Wednesday, March 9, 2011

oh wednesday

It's cold. It's cloudy. It's raining.
I'm sick with some weird chest cold thing that creeped up on me out of nowhere.
I'm contemplating whether I should watch season 6 or 7 of friends while I type up more of my favorite recipes for my recipe box.
Oh and I saw this pic online and I drooled a bit. I kinda want the one on the left cuz it has caramel swirls on it...

bring me one?

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Proverbs 31

I am loving laurennicolelove right now (there is a link on the right side of my blog). She is artsy and passionate and loves God. One of her posts talks about how the women we are and will become is between us and God...you can read this post here. I love her interpretation of Proverbs 31 and I thought I would share:
A valuable woman who can find?
She is worth more than diamonds and gold.
Her man brags about her
and because of her, needs nothing else.
She fills his life with good things, not problems,
every day of their life.
She loves hunting for pretty things
And making beautiful things to sell online. (Yep, I said it.)
She's just like a small business,
earning a living around the world.
She pulls late nights
To make things for her family
and for her friends.
She finds things she is passionate about
and invests in them
paying for them out of her own earnings.
She works hard because she knows what she loves,
her arms are built for what she does.
She knows that what she invests her time in is worth it,
and her light stays on late into the night.
In her hands she grips the tools she needs,
she knows how to use them and how to create.
She throws open her doors to the poor
and gives freely to everyone that needs anything she has.
When life gets hard, she has no fear for her family
for she has made sure all of them are clothed well.
She decorates her home to reflect herself,
and dresses well.
Her man is respected in what he does,
everyone around him admires him.
She creates clothing, art - anything she loves
and sells it off.
She is strong and confident in her reputation,
she can laugh in the face of anything, fearing nothing.
She speaks wisdom and truth,
and can guide others well and easily.
She is aware of everything in her home,
and never suffers from laziness.
Her children stand up and tell others of who she is,
her man also - he sings her praises.
She knows that charm can have no foundation
and that some beauty does not last
but she fears the Lord, and she will be praised for it.
Give her the reward that she has so well earned
and let everything she does bring her praise wherever she goes.

Monday, March 7, 2011

this weekend

This weekend went way too fast! But it was a lot of fun...here are some of the highlights :)

Adam got his graduation present from his parents and set it up in my family room...


I finished one of the three books I was reading:
(yay me)


A whole herd of us went to see the third Narnia movie at the cheap theater on Sunday...


Sarah, Ryan, Adam & I


My beautiful sista's Emily & Katie.


My awesome parents!


I made Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes and Adam's beautiful sis helped me decorate them:)

Hope you are having a splendid Monday! :)

Friday, March 4, 2011

friday morning notions


its almost 6:15 am
i am on my second cup of coffee
my to do list is done
i am listening to Adele's new CD thanks to Tash
it's amazing

if i had unlimited funds i think i would shop at
anthropologie
i like their stuff
oh and fossil too
their clothes are cute
maybe one day
gas money is more important right now

i have to admit
that i have book a.d.d.
i currently have three books that i am reading
my goal is to finish them

i find myself daydreaming
about hailing cabs
living on the 18th floor
needing an elevator to get to my residence
and how tiring it was when it didn't work
being surrounded by millions of people
speaking and understanding another language
going to starbucks cuz i miss home
being blatantly stared at and photographed
owning movies for $1
the garbage truck that sang happy birthday...
starting every morning at 7am!
learning how to say ikea in chinese

i miss my family in china
life back in the states isn't bad
it's just different
i don't want to forget what it was like





Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Where is my joy?

Little did I know when I woke up this morning to sit down and catch up on some blogs that I would be hit with some pretty hard reality checks.

You see, it's no secret to those who are closest to me that I have been a huge grouch lately. And even when I know I shouldn't be upset about something I can't hide my annoyance anyways because my poker face is...well...nonexistent. The person who gets the brunt of most of my emotional issues is the one person I never want to hurt, but know I will. That realization sucks.

If we don't learn to make decisions to celebrate God's
goodness in the frustrating and inconvenient moments of
life we will not be able to
do it in trial and persecution

Somewhere along the line I stopped pursuing joy. I allowed my circumstances and the little things in my life to cause me stress and worry. I was reading laurennicolelove and in her post, How To Be a Millionaire by 25: Love Is The New Currency Part 1, she talks about joy....this is what she says:

Pursue joy actively. This is a decision you make, not something you stumble upon, or reach once you achieve x,y &z. Decide to pursue joy, ask God for it, put yourself in places where you receive joy from others, and take time alone to restore your heart. When we are whole-hearted, we live in joy.

Yesterday, Adam and I were reading our devotion that we started doing together and it was talking about Hannah and her deep desire to have a son. It talked about how she couldn't be satisfied with less then God's will and when you are not doing what you know God has truly called you to do, the love of people and material things won't satisfy you.

when we complain,
believe lies,
dwell in negativity,
or choose self pity
we agree with the enemy about the quality
of our lives instead of our good father

Today I am going to pursue Joy. Actively pursue it, and I'm for sure going to ask God for a big 'ol dose of it. Cuz I know I need it. We all need it. I know I need to identify the areas of my life that are sucking the joy from me, or the thought patterns that are causing me to believe lies. For that, I will need God's help, but it brings peace to know without fail that God is faithful to answer us and give aid in our times of need, when we cry out to Him.



Saturday, February 19, 2011

sunny friday

Yesterday the weather was amazing...Adam had the day off because the therapist he works with is out of town, so to start the day, we actually had our coffee on my front porch, he played guitar for a bit and then we read some scripture. We helped mom babysit a sweet little man named Cole, made pancakes and hung with him for a few hours, I haven't really been around kids since my China days...I really really miss it.

Then I went to the orthodontist for the first time in six years. My retainers wouldn't fit in my mouth and I suddenly got paranoid that my teeth would move back to how they were before I had braces. I felt like a high school girl getting my retainer adjusted and picking out new colors for the bottom one because it needs to be remade. I wore my top retainer for a good part of yesterday and when I took it off I asked Adam if my teeth were straight yet...(I was only half kidding because it hurt so stinking bad I thought it should be done straightening my teeth)....he said no..and I admit I kinda pouted. lol.

Our next stop was Daily Grind, where we grabbed some coffee and sat by the window in the sun for a few minutes. Adam struck up a conversation with the man sitting behind us sipping milk through a straw. He had no teeth and the biggest smile, he was pretty ornery and loved to talk...maybe not quite all there either...but he was sweet and needed a friend. We spent the rest of the late morning walking around downtown and stopping into a used book store, a wine rack, and a thrift store...

We didn't want to waste a minute of the sunshine so we then decided to go to the nearest grocery store with a budget of $10 and get a "picnic". Here's what we got:

went over our budget by .33...but it was yum and so worth it!

we are soo excited to be outside!

The rest of the day was amazing as well, we went out to dinner with his parents and hung out with them for a good part of the night. They are so amazing, I just love his sister Hayleigh, she's so sweet and witty!

Well that's all for now...I'm so excited about the thought of warmer weather...I hope you all are doing well! Enjoy your weekend:) I heading to New Jersey early tomorrow morning to scout out missions opportunities for this summer...more details on that to come!


Thursday, February 17, 2011

oops!


It's Feb 17. That means it's been too long since I blogged. So I better get with it...here goes:

I'm sitting in an overstuffed arm chair in the loft of the youth room @ my church...Adam is rehearsing for Saturday night and Sunday morning worship. I rented The Count of Monte Cristo from itunes....it's currently downloading. It's gonna take 4 more hours....itunes is dumb. I think someone actually got bored one night and took all the copies of this movie and threw them away...and that's why I rented from itunes. It was my last resort.

I am trying to catch up on all those emails I have flagged in my inbox for "later" and later has ended up being now....which in some cases is months...oops. Sorry.

I finally got a job! Starting April 1 I will be a full time cashier for the christmas store I was working for in the fall. I just gotta hold out till then...with my tax return I should be ok.

The weather has been amazing the past couple of days. And when I say amazing I mean not single digits or 3 inches of ice. Adam and I love to be outside, so when it pushed 40 this Sunday we rushed to the park to take a leisurely stroll. We forgot the ground would still be slushy and Adam wore moccasins and I wore sweater looking shoes with no back...our feet were soaked by the time we got home. But we both agreed it was worth it. Today we were brave and got the hammock out and let the sun shine on our faces for a bit. It was wonderful. It's actually amazing how much the weather and being outside influences my outlook on life. Bring on spring!!

Well that's all...here is a pic of the amazing roses my man got me for Valentines day: