Autumnal Update

Happy Fall, ya'll! 

(normally, it would be weird for a California girl to be caught saying "ya'll", but I blame my southern greeting on my dear friend, Jordan, who has influenced my life--and my speech, it turns out. Jordan is from Arkansas and has the southern belle-est drawl of them all)

I digress. 

I wanted to pop in and give ya'll an update on what the Trams have been up to lately. 

We are completely loving this cooler, fall weather--and all of the seasonal scents, to boot. 

Not to mention, boots + sweaters + scarves, oh my. 

A dear friend of ours had a birthday recently, and we celebrated by going out for nomlicious Korean food, and then going for Korean karaoke! Korean karaoke is the same as any other kind of "Asian" karaoke, in that it's not like a karaoke bar where you sing to the entire room. You rent out a private room and just sing with your friends! IT'S SO FUN.

And, it felt like we were home. We are SO homesick for Korea sometimes.

The hubs and I have had the privilege of leading a Young Adults small group through our church. We are so enjoying the small group setting and we have such a great group of people! Our church's Young Adult Ministry is called YAM (^^), and so when we created the small group we decided to name it "Small Potatoes". We are so pleased with ourselves.

Our small group is going through the book Jesus + Nothing = Everything and I am really enjoying it so far. I can tell that this book is really going to stretch me, and it has already brought on some great discussions within our group, as well as some great quotes to meditate on. 

I've also had the best time being a part of the worship team at our church. I've always loved leading worship, and there is something so humbling and wonderful about playing with such a talented and passionate group of musicians. I'm so grateful.

There's also been a few new designs in my shop. I'm loving having the creative outlet, and I've had the privilege of working on some beautiful custom projects lately--specifically some Save the Dates for some dear friends (I'm so excited for their wedding!).

And for those of you who made it all the way through this loooong update, 

I'd like to bestow upon you a reward. ^^

How about BUY 1 GET 1 FREE in the shop?

Head over to Ferial-Shmerial Designs, add one print of your choice to your cart, mention the words "AUTUMN YEAH" in the note to seller box along with the title of a second print of your choice, and I'll send you both prints for the price of one. Early Christmas shopping, anyone?

I'll be honoring this deal until midnight on OCTOBER 21, 2013.

Happy Fall, ya'll.

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InstaLife: May 2013 // and the beginning of June too...

Can you believe it's June already??

May was a difficult month, a long + difficult month. 

But it was a good one too, a good + necessary month. 

There was some cat-walking, some encouragement, some swimming and sun fun, and lots of driving. 

There were some cute clothes, some writing about what hurts, some more encouragement, and a reunion with a Korea-forever-friend. 

There was a #Tramdateday to the Boon Fly Cafe and Heart's Desire Beach at Tomales Bay State Park. 

I celebrated a dear friend who received her Master's degree, started running, geeked out to Star Trek, and received the CUTEST early anniversary present from the hubs. 

I celebrated my baby sister who is GRADUATING FROM HIGHSCHOOL this week. 

And then I felt old about it. 

And then I celebrated our 6th anniversary. 

John and I started a tradition last year (on our 5th anniversary) that we would both write a letter to each other every year on our anniversary, and that letter would not get to be opened and read until the following year's anniversary. So last year we wrote our first letters, and this year we got to read them and then write letters to open and read next year. It's a beautiful tradition and yes, John's letter made me cry. It's a lovely thing to look back and reflect on the past year, see how we've each grown, and look forward and hope for our future. 

Here's to 6 years of marriage, to my graduating sister, to the beginning of summer, 

and here's to hope! 

Follow along with me on Instragram, @ferial 

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Soaking it up

These are our last days in Korea and I want to soak it all up as much as possible. 

These are the days we will probably remember most vividly in the future, 

so I'm hoping to make them good ones. 

Two weekends ago we visited a beautiful east coast beach with some dear friends. 

We have always wanted to make the trip to this specific area, 

and we were finally able to go. 

It was a super relaxing weekend, filled with walks on the beach, good food, 

and great conversations. 

Other things we've been up to these days:

Teaching the last month of our ESL classes. 

I can't believe that after 4 years of this, we're almost done. 

Enjoying the bright, long summer nights, 

and trying to stay cool in the humid heat. 

I bought a new day planner, and I love it. 

It's full of all sorts of wonderful Konglish. :) 

(Konglish = Korean + not so good English) 

We've been doing a lot of driving these days, which is unusual for us. 

We don't drive our car that much, because Korean public transportation is so great. 

But these days, we're driving a lot; driving to see dear friends and familiar places. 

Driving to save time and stay out of the heat. 

Here's one of those dear friends that we often drive to see. 

He's the cutest. 

I've also been working on something secret and exciting! 

I'll let you know when the time is right. ;) 

I even found some time to sew recently! 

It's been such a long time since I've been able to sit down and sew something pretty. 

What do you think of my new shirt? 

That's all for now, friends. 

Stay tuned for more posts as I try my best to chronicle our last month in Korea. 

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