about my hitting the money note, or flashing a smile at just the right time. It's not about me at all.  I am just a vessel, blessed to be able to use the talents and gifts He has given me. It is one of the most bizarre feelings I have ever experienced, and it's not something I think I could really describe, but knowing that there is another force coming off of me, like a "Holy spirit filter" in front of my mouth, filtering the sound and projecting it across the congregation.  When I used to perform all the time, I would gauge how I sounded by the looks on people's faces or the amount of applause I got during the song, or a standing ovation at the end. I almost expected it and if that didn't happen, I would wonder what I could have done differently.  Now, when I sing in worship, I don't think about any of those things.  My view is beautiful, as I watch my church, worship corporately. I am truly blessed.

Enough babbling for now...I could go on for paragraphs, but I shall refrain...at least for now :)
To any of my former LJ Singers - "You might not recognize me without my tulip applique dress and my cordless microphone, but I a Lake Junaluska Singer."

Until then --
Whassy

Are you there blog world?! It's me, Whassy!

Hey there blog world.  I know it's been months and months, but I'm still here. I promise.  Life has just been busy.  So many things have changed, and I need to update the blog with all that as changed, most notably the big move to The Abbey.  It sounds fancy, but I'll explain in more detail later.  Hopefully even give a little house tour.  Just know that all is well, I am good, and I am still Whassy.

Until next time...a photo from the big of event of July...the Peden Reunion.

Whas