be.lov.ed BLOG: August 2012

8.28.2012

(Lov) // Focus.

I'm not exactly sure where all this inspiration is coming from lately, be it travel, growing in my understanding of God and His word, or just the momentum of participating in life, but I'm simply a blaze with ideas and find that I have a genuine desire to make them happen. A huge part of this inspiration has been squarely focused on this blog. I have often found myself asking....why do I have it? What have I learned over the last year after stepping into this strange and wonderful world? What do I want to contribute to it that is unique and needed in this community and how can I help mold what it is to become?

I am not here to imitate the successful so that, I myself can find success. I do not care about popularity, but rather I care that the few people who do read my blog will be changed and moved by the quality of my content. I want to teach, and share, and document my life for my daughter. I want to be honest and brave and not fear how my words will fall on the person who reads them; knowing that I am only truly accountable to God for what I speak and write. I need a place to focus my thoughts, feelings and imaginations so that I can take them captive and hold them up to the truth. I want to get vulnerable. I want to do what scares me most. I want to inspire others to do the same.

As you know, be.lov.ed is already broken down into three categories:

-(Be)auty // beautiful people, places, or things:: the "art" of beauty :: the beauty industry

-(Lov)e // all things lovely, lovable, and loving.

-(Ed)ification // anything that encourages intellectual or spiritual understanding

I have had an overwhelming amount of "love" entries this year, as they tend to be about my family, while "beauty" and "edification" have been sorely neglected. As in life, the love just comes a little more naturally and I need a bit more structure to bring about the beauty and edification. Go figure. So, starting this fall, I am committing to doing a new weekly series in both theses categories! That means I will be posting at least two posts a week!

The "beauty" series will be called --Do Unto Myself-- where I will perform ALL of the services that I offer to my clients...on myself...and documenting the entire process! From waxing my upper lip to redesigning my blog...I plan on giving myself the full treatment! Not only does this make for good "blog fodder" but my hope is that this series will give YOU, the reader/my clients, useful information and an insiders look into how I navigate the world of beauty and design. For me, it will no doubt offer deeper insight as to how I can better myself as stylist and improve services. PLUS, it will obviously help me maintain a bit of self care when I most often just stick to the basics. I'm very excited to step forward and share myself and my work with you a bit more (a BIG step for me--- more on that latter)!

The "edification" series will be called --The Grace Life-- a teaching series about biblical living in the age of grace with a focus on marriage, parenting, and family. These will not be your typical "Christian" blog posts. With this series, my goal is to simultaneously share with you what it is that I have come to understand and believe through studying the Bible and how I am living out those beliefs in my day to day life. I plan on getting very frank, real, and will no doubt invite some critics. So be it. It could also open up a healthy discussion! My darling and wise husband Brendan will be guest posting in this series from time to time. He and I have allot of "collaboration" in our future and I am so pleased to welcome him here!

I am grateful to be moving forward in this realm with more focus. I am also very grateful for those who take the time to move with me. Thank you for reading.

(Lov)e,

-k.

8.22.2012

(Lov) // OREGON

Our family trip to Oregon was truly one of the best vacations I've ever had. Going to a place I had never been, to a place so very different from where we live, was exactly what we all needed. Texas is a pretty awful place during the month of August, and it was such a wonderful treat to be able to leave the heat and allergies behind for a week. It was a time filled with much laughter, walks on the beach, exploring little towns, and a chance to reconnect with family and friends we don't get to see often enough. I took SO many pictures and thought about trying to blog them all...but decided rather to upload them into an album on my Facebook page. If you would like to see all the fun we had...stop on by and take a look! My mind has been a buzz with new ideas and inspiration for my blog since returning home. I'll be back a bit later to tell you about what all I have planned for be.lov.ed... I'm super excited! I hope you had a lovely summer too! Fall is just around the corner.... woo hoo!

(Lov)e,

-k.

P.S. I'd like to give a HUGE thank you to @leslielauth for making trip this possible. WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!

8.16.2012

(Lov) // MARFA, TX (Dirty Projectors)

The main reason we took this trip out to Marfa, other than my long held desire to visit West Texas, was to see the Dirty Projectors at the Crowley Theater. It's not very often you get to see a band of this magnitude in a teeny tiny little venue that seats about 170 people. To give you some perspective, they played a sold out show a few days later in Austin at one of it's largest venues (Stubbs).

We got there pretty early (there's just not a whole lot to do in Marfa) and chatted up some of the people also waiting for the show. El Paso, Dallas, Houston... most were BIG fans who had come for all over Texas. The opening band was Wye Oak who, despite some technical problems and obvious touring fatigue, did not disappoint. I chose not to post those pictures as most of them were of a blurry drummer (he moves CONSTANTLY and plays the drums, keyboard, and sometimes guitar at the SAME time and a I don't use flash at shows) and a grump faced lead singer who pretty much looked like this (below) the entire time. Nevertheless, they put on a fantastic show.

Over the last year, the Dirty Projectors has quickly become on of my favorite bands. There music is complicated, multi-layered, effects laden rock with some of the most amazing vocal harmonies you will ever hear. We had incredible seats (second row center) and the sound was perfectly mixed. The vocals bouncing off all of the wonderful wood in the theater coupled with drama of the lights and shadows gave me goose bump multiple times. Brendan and I both agreed that this was the best show ever- true musical perfection.

This young fellow was just a few people down from us and I don't think he would mind being called a "super fan". He was having a true religious experience - so familiar with there songs that he was able to determine which effects were being left out of the live performance and added them by either clapping of singing. Normally this would have annoyed me to no end, but it actually added to the experience.

After the show, I was hanging out in the merch area and doing a little "shooting from the hip" action and didn't realize I had gotten this picture until latter that night. This guy's shirt just about sums it up. We had such an amazing time going to a place neither of us have ever been. We will definitely be back to West Texas (with Lydia) and hope to explore Big Bend and Chinati Hotsprings... but I think we will do it in the Spring or Fall. :)

(Lov)e,

-k.

8.15.2012

(Lov) // MARFA, TX (El Cosmico and El Sol)

Our second day in Marfa was spent mostly at El Cosmico. I prefered to call it "high end camping" while Brendan like to refer to it as "low end hoteling". Either way, it's a pretty great place to stay...but maybe not in August.

We chose the "safari tent" which was perfect except for not having any air conditioning or fan. During the day it gets brutally hot and it's really all about laying low and trying to escape the sun.

There are super cute trailers scattered throughout the camp with most having a private shower or bath on the front porch. I never did peek my head inside, but was aware they also had no AC. I can't imagine staying in one unless during winter or fall... talk about hot!

This is one of two GIANT teepees which were both occupied the entire time during our stay. Besides having two twin beds, I think this would be a marvelous choice the next time we come for a visit... Lydia would have such a blast running around this fun, adventurous space.

By mid day the sun is just inescapable.

Thankfully the main building (photo 1) has a common are with Wi-Fi, a gift shop, records and a record player, great coffee table books to read, and over priced refreshments if you are desperate.

Brendan and I played "sweet checkers", messed around on our phones, and learned how to play gin thanks to a lovely employee who taught us the basics.

This is what he preferred to do (hammock time).....for hours.

This is what I preferred to do (take pictures) ... for hours.

And then we were off to McDonald Observatory which is home to one of the world's largest optical telescopes!

A trip to the Dollar General to get a fan made coming back home to the tent much more bearable.

And a bottle of Champagne brought from home made it down right lovely.

More to come...

(Lov)e,

-k.

8.14.2012

(Lov) // MARFA, TX (See Mystery Lights)

This is the first of three blog posts about our trip to Marfa, TX! After the long ride from Austin, we decided to spend our first evening trying to see the famous "Mystery Lights"...