ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

i am a chronic project-starter. like, i start ten projects and i finish two of them. i hate this about myself, but it's just who i am, no matter how badly i want to change it. i'm also a book starter, as opposed to a book finisher. i'll start a book and get so enveloped in it that i'll hail it as the best book i've ever read, start applying its principles, and then set it down... and never pick it back up. i'll get distracted and life will move on as the dust settles on the beloved book. soon enough another book will catch my fancy and i'll start that one. and so the cycle continues. i wouldn't call myself "a reader", so that probably doesn't help either. this is my current pile of loved-them-so-much-that-they-remain-unfinished books. and there are about six more sitting unfinished in my kindle app . seriously, it's like a disorder. so, i'm forcing myself to finish all of them before i'm allowed to pick up a new book...

we've been coming up to lake tahoe since i was twelve. each year, around christmastime, we would take a ski trip. some years friends would come, some years my boyfriend [now my husband] would come. and as we've gotten older and gotten married, we've continued the tradition as regularly as possible. the two years that i was pregnant, we didn't come, but other than that it's been something we look forward to all year. and how could you not, with this view? i started skiing at age five, and with our yearly trips, i think i got pretty good at it. around eighth grade, i thought i'd be much cooler if i started snowboarding. for some reason the switch was not easy for me. it wasn't easy being a beginner again, you know? i think i was about 16 when i finally swallowed my pride and took a private lesson. it was the best thing i ever did. i finally learned how to turn the other way on the board. i taught my husband, who caught on in like two days, and we ha...

Christmas night is one of the most bittersweet three or four hours of the entire year, don't you think? you've just spent two or three solid days celebrating with family and friends, and it's about to end much too soon? it's just not fun. so i'm having withdrawals today. i figured i might as well offer you free shipping through the end of the year. ya know, to cope? maybe you got an etsy gift card for christmas [lucky you] and you need somewhere to spend it? i gotcha covered . free shipping and all. oh yeah, and you might notice the blog looks a little different. not a huge difference, but just a little more cohesive and organized. i'm not really sure why i thought Christmas eve eve was the perfect time to redesign? but oh well, there ya go.

sin had come into God's perfect world. and it would never leave. God's children would always be running away from him and hiding in the dark. their hearts would break now, and never work properly again. God couldn't let his children live forever, not in such pain, not without him. there was only one way to protect them. "you will have to leave the garden now," God told his children, his eyes filling with tears. "this is no longer your true home, it's not he place for you anymore."   but before they left the garden, God made clothes for his children, to cover them. he gently clothed them and then he sent them away on a long, long journey -- out of the garden, out of their home.    well, in another story, it would all be over and that would have been the end... ... but not in this Story.  God loved his children too much to let the story end there. even though he would suffer, God had a plan -- a magnificent dream. one day, he woul...

when she was born, you kept your distance. your little world had been rocked, but you weren't jealous or rough or inconsiderate. just a little bit reserved. maybe a bit indifferent, maybe a bit curious. that's your way. you stand back until you see how you fit in. a lot like me. soon enough you began to help in any way you could. i think it was your strategy for getting positive attention from me, a way to keep our relationship strong, to make my life easy. you think about those things and you could tell that taking care of a newborn was hard. you were like a second little mommy to her. you still are. always looking out for her, always letting me know when she's crying, always comforting her. you are a natural big sister. it's a role you were always meant to fill. i know i expect a lot from you. and you will never know how much i pray for discernment and patience and eyes to see you as the three-year-old little girl that you are . i don't want to put all that re...

i opened up one of those "group discount" email promotions today, and this was the first line: Nothing embodies the holiday season like Santa —and nothing gets kids more excited than a personalized letter from Mr. Claus himself. i wasn't ready for my reaction, but my heart literally sank . maybe it's because i'm listening to "Mary did you know" on repeat in preparation for singing it next week at our Bible study? i don't know why it hit me so hard, but the notion that "Nothing embodies the holiday season like Santa"  sickened me. i'm not going to tell you that incorporating santa into your Christmas tradition is bad or evil or terribly misleading for your kids. i've heard all the arguments and i know everyone has their own convictions on the issue, some stronger than others. i've always been sort of indifferent. we don't make a great big deal out of him, but we also don't act like he's an instrument of satan, ...

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14 NIV) I think about this passage often. I think about what a “city on a hill” might look like to those in the valley gazing up at that hill. I think about what it means to be the light of the world to a lost and hurting humanity. If you had asked me six or seven years ago, I would’ve told you that shining the light of Christ meant reading my Bible everyday, praying with my kids at mealtimes, going to church every Sunday and serving in some way. It was a checklist of “dos and don’ts” I followed at all costs. You know, standing up for my convictions? Add in a Facebook status with a snippet from Sunday’s sermon, and I was really on track. In a nutshell, it was like a litmus test for myself, so people could know I was a Christian. But that was the extent of it. As I started reading the Word more, I began to realize that this wasn’t the message for which Christ gave His life. He brought us a messag...

i had the opportunity to sing at my old church last week, for the thursday morning women's bible study i used to attend. i chose "Born in Me" by Francesca Battistelli, and once you hear it, you'll know why. it's from The Story album, which is a collaboration of many artists, the songs written from the perspective of various Biblical characters. from start to finish, the album tells "the story" of God's love for us in sending His Son to save us. "Born in Me" is Mary's song. my absolute favorite lines [possibly of any song ever] are the following: i am not brave. i'll never be. the only thing my heart can offer is a vacancy. i'm just a girl. nothing more. but i am willing, i am yours. can't you just imagine that's exactly how Mary felt? i get it. i feel this way daily. and even though it's not scripture, i take comfort in thinking these were her thoughts. really, it doesn't matter what we think of ours...

you have one more day to be my baby... tomorrow morning we'll wake up, we'll get in the car and we'll drive to the hospital, and you'll become a big sister. technically, you won't be my baby anymore. you'll be my big girl... God has equipped you in so many ways to be a big sister. you are kind and thoughtful and compassionate, always looking after others and making sure they're happy and comfortable. you love to help me around the house, and you love little babies. your family is so important to you. i believe you will be Tessa's favorite and best friend, almost by default, and i hope that each day you choose her to be yours too i pray that you grow to be the kind of girl, teenager, woman that she can look up to. you love to do right, and you love positive reinforcement. i pray i can nurture that desire into a love for goodness and mercy and mostly just Jesus. Tessa will need you. you will identify...

this is a daily occurrence. my shoes are constantly scattered across the house from little feet prancing around in them for hours, magic wand in hand, directing the invisible symphony that i'm certain plays beautifully in her head. someday she will actually fit into my shoes and i'll want to slow down time as she slips out from under my wing and into the real world. i know this is how life is supposed to happen, but it makes my heart hurt a little. i do cherish each milestone, but i know i'll miss this once it's passed. i can already see how she'll always be watching and learning from me. i will show her how to be a woman, a wife, a mother, a friend. i will show her how to love and serve and encourage. she needs so much from me. they're big shoes to fill, but i intend to fill them until she must fill them up herself.  someday she'll dress up and head out the door to her senior prom. and, Lord help us, a long aisle where her ...

can you believe christmas is only 12 days away? it always sneaks up on me. are you done with your shopping? i'm not either, but i thought i'd help you out a bit. tomorrow, december 14, is the very last day to order to ensure Christmas delivery.  every order that's placed by friday at midnight will be shipped out saturday morning and you'll have it in time to frame and wrap and give! as a little incentive, and a great way to cross off those last few people on your list, the shop is on sale. yep, i know. you're welcome.

okay, so i'm know i'm not alone when i say that i love getting happy mail. whether it's a simple hand-written note, a little goodie, or even a christmas card, i LOVE opening anything that isn't bills. amen? so i put a bunch of notecards  in the zazzle store . they're really inexpensive [and on super sale today] so why don't you grab one of each! i love having them on hand for whenever i feel inspired to jot a little note and send it along to a friend [which really needs to happen a lot more often]. anyway, check them out: buy here: 1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8 buy here:   9  |  10  |  11  |  12  |  13  | 14 | 15 [click here for more notecards] all cards are 75% off today! that includes christmas cards that i showed you here oh, and iPhone cases are 40% off today , just thought i'd throw that out there :) these are t...

well. this post is hard for me to write. because i feel a little bit like a failure, but mostly an imposter . remember when i told you about Babywise , and i even posted a video all about how to get your child to sleep through the night and acted like i was this expert? yeah... well it turns out i'm not. you know how i have a ten month old baby? and, you know how she wakes up once or twice every night? some of you are thinking  well, duh. and i told you so . but here's what i want you to know:  it's really hard for me to admit defeat.  i want to share my heart with you; the deep, dark, ugly, and triumphant parts, and i just want you to hear me . i hope you'll honor that. i almost turned off the comments except that i want to leave them open for anyone that might be struggling like i was. so, do you remember when i wrote about  how i haven’t slept in almost a year  and how i feel like there’s no end in sight. you guys, sleep-deprivation is so...

so, Christmas is coming up faster than i'd like to admit. and i don't know about you, but i have a huge family, which means lots of gifts to buy. i love giving gifts, but some years are harder than others, you know? luckily,  i like making things. and i like to think that people like receiving things from me that i've made. i could be wrong, but i'm just going with it. every Christmas i'll make a gift for at least one person on my list. a tight budget + a huge family + creative juices = handmade gifts. this year, i invited some of my friends to share their best "DIY holiday" gift ideas with you, for a little series that i'm calling: i want you to meet Lindsy ! she blogs over at Space for Joy and i love her writing so much. she has a beautiful heart, but she's also a crafty girl, so asked her to show you her idea for a DIY holiday today [oh, and i'm writing over at her place today, too. just fyi] First of all, thanks to Aly for inv...

Christmas is fast approaching. All my decorations are in place and Christmas music is playing around-the-clock. I close down the house each night, turning off lights and starting the dishwasher. It’s my favorite time of day, when I have a few moments with my own thoughts. I sit in the living room, lost in the tree lights. My eyes drift to the nativity my mom bought me for my first married Christmas eight years ago. I think about Mary, and about how she must have felt when the angel told her she would bear the the Savior of all mankind. Scared, unsure, feeling ill-equipped, she was called to a path that no one else in all of history would ever travel; the very thing that God had ordained for her before the foundations of the earth. I think about us, here in two thousand twelve. How God has uniquely purposed our lives, too. But I wonder if we expect His plan to be neatly packaged? When we say yes to God, do we assume He’ll go before us and unravel all the knots and iron out the ...

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