Thursday, July 29, 2010

bye bye to a good friend

i had a dear friend ripped from my life recently. it was a heart wrenching experience. i’m sure you will all commiserate and come to have a greater respect for dear friends at the close of this post.

my family and i took a trip to the water park and the day was fantastic… until my favorite-lovely-from my mama bird-just starting to form to my feet rainbow sandals were viciously stolen from their place hidden under my boyfriends water ski-sized flip flops. Someone was on the hunt for my sweet sandals and i was left high and dry (and burning my feet on the hot palm springs concrete!). this is such a sad day.

to add to the sadness, i purchased another pair of sandals to make up for the lost pair in the gift shop on my way out just to ensure my survival over the molten asphalt parking lot. it’s a lie, kids, new friends are not silver, they are cheap, plastic, uncomfortable, too big, twenty dollar flippy floppies that i loathe! what a travesty. and my golden girls, the sweet rainbows, are now being squished, sweated upon, molded by some thief’s nasty, toe-jam infested feet. poor babies.


rip amber’s sweet sandals

a new pair is on the way, but there will always be a place in my heart for my fallen friends. and, if you see a suspicious girl size 6 running around in tan sandals like the ones pictured above, tackle her, rip the shoes from her feet, and email me. i will meet you personally and there is a great reward for my dear rainbows.
song of the day:
i’ll pray for you
by: jaron & the long road to love

i pray her feet rot off. i pray her toe nails become ingrown. i pray no one compliments her because her feet look fat. i pray she gets mad blisters. but, wherever you are, i pray for you.

DISCLAIMER: i know as you read this you are thinking, "gee, this girl is a cuckoo!"... well just put yourself in my sandals and realize that... oh, wait, my sandals are missing and someone else is already in them...

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

fellow bookworms...

so, as you may have all noticed by now (if there are any of you reading that don’t know me personally) my mom and i are best friends… but we are also avid reading buddies and lately we have been burning our way through some amazing books. books that i love so much i feel the need to share with everyone out there who hangs on every word that i speak (yes, please excuse me i’m flattering myself!) but truly, you will hang on the words of these amazing lady writers!

house rules
by: jodi picoult

any book she writes is bound to have you addicted, but this one has a sense of humor about it… something she hasn’t tried before but it’s amazing! and you will be laughing out loud which is always refreshing when reading a book. (i always attribute a good lol to movies and tv!)

twenties girl
by: sophie kinsella

yes, she’s the confessions of a shopaholic girl. this one is honest and silly just like her others and i read in an english accent in my head because it’s very obvious she’s from england (through her use of mum and other silly little words) which adds another sense of charm to the book!

i am just so happy to be out of school and reading like crazy (at my own will!). it’s so fun to read books that don’t have a 100% in the educational value rating (evr). (no the evr is not real i just made it up!) happy summer readings to all and if you come upon one you love… please share!

song of the day:
chai tea latte
by: angel taylor

all of her music is soothing and so easy to have on in the background while reading… but also catchy enough to want to sing along to while you’re driving down the road!

and with all this gloomy weather what better reading buddy than a warm quilt and chai tea latter (yes, in the middle of summer!)

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

i will be grateful for this day.

creating is one of my favorite things to do. i love to paint and see everything hanging on walls (whether they are mine or walls of people i love most!) today i was looking through some of the art on etsy and this caught my eye.

i will be grateful for this day (in a storm). sometimes we need something to remind us that we have things to be grateful for... this does just that but in a sweet understated way. it's a homeowner's WWJD? bracelet! so wonderful!

so on this day, i am grateful for...
1. my amazing, loving, dynamic family
2. my best friend, mama bird
3. my strong man, jason
4. my proximity to home, but my life as an "adult" (debatable if adult is the right word)
5. my bright future
6. my faith in an unshakable God
of course, the last of these is the greatest, but most importantly,
i am grateful.

song of the day:
how great is our God
by: chris tomlin.

boom it's simple.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

i have a green thumb... FINALLY!

over the weekend i decided i wanted to plant a little herb garden in a flower pot to sit on the kitchen counter in my studio apartment. well, to home depot jason and i ventured and i settled on basil. (as much as i wanted mint they were out... but for the second half of the pot you betcha!)

so we planted the little seeds and i set it so the sun could touch the soil and watered (but not too much). and nothing happened. i was so concerned because i'm not good at keeping things alive (hopefully i figure this out before i have kids!) and nothing was happening when the package of seeds said it should.

then, this morning i woke up to find this:


houston we have a basil plant!
needless to say, i'm a very proud gardener/mommy and can't wait to be a proud chef although it will be hard to chop up my poor plants because they are so preciously growing.

song of the day:
my own 2 hands
by: jack johnson

it's from the curious george movie soundtrack. jack was the right man to have compose it. i love george and jack.

Monday, July 12, 2010

jonah and the vine, nope not the whale


growing up in the church i, like many other kids, came to know the "big" bible stories as well as the nursery rhymes that i learned at school. noah and his ark, moses parting the red sea, david and goliath, joseph and his technicolor coat, and the list goes on. one of my favorites was jonah and the whale because, well, what child doesn't love the story of a man being swallowed by a whale and living to tell the story? (plus, disney got a hold of this one and used it in pinocchio which only adds to the excitement!) all of the excitement about these stories while i was a child did not remain as i grew older in my faith. i guess i just regarded them as elementary bible stories for those early in their faith. however, last night at church God changed my preconceived notions about jonah and the whale. He, in fact, made me forget the whale completely!

at the end of chapter 4 in the book of Jonah there is the story of jonah and the vine,

"Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."

But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"
"I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."

But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" -Jonah 4: 5-11

after throwing a major fit and telling God he'd rather be dead than do God's will, jonah storms out of the city he was called to preach to and sits, pouting, in the desert. God, despite jonah's anger, provides for him: first a vine to shade, then a worm to wither the vine, and finally a hot wind from the east. in God's provisions, jonah finds himself miserable and, once again, grows angry with God crying out the he would like to die. rather than working to placate a spoiled brat of a believer, God speaks the world back into perspective in saying to jonah, "you had no hand in growing this vine or in the worm's appetite or the wind blowing from a hot land, yet you are concerned. you have a hand in the city of Nineveh, yet you are not concerned. I, the Lord of Lords, have a hand in it all and because of this, I am concerned."

why is it that it's so easy to be just like jonah? when God calls us to do something that would bring glory to Him, we get all huffy and puffy and disinterested. when God provides something great for us that we did nothing to deserve and it dies away, we throw a fit and grow angry with Him because why would you do this to me God? why, oh why? woe is me!

no, no, no get it straight guys. i don't deserve the wonderful life i have here in america more than any other u.s. citizen or any immigrant that longs to live in such a great land as ours. i am (by His grace and not my earning!) extremely blessed to be living in such a wealthy country that allows me to worship freely. so what if i don't have the coolest clothes like lady gaga (just kidding!) or the athletic ability of kobe bryant or the beauty of miss america... i have more than i could ever deserve because Jesus Christ died on the cross for me to appease his Father who should be unleashing His rage on me for the sin that wreaks havoc on my life.

but, just as the vines come and provide shade, there are worms that God places in our lives to give us a little sun. (He must like sun-kissed skin too!) all jokes aside, be thankful for sun. He is exposing us because He knows that we will not burn to a crisp under the heat of His greatest star. so, although you may not want to sit out and feel the heat, realize He will not let you burn, He will provide some water and some shade until the time has come for you to feel the coolness of night. and while that hot eastern wind blows, be thankful for the air that fills your lungs. be thankful you are alive to feel the breeze against your skin and realize that, just like in the bible, one feels most alive when life is reminding you it's not an easy thing.

remember the words of a very tried man, job, "...the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away." -Job 1:21. that was written in the first chapter of a 42 chapter book. what chapter would you write that in yours?

make a list of the vines, the worms, the winds that God brings to develop your perspective into one that focuses on the immense blessings showered on us by Him. don't just count your blessings, but attribute them to the Almighty King that deserves much more than we could ever bring to Him. and just remember His sweet blessings on your life the next time you are grouchy about the calling He has for you.

song of the day:
who am I
by: casting crowns

who am i to deserve the things He gives to me? i'm not. He is.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

june gloom in july

i live in undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in america that is known for it's amazing weather year round. i just love the temperate conditions and the fact that it gets no hotter than 95 degrees, but no colder than 55. oh, my dear san diego. what other city looks so bright and beautiful 70% of the year?

however, this is not what my dear san diego looks like right now. it has been blanketed by a very thick cloud cover like this for over a week....

oh june gloom it's july now and you're killing me! i wake up in the morning to this and the clouds are relentless in keeping the lovely little sun out of my life! it's even been raining. oh how i miss my dear sunshine.

song of the day: the sunshine song by jason mraz.
if only my dear sun would simply shine. i would love to NEED to wear my cute new sunglasses instead of just pretend it's sunny and wear them.


Thursday, July 8, 2010

good old fourth of july

i'm back all! and with six months of blogging under my belt i have decided to change it up... hopefully all of you who find me so riveting can enjoy little stories about me personally with an intermingling of pictures, funny crazy things that happen to me, and, of course, the amazing things God is doing in my life!

i realize that in the next year or so i will be hitting many big milestones and this is SUCH a fun way to share them with you all!

so, forward we move!

i just got back from fourth of july - quite possibly one of my VERY favorite holidays because the ENTIRE country enjoys it and unites to celebrate the good old red, white, and blue! my family shares my love for the holiday and we decided to participate in the parade in our small town... we were nothing less than amazing (although the judges did not recognize it!). check it out for yourselves... and PUH-LEASE tell me we were award-worthy....

my fabulous mom and i made the posters and decorated the tractor... yes, it's genetic!

and we (my mom and i) were twins in our little target sun dresses, that should be +points right there!
jeremiah precious atop my ride before we drive into the official parade route!

such an amazing weekend at home with a ridiculous amount of memories... but no broken noses like my poor fate from last year! thank goodness everyone was in one piece especially since we bought and used illegal fireworks!

song of the day: boondocks - little big town.
i'm a country girl born and raised in the boondocks. case in point: i learned to drive a tractor first thing on my fourteenth birthday... and i'm my dad's pride and joy atop that john deere model a.