i read: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

As part of my weekly goal setting using irunurun, I have been trying to read more regularly. I used to be someone who took ages to finish a book, and often lost interest because it was taking me so long. Well last week I finished a great book and I wanted to share a little about it with you as it impacted me so much.



Donald Miller is a lovely creative writer, and i have read a few of his books. His latest book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" was such an empowering and challenging story I wanted to share a little about it on here, to inspire you to go read it as well.

To give you a little back story, back in 2003 Donald Miller wrote a book "Blue like Jazz" about his life story. This went on to become pretty popular, and Miller got contacted about making the book into a movie, which will be released next year. "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" picks up where Miller is editing his book to become the screenplay for the movie. To book follows Miller as he learns about 'what makes a good story' and how he implemented these writing theories into the way he lived his life.

Miller writes...

“We have to force ourselves to create these scenes. We have to get up off the couch and turn the television off, we have to blow up the inner-tubes and head to the river."

This may sound a little weird, but trust me, this book is full of inspiring stories of people Miller met, getting off their couch and beginning to really live life. Sometimes in life we need a little kick up the butt, to shake us up and not get complacent. To realise we need to seek adventure and not wait for a great life to come to us.

The following is a paragraph that really resonated with me about conflict...

"I was watching the news the other night, and they were still covering that story in Mumbai about the terrorists who when on a shooting ramage. The man on the news said that before the terrorists killed the Jews in the Jewish centre, they tortured them. I had to turn off the television, because I could see the torture in my head the way they were describing it. I kept imagining these people, just living their daily lives, and then having them suddenly ended in unjust tragedy. When we watch the news, we grieve all of this, but when we go to the movies, we want more of it. Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are in.
We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller.

So, go on, go read "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller.
-kim

ps. if you have read this book, i would love to know your thoughts. comment below and let me know what you thought of this book.

big news

Things are going to get a little different around here soon. In 3 months today, (yes, Christmas Day) we will be saying our goodbyes and leaving Australia to begin a new life overseas. We are moving to France. We don't fully know where, and we are very much stepping out into the unknown and as scared as we are, we are very excited for what is ahead. Before ending up in France we will be having a little holiday, beginning in Michigan, then New York, then Iceland.

If you have any travel recommendations for New York or Reykjavík please pass them on. We would love to hear your recommendations.

We are so excited to see where this blog will go as we head on our adventure. We will try and blog just as much, but we have a busy few months ahead of us, as we sort through our belongings, and get rid of much of what we own.

If there is anything you have previously seen in our home and you would like it, let us know, because almost everything has got to go.

thats all for now.
- morgan and kim

ps. did you see our submission to the burning house??

diy round up

So in the past week or so I've completed a couple of great DIY's which I have made following some great online tutorials. Here is four simple and fun DIY's, all of which can be completed in around an hour.


i made a pair of shorts from a tutorial from maycie after five


i made an awesome tote bag from a tutorial from megan nielsen design diary


i made a skirt from a tutorial on the etsy blog


and my lovely sister sarah made me a wrap bangle from a tutorial from lune vintage

I hope this inspires you to get crafting this weekend. If none of these projects tickle your fancy, you can find a heap of other great tutorials I have on pinned on pinterest here and here.
-kim

ps. you might wonder why these projects were all so cheap to make. I have had some great luck recently, finding lovely material in the remnants box at my local craft store. Make sure you always check to see if there is anything worth your while in the remnants box. Great way to source fabric.

Instax friends

Here are a few silly Instax photos of some friends of ours.




"The friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you". ~ Elbert Hubbard.

Speaking of instant cameras and friends, our blog friend Cesar has a great giveaway going on for his blog's first birthday. Go check it out and share the birthday love. [congrats cesar]

-morgan

recycle: wedding dress

Last week I got a lovely email that brought a big smile to my face, and I thought I would share it with you. You see, when Morgan and I first got engaged, we decided we wanted our wedding not to be a big huzzah of just one day, but to make sure as many things as possible, were able to be used again some how. That was kinda easy for some things like our fabric bunting decorations, the tea cups, black boards and some of our clothes, but one thing I always hoped was able to be used again was my Wedding dress.



I loved that dress, well I still do, and so when I saw a friend of mine, who I knew had a similar style to me, got engaged I knew I should offer her the dress. She loved it and she sent me some pictures last week of her wedding day wearing my old dress. She altered it a little to bring her own spin, and don't they look amazing. I found it so incredible to see this dress be re-used again and for it not to be a one day dress.




I guess I want to encourage and challenge those of you who have been, or are about to be married, think about what you can do with the things you make/use for your wedding. That dress hanging in your cupboard could be perfect for someone else to enjoy on their wedding day.
-kim

re-style: pink dress

This little dress re-style has been a long time coming. I started sewing this dress back in april, finally finished it in August and only got around to taking photos last week. Well it's better late then never. Here is a dress that i fixed up for my sister. It started off as a massive size 22 dress that I got for $2 at an op shop. I loved the neckline straight away and new I could do something better with it.

I cut off the sleeves and re-shaped the shoulders. I brought in a bulk off the skirt and raised the waist. I have pretty much re-sewn this dress all over again, the only original part is the collar. I love how it looks on my sister sarah. It is made especially for her and i'm very happy with the result.

enjoy.
-kim

blogs we love.

Its been a few months since our first edition of blogs we love so we thought it was time to share a few more of our favourite blogs at the moment. You can find a full list of goodies here.

Kim is lovin...

Little eco footprints
I came across Tricia's blog only a few months ago, and I have been loving her practical tips and the inspiring example she is to live a eco lifestyle. This blog is so real and relevant and not the superficial trendy "green" tips you usually see around.


Skunkboy Creatures
Katie from Skunkboy Creatures makes the most adorable plush toys and also puts out a delightful blog. I have been enjoying her sweet fashion, fun diys and general sharing of life.


Morgan is lovin...


Deathtron Mountains
At the beginning of the year I got a tattoo of any image Ghost Patrol designed. I have always been a big fan of his work, and always love hearing about his very ventures.


andrew & cassissa
Kim has read these guys blog for a while, so I am a bit of a late comer. To put it simply their photos are beautiful.

We hope this can help you find a couple of new blogs you will enjoy. We would love to hear some of your favourites blogs you are lovin at the moment. Please share...
- morgan and kim

sprocket

As promised yesterday, here are a few shots taken recently with my sprocket rocket which I had developed this week. I'm love this camera the more and more I use it. I look forward to traveling with it by my side.








-morgan
ps. we got a new vinyl in the mail last week. Beruit just released his new album The Rip tide. check it out!

photographs

I recently got some film from my Pentax K1000 developed. Alot of the photos are from our recent camping trip.
Stay tuned tomorrow for some photos from my Sprocket Rocket.








Have a great weekend, take some photos.
-morgan

dresses in haiti

A few months ago I, along with a mighty team of others, started sowing pillowcase dresses to send to Haiti. Our friend Dani was going to be heading over with a team to help out at an orphanage and do a ton of other things to help out and make it more sustainable.

Well, Dani has now been to Haiti and came back last week. She just sent me a ton of cute pictures of the kids with their dresses. I just want to give a big THANKYOU all the ladies that helped out. What started as a little idea of mine to try and collect a few, turned into something much bigger. We had some lovely ladies from my Church, the Sunshine Coast Brown Owls team, and friends everywhere were making little dresses to send away. In the end we collected 101 dresses which went to the kids at the orphanage Dani was helping at, and other kids in the community. How great is that!
-kim






photo credit: dani harriott

the first day of spring

The First Days of Spring Official Trailer from charlie fink on Vimeo.

Today is the first day of Spring here in the southern hemisphere, and it is turning out to be a beautiful day. When I go to work this morning we listened to the whole album "The First Days of Spring" from Noah and the Whale . I had forgotten what a great album it was.

Tonight I am getting my hair cut. It is starting to get a little out of hand and I am so excited to see what Lisa, my lovely hairdresser, is going to do. I love getting my hair cut.

Tomorrow is my rostered day off from work, and I am going to sleep in, eat a big breaky with friends, and then go op shopping. I'm really looking forward to dressing in a pretty dress and hanging out with morgan. We don't get many full days together and so I am really excited about what we have planned tomorrow.

I told you it was turning out to be a beautiful day.
-kim