The Polyvore Files!

Welcome to The Polyvore Files link up! The rules are simple, in that there are no rules. Just get as creative as possible on Polyvore and come link it up with either myself or Joni. We'd love to have you!

I am super excited to be blogging today, because I can finally say that I'm buying my dream bike. I seriously walk past it every time I'm in Target, and I just about die of cuteness every time. Well, after stepping on the scale earlier this week, I decided to venture out and try to keep myself a little better toned. Since I'm limited as to what I can do when working out, I knew a bike was my perfect option! The adorable bike is down below, and the dream outfit I'd be wearing on top of it is there too.

(Side note: Did yall know Vera Bradley sold hair accessories? I went in their store for a craft I'm hoping to post this week and just about lost my mind.)

Do yall ever bike? If so, where do you go? We have a little bike trail close by, but I think I'd use the little driving distance as an excuse not to just go around our block a time or two.

An InLinkz Link-up

Oceans

Today was just one of those days. I bet you know what I'm talking about. You wake up with a song in your head. You drive to your errands and play the song to get it out of your head. Then you turn on the radio, and the song is on. Then you get back in your car and the song is on again. Then you turn on Pandora and it's the first song played. Maybe you know the song I'm talking about? It's pretty great.

So finally after my third time hearing this song today, I just let myself get into the song. I just discovered it a few weeks ago, and as soon as I did, I played it on repeat for about 4 hours. I know it's been everywhere for the past year, and I've been apparently living under a rock. But I'm wondering if the reason I'm just now discovering it, and hearing it 19374189624 times a day is because of how badly I need this song these next few months.

It can be so easy to get caught up in the day to day monotony. Day in, day out: go to work, go to bed, repeat. Some days I just can't help but scream, "This isn't what God has planned for my life!" 

I've been struggling lately knowing what God has planned, and not even feeling close to achieving it. It's discouraging and heartbreaking and overwhelming and exhausting at times. That's why today, when I heard this song over and over again, I was so uplifted and encouraged to know that yes it's hard, but God is right there with me.

"When oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace."
There is nothing more clear than that. Life gets hard and discouraging, but we have the upper hand.
We have God.

"We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God who saved us in the first place and then called us to do His holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all His idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now." 

-2 Timothy 1:9-10(ish)

The Polyvore Files: If My Blog was an Outfit

Hello again, and welcome to The Polyvore Files link up! The rules are simple, in that there are no rules. Just get as creative as possible on Polyvore and come link it up with either myself or Joni. We'd love to have you!

I'm almost positive everyone and their mom has seen these posts going around this week. And you know you love it. It's such a cute idea, I couldn't pass it up!

Blog Outfit by kara-stone featuring a hair band headband

Feel free to come link up with us! Whether it be your own blog outfit, or whatever you'd like.

An InLinkz Link-up

My Mindy Project: Week 10

Hey bloggers, welcome back to My Mindy Project. Don't know what I'm talking about when I say My Mindy Project? I'm slowly going through Mindy Kaling's "Questions I Ask When I Want to Talk About Myself" on this blog. I'm hoping to do one question a week for the entire year!

What are some non-traumatic things that make you cry?

• My dog breaking one of his nails
• The ending of You've Got Mail "I wanted it to be you, I wanted it to be you so badly."
• Almost any Budweiser SuperBowl commercial
• The symptom checker on WebMD
• Strangers' proposal videos on YouTube
• "That shirt is HOW MUCH??"
• Ending a series on Netflix. "Well what will I watch now?" (I'm actually between series at the moment, if anyone has any suggestions!)

Leave your non-traumatic list in the comments, and maybe some Netflix suggestions. ;)

The Polyvore Files: Reading Nooks

Hello again, and welcome to The Polyvore Files link up! The rules are simple, in that there are no rules. Just get as creative as possible on Polyvore and come link it up with either myself or Joni. We'd love to have you!

Hi friends, I want to super apologize for missing the link up last week! I was in North Carolina, and blogging slipped my mind. Not to worry though, because I have the best set for you this week! Target had a huge home decor sale this week, leaving me with the table and lamp below. Along with two blankets that were $20 put together! It was really a beautiful thing, and I hope some of you got to take part in it.

Dream Nook by kara-stone featuring blue throw pillows

And now my dog is practically begging for me to take him outside, so I hope you ladies have a safe and blessed week!

An InLinkz Link-up

My Mindy Project: Week 9

Hey bloggers. It's been a long week. If you didn't see my last post (Yes, I might have written the word episode there first. Can we please acknowledge how addicted I am to Netflix?), I had a great vacation last week. And now I'm back to work and responsibilities. And actually blogging. I took a way too long break last week and feel like a stinker.

ANYWAYS. You know the drill with My Mindy Project now? I post a question from Mindy Kaling's 50 Questions I Ask When I Want to Talk About Myself and answer it. Not rocket science, correct? Anyways, my card for the week looks like this:

And the question of the week is:

"If you were to design personalized stationery, would you go to classic monogram, vintage-letterpress, or vibrant pattern design route?"

This question is tough. I love all types of design and I've been falling hard in love with stationery. (Is "falling hard in love" a term? It is now?) So I turned my sights to Etsy and made this precious Polyvore set:

Stationery by kara-stone on Polyvore

Do you own personalized stationery? I might dabble in designing a few styles tonight!

Questions You Didn't Ask

Fair warning, this post is going to be all over the place.

I just came back from one of my favorite vacations ever. (Hence the HUGE blogging break I accidentally took.) And yeah, it was only to North Carolina. I say "only" because a lot of people might not see that as a big deal, but to me, it's kinda everything.

So let's first answer the question everyone has been asking:
"If you love North Carolina so much, why did you move to Ohio?"
That's simple, I love my family. It's been great being around them for the holidays, and spending time closer to them. I've loved helping our church grow and learning through the experiences.
Even more though, I needed to get out of my situation in North Carolina to step back and set my priorities straight. In Charlotte, I was working 6-7 long days a week, living in a very odd situation, and mentally/emotionally depleted every single day.
I can easily say that God brought me to Ohio for a specific purpose.

Second question I've been getting a lot of lately:
"So you'd be going/coming back already?"
I have not committed at all to spending a long period of time in North Carolina. Yes, I've applied for an internship/job that could change my entire life and quite literally is my dream job. Yes, I know for a fact it's what God is calling me towards. No matter when or how it happens, it IS going to happen. There is such a strong pull in my heart towards this church. It's what inspired me into my field, and is easily something I could see myself doing forever and ever. But if I don't get the job, I could see myself staying in Ohio for awhile. I think that's part of what makes this job such a calling instead of a "career." There's pretty much nothing I wouldn't be willing to do to follow God's heart for my life.

Now you're probably wondering,
"What is this dream job?"
Here's where we're going to get a little emotional. I think I said it pretty well in this Facebook post yesterday:

This was immediately after I left the service, and I honestly just cried and cried such happy tears. I knew His presence was right with me in that moment, telling me "Pursue this."

Maybe just to expand a little bit, I should add that this is the first church I ever chose for my own. I grew up in churches my parents picked, which have always been phenomenal in their own way, but there is just something about Elevation Church that I cannot shake. The atmosphere is so loving and caring and giving and compassionate and accepting and I could literally go on forever. 

Last question you didn't ask:
"Why is she telling us all of this?"
I honestly don't know. I haven't even been accepted to the internship. Who knows if I actually will be? Maybe just to ask for your prayers and love. Partially just to get all my feelings spoken and heard.

And lastly, as I was leaving Elevation yesterday, I had this song on repeat over and over, and I simply had to share it. A 7 hour car ride can do that to you.



Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

The Polyvore Files: Tea Time

Hello again, and welcome to The Polyvore Files link up! The rules are simple, in that there are no rules. Just get as creative as possible on Polyvore and come link it up with either myself or Joni. We'd love to have you!

Quite recently, I've become something of a tea addict. There's nothing like unwinding with a cup of peppermint tea, relaxing in a green tea bath (don't knock it until you try it), or waking up to some spiced apple chai. I've had a few friends who have gone to high teas, and they always post pictures in these precious outfits. I don't know that I'd ever go to one, but if I did, I'd totally be caught in an outfit like this one:

Not that I own a big floppy hat, or like my hair could even pretend to curl that way. It's just nice to dream some times, right? Have you ever been to high tea before?