LINKS TO LOVE:

The EveryGirl shares eleven excuses to stop making in 2014.

Ann-Marie explains how she creates a fade effect on her photos using Photoshop. / I've always been curious on how to give my photos this tone, so this simple tutorial was so helpful.

Fun way to decorate utensils with washi tape

My sweet blogger-friend Amy started this amazing movement empowering women all over to believe in their loveliness. 

Kelly Purkey always manages to find the most BEAUTIFUL coffee shops out there. I developed a deep crush for this one

A recipe for a mint mocha shake - so making this one tomorrow

LIFE LATELY | OUT AND ABOUT

Monday, March 24, 2014

Winter is dragging itself out and March doesn't quite feel like March, unfortunately, but I'm trying my best to keep my days feeling fresh! Rearranging furniture, booking flights, showing school spirit, and reading the Word. Check.

    


BOOKS OF THE SEASON : MARCH 2014

Sunday, March 16, 2014

march books

A good book can make me so smitten. :) Reading has always been a favorite hobby of mine and I can get lost in a story for hours. Lately, I have been indulging in these reads and I am so, so, so thankful for strong Christian female authors who remind me of my identity as a daughter of God. Here are a few that made me feel alive in this season. (Fun fact: I am never one to read one book at a time. I am always elbow deep in multiple narratives.) 

COLD TANGERINES : SHAUNA NIEQUIST
You all know what a big girl crush I have on Shauna Niequist, when I saw that this one was less than $3 for the Kindle version, I couldn't resist myself. I read this one last semester and it was a quick one to go through. It's random vignettes of her life, but you find yourself nodding along because it's chock-full of such true words. It makes you want to be thankful for even the very air you are breathing!
"You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural."
THE GOOD & BEAUTIFUL GOD : JAMES BRYAN SMITH
I was given this book as a Christmas gift my sophomore year, and it drastically changed the way I practiced my spiritual walk. It taught me to slow down and shifted the way I view God into the one Jesus knew. The one who is good and beautiful. :) Each chapter goes through a different facet of God (loving, just, faithful, etc.) It corrected so many of my false views of God with new ones. :) I try to read this at least once every year, and I learn something new each time. I don't think I will ever get tired of reading it. 

RESTLESS : JENNIE ALLEN
It's funny that I initially picked up this book because the cover caught my eye at a book store. They say to never judge a book by its cover, but for this one, I am very happy I did. :) I flipped through it and continued to read the synopsis on the back cover because the design inside was just beautiful. I purchased it because the synopsis was about being restless for wanting live a life the way God intended.  It was the perfect read to accompany me as I entered in my second semester of senior year. It made me fall in love with the story of Joseph all over again, and more importantly, the God of Joseph. It reminded me that God is intricately writing a story for me using all of my gifts, pains, weaknesses, and strengths. All of it.

ANYTHING : JENNIE ALLEN
I love the way Jennie Allen writes and after "Restless," I wanted to read more. I just started on Friday so I'm only in the beginning of it, but I can never seem to put it down. Allen is so vulnerable in this book and really makes me question if I know God or if I just know about God—and why that difference is important. She shares on her own personal walk and random encounters with people along the way that have revealed God in unexpected places. I'm praying that as I continue to read this book, paired with my daily QT, God will reveal more of Himself to me and help me to live with freedom like I never have before.

:) I hope one of these pique your interests! Like I said, I like discovering new books so if you have any recommendations, feel free to leave a comment and tell me what books you are enjoying! 



BABY STEPS (MARCH)

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

I haven't shared a "baby steps" post in awhile, and although we are already half-way through March, I wanted to take a beat to share how I can be more intentional for the rest of the month. Life was so busy with job interviews, trips, presentations; and today I finally had a huge chunk of time to myself to just be. It was GRAND. I took my time cooking a meal, and took even longer to eat it. I (finally) cleaned my room so that the floor was visible, and rearranged some furniture. New vibes. Now here I am sharing March's baby steps. Ya ready? :)

This is March's baby steps: 



NEW SERIES | I have two series ideas in the works, and I want to implement one of them this month! They are both completely inspired and aligned to my blog name, coffee & honeycomb, each in different ways. (: I'm so excited to share them with you. The first one is "coffee in photos" which I actually posted on recently, but I thought it would be fun to share fun photos of coffee each week! The second series idea is actually a guest post series, which I will announce in the near future. Meanwhile, if you happen to find any crisp coffee photos, please send them my way. (:

ETSY | I plan on opening an Etsy shop! Nothing too fancy, just digital downloads of graphics/prints.

INVITATION | I will be designing a wedding invitation! My friend's older sister, as well as my mentor, is getting married this summer and asked if I'd be up for the job. :) I excitingly agreed. I've never designed a wedding invitation, so this will be a fun but scary venture for me. 

2 WATER, 1 COFFEE | This is a step towards healthiness. I drink way too much coffee, and not enough water. So I have decided to start a new habit of drinking two cups of water for every cup of coffee I drink! That way, I don't have to forgo my coffee habits. Win, win?

BIG NEWS | I have big news... I want to muster up the boldness to share it with y'all this month.

LENT | It is the season of lent. :) What am I giving up? Television. I know my tv habits can be excessive at times, especially when I want to turn my brain off or hide away from problems, so for forty days, I want to be intentional with turning off the tv and turning in more towards the word. I am excited for what is in store for my soul, time, and relationship with the Lord as I do this! *Confession: I did watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy last night because I had a free hour to do and felt at peace with doing it. For me, lent is less about just meeting a goal and more about depending more on Jesus instead of tv. I want lent to be steps toward life transformation, and I never think cutting off something completely is always healthy, so if I can watch an episode of tv here and there without turning it into a full on marathon, I think that's okay. :) I'll share again if my thoughts change on this. 

What are your thoughts on the lenten season? What does your March look like? :)

TAKING A STEP BACK.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014




Today I am making a vow to stop apologizing around here. It's an odd thing to vow to; almost offensive.

It's not because I don't mean it, but every time I sit down to write what I intended to, I feel the urge to first apologize for not showing up sooner. I want to explain myself and explain why that week in particular was so busy and how I meant to post or how I missed blogging... All things that are true, but once I begin, I find myself wallowing in my excuses, feeling a bit defeated for not having a better grip on my time. My honest words stare back as reasons why I'm not very good at blogging and I should probably not continue. So I close the screen without thinking twice. 

I'm realizing that apologizing for life moving too fast is not a very conducive way to start moving again. It takes a bit to get back on your feet—and I have to learn that that's okay. Sometimes good things take time. 

I've tried editorial calendars, weekly series, and pre-posts to help with a consistent blogging schedule, but at least in this season for me right now, none of them seem to help. In fact, they seem to make blogging more difficult! There are nights when I am filled with inspiration and good news, and want to share them with you, but then I remember Friday is coming up and I'm supposed to share a graphic. Or it's Monday and I'm supposed to talk about professional development. All topics I enjoy and were my idea to begin with, but they were put in place to be helpful, and if they're not being helpful then I should take a minute to reevaluate. 

I like writing about professional development and creating graphics, don't get me wrong, but I want to have grace for myself that if I can't do it that week, then it's okay. I don't have to avoid the blog all together, I can just write about what I want to write. I hope that's okay with you, too. One day, I'd like to have a more structured set up, but I don't think now is the time. I really respected certain blogs because they had more structure and series to follow, and I thought if I implemented those, too, my readership would grow and Coffee & Honeycomb's identity would grow, but if it's not working for me, then I have to learn to accept that. If I'm right about one thing, I hope it's this.

Coffee & Honeycomb is a space for us to feel okay in our smallness, to show up as no one but ourselves, to let our souls breathe and feel safe in our skin. I never want it to be anything but that. So if I every veer off track, then I want to be honest enough to acknowledge it and turn back around. 

I wrote the purpose of Coffee & Honeycomb last November, and I forgot. I do apologize for that, forgetting the true purpose and turning it into a platform to find worth and significance. Here is what I wrote in November to remind myself what this place is really about: 
Coffee & Honeycomb is entirely dedicated to him, it's a love story to Him, and a live, beating heartbeat and reminder that God loves me. My only response is to share the good news with the rest of the world, too, hence, the title "Coffee & Honeycomb." It is a declaration of the ways God has been so good to me and because I believe that His words are sweet to the soul and bring healing to the bones, Coffee & Honeycomb exists. 
So, I'm saying now that there will be no more apologies for late posts here on out. :) I hope you know that it's implied; that I do cherish Coffee & Honeycomb and regret when I am MIA for an extended period of time, but I'm throwing it out of my language so that I never view blogging as a burden but as a release. 

I hope you, too, join with me and take a step back: what is holding you back? what is something you want to stop apologizing for? as a blogger, have you ever had a time where you had to take a step back and changed things around?

THE LIEBSTER AWARD!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Last week, Ella from the Paper Umbrella Blog nominated me from the Liebster award! (: The Liebster award is an award for blogs with less than 200 followers to promote and share blogs alike in size.

THE RULES:
- Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
- Answer the ten questions given to you by the nominator.
- Nominate other bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
- Create ten (or so) questions for your nominees to answer.
- Let your nominees know you nominated them.

Thanks, Ella, from the nomination! You are always too, too kind. Find her blog here to check out her answers. (:

Here are my answers to Ella's questions:

1.) Tell me the story of your blog name.

When I began Coffee & Honeycomb, I wanted to create a space for people to show up as no one but themselves, to find connection and healing in my store, and walk way inspired. For me, coffee dates have always been that for me. You have coffee dates with those you trust, and it's usually on those tables where you learn more about your date and more about yourself. I wanted to be someone's virtual coffee date. I wanted my blog to feel like it was a one-on-one meet, with two people who trusted each other, by sharing pieces of my life, from fun photos or vulnerable truths, I wanted it to bleed all over this blog. So that's where the "Coffee" of the title comes in. Honeycomb is based off a verse in Proverbs when it says, "gracious words are a honeycomb; sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Although it gets fuzzy or difficult at times, I try to share every word with that in mind, for it to be a honeycomb for someone. I want my words to be sweet to someone's soul and bring healing to their bones. (:

2.) If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
I would go to Korea! Or India! Both places have always fascinated me.

3.) Coffee or tea? And why?
Definitely a coffee person. :) Are you surprised?

4.) If you could go back five years and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Be happy in your own skin. Don't try to be anyone but yourself. There is only one you, so be the best version of that.

5.) Where would you live if money/jobs/distance from family and friends didn't matter?
I want to live somewhere warm. I've never traveled too much within the states, so I think somewhere on the coast would be just spectacular. :)

6.) If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Oh gosh, I wish I could share some fabulous outfit that makes me look like a million bucks, but right now, all I seem to be reaching for is a pair of sweats and a noodie. It is the most comfortable thing ever and I wish I could wear this everyday.

7.) What's your favorite quote?
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." I have a lot of ambitions and dreams, but I never want to put them above being a loving person. This is something I will always have to work on, and I want to strive to always make the people around me feel loved.

8.) What's your spirit animal?
LOL. Man, I feel like I'm asked this question a lot for some reason and I can never think of a good answer to this. However, my spirit animal would have to be Beyonce. I know, I know—that's not an animal. But it's Beyonce. C'mon.

9.) Favorite kind of flower?
Peonies! Carnations! :) :) :)

10.) Favorite thing to blog about?
Can I say everything? :) But really, my favorite thing to blog about is about being inspired. Whatever that means, whatever that looks like. It's also my favorite thing to read about. 

Thank you, again, Ella for the nomination and for thinking of me! Here is another questionnaire I did, thanks to Ella, too! Click here.





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