ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

i mentioned it last week , that you could call me "crunchy". not in every single area, but there are a lot of things i do [and don't do] that would classify me as such... although for the record, i hate that term . i'd call it "natural" instead. i usually don't talk about this facet of my life because i feel like it's kind of weird, and also i just like to do what i do and not pressure anyone else to do the same. if someone asks, i'm more than excited to talk about it but i rarely bring it up. i buy organic. if it's available organic, i'll buy it. however, i don't buy organic meat, even though i'd tell you that's one of the most important things. i just can't afford it right now. but, overall, if they sell it organic, i buy it organic. i read labels.  some of the things i avoid are: - high fructose corn syrup [mostly because it is made with GMO corn ] - MSG [confusing, because they can call it anything they want on ...

it's no secret that i love fall. it's hard to love the fact that it comes on september 22, though, when you live in southern california. it's still in the high 80s and 90s here so it definitely doesn't feel like fall. but, i'm still ordering my chai latte in the spirit of fall, to get myself ready for it ;)  some fall-ish things that make me happy: here here here here here here and since we can't let it go by without celebrating, how about a sale through the end of september? this is unprecedented, friends. that's 4 prints for less than $30. don't forget about the kingdom collection , too. those are all on sale! nothing is left out, everything's free game!  [if you buy more than 4 prints, use the "4prints" code for 40% off your entire purchase]

day two was huge for me this week. it definitely dovetails in with what God has been teaching me lately about stepping out in faith, and putting my money where my mouth is, so-to-speak. finally making it clear who i'm going to serve. basically, James says hey: if you want wisdom, ask God. but believe that you're going to get it from Him. don't be a doubter. don't be double-minded. those kind of people are unstable. honestly? i've thought of myself as unstable a time or two. not in a dangerous sense, but just so tossed and wayward sometimes, you know? sometimes we'll listen to whatever gets our attention fast enough. but God says to stop. to ask Him. and He will give us wisdom . generously, without finding fault . other translations say "without criticizing", "without reproach", "you won’t be condescended to". i was so encouraged by the fact that i can ask God for anything, as many times as i need to, and He will never ...

in light of the big announcement on monday , i didn't want to do much serious blogging this week. so i thought, what if i tell you a few fun facts about myself? 1 | i have my bachelor's degree in history from San Diego State. i often look back and wonder how in the world i actually did all that work, while being a wife and working full-time. i don't wish to go back to school anytime soon. or ever. 2 | my husband and i are high school sweethearts. we started dating my sophomore year, his freshman year. we got married a month before my 21st birthday. you can read more in this series , and here and here . 3 | i'm what some people might call "crunchy". even though i hate that term, i call it "natural" instead. this is a post all its own. maybe next week. 4 | i used to work with kids. my very first job was summer camp at a school, and i continued to work at that school until just before i got pregnant with my oldest. i ran after-school daycare an...

do you ever get the feeling that God is bombarding you with a specific message? you know, you'll read a verse and it lingers with you all day. you hear a sermon or read a blog post or a book. then a song pops into your head. you didn't hear it playing, it just popped in there and sticks with you for two weeks? and you have a stirring that He wants you to do something. and it's a stirring you've felt before. for years, really. and then you have this idea that you should start praying in a certain direction, by faith, that God would allow something specific, or fulfill a desire that you believe He gave to you? just something specific but also out of the blue? well it happens to me often, but this time i'm listening and doing. do you know that song "Hosanna" by Brooke Fraser ? that song popped into my head a few weeks ago. but just this part of the chorus: show me how to love like you have loved me break my heart for what breaks yours everything i am...

i have two sister-in-laws. they each have three kids. and as of last week, all three of their kids are in school from 8-2 at least three times a week. are you serious? i'm seeing the same sort of thing on instagram as my mama friends have all this new time by themselves. sure, they're working from the house or busy with other important things, but they still get to be alone for a good stretch of time each day. can you imagine? i found myself a little bit jealous, to be honest. not in a terribly ungrateful way, but just imagining if i had that much time to concentrate on work, blogging, designing, how much i'd get accomplished. the other day as i drove home from preschool with my sweet girl, i really pondered it. i have never been one to wish ahead to the next season. sure, in a moment of frustration i'll do it, but for the most part, i try to embrace and love the season that i'm in. even the hard ones, even the painful ones. to really experience and embrace lif...

if you've been following along, you know about how i left my church , and the mini-panic attack  that i had over it all... the first church that we started attending, after making the decision that we'd start looking, was my best-friend-since-7th-grade's church about 30 minutes away, where her husband is a pastor. that's where they met and fell in love. it's a pretty cute little story :) so, we had been going to this new church for a few months, and september was slowly creeping up on us. if you remember, last november, i took a "maternity leave" of sorts, from serving in the choir and worship team at our "old" church. i was planning to come back in september 2012 [just this past week, actually] and pick up where i'd left off. as september started approaching faster and faster i knew i had to look it in the eyes and deal with the some things that were totally unavoidable. i had to officially leave our church. i had to have that convers...

so i've been blogging for about a year and a half now, publicly anyway. and i've met so many wonderful friends through this unexpected medium. seriously, very unexpected. but who's to say that your friends have to be and can only be people that you see face-to-face all the time. why is that some sort of unspoken rule? anyway, bloggers like to do things called "swaps". someone hosts the swap, and they pick something fun like headbands or flip flops or hoop art or MUGS! now, you might already know that i have quite the little mug collection? well i do. and i love to look at them. they're just so pretty. one of these days i really am going to figure out how to hang them up in my little wet bar nook thing, so that they're in view all day long. so anyway, Kim hosted a mug swap. and i joined. it was my first swap. i am totally last minute, so it did take me up until the day before we were supposed to ship to actually head to the store and even look for one...

this gal is 7 months old... seven months. i thought it was just february last week? where does the time go? anyway, my husband's family has a fun tradition that his grandparents started, where they always celebrate the babies' 6-month birthdays with an ice cream party :) now, i'm normally a more health-conscious mom, i guess you could say. with my first daughter it was all i could do not to burst inside when she dug into that mountain of sugar. basically, in my mind, that much sugar = poison. luckily, for my own sanity's sake, i've lightened up a lot .  so little Tessa dug into her ice cream sundae this a couple weeks ago  [it was a few weeks after her actual 6-month birthday but she'll never know the difference]. i think it's safe to say she liked it. she was screaming at me between bites. i couldn't shovel it in fast enough: and she got to open some cute little gifts and ride on the quads with daddy and now i'...

i told you about how i recently left my church of 15 years... well it was quite the long process, both logistically and in my heart. there were so many things surrounding our decision, and so many pros and cons on either side. i thought and thought and prayed and prayed. it was a pretty weird time for me. i told you about how God was using this move to grow me and to reveal my pride  i didn't realize was there. but let me share a few universal lessons i learned along this little journey, that i think anyone can benefit from. around June, i started wondering how crazy i must be to think i should ever consider leaving Dr. David Jeremiah's church . like, seriously? people come from all over the country to hear him, they tune in on their TVs and their radios to listen because they don't have the privilege of attending his church, literally seven minutes from my house, where i've gone for 15 years. now, in my head, it doesn't take much for full-on crisis to ensue...

every week i put three select prints on sale for half off! how fun is that?  this weeks prints are on sale  from September 4 thru 9 : A Dream is a Wish: other colors available [see all listing photos  here ] Psalm 23: other colors available [see all listing photos  here ] Banner Over Me: other colors available [see all listing photos  here and here ]

i've always wanted to be a "real" artist. you know, one that can actually draw the things onto paper that i see in my head? well, one day i just started doodling in my bible study journal, on my chalkboard, with any available piece of paper and free moment i could find. it got addicting.  and now i have six prints in my shop that i've drawn myself. it feels like birthing a new baby, yet somehow i feel really vulnerable. probably because i really want to be a real artist and i don't know if this counts. i know. i'm crazy but it's this strange feeling that i'm evolving and growing in an area i would have bet you money i'd never be good at. i still wouldn't call myself an artist, but i do really like these little prints i've made. it's a weird feeling. but i hope you like them as much a i do :)  i have at least 3 more coming soon, and a few more dreamed up in my head... monday only, take 25% off for labor day using ARTI...