Because I Can

Tonight I'm going to....

...write those notecards I forgot about three days ago.

...watch NCIS to get the last creepy show I watched out of my head.

...eat Cheerios at 9:30 pm.

...blog hop for awhile.

...think about love stories and this interesting blog post.

...give myself a pat on the back for resisting the HUGE urge & temptation to get frozen yogurt after church.

...and then I'll go eat the ice cream sandwhich I've been thinking about for 4 days now.

...and then maybe I'll even have some Lemon Ginger Snap ice cream.


...while I think of this:

Source: skinnified.tumblr.com via Grace on Pinterest

...but then read this:
Don’t feel guilty for eating 3 peanut butter cups. Or 8 slices of habanero cheddar. Or anything that’s your Favorite Thing Ever.


And why will I do all of this tonight?


Well,
because I can.
: )


And here's a song that makes me feel yummy inside : )


Ought To Be -Audrey Assad

I love you more than a slow-falling summer rain
More than a silence that only the snow leaves behind
I love you more

And I love you better than the gray of the autumn air
Better than spring in its blooming against the sky
I love you more

It may not be red as the roses yet
It may not be strong as the old oak trees but
Love planted deeply becomes what it ought to be

Your love is steady and sure as the mountains high
Moving my heart like a river that gently bends
Your love is sure

Your love is wide open spaces where I can run
And yet, we're tangled up roots in the warm broken earth
Yeah, our love is sure

And it may not be clear as the morning yet
It may not be wide as a restless sea but
Love given freely becomes what it ought to be

It may not be clear as the morning yet
It may not be wide as a restless sea
And it may not be red as the roses yet
It may not be strong as the old oak trees but

Love planted deeply becomes what it ought to and
Hearts given freely becomes what they ought to
Love planted deeply becomes what it ought to be
What it ought to be

random lately-s

So......

....I'm kinda addicted to picnik....

.....and to staying up late doing nothing important. lame. ugh......

.....I had a super awesome time wrapping up my Life Group (Bible study) with my fun group of lay-dies on Tuesday....

....'twas fun...and we had the healthiest snack of pretty much the entire semester....ha!... you know we be fancy....

....I made a super yummy dinner on Wed. for just my mom & me.. fruit salad + steamed broccoli + grilled chicken sandwiches....yumm!

....I tend to write sandwiches with two 'h's....i.e.: sandwhiches....and I'm a pretty good speller.....

...I don't care for weird abbreviations.....i.e.: totally does NOT = totes   & obviously does NOT = obvs....

...I, um, 'left a rose' one day and totally let my dad blame it on Milo, my sister's dog...in his defense, he has pretty smelly roses...but I sure was giggling to myself though : )
....p.s. 'leaving roses' is a euphemism for, uh....farting/tooting

....I asked the seester to have ingredients on hand so we can make these yummy truffles!!!!!

....rocked out to this song while driving.....

....kinda freaked/geeked out when I stumbled upon this lovely site.......

....entered to win a Polaroid (fujifilm) Instax camera, & was reminded -yet again- of my wish for one of my own someday.....(july 2nd anyone?? : )

....oh, and some happy/washi tape.... preferably in a fun print/cute solid....

....like, ......duh...

....and a new comforter....mine is from at least a decade ago.....

....but probably getting closer to two...

...and because pictures are pretty....

Amber, Alison, Megan, Mirranda, Micaela, Janell, Rach, & me

LG = Life Group (aka: Bible study)

Little Bit

cleaning my draft folder : 
....originally saved as a draft on April 30th....

Here are some little bits of my life over the last while.....

Update for my birthday wishlist:

 

Umm, yes.


or, these hot babies:

these  --->

imagine the above shoesies with colored tights!
maybe red?!
eep!

or these super cute wedgies:

(apparently I only want shoes : )
proof: here, here, here, and here

all shoes from payless.com
and no, I'm not a paid advertiser : )

-I had to buy THE most boring things ever at target.
lady stuff & sunscreen.
ugh. SO lame. but needed.
ugh.
I didn't feel so bad when I noticed what the sunscreen said:

>  now look closer & maybe squint  <

ee he he.
Okay, okay. If I'm just protecting the pretty, I guess it's okay : )


-and yes, I haven't bought any sunscreen in years uh, awhile
and since I got a suuper horrible sunburn two weeks ago at the beach I decided to bite the bullet and buy some (full legs + kneepits, tops of feet, most of both ankles, front & back v-neck burn, AND face -minus- large sunglasses coverage   =  eew -now peeling = ew!).
One may think this is a weird reaction, since I:
A) have fair -white- skin
B) have a love-hate relationship with lotion-y type things. the texture is just so yucky
C) however, I have very dry skin. year round. hence the need for lotion/sunscreen. year. round. ugh.
D) am frugal hence paying $6 for something I don't even like or want to use is quite frustrating
E) all of the above

yikes!

-my mom got excited about the royal wedding of Kate & William on Friday.
not enough to get up to watch it when it started though.
apparently my dad was up, watched some of the footage, noted it took for-e-ver for anything to happen.
and then he told my mom it reminded him of their wedding.
after telling me that, she said, "Isn't that so romantic?" with a little smile.

oh, parents : )




-a few weeks ago, I was getting ready for bed while noting police helicopters and sirens in the background.
however, they didn't just circle a few times and then move on.
nope.

.......the
chugga-chugga.
flubba-duh 
flubba-duh 
flubba-duh 
..........actually became louder, stopped circling and was mostly hovering when a loudspeaker voice rang out "Come out with your hands OUT!"

yeaaaaaaaaaaah.

soo strange / unsettling / intriguing (....would I be on the news later if I went outside?)

I truly do live in the ghe-tto.

uh-huh.
For all of my (5) years of living in the 559 area code, this is a first.
Can't say I've ever actually experienced that before.

Now, have you?
: )

.today.

instead of complaining about the muscle I pulled in my leg from walking about 5 miles yesterday, I will remember.
I will remember the old man outside Rite Aid who took 4 minutes to walk about 5 yards to get to his car.
I will remember his cane, slow-moving gait, wrinkled face, & weathered smile.

I will not focus on my wrinkles, for I know they come with age.
I will not discount or cast aside someone with wrinkles, for I know they also have wisdom.
I will not focus on that pulled muscle, but on the fact that I could walk those miles.
Without a cane,
at an easy- almost fast pace,
while walking with my friend and her dog.
I will focus on the
conversation,
fellowship, and
the friendship God has richly blessed me with.

That is what I will do.

....................................................

my Facebook status of the day:


I did not burn ONE.SINGLE.THING while using my oven for 1.5 hours today.
This is progress, people.


....especially since I burned three things yesterday

.................................................

I went to bed last night at 11 o'clock.
As in, alarm set, falling asleep, under the covers before 11 o'clock.
This is also MAJOR progress.

today has been a:

sleeping in until 9ish,
making breakfast,
chilling with the sister,
making cookies,
stalking people on facebook,
blog-hopping,
eating lunch waay late,
taking pictures,
still in pj's @ 2,
lazing around,
......................kind of day.

get ready,
library,
store for ice cream & bread (the essentials, duh),
make ice cream sammies with aforementioned homemade cookies,
blog,
make dinner, &
off to lifegroup!

....................................................

A song for today:

P.S. I think I could totally pull off her hairdo.
I can definitely get volume like that just when I wake up in the morning :)

randomness for 3.11.11

Anyone else think this is random? And super funny?
Because it is :)

via: my seester @ Prone To Wander

Favorite lines:
"You ran 15 miles on purpose? You mean with your legs and feet? I do not drive that far in my commute to work."
"Your legs cramp up very badly, and you cannot walk in a straight line for days. You should try it.""That is stupid. I thought only winners got medals. So they also give medals to the losers. You seriously need to get a life."
"And I'm going to go talk to everyone in the break room about how you are an id-i-ot."


When we heard that some Girl Scouts had their cookies stolen from their car, my mom thought it was 'so sad.'
I thought it might be because their cookies are so.dang.good.

Just sayin'.


I rode my bike today.
After not having ridden it in, oh..... fourteen+ months.
Yeaah. Not the best idea.
Except it was. It was super sunny, clear skies, not too warm, not too cold, breezy, with the best hints of spring!
Except that I went too far, certain areas of my posterior are now sore, and I worked up a big (stinky) sweat.

My afternoon haiku for my sister:

Rode my bike today
first time in forever. Ah!
legs like Jello now.

My sister was falling asleep while I was talking to her (via fb chat).
At one point she said this:

"i am not awaaaaaaaaaaaaaake
my fingers just type things"

I told her that she is a very strange, precious person.
Because it's the truth.


Last but not least, I am soo excited for this weekend!
I'll be hanging out with friends, eating yummy food, going fun places, & I'll be with my sister! eep!
Basically, I'll be having a blast :)

Side note: my new weekend is from Saturday to Tuesday.
That's when I'm back in town with my sister, I get tons of stuff done, & I just go with the flow!
Also, It's soo strange not having a real schedule or much of a routine.


I had a dream on Monday that I checked myself into rehab.
Yes, rehab.

I was there for my shopping addiction habits.
With all the drug addicts and alcoholics.You know, just the usual.


To say the least, it hit a little close to home.
(Since I can't remember the last time I bought something without feeling guilty about it.
Ugh! It's such a frustrating problem!)


Lastly, here is something interesting:

source
 anyone else confused??

{Bam!}
Posted

LLT

Hello! And welcome to.....Linky Love Thursday!

Editor's Note:  I finished this a little late last week so it's coming to you a little tardy, but it's all still true!


Just a little peek into some things I've enjoyed looking at this week:


a lovely illustrator/artist/blogger    via....lisa rupp

my montly desktop calendar download          via...lisarupp

a lovely & inspiring bouquet   link via..... lisa rupp

two lovely food blogs      via..... andrea & her sister!

another (old favorite) illustrator     via....natasha rosenberg

an awesome giveaway!  enter for me? :)  it's for a letterpress!

katie daisy.      nuff said.

a guilty pleasure is starting back up again :)  .....army wives  via.....lifetime

oh! and another guilty pleasure started a few weeks ago!   via.....white collar

a fun collection of etsy finds   via.....vintage junky

an inspiring new blog  via.....vintage junky

a crochet rose pattern         via.....crochet rosebuds       (still looking for a good infinity scarf pattern)

cookies I want to make soo badly                via.....withstyle&grace

and then there are, oh, three more recipes I've got to try from ws&g's source   via.....here, here, & here

and speaking of smores, I saw a tip somewhere last week to add a little bit of peanut butter &/or banana to your smore before smooshing the marshmallow & top graham on.
and, oh. my.  this needs to be in my mouth, STAT!

a cookie pie I want to make just as badly    via.....marigold road

a tutorial on how to make a button for your blog    via.....mandipidy

this makes me wish I had some green yarn     via......skip to my lou

an inspiring craft (embroidery hoop)  & wreath (ooh! those flowers! via.....marigold road)

a set of mugs that are simply lovely!  ......................the-four-seasons-cup-set

And lastly, isn't this just so fun?!    via....hello teef

as of late.....

On March 1st I wrote:
I have had one of the best past few days that I have had in a long time.

However, let me preface this by saying that at the beginning of last week (Feb 21-27),
I was truly a HOT MESS.

No joke.

Not even lying.

Seriously, it was not pretty.

Instead of turning to write on this blog, I decided to keep things private in a handwritten journal & took a break from emotionally throwing up...uh writing it out via blog.

So, to sum up, I was a hot mess.
Took awhile to get that figured out.
Cleaned up my act.
& had a great week!

What did I do?

Well I'll tell ya!

had my LifeGroup girls over for Nacho Libre nacho lunch + movie (sans movie.oops)

I read some awesome blogs,   can't forget this one either!

cooked some awesome food,   (not my #16 from my 23 things, but it was a new recipe!)

tried out some fun new outfits,

had quality hang out time with mom&dad,

learned how to make the <3 symbol on fb, (I'm a slow learner what did I tell you?)

went shopping, just 'cause,

went to church & heard an AWESOME message,

had a lovely, lovely conversation with a dear friend,

wrote a real, handwritten letter to an old friend,

only wore makeup 3 days,   (and somehow forgot how to put on eyeliner.wha??)

did lots o'blogging & commenting,

worked out & felt great,

went to one of my favorite places -Two.Days.In.A.Row! and walked myself silly there :)

went to the library quite a few days,

took my sister's super cute dog on a walk-er-run,   (it was freezin people!)

put about 400+ miles on my little blue car driving to & from my hometown,

listened to The Tale of Despereaux on cd whilst driving,

saw The Dawn Treader with two best friends,  (as my favorite book, I noticed a lot of differences from Lewis' original :(

ate maybe two Wendy's frosty's    (chocolate, duh.) (more on that later)

did my LifeGroup book study  (more on that later too)

added some buttons, over there ------------------------------->

made a pom-pom pencil topper,

had my sister's old roommate spend the night,

crossed off many-a-thing off my to-do list!,

trimmed my nails,      (how DO those things get so long so quickly? there was a time when I had to trim them all.the.time :(

my sister made me dinner,

watched some American Idol,       (ugh, my Mom got me hooked!  -I held off for 4 years though.)

took a long, glorious NAP!     & then woke up super spunky :)       for longer than I intended :)

bought some new peep-toe embellished lilac flats that make me think of Spring!bought a quart of Honey Greek Yogurt. I'm kinda crazy 'bout it.

made dinner for the sister,

got a fun friend to join my LifeGroup!

went to LifeGroup
read fun blogs,
wrote neurotic things (see above for crazy range of emotions),
found some tear sheets of inspiration,
fell asleep while talking,
watched more Friends,
and enjoyed sunshiny days!

What about you?
What were some things that made you smile really big on the inside?
:)

chirp, chirp

so here's the thing: things have been a little, welllll, quiet around here lately.

More like silent.

Did you hear the crickets chirp? Yes, it's been that quiet.

It's not for lack of trying. I've started five different posts in the past two weeks.

There has just been a lot of stuff going on.

Like:

playing,

loving,

(some crying,)

cooking, cooking, cooking!

working,

 chores,

 cleaning,

churchin',

Bible studying,

chatting,

singing,

reading (blogs & mi Biblia),

driving (400+ miles a week),

eating,

thinking,
nausea,

sleeping (or lack thereof),

laundry,

painting + sanding,

crossing off things from my to-do list,

commenting (on blogs, silly),

basically, .........being an introvert while living at my parents house.

I'll post odds & ends later regarding some of the things I mentioned up yonder.

And to end on a nice note, here's:

a song we sang at church last Sunday:

All the earth will sing Your praise

The moon and stars, the sun and rain

Every nation will proclaim

That You are God and You will reign

Glory, glory hallelujah

Glory, glory to You, Lord

Glory, glory hallelujah

Hallelujah

I wish this wasn't just a refrain from a song!
It's amazing!
It speaks to me every time!

aye

*warning: proceed with caution!
treasures & landmines ahead! (tons of links)* 

i love going to the dentist

i lock my knees whenever I put on my makeup

i sit on my legs funny whenever I sit at my computer on my desk. I look like I'm crumping when I get up.

yes, i just used the word 'crumping.'

i tend to go for long stretches of time in the winter without shaving my legs.

i just found out you're supposed to change your toothbrush every month. since i have not............eww!

i made these carrot cake bars with awesome frosting! last week. cake didn't turn out so good. frosting, once again, awesome!

i would appreciate this for another early birthday gift.

i dislike the sense of entitlement I've attained.

i went to a power team event one time at a church. i was not very enthused  -more like "huh??"

i love, love, love having two! sisters that love to cook. cooking is very draining for me.

i like to wear my thin socks my mom got me from alaska under my boots. they have bears, fish, and 'Alaska' on them :)
i would like a blog design makeover from this girl, or this girl

i found this cool store!

i taught myself how to play guitar. but haven't played in over a year. just waiting for it to feel right. ?

i want to re-teach myself how to play the clarinet. my little E-flat woodwind was fun once upon a time.

i never fantasized too much about my wedding when I was little. However, I did have my roommate from college's wedding all planned out fairly quickly  just in my head :)  lilies, white, green, & yellows, a simple, satin-y dress, and a curly up-do.

i love to read. when I was younger, I would read literally anything. labels, packaging, signs, books, pamphlets, anything.

i used to go camping with my sister in our closet.
i don't even know how we fit in there.

i tend to hide certain shoes/food from a certain person I live with so said certain person won't wear/eat them.
it's a lost cause. she does anyway. i'm okay with that. sometimes

i used to be very addicted to tv.    not as much anymore. thank God!

i am most definitely a night owl.

i don't have very strong willpower over going to bed early.

i couple the above two things far too frequently, staying up waay too late and missing out on a lot of the next day.

i like long, hot showers.

i do not know how to dance.

i am glad 2 + 2 does not equal chair.
i have never been to a bar/club. don't worry, i'm good.

i don't know what else to say.

oh yeah, i'm usually a stickler for proper spelling/typing so not capitalizing all those 'i's was really hard!

i
am

done.

strange days at blake holsey high

Have you ever looked at someone, like really, truly looked at someone and seen something you hadn't seen before?

Last week I went home to my parents house.
I saw my dad after he got home from work.
and I really, truly saw him.
and it was quite strange because he looked so much older than I ever remembered.
And his brown hair (on his head) were competing for space the grays were taking over.

And he had silvery gray patches(streaks) that were slowly canceling out the darker surrounding hairs.

It was so weird, I tell ya.

And it was so strange!

That night (among many other times in my life),
I realized that my dad wasn't just my dad,
he was a man,
a person,
a temporary human.
And he wasn't the larger-than-life person I once believed he was. Back when I held his hand on the way to church.
And he was old.

Ever do that before?
Look at someone like it's the first time you've ever seen them? In all their honest, plain, old self.

well, it's strange, I tell ya.

bits and pieces

here are some bits and pieces you may not know about me.....


. I think I pulled a muscle from going on the monkey bars yesterday at the park
. and oh my, I forgot how much monkey bars hurt your hands!
. I have the uncanny ability to trip every time I wear my fake Uggs, no joke
. I also trip on my other foot every so often. Process: step out with L foot, jam R big toe into L heel, trip, almost eat it
. I have bouts of very sensitive teeth. I feel so pretentious asking for my water without ice at restaurants.
. I love doing workout videos from the comfort of my own living room.
. I tried doing a 10 min. one a few weeks ago and only lasted for 5 min.
. but,,,, today I made it through a whole one!
. I have a yucky bruise right above my hip from not going around the corner of the staircase railing all the way on Sunday. yes, I do periodically run/walk into things in that way. (i.e. corners of walls)
. I love me some avocados.
with salt!
on a piece of toast!
*just like my mom. wow. never thought I would!
. I joined bloglovin last week & I like it a lot!
. i heart ampersands! &=love
. i also heart graph paper/lines
. i also heart these { }  brackety-type things
. i also heart etsy  -such a great source of inspiration!
. studying Kay Arthur's, Lord I Want to Know You. It's an awesome study of the names of God!
. my favorite finds at UO have all had a price tag of $4.99   . yes! Five Dollars!
. I have two official comments from bloggers I stalk like but haven't ever met! eesh!
. last night I was looking at my blog stats and I have had readers from different continents! cuh-razy! how do they even find little old me?
. one of my dad's friends found my blog last year and read a bunch of posts about my CL internship. It totally weirded me out. Like, totally. (fer sure. I just got a....  can anyone finish that?)
. one of my favorite little people can't say his 'er' suffixes. so.stinkin.precious. watew, anyone? monstews?
. making homemade V-Day cards makes me soo excited :) (read: craft-nerdy)
. my sister gives me funny, ridiculous, cuh-razy nicknames all the time. i love it. soo much :)
. I quite regularly call my sister after waking up so she'll come in my room and say good morning. hehe.
. for instance, I texted her last week: "Knock knock. Jwanna?"   . when she came in my room I said, "Jwanna come snuggle?"
. sometimes I think I'm obviously very clever.
but don't let that fool you.
I'm not.. this lovely, amazing, what-a-blessing girl is having a birthday tomorrow!!

and last but not least,
. today I woke up to the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
bam!that just happened!


What are some bits & pieces from your life?

PSA

It's the time of year for a PSA- public service announcement.

{Be kind to your neighborhood grocery store employees.}

For the people working on Sunday, being Superbowl Sunday, it was just as crazy as any other holiday of the year.


Trust me.
I know.

early

so if someone wanted to give me an outrageously early birthday gift..........                                                                (click pictures for links)

I would be happy to take these boots off of their hands,

And they're only $59.99!
And they're in my size!
( 9 if you really want to know- they run small )
It's like they need to be on my feet! right now!

I wouldn't mind taking ownership of this pleasant print:

I could make do with this amzing blazer:

and I don't think I would mind wearing this dress over and over and over and over and over again:

and not that I would be able to walk in these, but I spotted almost exact look-a-likes in the j.crew catalog today!

and ohmygoodness I'm trying not to buy into the whole oxford shoes & platform ankle boot trends, but these two are just too amazing!

and correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the girl modeling this sweatshirt a past ANTM winner?

or am I crazy?
or are you ashamed that I used to watch that show? it's okay. I am too :)
what a waste of time!

jan. 17-21

In one week I have:
.painted my nails
.made a huge batch of yummy soup
.watched about 3 disks of Friends,
.un-decorated my apt. from Christmas  : (
.gone to Bako & back,
.earnestly job searched,
.cried so much I think I broke blood vessels in my eyes,
.decided where I'm going to live (here, with trips home during the week for awhile),
.renewed my lease,
.given a Christmas gift,
.took down my Christmas tree,
.talked to my older sister on the phone for 45 min. (this is huuge for us -we're not phone people),
.gone to Bako & back,
.gone to church in Bako & here in Fresyes,
.prayed -a TON,
.cried so much I feel like I now have a sinus cold,
.told my sister many, many times: "With everything going on in our family, we can't ever, ever get mad at each other too!"
.slept terribly. in bed at 12 + lie awake til 2:30 + wake up at 9 = exhaustion
.read really inspiring things like: Psalm 4:8

"I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety."

by: thewheatfield via etsy

I found this last night when I could not sleep until I had journaled, prayed, & found a comforting verse from la Biblia, Ps. 4:8

.I saw things like: this etsy print -->

.read things like: this funny post
.became obsessed with my new hat
.picked up these things from the library:
-The Cookbook Collector: A Novel. by Allegra Goodman.
-Counting on God by New Life Worship
-Craft, Inc.: turn your creative hobby into a business. by Meg Mateo Ilasco.
-Delivering Happiness: a path to profits, passion, and purpose. by Tony Hsieh
-Sex and the city. Volume 2  .please no judgement
-Very Merry Christmas. by Dave Barnes
.Measure B & the library make me happy!

Today, I am choosing joy, love, & peace.
I am choosing Psalm 3-5
I'm choosing a fun sized kit-kat (or four)
& a cute outfit :)




Psalm 3-5:
Ch. 3
O Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of my,
"God will not deliver him."

Selah.

But you are a shield around me, O Lord;
you bestow your glory on me and lift up
my head.
To the Lord I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.

Selah.

I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.

Arise, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

Selah.

From the Lord comes deliverance.May your blessing be on your people.

Selah.

Ch. 4
Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

Selah.

How long, O men, will you turn my glory
into shame?
How long will you love delusions and
seek false gods?

Selah.

Know that the Lord has set apart the godly
for himself;
the Lord will hear when I call to him.

In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.

Selah.

Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the Lord.

Many are asking, "Who can show us any
good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
You have fulfilled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine
abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you, alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
Ch. 5
Give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.In the morning, O Lord, you hear my
voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before
you
and wait in expectation.

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
the Lord abhors.

But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies--
make straight your way before me.

Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.
Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as
with a shield."

Amen!

musings of JanuarylyDecemberly

*As I've been working on my blog the last few days,
I've found some things in my draft folder.
Some are still relevant so I thought I would still share them.
It's always cool to look back -even if only a few weeks back!*

This is a combo post of things from December-January.

Hence the weird title of this post & made up words.

Yes, I like to make up words & add on suffixes.
It stems from my older sister.
So sue me. 

except.........don't

If you can handle an extremely emotionally driven post, here's: An Edited Thanksgiving from November 27th

If you're a list person, and apparently I am, here are 23 Things (12/5/10)

bittersweet, part dos it's a little look in on my life during my very last finals week. ever! (12/13/10)

Here's a look at where my heart was in the first of January (1.3.11): End of The Year

Much, much lighter reading: mukluk weather (1.9.11)

a haberdashery jumble of "lately's": seen on 1.17.11 here
*Also, this was when I received my first ever comments from 2 whole people I know simply from blogs! And one even followed! (When I told my friend about the comments- she asked if they were famous because I was so excited. I then explained, that they aren't, but it's just so exciting for me to have people actually reading about what's going on in my little life, head, & heart!)*

And if you forgot how to use that little thing we call a mouse to do the little maneuver we call 'scrolling down', here's a look at my most recent post at Thus Far....



And now, onto bigger & better things!

here's something I started on last night on Thursday, January 20th:

So what if I had my Christmas tree up -fully adorned until January ...?

And then unadorned until January ....?


I like it!
And it makes my living room cozy.
And I like to turn on the lights at night. and in the morning. and before I leave so they'll be on when I come back home.

And, I feel  like my tree is more generic tree than most. I mean, sure, it's obviously a tree you use at Christmas time, but why can't it be a Valentine's Tree? Or uh, Washington's birthday tree?
And expensive things like fake Christmas trees should be put to better use than for just a few weeks out of a whole year.
Kinda like tennis shoes. You can wear them year-round.
Not that you always want to or need to, and not that you even should in the summer. -my feet are super claustrophobic in the summer & there is cold concrete to be walked on!
but still, you can wear them year round.

Anyways, back to the tree, I finally took it down last night with my friend.
It's kind of an awkward chore so a helper is nice -especially if your tree is a substantial size, kinda brittle, & heavy like my free tree is that I scored from my childhood-next-door-neighbor-adopted-grandparents.

Did I mention it was free?

Oh and did I mention it's from the 70's?
It looks & acts pretty good for it's age!

And no, I do not have the pictures of the flocked one I could have had.

Read: a flocked tree made in the 70's = hot mess in 2010.

Insert a big, drawwn-out :       Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!


Despite the well intended gift of said flocked yucky tree, I have enjoyed the lesser of two evils of said 70's trees.

So, here's a hearty: Thank you Mrs. Fab!

(Don't you wish your name was Fabrizius so you could go by Mrs. Fab? -pronounced like young & fabulous/fab-)

and that's the end of my tale.


P.S. Question: how is it that twenty whole days have gone by another year, this year of 2011?? Can someone answer that for me?
How has your first 20 days of 2011 been?

Monday, Monday

in case you didn't know, you were supposed to sing the title of this post to the tune of the Mama's & The Papa's song.
fyi.

>Now that you know,
here are some things that I've been enjoying lately:
. tons of new blogs!

. Love this post from a long loved blog. She had me laughing so hard!

. & this post about upholstering your own headboard was quite funny!

. ruche, ruche, ruche! A slightly more affordable Anthropologie-type clothing Co.  (& cause I'm cool I linked to the sale page. Cause that's how I roll. sale section first & drool shopping, er, windowshopping later)

. & a fun link from ruche for some desktop wallpapers

. lovely, lovely soup I'm making for din-nah!

. a lovely post by a very lovely girl, on a very lovely blog! via March Rielo

. is it okay to admit that I want to copy/emulate this etsy store very closely? :)

. wistfully wanting to buy something again from this etsy store. sigh. Valentine's gift anyone?
wishing I had 'My Favorite Hoops', 'I Think Olive You', and 'Double Heart Stamped Goodness'. siiiigh.

. link for a quick rundown of the functions of your keyboard.
. confused? I wanted to know what the blue fn button did so I experimented a bit!

. also, I now know how to take a screen shot on my computer! Woop!

. All this to say, here's a look at the before of my wee little blog you're reading at this very moment

Like my new desktop wallpaper? It's a calendar! And you're in luck bc it's a free download! Click here

And here's a sneak peek at my runner-up in my blog layout revamp!  -->

'Blog layout revamp' you ask?
Why yes!
I'm trying a few things on for size & with some ideas I have for 2011, I wanted a fresh new take on my little blog!
Check back in soon for changes!



Off to make some garlic herb& butter penne pasta, broiled chicken, & steamed carrots for lunch!
yum, yum, yum!

mukluk weather

Today, coziness is........

. listening to Phil Wickham's sing-a-long cd in the shower
. freshly showered, dried, & straightened soft hair
. sipping freshly brewed day-old jasmine tea bags with tons of honey!
. wearing a knit/woven sweater
. tights under jeans
. feeling seams of said tights under your toes inside your moccasins
. eating little cornbread loafs
. watching a partially blinking lit up still-up-even-though-it's-January-8th- fake Christmas tree :)
. eating 7 fun-sized kitkats
. wearing a soft purpley down throw while blogging and
. writing Christmas cards & thank-you notes
. all while listening to In The Name of Love (Christian artists singing U2)

Followed up by a big dose of:
. crocheting,
. while watching Friends,
. going to the library,
. making this soup,
. and reading this catalog as it simmers on the stove,
. and connecting to God, learning about Him, and fellowshipping with others at church later!



Thank you God for Sundays!
:)

Simple

Some simple things I get an insane amount of pleasure from:

a freshly made bed
vacuum lines on carpet
House Beautiful
crisp cotton sheets
origami calendars
reading! and reading, and reading (a good book is best when read over and over in the course of a week :)
ceramics
seeing sunlight stream through a window in the afternoon
nail polish
Friends
Imogen Heap
swings
seeing Daffodils start to pop up in the soil after winter
ice cream. Chocolate, Mint Chip (from RiteAid), and Peppermint Stick Ice Cream (from Dewar's)
going to see cheesy movies with my mom
learning songs on my guitar
hanging out with my little cousin
cutting my hair surprisingly short
collecting odd things (example: I collected rocks, feathers, and straws as a child. Weird, I know.)

deep cleaning my room & getting rid of bags & bags of junk
therefore, an empty closet! (or as close to one as I'll ever get :)