Catching Up

Can't believe this little journal still exists! Two years since my last post?! Oi vey!
I'm not even sure what to post about but alas I will attempt! Above is one of my favorite places near home, just on the edge of downtown Columbia so it is often pretty peaceful and lovely for an evening walk after some dessert.

I will be starting my 6th year of teaching in the fall and I cannot believe it! As I talked to one of my friends from high school, we both were baffled and can't figure out how we got so "old"!

I've been blessed to be a part of a handful of weddings, including one of my dearest friend's last Fall!

I get to share life with precious 5 and 6 year olds and an amazing, soon-to-be two, co-teacher at a wonderful school here in SC.

What a blessing, these past two years have been. I've gotten to teach some after school dance classes as well as my Kinders! Teaching dance in itself has been a huge learning experience, but also really exciting to meet and walk through life with some very special little ladies! I am always open to where God wants me and realize that life is full of seasons.

Sometimes it's hard to see friends and coworkers move and start new seasons but then ya gotta remember your time is coming and there will always be the memories and new ones to come! Heard a thought on the radio the other day, "What if your best day is yet to come!?" As a Christ follower, it's true! The glorious reunion with the Savior is the best day and it is certainly yet to come! I know God cares about this side of Heaven too, so it's neat to consider how some of the best days on Earth, as His child, are yet to come too!

Since it is summer for teachers, I am filling my days trying to train my dog with the help of BarkBusters, tutoring, babysitting, catering, and maintaining my house (homeowner say what?!)! I have some feeble attempts at gardening and got at least one non-deformed cucumber this year. I can't seem to get rid of the ants...everywhere....so please comment with your ant be-gone wisdom!

Oh and reading....I totally get all those silly jokes about reading because I really do love it! One of our used book stores, 2nd and Charles, well I could spend a good afternoon in their kids section. Teachers-if you need great priced books check it out! Comment with your favorite summer reading below. I'll be venturing to the west coast to see my most favorite Portlanders soon, so stay tuned!

I hope to refurbish two frames this summer and will post if I do finish! Still trying to decide on how to go about the paint. Do I really want to fork out the money for the fancy chalk paint? They say you can make your own.... In the meantime, I must admit I like to color and it is a bit like opening a can of Pringles, once you start the fun don't stop!

For now, I will leave you with this thought that through every season God is ever present, ever faithful, ever active. I am so beyond grateful I serve the risen King of Kings and Lord of lords! I can't wait to see what He has next....this first song sticks in your head which is great because it reminds me of who God is. The next song reminds me that in "every season He is still God and I have a reason to sing, worship!" I think I share that thought a lot but it is because it is so true and important!

It's All About Perspective

Wow, I always seem to find myself so behind on blogging but I suppose that is ok!

It got dark and I now see the rain drops falling. I'm one of those rainy day lovers! Granted if you choose to be sad with the clouds I can see why it wouldn't be your love but let's just change the perspective-that's what God has been teaching me a lot lately and hopefully I am finally starting to get the message! My daddy often reminds me of this too (side note praise the Lord for sweet, caring, godly daddies!)

So it's cloudy and not cheery. Well make a fire to snuggle with someone and enjoy a book or a movie!

All about perspective.

I'm hunting through emails because the Inbox says there is 1 Unread Mail and I simply can't find it. Every day. For a month. It bothers me.

So I finally google it, to no avail and decide to search backward through all mail-second page from the back and I found it. The fact that it bothered me so much reminds me of how God searches for one lost sheep. How thrilled He is in one lost soul's salvation and how he desperately longs for people to come to salvation.

It's all about perspective.

Your heart is aching over a loss. Well what did you gain?

Perspective.

Your heart continues to ache. Well what did you learn?

Perspective.

You don't want to have anymore lessons. If you don't have lessons how will you be the best you God intended you to be?

Yeah. That word: Perspective.

The lessons hurt. Now you know how others feel. You can walk with them, crying, and offering hope and wisdom.

Perspective.

The fire hurts as the gold is refined. Once it cools down, it's a rare gem. (As my brother often quotes, "Real gold fears no fire.")

Do you have the right perspective?

This is my new favorite song and prayer! It puts things in perspective:

World Turned Upside Down

After claiming numerous verses, countless mental reminders, many talks, and just taking one minute at a time....God brought this today, Hallelujah!

http://stevenfurtick.com/elevation/behind-the-song-nothing-is-wasted/

Wow.

There are some things that just hit you. They hit you hard. I don't mean like you literally got hit, but sometimes I see a picture or read a quote that just figuratively knocks me off my feet. That happened this morning. Side note, I did ok on the whole take a break from facebook, I think I could still do better!

As I'm resting, because I am once again sick (I might add that two dear people in my life commented that perhaps the Lord is teaching me patience through all of this....this coming after my frustration over my sickness as well as the sickness of a dear loved one. Granted, these are not life-threatening illnesses but the durations and unknowns of them have me less than patient. A sin, I know, and have confessed numerous times. Praise the Lord they are not serious and for those that are suffering seriously, may the Lord be with them and show me how to help! Flu type A had a school shut down. My students are going home daily with fever to find out they tested positively for flu.), I started some devotions (praise the Lord for this, somewhat forced but I'm sure foreseen by the Lord, time to rest)!
 The title was, "The God Who Can Heal Us."

Ok Lord, I'm listening.

You have my attention.

I read the examples of how Jesus cast out demons and healed the sick. Specific illnesses went unnamed ("Then he healed many who were sick with various diseases...Mark 1:34.") yet healed. Serious illnesses, like leprosy, were mentioned and He healed.

The kicker came when I read this quote, "Lord, if it will be to Your glory, heal suddenly; if it will glorify you more, heal gradually; if it will glorify You even more, may Your servant remain sick awhile; and if it will glorify Your name still more, take him to Yourself in Heaven!"-Ole Hallesby

Did you just feel like you got knocked over too???

He's absolutely right, however!

God is King and Master; the coming home of a saint is glorious to the Lord!

 Oh but my sinful heart longs for days on earth. Pray with me that the Lord would change this wretched heart to desire all the more my King and Master. Pray with me that we would desire to be in His home. This place is temporary. "Better is one day in His courts than a thousand elsewhere." 

This reminds me of the classic and profound hymn, "It is Well with my Soul."

I recently helped with the technology during a preschool Christmas program. The song was played, "All is Well" sung by Michael W. Smith and Carrie Underwood. You know, it basically says that it is well with my soul.

No matter what, the blessing of a child of Jesus comes because he can state, those two things: all is well and it is well with my soul.



Hallelujah! The King came to save His People. It is finished! Rest easy dear saint and weary traveler.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So I have opted to be on facebook much, much less. Perhaps if an engagement or something super exciting happens, I'll be on more. Until then I'm content to login less. I love all my friends on facebook but I also don't love the distraction it held/holds in my life.

In other news, K5 is a whirlwind full of laughter and tears! I am so grateful that the Lord has helped me find a sweet spot in the teaching world as of right now. I have 14 precious little ones.

I have attempted and successfully complete quite a few pinterest recipes for dinners and desserts as well as crafts for the kiddos! You'll have to check out my pinterest page! Nutella bites, mini monkey breads, one pot meals and more!

Lily is growing and energetic as ever! After we rescued her, she is a new energy puppy! I love waking up to her happy tail wag every morning! The potty training is about over and we enjoy giving her more freedom in the house!

Found this gem at chapel today and thought I'd share in light of the holiday coming up!


Also, I'm so excited to share a second Thanksgiving with Reed! In light of that wonderful time, I found this gem!

PS My daddy says we should have rooms at separate ends of the house...the farther the better!
Oh the joys of dating! Sweet memories!

Flashback to that time when we got to see Cirque du Soleil live and Reed just couldn't/wouldn't take a normal picture...it's his specialty!

Life is an Adventure, that's for sure!

Here's a peak into my life....I'd love to hear about yours!

Lily is so curious ALL the time. She sticks her nose in EVERY-THING! Our walk was no exception....I love the water sploshes on her nose. The sign of a good walk! I'm also so grateful to the Lord for providing me with a home that is in walkable distance of a school and school walk/field!

Oh relationships. I'm so blessed to be dating Mr. M.C. Long story short, last night he got me a red cactus. Not typical but he had a point that my floral care is limited (although I think I'm doing better!). He wanted it to take it back but I said presents are not to be taken back! I asked him to take a picture and seeing again as to how he just feels so passionately about pictures (please pick up on the sarcasm here), this is what I got....the angle and lighting is kinda cool! I like to caption this pic: SillyReed....

Success!

So the bluebbery/lemon cake that I posted about previously was a success! I don't think I've ever made such a complicated cake but it was definitely doable! I ate a whole bunch along the way as I always do...a perk of baking right???!!! I did not add the lemon extract to the icing and I ran out of powdered sugar so I substituted regular sugar. Reed and I agreed that move was ok as the sugar wasn't grainy enough that you would be put off by it. It must have been a hit because Reed's not a big fruit and fruit in cake person but he had quite his share!

Infamous blueberries in colander pic:

Ready to bake! (this was a little tricky because I had to pull one out and leave the other two in and cook it way beyond the suggested time, also still need to invest in cooling racks so I just used plates)

Ah happiness. Happiness comes in many forms. The candle does make some happy. This candle was given to my roommate as a teacher present I think. I just love the packaging. For some, happiness is in the form of a slice of cake. I'm one of those 'some'. What makes you happy? That's just one of my happy things....I like to think happy things are joys from the Lord! In fact, happiness stems from joy in the Lord-the source of all good things!

PS Kitchen decor is credit to the roommate and her momma! Pretty blues, greys, black.

Here's One More!

Ok so I just can't resist posting this! Meg Pitts took some pics for Reed and I when we went to visit. Because we are so quirky and he doesn't love pictures, we only got one good one but it IS a good one! Meg is awesome, feel free to check out her artsy site here!

Also, my pinterest attempt for this week might be a little late but we went blueberry picking so I plan to make a blueberry lemon cake recipe I found there buutttt since I'm a single gal I realized I have not purchased cake pans yet. So I'll have to do that before I make it and pick up a few other ingredients. I'm coming to realize that the longer I am single, the more I'll have for when/if I get married so we'll get to spend money on other things! Blessings in disguise, no?!

Oh did I mention I went to my first drive through Car Wash....again the whole single girl thing-I took my mom! Give a girl a break now, I'd never been before and didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised and they even had a free vacuum (do you ever have trouble spelling that word?)! Yes, since I took my mom she wanted to take my picture. Oh mom! I did get a pretty cool picture though. Word to the wise, they do kind of make you feel claustrophobic!

Puppy Post....Long Time Coming, I know!

So Lily is kind of already in her terrible two's but she's not even two! We have a make shift gate which is awesome to keep her in the kitchen but alas, she has discovered how to use her nose and open it! We find ourselves coming downstairs to a big pup! Still working on a solution to that one!

She's VERY smart! Hence the two pics below. No, I did not put the blanket on her. She did that herself and she obviously really wanted whatever was on top of the crate; caught her in action!

In other news, she has a major shedding problem. I don't know if it is because of her breed or what. She is a mix of supposedly Labrador, Retriever, and Shepherd. I am hoping to get a shedding brush to see if that will help. Do you have any ideas? Found this article and seems helpful. I will definitely ask the vet about the types of brush and her skin. She's a rescue so she may have skin issues a lot. Just takes time and research I suppose. The nice shedding brushes (the Furminator) seem expensive so may need to be a Christmas present. Anybody used them before? Says it is to reduce shedding up to 90%! There are some video reviews online and seems pretty good.

Mom always knows best and she recommends daily brushing so I'll have to work on that. I've almost got the daily walking down since she's a very active and energetic pup but I'm always learning!

I've also got to work on figuring out how to get Lily socialized on walks. She loves people SO much that she often pulls on the leash or jumps and for certain dogs, growls. She is my protective buddy, but I'd still like to work on training a bit more! 

Finished! The legacy remains. Praise the Lord for lives well lived!

So I've had some summer projects! Lately they have involved recovering or fixing up chairs! I recovered my chair for school and touched up the paint but the big-deal one this summer was fixing up a chair from my Great Grandma's House!

I went up to Virginia to help my parents sort through the estate of my late Great Grandparents. They were special and precious people! I remember them watching pastors on tv and the fake green grass. You know the one I'm talking about, the artificial turf that was big back in the day!

My mom and I get much of our love for crafts from her! She also had an amazing talent of storing things! Boxes and boxes galore of all kinds of ribbons and papers and more! Every nook and cranny had a little something. She still had perfumes and lipstick on the dresser! What a lady! Great Grandpa was a truck driver and Great Grandma never really drove so Great Grandpa would take her to the store once a week or so and she would get her craft materials then!

I was blessed to receive a mirror tray that I fixed up as well (well my parents helped! I'm still learning!)! We also discovered their only daughter's wedding dress and shoes.

It was a beautiful little home and my Great Grandpa didn't touch Great Grandma's things after she passed. Like my parents said, it seemed as if the two just ran to the store and never came back. I love seeing the Bible verses around the kitchen-that's a legacy!

My mom tells me this chair was Great Grandma's visiting chair! When guests would come, they would sit in the chair and talk. Oh what joys in the conversations we can share with others! I am learning more and more that God loves friendship. There's a reason he put people in our lives! So with this chair, if and when I get a new home, it shall have to become my 'Visiting Chair' and perhaps bless others as I'm sure they were blessed when they came to visit my Great Grandparents!