Allume Newbie Link-up!

Hi, I'm Jessica...

I'm an Allume newbie...gulp....

This is my blog...a work in progress...but aren't we all?


I'm from the South...North Carolina to be exact. I'm a wife to my handsome, well drillin' geologist/engineer, missionary husband. I've lived in the West...Africa that is...I'm a new mama to a wee little lady. She has big brown eyes and her mama and daddy's heart. I'm semi-crunchy...that means kind of granola...I do know a little about birthin' babies Ms. Scarlett....I rub mamas' feet while they birth babies...I write...sometimes a little, sometimes a lot...I love music and I dance in my kitchen and more like Elaine than I'd like to admit.

Above all I am a lover of grace. It continues to change my life and I'm so grateful for my hope, daily, moment by moment in Christ. I hope I hand that out to you here in this space. 

Read all about My Story for more on my journey to hand down grace.

As for Allume...gulp...here are my Top 5s (hope to gain and freak outs)

Hope to Gain

• Faces to put with names (that means lots of hugs) and a real life Five Minute Friday party!
• Writing encouragement. I am a writer...I just need to be constantly reminded.
• New bloggin' skills. I'm self taught (I'm sure you noticed) and would love to improve and learn   more!
•  The swag...I won't lie...I mean they keep telling us about the bags...who isn't excited? 
• I want to hear from God. I want to hear His vision for my writing and blogging. Pray for that, will ya?

Freakin' Out (Read my 31 Days for more on my struggle to NOT freak out!)

• Flying by myself with my daughter. (Except I'm not freaking out as much as I was because I have a new friend to fly with!)
• Again, my baby girl is coming and she is a poor sleeper. I have a friend meeting me at Allume just to watch the wee one, but I am just hoping she will sleep! If you're reading this could you stop and pray for that?
• Will I come off as over eager and awkward? I'm not good at small talk. I hate it. I come off as sarcastic and weird. Which I am...hmmmmm...Moral of the story is that you need to give me a chance past the first time we meet. I promise you'll learn to tolerate me.
• What to wear, what to wear...mainly because I am trying to pack both me and my daughter in a carry on...oy! 
• I don't want to compare myself. I want to hear your story...our story...

{Deep breath}
I can't wait to meet all your smiling faces in a couple weeks!

I'm so eager that I'm hosting a twitter party on Wednesday 10/10 from 9:00-10:00pm EST. Just hop on twitter and follow hashtag #allumenewbie!