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.