Elf on the Shelf is coming to Emily C.'s house!

Yes, yes, it’s me.. I am alive!  Aside from the obvious hustle and bustle of the upcoming holiday season, let’s just say that life has gotten in the way of my blogging and my focus has had to be elsewhere for the time being.  BUT! I am back, and hopefully here to stay!

Instead of boring you with what life has been throwing my way the past few months, I thought I would share with you all what life is currently looking life at Casa de Cain….

Ahh!! I am so so stinkin’ excited!  

This year is finally the year that we will be debuting our little Elf on the Shelf, Murray (more on that name in a second!).  

We have actually had said Elf since last year, but we didn’t think Liam was quite ready or would really understand the concept until this year.

We’ve been talking to him about his special visitor since the beginning of November.  Instead of it being a sprung on surprise, we felt like with Liam (being as peculiar as he is!), it would be better to garnish some anticipation and excitement for his arrival!  He has even given his little elf a name already, Murray.  

(If you’re wondering where the heck that name came from, he heard it on a Christmas movie and proclaimed that his Elf be named that! Okay, Liam, works for us!)

So for the past few days, I have been sorting through blogs, pinterest, you name it, for the perfect ‘line up’ for our elf.  Being that our family’s schedule, is, well, um, strange to say the least, I had to get a concrete plan of what it is that our little Murray will be up to 

(because let’s face it, without the calendar, I’d probably forget all about him!)

Oh, and hey, if there are any other slightly OCD momma’s out there that think this calendar might be useful for their little family, I’ve made a customizable one just for you!

click on picture for printable

I’ll be posting daily pictures on instagram of what our Elf has been up to, as well as a weekly recap here!

Here’s how you can follow along:

Check back here each Friday for a ‘What’s Murray Up To?’ update

Follow hashtag #whatsmurrayupto

Follow Emily C. on Instagram @emilyyycain

Any ideas for our little elf that I might be, gasp, missing?!

I’d love to hear about your ideas

Keep Celebrating!

Shake It Off

I have a confession.

I am obsessed, and I mean fan girl-ing hard, over Taylor Swift’s new song “Shake it Off.”

If it didn’t just get stuck in your head right this instant, I might think something is wrong with you, like clinically wrong with you. (Because the haters gonna hate, hate, hate…SHAKE IT OFF, SHAKE IT OFF UH UH). My friends and I will randomly burst into song; and every time it comes on the radio you best believe I am belting it at the top of my lungs.

Maybe it’s the upbeat chorus, maybe it’s the quirky music video, but I think for me, it’s the positive message and how it puts me in a good mood every time I hear it. It reminds me to not sweat the small stuff, not to make mountains out of mole hills, and most importantly to shake off any negativity. How many times a day do we need to be reminded of that!

We get so caught up in what other people say about us and if they like us or not. It’s a fact that 10% of people won’t like you. You can’t please everyone.

“All men will hate you because of me. “ –Luke 21:17

So live for one audience alone, your God, and He will be your vindicator. He is the only one you need to please, because well, the haters gonna hate, hate, hate…

To help remind you to just let some things go, we made these “shake it off” prints that you can post wherever your heart’s desire! Post one in your room, on your desk, in your binder at school, wherever you need a friendly reminder to take a breath and refocus on the important things. Whatever it is that may be bothering you today and stealing your happiness, we hope you shake it off!

How it Works

We keep all of our printables stored in Google Docs.  When clicking on the printable, you will be redirected to our Google Docs site.  After clicking on your printable, you will click the download button (be sure to do this! Files print more clearly when they're fully downloaded!). Then, print to your hearts desire!

Suggestions

When printing, click "actual size"  to get the true size of the printable (these are 8x10s, but if you'd like a different size- we'll be happy to make adjustments!).  We also recommend printing on cardstock to get the highest quality.  If you have any questions or problems while printing or downloading, feel free to contact us!

 Share the Love

We'd love nothing more than if you shared our printable via social media!  We'd love to see what creative ways you use them!  Please be sure to mention us (@emilyyycain @emilyruth_mak) and use our hashtags: #emvitation #theemilyspost

Be Sweet!

These printables were made by The Emilys Post as a FREE gift to you, because, well, we like you!  Please do not alter these images in any way or exclude our logo.  We'll keep being sweet if you keep being sweet!

Keep Celebrating!

Fab Friday Freebie: Why Are We Blogging?

We have always been fond of this word.  In our opinion, it isn't used enough in today's society.  

Instead, we say things like "s'cute," "totes adorbs," or "presh."  Maybe it's the writers in us, or maybe it's just the fact that we're old souls at heart, but the words begin to lose meaning.  They become superficial.

Look at what guys say about girls:  "oh, she's hot!" or "nice pull." What does that even mean?  We're a temperature?  And "nice pull," really?  I'm out of his league is basically what you're saying, so what's the opposite of that?  Nice push?

What happened to gorgeous, beautiful, pretty.... lovely?

As women, we especially crave to be told that we are beautiful.  For a lot of us, that is where we believe our worth comes from.  If I could only look like her, if I could only just lose a few more pounds, if I could just get rid of my acne or birthmark, then I'd be happy.

But what happens once we've achieved these goals?  Are we really that much happier?  Do we really feel like we're worth more or do we just become more discouraged when the feeling we hoped for or the attention we longed for didn't happen.

We're still incomplete. After all we've done, the world still tells us we're not good enough.

Take comfort in this, ladies:  Our Maker, the Creator of all things, views us as so much more.

You.  Yes, you. Are altogether lovely.

Through Christ alone, we are complete.  There is no one in this universe that we need to please other than Him.  We are beautifully and wonderfully made by His hands, and He does not create ugly or incomplete things.  We are precious to Him.

We are altogether lovely.

When we focus on Him, our surroundings begin to look different.  We see more of the good in the day and how He is working in our lives even in the darkest of times.  

We see that every day is worth celebrating.

We begin to see the beauty in others because we look to their hearts as He does, instead of their outward appearance as the world does. 

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things."  Philippians 4:8

When our hearts change, so do our thoughts, and only then can we really see how lovely the world is around us. 

This is it. This is why we're here.  This is why we're blogging. This is our "mission statement", if you will.  We believe in what the Bible says.  We believe that we are all  altogether lovely.

We want all of our readers to feel lovely, and know that they're loved when they come here. 

We want to make each day just a little more lovelier for you.

Beginning next month from then on, we'll be featuring an Altogether Lovely Lady.

If you know of someone who has shown you just how lovely she really is, we'd love for you to email us your story of her, as well as a picture so that she can be featured here!

So if you haven't guessed it already...

Our Fab Friday Freebie printable is our new 

Altogether Lovely

prints.

They're dainty and just lovely if we do say so ourselves.

Snag one for you to put on your desk in your office, or on your mirror for that early morning encouragement, or someone who might need that extra reminder that she is altogether lovely.

How it Works

We keep all of our printables stored in Google Docs.  When clicking on the printable, you will be redirected to our Google Docs site.  After clicking on your printable, you will click the download button (be sure to do this! Files print more clearly when they're fully downloaded!). Then, print to your hearts desire!

Suggestions

When printing, click "actual size"  to get the true size of the printable (these are 5x7s, but if you'd like a different size- we'll be happy to make adjustments!).  We also recommend printing on cardstock to get the highest quality.  If you have any questions or problems while printing or downloading, feel free to contact us!

 Share the Love

We'd love nothing more than if you shared our printable via social media!  We'd love to see what creative ways you use them!  Please be sure to mention us (@emilyyycain @emilyruth_mak) and use our hashtags: #emvitation #theemilyspost

Be Sweet!

These printables were made by The Emilys Post as a FREE gift to you, because, well, we like you!  Please do not alter these images in any way or exclude our logo.  We'll keep being sweet if you keep being sweet!

Keep Celebrating!

Fab Friday Freebie: I Love You More Than Pumpkin Spice Lattes

This week's Fab Friday Freebie is going to ask you to do a little bit of soul searching...

(click image for print!)

Listen.  The Emilys know all about the unique bond that is between a girl and her PSL.

                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                

It's a special long distance relationship that we sit around so patiently for until we are finally reunited for ONLY 3 months out of the year.
That is dedication.  You go girl! You deserve to hold your head up high! Waiting that long is tough!

So this print is for those girls in said relationship.
For the hopeless romantic,if you will.

The girls that are brave enough to boldly confess what some might call a sin.

(Because really?  Is there any greater love than that of a girl and her PSL? Blasphemy.)

Before you take this print and hang in somewhere sweet and special in your humble abode.
 Ask yourself...
Are you sure? No. Like, are you really sure? Sure that you want to commit to this life altering confession?

If you're one of those girls. Congratulations to you!
If not, then, well, at least you're asking said person that you "love more than pumpkin spice lattes" not to make you prove it ;)

How it Works

We keep all of our printables stored in Google Docs.  When clicking on the printable, you will be redirected to our Google Docs site.  After clicking on your printable, you will click the download button (be sure to do this! Files print more clearly when they're fully downloaded!). Then, print to your hearts desire!

Suggestions

When printing, click "fit to printer margins" or "fit page" to make sure your printable is not cut off or off centered.  We also recommend printing on cardstock to get the highest quality.  If you have any questions or problems while printing or downloading, feel free to contact us!

 Share the Love

We'd love nothing more than if you shared our printable via social media!  We'd love to see what creative ways you use them!  Please be sure to mention us (@emilyyycain @emilyruth_mak) and use our hashtags: #emvitation #theemilyspost

Be Sweet!

These printables were made by The Emilys Post as a FREE gift to you, because, well, we like you!  Please do not alter these images in any way or exclude our logo.  We'll keep being sweet if you keep being sweet!

Be sure to stop by each Friday for a fab Friday Freebie.

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We'll see you on Monday!

Until then, Keep Celebrating!

Celebrate YOU: Feeding your Soul

Today we’re picking up in our Celebrate YOU series and talking about ‘feeding your soul’.  I’m sure you’ve heard the term ‘quiet time’ thrown around in one way or another.  In my opinion, this is the most vital step in celebrating YOURSELF.  Giving yourself some time alone with your maker each morning is just good for you. It kicks off your day on the right foot, and I don’t know about you, but whenever I have quiet time I just feel better.

Listen, I am almost constantly talking to God. Constantly.  Whether I’m driving down the road or asking for patience while my three year old is screaming because he refuses to eat his dinner.  I just have to. It keeps me sane.  I know that I’m completely far from perfect (because if I was, I wouldn't need quiet time!), and that I need to pray.

But I do think it’s important to set aside some time, an hour, a minute, whatever you can, to spend some time completely devoted to the Lord.  So here’s what my quiet time looks like…

I pray.

Where I come from, prayer is not something that has to be perfect.  There’s no right prayer or wrong prayer.  There’s no magical words that I have to say to ensure that God is listening.  It’s just talking.  Telling Him what’s on my heart.  Tell him my concerns and my desires.  Just pouring everything I have on to him.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2

“Pray continually;” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

That last one is my favorite.  “Pray continually”. That’s it.  It doesn’t say how to pray, it doesn’t say what to pray, it just says to pray and pray continually.

I really really encourage you to pray!

I journal.

I have 2 journals.  One is just notes that I take from what I’ve read or what verse is speaking to my heart.  Sometimes it’s scribbled and a mess of thoughts, and sometimes it looks like this…

I’m always so intrigued by the thoughts that enter my head when I’m trying to make a perfect ‘L’ with a pretty colored pen.  It’s said that we should meditate on scripture, and I’ve found that this is a good way for me to meditate on each word.  My thoughts slow down, and I am concentrating on what I’m writing.  Things seem to pop in my head that I didn’t know were there. I know it sounds silly, but it works for me! 

My other journal is a simple legal pad that I call my ‘thankful’ journal. Each day I make myself write down 5 things that I’m currently thankful for and 5 things that are on my heart (prayers).  Notice I said make.  Sometimes it’s just one of those doom and gloom days, and I don’t feel like being thankful for anything.  I’ve realized that if I can just start my day off by looking at the bigger picture, it tends to bring me up on those down days.

You always have somethingS to be thankful for.  Always, always, always.

Sometimes my ‘I am thankful for’s are big.  Like good doctor’s visits, and a sorority sister getting her new pair of long awaited lungs.  And sometimes they’re just really simple things.  Like nice people to work with, or a great conversation with a friend.

There’s always something to be thankful for.

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 118:1

Then there’s my 5 prayers.  Sometimes those prayers are deep, and urgent, and somewhat scary.  And sometimes they’re just prayers that my son has a good day at preschool, or that I have a safe road trip out of town.

There’s always something or someone to pray for.

The coolest part is looking back on this journal and seeing what I had prayed for, and how God answered my prayer. 

Remember:  God will ALWAYS answer your prayers.  They just might not be the answer you were wanting.

I read the Bible and books by Christian authors.

Usually I do this simultaneously.  I’ll start out by reading my book or devotion and then study the scriptures that were used in my readings.  

Currently I am reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and His Princess by Sheri Rose.  I’ve got my eye on ‘Bringing Up Boys’ by Dr. James Dobson and plan to read that next. I really encourage you to find a devotion or book.  

These books are definitely not a substitute for the Bible, but it is nice to read others Christian perspectives on what life can throw at you.

Here are a few devotions that we have read or are currently reading that we think you might enjoy…

1. His Princess:  Love Letters from your King by Sheri Rose

2. Crazy Love by Francis Chan

3. My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

4.  Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

I really really encourage you to take some time for YOU for your SOUL, the most important part of you, and start your day off with the Lord.  Whether it be an hour or a few minutes, just kick off your day by spending time with God.  It will start your day off on the right foot and your time with the Lord will last throughout the day.

“Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

Psst… Both of the 5x7 printables can be found on our google docs site, in case you’re interested ;) just click on the prints to be redirected.

Keep Celebrating,

I'm Bananas For You

I would like to consider myself a “glass half full” kind of girl. I always try to see the positive side of things and I always try to make sure that my perspective is in check, so when I saw that the bananas I bought were starting to go brown I got a tad bit upset. (Disclaimer: I am one of those strange people who are extremely picky about my bananas. If they aren’t a tad bit green at the top, I don’t like them; so you can only imagine my distraught to see brown spots.)

But before throwing out my three browning bananas, it dawned on me, BANANA BREAD! You have to have browning bananas to make banana bread!

New mantra everybody, “When life gives you browning bananas, make banana bread.”

So I went to my recipe box and pulled the recipe out. (Hey, what do you know? It calls for three bananas. This must have been fate, right?)  I quickly realized that I could make quite a bit of banana bread, so why not give some away to my friends and neighbors while I was at it? Turns out a few browning bananas can feed a small village or an apartment complex in my case.

Want to make some of your own now? Already ahead of you friends!

(click on the recipe card to be redirected to Google Docs for a printable version of the recipe!)

EASY PEASY!

If you want to send them out as gifts like I did, bake them in mini loaf pans. (Just make sure you adjust the cooking time! Otherwise, you’ll end up with bricks for your next home renovation.) And to make things even easier on y’all, we've made some gift tags that you can download and use yourself! Just buy some plastic gift bags and wrap them up!  

(click on the picture to be redirected to Google Docs for downloads!)

Because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t find banana bread “a-peel-ing?”

 Keep Celebrating!

Friday's Freebie: Sorority Printables!

Well ladies, the wait is over!

You can now download our Sigma Kappa Sorority prints!

Frame one and put it on your desk or nightstand, pin it to your dorm room door or corkboard, or create a gallery wall using multiple prints, pictures of your sisters, and some pretty Greek letters or your monogram!  You can also give them away as a big/little, heart sister, or initiation gift.

Hello?! Endless possibilities here, people.

While we really do bleed lavender and maroon over here (and may or may not do housework while humming "Sigma Kappa we love you.. WOAH WOAH WOAH!"..seriously don't judge us), we definitely want to show some panhellenic love here by giving away prints with your letters on them, whatever they may be! 

Just contact us and let us know your sorority and which print you'd like and we'll send it your way!

How it Works

We keep all of our printables stored in Google Docs.  When clicking on the printable, you will be redirected to our Google Docs site.  After clicking on your printable, you will click the download button (be sure to do this! Files print more clearly when they're fully downloaded!). Then, print to your hearts desire!

Suggestions

When printing, click "fit to printer margins" or "fit page" to make sure your printable is not cut off or off centered.  We also recommend printing on cardstock to get the highest quality.  If you have any questions or problems while printing or downloading, feel free to contact us!

   

   

 Share the Love

We'd love nothing more than if you shared our printable via social media!  We'd love to see what creative ways you use them!  Please be sure to mention us (@emilyyycain @emilyruth_mak) and use our hashtags: #emvitation #theemilyspost

Be Sweet!

These printables were made by The Emilys Post as a FREE gift to you, because, well, we like you!  Please do not alter these images in any way or exclude our logo.  We'll keep being sweet if you keep being sweet!

We hope you enjoy your new Greek decor!

Be sure to stop by each Friday for a fab Friday Freebie.

We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. We'll see you on Monday!

Until then, Keep Celebrating!