So, as I've mentioned before, I am an avid believer that retail therapy can be helpful in many ways. It can be good cardio (if you hit enough stores), stress relief (if shopping is your cup of tea), and it triggers our carefree, creative mindset. Of course these are attained by doing so in a responsible way. I'm not telling you to go blow your whole paycheck at the mall to feel free. But just treating yourself to something pretty once and a while can do wonders for a girl. Mr. Charming and I make sure the tithe and bills are paid, that we save a little for a rainy day and buy healthful food, however, sometimes, one of the things I need is to shop. To just detach for a while and shop. Mr. Charming understands this about me, and I in return understand his love for all things tech-y and gadget-y. Clothes and home decor are my specialties. Yesterday, Mr. Charming and I are redecorating quite a bit to make our space feel more like "us", I went to my favorite home stores and got some new place settings, rugs, and decor to compliment the furniture pieces I am refinishing at the moment. (which I am so excited to share with you all when it's finished and it is a HUGE money saver!)  I also got Mr. Charming some props for his photography business some cute fall clothes for the both of us, and some cute props and backgrounds for my foodie photography for Nosh & Nurture. 

Whil shopping is fun & lovely.. I wanted to move onto the Proverbs portion of my post. As I stated earlier this month I am focusing on being a more well-rounded woman. I adore my career(s), always have, so I had bit of a rocky start with adapting to the balance of housewife and career woman on top of my many, exhaustive creative endeavors that make my soul flourish. Connecting with God has helped me with this in so many ways so I wanted to touch on each portion of the Proverbs 31 post a little more in depth from time to time.

#1: Faith. When I get busy I am the first to admit that church falls to the wayside. I hope this changes when we are parents as I want to instill its importance in our children's lives, because I love our Lord with all my heart. Though I know, like with any habit, if I don't do it now, I can't expect to set a great example for my future children. However, God isn't only in church. He's in us, so I do make a point to do morning devotionals every day, couples devotionals at night with my hubs and stay active in prayer. Don't beat yourself up over how much you do or don't do. God knows our stories, our reasons, our excuses, and our attempts. He loves us no matter what, but I feel its important to make an effort so that we can grow. Share how you stay active in your faith day to day. I'd love to hear inspiring feedback!

When a tragedy strikes I believe we have the innate sense to help. However, when the tragedy happens far from home or when it's an overwhelming disaster we can feel so small and helpless in a world so big. I believe though, that even any tiny little thing we can do when we put our heart in the right place can help. Even if it's just one person or clean up one yard, or make a day a little easier on someone who is scared, lost or hurting. That's Gods purpose for it. I believe our inner health and happiness grows and flourishes when we are able to help our fellow man. Which brings me to my post. When I heard of the tornadoes in Oklahoma, like most of you, I felt like I should do something. These people lost their homes, some of them lost family members, friends, pets. It's unfathomable to imagine. And I felt at a loss of what I could do to help. Then one day as I was pinning and perusing recipes I was brought to a site that specializes in gluten-free packaged meals and a blogger was talking about the gluten-free crisis that takes place when disaster hits.

And that's when I realized what I wanted to do to contribute. It's hard enough when you have access to clean water, organic food, and a working kitchen to make sure we eat clean and healthy so our bodies don't break down. But think about being someone with food allergies, sensitivities, celiac, leaky gut, etc without access to these things? They are saying that even with the Red Cross, as amazing as they are, bringing in food a lot of isn't Gluten Free and celiac's are living on fruit :( While they are greatful to have food, A church in OK teamed up with GoPicnic.com to supply safe food to those who need it! 

Today, June 10th, is the last day they are matching your order to double what is given but I believe they are accepting donations longer, shipping is FREE and the blog tells you where to send the food. 

All the information can be found here. http://glutendude.com/gluten/gluten-free-donations/

You may visit www.gopicnic.com if you have any questions. I spoke to an awesome rep there to verify all the details and it's wonderful what they are doing in conjunction with the church in OK. 

If you have already helped in others ways, don't feel pressured by this blog to do anything more. I just wanted to share my story and that I felt I was called to help in this way. Blessings! - Mandi