Day Stranger, why are you following me?

You are always around.
In every shadow and whisper of the wind.
In every turn and sideways glance.
I cannot escape you.

Are you good for me? Are you my protector?
You look so strong.
You must be good.

Time wears on and I can't help but doubt.
What is that limp in your walk?
That wasn't always there... Was it?

I begin to question every moment together.
Was it all real?
Are you the one who followed me, or are you a stranger?

Time wears on and I can't help but doubt.

Oh The Lessons I've Learnt

In the past two years...

• Clean up your own mess as you go, otherwise others will be lazy and leave their own mess everywhere and then you will have 4 different types of mess going on
• Who cares what other people think, sometimes I just need to go to bed early and be alone.
• Friends are fun, but they don't mean much if you can't be honest with them.
• Life can be turned into hell if you can't trust someone.
• Sometimes you have to do things you don't like, but I don't plan on doing them long term.
• Credit cards are generally the devil. Don't pay for a laptop and honeymoon on them, it will feel like you're paying them off for the rest of your life, even though you aren't.
• Life is made up of good and bad moments. Try to outweigh life with the good.
• People will influence you. Spend most of your time with people you love and who are good for you.
• Don't forget about the people you don't love.
• No matter what your intentions or how good you think you are, you are a sinner. And so am I.
• Celebrate birthdays. It could be your one day of the year when you can get whatever you want. Milk it. 

Free Art!

You may have known about this website since the days of 2009, but I am a little behind the times.

Go here for free art that you can down load, print and frame! There are so many cool things that talented people have created. Here are my favs...

 For my kitchen

For a pretty pretty nursery.

Enjoy!! Tomorrow I will be posting photos of my freshly sewn camera case :)

Thankful

I had such a great weekend on the Coast! It was only a few days, but it was so nice to have a break from the norm, see my family and miss my husband!

Being labour weekend the place was busy with golfers, surfers, white baiters and general holiday go'ers! Can you believe some members of my family are white baiting at 4am!? Crazy!

The top photo is of the lovely Alpacas my Mum has recently acquired, Lilly and Tapuni. They are gorgeous! I wish I could ride one of them.

Below is myself and Lisa, my technical "step sister in law" but who is really more of just a "sister". She has recently moved to the coast with her Husband and daughter, it was so good to catch up!

Coming home wasn't so nice, there wasn't a very nice surprise on my arrival but oh-well, such is life. You win some you loose some. Wishing I was on holiday again and very thankful that I had the opportunity!

My Love Affair

This morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a hot bedroom.

This is why I love the Westcoast.

Might just stay here.

Snow in Spring!

Today my flatmate Josh drove us both to Westport, which is where I was born and spent the first few years of my life. My Nana, Mum, Step Dad, Brother & his Fiance, Step Brother and his Wife and lots of aunts, uncles and cousins all live here.

I actually have a secret love affair with the Westcoast. Sometimes I deny it and joke about it, but secretly I lust over the beauty of the coast line, the magic of the simpleness and the quality lifestyle.

It's Spring in New Zealand right now, but on the drive over Josh and I hit some snow, we quickly jumped out and played in it!

Off To Westport!

Tomorrow morning I am heading off to Westport with my flatmate Josh!

I am going to see my beautiful Momma

My wonderful Nana, and many many more family members!

I haven't been over there in ages, and best of all, my Momma lives on a farm (kind of), with little lambies, a pretty lake, flowers, trees and native wildlife (think Wekas and Pukekoes). I am going to have a ball!!

Will miss you all, dont miss me toooo much, hehe

Pros Vs Cons

Today is the day for the geeks out there, or the wanna-be organisers.

I love lists! My favourite type of list (aside from a well ordered To-Do List) is a Pros Vs Cons list. These are brilliant for many reasons and many on my life's decisions have been made via a Pros Vs Cons list.

When creating a list, lay it out as so:

Keep in mind many things:

• Stay to the point of the list.
• How do you feel about the decision (eg, I really really want Subway, or I have a craving could be on the list!)
• What society would think of the decision (eg, a waste of money and resources!)
• Your morals that come into the decision (is it right or wrong?)
• Your religion that could come into the decision (Does God want me to? Does He not?)
• Factors that come into it (time, energy, money)

Once I have my basic list, I then go through and number each point. I prefer to keep it in round numbers so a 1 is a "fair point", a .5 is a point that matters only a little and could easily be ignored. A 2 or 3 are huge points and are very hard to ignore. You will find that if there is a 2 or a 3 they will generally swing your vote and largely express your feelings and make up your mind.

The most points win the vote! Its like a fun game :) And yes, today I went home and had my lunch, aren't I good?

In A Beautiful World: Announcement!

Launching now, my new venture called Beautiful World! It's and online swap shop that is run closely and personally by me. I've been working on it for the last few months, and it is still a work in progress but I wanted to be able to launch it as soon as possible.

Check out the website here

Use the introductory offer, which is only available for October and November 2010, and start swapping your fashionable clothes now!!

Comment or email me if you have any questions or want to get started! sophie@moo2.co.nz

I Love Spring

Swap-eroo Recap

Today I organised and hosted a women's clothing swap at Church called Swap-eroo!

Holly May Bruce painted these beautiful "Super models", they were stars of the show...

We had awesome helpers, including the Sorting Team and the Front Desk Stars

I loved our Herbal Tea Cafe

We gave away vintage tea cups and herbal tea too

There were lots of good bargains to be had, and I picked up some awesome items (posts on those later on in the week). I wish more people had come and experienced the goodness of it all, what a great time I had!

Now, I am very tired and relaxed and all packed up, ready for a quiet night in.

So, what to do next?

Big thank you's go to (in no order): Wendy, Rachel, Dawn, Amy, Hollie, Kate, Caitlin, Gemma, Christie, Judie, Holly,  Luke, Simeon, Chris, Kirk, Joe, John,  Toni, Luana, everyone who came, and lastly, My husband <3 

** EDIT: After you went home, the amazing packdown team came out to play and tried on your left over clothes!! This is the Sweater Edition...

Dear Husband

Written Word Challenge Day Four

See here for more details on the Written Word Challenge

Kendall Booth. Age 18. booth.kendall@gmail.com

Churning The Days

In two days I am running a church event called Swap-eroo.

Honestly, I love doing this! I get so much thrill out of the moment... The ladies, the new people, the what ifs, the organisation, seeing it all come together, then feeling satisfied afterwards.

Honestly, what I loathe is the moments before. My to-do lists are sitting infront of me, many things still uncrossed but still aren't able to be crossed off unless other things fall into place. The truth is I am as organised as I can possibly be right now, so the stress is really for nothing but it's still a hard feeling to shake.

I am looking forward to this weekend with much anticipation. As usual, I am surrounded by a bunch of awesomely supportive friends and volunteers who offer their time and gifts to making it awesome for others. Without them I couldn't do what I love doing.

If you haven't already, check out our Facebook page and make sure you come along this Saturday to swap clothes with other fashionable ladies! :)

See you there!

Written Word Challenge Day Three

I love the bible as much as the next guy, but I also struggle with reading it daily (even though I really want to). Some times I go through seasons of carrying it with me and reading / being inspired every spare minute I get, other times I have had seasons of relying on it daily for wisdom, understanding and survival. Other times (like now) I know how good it is but struggle to pick it up.

To make myself accountable, and to inspire you, I have created this challenge: Written Word Challenge!


A few people so far have taken up the challenge (you can still register if you like, check out the guidelines here) so each day I will be posting on their behalf, along with my regular posts. I hope you enjoy these over the next 30 days, subscribe to my blog, and be sure to comment your thoughts, questions or own ideas (because the writers will be checking back regularly to see what you have to say!)

Kendall Booth. Age 18. booth.kendall@gmail.com

Sophie Laughton-Mutu. Age 21. sophie@moo2.co.nz

To view the images, please click

Written Word Challenge Day Two

I love the bible as much as the next guy, but I also struggle with reading it daily (even though I really want to). Some times I go through seasons of carrying it with me and reading / being inspired every spare minute I get, other times I have had seasons of relying on it daily for wisdom, understanding and survival. Other times (like now) I know how good it is but struggle to pick it up.

To make myself accountable, and to inspire you, I have created this challenge: Written Word Challenge!


A few people so far have taken up the challenge (you can still register if you like, check out the guidelines here) so each day I will be posting on their behalf, along with my regular posts. I hope you enjoy these over the next 30 days, subscribe to my blog, and be sure to comment your thoughts, questions or own ideas (because the writers will be checking back regularly to see what you have to say!)

Kendall Booth. Age 18. booth.kendall@gmail.com

Anonymous 

To view the images, please click

I Love Touch Rugby... Kindof

For the last 3 weeks on a Tuesday at 5pm hubby along with a bunch of people from our church and their friends have headed down to the local park and played a game of touch rugby.

I played last week and loved it. I kind of know how to play after being in my sisters team as a teenager, however I have very little skill when it actually comes to playing, that aside, it's a lot of fun! First of all, the energy you get from actually exercising is amazing. What a lift! (Read: If you are depressed or sad, why not play a game of social touch rugby)

Every second Tuesday we host a connect group at our house for young couples (My FAVOURITE part of the week) so I didn't want to play again tonight and get tired and sweaty, instead I watched and hung out with my main girly, Hollie.

I loved this aspect too, I got to join in and be a part of something my husband loves doing. Hubby and I are so different on so many levels, its great to be able to join and understand his wee part of the world and have common interests, or at least be interested in his interest in something... haha!

I have to show off my man in the basketball singlet.... What a hottie!!

Afterwards we had our connect group as usual which was great! We have just started reading a new book together called His Needs Her Needs. Tonight was all about the woman's greatest need: Affection. It was so good to be open and honest with other young married couples as we all try to grow and strengthen our marriages. <3 friendships

Cutesie Tea Cup!

On my hunt for vintage tea cups to give away at this weekends Swap-eroo event that I am organising, I came across this gorgeous tea set and fell. in. love.

I'm not one for formal collecting (aside from a few things... like the hardback Narnia series... hint hint), but this was just too cute to pass up!

My heart has been won over by this cutesie tea cup set and her potential future friends. I can't wait to get more!!

What do you collect?

Written Word Challenge Day One

I love the bible as much as the next guy, but I also struggle with reading it daily (even though I really want to). Some times I go through seasons of carrying it with me and reading / being inspired every spare minute I get, other times I have had seasons of relying on it daily for wisdom, understanding and survival. Other times (like now) I know how good it is but struggle to pick it up.

To make myself accountable, and to inspire you, I have created this challenge: Written Word Challenge!


A few people so far have taken up the challenge (you can still register if you like, check out the guidelines here) so each day I will be posting on their behalf, along with my regular posts. I hope you enjoy these over the next 30 days, subscribe to my blog, and be sure to comment your thoughts, questions or own ideas (because the writers will be checking back regularly to see what you have to say!)

Kendall Booth. Age 18. booth.kendall@gmail.com

Luana Daniels. Age 15. luanadaniels@hotmail.com

Sophie Laughton-Mutu. Age 21. sophie@moo2.co.nz 

Click the images to enlarge them for easier viewing

Learning to Crochet!

This weekend I have been inspired to learn to crochet! It was one of those God given commands, when the universe suddenly aligns, and you know that theres no other way you could continue living if you didn't walk this road.

And really, who ever heard of a person knitting, but not crocheting? Well friends, my time has come.

Thanks to the internet, a call to my Nana (does she even know how to crochet?) was not necessary,  I consulted the goodness of YouTube for my tutorials.

As my husband says, you can do anything with Google.

I also found this amazing blog and I have been won over by her wit, her charm and her talent! She posted this blog, which I have seen reblogged a few times around now, and I was sold! Today, my mission is to make a wee jacket for my needle jars. How cute would a jam jar be with a wee raspberry on the front!? Oh! I'm in love!

source

Eventually i would love to make this wee guy and sell him on my shop, but he's for another day.

source

If you're like me and you want to learn to crochet, check out this website which has handy tutorials and lots of free vintage patterns!

Introducing: The Written Word Readers Challenge

I love the bible as much as the next guy, but I also struggle with reading it daily (even though I really want to). Some times I go through seasons of carrying it with me and reading / being inspired every spare minute I get, other times I have had seasons of relying on it daily for wisdom, understanding and survival. Other times (like now) I know how good it is but struggle to pick it up.

To make myself accountable, and to inspire you, I have created this challenge: Written Word Challenge!

The guidelines:

• Email a new post every weekday for 30 days 
• Posts must be off an original piece of scripture *no repeats*
• Scripture can be anything you choose, whether a single verse, a paragraph, or a whole chapter
• Posts can relate to the chapter in different ways - whether breaking it down and studying it, summarising, drawing inspiration, turning it into practice, poetry etc.
• All posts must be theologically correct and inline with a Christian Biblical understanding and of the writers original intention for the piece
• Post must be no longer than 100 words
  
  (you can view an example by clicking here, but you are not limited to this)

What do you get out of this:

• Whenever you submit a post it will be included in the 9am Written Word post on my blog, where it will be viewed by my average readership of 100 people per day (and constantly rising).
• Your name, age and email address will be viewable to my readers so they may have a conversation with you about the piece if they wish to engage in it more fully (with your permission of course)
• You will be challenged to read your bible
• You will be challenged to think about the scripture, muse over it, then turn that into something
• Accountability and email reminders if you have missed more than 2 days

I hope you will consider going on this journey with me! Please email sophie@moo2.co.nz to register and to receive my follow up email for guidelines on displaying on my blog. Posts will start on Monday 11th October, you can register any time (but the earlier the better). Anyone can register (including internationals)

Have fun!!

Tips To Have A Great Weekend

If you're anything like me, weekends come and go far too quickly, especially if you're like me and spend most of your Sunday at church / doing other things that aren't on your to-do list. As a result, I have learnt how to enjoy my weekend and make the most of it.

• Sleep in - you will feel so much better for it. It's always a drag when you know you have to get up early on your weekend. I often despise my plans that are early on a Saturday morning for 'stealing' my weekend 'rights'!
• Complete at least one thing off your to do list - this way you will feel accomplished when you get to Sunday night regardless of what you have done!
• Do something thats just for you - recharge your batteries and do something that you enjoy. Hubby and I often go geocaching, driving or eating. I love doing this, because its for no one else, just for our enjoyment! Self-centered? Perhaps, but if it helps make the rest of my week better, I'm keen!
• Do something you don't usually do - It will make you feel adventurous and alive! A rush of adrenaline, if only from doing something out of your usual schedule, will do you a world of good.
• Decide that your weekend will be good - going into it with the right attitude will mean you're up for anything!

(Hubs & I finding a cache)

Enjoy your weekend all! 

Dear Husband

Each week I thought I would bring you a letter... My first, to my husband who I share all of lifes mysteries with, the good and the bad, and somehow we still manage to stay in love.

Tattoos

Previously, I used to hate my body and everything about it. I used to hurt myself and try and damage what I thought was a curse. As I have grown in God I have come to the understanding that my body is beautiful and perfect and just the way that God made it. I would even go so far now as to say that I love my body!!

When it comes to marking your skin, because of my history with self mutilation and also experiencing God healing all of my wounds and scars infront of my eyes, I never understood why anyone would want to stain their skin on purpose. My experience with tattoos only includes those 50 year olds whose tats are now unreadable because the ink has leaked (is that what its from??) , or the young ones who get band album art on their arms (and to me the latter seems like idolatry), so as you can tell,  I have very limited experience and knowledge of Tattoos.

Then, one of the bloggers that I follow daily, Amber from I Love You To The Moon, blogged about all of her Tattoos and the meaning behind each. You can read her full post here.

This post really changed my perception on Tattoos > I can see now Its not longer just for bikers to get their woman's name on their bicep, or for a 16 year old to get their now favourite lyrics on their wrists. Its about (hopefully) so much more than that.

If you are considering marking your skin, I really hope you are also considering why you want to.

This is my favourite tattoo of Ambers, subtle, yet it means so much.

I hope you read her post, and take marking your skin for the rest of your life seriously. You are beautiful and perfect. Bands come and go, but God remains. 

Maybe I'm just being a super Nana when it comes to this topic. Thoughts?? I would love to hear your views... leave a comment!

1 Corinthians 1

Launched! Exclusive New Summer Collection

These are the newest Love Booties in the new Summer Collection on Stitch Africa. They are all 100% cotton and very lightweight and flexible. I love them to pieces! The colours are so adorable, they look edible! I can't pick which one's my favourite, do you have a favourite?