The end of a summer

It's not really the end of summer, but it is feeling like that to me.  I had my last day of summer school and my internship yesterday.  It was bittersweet, as I have loved my biomechanics class and my internship.  I have a week off before the fall semester starts and my brother Justin and I are headed off to Canada!  We are going to a week long Bible camp.  I'm looking forward to it! I hope to have beautiful pictures to share when I get back.

Once school starts, this blog will be back on track.  I have recipes, outfit posts, and more about passionate living to share with you.  For now, I'm just trying to hold on to the last vestiges of summer by having as many late nights and sleepy mornings as possible. I won't be posting next week so have a blessed week! 

I don't know about you, but I'm feelin' 22

Sunday was my 22nd birthday!! I had all kinds of celebrations for it! I started off by going to Palm Springs with two of my lovely friends for the weekend.  It was soooo hot (111!!) so we spent the whole time in the pool/eating.  My two favorite things.

Then I had a delicious sushi dinner with my family.  To top it off, my friends had a karaoke party for me last night.  If you don't remember, I love Karaoke... see here!

Delicious Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza at CPK



Midnight bike rides in Palm Springs!

Kelsey, Naomi and me

 

Ice cream with my sister!

My wonderful Jamaican man from Chelsea and Joy!

Love these girls! Note the spoons (:

I had multiple ice cream buffets... my favorite!

Big Sister Syndrome

I'm still rocking the same bangs, btw!

Along with being an automatic bossypants, the big sisterhood package comes with some less fortunate perks, one of which is worry.  I am the big sister to these four goobers, and let me tell you, I worry about them constantly.  I am also fiercely protective of my siblings.  I might think they are annoying sometimes, but insult them and I will cut you down.  It doesn't matter how angry I might be, I still want to protect them.  

There is just something about younger siblings that just makes you worry, no matter how old they are. I am going to call it Big Sister Syndrome. Take my 19-year-old brother, Dalton, who crosses the street by himself. If you ask me, that's just a little young to be taking such risks.  So I worry about stuff like that.  Also stuff like them being picked on by bullies, getting sick, or having a hard time on STAR testing. If they are out bike riding too long, snubbed by friends, or in trouble with my parents, I worry. 

But in all seriousness, we recently found out that my youngest brother, Colton, has scoliosis.  After getting a x-ray done, the doctor was concerned and told us that Colton needed to see a specialist.  I have been extremely worried about this appointment. I didn't want Colton to need spine surgery or even a brace! Kids are mean and I certainly didn't want him to get teased for wearing a brace.  So the night before I texted all of my friends and asked them to pray that Colton's scoliosis would be less serious than they thought (and thank you to all who prayed for him!!).  Guess what?? It is! We found out that the radiologist miscalculated the curvature of his spine.  His scoliosis is less than half of what they thought, and is very mild.  No brace, no surgery!! He will just need to go back every 4 months so they can monitor his scoliosis.  Praise the Lord! Big sister worry, goodbye (just kidding, it won't ever stop).  

Greens Are Good For You

1 bunch Swiss chard (~1 lb)
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
3 cups cubed ciabatta bread
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 (8 oz) pkg sliced fresh mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
2 TBSP olive oil

Remove and discard ribs from chard.  Rinse, drain and chop. 

Whisk together milk and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl.  Stir in bread and half of cheese.

Saute mushrooms and next 3 ingredients in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high for 8 minutes.  Stir in chard and sauté 2 minutes.  Fold veggie mixture into egg mixture.  Pour into lightly greased 11x7 baking dish.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 340 for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set.  Enjoy!

Passionate Life: Discontent

Passionate life, part 1

I'm going to be talking more about passionate living, so if you missed part one, go check it out! What I'd like to talk about today is expectations.  Or rather, the unrealistic misperceptions that that our society has created.  Speaking from experience, I know that movies, books and songs all teach us girls that the perfect relationship is out there to make us complete.  That man is going to be incredibly handsome, smart, funny, rich, etc.  We are also bombarded with messages about what the perfect woman is supposed to look like.  Unfortunately, she doesn't look a thing like anyone I know.  

The problem is, we let these unrealistic expectations hurt us. God says that true beauty comes from the inside, from our character. Instead of using this time to grow our characters into godly people, we spend our time trying to be beautiful on the outside.  But still we find we can't measure up. It doesn't make us content.

From books, songs and movies we learn to believe all kinds of crazy things about romance. We expect that Mr. Right is going to come along and sweep us off our feet.  God says that a good marriage is built in Him.  Yet we imagine that some person is going to come along and we are magically going to feel whole, complete, and happy forever.  That craving to be loved will forever be quenched and we will never be alone.

While most of us know this isn't true, on some level, I think we still buy into it.  We are so surrounded by messages such as these that it makes it nearly impossible to ignore them completely.  However, we can't start living passionately until we let go of these false messages.  They will only serve to harm us and make us unhappy when we don't have the "perfect" life we think we should.  When we expect the perfect marriage or looks to fill us, we will always be discontented.

Instead, begin by filling yourself with God.  Let Him fill the emptiness inside.  Feel complete in Him.  Spend time developing your character instead of your outward appearance. Seek first the Kingdom of God. Only then can we let go of discontent and learn to live with true passion.

 

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Shadow Painting

I call this art for the untalented.  As you might remember from here, I have been getting my craft on lately.  Unfortunately I have no real talent, so I have had to stick to things that don't take talent.  However, I got this idea from a picture I saw on Pinterest and think it turned out pretty nicely.  I think I am going to add a Bible verse to the top.  Best part? It's sooo easy!

I started by printing out a picture of a bird on a branch, but you could use almost anything.  Cut out the shape and trace it onto your canvas.  The rest is up to you! I chose to use gold because I have been obsessed with gold lately. Happy crafting!

Trace this

 

Overcome

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Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. -Romans 14:16

 

When I first saw this verse, I didn't really understand it.  I don't think of myself as calling good things evil.  I don't think of others calling things "evil" per se, either.  But really, we can do this when go along with those who mock righteousness.  Now, I can think of quite a few times that I have done this.  There are a lot of ways that people make fun of God's way.  God's way is so different than our culture around us.  In fact, God's way is just plain different from the human way. 

We do it when we sit back and ignore those who make fun of godly paths.  Maybe we even do it when we go along when other's actions go against God's way.  Even if we aren't the ones saying and doing the wrong thing, are we letting God's way be dirtied?  Let's remember to stand up for good.  Just think how we can change those around us if we stood up for God instead of ignoring evil.  Overcome evil with good.  

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. -Romans 12:21