June Book Club Link-Up & Review

Welcome Book Clubbers! For those of you who are only hearing about The Book Club now, allow me to take a moment and explain the details. Kaylee from All things Bright and Beautiful, Aubrey from The Kinch Life as well as myself host a monthly book club called, you guessed it, The Book Club! We announce the book, which had been voted on the month previously, at the beginning of each month - you get the book, read it and then the last Friday of that month, we all come together and share our reviews, thoughts, loves, things you don't quite fancy, etc. by linking up on any of the three host's blogs. (You can grab the link up code and add it to your post if you like!) Then, click on any of the other fellow book clubbers links and read their reviews (also in the comment section), mingle a bit and get to know other bloggers through the common bond of the book of choice! Didn't get to participate this month? No problem, just join right in this July, no one is excluded from this club! And your not a blogger? No problem, leave your comment on any blog to interact!

  Mindy Kaling's book, Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me, was a perfect poolside read. June was an intensely busy month for me and so having pockets of "me-time", sitting by the water with this book in hand was quite a treat. Overall, I felt the book was more entertaining than it was funny. I was very curious to read it because I just love The Office and I figured, considering Mindy is one of the writers, her book would be similar to the humor found in the show. I wouldn't recommend Is Everyone Hanging out without Me to everyone, but to those key people in my life who would get her humor, I say "have at it!".

I was surprised by Mindy's relatively traditional, conservative point of view. I was not expecting such a view coming from someone out of Hollywood, so for that, Mindy gave me a bit of hope for Hollywood starlets. As for what stood out the most, well, you may actually laugh ironically at what I am about to tell you. Set aside humor, set aside behind the scene glimpses of her work, and even set aside her funny take on life in general. The most impressionable part of her book (for me) was her remarks on Steve Carrell. As pictured above, her words on the hilarious actor shed light on his integrity as a man. I was encouraged, but I was also challenged. You see, I want to be the type of person that if someone would ever write about me (not counting on it, but hey, ya never know), I want to be known as a girl who would not speak ill of a soul.

I fall incredibly short of who I'd like to be in the department of gossip. My conscience almost never feels comfortable when I begin to speak bad about someone, but realistically too often my laziness wins out and I don't control my tongue like I should. It's interesting, my sister sent me yesterday's post last week and I strategically put these posts next to each other because a theme was building organically. I think I'll be sitting on that reminder for some time thanks to Mindy Kaling and Steve Carrell.

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Voting is going on right now for July's book. You can cast your vote on the right sidebar. The choices are The Maze Runner, Death Came to Pemberly, The Summer I Became Pretty and The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. Don't delay, vote now because we'll be announcing the new book on July 4th!

Now, link up lovies! I can't wait to hear what you thought of Is Everyone Hanging out without me?!
♥, mK

Infiltrated

Our family is a little over a week into summer vacation. The first few days were of the delightful variety—slowly making our way into the morning, time to read with no schedule to follow, boys in the yard pitching to each other, riding four wheelers and flip flops littered all over the floor. Then our home was subtly infiltrated by what started as an impatient breeze and quickly turned into a sharp windstorm of words flying around trying to knock each other down. The tongue is a sure indicator of one’s heart and I was feeling quite discouraged at the damage that it was doing.

It was really a “mild” exchange of words, which was precisely what troubled me. It’s in our nature to believe that our spoken words are cheap. But it just isn’t so! There are some things that a mother prays for diligently. For me, there are two things that I have prayed over my children consistently. One, that they would know the Creator God and that they would follow Him all the days of their lives. And two, that they would be best friends to each other, a band of brothers (and one sister) that are stronger and more courageous than I have ever been. The words that were going back and forth allowed for a peek into my children’s hearts. For that, I was thankful! They exposed the competition to be the strongest, the pride of the heart to be the best, the unyielding to a spirit of kindness to put one another first. How well do I know these things!!

As I talked my children through the power of their words and that their comments were causing a lot of hurt to each other, I was also being parented by my heavenly father and gently reminded that my own tongue has been an enemy and I’ve passively given it control and ignored the damage it has done. Who am I to be careless with my words? Like a slap in the face to God, I deny that I’m mastered by my tongue.

So I’m trying not to be frustrated when one son insists that his Lego creation is way better than his younger brothers. I’m trying to remember I’m not superior to my other son’s sentiment that “Dude, why did you do that? We lost because of you!”. These moments allow access to their little hearts and how my husband and I can try to guide them. Moreover, they serve to remind me to be quick to listen, slow to anger and slow to speak. ♥, Erin
Go here to see more of Erin's Posts.

For the love of Healthy Hair

I have been growing my hair out since my senior year of high school - which is coming up on ten years! Oi! Over the years I've learned how to maintain my long hair without having to get inches of dead-ends cut off with each cut. Long hair can be super easy but also super hard if you don't take care of it.

I just recently stopped dying my hair. Not because I think dying is bad for my hair, I just finally learned that I love my natural hair color. My mom always would tell me how much she loves my lighter hair, but I would still dye it anything from brownish-black to strawberry blond. It has only been this year that I finally saw her point, my natural hair color really does suit me best, or at least until I get bored with it. wink wink! So, with that being said, I decided to take the money I usually spend on a dye and invest in good products. I started using Aveda's be curly shampoo and conditioner because I wear my hair lightly curly nearly every day. Also, I only wash my hair about twice a week, so it's much better to leave good quality ingredients on my hair for days in between washings rather than alcohol filled brands that can strip my hair and cause break-aways. (especially during summer months where I am constantly pulling my hair up)

Most days I do a really simple hair style consisting of a good comb through, a hair-tie and sometimes my Tresemme' hair spray, but occasionally, I'll bust out this amazing version of a curling iron, the curling rod. This is perfect for curling long hair! I love it. What are your favorite products? ♥, mK

Snack Jars DIY

I love chalkboard and I definitely love snacks. Put the two together and you've got a really cute kitchen accessory! These personalized snack jars are very easy to make, so to get started, all you need is some tape, chalkboard paint, paint brush and some jars. I found these three jars at Wal-Mart for less then $5 each.

The nice thing about these specific jars is that there is a square mold in the glass, so when it came time to create the borders of the chalkboard, I just outlined the square with tape. You can make any shape you want, a pentagon, a circle, an arrow, etc. I kept it simple with a square.

I ended up painting two coats of the chalkboard paint. The reason I did this is because I didn't use a primer. If you don't have a primer to use, paint two coats on the glass, however if you do have primer sitting around, I suggest using that first and then you should only have to paint one thick coat onto the jar! Both ways work great!

The only thing left to do is, once dried, fill your jars with all your favorite snacks! Last week it was apples, puppy chow and popcorn, and this week it's granola bars, pretzels and popcorn! Mmm! Enjoy! ♥, mK
Last week's winner of the Shades of Sunshine giveaway is Lynn! Congrats girl!

Advertising in July

Hey All! Welcome to the new week! It's almost July and I have openings for sponsorship in small, medium and large! If you are interested in partnering with me in July, check out the info here and email me at emarykate@gmail.com! Have an awesome Monday! ♥, mK

The Guest > A little Pin on the Road Trip

This summer has been shaping out to be awesome in the Wise household guest department! Earlier this week, we welcomed some amazing friends of ours to Nashville! Dave & Morgan Hansow are technically my bosses (I worked full time for them in Colorado, but now work a few hours a month even from Nashville...just love 'em too much!), but even more so, they are great friends! Dave & Morgan are the co-founders of Light Gives Heat and are currently on a month long road trip with their two adorable kids, Asher & Jadyn, sharing LGH's award winning documentary, Moving On.

We had an amazing time getting to show them around Nashville. When we have guests come to town, we offer them a touch of the stereotypical tourist Nashville (AKA Broadway) and then a heaping dose of the real deal Nashville - that being burgers, craft beer and malts at The Pharmacy in East Nashville! It's our fav, plus Dustin is one of their beer garden beer geniuses as I like to put it! (NY Times just wrote an article featuring The Pharmacy!)

As an official stop on the tour, we showed Moving On to a small, intimate, but enthusiastic crowd at Coffee + Table in South Nashville. If you haven't seen the film, you absolutely should! You can actually watch it online here. And, right now, the film and Light Gives Heat are in the running to be awarded $50,000 from Cultivate Wines. In order to win, they must have the most votes! We are ridiculously close to winning, so PLEASE give us your votes! It's so simple, just go here (or click the button on my right side bar) and vote for Moving On. When you get a Thank you note on your screen, you will know your vote counted. You are able to vote every day for the remainder of the month! Please consider doing just so! Your 30 seconds each day could help raise 50K for an amazing non-profit! And, when they do win...I'll give away a copy of the film! Promise! So - Let's Win!!! ♥, mK

Blue Surprise

“You’ll know when you’re done.” This is the ominous statement made by parents of older children, who have reached that definitive stage where childbearing years are behind them. After the birth of our fourth child, Chris and I waited for this feeling to descend upon us. We told everyone we were content with four, as if that would “bring on” the we-know-we’re-done-feeling. I secretly hoped that our family would grow by adoption or foster care, because rather selfishly, I really didn’t want to physically birth another baby.

So, in February, when Chris and I were sans children, away on a retreat, I lit up like a Christmas tree on the inside and outside alike when I clearly sensed that our “family was going to grow.” It was in the middle of worship and family planning was far from my mind but these words were so clear to me. I was so energized because I felt like this must be our call to adopt. I waited for Chris to say that he was feeling ready to take a step in that direction but he mentioned nothing of the sort. I decided to wait and pray before I brought it up. The day after we returned home, I was struck with the notion that this had nothing to do with adoption. I went out and got a pregnancy test and saw those two blessed lines!

From that moment on, I was delighted to be growing once again! It was with great joy that I secretly went in to have an ultrasound last week, as I am now halfway through this pregnancy. I knew that I would be watching for the perfect opportunity to surprise my family with the big reveal. On Saturday, I found myself with a spare hour and I pulled out all the decorations that were left from a baby shower we hosted a few weeks ago. I created a celebration down by our creek and told the family that there would be a surprise that evening. Now, you must know that I am not a master at pulling things out of my hat and it was just providential that I had these things waiting in the attic for me for just the right moment. In fact, the “surprise” was very anticlimactic as the boys simply stated, “Oh…ok so we’re having a boy.” No one jumped and shouted. It just settled in and HE found a place in our family immediately. Not in a moment of tears or cinematic genius…..just the musings of a Dad who said, “Four boys. Four boys. ….we’ll need another four wheeler.” And then the kids dove into the cupcakes. I’m writing this while our boys play King of the Mountain on a tube in the pond ….couldn’t be more delighted to be adding one to the team!
♥, Erin (Erin is a new contributor, you can learn more about her here)

Failure and the Minor set-back

Sometimes the dreamer inside of me is my best friend, running wild together in some far off land and then other times... I want to take it by the hand and walk it down to the county clerk and divorce myself from that part of my personality. It also tends to be dramatic, so know I would never actually divorce it (in fact I hate that word)...but only act like it is a viable option until I have had peace with my emotions and can move on. (which usually has a bounce back rate of a good hour or so, or a good inspiring dance song to shift my mind towards joyful things.)

The feeling of being let-down, the unrelenting sense of pain felt when you realize that all your efforts amounted to a mere fraction of the dreamt-up version of it's self, well, it's among the most destructive in the relationship between person and dream.

Recently, I was faced with a minor set-back. Something I enjoy doing so much and am legitimately good at came up extremely short of my expectations and hopes. It hurt. It really did. But it made me think. Am I going to be one of the dreamers who give up on a project the moment a little thunder roars, or will I press on forward despite the set-back. So often, our dreams are not accomplished on the first, second, third, or even the twenty-fifth try, but the journey can strengthen the original plan and make it something even more exquisite! Risking failure is part of this journey. Without it, where would we be? Think about it - it takes risk to love. It takes risk to go out and get that job. It takes risk to start a family, to wake up in the morning, to eat that new international dish, to travel, to be ourselves. Life is risky, and if we aren't willing to fail every now and then, we won't move forward.

Ironic, isn't it? Failure is usually associated with a stopping point, but when you think about it, if we don't risk failure, we won't move forward. Failure is a necessary part of life. It hurts, but it will hurt an incredible amount more if we don't risk it. I choose risking failure to do the things I love and be me. Do you? ♥, mK

Shades of Sunshine Giveaway

Today I have another great give away, but this time from Hollie over at Shades of Sunshine, a blog devoted to devotion, compassion and prayer! I met Hollie a few months back through the lovely world of Twitter shortly after I had written an article for Reject Apathy. She was soo sweet to share her response to my words, the same kindness that you will see reflected through her own writings at Shades of Sunshine. Hollie is giving away this Love Is Tee to one lucky winner! All you have to do is follow her blog here or here and leave a comment below!

The results are in for the big June Giveaway. Congrats to Rachel, you just won yourself some goods! Winner of this week's giveaway will be announced next week!
Good luck! ♥, mK

Sometimes I...

Shirt: H&M, Pants: Gap, Heels: Rocket Dog, Pearls: Hongqiao Market, Beijing

Sometimes I....
...watch the same movie over and over and over for months. I love catching new details about different scenes. I often wonder if I should have pursued a career as a continuity supervisor on a TV set or something! It's almost embarrassing how many errors I know exist in The Office.
...share way too many details when I tell stories.
...wish I had a pet skunk. Scratch that, not sometimes, ALWAYS.
...think I might have OCD. Like when I have to double check that the oven is off before I leave the house...7 out of 10 times. Or more.
...wear shoes that are too small for my feet because I just want cute shoes too much.
...wish I could find an alternate universe. Books are a good fix for that wish, however I still wish I could find out I had some super power that I would never have to tell anyone other than Dustin. And I could save tons of people's lives under the radar. How cheeky-cool would that be!
...put a pretty dish towel over a sink full of dirty dishes instead of washing them.
♥, mK

Down By The River

The other morning, Dustin and I got up at 4:30 AM to catch the sunrise along the river in downtown Nashville. Though it's never fun to be shaken from your beauty sleep at such ludicrous hours, it ended up being a beautiful morning out with my hubby doing the things we love; wearing a favorite outfit out, taking photos and grabbing coffee together.

Dress c/o Sugarlips, Heels: Rocket Dog, 

Belt: Target, Earrings: Pollux Clothing Company.

For me, daily personal style is my approach to the day. It is my way of creating or stating the type of mood I am in. If I am feeling like the girl-next-door, lovey and peaceful, often times I will wear something simple like my Toms, some cute cut-offs and a simple shirt with huge earrings. This dress from Sugarlips colored my day with hues of confidence, creativity and prettiness. No exaggerations, I must have told Dustin half a dozen times how great I felt in this outfit. To some people, fashion might be just about appearance, but for me it is so much more...its a creative outlet, its a sense of self pride (the good kind) and it even sometimes acts as a source of accountability at times. On days I am working from home, I'm almost always 10x more productive if I dress as soon as I rise in the morning. 

All Photos by Dustin Wise @ Plaid Owl Productions.

Some of my favorite picks from Sugarlips currently: this one, this one, this one, this one and oh, definitely this one! Are you a mood dresser? What is your favorite style of clothing to wear? ♥, mK