A Giving Heart

These are just a few thoughts I have been pondering lately...

When does one "grow up"? Some might say it is when a person gets their first job, opens a bank account, turns 18 or 21, or maybe going away to college somehow suddenly makes you an adult. Personally I think these are all simply external signs of getting older but not truly growing up and becoming a mature person. I believe that the most significant ways of gauging this change happen within a person and are not, initially, obvious to others. A true change of heart.

When I was younger I have vivid memories of coming downstairs on Christmas morning and being thrilled with all the presents, but especially mine. I could not wait to see all of the new goodies that were mine. I specifically remember selfishly wanting my parents to open their presents first because I really did not care what they received and so I could save mine for the very end.

However, these past few Christmas seasons I have noticed a change within myself. While I still love the presents I receive, no longer do I get the same thrill when opening them. Instead I get that feeling of excitement while my family is opening the gifts I have given them. But not just any gift...the most special gifts are the ones that are not on their wish list, yet you know they will love them. They might even love them more than the ones they asked for. Something about picking out these gifts is so much more significant to me. I am able to pick them out because I know the recipients so well. I know what they like, appreciate, and will enjoy. To me there is something much more wonderful about thoughtfully planning out a present than just buying something on a list. (However, I am not saying that I do not appreciate getting gifts that I asked for...I love those as well!) Something about this new giving heart seems so much more important than any outward sign that our society would label as "growing up".

Also as I thought about this recently a new realization struck me. Maybe this is just a sliver of how God feels about the gifts and blessings He gives to us. I feel as though I am constantly asking God for one request after another, some He answers and some He does not (at least not in the way I anticipated). Yet maybe the gifts He is most eager to give me are the ones I do not have on my "list". He knows me better than any of my family members ever will and knows exactly what I need, even when I do not realize it myself.  But He carefully prepares the blessings I receive and they are tailored to meet my needs perfectly.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Thankful

(Let's just pretend that I didn't let two whole months go by without writing, alright? I am really going to try and make it a priority to regularly post from now on...)

So, I feel that since Thanksgiving is this week it would be the perfect time to say three things I am thankful for. (I know, I know...this is super original and creative of me.)

1. Seeing God work. Without going into much detail I will just say that I have had the privilege of seeing God drastically change someone's life. He used a completely horrible situation to positively effect a group of people close to me and bring us all much closer together. I easily forget how awesome and powerful our God really is but with a situation like this it can't be missed. 
2. My family. Not only was I blessed with an amazing mom, dad, and sister but I have a wonderful extended family on both sides as well. They are all supportive, generous, loving, and comforting whenever I might need them. Also some of my cousins are my closest friends. I realize not all people have this and I do not ever want to take it for granted. 
3. Time off. Normally between the fall and spring semester we get four weeks off but this year we have five...I am extremely excited about this! Also two of those weeks I don't have to work at all. I'm already counting down the days! :) 

Life is good.  

Bang for My Buck

Last weekend I went to a huge neighborhood garage sale with my mom, sister, grandma and aunt. This particular neighborhood has held this event for many years and my grandma and aunt go every time. This year my family decided to tag along, so we woke up before the sun and when my alarm went off at 5:30am I might have questioned why we were going. However, those thoughts quickly left my mind when we arrived. We had a great time and I'm quite happy with everything I bought. Totally worth the early wake up call.

 

All of the furniture pieces I purchased are for my room which I am *hopefully* going to redo in the very near future.

1. cabinet/shelf that I might use to store makeup
2. my plan is to sand and paint this and possibly use it for shoes
3. going to be spray painted
4. necklace
5. CD (love Darius Rucker!)
6. loved the color and size of this lamp but need to find a new lamp shade for it
7. pretty purple vase

I can't remember the exact total of everything but I know that it was under $15...not bad in my opinion! Now I can't wait for next year ;)
 

Photography

When I first started this blog a few weeks ago I wasn't sure what I wanted the focus of it to be. Since then I have decided I want it to be a little mix of everything...just glimpses of my life in general. This makes sense to me because those are my favorite kind of blogs to read anyways. But I do know that I love photography and definitely want to showcase some of that on here. Let me make it clear though, I am only a beginner and am pretty much teaching myself as I go! 

The reason I enjoy it so much is because it allows me to capture a moment that would otherwise go unnoticed and in those moments you can find some truly beautiful things.

 

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Also....

= Monday!!!

Peach Pound Cake

The recipe Lyd and I made yesterday was found in one of the many Taste of Home magazines floating around our house. I was going to post the recipe but I did a quick search on their website and found it. So if you are interested in the recipe check it out here.

*I should note that while the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of both almond and vanilla extract we changed it up a bit and did 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract. (Simply because Lyd doesn't really care for the taste of almond extract.)

*We also thought the cake could have used a bit more peach flavor so next time we might try adding more peaches. However, we aren't sure what that would do for the consistency of the cake so we also thought about creating a peach glaze or sauce to go on top. Maybe next time we'll experiment with that!

*sorry for the slightly blurry picture...I think I was in a hurry to eat it ;)

Yay for Weekends

This past spring I quit the job I had been working at for the past 3 1/2 years. So thankful another job opportunity came up and I was able to quit! There were many different reasons why I felt that way but a major one was that I had to work Saturdays and Sundays pretty much every week. This got pretty darn tiring after awhile. (Especially on Sundays because I would practically have to run out of church). Fortunately the office I'm at now is only open Mon-Fri.

This leaves my weekends wide open now and I love it! Almost every Saturday I wake up and am grateful to have a full day ahead of me without any work in sight. Today was no different and I had a fantastic day with my sister, Lydia. She made an omelet for me :), we went on a nice, long walk, made a peach pound cake together, and did a little shopping.

...and of course I had to end the day with a piece of cake.

Changing Seasons

Um oops...I suppose now that I have a blog I should use it. Anyway...over the past 5 weeks or so I have been taking an online class for college and just finished it up today. It was an anatomy class and without a doubt my favorite classes to take are anything related to the medical field and how our body works. It's sort of unbelievable how intricately we were created!

Summer is quickly coming to a close and I actually could not be more excited. I've always been ready for school to start and anxiously look forward to it most years. I'm strange that way I suppose. Actually just yesterday my dad asked me, "You aren't going to become one of those forever student, are you? Always continuing on in school and never getting a job." Ha, no I'm not going to be a "forever student". Don't tempt me though ;)

Also, the weather these past few days has been amazing after an extremely hot July. It is like a little preview for the cooler months that are coming. Fall, please come soon!

Oh yeah...I got to meet this cute little guy this week:

Finally!

So...I finally took the plunge and created my own blog! I've been reading them for over two years now and am quite excited to have my very own. I hope to use this space to share what I find beautiful, inspirational and enjoyable in my life. I think it will include a bit of everything :) There is way too much negativity in this world and I am slowly learning that if you want to enjoy life you have to make an active effort to find the positivity and joy. I hope my blog will reflect that.

At the moment I'm simply trying to figure out how everything works on here! It could take me a little while...anyways, if anyone happens to stumble across this...hello!