a new friend

hi there
this is my new friend olivia jane wible
we met through a mutual friend,
also known as her mother.
olivia was not supposed to show up on the scene until may or june
so it goes without saying we were totally unprepared to meet her.
in fact, i had not even had the chance to host a little party
and make all of her mamma's friend's taste baby food
and sniff diapers
(i have actually only heard of that game
and i assure you i would never actually make anyone play it!)

anyway,
her mom has been having some abdominal pain
and in the process of being in the hospital
and dealing with it,
miss olivia greeted us very early.

her mom will be having surgery next week
to figure out what is going on.

so that means she will have:
one toddler
one husband
one church plant job left unattended
one home to care for
one post-op wound to tend to
and one beautiful premi baby
who is living in a hospital bassinet.

clearly, they have a lot going on.
so, if you want to pray
or through a few dollars their way
or (if we know you) provide some childcare for alvin,
please wander over to their blog
and check out the right sidebar for ways you can help.

THANK YOU!

(in case you are wondering,
chad wible gave me permission to post this.
that probably doesn't mean much
because he is just some guy i met
with the same last name as olivia and alli,
but i figured that might count for something
if i ever got taken to court for posting their story here.)

seriously*privileged

by now, most of you have probably seen this video.
and while i love sharing it
and had an amazing time making it,
that is not what this post is really about.

i wanted to share about two fabulous websites
that this little video has had the honor
of being featured on lately.
there are so many rockin' women out there in blogland
and they are doing amazing things!

the art is found
every other week,
the uber impressive,
SIXTEEN year old
kara and her awesome team of artists
post a piece of inspiration
for artists to take and run with.
they are cool.
this girl is amazing and i can't wait to see
what she is doing in 10 years from now!

and then you must go check out voca femina.
seriously.
wow.
a friend of mine turned me on to this local group
of colorado gals who are going to spread like
wildfire on the web!
they are all about giving women a place to share their
writing and artwork!
please, go check out what they are doing
and leave them some big time love!
if you really like what they are doing,
tell your friends!
anyone out there who has ever started a blog
knows that especially at the beginning,
you want to know if people are tuning in!


thanks, to these two blogs for allowing me
to contribute to the conversation
of art and beauty.

enjoy the week!
cara

PS - don't forget to leave a comment on the new blog
for a chance to win a great book on marriage!
i mean, even if you aren't married,
it makes a great gift.
or paper weight.

update on the book giveaway!

hi everyone!

i just wanted to remind you about
the book giveaway i am doing.
if you don't want to link the new blog up
to your blog,
that's okay!
just leave a comment here or on the new blog
and look OVER THERE
on thursday
for the winner!

i am so excited about everything that is happening
over on the MarriageMix!
if you have already been over there,
THANK YOU!
if you haven't,
well,
maybe today is the day!
go check it out!
i am especially excited to share with you
the current post:
Kevin Still's T-Shirt
I believe it will make you smile as well as very glad
to know that there are men like him
in the world!

who doesn't like a book give away????

thanks to all who have given me encouragement and feedback
about my new blog:
the marriage mix

i have had this blog for three years now,
and those of you who read it regularly mean so much to me!
so, please, feel free to email me with any
feedback or constructive criticism or suggestions that you might have
for my new blog!
i trust you and would love to hear what you have to say.

the new blog is all about finding hope that marriages can work; that our generation does not have to follow in the statistical footsteps of our parents. so, it is my hope to get the word out about it, so we can create more and more encouraging, hopeful conversations about love and marriage.

would you like to help?
great, I thought you might!
you can help out by adding this blog to your list of links on your own blog

OR

you can add this blog to your blog reader

once you do that, come back here and leave a comment and you will be entered in a drawing to win one of these thoughtful, brilliant books about marriage!

easy as pie, right?

right.

The Marriage Mix

Three years ago, I was a newlywed who was quickly realizing that marriage is not easy.
There were so many surprises and funny stories that popped up everyday.

So, I began this blog: I Do WHAT????
For the first few months, I wrote stories about marriage
and everything I was learning about it.

After a few more months it got hard.
I mean really hard.

Things started to crumble, inside and out.
I stayed at home as much as possible.
I avoided phone calls.
It took me 8 months to even tell my mom
that my fairy tale marriage was coming apart at the seams.

Very quickly, this blog became an escape.
Instead of chronicling my marriage here,
I used it as a place to focus on the "pretty things" in life.
Pictures, vacation tales, art making and recipes got logged here.

But now we are have been doing this thing (marriage)
for more than three years.
And things are better.
Not perfect.
But better.
Much
much
much
better.

And during the tough days,
when I was at a complete loss for stories of hope
and encouragement,
I was terrified that people who had it as bad as we did
had only one choice -
to get a divorce.

We did not want to leave our marriage,
so we worked hard to find another option.
This looked a lot like
crying
yelling
crying some more
talking
talking
talking
until
we had to sleep.
letting friends
listen
and
encourage.
crying
talking
yelling
talking.

It took a lot of hard work, prayers, and tears.
It is not a strategy, formula, or magic spell.
But it is a testament that tough marriages don't have to end.

And now I want to provide that sense of
hope
and
encouragement
to others.

You can find that in my new blog
(this time, it really WILL be about marriage)
The Marriage Mix

This blog is not going anywhere.
I will still post silly stories,
thoughts on faith,
ridiculous bed head photos,
and my adventures in the kitchen
on this blog!

In the meantime, go check out my new blog.
Be sure to visit often this week,
as I will be making changes and improvements.
And please, let me know what you think -
I would love your feedback!