{insta}week

whoa! three posts in one week!

i know, i'm on a roll!

not to send you on overload, but it is sunday & that means it's picture time!

 last sunday when i came out of church, i had a flat. 

some of you may know the alpha male i married.

some of you may know that's not so very true :)

thank goodness for the manly men of providence community.

funny that our message that day was on relationships: keeping it real & banding together.

why is it that women always have more bathrooms, yet such LONG lines??? 

 this is at the apple harvest festival where we went after church.

 i got to partake in one of the most wonderful delicacies of all time: apple sausage. 

oh.my.word. it is so good.

this year i bought some to bring home!

we're really trying to get a little more organized {key word: trying}

this week we worked in the office.

the boss man made sure we didn't take any unwarranted breaks.

sometimes i think charlie looks like the saddest dog in the world. 

i just love him. 

as i mentioned in the previous post, i've been following She Reads Truth.

just a snippet from my journal this week.

now for two very exciting happenings this week:

1. i finally gave eli a haircut

2. eli has started walking

here is a pre-haircut pic:

it was soooo long & shaggy.  

the back was hanging over his shirt collar. 

it was driving me crazy.

post-haircut:

i tried to get a better one, but when i asked him to look at me this is what i got:

such a monkey!

here's the aftermath.  

it doesn't look nearly as bad as it was for real.

i had cleaned up most of the hair.

the only way i could get it done was to let him play in the sink.

this was also post-haircut :)

i took eli to the library to play this week & that's where he decided to let loose.
here's just a little glimpse i caught:
{just a note: the voice you hear is not eli, though it seems to fit perfectly}

thanks for checking in {again}.
have a great week!

a nugget of Truth

lately i've been so blessed by this wonderful little source of awesomeness, that i just felt like i have to share.  

to be perfectly honest, i didn't want to at first.  

i wanted to keep it as my very own. this "source of awesomeness" that i could have all to myself.

but this morning, God began stirring my heart.

this is not something to be kept a secret because something is happening here.

hearts are being transformed. 

lives are being touched.

souls are being awakened.

this is something that definitely needs to be shared.

a few months ago, i came across a bible reading plan via an old friend's instagram feed. 

{the most likely of places, right?}

as she posted more and more pictures, i became intrigued.

here's what i found:

this is online community of women coming together to study the Word of God & spur each other on in growing in knowledge and love for our Savior.

did i mention it's awesome?

i've been struggling lately {months & months} with getting into the Word and not having it feel like just another thing to cross off my list.  

workout. check.

do the dishes. check.

read the bible. check.

there were so many days that i just wouldn't do it because my heart just wasn't in it & i felt like a fraud.

i started about a week & a half ago in the middle of a study on Ephesians & haven't missed a day.  

i love the comments left by other women that encourage me & make me think. 

i'm inspired by the creativity in the worship through art i see on the instagram feed

{#shereadstruth}

i love knowing that i'm apart of a group of women that have a desire to love Jesus more.
to know Him more intimately.

to love Him fully & completely.

to influence our worlds by His mighty power.

i've been following the blogs of the writers of SheReadsTruth { Kacia, Jessi, & Raechel} & it seems to me that God is doing something in the hearts of women.

i believe God wants to use women to begin a movement of restoration in our homes, churches & communities.  

i pray that i am one of those women. 

friends, we are in a battle here & the time is now.

remember when....

remember when i started a blog and then just fell off the face of the earth?

remember when you all were so worried about me and missed reading about the all the wonderful things happening in the world of the rubins?

hmmm....

well, have no fear, people, i'm back!

where was i, you ask? 

to be honest, despising the use of the computer! 

i go through periods where i will use my computer every night {hours spent on pinterest, anyone?}

then i go through periods where i do not even want to look at it.  

it's a great dynamic for one who wishes to maintain a blog, right?

but i have really missed blogging & have been so inspired by others' blogs lately 

{yes, back in a season of constant computer usage}

& so, i'm making another attempt to do this blog thing.

i'm not going to inundate this post with a recap of every last detail of life over the last 5 or so months since i've been MIA, but i do have pics to share.  

{aren't there always!}

here are just a few {how do i pick just a few} of my faves from the last few months & 

don't worry, plenty in the future to come!

1. our first family trip to the beach

2. lots of time spent outside cooling off 

3. our little boy turned 1! {how did that happen??}

4. a shot from our one year photo shoot

5. also from our photo shoot

6. after {barely} eating his cupcake at his party

7. enjoying the last bit of good weather outside

looking at these i see how much that little boy has grown!  

well, i thank you for checking back in....

i look forward to meeting you here again soon!