Magazines, Shoes, & My Random Stream of Thoughts.

If my current state is any indication of how this blog post will be, then it will most likely be random. Because, you see, I'm sitting here working on a Quite Magazine website article, and as I work, the last 3 songs I listened to were by the following artists: Miranda Lambert, Frank Sinatra, then Jordin Sparks. I just downed my 2nd cup of strong coffee with soy milk creamer and way too much brown sugar. Ate about 10 Cheezits. And then a pickle. Sorry to gross you out at that combo, but I'm just bein' honest. (And I hate to admit this, but one of Jessica Simpson's greatest hits just began playing on my Spotify. So, yeah...) If you don't wanna join me on this random blog post of the day, totes feel free to bail. I wouldn't blame you. But if ya wanna hop in and join me on this random ride, come on friend! 

In no particular order, here are some things that are making me happy lately that I just have to share....

First...  Quite Magazine 
Okay, I know you all know about Quite Mag if you've read my blog for more than a day. But if you're new here (welcome!!!) or you just wanna find out more, today is your lucky day! When Morgan, our precious editor and brains behind this whole amazing magazine, approached me about being a contributing writer for Quite, I prayed about it and just knew the Lord was opening the door for me to be a part. It is such an honor and privilege and honor to write for such a positive women's magazine. We need more of those, right? Don't even get me started on the negativity that is thrown at young girls and women today in the form of overly sexualized, airbrushed magazines that promote an unhealthy body image and trash girl's minds. Quite Magazine is the opposite. On lifestyle, culture, and faith - we talk about everything from dating and relationships (my main topic), technology, health, marriage, music, movies, fashion, and much more. We also strive to promote a healthy body image and encourage young women to embrace who God made them to be - and to respect their bodies by dressing modestly and being themselves! 

Our first print issue was released this Spring and let me tell you, it is gorgeous, dahhlings! It seriously is. I may or may not have screamed, hyperventilated and shed a few happy tears when I opened my mailbox and got my copy. Being a part of a magazine like this was a childhood dream of mine and it's cool to see the Lord so graciously answer my prayers :) 

You just have to subscribe, friend. Whether you are a post-25-something like me or a teenager! There's something in it for all of us and I promise it will leave you very inspired. Subscribe to the mailing list and get free stuff, and subscribe to the magazine HERE! 

Also, we recently launched this AMAZING campaign called #QUITEbeautiful. 

It showcases our idea of beautiful - being natural, being ourselves. We want to encourage women to embrace their inner beauty and go sans makeup! Learn more on the website! A fun part of this campaign is that we ask you to post a natural photo of yourself on social media, add the hashtag #QUITEbeautiful, and every photo has the possibility of making it into our next magazine! 

Check out some of the articles I've written on Quite Magazine's website and some of my favorites from our team of women I respect oh so much:

4 Benefits of Not Dating in High School 

Fabulous, Modest Fashion 

8 Great First Date Questions

A Few Gardening Tips! 

What If True Love Didn't Wait For You?

4 Ways to Embrace (& Enjoy!) Being Single 

Ok friends, so alllll of that to say: go check out Quite Magazine. I believe in it. You will be inspired and encouraged. If you're a mama, a grandparent or a guy (I know you guy readers exist! ;) then share this magazine with your daughter, girlfriends, or cousins. Very positive.

Secondly... SHOES.

Okay, I usually don't do alot of advertising of brands here on this little blog. I always want to make sure the things I share are 100% real and from my heart. And I love this website... sooo, have you heard of Shoe Dazzle? They asked me to partner with them to share their fab shoes, and I said yes because I legitimately LOVE their program and know you will too! (full disclosure: yes sharing this is sponsored and I am being compensated.) But if you are looking for affordable, fashionable shoes this is the link you need to check out. It's like having a personal stylist because you take a quick quiz and Shoe Dazzle creates a personal showroom for you. Take the ShoeDazzle quiz to gain access to your showroom with personalized picks just for you. Make a purchase within 2 days of taking the quiz and get 25% off your first item ordered. Check out Shoe Dazzle HERE! 
These are the pretty shoes they styled and chose for me - pretty accurate to my style, loved most of their picks!

 http://www.shoedazzle.com/getstyled?dzcode=lqa&dzcontent=lqa0003

And thirdly... not gonna lie, I am still re-living my American Idol front row Keith Urban concert moment via YouTube. Kind of awesome.

Blessings to you this Wednesday, lovely friends. You are SO LOVED by God. Remember that.

XO

Erin

PS - and if you're reading along with my randomness still at this point,

 you should get some kinda prize. 

Beauty for Ashes

Few words today. Many prayers for those affected by the heartbreaking tornado, for those in Oklahoma. 

Reminded of God's grace today. I read this and want to remind you too - Isaiah 61 says He gives beauty, joy, praise instead of despair. Hold onto Him. He is the only One who will never let us down, the only One we can hold onto, the only thing we can never ever lose. 

Love and hope to you and you...and you.

XO

Erin

it's a brutiful life.

Happy Monday, beautiful friends. 

My prayer for you who read today is that you will be full of new hope, sweet peace, amazing grace.

One of my favorite quotes at the moment is, "Life is beautiful. And life is brutal. It's brutiful" as one of my favorite writers, Glennon Melton always says. I shared this in my vlog Friday, lately my life can be so well summed up by this sentiment, and I'm sure you understand. But God truly does bless the broken road, and there are so many sunshiney moments among the dark ones. Sharing a few of mine today. May we be reminded, dear readers, to look for the good. And if we do, we will find it.

 

yes, i realize this version of the song is from the Hannah Montana movie. it was the only acoustic version i could find. don't judge. ;) 

A few inspirations, encouragements and little snapshots from my life these past few weeks...

{Malibu Beach Day} 

{Sister's Birthday Celebration}

{Headed to see Keith Urban perform at American Idol! Can you tell I'm excited?

Also, why do I look like a muppet in this picture?!} 

{Jam Session with my dear friend Rachel}

{This pup is missing his brother...But we're gonna be OK} 

You are loved.

And He has a plan for your brutiful life.

Know that :)

XO

Erin

Vlog: Coffee Date. "God Knows"

Hi beautiful friends! 

I know I haven't been around on this little space the last week, and that's just because other life stuff has been a bit crazy and time consuming, but I wanted to stop in and say happy weekend and share a little bit about my experience this week at Keith Urban's American Idol show and how God has been speaking to me about how He sees, hears and knows...  So grab some coffee & let's chat about life.

Sending love, prayers and a hug to you this weekend.

You are loved.

Don't forget it.

XO

Erin

you are going to be OK because...

Love to you this Monday, my dear readers. Thank you for all the sweet words and prayers after my sweet pup passed away last week. It's still stings, but the Lord surely is faithful to mend our wounds and heal our hearts. 

I want to share a little encouragement for your week... last night as I cleaned out my desk drawers, I happened upon a piece of ripped white paper. A few years ago when walking through a heartache, I took a purple Sharpie pen to a piece of cardstock and I scribbled this as the title, 

"Erin - You are going to be OK, because...." 

and then I wrote out a page of Bible verses to remind myself of truth when I felt like I was sinking in sorrow and drowning in tears. Working as a nanny at the time, I would slip that paper into my purse and pull it out as a reminder in difficult moments. The Lord knew I needed to be reminded of those same truths last night. And so I want to also share them with you: 

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." - Psalm 34:18 

"Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." -Psalm 34:10b

"You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you." -Isaiah 43:4 

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." -Psalm 84:11 

"He redeems my soul in safety from the battle I wage." Psalm 55:18 

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you." - Isaiah 26:3

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. -John 14:27

Be encouraged this week, my dear friends.

You are oh so loved, special

and beloved to God.

Your life matters and your heart is a gift to this world.

Remember, it's all going to be OK with Jesus.

What are some of the verses that encourage you the most? 

Share them in the comments below!

Hugs!

XO

Erin

PS - Happy Anniversary tomorrow to my sweet Mom & Dad, who are celebrating 30 YEARS of marriage! A post on that and an announcement coming in the next days :)

Also - the Lord was so sweet to me this week. He knows when we have bad weeks, losses and heartache. And He is so evidently faithful, even in the littlest and seemingly silliest ways- this girl gets to go see a Keith Urban show tomorrow... for free! And I am so excited. Will be back to share more this week :) 

happy mother's day.

Celebrating my mama today: thankful for her godly character, best friendship, sacrifice for me and my sister, beautiful heart, kindness and love. 

 "For anyone who's ever loved a child... or hopes for one someday.." (Kelle Hampton) Happy Mother's Day!

5 Generations // me, my mama, grandma, great grandma and my great great grandma ;)

Hug a mama today.

XO

Erin

heartache healer.

                                                       

If I were to be honest with you, I would tell you my heart's all achy tonight. It's been one heck of a week. Actually, it's been one heck of a year so far. Life comes at us fast and hard sometimes. And looking back on my last weeks and months, it kinda feels like a haphazard whirlwind/wild rollercoaster ride mixed with lots of change, some just-staying-the-same, and honestly - a lot of hot messes of tears. And friends, I have to admit, I've done "the ugly cry" a couple times. Here on our little blogs, we must share only what we are comfortable with, only what our boundaries allow - for our hearts, families, and personal convictions. And so, I have not divulged everything I've walked through lately, because it's not always my story to tell. I share this to let you know, though sometimes our Instagram pictures and Facebook profiles, our Tweets and blog posts may look glammed up, perfect and happy all the time - those are just little slices of our lives, little snapshots of our whole pictures... small tastes of our whole story. And I think it's OK to share the lovely things, the blessings - to look for the good and share it. It's not always appropriate or right for us or our families to share the good, bad AND the ugly. So I hope you know that, though bloggers can seem all put together and perfect, we are not. Or rather, I am not. When I talk about heartache, I know it. Even if I don't share a laundry list of reasons why. I know. And you are not alone, my friend, in those struggles, heartaches, and quiet "underworlds" of your life you walk through - the things you do not share on social media. The struggles you face, that you don't or cannot talk about with friends. You are not alone. We all face heartaches, in our own unique ways, and no one's life is picture perfect.

This week, I faced a loss and it cut deep. It's honestly been a really, really rough few days. (Hence my lack of posting here.) When I was 13, my family adopted two of the sweetest Labrador Retrievers ever: one chocolate, one black. Dad named them Joshua and Caleb. Those two precious pups lived through so much life with my family. Nearly 13 years of ups, downs, happy days and sad ones. They were always there - through every one of my teen years, and many of my 20's. So many memories. And they represent so much in my life and my family's life. Early this week, sweet Caleb, our black lab, began to struggle to catch his breath. Being elderly dogs, I knew this day was coming, but just wasn't really ready. Caleb, the once frisky and always hyper dog we loved, laid quietly and peacefully on an old quilt....breathing in and out. Slowly. He wasn't sick. Just tired. And Tuesday morning, I sat down next to him. I whispered what a good dog he was, a good friend. And how sorry I was that I wasn't there... when I was in college, in the last few years...how I missed him. He just propped his chin on my leg, as if to say he forgave and forgot it all - as dogs do. Tears falling softly from my eyes onto his graying head. The sky outside was heavy early this week... cloudy, gray and rainy. Strange for Southern California in May. As if the weather matched the sadness in the air. Yesterday morning, he quietly passed away. My dad buried him under an old oak tree on my family's land. We cried, alot. We knew it was his time to go, he lived long and happily. His sweet brother pup is rather lost without him, and that is so heartbreaking to see. Joshua laid on his brother's freshly laid grave yesterday. He knew. And we will all really miss him. 

caleb & i, last spring

Quite honestly, this morning, something in me rose up - angry. Not just over this natural loss but all heartache. I hate loss. My spirit really does. And I know it may sound silly to someone, my heartache and pain over losing our dog, but it's real and it matters. The pain and loss you are walking through may be far greater than this loss, and it matters... oh so much. I hate endings. Change. Pain. Disappointment. Death. 
But then I remember the hope I have. The true, phenomenal hope - because death does not win! I've read the end of the Bible. Death loses! Jesus wins, through His death on the Cross. Yes, we experience loss and disappointment, heartache and death here on this broken earth. But death does not have the final say - Jesus has the final say. And He is LIFE. 

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy,

but I (Jesus) have come that you may have life

and have it to the full." 

John 10:10

Friend, if you are searching for hope in loss today - the loss of a loved one, a relationship, a pet, a dream, a job, health, a home, anything....know there is a Heartache Healer. He loves you. And He offers you life - eternal life. 
(Also, I really believe God takes care of animals... as my dad (who is a Doctor of Theology ;)  says - if God creates a place for animals here on the earth, wouldn't He take care of them in heaven?)

I am thankful for the I Am, tonight.

For hope in loss.

For the Heartache Healer. 

Love. 

And thank you for the sweet prayers for my aching heart. 

If your heart is aching too, please share in the comments so we can pray.

Also - next week, I have some really exciting stuff to announce.

A project I've been working on for a year, something I am so thrilled to share with you.

Until then, love and hug and be loved.

Life is short.

XO

Erin

___________

I love this thought on loss:

"You will lose someone you can't live without,

 and your heart will be badly broken,

and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved.

But this is also good news.

They live forever in your broken heart that doesn't seal back up.

And you come through.

It's like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly -

that still hurts when the weather gets cold,

but you learn to dance with the limp."

-Anne Lamott

--- linking up with the sweet Casey Wiegand --