"Diva's at Dusk"

On my way home from work tonight, I noticed tons of people walking downtown. I assumed it was because it's the first day it has actually felt like Spring. {Finally 50 degrees!} But when I got home and mentioned it to Cury, he said there was an event going on called "Divas at Dusk" 
So, guess what three "Divas" walked down town... 

 me {I miss the sun!}

 Cury

And of course, Mr. Otis

I wouldn't exactly call us "Divas" but we made the most of it. We of course brought the new Camera. We live in way too adorable of a town not to take tons of pictures of it. Plus I wanted to experiment with my new "toy" a little. 
What do you think?

This is the Boulevard Market downtown. My favorite building. 

Cury wanted to play with the camera too. :)

I really can't take any credit for a good photo though. The camera is so good, the pictures practically take themselves! being downtown with semi-nice weather really made me realize how much I miss warm weather. {Lord, please send the sun our way!}

Otis was without a doubt, the center of attention. And he LOVED it! Everyone wanted to pet him. On our walk back home cury said, "I've never had so many women approach me in one night." :)  

I can't say that I blame them :) 

Our Weekend...

Here is a look at our weekend... It was full of all kinds of excitement. 

Lexi and I went to Starbucks after work on Friday for some much needed sister time. We had so much fun laughing and catching up on each other's lives. {Lex, let's not wait that long to do this again...I miss you!}

 Not to mention, this beauty came in the mail for me Friday too! I was WAY too excited. My dream camera was now in my hands.. AHH! 

So, of course the rest of the weekend was full of taking photographs...

...of EVERYTHING! :) 

I met my wonderful parents for brunch on Saturday. {sorry, no pictures} We had so much to talk about that I forgot to take pictures. We did have a great time. Though I could write a whole blog {or even a book} about how great my parents are, that's not what THIS blog post is about. But I will say that God was so good in giving me the parents I have. They are the most genuine, kind, and beautiful people you will ever meet. Here is one of my favorite pictures of them...

Aren't they cute :) 

The rest of our Saturday consisted of driving all over Adrian- my least favorite city.. possibly in the whole world- but we had things to do. This made the trip worth it...

Iced Caramel Macchiato with an extra shot of Caramel :) 

   

Of course church on Sunday...

When we got home from church, we cleaned. And cleaned. And cleaned. For two whole hours. It was worth it though. I feel so much better when our house is clean. 

 

Then a nap was in order after all the cleaning. 

Just when you though we were done with Starbucks..we made another trip. 

I also had today off work. I was able to get so much done!

New Spring earrings at Be You. Follow this to my shop.

I made another attempt to teach myself to sew...Epic Fail yet again. One of these days You will be able to purchase a Be You. clutch. I will let you know when. Don't hold your breath though!  

I has this little cutie following me around all day :) 

I cut Cury's hair

Isn't he handsome? 

Played with the camera some more... 

Then we ended the night with our favorite movie, Les Miserables. I don't think I have ever been so inspired by a movie as much as this one. If you haven't watched it yet {or read the book} I HIGHLY recommend it! There are several stories throughout the movie, but the basic summary of the movie is, "To love another person is to see the face of God." 

I hope you had a lovely weekend as well :) 

 

My Love

Cury and me on our wedding night. 

        Today is just a regular day, it's not an anniversary of ours or anything. I just wanted to write about Cury. The photo above was taken at the hotel we stayed at on our wedding night. That was such an exciting time in our lives, and it only gets better each day with you. Remember we would just stare at each other then start laughing? It felt so surreal. I remember thinking, "Is this real? I must be dreaming."  Well, I would have been a lovely dream if it were, but it wasn't. It was the start of our new life together. Who better to do that with than your best friend? That night we just relaxed, talked about highlights from Our day, and ate all the snacks the darling, Lexi {my sister} packed my car full of. 

        Cury, I cannot believe we are coming up on eleven months as husband and wife! That can't be right, can it? It seems like just yesterday that we were on our Senior trip to Disney World. {when you made your first move on me ;)} I think we both knew then that it would last forever. This year has had it's wonderful ups and extreme downs. I don't think either of us were expecting things like that to happen. I know we both wish we could have gone without some of those extreme lows. But that's life and that's marriage. And the best part of it is that we have each other. Each low, each pain, and each heartache is an opportunity to love each other that much more. I know I can say that I love you more than I did in Disney World. I love you more than I did last May 4th. I love you more than I did on our honeymoon. And I love you more than I did yesterday. I love you, Cury. Thank you for being everything I want and need. 

        It has been the most amazing eleven months of my life!

Thank you! 

-K

Thought for the week..

I don't know about you, but for me, it is so easy to forget to just stop and enjoy life. I believe there are three main reasons this simple little statement can be so difficult to put into action: 

            + We work too hard

            + We expect more

            + We simply forget

It really is ironic that we work, work, work everyday so that we CAN enjoy life. But in reality, we work so hard that we don't even see all that there is to enjoy. 

This statement says, "enjoy the little things" one key word being little. This is difficult for me, I must admit. I like to read other blogs. I like to visit other Etsy stores to see other's success, and maybe learn a thing or two from them. I like to spend way too much time on Pinterest. I like to read my newsfeed on Facebook. I follow many friends and small businesses on Instagram. ALL THAT to say, I see the success of others everyday. I don't know how many times I've read that a friend of mine received a "random act of kindness" Their bill was paid by an anonymous person, a latte was sitting on their desk when they arrived to work, or they won an ipad or something. While I am truly happy for my friends, more times than not i think, "It must be easy for them to 'enjoy the little things'." 

The truth is, if I took the time to sit down and write about all the blessings I receive everyday, I would see so many things there are to enjoy. 

Today, I am going to take time today to enjoy the little things. You can too! wether it's your morning coffee, gas in your car, a few moments of quiet, whatever it may be. Know you are special to God. He thinks about you every second of everyday. He won't verbally tell you. All those little things are from Him. So enjoy it!         

My friend, Esther

Source: Esther Gallarday Photography

    How amazing is this photo?! My very talented, very sweet, college friend, Esther is a photographer in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area. After receiving her Be You. earrings, she posted this photo of them to her facebook page. Because of this very sweet act, I had two extra sales today. {Thank you, Esther!}
    If you are going to be in the Chicago area, and if you are looking to have photos taken, I highly recommend this photographer. She does amazing work! The link to her blog is here. Go check out her work. :)    

your LUCKY day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Enjoy 17% off one item of your choice at Be You. {Link here} 

Use promo code: MELUCKYDAY  at check out.

coupon good until mid-night 03/17/13

Emanuel.

Hello friends!
I would like to introduce you to someone very important to me. This is Emanuel. He is 4 years old, and he is from Togo, West Africa. Isn't he precious? 

Source: Compassion International

    A couple of Sundays ago, our pastor invited a woman to come share some information about this wonderful charity called, "Compassion." The lady showed a short video. There were many testimonials on there. One testimony that stood out to me was about this young lady who's parents sold her to a group of men {a group that has sex with these women, then sell them to another group for money} All I could think was, "how could a mother and father do that? " But the truth is, if her parents hadn't sold her, her parents, her four younger siblings, and the girl herself probably would have died from starvation. It's impossible for me to imagine being so desperate for food and basic necessities, that I would willingly sell one of my children just to survive. My heart broke for this young lady's story. I believe God has a special place in His heart for orphans, widows, and the poor. It's evident in His Word. If it's important to Him, then it should be important to me. The young lady was left for dead when someone found her. She became a sponsored teenager. She was able to go to school, then college, and now she lives and works in America. She is free because someone loved her. She even called her sponsor, Mom. What a special relationship they must have developed.  

    Emanuel is the child I sponsor through Compassion International. Compassion is a wonderful opportunity to "give- back" in such a unique, special, and personal way.  It is not my intention to "push" an organization on you. I know there are so many wonderful charities out there. 

I chose this charity because it is so personal. It's not just sending a check to a place and wondering if it's even getting to the recipient. You actually have the opportunity to write back and forth with your sponsored child. You can send photos and birthday gifts. You can even plan a trip to meet your sponsored child. It can be whatever you make it to be. 

    Plus it's only $38.00 a month. $38.00 in America is gone in an instant. It doesn't seem like much to us. But sending $38.00 to Emanuel will pay for him to go to school. It will cover his food expenses. It will provide clean water for him and his family. It will provide a future for him. It's such a blessing. My heart melts for this little guy. In Togo, West Africa, the children start working as young as 4 and 5 years old. Since the children are working hard to help provide food and housing for their families, they don't get the opportunity to receive an education. The $38.00 I send to Emanuel makes it possible for him to go to school. I encourage you to visit the website. {link above} There are many inspiring stories on there. {each video brings me to tears!} Even if you're not interested in sponsoring a child yourself, or if you can't afford it {I know times are tough} Maybe you could send some prayers their way. Many of these children are at high-risk for getting sicknesses and diseases. Some of them live in extremely dangerous areas of the world... areas where drugs and human trafficking are not illegal. Your prayers alone could save their life. 

lucky girl

    As you all know, I am the owner of Be You. on Etsy. I absolutely love this job! It's that type of job you love so much that you don't even consider it to be work.

    I am also a full-time nanny for a wonderful family. I know that whenever I tell someone that I am a nanny, there will always be an "oh" to follow. It happens every time! And that's okay. They don't know that I do not have the "typical" nanny job. I get to take care of one very sweet, loving, well-behaved two-year old {she calls me "Kiki" so cute!} Her parents show nothing but love and appreciation to me. We all get along wonderfully. Oh! and the pay is not all that bad either :) 

I am one lucky girl.  But even though, I absolutely love my job as Madeleine's nanny, it does come with a couple of downsides: 

+ I get very little social interaction during my week. 

+ I don't get to challenge myself with much. {it's not too hard playing pretend all day}

    Needless to say, I had to find something else for my mind to focus on. I was spending all day with Madeleine- doing play time, nap time, and meal times. Then I would go home to my husband; cook dinner, clean up, then sit and watch TV or read until we went to bed. That kind of schedule is nice every now and then, but I started feeling brain-dead after a while.  I was shopping on Etsy one evening. I saw a pair of earrings that I fell in love with. I was about to make my purchase when I thought, "I could definitely make these." I gathered all the pieces from a variety of suppliers, {thanks on-line shopping!} ordered them, then put them together. My husband pushed encouraged me to open a shop on Etsy. {I must have really been complaining about nothing to do} A couple of hours later, I was in business! I am so grateful for Be You. It truly was an answer to prayer. Not only do I love making the earrings, but I get to meet all kinds of wonderful people. 

    

 

introduction

Hello! and welcome to my first blog! i would like to use this first blog entry to tell you about the sweet little life I have been blessed with.  

NAME: kendra engle

AGE: 22  {my birthday is february 25th}

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: married {to Cury Engle}

OCCUPATION: nanny {to 2 year old Madeleine}

HOBBIES: along with being a nanny, i am also the owner and creator of Be You. on etsy. I sell all kinds of vintage earrings along with a couple wedding accessories {feel free to check it out} i am looking to expand my creativity. i hope to be selling little clutches in the near future {so please stay tuned} 

FAMILY: my husband and i have not yet started a family, but it is in our dreams to have 2 biological children and 1 or 2 adopted children. 

FAITH: i believe in Jesus. i know religion is not an "acceptable" word now-a-days, and that's okay. neither you or i have to be religious to know Jesus. HE LOVES UNCONDITIONALLY. i am overwhelmed by His love for me, and i want everyone to know His love for them.  

FAVORITES: I love Jesus, adoption, etsy, DIY, organic anything, Chipotle, coffee, books, and a good laugh {doesn't everyone though?} 

I am so glad you're here! Now you know a little bit about me. I hope that along this journey, I am privileged to start new friendships with you.