Etsy Finds: Bags

Backpacks are everywhere lately and I love it! They are really stylish but a lot more comfortable than purses. While we were in Bolivia I bought a beautiful leather backpack, which I love. The only downside is that it is really stiff and structured, and the straps leave stains on my sleeves (if anyone knows how to fix that please let me know!). I still love using it, but I have been eyeing other backpacks that are a bit more for everyday use. I found this shop on Etsy called Inconnu, look at their bags! They are beautiful, I love the combination of the canvas and the leather straps. I personally love the backpacks, especially the one pictured on the top left.

(Pictures from their Etsy shop: Inconnu)

Three Moments Of Thanks

Having fun in a huge corn maze

We just got back from a very short trip to the States. We went there for an interview with our ministry and we were accepted! We could not be happier, the best part is that we got to spend a weekend with my best friends from Canada. They are the kind of friends that it doesn't matter how long it has been since you last saw each other, when you get back together it's as if you were never apart. We spent the weekend in Seattle, and it was wonderful! I'll share a few photos of the trip in the next few days, but until then I am very, very thankful for these two friends and the time we where able to spend together.

Oh the berries in America

Cute tiles in a great ice-cream shop

Homemade Pizza

Making pizza at home is one of those things that brings back a whole bunch of good memories from my childhood. My mom used to make it all the time, for birthday parties and all us kids got to make their own pizza or just for a fun afternoon at home. I loved helping her, my job was always grating the cheese. Homemade pizza is really easy to make and you can top it with all your favourite things. I now make it often at home, it is a great dinner for a relaxed Saturday at home. I use this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, make a sauce out of crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt and pepper. And top it off with whatever I feel like at the moment. For this pizza I did mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh and hard mozzarella. It turns out delicious every time.  

Three Moments Of Thanks

Street art in our neighborhood

This week we have been busy getting ready for our upcoming job interview with JFJ. As some of you may know since getting back to Israel we started an internship with Jews for Jesus as children and youth workers. And next week we are flying to San Francisco again for our interview, we are nervously excited. What I am really really looking forward to is the fact that I will see my two best friends from Canada! We are meeting up in Seattle for a long weekend together and I could not be more excited. It's been a long time since we have seen each other. Until then I am focusing on and thankful for the pretty moments of life. 

getting back to eating healthy

small glimpses of fall even in the heat of Israel

Rooted In Love: Lessons From The Heart

As I previously shared, since the beginning of this year I have learned a lot of life lessons. The one that has changed me the most is what I learned about love. Love as a child of God, loving my self and how to better love others. Here is a little piece of what I learned...

I always thought I understood that God loves me. I grew up hearing the words "God loves you", all the time. I knew in my head that he loves me, but what does that really mean? I didn't feel his love, I couldn't see it or hear it. So his love was just something in my head, but it did not make its way to my heart. For me the first step in understanding the love of God was to realize that I actually don't know what it means.

During the dts I was so blessed to have an amazing woman as my mentor, a person I could talk to about anything and someone to help me process my thoughts. She gave me some great advise, she said one of the steps that helped her to know in her heart what God's love is, was to be rooted in his love. That sounds kind of strange; but really it just means to know that love, deep in your heart like the roots of a tree. God works in amazing ways, the same week that I was talking to her about this the topic of the lectures was the character of God and more specifically why we were created.

For some people the answer to this is obvious, but I know for me and many others the answer to this question was unclear. I heard a lot of answers throughout life but none of them satisfied me, none of them really made sense. Until I heard this answer, we were created because of love. I could go on with a long explanation of reasons, but I want to make it simple. LOVE. We were created because God is love, in his perfect relationship there is love. Love wants to give and share and so God created us because he loves us. Not because he needs us to do things for him, not even because he needs us in order to love us. No, simply because he loves. Anything else makes God lower and weaker than he is, it makes him need us, which could not be the case.

I might have heard this before but it somehow at that moment finally hit. This made sense to me. It also meant that I could not make God love me, he already does. I can not make him love me more or less, he made me because he loves me. He does not need my acts of worship in order to love me. He loves me just the way I am, even if I chose not to go after him he loves me. It was such a freeing and profound truth in my heart. A big step in understanding what love is.

Three Moments Of Thanks

Coming home to find these beautiful roses

This week I am thankful for being loved by my wonderful husband, family and most of all by my God. I am thankful for little moments that bring joy into life. I am thankful for the holidays and time off. This week we celebrated the Jewish new year, the holidays are one of my favorite parts of living here. The streets become quite and the stores are all closed. Everything is peaceful. We spent the evening of Rosh Hashana with family and friends. It was also so nice to have a couple days off, to rest and enjoy the peacefulness. 

Cutest bottle stopper

Celebrating the new year

Home Inspo: Ladders

Last week the Ikea 2015 catalog arrived in the mail. I love looking through it, as it is always full of new and creative ideas. I really liked these shelves, they look like a ladder but are are also a great way to add shelf space. Our bedroom is lacking some decor to it. The main point of focus is the wall behind our bed which is navy blue with a big white frame, while the rest of the walls are white. Right in front of our bed is the closet and next to it there is an empty space, were right now we put our shoes. I have been thinking of how to add something to the space without making it look overwhelming. I have a few ideas in mind, and once I saw the Ikea shelves it made me think of either adding them or getting a ladder and using it to hang things to the space next to the closet. I love the use of ladders for decor, especially the natural looking ones. These are my favorite four ways of using a ladder for decor, the third one is from Ikea. 

I love all of them but I think the first and last ones are my favorite, which one do you like? 

Images via: 1 (unknown if anyone knows please let me know), 2, 3, 4