Your are what you look like...apparently.

This is a remembrance post of a (sort of) defining moment in my life. It randomly popped into my head yesterday as I was driving home in the rain after my small group meeting. Not sure why it popped up, but I thought I'd share it with you.

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Let's go back to...well, I'm not sure if it was 2005 or 2006? It was in May of one of those two years. I was 14 or 15 at the time.

I was sitting on a lunch break at a round table full of volunteers. Volunteers? Yes. It was at our church's annual golf tournament tournament (we use it as a way to raise money for Merge Ahead's youth missions) and I had been on sandwich making, pot cleaning, floor vacuuming, table setting duty all day.  

(None of this has to do with any part of the defining moment, other than it was the setting. Keep following me.)

I'm sitting there with a couple other people who had been helping prepare for the awards ceremony and dinner all morning, munching on On the Boarder chips and salsa, and talking about school and we were doing/wanted to do with our lives.

A college-aged girl (who we will call "Teal" though that is not her name), who was pursuing an education in something to do with History, decided she wanted to go around the table and try and GUESS what the rest of us (just barely in high school) wanted to do when we "grew up."

So, Teal starts guessing peoples hopes and dreams. (Just to clarify: No, it wasn't a weird "oooh, I have psychic powers thing." She was just trying to guess to make some small talk amongst a group of awkward high school kids.) She was giving it a thoughtful effort but was wrong every time. People would then correct her wrongness and she'd move to the next person. But seriously, who could guess something like that? At least we were all laughing as we got to know each other a little better.

  My turn came last. She looked at me for a minute, trying to analyze and form a guess.  "You...look like a writer." she finally said.

I looked back at her for a couple moments. "Seriously?" I asked, more than a little surprised.

"Oh no! Is that totally and completely wrong?" she said, thinking maybe she had offended me (I must have made a weird face. I make a lot of such things. My eyebrows are expert communicators, or so they think.)


"No. That is totally and completely RIGHT." 

I was shocked. It was a very strange moment. It wasn't like I was wearing a t-shirt that said "Future Writers of America" (in fact, I can tell you exactly what I was wearing! For some reason all my vivid memories come accompanied by outfits and smells. It is weird but true. I had on a navy blue David Beckham hoodie I had bought in London, a black hat, and a pair of jeans.) or like I had been quoting Shakespeare at her all morning. I hadn't mentioned books, I wasn't correcting anyone's grammar, I hadn't written a single thing. Nothing. No clues whatsoever.

But yet she looked at me, sitting there in my hoodie, stuffing chips into my face, and had guessed I was a writer.

 Seriously weird.  

I don't believe in psychics.( Neither did she. I assure you this girl had no abnormal mind reading powers. That would just be demonic) But I also don't believe in coincidences.  

Shortly before that time I decided what I wanted to do with the rest of my life was WRITE. Previously (almost my whole childhood) I had planned on being a Veterinarian. But at 14 there was a moment when something *CLICKED* and I realized what I was born to do (read about it here.) It was probably the most out of the blue decision of my life. I don't like change and that was a CHANGE! The idea scared me, but I knew it was what I was made for. I was told many times (still am) that is wasn't a real occupation and that I would probably starve or be homeless. People were a little worried. But I stayed resolute. I had found out what I loved to do and I was going to do it.  

And hearing out of the mouth of a random church attendee, that I had never spoken to before, that didn't know me or even my family, on a random day in the month of May, was almost like confirmation. No, I do not base what I do off this moment. No, I don't write because "Teal" said I looked like I should. That moment was just a little piece of what God was working in me. I was His kid and he believed in me, even if if felt like no one else would. It was a little reminder that He had a plan and that when I surrendered my plan to Him cool stuff happened. ( Is happening. Will Happen!) 

I'm a writer. Apparently I look like one (uh...well, I sure do look like no one else with my artsy wardrobe of second hand/vintage things, mixed with hats, bold jewelry, converse high tops, pirate shirts and boys clothes...). And writers write. So I do. Because I simply cannot do anything else.

How about you? What do you do? Is it what you love? How did you come about doing it? I would love to hear your story! 

My little Darlin'- $1 dresser remake project!

Remember this little piece of beat up junk beauty? This is my $1 side table/mini-dresser I bought at a tag sale a couple weeks ago. I told you I had plans for her and boy, did I follow through!

That "beauty" has been transformed. With a little creativity, a couple supplies and a bit of love I remade her. She is gorgeous now and I am so pleased. And a little proud of myself.

*HOW TO DECOUPAGE A DRESSER*

 by Isabella Kiss

Here's what you need.

1. A busted up piece of furniture you want to give new life to 

(mine was $1!!!!!)

2. A quart of paint. 

 (Around $9-11.)

I went with a can of Behr Satin "DareDevil" red.

It is suiting to me, unlike "modestly peach," or "coral expression." RED ALL THE WAY.

3. Mod-Podge (around $7) and a foam paint brush (cheap!)

This is just regular, original Mod-Podge. 

I couldn't find one specifically for wood at the craft store I went to, but I think they make one? This worked just fine though!

4. Old books you can desecrate and destroy.  

(The two of mine came to around $5 at Savers)
*If not books, you could also use newspaper, fabric, scrapbook paper, magazine cuttings, wrapping paper, or pretty much anything else flat and glue-able.
Check out the blog Mod-Podge Rocks! for more inspiration.

I went with a worn out dictionary, with faded pages, complete with little pictures next to some of the words

and a book of old English literature, complete with some of my classic favorites (Beowulf, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, William Shakespeare's songs and sonnets, Edmund Spencer's The Faerie Queene) (and yes, I am a literature geek who has read ALL of the above. Beowulf several times...)

5. A couple pieces of scrapbook paper, to use as draw-liners  

(something like 25-50 cents a piece)

6. A little creativity.

*Step one:

I lightly sanded the whole thing with a piece of sandpaper. Just enough to get any junk and gunk off. Wipe it off. Let it dry. Meanwhile, open the paint and give it a good stirring.

 

*homemade paint pants are optional. They are adorable and highly inspirational for just about ANY occasion, but especially painting. Or so I think.

*Step two:

Paint the parts you want painted. For me that was the handles and the 4 inside walls of the drawers (be careful not to get paint on the edges. It will cause your draws to stick shut. BAD!). Beware of drips!
It took me 3 coats of water-based DareDevil red to cover up the dark brown wood. You could either buy paint that is oil-based (which covers better but takes longer to dry, is harder to clean up, and smells), buy a primer, or just be patient and keep putting on coat after coat. Let each coat dry thoroughly before putting on another or moving to the next step.

*Step three:

(step 3 happened the day after step one and two, just so I was sure my paint was dry)

Begin destroying the books. Rip 'em up. I found my favorite passages (I actually ripped out ALL of Beowulf!) in the literature anthology and looked for my favorite words in the dictionary (I circled, in Sharpie, the really good ones like "Ardent"- my favorite word and one of my many nicknames, "Passionate," Raven," "Hilt" and "Pirate") and/or cute pictures.

*Step four: 

Take out your mod-podge and, with your foam brush, apply it to the surface of either the page or the furniture (either way works, but is tedious). Here is the hard part. Lay it down and TRY AND GET ALL THE BUBBLES OUT by pushing them from the middle out to the edge. This is a toughy. It is like putting up wallpaper only smaller, more detailed, and it wants to rip. Be patient. It takes practice.

Layer those pages (or paper, or fabric, or whatever you decide to use) on, one by one. Eventually you will have the whole surface covered. Put another couple coats of Mod-Podge on over the top. (I did 2 or 3) Varnish or some other sealant is optional at this point.

*Step five:
Just to finish it all off I cut a piece of scrapbook paper (2 sheets of polka dots, 2 sheets of striped!) to fit each draw and mod-podged them in there (don't forget the top coat!).

*Step six:
Let everything dry for a day.

*Step seven:
Bring it in your house, put it in its place. Stand back and admire your work. 
Tell yourself (and your family, and all those around...) that you are awesome! (okay, that was my method. It's optional).

 

 

Welcome home, beautiful, little, junky, tag sale dresser. And welcome home, jewelry that now lives in you!

*I am so pleased to now have organized jewelry! Top drawer for bracelets, the second for earrings and rings, the third for necklaces

( and the fourth for nail polish and lip gloss, as I had to put something in there). 

Yes. I have a lot of jewelry.  A lot of it is chunky bracelets, vintage or handmade necklaces, large earrings, and ONLY sterling silver rings. That is how I roll. I like it that way. And yes,for those who sometimes forget, I am a girl, believe it or not! I do have girly habits, like owning excessive amounts of jewelry, and it is all good. So ha!

I am so happy with how the whole project turned out! You should try something similar. It is cheap, relatively easy, and is a great way to express your unique sense of style! Do it! Do it NOW!

***ps: added bonus! Inside the dresser was someone's homework from like 1st grade, and some vintage (Halloween) stickers. I'm not big on Halloween, but there is one sticker on the sheet I am "big" on. The one that has a pirate face and says "Jolly Good." That alone was worth the $1 I paid for the dresser. 

  

"Jolly Good" sticker on the far right, towards the bottom. Adorable!

Autumn's Images (2)

Couple more images in my Autumn photography project.

A visit to my grandparent's country farm brought forth these photos. Take a looksy!

Voltage. 

A beast of a horse my grandparents board. He has gargantuan nostrils.

 

Women love to touch his manly face, though his nose is massive and his whiskers are prickly.

 He is a fine fellow, who likes to chew corn husks, just like all sophisticated gentlemen. 

(Isabella, you're nuts. What are you even talking about?) 

 The neighbor's Alpaca. He is the male of the pack(a) of Alpaca. 

(What do you call a group of Alpacas? A herd? A flock? I think it should be a pack-a, for sure.)

 Frocklicking Mama and Baby.

(How does she frolic with all that hair in her eyes?! Skills.)

 

Corn, just like every good farm should have.

 My Grammie grows pumpkins and gourds (and like...everything.) and then displays them on her countertops.

Welcome to New England Fall! Stay tuned for more Images of Autumn!

*In other news, hello to my 39 followers! 39 is almost like 40, which is nearly like 50, which is close to (my goal of) 100!!!! Thanks for choosing to follow along with my crazy, ardent, artsy, passionate, outside the box, to the hilt life. Keep up the good work people!

Quoteables - Create in me a clean heart, O God.

This is a Psalms post.

If you haven't noticed by now, I love the book of Psalms. I absolutely love it. I could come up with endless posts on this book, and I even might (as you people seem to comment positively and ask for more!).I try and read my Bible everyday, and a couple Psalms are always in my readings. It is definitely the most read book in my Bible. It is marked up and the side margins are filled with my notes and thoughts (usually when it gets too marked up I buy a new translation and start again).

Today I want to talk about Psalm 51. I've actually done a post on this Psalm before but I am going to do another. It is just that good. I have been reading it each time I open my Bible, out loud, for ...around 3 months now...and I want to share a little about it with you.

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin!
 ³ For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
   and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
   and blameless in your judgment.
⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
   and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶ Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
   and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
 ⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
 wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from your presence,
   and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and uphold me with a willing spirit.
 ¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   and sinners will return to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
   O God of my salvation,
   and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
   and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
   you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
 ¹⁸ Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹ then will you delight in right sacrifices,
   in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
   then bulls will be offered on your altar.

(That was The English Standard Translation. Click HERE for the text in The Message.)

Powerful right? What a picture of God's never ending mercy and unfailing love, even when we are ungrateful, wretched, rotten, habitually sinning messes.

But let me share something with you that will make this Psalm seem all the more powerful. It was written by King David, shortly after he made the 2 biggest mistakes of his life. This Psalm came out of a time he was crying out to God for much needed forgiveness, and God gave it to him!

(Quick background: David was king of Israel. He was a warrior and a worshiper. His army went out to battle, but he decided to be a bum of a leader and stay home and just let his mighty men defeat people for him. While he is sitting home his neighbor's-also one of his mighty men, named Uriah- wife decides she wants to take a bath. On the roof -yeah. Seriously?! Yes. Bathsheba bathes on roofs. Why? Anyway...Long story short, David finds Bathsheba, the roof-bathing wife of Uriah to be pretty good looking, so he decides to go and commit adultery with her while Uriah is out fighting. And oops, she gets pregnant. So David plans a cover up. He'll have Uriah come home on leave from battle, sleep with his wife, and everything will be fine! Nope. Doesn't work. Uriah is a noble man who will not leave his-actually DAVID'S- task; he stays on fighting beside his men. Uhoh. So instead David just sets up Uriah's murder. The King of Israel is now an adulterer and a murderer. A prophet comes and calls him out on his crap, and THEN David writes this Psalm. Wow. Context makes it seems even more amazing, yeah?)


People mess up.We're sinners. Sinners sin. King David, he messed up, BIG TIME.  David was a jacked up mess. But yet, God calls him "a man after His own heart." Jesus even came out of His family line and was called "The Son of David" in the New Testament. What??!!!! But David was a disaster! God, you are so amazing!

I mess up. No, I don't plan murders or commit any "big" sins, but guess what. Sin is sin. It is all the same in God's eyes. All of us are big, bad, unfaithful, sinning disasters, just like David, and everyone else who has ever lived or will live. I mess up every single day. I need forgiveness every single day. And if you're honest, you do to. Maybe you aren't off committing adultery or killing your friends, but you do things that are not pleasing in the eyes of God. You say things that don't please him. You think things that don't please him. You're a mess. Me too. That is why we are all so desperately in need of a Savior, like Jesus, and a loving, forgiving Father, like God.

 Along with this Psalm I always think of a song (as well as the Jon Foreman song in the last post about this Psalm) by The Almost (aka the fantastic Aaron Gillespie) called Amazing, Because it is. The song is a modified version of the classic Amazing Grace; I love it. Verse two and the chorus go like this:

"I'm the type of person who lets fear drive me,
I'm the type of guy that lets it drive.
Cause I'm addicted, I'm needy, I'm lost without you.
I need you, I need you.


Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, 
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind but now I see.
I just wanna see."



No matter how many times you and I mess up, now matter how "big" (or not so "big") it seems, God is always there to take us back again and wipe away our sins. We are LOST without him, but He is always there to make us clean again, no matter the size of the mess. And that just amazes me. People are a messy race. He is a holy God. And yet, through His Son's blood, he looks on us as pure and blameless. He makes us "as white as snow." He doesn't recall my sin. It is forgiven and forgotten.

Yours too, if you confess it to him and call on his mercy and grace.

If that doesn't totally blow you away you then...I don't know what will.

The Resident Comedian's Wonderful Story

My thirteen year old, cheese-hating, bi-going-on-tri-lingual sister who was recently adopted from Ethiopian likes to tell me stories.

She knows I appreciate stories and she tells me to write them down for her. Sometimes what she tells me is a (broken) English version of Ethiopian folk tale. Other times she just makes up nonsense. AND IT IS HYSTERICAL. 

Her English is choppy, but one of my secret talents is TOTALLY understanding accents/speech issues (Seriously. I could make money off this. After having been on many missions trips to foreign speaking countries, and having gone through 3 American adoptions where the kids come with massive, massive speech issues, I've gotten gooood. Ask my mom.) So she tells me things, I translate them to my family as closely as I can, and then I write them down to appease her (and so I can remember the wonderful things she comes up with).

Here is her "Wonderful Story" (yup. That's the title) that she came up with one night on our vacation. I wish I had it on video; it would be so much better if you could hear her (Her English is actually phenomneal for someone who has only been here 4 months.She is so intelligent, it is amazing. I mean, I understand EVERYTHING she says!) And I may have fixed the grammar, but she honestly came up with all of this herself!

Video or no video,you'll laugh, I promise. 

Simenesh’s Wonderful Story: 

A short tale from our Ethiopian Adoptee and Resident Partially English-Speaking Comedian.

Typed/Grammatically Enhanced by: Isabella Kiss, as told by her sister Simenesh during a picnic dinner

“I was raised by lions,” says Simenesh, totally straight faced and out of the blue. “There was no orphanage. I lived with lions, 5 lions, also 5 tigers, a zebra and some giraffes in a cave in Waliso. They did not eat me. They loved me. But I had no clothes, only leaves from trees. Pine needles, actually. I was naked. Unfortunately, the lions only ate cheese, for all the thirteen years I was there.” (Writer interrupts: “Simenesh, where did lions get cheese?” “Sea turtles, mate,” says Lacianna, the Hungarian sister.) “Nooo,” says the Ethiopian one, “They went and got the cheese in America, not Ethiopia. But I ate nothing, because I don’t eat cheese from America. Only Ethiopian cheese, the kind they put in the Gomen, which is good cheese.

                “Then one day I got on one of the giraffes and rode it to Addis Ababa to get some food. I also had a dream of Mama and Papa. Mama was naked and had no clothes. Papa was the size of 4 or 5 people… like that guy [Andre the Giant] in The Princess Bride! (Ummm…Nevermind. Okay, carry on.)  The police caught me though, and locked me up in their building. You cannot ride naked on a giraffe in the city; it’s bad. I was there with the police for 24 years. (Simenesh, you are only 13 years old…how does that work out?” “No, I am really 37, the tribal leaders were wrong. They Lied. I’m not 10, not 13, but 37.” “Oh, of course you are! You’ve also told me you are Japanese…just continue.”) I still had no food and no clothes. Eventually the lions came and rescued me. (“It took them 24 year to get to you?” “Yes.”) They brought me to the …tralalatratratrtttrr… house (“The transition house?” “Yes, that.”) where I met Susan (the adoption agency worker). I got some clothes finally and something to eat other than the cheese the lions would buy in America. Then Mama and Papa came and brought me to America. The lions were sad. And I still don’t like cheese.”

“Really, that is your story? Well, that is interesting and totally unlike everything we were told,” says the Writer.

“Yes, that is my story. You should write down that story, Bella.” says Simenesh “It is a wonderful story.”  Then she breaks into a spontaneous song about the wonder of the story she just wove for us.

Yup. Thats her story and she and I are sticking to it. My sister was raised by cheese consuming lions in an Ethiopian cave. We adopted her and we haven't gotten her to like cheese...yet.

The end.  

Vacation Memories 2010

Here are a couple of my favorite shots from my family vacation this past week in Westerly, Rhode Island.

My family, L to R: 2 year old sister, 7 year old brothers, 8 year old brother, 9 year old sister, 11 year old sister, 15 year old sister, (tall) 13 year old sister, __insert invisible me__, mom, dad.

Boats in the Harbor of Watch Hill

Sunset at Nappa Tree Point.

Farm stand

My 9 year old surfer sister.

My 13 year old sister and my mom.

Watch Hill's Lighthouse, artfully shot through a chain-link fence.

2 year old sister.

My parents

7 year old brother

Flying in the sunset.

Weird shading on top from the brim of my newsie hat.

Yeah. For real. There is a Chuck Norris somewhere in CT and he is running for probate judge. I'd vote for him!

Playing in the rain of "Hurricane" Earl

*mom's shot

Rebellion. Lets see you stop me, Mr. MFD Moderator!

*mom's shot.

Oh Little Darlin', do I have plans for YOU!

On the way home from vacation we stopped at a tag sale and I purchased what will be my next amazing project. This little darlin' here.

She looks like a piece of junk, right?

Well...yeah.She pretty much is. She's old, warped, dried out, smells musty, and is missing a chunk of the front.

It is okay. I only paid $1 for her. 

*(I also scored a Wilson's black leather jacket, that fits me perfect, for a dollar! My new favorite clothing item, just in time for fall!!!!)

But really, believe me, she has potential!

I am going to paint/decoupage her  into something beautiful. With a little love she will go from a junky little mini-dresser into the PERFECT (and artsy one-of-a-kind) home for all of my jewelry (which lives currently in our bathroom and takes up more space than I should have. 8 kids sharing one bathroom...5 of which are girls, ages 9-19. Yeah...).  And she'll look adorable in my room.


Ever since I saw a cute little dresser, much like this one, in Anthropologie that had been painted and covered in old sewing patterns, I wanted to make one of my own. I googled for some inspiration and found one of my new favorite blogs - Mod Podge Rocks! Who knew there were so many things you could (should!) use mod-podge to improve!!!!!!! Here are a couple pictures from the site of things with drawers...

Dresser, with paint an dictionary pages!

File cabinet, with fabric

Nightstands, with paint and scrapbooking paper.

Cool, huh? I haven't decided what color paint I will use (black? red? orange? green?), or what I will decoupage onto it...I'm thinking either newspaper or book pages? Maybe some black and white graphic-patterned scrapbook paper? What would you do?

This weekend I am going to hit up JoAnn's and buy some Mod Podge for wood and then begin my transformation. I'm so excited! I love redoing furniture! Pictures to come!