Welcome to the new blog!

Hello, beautiful people!  I’m back at blogging and it’s going to be better than ever!  The past few months I’ve been radio silent for so many reasons but one of the biggest ones is that I’ve been figuring out what direction to take this space.

It’s both scary and exciting to be doing a 180 when it comes to this blog.  After fundraising for over four years and finally reaching the $100,000 goal for children in India (because of your faithful support and God’s grace!) it was time to reevaluate.

This space is now going to be a source for learning how to live an intentional life and create beauty in various ways.  I hope to encourage and inspire you to live with purpose right where you are.

Look at the news or talk to your friends and it won’t take you long to see that there is brokenness, pain, and suffering in this world.  This is a problem but I know there is a solution.  I believe that when we choose to focus on bringing beauty into the world through our words and actions we assist in healing some of that brokenness.

“In small and large ways, when we create beauty—in our environment, relationships, music, cooking, poetry, and celebrations—we push back the effects of the fall and express our hope for the new heaven and the new earth that God promises. When we give artful attention to detail, we point people to a truer and better reality. When we offer beauty we touch something in the human soul. We remind others of who they are and what they were made for. We bring hope and inspiration. This is a way of caring.”

Andi Ashworth

You can expect to see posts in these new categories: DIY, STYLE, E’NOTES, and SERIES.  This is a place for those looking to be refreshed through devotionals and encouragement.  This is a space for those trying to add beauty to their lives and the lives of those around them.  This is where you can learn how to live a more conscious culture lifestyle.  I certainly don’t have it all figured out (not even close!) but I hope you’ll come along and learn with me.  One thing I do know is that even little steps of change can make a big difference!  This isn’t a place to come and feel condemned or like you can’t do it all.  No one can make all the changes all the time!  It’s about being inspired and choosing to think through why we do what we do.  It’s about appreciating beauty and sharing it.

The DIY section is included because I believe that making things for our lives and for those around us is soul nurturing.  It is a way of choosing to not buy into the consumerist attitude that says we need to buy more and more things.  When we take the time to make something it becomes more valuable to us and to those we give it to.  It’s also a sweet way to say to someone, “I care about you so I took the time to make you something.”  It’s NOT saying that buying something is wrong or even a bad choice but it IS saying yes, to creativity and art and the personal touch in an increasingly impersonal world.  You’ll find ways to create lovely things for yourself, your space, and for others.

The STYLE section comes out of an interesting place for me.  It’s something I sort of fell into when I wore 1 dress for 100 days.  During that time I chose not to buy any new clothing. It was challenging but also very freeing.  I realized I had more than I thought and I also realized how I didn’t want to live a “more, more, more” lifestyle.  Frankly it’s really easy to fall into and I still struggle with it at times.  Yet, statistics show that slavery is a bigger problem now than ever before.  Forced labor is one of the many causes and it is used to produce a lot of our clothing.  I’m still learning about this.  Being a lover of fashion I’ve found that one of the solutions is to style thrifted items so that we can dress stylishly and ethically. This not only helps reduce waste on our planet but also ensures we aren’t funding inhumane work environments and practices.  Not to mention that it’s much more inexpensive for your pocket book!  In the style section I’ll show you how I build outfits from thrift store or consignment finds but I also want to highlight pieces/companies that are more ethical.  One of my mottos is “quality vs. quantity.”  You may pay more but in the long run it will last longer and you’ll be supporting a healthy work environment.  Regardless of your finances there are little ways to make changes that have an important impact!

You’re probably wondering what E’NOTES are.  Here is where I’ll be writing about relationships and giving you (and myself!) encouragement.  It’s here that you will hopefully find refreshment for your heart as I share devotionals and talk about the real-life-nitty-gritty-joys-and-struggles of life.  I believe Jesus is the most beautiful thing we can have in our lives.  My faith is the most important part of my life as well as what I believe is the source of light for the world.  I’m really excited about this part of the blog!

And because not everything fits into a perfect category there will be a SERIES section where I will from time to time feature food, travel, life updates, quotes, and link love.

It will take some time for these categories to fill up but I’ve already planned some great things for this month so stay tuned!

Let’s stay in touch! You can follow me on Instagram, which is my favorite app!  I’d love to see you around on Facebook, Periscope (misselaini), or Pinterest.  You can also shoot me an email at: misselaini [@] gmail.com (remove brackets and spaces).  Looking forward to being friends!

xxx
~elaini