John 15:5

Sometimes in our walk of faith we forget the simple ideas. We get so caught up in everyday life and needs, that sometimes the clear purpose hits us right in the face. A refreshing feeling it is to run across something so blunt. To be reminded of His promise, comfort, love, and strength. I believe without him I can do nothing.

"I am the roots; you are the branches.

If a man remains in me and I in him,

he will bear much fruit;

apart from me you can do nothing."

Have a wonderful week!

Kenlie

Heaven paper bounded

For those of you that know me the slightest bit know that I'm all about cleanliness, organization, a plan, a purpose, definitely some order, and certainly a manageable space. I'm a firm believer that you can get more accomplished when you know right where things are and if you have easy access to things. I'm the girl with a colored coded closet, objects all faced in the same direction (ex: pens and markers), things that are carried to the car go out of the car, so on and so forth. Think I'm nuts? That's OK, it drives my loved ones crazy too. I've been like this my entire life! Its second nature to think and be this way. And I love it!

Anyway.. I am always looking for a great new find and inspirational ideas about how to make things better. Magazines have definitely always been my go to place. Needless to say, I thought I was loving life with "Organization" and "Storage" (which can be picked up at your local magazine stand, and highly recommended), until I found this...

Fabulous find "Real Simple" is. My OCD cousin (guess it runs in the family) couldn't believe I have never discovered this magazine before now. Guess it was because I didn't think it was possible to top my two trusties.

But I was wrong, because I continued looking and...

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!! Heaven on earth paper bounded. I saw the glow and heard the "AWWWWWWW" when I first set my eyes on this beauty.

Let me put it in layman's terms. I felt as if I just met someone that I had interest in. I can compare each turn of the page with a new conversation that keeps my interest and making me return for more. I'm in love. Every time I look at this simple book it gets better and better.

You might think I'm crazy. And that is OK. Its little things like this that are very much appreciated by me. I dare you to look at it next time you are standing in the check out line. You'll see.

Happy Organization!

Always,

Kenlie

A day in the creek..

My future plans are to introduce to you the little kids I watch all the time. I wouldn't even call it watching, more like spending time with my little brothers and a sister. I would claim all 6 of them (2 different, but related families) as my very own and wouldn't hesitate to do anything at all for either family. 10 years and counting has formed many memories, tons of laughs, a strong love, and the greatest stories. The saying "kids say the darnedest things," I have complete evidence for. Hate to break it to ya, but the introduction for each is going to have to wait. But I will share this, "Hey guys strike a pose and I'll take your picture," results in this...

What else would you expect in gender differences? HA!

This is Cooper and Libby today in the creek at the park. Hilarious these two are.

Hope you had a great Tuesday!!

I have a special treat for you next blog post.. a little thing I like to call "organization," my most favorite thing to do in the whole wide world!! Get excited..

Always,

Kenlie

To keep you in the know

With nothing else to say, here is what I've been up to lately....

** Wednesday I was driving to work in the "first day of school traffic" and had several thoughts:

1. I'm completely thankful for my college degree. And the simple fact school is no longer in my everyday schedule.

2. I'm totally loving what I do. And 100% content with it having absolutely nothing to do with my degree. And I have completely excepted that. It makes me happy, keeps the bills paid, and allows me to be me and also use a talent I was blessed with. And that is all that matters to me.

3. I am so glad I didn't spend the end of my summer worried about decorating a classroom, learning names of students, writing lesson plans, and trying to figure out the easiest way to germ-x a classroom.

** I have officially finished season 1 of GossipGirl and can not wait until tomorrow so I can mark "Target- GG S2" off my ToDo list

** Sorority Recruitment is taking place this week. Kind of a weird feeling to not have work week for the first time in 3 summers. Not complaining though.

** My youngest sister started her SR year of high school. Talk about making you feel old. I'm still not over the fact she started driving 2 years ago.

** Clare moved to Dallas. Kind of a weird feeling to not be in the same state. But she is down there for grad school, so I guess that is ok.

** I recently took someone's last name out of my contacts in my phone. Now identified on a first name bases. That's a big step.

** I am sick of summer and ready for a change of season. I'm looking totally forward to seeing what the "real world" is like without balancing a class schedule. I'm ready for football season. Wearing fall clothes and all my boots.

** I've had many laughs lately and lots of classic quotes. A few involving:

1. Account Kirsten's accent and completely unaware until I called it out by laughing "We can just tie the candy onto the "ada badle." AKA WATER BOTTLE. We still laugh 4 days later and convinced that we will never use "water bottle" in our vocabulary.

2. For those of you that know me, know a third grader could beat me in a spelling contest. Spell check, dear friends, and this lovely red line the MacBook offers are all true blessings to me. I wrote "diamods" in a quote on a canvas to sell in the store. Suppose to be "diamonds." Classic Kenlie.

3. Blake informed Alex and me that "she knows all the juicy gossip up and down Maple St because she is a gamma chi!" Anyone that knows Blake, knows she is a mess and this quote fits her to a T. HAHA!! Alex and I probably wont ever let her live that down.

** Starbuck's shaken green tea with lemon aid is what I now crave on a regular basis.

** "Fabulous" has been a word I have been using day to day for about a month now in my vocabulary.

With the busy days I've had, I thought I would share with you my thoughts, changes, and obsessions. I guess everyone is entitled to a pointless blog, here is mine. : ) I hope you had a wonderful week. Happy Friday!!!!

**And Remember: If you know anyone going through rush or moving into a dorm room, don't forget us at Riffraff!!! We will be open on Sunday due to Bid Day being moved to 9AM Sunday morning. Good luck to all the girls out there turning in a pref card as well!!!

Always,

Kenlie

Riffraff is ready for RUSH!!

Life since the beach has been very.... creative! As you know my great sweet little friend Kirsten owns a local interior store here in Fayetteville. Merchandise she sales in one of a kind, full of bright colors, funky styles, and best of all, created by local artists around the area. If you haven't stopped in at Riffraff, shame on you, but you better go!! I promise you will fall in L-O-V-E! If you follow Kirsten or Riffraff you know I joined her team a few months ago to help her with just about anything that needs to be done. Or I try to anyway. Our mission here lately is operation RUSH! Oh yes, you got it right! University of Arkansas sorority recruitment begins this week and oh is Riffraff ever so ready!! Here is why life has been so creative lately...

You take one of these...

Add some of this with a spice of idea...

And TA-DA!!! You get this...

And the Greek display looks fabulous!!!...

Pretty cute huh? So.. If you, your sister, best friend, cousin, neighbor, daughter, loved one, aunt, old elementary friend, girlfriend.. ANY FEMALE, is going through rush. Go to Riffraff!! All of the greek stuff is oh so cute, and Riffraff would love to help you find that perfect unique gift for anyone!

On the same note, if you don't know anyone going through rush, remember Riffraff is an interior store, THEREFORE, it has GrEaT dorm room stuff as well.

So here is the deal.. Go to Riffraff for your one shop stop for all greek and dorm room stuff!

* * * * *

So that's what I've been up to lately. 9AM-4AM working on fun store stuff with my best pal Kirsten. We've made quite the memories and had lots of laughs, we have realized we have a unique talent in packing the car, we are waiting on our Thank You note from Sonic for keeping them in business, and in return, we should probably write them one for helping keep us awake. But don't worry.. its not stopping here. Our fun ideas and unique creations only are going to get better! So fun!!

(And because I don't know how to insert a link to a post..)

Check out Riffraff @ shopriffraff.blogspot.com

*or add it as your friend on Facebook "Riffraff Fayetteville"

*and of course Twitter updates and discounts "ShopRiffraff"

Hope your last week was just as fun as mine!!

Happy Sunday!

Kenlie

Already Friday?

I can't believe this vacation has gone by so quickly! Tomorrow is already Friday and our last day on the beach. The past few days have consisted of a lot of relaxation, perfection of the tans, good food, lots of laughs, and as you can see, many pictures!

View of the street at the end of the driveway

Our temporary residence

It takes a very special man to raise 3 daughters. We love him unconditionally and try to keep his style up to par!

"You know you live in a house full of women when you find yourself asking where your panties are" Dad

One of my bestest friends, my Mom.

Blaker P and I on the beach.

She makes me laugh, gets on my nerves, knows my deepest secrets, shares my clothes, but through it all she will always be my best friend.

The 3 of us.

Like most siblings, we didn't much care for each other when we were younger. Growing up it was common for there to always be two getting along and one being left out. Now that we are older, I couldn't be more thankful, more blessed, or more proud to be the big sister of these two. I thank God daily for giving me not only two sisters, but my two best friends!

"Lord, thank you for these two. Thank you for our laughs, our tears, our memories, our wonderful parents, and our friendship. Please continue to work in us and through us. Bring us even closer together and to you. Please forgive us daily for our clothing arguments. Amen."

Typical.

The whole crew

Hang onto him B, we approve!!

Cody, Alex, and me

Blake and Cody

The most humorous couple I have ever met. I love you both.

Blake and Cody taking in the day's events

Talking to a special someone while waiting at dinner.

(And yes, I was happy, just listening very closely)

That's all I have for now folks! I'm sure there will be plenty more to come. I must say I love this place, and could probably live here if it wasn't for the sand everywhere and the sticky/salty air. Ha, which I realize are two large factors. I'm not so much looking forward to the drive home, but I am, in a very small way, ready to come back. I miss my bed, my dearest friend Kirsten and her store, Starbucks green tea shaken with lemonade, the little boys I babysit, and my paintbrush that is awaiting all my new thoughtful creations!! I also need to know if my car has hail damage, it has me worried sick!! But must confess, I am absolutely LoViNg the feeling of walking into a store that is advertising for "Back to School," knowing that never in my life do I have to go back. Unless of course I teach, which is a whole different blogging topic!

Love from Destin,

Kenlie

Destin so far..

The 5 Posey's, Blake and Alex's boyfriends, Uncle Bill, Tina, Douglas, and Mary Kate have all been making great memories in Destin, FL since Saturday. I must add the trip down here was not the most ideal situation. In all my years of coming to one of my most favorite places, I must say I have never seen so many people. Driving down here took way too long, there was road construction and lengthy lines to every bathroom between Fayetteville and Destin, after we got here we couldn't find anything reasonably quick under a 2 hour wait, so we concluded to go to the grocery store. Terrible, horrible idea. Lets just say we couldn't move our little shopping cart, there was only three half gallons of milk left, no ketchup, maybe 5 choices of cereal on a whole isle of nothing but cereal, no turkey for sandwiches, and so on.. I'm not kidding. But ever since that first little night everything has been fabulous!! Here are some pictures and some side comments, don't worry, there will be more to come!!

Welcome to Destin...

Steven, Mary Kate, and Cody hanging out by the water.

Cody's ideal beach relaxation.

Steven and Cody hard at work

Project complete! Nice work gentlemen!

This is where you can find me. "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers

(this is a must read for those of you that haven't read it.. oh my!! I'm addicted.)

Precious little couple. Alex and Steven.

Douglas, Alex, and Steven

Dinner is served...

Tonight we had a fabulous dinner at Crab Trap, one of our most favorite places. Below are some random photo moments. (Blaker P, not sure why there aren't too many of you, but I will catch your face tomorrow.)

A story I have to share...

Above is a picture of two random little boys playing in the water on the deck. Typically just a normal situation when you come right off the beach, right? Not so much this time. For those of you that have been to the Crab Trap, you know that it sits right on the beach and typically people waiting to eat their meal will capture some pictures on the beach. This is what these little boys and their families just did. Took pictures, the "table ready buzzer" went off, Mom (in white) said it was time to wash sand off and go eat! Well, kind of. These little boys had a better idea. If you notice they are fully dressed in matching outfits, Mom is to the left in white, and the little boy in the front to the right has his hair parted really funny. This is because when Mom said it was time to clean up and go eat, that particular little boy thought she was telling him to wash off head to toe. Ha! Normally a typical story for little boys, expect for the fact it was about to go sit in the restaurant and eat dinner. Soaking wet. Not the most ideal situation, but we all enjoyed watching them have a good time! And I'm sure their parents were just glad this happened after the picture taking.

I just had to share that little story with you all. It made for a good laugh!

Well, that is our Destin vacation in a nutshell so far! More pictures and stories to follow. I hope all is well and everyone is having a wonderful first week of August!

Much love from Florida!

Kenlie

I can explain..

So as of Saturday I have been at the beach. I know I am really slacking in my blogging and I do apologize. Last Wednesday into Thursday I stayed with the Clark's, which are two little boys I babysit, Thursday was my 23rd birthday (getting old, I know!!) , Friday I worked and packed, and Saturday I was in the car all day. Please don't worry I have great pictures and stories to come. I just thought I would leave you guys a short memo and my love!! : ) Hope all is well.