So friends, after being a totally sparse blogger, I figured I’d show back up in the blogosphere with a fun giveaway today!

Jennie Leigh Designs is now Vintage Made Modern!!!   Vintage Made Modern is the exclusive distributor for Annie Sloan, and my new friend Lindsay Oehmen, who is a blast and a half, is running the well-painted show now!

Also, there is a dedicated area where Lindsay holds workshops ranging from beginner to advanced techniques.  UM…can we say, “Grab a group of friends and make a night of it?!”

The Intro Workshop is the most popular and is really for anyone who has never touched Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, all the way to people who have been using it for a long time.  In this workshop you will discover the versatility  and ease of application of Chalk Paint®.  (It’s SUCH a great product!)  You will learn 5 different painting techniques and finishes with clear and dark wax. It’s a hands-on workshop where you learn modern, rustic, two-color distress, lime washing, and color washing techniques.  You will also get up close and personal with both the clear and dark wax, mixing the two and learning how to apply and appropriately take off the excess wax. You will experience the different ways to obtain a soft, beautiful, durable finish. This is a 4-hour workshop and all the materials are provided.  Just bring yourself!

So pop by the store to scoop up some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and tell Lindsey that I sent you! And enter below to win the workshop for you and 3 friends!!!  You don’t have to live in Greenville to enter, but it’d probably be easier unless you want to drive in from out of town since the workshop will be held at Vintage Made Modern.  The giveaway runs til this Thursday, 4/11/13, at midnight!

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Seriously, isn’t that precious?  Look at my cute kids happily concentrating on decorating Easter eggs.  The time-honored tradition that has absolutely nothing to do with the true celebration of this season, but we participate nonetheless.  It’s a delightful craft filled with joy and creativity.

And GADS of stress!

I’m having a moment of confession here.

I hate dying Easter Eggs.

Really….in an “I would rather have to clear my yard of dog poop than dye eggs” sort of relationship.

I’m a crafty mom.  I’m into collages and crayons, paints and playdoh.  We bake cookies and go on nature walks to get crafty with later.  But the truth is that Easter egg dying makes my insides almost physically cringe.

5 cups of lovely colors in a group.  And a small hand begging to get started creeps into the photograph from below.  It’s a dance really.  The “WAIT!!!, Mommy MUST help you” with the pulling back to allow small hands to create for themselves.

And every tiny bump of a cup or brush of a carefully rolled up sleeve sends my heart racing.

It’s the beckon of a spill… the welled-up potential of catastrophe… the lingering feeling that this will be the year that the carpet is stained beyond repair or that their matching shirts will become a smattering of ill-intended tie-dying.  But the joy in their faces between the shoving to use first the blue dye and then the red one somehow keeps me coming back annually for more.

Despite the fact that a mere 45 seconds in, the unthinkable happens….

And it’s the red one….pouring over the edge of the table onto the seat of a chair that thankfully needs to be recovered anyhow.

But still.

I’m thankful in that moment that 3 layers of protection separate my 3 year old’s clothing from the streaming liquid.  Two layers soak through with hot pink vinegar-tinged water.  I rush to stop the trail to the floor…and then I do what any reasonable person does…I snap a picture!

We finish with the 4 remaining colors, and I feel my chest pumping hard until all of the dye is where it rightfully belongs…down the sink.

And I remind myself most thankfully that this isn’t what I’m celebrating now anyway.  That the fresh red stain on my chair has more to do with a blood soaked brow on a cross for me than it does a stickered and colorful egg.  And despite the stress of this horrid craft, I find my mind lingering on the stains of my own life, that because of my Jesus have been wiped clean.

Suddenly, I’m struck by the thought that the huge stains of my life are easier to wipe away than the ones on my chair.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; 
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
Let me hear joy and gladness; 
let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 
Hide your face from my sins, 
and blot out all my iniquities. 
Create in me a clean heart, O God, 
and renew a right spirit within me. 
Cast me not away from your presence, 
and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, 
and uphold me with a willing spirit. 

~ Psalm 51:7-12

And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”  – Luke 23:33-38

Ok, So I have a fun tidbit to share today!  And can I just say that I’ve been wanting to share this with you all, but the way that my life has been lately, I’ve been doing pretty well to keep my head above water.

A couple of months back, I got an email asking if I’d be interested in giving the Restore program from Christian Care Ministry a shot.  The Restore program is a faith-based health coaching program.  I’m not a giant New Years resolution gal, but there is something about a new year that does make you want to get yourself together.  This year started off pretty crazy for me with my trip to Bangladesh, so to have a coach help me along the way was a super appealing way to get motivated.  I mean for real, sometimes we just need a hand to hold!

So I started the program almost a month back and it has been SO great!  I have to be honest and say that I wasn’t sure about the whole thing entirely, but really, who doesn’t want to be more emotionally, spiritually, and physically healthy?!  What have you got to lose!?  For me…nothing… but a few extra pounds!

I had my first call with Stephani, my health coach, a few weeks ago and she was so relatable and honest even that very first conversation.  I shared about how I’m in perhaps the busiest season of my life maybe ever.  Between being wife and mom, there’s been a lot of hard stuff going on lately, and I’ve been hard at work planning Allume!  What I loved most was when she said to me that if we can set goals that are doable for this busiest season, then when life slows down, it’ll be really easy to maintain.

She even helped me make my goals really simple.  They’re so simple that I’m almost embarrassed to list them for you.  Something about saying them out loud and making them actual goals though has made them very doable.  So here they are:

1. Add a vegetable! – I knew that I wasn’t eating enough veggies mostly because I feel like I’m always in a hurry just to get sustenance at all.  Stephani said that anytime I’m eating something, just add a vegetable.  It’s been so easy to do, and easy to remember.

2. Take a walk! – Due to some nasty weather and everything going on with Melissa the last couple of weeks, I haven’t been great about this one, but I have been trying and as it’s been nice, I’ve gotten out for a walk or a bike ride with my kids.  It’s small, but ya gotta start somewhere.

3. Reduce sugar intake! – Other than eating nothing but a giant ice cream cone on the day that Mel passed and a couple of Krispy Kreme hot donuts, I have been doing better on this one.  I’m a total sweets gal, but I’m really thinking hard every time I get a craving.

Stephani also said something that I’m not sure why it hasn’t occurred to me before.  I have a tendency to be an emotional eater.  AWFUL…I know!  She suggested that when I’m tempted to eat something just for an emotional reason, just submit it to the Lord just like I’d do in a fast.  It’s just recognizing where I am, and that what I need isn’t something sweet to eat!  I told her about the full-sized ice cream cone last week…which I did give extra thought and prayer to, but even she said that sometimes, we just need to cut ourselves some slack!

Anyhow, it’s been great to have the accountability, encouragement, and wisdom that she offers!  She prays with me at the end of our weekly call, and honestly, I’ve really enjoyed it, and feel like it’s making a big difference for me so far!  I have a couple more months to keep trying the program, and this coming week we’re going to talk about a health risk assessment that I took to find out more about where I fall with all of that.  We’re adding strength training soon, and since I just signed up to join CrossFit today, I’m sure that’ll fit right in to the plan!

Don’t expect me to be taking any before and after pictures right now…or at least not the before ones!  Let’s just say, as I told my girlfriends today, that right now, I feel like someone peeled open my leg skin and poured a carton of cottage cheese down in my thigh.  And if that’s not motivation, then I don’t know what is!

I’ll keep ya’ll posted on my progress, but really, if you’ve been thinking you need something that helps you set attainable goals with encouragement and spiritual benefit as well as physical, this is your program!  I’ll check back in about it in a few weeks and let you know how it’s still going!

To learn more about Restore or to sign up, you can click on the banner below to be directed to their website, or you can click HERE to go to their blog, or pop on over to their facebook page HERE!

*Disclosure: I have been given a 3-month trial of the Restore program in exchange for posting about it. All opinions though are completely my own and I would never recommend anything that I didn’t truly believe was worthwhile. I can wholeheartedly recommend this program though!