YAY!! The Naturally-Nifty Linky Party is up!

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Hey everyone!

I am so happy that our Naturally-Nifty Linky Party #6 is up today!

So sorry that it didn't work last week, as you all know, I, Little Sis was out of town on a mission trip, and our Linky Tools Account messed up so we were unable to do the party last week!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break though!

We have some pretty great stuff planned for this week, including:

-A new weekly series called Weight Loss Wednesday where you will get to follow Big Sis on her goal to losing weight and getting healthier! Along with sharing her own personally challenges, we will be giving you a weekly Healthy Tip or Healthy Recipe to try out! I am so excited about this and getting to share with you some of my own healthy living endeavors!

-Also, be on the look out for Big Sis's post on her Spring Break Candy Making! She made homemade rock candy with my niece last week! It is a fun recipe to try with your kiddos, just be careful because that candy is sharp!

Anyways, I'm ready to get this Party Started!! 

I can't wait to see all the Nifty projects that yall have done!

Remember....

Please SUBSCRIBE to our blog on the left sidebar!

Also, I hope you have noticed our new blog layout, and we have moved our Naturally-Nifty Party Buttons to the top tab, so take one of those and put it on your blog!

And please stop by our FACEBOOK page and like us there too!

So have fun and be sure to visit other great posts that are linked up and come back and LIKE your favs! We will feature some of our favorites next week and we will feature a Reader's Choice Favorite!

P.S. Link up as many projects as you want to!

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Since I've Been Gone.....

Pin It O my goodness....I have missed my blogging friends so much!

And sad day that I hadn't taught big sister how to use the Linky Tools and it decided to mess up the week I was out....we are hoping to have it up and running tomorrow for our Naturally-Nifty Linky Party! Keep an eye out for it!

So....want to hear what I've been up to since I've been gone.....

 Well if you read my post before I left, you know that my husband and I were helping leading a college mission trip to DFW.  This is a picture of our Big Team, this is about 57 students that we led and did outreaches with throughout the Dallas area.  It was amazing! We saw so many amazing things that the Lord did, including allowing us to grow and learn from him during our morning worships, and session times, then during outreaches we saw so many people give their life to Christ, and a ton of people healed from physical illnesses.  

One really awesome ministry opportunity that I got to be a part of happened on our very last outreach, on Thursday night.  I went with three other team members to an apartment of a man who one of the teams met the night before.  He was a Hindu man that wanted us to come pray for his mom who had been sick for the past 3 1/2 years.  She had a heart condition that left her in constant pain, and she had been released from multiple hospitals with no help, still in pain.  

So we went and met the family and began to pray for her in the name of Jesus Christ.  It was an amazing night, I feel like the Lord filled me with a supernatural faith to believe that he could heal this woman! And after praying for her three times, and every time having her pain decrease some, she said that all of her pain was GONE!! After 3 1/2 years of pain she was pain free! It was amazing!

Then in the same home there were two younger boys, one 16 and the other 13 years old and they both had sight problems.  The first one couldn't see 10 feet away.  He couldn't read the clock on the wall, or my shirt which was only about 5 feet away.  I stood there as we prayed for him, and he gradually began to see better and better as I stepped back.  And finally he could see all the way to the wall, and the clock on the wall! Are you hearing what I am saying....the boy could not see the clock on the wall and after praying and asking Jesus to heal him, HE COULD SEE!! Come On Jesus!

Then the second boy came, and we tested his eye sight by setting a book in his lap...well not just any book, ha ha but my Bible! And I had the clever idea to turn it to John 3:16 so that would be what he would read after his eyes were healed.  I was astonished by the fact that he couldn't even read the book that was sitting in his lap! So we prayed...only 1 TIME, and he read the verse out loud to us! He was amazed that he could see, and it was so amazing and powerful to hear this Hindu boy read John 3:16 out loud to us.

After this we got the whole family in the room and told them how Jesus had healed everyone! And we shared to gospel with them, and told them how much Jesus loved them and wanted them to spend eternity in Heaven with them! We made it clear that Jesus wanted to be their only God, and we left there with this whole family believing in Jesus Christ!

It was an amazing experience for us, and this was only one story! But I do know that the Lord is good, and if you don't believe that God still speaks to His children and does miracles, then just ask him to! You will see, because I saw first hand that Jesus heals, and speaks to me! 

I hope you are encouraged by this one testimony! There were so many more from our trip too, I wish I could share them all with you! 

Some of my close friends from the trip! I love these girls! 

Blessings to you, and be encouraged, because the Lord is so good, and He loves each and every one of us! 

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Full House, house!

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When Little Sis came to visit during Thanksgiving we spent a day in San Francisco. One of our #1 priorities was to go see the Full House, house. Our men thought we were nuts-o! But, nevertheless, they took us there! As we neared closer and closer to 1709 Broderick Street, we got giddier and giddier. It was so exciting. This is a show that we grew up on and it amazes us that our younger nieces and nephews don't know of Full House! We LOOOOVE the Tanner family. 

We were sad to see that the RED DOOR has been changed. Having no red door threw us for a loop, but obviously the door was changed. When we were researching where the house was located we were shocked (unsure why this shocked us) to find out that most of the tv show was filmed on a set. We had to forget that little piece of information as we enjoyed the Full House, house! :) 

So when we spent a day in SF last weekend with my mom, aunt, and niece-- of course I had to take them to the Full House, house! :) My mom was just as excited as Little Sis and I were back in November. My 9 year old niece was just happy to pose for a picture. She had no clue what we were doing, why we were doing it, or what we were so excited about. Man, I feel old! :) 

How many of you were avid Full House viewers? I always felt part of that family! :) I could watch it still.. We loved that show!!! I really miss those good ol' shows sometimes. 

I won't lie though- even today, my favorite memory of Full House is truly Uncle Jesse! :) 

-Big Sis

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No Linky Party Tuesday

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I am so sad that we do not have a linky party for you today. As you know, Lil Sis is on a Mission Trip in Dallas... and she is the one that does the Linky Party stuff... She was so awesome and set it all up before she left for me to go in and write on and just post... but it isn't working. Sorry blogger friends...We are so sad that we won't get to see the awesomeness that you would have shared this week!

While Little Sis is sharing the Love of Christ with Dallas... I am here in California loving life with my mom, sister, niece, husband, and son. I love watching my baby boy with his family. It is so hard to believe that it has been eight months since my son has seen is Gammy... and the fact that she has only seen him FIVE times in his two years... hurts my little heart! But, such is the life with the military... and I am so thankful for Skype so that my mom and sister DO know my little man.

So many awesome fun things that have been going on this week. But first I would like to share with you a NOT so awesome joke that little sis thought she would play on us. As soon as we get on the freeway in San Francisco the night my mom got here, my mom gets a text and screams "NO! She did not!!!" I was like..."WHAT!" Imagine, country girl .. driving in a six lane freeway, in California, in the dark... SCARED THE MESS OUT OF ME! My beautiful, darling, amazing, awesome, charming, FUNNY little sister sent my mom a text with a picture of a baby bump (made it look that way) with a text that said something like "Wanted to wait until ya'll were together, we are three months!" I was almost in tears. I was loud.. and man, if I used curse words, I would have been cursing her out. I was mortified that she would tell us via text.. Skype, ok.. but text!!!! I couldn't, wouldn't believe it. Good for her she was joking with us! :) It would be awesome, but THAT is not how my best friend should tell us! Go little sister.. you got us!  

We have done so many things already since my family has been here: San Francisco we... rode the cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Chinatown, Golden Gate Bridge, Full House House, Giradelli Square, shopping among other things. Then we spent the day in Sacramento going to the zoo and Train Museum.. Last night we stayed in a Resort Casino.. we are actually still here. Having a great time, enjoying my family.

So my little man's 2nd birthday is coming up. We are doing his birthday party in a TRAIN THEME! He loves trains. Can you imagine how much fun the train museum was to him... there will be a post on that soon! I wanted a cute train birthday shirt- but everything I liked cost around $25 and I just couldn't see spending that kind of money on a shirt!! So... I took it upon myself and made one. It may not look like the ones I saw.. but it was cheaper AND I like it because I did it! I purchased the iron on paper that I can put in my printer from Wal-Mart and a onesie. I found the picture I want and wrote what I wanted... then I printed it.

HA! It took ALL five pages that came in the iron on packet to get it right. I had to figure out how to get the printing to be more of a reflection- but nevertheless, I did... and I love it!

I was going to share a picture, but I don't have my computer I am using a different computer and nothing I want to work is working for me! :(

But I want to hear from you... what would you like to hear about? What kinds of crafts would you like to see us do in daycare? What could I share about that would interest you? Please share...

-Big Sis

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Baby Trek Atlas

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A friend from college is going through a hard time right now. Her youngest boy, 10 months, was diagnosed with Neimann Pick Type A... This makes him gravely ill and is not expected to live past 3 years of age. My heart hurts for this beautiful, sweet family. The Lord has truly given me a heart for them. I can't imagine being in their shoes... or her shoes, as a mother. You can follow this link to watch a youtube video telling their story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mbSLazlSEik

There are many different fundraisers out there to support this family as they strive to make Trek as comfortable as he can be. I have participated in the few that I can being in California. I thought and thought and thought.. I knew there had to be more that I could do to help this sweet family. Then I came up with the idea to do a YardSale for Trek. I put it out there on Facebook and a Yard Sale page for our base for donations. I was overwhelmed with the response and how much people freely donated. 

I had the Yard Sale this past Saturday. My goal was $100 for the family. 100% of the proceeds were given directly to Trek. Praise the Lord, we raised $273.00 for him. I had worship music playing and a poster hanging about Trek. I was able to tell many people about his story. There were a few times a certain song would come on and I would look at his sweet face... and I would just tear up. I can not imagine being in their shoes. My heart hurts for them.

There is also a Flat Trek "program" going on.. so we have  Flat Trek and he joined us on our adventures in San Francisco today. Oh yes, did I mention the girls made it in and we spent the night in San Fran and had a fun-filled day today? I will be sharing some pictures with you soon! Flat Trek had a fantastic day in San Francisco and looks forward to a great day at the Jelly Belly Factory tomorrow and then spending a night at a super nice Casino Resort! 

Thank you for reading... and I really hope the that you were blessed by Baby Trek's family as much as I have been.

-Big Sis

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What I'm Doing for Spring Break -Little Sis

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   Just to let you know, I, Brittany, the Little Sister of the Natural-Nesters will be out all next week.   So Cassey, aka Big Sis will be taking over the blog and sharing all about her Spring Break week.  Although I am sad I won' t be spending break with my mom and niece who are going to visit my sister in California, I am really excited about what I am going to be involved with during this next week!

Let me tell you a little bit about me and my plans!

Every year the college ministry at our church takes a Spring Break Mission Trip.  The past two years, we have stayed in or near Abilene.

The vision for us staying so close to home came from this verse:

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”                                                           -Acts 1:8


In relation to this verse, they were told to start with their own city and the cities close to it, so that is what we have done the past few years.

Spring Break 2010

Abilene, Texas 

Spring Break 2011

Surrounding small West Texas towns 

This year, we are taking our college ministry to the Dallas Fort Worth area for our mission trip! My husband and I are section leaders within our college ministry, which basically, explained in an easy way is a fourth of our college ministry.  We absolutely love it! So we are taking a total of about 180 students with us, and 58 of those we are leading! We cannot wait to see what the Lord is going to do this year! It seems that every year the Lord shows us more of his power, and more of his heart for us, and his people, and building his Kingdom! One thing I love about our college ministry is that unlike any other trip I have ever been on, they don't neglect to pour into us as we are pouring ourselves out both spiritually and physically.  It is about 50-50, where 50% of the trip is made to build up us as believers and allow us to receive from the Lord, and the other half is for doing service projects and outreaches.  

Although this year will look different than some years, here are a few things we will be doing.  We will be doing service projects at various locations around the metroplex.  I know that one of the places we have an opportunity to go serve in is a Muslim Mosque.  This is such a unique and special opportunity because so many Christians judge and treat Muslims so badly because they don't agree with what they believe in.  But our goal in going there is not to go prove them wrong or tell them how bad they are for not serving Jesus, instead we are just going to go help out with what they need and love them.  We want to be different, we want them to see that Christians LOVE, even when we don't agree on our God! And in the midst of that we can pray...prayer is such a powerful tool in the spirit realm, and we will not hesitate to use it, and if someone inquires about Jesus, then we will not hesitate to share the Hope that comes from Him with them! 

We will also be going to various locations, apartment complexes, neighborhoods, etc. and doing outreaches.  We have had two all day training days to prepare for this.  Our team consists of small teams that have different purposes, those include a dance team, drama, activities, servanthood, and preaching.  So we will be going and putting on a "show" at these places, with a dance and drama, and someone sharing the story of the Gospel. Then we will be giving out food and playing with kiddos! And in the midst of it all we want to minister to the hearts of lost people! To show them the love of Jesus! To bring healing and restoration...to see people spiritually, emotionally, and even physically healed! Although many don't realize it, the Lord still heals people....and we have seen him do some amazing work in the healing of the physical body of people, and we cannot wait to see what he does! 

I am so blessed to be a part of the ministry here and be a college leader.  There is something about the college ministry at my church.  To see what students will give up for Jesus is amazing! They not only gave up two entire Saturdays to train for this trip, but also their entire Spring Break, and so many other things.  We have been getting up on Fridays at 6:30am to pray for this trip and we pack a large house out with college students GOING AFTER Jesus early in the mornings...it is so encouraging and I am so blessed.  Since the Lord called me to Abilene for school I have thanked him over and over.  I feel like I am literally in the midst of a revival...in the midst of a generation that is rising up to truly surrender and give up their own lives for the sake of Jesus and bringing lives into his Kingdom! 

Thank You Jesus for Sending Me! 

Spring Break 2012

So this year, this is what we plan to do! I just had about 5 college students come in my office and we drew this on my board! This is a picture of what we want to see happen in Dallas this year! This year, our team has devoted this verse to our vision for going to Dallas. 

 “...These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too."

                                                                                -Acts 17:6

 We want to go to Dallas and leave it a changed city...a city that is on fire for the Lord! And we have no doubt that HE can do that! 

So while I'm gone enjoy hearing about all the fun activities that my family will be doing in California while Cassey shares them with you, but when you think about it please be praying for my team! 

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We got a Liebster Award!

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We got a Liebster award!....now I want to be honest....at first I had no idea what a "Liebster" was, but still I felt totally honored that our blog would be awarded this great thing! :-) Now I know what it is! 

 Liebster is a German word meaning 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'.  The idea is to award to 5 of your favorite blogs with under 200 followers.  They then forward the blog love!

We are so grateful and blessed at how our blog is growing! 

We have loved making so many blogger friends, and getting to know other bloggers and learning from them. 

We love having a blog that inspires us to do more and be more creative! 

And we are so thankful for all of our great followers! 

We were so EXCITED to receive this incredible award! 

Thank you to  Candy @ www.candysclothescloset.blogspot.com

for honoring our blog. 

Candy has an awesome fashion blog that you should definitely go check out.  

We were so honored by what Candy said about our blog! 

"1. www.natural-nester.blogspot.com  This blog has 2 sisters that enjoy cooking, adventures, and DIY projects.  They also host some banging link parties.  You should see the Vintage Wedding Shower post! So Creative and Beautiful.   Let's give it up for Natural Nesters:)"

---Thanks Candy! 

So here's what to do if you are a Liebster Award Winner! 

1. Choose 5 up and coming blogs to award the Liebster to, the blog must have less than 200 followers.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog and list the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites.
4. Jump for JOY and give yourself a pat on the back.

I feel so HONORED to give a LIEBSTER AWARD to each of the following INCREDIBLE Blogs!


1) The Tattered Tag--Christina over at the Tattered Tag is a fun and creative woman! I love the charm that her blog has! She has some great stuff, and each week she hosts a New Neighbor on the Blog Linky Party so that people can come and have fun and get to know one another! Plus I think we may share the same love for glittery things, because she has a lot of great glittery projects that I love! 

2)Naturalized Texan - This blog is written by a past teacher of both of us. I have read Mrs. Austin for a while now, even before she switched over to her new blog. She always writes about very interesting topics. She is one of my favorites because she shares a lot of pictures and she talks about our neck o' the woods quite often. Having moved from our small space in Texas over eight years ago... I love being able to go to her blog to remember what a great place I am from. She is very real in her writings and shares her life with us on a regular basis. She also gives some AMAZING giveaways! 
Go on over and give Mrs. Austin a WARM Welcome by following her blog. You will not regret it. Mrs. Austin, we both really enjoy your blog, keep it up.


3) DIY, Dollars, and Sense- Becca has created an awesome blog. She is a newer blogger and has brought to us many awesome and creative ideas. She has shown us how to be thrifty and to create things ourself. If you look around her blog you will see things from a light bulb terrarium, hair clips, directions on saving money, and my favorite is her new pantry and organization. I look forward to all of the new ideas that she is going to bring to us. Mosey on over and check out her blog, especially that new kitchen cabinet! 

4) Haute to Sew-Meredith at Haute to Sew is a talented woman! She is a photographer by day, and a sewer, crafter, DIYer by night! She has so many great crafts, and one thing I love about them is that they seem to be pretty low in cost, and simple, and they turn out awesome! Like the dollar store wreath she just made with a styrofoam wreath form and coffee filters, it turned out awesome!  She also has a weekly post called, Sewing Tip Tuesday, it is so helpful! She teaches some great things about sewing, for people who are beginners, or if you just want to learn some new tricks! Be sure to check out her great blog! 

5) Our Sonny Life- I love this family. I love reading their adventures. My heart aches with them, loves with them, and yearns with them. They are a sweet family of five who have had the dream to travel the world. Chelsea and Jarrett are raising three beautiful boys to be the best men they could be.  They were planning on taking their boys and moving to Thailand in February 2012 but in January they found out that their sweet baby, Trek Atlas had Neimann Pick Type A. It is a rare genetic disorder and they have no cure or treatment. Trek will not live past three. They are still taking their boys and traveling the world. Please follow this family on their journey and share in their good and bad days with us.  

So stop by and give these other blogs some love! They are all so great and so creative! And thanks so much to all of our wonderful followers! 

-Big &Little Sis


Don't forget our Naturally-Nifty Linky Party #5 is going on right now...and this week we have extended it through Friday since it is #5! So go link up your great stuff! 

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