my new bag

So, I've been looking for a new bag for quite a while. I find I'm really hard to please in this department. I generally can't afford good quality leather and the fake stuff looks so cheap to me. Anything other material usually doesn't last very long. I always see bags I love walking around campus or the grocery or the airport. But I can never find them when I am looking.

So, I found this handmade beauty on etsy (from seller TaynaErnst)a few months ago and severely coveted it for a long time.
It got so bad that once when I looked it had sold and I sent the seller a panicked email asking if it was a one-time sell or something she made multiples of. She compassionately reassured me that she just posts the bag one at a time and makes a new one as it sells. Whew....:).

I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the bag as my birthday present to myself (with the help of the mother-in-law. Really, the purchase was an attempt to improve my relationship with God. I make a daily effort to avoid sin. Coveting is definitely a sin. So by purchasing the bag, I no longer coveted. I was reconciled. (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all appreciate a little theology stretch, no?).

Let me tell you. I am in love. I don't mean I love my bag. I mean I am in love. Sometimes I just sit and stare at it. I carried it today for the first time other than car to office. I felt like I was taking a new boyfriend to meet friends for the first time. Seriously. I'm in love.

Sorry for the bad pic. It doesn't do it justice.